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kryzak
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Just how good is USC Marshall? 27 Jul 2007, 02:00
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Been pondering applying there as a somewhat safety school. Just how good are they? I know they're:

- Trans Elite
- Ranked in the top 30
- placement will probably be local/west coast/cali
- trying hard to improve their rankings

Just wanted to see if any more experienced people have opinions on USC.
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Just how good is USC Marshall? 27 Jul 2007, 02:11
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USC is good for Entrepreneurship. But if you want to add one more back-up school to your list as safety school I would suggest UNC or Emory in term of its scholarship, location, placement for consulting and IB, and ranking. But if you target only on top schools and you think a top 5 is doable, Darden, Cornell, or UT is also a good choice. However, choosing a back-up school depends much on your profile and it's expected this year is also a very competitive year.

kryzak
Been pondering applying there as a somewhat safety school. Just how good are they? I know they're:

- Trans Elite
- Ranked in the top 30
- placement will probably be local/west coast/cali
- trying hard to improve their rankings

Just wanted to see if any more experienced people have opinions on USC.
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GMATT73
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Just how good is USC Marshall? Updated on: 27 Jul 2007, 20:30
Originally posted by GMATT73 on 27 Jul 2007, 04:05.
Last edited by GMATT73 on 27 Jul 2007, 20:30, edited 1 time in total.
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You must be pretty confident with your stats to view USC as a "backup school." I have an acquaintence matriculating at Duke this fall after having been dinged at Marshall during R1 last December. He's pretty solid all around, including a 730 GMAT.

West of the Mississippi, USC ranks in the top five (disclaimer: 6~10 are debatable) and has recently forged a sister school international alliance with CEIBS.

1. Stanford
2. Haas
3. Anderson
4. Marshall
5. McCombs
6. BYU
7. Davis
8. Irvine
9. Washington
10. T-bird
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Just how good is USC Marshall? 27 Jul 2007, 08:53
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I was thinking the other way. kryzak seems to have a good profile. So if he wants to add another school (Which is somewhat safe for him), he should focus on the Darden - Cornell cluster.

Needless to say that the biggest problem with applying to safety schools is to ensure that your application doesn't "hint" that the school is a safety school for you. I should know .. as I am also going to apply to a safety school (Either H or S) :twisted:
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Just how good is USC Marshall? 27 Jul 2007, 10:48
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I hate to concur with the rest of you guys - as an alumni of USC and having done my masters in engineering management (took classes in Marshall, as a degree requisite), I have nothing but a very poor opinion of the school.

The reasons are as follows -

1. Piss poor (I cant use any conciliatory language) job services - The Taco Bell across the street provides better job placement services.

2. Alumni is too localised and concentrated in the LA/OC region - good for you if you want to settle specifically in LA, horrible if you want to venture out in the rest of the country.

3. Teaching is sub-par.

4. Recruiting is done mostly by local Big 4 and a handful of consulting companies - some boutique - no signs of IB, big consulting firms, or even general management firms.

5. School is over-hyped and placed too high in rankings - as suggested by a forum member, Emory, or UNC is a better school than USC.

6. Dean has no clue where to take the school - too unfocused. He is just riding the wave of USC's football success and using it to brand the MBA program.

If you have a sugar daddy/mama in store and just want to go to USC to get the University of Spoiled Children tag and end up working for a local management firm in OC, the school is perfect for you - else avoid it like the plague.

I do not wish to offend any current USC MBA students, nor do I wish to bad mouth my alma mater, but a MBA is a serious decision, and I believe a fair and rational point of view must be adopted. USC fails on all counts to satisfy the requirements of the students.
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Just how good is USC Marshall? 27 Jul 2007, 13:21
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aviroop
I hate to concur with the rest of you guys - as an alumni of USC and having done my masters in engineering management (took classes in Marshall, as a degree requisite), I have nothing but a very poor opinion of the school.

The reasons are as follows -

1. Piss poor (I cant use any conciliatory language) job services - The Taco Bell across the street provides better job placement services.

2. Alumni is too localised and concentrated in the LA/OC region - good for you if you want to settle specifically in LA, horrible if you want to venture out in the rest of the country.

3. Teaching is sub-par.

4. Recruiting is done mostly by local Big 4 and a handful of consulting companies - some boutique - no signs of IB, big consulting firms, or even general management firms.

5. School is over-hyped and placed too high in rankings - as suggested by a forum member, Emory, or UNC is a better school than USC.

6. Dean has no clue where to take the school - too unfocused. He is just riding the wave of USC's football success and using it to brand the MBA program.

If you have a sugar daddy/mama in store and just want to go to USC to get the University of Spoiled Children tag and end up working for a local management firm in OC, the school is perfect for you - else avoid it like the plague.

I do not wish to offend any current USC MBA students, nor do I wish to bad mouth my alma mater, but a MBA is a serious decision, and I believe a fair and rational point of view must be adopted. USC fails on all counts to satisfy the requirements of the students.
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Did you graduate recently, or more than 3 years ago? It seems that USC had a problem, but are now addressing it and moving up.
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aviroop
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Just how good is USC Marshall? 27 Jul 2007, 14:10
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kryzak,
I graduated last may (may 06).

The school is making statements about going up, it will show its growth and all through lots of campaigns, but I have met so many MBA students from that school who bring a completely different image. I have 2 USC MBA alumni working at my office and they are just one post ahead of me. In Los Angeles the only good MBA schools is UCLA.

USC does not come within 10 ft of it.

I am not trying to scare you kryzak, or trying to make you not apply to USC - but I strongly suggest that you apply somewhere else.

To drive home the point, visit the recruiting pages of all I Banks, consulting firms like McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or even top notch management firms, you will not see USC MBA on their schools to visit list. Not a single one of them.
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kryzak
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Just how good is USC Marshall? 27 Jul 2007, 14:14
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Thanks for your candid and honest post about USC aviroop! Those are good points and definitely did its job in dissuading me to apply for USC. I think I will stick with the Elite and Ultra-Elites for now and hope for the best. For trans-elite, since they're more local by nature, I needed one that was on the West Coast, and USC seemed like a good candidate, but no longer.