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My journey with Mason School of Business started back in the spring of 2013, when I first heard of it from someone who knew someone studying there. I believe that is how most international students end up choosing their schools. I was impressed by the professionalism and warmth of the admissions staff and was certainly awestruck by the beauty of the campus. Finally, when I had all of my offers, I ended up choosing Mason and joined their full-time MBA class of 2016. I will divide the remainder of my review into sections, the names of which would be self-explanatory.
1. Why I chose Mason: To put it simply, Mason was the best that I got. I know many students start preparing for GMAT dreaming of the IVY League, but in reality, maybe 1% or even less end up there. Mason was a decent option for me, it was ranked in the top 100 schools list of FT and was the best option for me considering several factors like tuition costs, scholarship etc.
2. What I liked about Mason:
Mason School of business has several areas where it shines out. Just to name a few-the faculty, executive partners, infrastructure, really thought out field trips, student community and corporate field consultancy projects. I am sure, any student doing their research on the school would find out more about the things I mentioned.
3. What I did not like about Mason:
The Career Services Department(called CMC by Masonites) could use some major improvement, if not a complete overhaul. I feel that this is one of the most important departments in any business school, because the ultimate aim of most people getting an MBA is to end up at a good job. While it is not that the CMC does not do its job at all, but its student support is definitely not up to the mark. What I also found is that most of the events it conducted, including inviting companies on campus, were less aimed towards the international students.
4. Did Mason meet my needs, goals and expectations?
To the most extent, yes. If I had to rate my overall experience, I would give it a 3.6/5. Most of my expectations were met. I got a good education and a valuable degree in the process, and to put it simply, I achieved some, if not most of my goals and I hope I would meet the rest of them in the coming years, I am still almost fresh out of school.
5. Will I recommend Mason to future students?
Yes, I will. Like most of the things that I have mentioned in my review so far, my experience was mostly positive. Most importantly, the school provides an environment very conducive to career growth and professional development. I may not be particularly happy with the CMC, but I know that they are not to be blamed alone, maybe I did not use them like I should've. But one thing is for certain, I wouldn't recommend an MBA to anyone who is under the impression that getting an MBA alone would take you places. Even if an MBA helps build the bridge to get to places, in the end it's still you who has to make the journey.
The way the MBA curriculum is set up at the school is quite brilliant, although I have a few gripes about it, mostly concerning the curriculum during the spring semester of second year. The work load on students is quite heavy during this semester, and considering that this is the final semester for full time students, most are busy looking for jobs (if you are not one of the lucky ones who has one already). I believe, a way to make this better would be to divide up the workload during the final year more evenly between the fall and the spring semester, considering that the fall semester is a cakewalk for most students. A way to do this is to offer a few of the electives during the fall semester as well, as most of them are now offered during spring.
Overall BSchool experience (3.0)
Schools contribution (2.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)
Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Alumni Network
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Finance
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Operations/Logistics, Business Analytics
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Specialization in a particular area (e.g. Finance, Consulting, Healthcare, etc)