Marshall (USC) MBA.PM Class of 2017 Calling all applicants!

I was admitted to USC with a low quant score and to be honest I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up in the applied statistics class. Can anyone recommend a good prep course for statistics?

Hey everyone, just got the call today and was accepted to the program! Elaine reached out to me this afternoon to deliver the good news.

Cheers,
-Phil

With the June 1 deadline coming up, has anyone heard anything about the number of open spaces left in the part time program? With the class size cut, its pretty nerve wrecking. I'm worried that I'm cutting it close to the deadline and risk being wait-listed or rejected. I just finished retaking the GMAT and am in the final stages of polishing my essay and resume. I hope to be able to submit my application soon. But reading a lot of these post has made me even more worried...

Sweet. Once a Trojan, always a Trojan?

I'm sure you don't need it but best of luck!

I've officially become a USC MBA.PM application checker addict....lol....I'm at a point in which I don't even mind a ding at this point. I just want to know!!! Still trying to patiently wait for a decision..arghhhh

Thanks

NO! Don't go to the dark side!

Hope they both work out for you though - so that you make the "right" decision.

hahahaha....I don't want too....Marshall better come thru for me again.

I was able to make a minor change to my app documents yest... So it seems as though my package is just sitting there in the queue, waiting for the next available reviewer...

Sending good energy your way. Excited to see your updates on here!

Fight on ! (?)

Good luck aspirants! I am a 2016’er and I was in your shoes last year. If you have any questions about the program or want to know more information (because the Marshall website needs some serious work), feel free to post your questions and I’ll do my best to answer them.

hahaha..Trojan mafia...I like it! I do think that folks only remember the Overall rankings, which has USC top 25....when I graduated Marshall undergrad business ranking was top 10...When I completed undergrad the economy was bad, but after 2 months of interviewing I received great offers. And I truly believe it was because of the USC name.

I am glad I can help you out. As for front-loading the units the first year, the word on the street is that years ago, first year students would try to take advantage of the Marshall Keenan Career Resource Center (CRC) to try landing internships or switch careers. Those that were able to ended up either dropping out because of the new job responsibilities + demanding classes or they ended up getting into the industry related function by using the Marshall brand and decided not to pursue the MBA journey. Again, this is purely based on rumors that has been floating around that I heard.

Please note that the CRC is open to first year students for general questions/career paths, but they will not allow you to take advantage of the career development/campus recruiting until after the core year as they want you to maintain focused on classes. After all, you do need a good foundation of business related courses before you venture off to your specialized concentrations.

The school is indeed making drastic changes to the program after our voices were heard. The program also hosts open hall meetings to speak with the board and the Dean on ways to improve the program and we see changes being made. In addition, there are lunch events with the Dean to discuss what we can do to further improve the program. Believe me though, the PM program is currently in the works of being reevaluated and it will go into effect soon. Here is an email we received:

“MBA.PM Program Development
We have seen the needle move quite a bit on the development of our program this year. Here are some updates from the key items from January.

a) January: To promote a more competitive program we will be reducing the admissions profile by approximately 25%, leaving one LA, SAT, and OC core
Update: The Class of 2017 admission numbers look solid. We have almost filled the LA and SAT
cores and are working on getting more candidates for the OC core. Since there is only one LA
core, the reduction in total admits should make our program more competitive moving forward.
There are no class profile numbers just yet.

b) Our new Academic Director is leading a review of our core curriculum and we should see changes in the academic curriculum for the 1st year. The Core curriculum has not been reviewed since 2002 so it is long overdue.
Update: Dawn Porter and a committee (including students) are working on the Core curriculum
redesign. The process is still in the planning phase and the target for the rollout is Fall of 2016.

c) The executive board has been working with the MBA administration on how to continue the recruitment of top caliber students and how to market our program better. Some of these discussions include a formal interview process for admissions, marketing strategies, promoting current student profiles, PM Ambassador Program, etc.
Update:
- The PM Ambassador Program is in its final planning phases and we should see a full rollout
in the Fall. The program will mirror the FT Ambassador Program but it will be scaled to meet
our specific PM needs.
- This last admission cycle we put more effort in improving our admission information sessions
and had students/faculty/staff call perspective students.
- On the admission front, we started in person interviews with select candidates and also gave
out scholarships to the top applicants. While the interviews and scholarships were limited this
year, the goal is to make them a standard for our program.
- We will have a “MBA.PM Class of 2017 Admissions Reception” in June. The school will
host those students who have already committed to coming to Marshall and those students
who need a little more convincing. Some students and alumni will be invited to this event to
welcome the students and share advice. A great start to eventually having larger events.”

A little bit more for those who are interested on recruiting:

“Career Placement Recap
The Class of 2014 and 2015 has combined to have the best recruiting season ever for the MBA.PM
program. The exact number of student placements has not yet been released by the Career Center but the
count of MBA level offers for MBA.PM students are over 50. Dean Gary Fraser and the Career
Center continue to increase the resources available for the MBA.PM program and there is more
involvement by students on the student club level.
Here are some sample companies that have given MBA.PM students an internship offer
this last recruiting cycle:
Amazon, Amgen, Apple Inc, AT&T, Deloitte Consulting, Eaton, EY Advisory, General Electric, HP
Consulting, IBM Global Business Services, KPMG Advisory, Little Tikes, Macquarie Group, Mattel,
Microsoft, Nordstroms, Petsmart, PWC Advisory, Shea Homes, Shell, Toyota Motor Company, UTI, The
Walt Disney Company, Wells Fargo Group, etc.”

Also, we were informed that more than ½ the Apple Inc offers were given to the PM students over the FT students so this is a very good change and Gary is leading us to the right direction. Furthermore, he mentioned that a lot of the companies were really impressed with the PM student body so the relationship is being built for the incoming class for better recruiting.

Don’t forget that a new Marshall building will be constructed and is slated to open the Fall of 2016 so you future Trojans graduating 2017 will be able to use the state of the art facility on your last year.

To answer your question if I wanted to leave Marshall for FEMBA if all my courses transferred, my answer would be no. I am very happy with where I am and with my amazing classmates. I guess my perception changed as I only saw a handful of UCLA Anderson students at the Dodger’s game mixer and a huge turnout of USC students. I was informed that the FEMBA students are not as social as most are either married with kids or are engaged. We have another social mixer with FEMBA students coming up for KBBQ and it seems like Marshall students are taking over again based on the confirmed guest list

Wow, thanks for the insight. I mean seriously I realllllyyy want to go back to USC now...lol....During the Info Session, the career center rep did mention recruitment opportunities for MBA.PM, which I think is great. I'm more of a career enhancer, but I am definitely open to opportunities.

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i agree with Choni. Great post. Thanks for summing it up. just makes me more proud to be joining a program that has such positive momentum.

Got an email this morning. I got in!

I applied the last day and got in today! I heard that this is their strongest class ever... so the smaller class size= better students

Accepted yesterday! See you guys there!