I had the chance to visit campus yesterday and here are some interesting facts:
AACSB Accred.:
-Seperately, I asked a student, a career advisor, and a professor about the lack of accreditation. They all had the same thing to say, that no companies ask about it and it has not been an issue. The student said he does find that many employers are surprised to find out Hopkins has an MBA program, and ask him a lot of questions about the school since it is so new.
-I asked about an accreditation timeline. Everyone says it is about 1-2 years away. THey passed their latest review by the board with "flying colors". They had a committee from AACSB visit campus and go through everything during this review.
-The final components are to have tenured faculty that publish in research journals, also career services needs to correctly calculate employment rates and statistics according to certain standards, which I beleive they have been doing anyway. There is apparently a large push for professors to publish.
My background and goals are in biotech, so I asked about companies that recruit or have hired students. I was happy to hear that many large companies are interviewing and offering internships to students. These companies include Genentech, Stryker, J and J, ExpressScripts, Gilead, etc.
Career services also seems to be on top of their game. They begin the development process right away after you submit a deposit. They are getting certification in Career Coaching from some association this year.
The student I spoke with told me that he had no complaints about the school. He said that the smaller class size was a negative, but I guess that just one perspective. He also told me that the first qaurters are very hard and time consuming, heavily quantitative. He also mentioned that the class is 50% international, and that most of the international students are Chinese. He mentioned the 50% is intentional. Said the masters of finance degree they have is like 98% International Chinese.
The facilities themselves are beautiful. Located right on the water. There is a security desk at the entrance, and plenty of study space/conference rooms. Student Kitchen, library, lockers, cafeteria (shared with whole building). Most rooms look right out over the harbor and water. Bottom floor of the building has a J.Crew, Under Armor Flagship Store. Starbucks, hotels, movie theater, lululemon, gym, are all across the street.
Looks like a well run school!