Experience during the program

I was really let down by my experience at the University of Maryland. I took a very big risk leaving the workforce to pursue an MBA full-time, and do not feel my decision has been validated. I will say that my peers were very supportive, but many of us shared frustrations with the school. Career Services did not do much more than provide generic advice and well wishes. On-campus recruiting is extremely limited, and most of the companies they bring in are either 1. not recruiting MBAs or 2. willing to hire an MBA student but at an undergraduate level of pay. We ended up with less than 30 people graduating in our class, so clubs were basically non-existent. The administration seems intent on putting their focus into other programs in the business school. Our internal case competition (sponsored by a bank) gave out prizes worth $40 while multiple undergraduate case competitions going on at the same time awarded hundreds of dollars in cash. We were given capstone projects with a pre-revenue app and one-man garbage company. The other masters programs worked with billion dollar firms. When I talk to alums about their experience, they speak of a drastically different (better) culture at Smith. I am aware that the economics of the degree have changed, but there seems to be an acceptance of an atrophying program from apathetic administrators. Constructive feedback is brushed off repeatedly and the administration has been very defensive regarding its decision. I can't recommend Maryland, especially if you are an international student taking a giant leap of faith to pursue your degree.

About professors, classes and curriculum

There are some great professors and some not so great professors. Few electives exist specifically for MBA students, and there is a trend towards combining classes with other programs. A few of the classes have undergraduate students in the class and the classroom experience is significantly diminished in my view. The school pulled its supply chain concentration despite overwhelming interest and decided to add concentrations in AI and Sustainability. There doesn't seem to be much of a plan with these however, as there are not going to be any sustainability classes offered this fall.

About job placement process

The job placement process was extremely frustrating. While the job market hasn't been great for MBA programs across the country, it was an incredible grind for most of our class. A handful of companies came on campus for information sessions for MBA-specific jobs (M&T Bank, Deloitte, FBI), but these were few and far between. After November, there was no MBA-specific programing until April. But even the event in April was extremely lackluster with a handful of companies that honestly seemed disinterested in our students. We are consistently lumped in career events with undergraduates. These border on disrespectful. The recruiters at these events have no interest in engaging with MBA students looking for salaries consistent with UMD historical outcomes. Alumni engagement appears haphazard, as the people brought in are not always in positions to network effectively. This results in most of the networking being done through LinkedIn. I have repeatedly asked myself what I am paying for and how the school expects students to speak highly of the program with the air of carelessness that exists within career services.

Overall BSchool experience (1.0)
Schools contribution (1.0)
Classmates rating (4.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Location
Facilities

Best fit at this program:

Consulting

Can be improved:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Alumni Network
Career opportunities provided by school
Culture & Student Support
Specialization in a particular area (e.g. Finance, Consulting, Healthcare, etc)

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Experience during the program

At first when I was applying to schools, I read 'collaborative culture on almost all school websites. Frankly I wasn't impressed with the hype around collaborative culture and thought to myself "does it really matter?". However, after coming to Smith, I truly understand how culture makes a difference. I have spoken to people from various schools including Fisher. Culture makes a lot of difference to your school experience and experience is what matters in an MBA. My favorite aspects about Smith are:
- Collaborative culture
- diversity (we have people for 20+ nationalities)
- faculty
- curriculum is data analytics focussed
- Dingman center is great if you can leverage it

Having said that there's are some cons:
- DC is not the place for internationals to find sponsored jobs
- the office of career services is not that strong. Has local contacts only.

Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Culture & Student Support

Best fit at this program:

Finance
Marketing
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Career opportunities provided by school
Brand/Ranking

Read More

Experience during the program

Great school for domestic applicants as there are ample career opportunities.
International students here need to work their network but the location plays an advantageous role in that aspect. Being close to a metro provides lots of opportunities for international students as they get easy access to a plethora of companies. Most of the schools in United States are facing the issue of companies retreating from sponsoring international students and being close to a metro hub proves helpful. With plenty of startups gaining ground in DC area, there are ample opportunities for those looking for a career in startups too.
The school tends to foster a strong entrepreneurial culture.
Various clubs and activities foster a very strong student body and the relatively small class size is close knit. Everyone is willing to support each other and the school is really collaborative. The administrative staff deserves a special shout out for the amazing job that they do here and provide a very strong support to students.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Culture & Student Support
Admissions Team

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Marketing
Tech
Entrepreneurship
Management

Can be improved:

Brand/Ranking

Read More

Experience during the program

The school's culture is very collaborative. There is a strong sense of community. The program has a very tight knit cohort. The small class size provides lots of leadership opportunities and better interactions with the cohort, the faculty and the staff. The class room culture is very collaborative.
There are a lot of employers on campus and many domestic students get multiple job offers whereas very few of those companies coming on campus hire international students. Most of these companies do not sponsor international students and that is a major disadvantage for both the students and the school. Students have to go through their network to get a job which takes a lot of focus away from academia while Smith's ranking takes a hit as almost 38% of the class comprises of International students.
This is the only disadvantage of the school but a bit of that is made up for by proximity to DMV area which has lots of employers.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (5.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Location
Culture & Student Support
Facilities
Admissions Team

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Marketing
Entrepreneurship
Management

Can be improved:

Career opportunities provided by school
Brand/Ranking

Read More

Experience during the program

Smith has great professors and coursework. Especially the core courses are amazing with so much learning in a short time. There are all types of courses such as theoretical, practical and real-time with the right mixture. SmithX courses are real-time and provide in-depth understanding of the concepts already learnt in school.

Career Services is very good in terms of helping students prepare for the interviews. They do organize lot of alumni networking events where we get a chance to meet lot of people in our area of interest. Also, we have mock-interviews with alumni which helps a lot in developing our interviewing skills. When it comes to on campus jobs - there are not many opportunities for international students. We need to work hard outside school in order to get placed.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity

Best fit at this program:

Marketing
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Alumni Network
Career opportunities provided by school

Read More

Experience during the program

A lot of diversity in this closely knit community. Smith has one of the smaller class sizes at roughly 100 students per class which makes it a lot easier for everyone to get to know one another. This makes it possible for Smith MBAs to get to know many of their classmates intimately and helps reinforce Smith’s “Terps Helping Terps” philosophy.

I would advise future candidates to be in touch with Smith through as many avenues as possible to explore whether Smith is a good fit for them.With so much emphasis on networking throughout the MBA experience, you want to join a program where interacting with your peers feels natural and fun, rather than forced and transactional.
Be yourself. Admissions wants to build a diverse class of smart and interesting people who come from different backgrounds, so there is no reason to try to fit a certain mold or be someone who you are not.

PS: If you're an introvert, go for this school!!! The small class size and the collaborative culture will make the MBA journey a fruitful and more experiential than you would otherwise get elsewhere.

Also PS: If you're an extrovert, go for this school!! The small class size will let you shine even more!

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (3.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Facilities

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Marketing
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Alumni Network
Career opportunities provided by school
Brand/Ranking

Read More

Experience during the program

SmithX Courses : One of the real time courses at Smith is the SmithX program. There are atleast couple types of SmithX courses in every track. The one I took was with the digital innovation department where we consult a startup on the Google Analytics and adwords platform to increase customer base and sales of the company. It was a fun and exciting course with lots of learning.

Student Body and Support: Another quality that I like about Smith is its closely knit community where everyone support each other. The class strength is close to 100 and so everyone gets to know each other. Let it be group projects, class team work or any other external competitions - we all support and help each other and this is what makes the school special.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Culture & Student Support

Best fit at this program:

Marketing
Tech

Can be improved:

Career opportunities provided by school

Read More

Experience during the program

Curriculum, Classes, Professors - Great coursework and professors in most of the departments especially in marketing and finance.

Student body, diversity - Program is very diverse. We had classmates from 30 different countries who helped each other though out the coursework.

Career opportunities provided by school - This is one item that's lacking in our school. We do have good career coaches who help us prepare for our career but there are not many on-campus opportunities. We need to work hard outside of school especially in various networking events to get interviews. One good opportunity that the career services provides is that we have alumni coming up to school every now and then to take mock interviews. This would help us be prepared for real interviews.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Culture & Student Support

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Marketing
Tech
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Career opportunities provided by school
Brand/Ranking

Read More

Experience during the program

The program has a very tight knit cohort. The small class size lets you get more learning opportunities, leadership opportunities and better interactions with the cohort, the faculty and the staff. There is a strong sense of community. The class room culture is very collaborative while the faculty are very knowledgable. The school offers a breadth of electives to shape your profile. The office of career services provides enough support to build your profile and prepare for an interview. It brings in a good number of employers who hire the domestic students however the international candidates are at the big disadvantage as there are very few employers willing to sponsor them. As an international student, this is the only thing I would change about the program. Otherwise it is exceptional!

Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (3.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Marketing
Entrepreneurship
Management

Can be improved:

Career opportunities provided by school
Brand/Ranking

Read More