Small program on the rise

Experience during the program

Favorite Aspects:
- Students: The community at Foster is truly collaborative and tight-knit. Given the small class size (~130), you really get to know and learn from your classmates. The admissions team does a wonderful job curating a diverse and vibrant class. Be prepared to contribute - the small class size means everyone participates, be it in clubs or in the classroom.

- Opportunities: Foster's network within Seattle is fantastic. The opportunities with local employers rival those from any other school. While we're known for sending a lot of the class into tech (Microsoft, Amazon, etc.), a large portion goes into consulting, finance, and marketing roles as well. If the Pacific Northwest is where you want to be post-MBA, there is no better option than Foster.

Room for improvement:
- Ranking/Reputation: Foster has moved up the rankings quickly over the last 5 or so years. The school is benefiting from Seattle's growth and is able to attract a lot of talent to the program. The program seems to have stalled out around the 20-30 rank range however, despite the efforts of the program office and students to move up.

- Space: All of Foster's programs are in the same building. This means team meeting rooms, classroom space, and large meeting areas are often shared between MBA students, undergrads, and other masters students. A scene that plays out often is MBAs kicking undergrads out of the "MBA only" team rooms on the third floor. PACCAR Hall is a beautiful and modern space, but this also draws crowds. The space issue is a minor thing, but at times it gets annoying.

About professors, classes and curriculum

Several core classes stand above the others for their quality. For example, Professor Gilbert's core finance class has changed a lot of people's minds about the subject and inspired them to pursue careers in finance. And Professor Hillier's Quantitative Methods class has equipped students with valuable, practical modeling tools that can be immediately applied in an internship or full-time role.

About job placement process

Final thoughts:

The school is on the rise and will likely continue to grow in popularity. Career management invests a lot of time and resources into every student for a very personalized experience. Recruiting for opportunities outside of Seattle and the Bay Area will be more difficult as the school's brand doesn't as strongly the further east you go. Best way to see if you'd like Foster is to come visit. We love to host perspective students!

Some examples (not all!) of companies that recruit and offer internships/full time roles for Foster students:

-Tech (PM roles): Microsoft, Amazon, Google, VMWare, Zynga
-Consulting: Deloitte, PwC, Accenture, Alvarez and Marsal. To a lesser extent (not-target but still have opportunities): McKinsey and BCG. Plus a lot of local firms (Point B, Slalom, 2A, Revel, etc.).
-Finance/Marketing/Strategy/Other: Nordstrom, T-Mobile, Starbucks, Goldman Sachs, Nike

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

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Career opportunities provided by school
Culture & Student Support

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Tech
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Brand/Ranking