Marshall School of Business

-The Marshall School has a niche in entertainment, entrepreneurship, and marketing. It has an extraordinary alumni network and a very passionate student body. While access to executives and corporate connections are strong, the school also provides numerous opportunities to explore a wide set of career paths like business start-ups and corporate sustainability. The program office is also very proactive about listening to students' concerns and modifying its curriculum to accommodate these concerns.

-I think that the career office could focus their different capabilities on different types of students. Students coming in with a non-tradition business background could be supported differently than those without said background. The information was there, but this could be more helpful.

-USC blends diversity, team building, a focus on leadership, and broad thinking throughout the program- academically, socially, and through career preparation. Students, faculty, and administration are collaborative and dedicated. In the first semester, the combination of many core courses which opens up 3 semesters of electives is great.

-In some areas like finance and consulting, we don't attract the top recruiters. However, as someone in the technology field, I was fine since Apple recruited on campus, and I got an internship. Also, the school helped me tap into the startup community, which helped me land my full-time position.

-USC Marshall makes business school a time to truly build an invaluable network that won't necessarily pay dividends directly out of business school, but rather in 10, 15 or 20 years down the road. Our professors challenge us to engage with our peers in healthy discourse, to expose ourselves to new situations and to lean on a diverse student body with a host of experiences to learn from. USC is a place where a secondary family is fostered in an environment where the competitive nature of capitalistic individuals gives way to being business leaders in a way that enhances those around us.

-The program could benefit from having more current teaching examples. I would have loved to see more lessons from the impact of the recent economic recession. Some of the corporate connections could be stronger in finance and operations, and our alumni base in these industries is starting to increase.

-Marshall provides not only a quality education, but the entire experience - great faculty, diverse student body, amazing alumni network, and a robust and fun social life.

-The career placement office needs to get stronger and hold the students to a higher standard both in terms of time commitment and professional demeanor.

-The Marshall program is very collaborative. Students work together to help each other and reach solutions. Marshall students are competitive within themselves but not at the expense of their classmates. During core classes, students offered review sessions prior to exams, helping many fellow students. This type of collaboration is very unique to Marshall.

-I would like to see a lot more growth in the area of sustainable business! I was focused on this area, so I did not pursue the traditional career opportunities. I think USC has a real opportunity to brand itself as THE MBA program for people looking to go into these fields and should continue to improve in this area.

-The entrepreneurship program is outstanding. We have a very small full-time class (approx. 200) so everyone knows each other. The community is very tight, and the staff and faculty know all of us and are very supportive.

-In any MBA program, there are bound to be a few bad apples. I felt that USC could have done a better job weeding out the bad apples after the first semester, which would have reduced the class size by a few students, but kept a better cohort. By letting these bad apples stay, and leech of the other students, it brought down the value of the program.

-The most unique aspect of the Marshall MBA program is the unparalleled access students get to the media and entertainment industries. The concentration that is offered in conjunction with the School of Cinema is priceless. It goes beyond Entertainment. Many of the electives that are part of the concentration basically focus on what I believe is the future of the world economy: digital commerce. The music, television, and film industries have had no choice but to take this head on. And the classes that are part of the program all bring in leading executives that give students an unsurpassed view of what is happening and what future opportunities look like for both entrepreneurs and those that hope to work as part of a large company like myself.