Auburn University - Harbert College of Business

The Full-Time MBA at the Harbert College of Business at Alabama’s Auburn University is a lock-step curriculum in which students enter with their cohort and leave with their cohort an expedited sixteen months later, fulfilling core requirements, electives, and an international trip along the way. Life at Auburn University offers students “the ability to be challenged and excel at the same time,” while the MBA program is “affordable and welcoming to students,” with many graduate assistantships awarded to MBA students to help offset tuition costs. The facilities are “high-quality and easily accessed,” and the classrooms integrate technology so that classes are recorded and available for viewing later (“which helps with studying”).

Professors “take the time to get to know everyone in the program and go above and beyond to help in any way possible” and will “bend over backwards to accommodate students.” They are “fair and open to criticism if students think something is unclear” and “teach with a passion and deep understanding of their respective subjects”: every professor and administrator at Auburn University “is there to help the students succeed” and “does a great job of integrating real-world experience into their curriculum.” They will “always make time for any student that is having issues in a course or that is wanting to know more information about a subject they are interested in” and “enjoy questions, participation and even constructive criticism.” The program format also cultivates an “amazing team work environment” where everyone “gets along well and enjoys each other’s company” and values intellectual contribution.

Auburn University has a strong regional and national brand associated with the MBA and the Harbert College of Business overall, and it offers “an incredible value and potential for a huge return on investment when it comes to the cost of [an] MBA education.” Most students here come from business backgrounds and plan to stay in typical business-minded industries, but unlike many other universities, Auburn allows those with no work experience to pursue their MBA immediately after their undergraduate degree. Although this means the program skews much younger than most business schools, this is a “unique offering that makes [the school] special,” and students are “extremely talented and eager to learn.” Those that have less than two years work experience are also required to complete a summer internship in between their second and third semesters. The administration is “always working to improve our Auburn experience,” and “works very hard to strengthen Auburn's reputation in the professional world.” Additionally, the school’s network is legendary, and “Auburn alumni always look out for one another.”

Students here are “welcoming, generous and very bright,” and within the confines of the business school, there is “an easily-developed familiarity among students and faculty.” Non-academic life is filled with “social events, night life, team sports (college football is huge here),” and “an active lifestyle is enormously encouraged.” Many students come from areas in the southeastern part of the U.S. (not to mention from the undergraduate school itself), so "’southern hospitality’ is definitely a prevailing trait amongst the Auburn student population.” Each cohort “has a family feel and genuinely cares about one another.” There are tons of activities available to students outside of class, ranging from attending sports games, participating in intramural sports, hobby clubs, and “plenty of philanthropy options that range from Habitat for Humanity to food drives.” Football is king in the season, and “those game day experiences in the fall are the kind that create lasting memories.”