Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business

The Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University offers a highly selective, well-respected MBA program that emphasizes both leadership and strategic analytics through experiential learning, communication-oriented projects and presentations, and a “quantitative approach to content frequently seen as qualitative.” The three mini-semesters of the first year are devoted to the fundamentals such as finance and quantitative analysis, while the second year allows students to choose electives. The Tepper School administration always takes students’ opinions into account regarding professors and workshops, and “actively works to include programming that we want” while removing undesired programming. “Given the small size, if you want to start or change something about the school, it’s pretty easy to do,” says a student. Carnegie Mellon overall is very involved in new technology (such as artificial learning and autonomous vehicles), and “that passion for innovation can be found in the business school as well.” The Tepper School MBA is “famous for its analytics approach,” and the data-driven approach to course material is possibly “the greatest strength of the school.” The school is “always trying to be at the vanguard of the constantly evolving business world” and classes include “a good mix of theory, cases, and hands-on experience.” Professors “have both industrial and research backgrounds” that they regularly work into the course material. They try to incorporate recent trends into their course materials, and students feel they are “setting the state of the technology, not talking about it.” “The academic experience has been challenging but there were so many resources available to enable my success,” sums up a student.

Tepper School academics may be rigorous but “there are tons of social events to balance it,” including “plenty of activities, events and information sessions about a great variety of themes.” The student clubs are wide-ranging and very helpful in shaping the student experience. Besides developing and executing programming, student organizations also “engage with alumni—globally-renowned business leaders—and plan corporate presentations/visits that truly enhance the professional and personal development at Tepper.” Clubs plan treks to visit companies in major U.S cities and abroad, as well as “cool events” at Pittsburgh hot spots that allow students to “connect with local groups (i.e. social groups, religious groups, innovation groups) to expose [them] to opportunities and networks in Pittsburgh.” The road to post-graduation employment is well-trod, thanks to “strong and helpful” network of alums in every industry and top firms, as well as “active outside recruiting and visits by companies.” Recent Tepper School MBA graduates have gone on to employment and a wide variety of industries and companies, including Amazon.com, Deloitte, GlaxoSmithKline, Accenture, Strategy&, McKinsey & Company, KPMG Consulting, PwC, General Mills, Unilever, AOL, Google, Intel Corporation, Morgan Stanley, and Wachovia.

Tepper School MBA students are “incredibly intelligent and driven” but “not cutthroat,” and exhibit a “strong sense of commitment to the community.” Significant others “are welcomed with open arms” (“Partners of students are integrated so well into the program that I sometimes don’t know who is the partner and who is the student,” says one MBA), and students do a lot of fun things together, such as “sailing in the BVIs [and] spontaneous weekend trips.” David Tepper (‘82) also happens to be “super generous” and regularly offers students tickets to his box at Steelers, Pirates and Penguins games. Diversity is a huge factor here and “the school strongly reinforces that in our culture.” The school has a “giving back” culture where “second years help first years [and] all students help each other, without asking for it in return.” It’s a “friendly, competitive atmosphere” in which “everyone is gunning for top jobs, but also wants to help their peers succeed.” Tepper School MBA students “interact with the rest of campus through clubs, mixed degree courses, case competitions, and startups.”