Thunderbird (Garvin)

Question

Thunderbird is well known for its strength in international business. It has been operating since 1946 and is located in Glendale, Arizona (in the Phoenix metro area).

FT2005 places Thunderbird #66 worldwide, tied with Washington University and nearby Arizona State, and ahead of South Carolina and UC Davis.

https://www.thunderbird.edu/students/deg ... /index.htm

Antmavel · Answer

https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=13738

The program seems nice, I've always been very interested in studying International Business, however today there are very few local market, everything is worldwide and I can not imagine that in the top 10/20/30 there are no schools studying it... so is the school so famous for this specialization in Internatioal business ?

Moreover I can't understand how the school can be ranked 1st for international business in many newspapers but at the same time in the new Financial Times ranking, this school has the worst score for the employment after 3 months : 43%

I think it's really an important criteria when you choose your MBA, you want to be sure to get at least a better job than now. I know Ranking are not everything but if you're the lowest, there must be some reason so the core classes seem great but the result is that after 3 months half of the people are jobless

That's why I have a lot of difficulties to analyze clearly this school...if anybody can help or give ideas/opinions about this school it would be really appreciated. Thanks.

Antoine

Hjort · Answer

Antmarvel makes some good points regarding Thunderbird. It is certainly recognized in intl business/management. I had trouble locating detailed placement statistics regarding Thunderbird. Since most students seek MBAs for the ROI aspects, the lack of detailed information makes me a bit nervous. To be fair, however, I might have been looking in the wrong place for the information. Further, Thunderbird attracts a number of impressive recruiters.

venksune · Answer

I think that most Thunderbird students go back to their homecountry and seek work. I have known a few of them working for Johnson & Johnson in Mumbai, India. I also know that few of them owned big businesses within India - son of Mirc elctronics, the famous ONIDA televisions in India. So, I presume abig chunk of the population within Thunderbird is either relocating to their home country or have their own thriving businesses. Quite likely that this data is not captured. I heard from one alumni that there were number of Americans seeking jobs outside the USA and perhaps this data is not reflected. 

Also, 50% placements out of 700 is still a large number compared to 90% placements out of a smaller group of 200 - in some of the 2 yr MBA courses. 

If others can throw more light into this matter, it would be great.

Hjort · Answer

Venksune makes a good point regarding the count of students from Thunderbird each year. Has anyone been able to locate detailed employment information for Thunderbird?

Hjort · Answer

Exec Bios

https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=13835

https://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_8134_8302_7654

https://www.guidant.com/about/management/sainz.shtml

https://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier. ... 8a8023488c

https://www.cat.com/cda/layout?m=37466&x=7

Hjort · Answer

Value Considerations https://www.thunderbird.edu/students/adm ... n_fees.htm FT2005 Value for Money: #68, below Arizona (Eller) and Arizona State but above Pepperdine

aroman21 · Answer

I have a few friends who are T'Bird grads and they all tell me this is NOT the place to go for finance. Those who wanted to go into finance post-MBA landed jobs that were not that great and yes most of the int'l T'Bird students went back home, where usually they have their own connections. I strongly encourage you to some serious due diligence (more than avg.) when you look into this school.

Antmavel · Answer

thank you aroman, it is nice to have feedback like this in this forum...actually I also have difficulties to evaluate this school....

aroman21 · Answer

If you have any specific questions on T'Bird I can ask my people for you...Just let me know...

Jennif102 · Answer

So like, what kind of job opportunities do you have coming out of Thunderbird if you are just a plain white girl from Jersey who wants to work in the International Business spectrum on some level? 

 As much as I'd lke to have a father who owns a giant technology or media company in India, I just don't see that in my cards right now!

Puilunchristin · Answer

I just recently purchased the PR book, 237 Best Business School, 2006 Edition and I've always looked at some reviews on Businessweek regarding this school. Most of the people that reviewed this school comments on the great international exposure and the experience. But yet, I still can't seem to understand why there is such a low placement rate. No one really explains why that's the case, whether most of the students go back to their own country, or they just dind't find a job. I mean, even though a majority of their students are foreign, I am sure that there are US students as well, what happens to those students? Does anyone know more abotu this school?

Hjort · Answer

Have you contacted aroman21?

Puilunchristin · Answer

Yes I have...he just mentioned that the career placement isn't that good at this school, but no one really knows why. 

The program is appealing and I've spoken to some alumnis too, many of them says that they found jobs in the US (but note that these are the ones that were from the US, not foreign students). So it's quite confusing of what to believe. I am just wondering even if the career placement for the school isn't that great, are there exceptionals if students do not utilize the career services but just find employment on their own?

Hjort · Answer

Yes, personal networks are often the best means of finding jobs. But students with strong personal networks probably could have found a decent job even if they had attended the most marginally competent business school imaginable. The best schools allow you to tap into the school's exstensive employment connections at the same time as you dramtically enhance your personal network.

Jennif102 · Answer

I did meet with someone from Admissions at Thunderbird a few weeks ago and he said the low placement rate is a combo of students holding out for the dream job (which may not come until after graduation) and also the fact that the companies coming to recruit aren't exactly the big investment banks that come on a campus like Penn and take dozens of people. I would imagine various government orgs that recruit there may not grab up as many people as an I-bank would

anilsk0071 · Answer

I met a recruiter from T-Bird recently. I really liked the honesty with which the recruiter appraised my chances and spoke about the college. However, what I did not gather was whether the career placement team at T'Bird was that great. Personally I have met some people (incl the ex-Country Manager for Comp Assoc in India) who were from this college and hold faboulous jobs. And I have also met others who are not that well off.... and this is true of people I know from McCombs and Cox. So T'Bird remains a mystery just like McCombs etc., Some of my friends who passed out from T'Bird (betn 1999 & 2001) have great jobs in the US and some even in Philippines and India. However, what is the school's relevance in 2005 when everything is already global and international is another area of concern to me.

Hjort · Answer

It is interesting how this issue keeps coming up. I reviewed my notes on Thunderbird and found them less than reassuring. 

I previously compared Thunderbird's employment over several years with employment at ten other NEF schools. Thuderbird was consistently last or second to last every year. My comparison matched Thunderbird against neighboring schools Arizona and ASU; it lost every time. I compared it with some of the rest belt NEFs such Ohio State and Case Western- it lost every time. I compared it with SMU and Rice in Texas; it lost every time. The only school that Thunderbird outperformed in any year in this set was South Carolina. 

It should be noted that Thunderbird has a larger percentage of international students than these other schools which might explain some of the weakness in employment.

Puilunchristin · Answer

Do you think Thunderbird is worth to apply with it's low placement rates? What percentage of placement rate would you believe is decent for any school?

Hjort · Answer

To be fair, students' needs differ so I am reluctant to set a universal rule across all MBA programs. That said, however, a reasonable minimum standard for schools in the NE/NEF clusters would be at least 50% employment at graduation every year, regardless of the state of the economy. If the majority of students are unemployed at graduation, one should have serious doubts about the perceived value of an education from that school.

Thunderbird (Garvin)

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