Best two years of my life

Experience during the program

McCombs delivered a transformational experience to me. I successfully changed my career to finance. I made many lifelong friends. At the same time, it completely changed the way I think.

Location:

-Austin is a great place to live. Climate is great all year round. Tons of places to enjoy, whether you like food, outdoor sports, or bars. Every Thursday, we have a "Think 'n' Drink" social event at a different bar in downtown.

-If you know, Austin is also called "Silicone Hills." So McCombs offers a lot of experiential opportunities at local companies as extracurricular projects. That has been a great opportunity for me to build my resume in the new career I am switching to.

-Austin is also full of start-ups and VC firms. If you are thinking to launch your own business, this is also a great place to be. Plus McCombs has incredible resources for entrepreneurs.

Career: Most people come to b-school to change careers. Texas MBA opened a lot of doors for me. Most consulting firms, investment banks, and many F500 companies recruit here.

Student body: Very smart and extremely collaborative. People always help each other, whether with job interview prep, or coursework. McCombs brought a group of diverse people together, so I constantly got inspired by the diversity of thought when I interact with my peers.

Alumni Network: McCombs has a very strong alumni network. The alumni are very warm and very willing to help.

Facility: It is disappointing that we still can't move to the new building - Rowling Hall. I am not sure if I will still have a chance to sit in a class in the new building before graduation, but the class of 2019 and future classes will enjoy it for sure.

Career services: I feel this is the only thing McCombs needs to improve. We have very strong professional clubs. If you want to be a consultant or a banker, you are in good hands. For other career paths, the support you can get from CMC is really limited, although you can always get help from peers, second years, professors and alumni.

About professors, classes and curriculum

I would be lying if I told you all my professors were great. But I must say most of my professors (core classes and electives) are top notch. They are not only good researchers, but also excellent teachers. They know how to deliver knowledge and develop your skills. They love students, so they care about us. Whenever needed, they are always accessible and ready to help, even after you graduate.

Our class discussion is always inspiring. TBH, I visited other peer schools (top 15) before applying, and I was very impressed of McCombs' student quality. That is one reason why I decided to attend MBA here. As expected, my peers never let me down.

Core classes are arranged in quarter system, and most of them are done in the fall semester of the first year. You have a new set of classes every 7 weeks. Things moved very fast in the first year. In the Spring semester of the first year, electives started to kick in. This is very helpful before going to intern - at least you can demonstrate to your employer that you've already known something if you are changing your career.

McCombs has a wide range of electives to offer each semester to satisfy 10+ concentrations. I found the curriculum is very well rounded. In case you have special needs, you can always take classes from other schools (e.g. Law, LBJ Public Affairs, and so on).

I feel McCombs offers more global opportunities than peers schools, such as Global Connections (every year we have different routes during spring break), Short-term overseas study programs (10-day programs in Germany, Denmark, Austria, or Israel), and semester long exchange student programs (many top b-school all over the world). Those study tours are absolutely some of my highlights.

About job placement process

Of the top tier consulting firms, only McKinsey doesn't come (I don't know why), although we still have people who are hired by McKinsey this year. All bulge bracket banks hire on campus.

For corporate jobs, big tech firms (e.g. Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Dell), CPG firms (e.g. P&G, Pepsi, Kraft, Dr. Pepper), Gas and oil companies (e.g. Exxon Mobil, Conoco, Chevron), Airlines (Southwest, American Airline)... all come to hire. You will have a pretty good shot to get an internship or full-time job through CMC's job board. International students probably have a better chance at consulting/banking/tech firms, given the current visa sponsorship situation.

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

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Alumni Network
Career opportunities provided by school
Location

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Marketing
Investment Banking
Tech
Entrepreneurship
Management

Can be improved:

Brand/Ranking