Calling all Minnesota (Carlson) 2011 Applicants!

Did anyone go to the Carlson Up Close event this past weekend? Any thoughts?

I did, did you?
Few quick impressions.

Positive
1) The caliber of the students were higher than I expected. I personally met 2 students who were accepted to Darden and Ross, respectively, and they were offered a full ride at Carlson and were seriously considering Carlson. So the school does a good job spending money to recruit the best students. Also met a student who was interviewed at Harvard.

2) I believe the faculty would be on par with those from the top 10 schools, or at most, slightly below.

3) Small class size means personal attention, both from faculty and staff which is a unique attribute to Carlson.

Negative
1) Most recruiting comes from the twin cities, so it would be difficult to get a job anywhere else.
2) Carlson name brand fades quickly outside the midwest.

Overall, it was a positive experience for me and has pushed me towards matriculating this fall.

What did you think?

I went as well and I gotta say I came away very impressed. Here are some factors that impressed me...

1. How much Carlson shelled out for the event. Between plane tickets, hotel rooms, food, swag, and the rest, they definitely know how how to make students wanted. They also gave out like 8 $1000 scholarships.

2. That applications are up 30% from last year, and that Carlson said this year has been their most competitive year ever. I'm glad I didn't know this before, as I would probably have been significantly more nervous while waiting for my decision.

3. Job prospects within the Minneapolis area. Make no mistake, if you go to Carlson you should be comfortable living in Minneapolis not just this year, but for years to come. They didn't say it outright, but it was fairly clear that your best opportunities are going to come from within the Minneapolis area.

4. The enterprise programs. I had obviously been aware of the programs, but I came away even more impressed with them after attending Up Close. If you're thinking about changing careers (like I am), then you should view the enterprise programs as a pretty great selling point. You're going to get some SIGNIFICANT experience to add to your resume.

5. The people. Current Students, Admitted Students, Professors, Admissions Staff, everyone was just great. Friendly, non-competitive, easy to talk with. Definitely seems like a good group.

Overall I went into the weekend not sure on Carlson, and came away with Carlson as my far and away number 1 choice. Great weekend!

I was impressed by the whole weekend -- it was definitely a lot better than I had expected. The staff, faculity, current students, and prospective students all were extremely nice and welcoming. I felt that the whole atmosphere just fit me better. Going into this weekend I had Carlson high on my list for schools (given that I do want to stay in the Twin Cities area), and this event just moved the school to my top choice.

The only thing about the weekend that I didn't like was that I wasn't one of the 8 people that won a $1000 scholarship. I plan on submitting my deposit this week and matriculating in the fall.

Oh yeah, to add to your comment regarding the faculity being on par with those from top 10 schools. As a Minneapolis native, I've always known that the University of Minnesota had great graduate schools and great research (look at Carlson, the law school, the med school, etc.). Looking at Carlson's (and the Economics department's) PhD student placement, many PhD grads go to top 10/15 schools. Additionally, a lot of the faculity come from schools like Northwestern, M.I.T., Standford, etc. My feeling is that many of the Carlson professors that came from other schools were tired of doing pure research in such a competitive environment, and they decided to make the switch to Carlson to relax a little and focus on teaching over research.

I was only able to make it for the Saturday events, but overall I was very impressed with the program. Going in, I thought I was going to accept to the other school I got in to, even with a generous scholarship from Carlson, but I left completely unsure of what I'm going to do. I've got a week to figure this out Luckily, I'm choosing between two great options.

Jack, is that you?
It's a shame you could make it on Friday, I would say that it was more informative than the activities on Saturday. If you had, maybe you wouldn't even be thinking twice:)

Ok, I decided to take the scholarship and come to Carlson next year. See all of you in the fall!

Hi Guys!!! I have been admitted to the Carlson MBA for Fall 2011 and wanted to reach out to my future classmates.... N I wanna thank all of you for writing extremely informative comments with great analysis of the various features of the program...

Also, Can we set up a group on FB or something to connect?