University of Minnesota - Curtis L. Carlson School of Management

Academics

At the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, experiential learning, proximity to Fortune 500 companies, a “stellar” Career Center, and a “robust dual degree program” are just a few of the happy offerings on tap for those who take advantage of the school’s various MBA tracks. The school “makes life very enjoyable for the student body,” administrators are “passionate advocates” for the programs, and “staff members go out of their way to remove barriers to success for students.” Both the administration and professors “are very receptive to student feedback” and “are willing to change their approach to best suit the students.” This includes “updating, removing, and replacing required courses; and providing specific resources to students.”

The workload at Carlson is well balanced. Students say course work is “challenging, but it doesn’t take hours of your day up to get it done” (the exception being some of the core curriculum, which “can be brutal some weeks”). The academic rigor is “sufficient for most students, even those with a business background,” and “enterprise experience. . . gives real world experience and legitimate projects from companies.” Smaller cohort sizes “leverage wiggle space, and a more personalized MBA program is the outcome,” which includes “lots of coaching and mentoring being offered.” The beloved professors “can apply the principles they’re trying to teach us in a real world example while at the same time getting us to laugh.” “We have beers on occasion and it’s nice to know that these people have other interests than just class,” says a student. They “offer many options to help us balance both school and work,” including includes the ability to choose which two or three cases students want to write an analysis on, and courses of varying lengths throughout the semester.