Cox School of Business

-SMU Cox's business program is unique as a result of the top faculty, who are nearly always available to help students understand the material, discuss their experiences, and assist students in their job searches. The challenging courses gave me the opportunity to learn more than I ever expected and as a result, the program has exceeded my expectations. Lastly, its location in Dallas, where the economy is one of the strongest in the country, along with the GLP study abroad trip, make attending Cox an amazing, one of a kind experience.

-The career center is not what you would expect from an otherwise excellent school. They bring some companies on campus to recruit, but the list is shorter than it ought to be, and if you are targeting smaller companies, you may be on your own to build out a network.

-SMU Cox has less than 150 people per class, which gives us great access to faculty. It's a beautiful campus in the middle of Dallas, a great city for business. The GLP international trip is required of everyone and turns out to be a great experience to learn about the foreign countries and different challenges in them, as well as to get to know classmates better.

-I think SMU is unique on the basis of its competitive, but not cut throat environment. I always felt that the students were a team, when appropriate. I think that this relational emphasis also translates into a very strong alumni network that fosters that same spirit. This is not the only school that has it, but it is one of the smaller schools that has such a powerful relationship based network.

-In general, the curriculum was FAR too easy and classes do not get into very much detail on any topic. I attribute both of these to the quarter system, which imposes a time crunch on courses. Secondly, the school's policy of providing scholarships only upon acceptance is terribly rigid, and I feel the school should offer more scholarships to students in their second year. Lastly, and most importantly, the schools career services department is ineffective and seemingly out of touch with the business community. The advice they offer is usually of little help, and they seem to force students towards jobs that are easy for them to place as opposed to supporting and enabling students in their efforts to obtain the jobs they may want or be better suited for.

-I have an oil executive as a mentor and am able to get connected to powerful energy contacts in the arena where I wish to work post graduation. The career center must do a better job in developing relationships with corporate recruiters in order to make sure that we get the same access to opportunities that students at larger programs have.

-First, SMU maintains a small class size and so each student receives the attention they need to succeed. Second, SMU provides a study abroad program that is included in tuition. And third, SMU is well known and its graduates are well respected by companies in Dallas.

-In the South everyone knows the SMU Cox Brand but I would like to the brand to have a more national reach.

-The Global Leadership Program (a 2 week trip) allowed us to go abroad and meet with different companies across the world. Several people in my class received internships out of the GLP trip.

-I feel the quality of the full-time MBA student at Cox was excellent in the majority of cases, a credit to the admissions department. Unfortunately, the same could not always be said for the part-time MBA candidates. University financial need requires all MBA students to attend coursework together, which is fine, but with that the acceptance standards for both programs needs to be up to the same level. A stronger part-time program, combined with the superior full-time program, would enhance the experience for the entire school of business.

-The additional programs available to students is unmatched by any close competitor, per my research. The Business Leadership Center (BLC) at Cox provides literally hundreds of additional business and leadership coursework, free of charge, taught by industry leaders, CEO's, and other professionals the casual person would be unable to schedule even a 10 minute interview with. The BLC also provides subsidized special programs (Disney Institute, Leadership Challenge, Texas Scottish Rite consulting engagement) that brought value well beyond the time invested. Finally, the Global Leadership Program was extremely well organized and executed with relevant company visits and interviews across the globe.