University of Arizona - Eller College of Management

The Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona is “recognized as one of the nation’s leading business schools” in MIS and entrepreneurship, many students here report. And “the weather doesn’t hurt, either” adds one happy student.

Experiential learning plays an important part in the Eller curriculum; students identify this as “one of the greatest strengths” of the program. One MBA explains how it works: “In the spring semester, MBAs work in teams with local businesses to assess real-world problems, make strategic recommendations, and ultimately assist the businesses in solving those problems.” Another tells us, “The experiential learning is more than just a resume builder. It’s a very real, very challenging experience, designed to prepare students for future leadership positions.” The school’s strong “relationship with key businesses” in the area plays a key role in making the experiential learning component a success.

Students also appreciate that class sizes at Eller “are small enough that the students have easy access to professors…. Students are able to develop relationships and personal bonds with professors.” These personal touches permeate the program’s administration as well. One student reports, “The administrative staff adds great value to the student experience…[and] goes out of its way to help students find whatever they need. Crossdiscipline courses, job opportunities, highly tailored informational interviews—the administration works hard to provide students with any resources they need.” At the other end of the size spectrum is the university-at-large. It is huge, and this too is seen as an asset; “With a large campus, the business students can take advantage of wonderful resources for the entire school,” one student explains.

Eller professors “are very engaging and add significant value. The tenured staff places a strong emphasis on real-world experiences, ranging from case competitions judged by working professionals to company site visits.” Instructors “are also very available for office hours and discussion outside of class. This creates an atmosphere of ‘twenty-four-hour learning.’”

The Office of Career Management aims to provide highly personalized service to each individual student, in the process of helping them plan and achieve their career goals. The office organizes five annual job fairs on campus, networking events with alumni, compa- ny visits, and financial support for students who want to go to national MBA job fairs. The office further supports students in their job search through professional development workshops, interview preparation, resume preparation, and professional mentoring.

Companies most likely to hire Eller MBAs include Emerson, Deloitte, Discover, AT&T, Intel, Henkel, Bard, Roche, PetSmart, US Airways, Raytheon, Sandia National Labs, APS, Solon, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and WalMart.

“Great weather and a very nice campus” soften the edges of Eller ’s intense program in graduate business study. Those who want to do better than scrape by will need to exert themselves, however; “excelling in all classes and electives requires an intense work week,” students report. Program cohesion is enhanced through group work (the pro- gram requires “continuous case competitions, group projects, and presentations”) and “lots of networking activities (e.g., happy hours, philanthropy, coed intramural sports teams).” Eller hosts “numerous guest speakers and [provides] chances to learn more with outside class activities.” Students “work very hard but play hard as well. Everyone knows everyone else and there is a standing invite to any social events.” Eller ’s “friendly, conservative, helpful, hard-working, social, busy” students form “a small group” who as a result are “very close. Everyone works together and helps others succeed while remain- ing competitive with people from other schools (instead of walking over people from the same program).” It’s “a very diverse [group] with backgrounds ranging from Peace Corps workers to former hedge fund traders. We have military officers and students with private consulting backgrounds.”