University of Massachusetts Amherst - Isenberg School of Management

The Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst offers a flexible MBA degree with the backing and resources of one of the nation’s top research universities. Students have the option of a Full-Time, Online, or Part-Time MBA; every Full-Time student receives a two-year Fellowship that entirely funds their degree, making it “extremely affordable and beneficial,” and Part-Time MBA students have the option of completing two courses before the program begins, as well as attending classes at one of the satellite campuses. All new students begin their MBA program with a three-day Leadership Orientation Session, also known as “MBA bootcamp,” where they learn soft skills, complete team building exercises, and listen to a panel of Isenberg alumni talk about career paths. Students can choose from a number of focus areas (including Business Analytics, Healthcare Administration, and Sports Management), and the hybrid style of learning involving theory, hands-on practice, and working with companies facing real life business challenges means that “classwork is challenging but valuable.” “[Members of the] administration often are very close with students” and are “easily accessible and always looking to improve the student experience.”

Isenberg professors “do an amazing job and clearly care about students’ success.” Either within or outside class, they “are very open to assisting students”; the program is very much run like an organization where “communication and teamwork is essential,” which “truly prepares the students to hit the ground running once they are within their respective industries.” The program is “designed to build a community that works together and creates a whole that is better than the sum of its parts.”

The Career Center at UMass “goes above and beyond to help students in their job search and facilitate alumni connections,” and there “are constantly networking and social events to attend.” From the focus on integrating the online MBA program to the emphasis on alumni relations, “this program continues to push the boundaries on what should be expected from an MBA program.” The design of the first-year curriculum—an integrated practicum in which all students are placed in teams and assigned a local consulting project that is incorporated into all coursework—is incredibly useful in terms of experiential learning and internship possibilities, and the administration is keenly aware of “desired future opportunities.” The school has a great reputation with corporate partners and the business world in general, and the Isenberg Fellowship “removes some of the financial pressure that prevents students from going back to school or requires them to tap into careers with a certain earning potential.”

Amherst has several colleges, making the area “a rich cultural hub, with ample concerts and performances and access to museums, restaurants and galleries.” The UMass community is very large and offers “many diverse forms of activity and social life,” which means “you can generally find anything you want to do at UMass.” The Graduate Business Association “does an incredible job creating social events” for cohorts, including well-attended “trivia nights, hikes, movie nights and other social outings.” Most students live off campus, but “the curriculum design is such that the cohort becomes very close.” These are achievers who work hard to do well, but “never at the expense of our classmates,” and “there is an atmosphere of collaboration and support.” Those who go here “utilize their diverse backgrounds to create meaningful conversations that spark intelligent dialogue”; students here are “not overly competitive, but will all end up very successful.”