Thunderbird (Garvin)

I am seriously considering applying to T'bird due to its international reputation. I am a Korean citizen with permanent residency in the States, and would love for a chance to work for a Korean company here in the States. It seems that T'bird has great relationships with LG and Samsung.

But this thread made me a bit nervous, so I called their admissions office. The explanation for the low job placement rate were the following:

* A majority of the international students are hoping to get a job in the US but due to the difficulties lately in finding an employer who will jump through the visa hoops for the employees, it takes them a bit longer.

* A large number of international students who return to their countries decide to travel for a bit in the US (while their visa is good for one more year) before returning to their countries to find a job.

* A large number of the students from the US at T'bird hope to work in other countries. Since not many foreign corporations fly to Arizona for recruitment, these students normally relocate to their desired countries, then begin the job search there.

* Admin Officer also stressed that the salary number is a bit biased against them since so many of their students work abroad and the WSJ and other rankings convert the foreign salary to US dollar salary.

These reasons make sense to me and I know that for a fact the third reasoning is often true. My boss has a classmate who went to T'bird to work in Latin America and according to him, she loved her education at T'bird and believed that having Thunderbird on her resume helped "a small-town white girl from Connecticut" gave her a leg up.

Hope that helps!

I personally have flown to Phoenix and spent a week on campus speaking with current students, sitting in on lectures, touring the facilities, and speaking face-to-face with the Dean of Admissions. My honest, unbiased opinion is that Thunderbird is a fantastic, invigorating enviornment.

The campus is small and tightly knit. No punk undergrads or other carefree kids "skateboarding" down the mall (no offense to any boarders out there.) Thunderbird is a Southwest premium school geared strictly for the mature, open-minded, internationally focused MBA aspirant.

I saw people from dozens of different countries, all mature adults (25-40yrs old) enjoying (and of course learning) MBA life.

Besides the dry desert climate, the one main drawback is the $$$$ tuition fee. Don`t even think about applying for a merit based scholarship unless you have a 650+ GMAT and excellent credentials. Other funding is available, and usually given, after you matriculate and maintain a 3.5 GPA.

Incidentally, one of my colleagues will begin his studies at T-bird this month. He just relocated from Japan to Arizona last Friday. So if anybody has any "campus culture" related questions, I can easily shoot him an e-mail.

One final note, even though Thunderbird is ranked #66 or so, it does have a strong connection with Citicorp and GM, not to mention a host of other big corporations that actively recruit on campus every October/November.

Thunderbird is not my "dream school," but most likely my target school for fall 07.'

... to see some positive commentary about T-bird on this board. I came to this board after having accepted my place at T-bird (and having gotten a 100% scholarship), and seeing what people had to say made me question my decision.

I started at T-bird in August (who is your friend, GMATT73? I may know him!) and have been thoroughly enjoying the experience so far.

Other reasons why Tbird employment numbers and expected salaries are low: up until last year, the Career Management Center (CMC) didn't have effective tools in place to actually collect data on who had received job offers, how many offers, etc. The CMC has new personnel, though, who are stressing the importance of this information to the community.

Also, a big number of students go into International Development and take low-paying jobs at non-profits, etc. which pull the salary numbers down. I am [b]not[/b] focusing on ID and feel like the big, bad capitalist on campus.

If folks have questions about tbird, I am happy to answer them. I don't check this board often (only when I'm avoiding doing something unpleasant like homework), so I'll put my email address in the profile.

any more info on Thunderbird?
I also checked with a current student...the tbird class size is fairly large. almost double is not triple of the other mid ranked schools. i know tbird is not a top 10-20 but from amongst top 50 schools it does seem nice. would you pick it over say Katz, case western, fordham, pepperdine, moore, carey etc.
most people do say nice things about tbird. regarding placement, i too have been told that finance jobs r tougher as most jobs r in new york and chicago and firms dont fly to tbird in arizona to interview. its also quite expensive to keep flying down to NY etc frm phoenix so student susually finish their course then move to NYC and search for jobs...so the figures at graduation seems bad but in 3-6 months time its fine.
more on tbird please....

I'm also considering Thunderbird. Actually if you're going by U.S. News rankings, Thunderbird is not in the overall top 50. They are however, #1 in International Business (no. 2 is South Carolina). According to a recent article in BusinessWeek their avg GMAT is 600 and the reason why it's so low is because a lot of the international students fall behind on the verbal section. With this in mind, they offer intensive English classes during the summer for incoming 1st years.

For comparison's sake, the South Carolina MBA actually offers students the opportunity to complete their entire MBA outside the US, and in my opinion, a richer international experience. SC also offers more language tracks. On the other hand, T-Bird has greater international recognition, branding, and alumni base (spread across the world - can be a strength or weakness).



I would think West Coast is a more viable option given the shorter commute from Glendale, AZ. Thunderbird has never been known as a top finance school so if you're looking for a Wall Street career you should look elsewhere imo. Also, remember if you're an international student, spending 3-6 months looking for a job in NYC is 1/3 to 1/2 of your 1-year OPT. If you don't eventually get sponsored for a H1, would you rather, for example...6-months experience in NYC, or MBA internship + 1 year OPT at the same company in Glendale, AZ before you have to go back to your home country? Those are important factors to consider.

I second what Jennif102 said. I"m curious about the job opportunities coming out of Thunderbird too. If I graduate and I don't have a family business to go into, what companies recruit at Thunderbird? Aroman21, can you shed some light?