What do you think about these schools? I know the rankings but I wanted to know if anyone has any real experience with these schools and would recommend one over the overs. Thanks

I've done a little bit of research on these schools, and here are some of my findings and thoughts:

Rankings:
- EIU & USNews rank all 3 schools between 25~30ish
- FT has the greatest discrepancy, ranking Carlson the highest @ 27th, Olin @ 43rd, and Wisconsin @ 57th

St. Louis (Olin):
- Situated in very large metropolitan city (perhaps offers the greatest of the three in terms of big-city living & networking?).
- Among the 3, has the highest rate of MBAs who go into Consulting Services (~12-18%) upon graduation.
- Strong for Investment Banking / Corp Fin job offers too -- among banks headquartered in South/Mid-West
- However, these aren't exactly placements by the Career Services center. Looking at the "source of job offers" section in their placement report, a significant no. of graduates found their own positions.
- Anecdoteal evidence suggests that its name has more strength in the Mid/SouthWest (i.e. Regional player & regional recruiting), even though its ranked in top 30 by USNEWS.

Wisconsin:
- Curriculum offers specializations based on students' career choice. In particular the Marketing Research concentration is something I have not seen in other programs.
- Networking opportunities, internship placements, and career guidance are provided based on a student's chosen specialization.
- It's not in a big city
- I see some Fortune 500 companies on their list of recruiters, but the scope of opportunities seems limited in Madison, WI.
- I would imagine that newly-minted MBAs from this school are considering travelling to other MidWest cities to find jobs (Milwaukee, Chicago etc.)

Carlson:
- Haven't done much research on this school except I know it has the lowest placements in Consulting among the three (~6%)
- Seem to have a long list of Fortune 500 recruiters.
- VERY cold, and you may not like being all the way up North.

Agree with the previous poster that it depends what you want.

I have done finance (mostly M&A) for the past 6 years. Recently been doing more Market Research (for about 1.5 years) and I like it. I think it suits me better. So I think I would like to focus more on strategy/marketing post MBA.

I was thinking about Wisconsin but I'm not sure if I'm ready to just focus on Market Research or just Brand Management or something else. I would like some flexibility to "refine" my decision.

Carlson, I like it's focus on healthcare but I'm afraid that I will be limited to the Twin Cities area post MBA.

Washington University, I actually have undergrad from this school, and am possibly thinking going there FT or PT. Any suggestions? My employer would not pay though.

olin is best!