Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Marketing Managers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Truman College, Malcolm X College, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, and Daley College.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Midstate College, National-Louis University, Lincoln College, and Chicago State.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider MacCormac and Midstate College.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Saint Augustine College, Olive-Harvey College, Kennedy-King College, and Malcolm X College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider John A Logan College, National-Louis University, University of St Francis, and Governors State.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Trinity International University, and North Park University.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Monmouth College, Augustana, Trinity International University, and Lincoln College.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, and Illinois Institute of Technology.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Saint Xavier University, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and National-Louis University.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Augustana, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Illinois Institute of Technology.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Northwestern University, Kellogg School Of Management • Evanston, IL
Studying MBA (completion in 2003)
• 9/18/2011
"I successfully changed from a career as a geologist to one as a marketing manager by getting my Kellogg MBA. I learned the basics of what I need to be successful in my new career."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I have tons of friends and colleagues who have used a Kellogg MBA as a springboard to a successful career. I think if you can get into the program and think an MBA is the right thing for you, you should go for it. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | Kellogg is consistently ranked as one of the top MBA programs in the country. Based on the caliber of the people I interacted with at Kellogg and those who have been through the program, I think this ranking is justified. |
| Program Quality | 10 | My MBA program was a top tier program that allowed me to completely change careers. I joined an engaged community of professors, alumni and students who I continue to draw upon for support. |
| Instruction | 10 | I was pleased with the level of passion and engagement by the professors. In terms of the curriculum, I learned aspects of strategy, marketing and finance that I never would have learned otherwise - and I can apply this today. I had great career preparation resources at my disposal. Had I had these resources as an undergrad perhaps I never would have even needed to get an MBA. |
| How Difficult | 4 | I definitely learned a lot in this program. But the pace and depth of learning was such that I could learn and be successful academically while carrying a heavy courseload and also participating in community and social activities. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Kellogg focuses mostly on book learning. Some classes did have practical projects where you helped a business with a specific challenge. There is also the summer internship which is very hands on, but it is up to the student to get this internship and it is not a requirement to graduate. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Kellogg offers 2 year, 1 year, and evening/weekend MBAs. They seem to continually add offerings to help fit into people's schedules. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The Kellogg building itself wasn't all that great but I understand it is being rebuilt. I had good access to professors and group meeting rooms but the facility itself was a little outdated and needed more space for meeting rooms and group gatherings. |
| Social Life | 10 | Kellogg is very social. There are clubs, parties, volunteer opportunities, etc. for just about every interest. I made a lot of good friends and business contacts. |
| Placement Services | 10 | I got coaching and guidance almost from the minute I stepped on campus. I had access to companies I never would have had access to otherwise. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | Kellogg's network is good but has pockets of strength - the northeast and Chicago most notably. In western Washington the network is less active and work related networks seem more effective. |
Bradley University • Peoria, IL
Studying MBA (completion in 2007)
• 11/1/2011
"Bradley is a great school providing quality education. I have a great relationship with many of my professors."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend Bradley to anyone. It is a great school with quality faculty that care about their students. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | Bradley has a great reputation in the community and throughout the nation. Bradley's MBA program is ranked as one of the top programs in the country. |
| Program Quality | 8 | It was a great school with high rankings and quality faculty. I wish that I had worked a few more years before entering an MBA program. |
| Instruction | 8 | For the most part, the school had very knowledgeable faculty. The majority of the faculty had real world experience to apply. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Bradley has a challenging program. The courses were intense with a significant amount of project work. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a mix of academic and real world examples. There was mostly project work as opposed to tests. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | Classes are available at a variety of times and dates. MBA classes are held mostly in the evenings to accommodate work schedules. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Bradley has very nice, updated facilities. Renovations continue to take place to upgrade. |
| Social Life | 5 | As a graduate student you do not participate in many campus activities. Bradley has great school spirit when it comes to sporting events. |
| Placement Services | 8 | The Bradley Career Center offers many services to students. They need to get students more active in taking advantage of their services. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I do not participate much in alumni activities. Often times one's allegiance lies with their undergraduate rather than their graduate school. |
Illinois State University • Normal, IL
Studying Communications/Public Relations (completion in 2005)
• 12/4/2011
"I was very satisfied with the experience I gained through my job in the athletic department. I was moderately satisfied with the education I received in the classroom. I loved the campus life and had an overall satisfactory college experience."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I would recommend the program at my school to others pursuing my career if they are willing to do a lot of outside work through an external internship or job. I would recommend applying to as many schools as possible, and would recommend attending my institution if they are not accepted to a more prestigious or respected school in the state. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | The school has a slightly above average reputation for the program I studied in because it employs prestigious and well-known individuals in the marketing field. The reputation cannot be rated any higher, however, because of the inevitable comparisons to several neighboring schools with much greater prestige. |
| Program Quality | 6 | The institution as a whole offered a moderately satisfactory education, as it is a fairly well-respected program. However, the program lacked original research and original projects. |
| Instruction | 6 | My satisfaction with the education I received at my institution is OK because I feel the teacher who taught my major courses that directly pertained to marketing and the creation of marketing messages was "going through the motions." She did not engage her students, but merely lectured and recycled the same tests, assignments and projects that she had done for years. She also was not physically present in class very often, as she did marketing consultations across the country throughout the year. The one teacher responsible for the bulk of my marketing training was barely satisfactory, and as such the marketing education I received was barely satisfactory as well. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The academic work was not necessarily challenging for me, as it was writing-centric - a strength of mine. The academic challenge was high for some students who were not as well-versed in writing and vocabulary. The work load was large, but not unmanageable. I held a part-time job, an external part-time internship and took 15 credits most semesters, and was able to keep up with the program work load with no problem. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The classes in the program were very book-heavy. Nearly every class was centered around lecture, and any group work or projects had to be completed outside of class. Teachers were hands-on in their office hours, but only those who sought out the teachers were privy to this hands-on learning. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | At the time the class schedule offerings were very flexible, and satisfactory. I was able to create a flexible schedule of usually 15 credit hours that could still accommodate my ability to have a block of time to devote to my part-time job and part-time external internship. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The library was open 24 hours so it and the resources were always accessible. The classroom space was satisfactory, as I had classes of every size each semester and the rooms the classes were held in were always correctly sized. The academic advisors were very good, but I had a special circumstance in that my father was the Director of Academic Advisement at the time and I could 'drop-in' on him anytime I needed assistance. The availability of tutors and study group support was good, but it was not widely advertised. The accessibility of the professors was good as well, as they always had a set number of office hours each semester that they were good about keeping. |
| Social Life | 10 | I am a sports lover and worked in the athletic department all four years I attended the school. I got a front row seat to every athletic event, and also got immeasurable experience in my chosen field. School spirit was good, and the marketing campaign to engage students was always well-planned and executed. Social events throughout the year were fun, and Homecoming Week was a particular highlight littered with opportunities to attend get-togethers and programming. There was no shortage of parties to attend at every corner of the campus on any given day or night. |
| Placement Services | 3 | The job placement and career services program existed, but was not active in recruiting students to use the service, or in advertising that it was available. Career services had a website, but it was and is rarely updated, and was not active in providing assistance. I didn't give them the lowest rating because the department did do a satisfactory job of advertising on-campus work-study employment opportunities. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | I am fortunate to live in a big city where the alumni association is very active, as many fellow alumni have migrated to the same city. The alumni association in my city holds regular meetings and social gatherings, and is active in communicating to all members on a regular basis. The headquarters alumni association is also excellent, as it produces a quarterly high-quality alumni magazine and provides constant updates to its website. |
University Of Illinois • Champaign, IL
Studying Business Psychology (completion in 1993)
• 1/26/2012
"Was a good, hard school. Provided an extensive education."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Well-known and challenging school. Does take some self-direction to do well. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | Highly rated program. Big Ten school. |
| Program Quality | 9 | Was a very challenging and complex program. I felt well prepared for most obstacles. |
| Instruction | 9 | High-quality classes. Pertinent information. |
| How Difficult | 9 | It was challenging work. Teachers were very knowledgeable. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Depends on the class. Upper-level classes tended to be more hands on. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Considered a full-time, on-campus school. Not a lot of schedule flexibility. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | Was good for the time. Not sure how it rates now. |
| Social Life | 8 | Great athletics and social life. A Big Ten school. |
| Placement Services | Wasn't a lot of job placement available in those days. Did not use. | |
| Alumni Network | 7 | It's extensive. I did not use it very much, personally. |
Kellogg School Of Management • Evanston, IL
Studying MBA (completion in 2003)
• 1/16/2012
"I accomplished my goals with this MBA program. I got a great job out of it and learned what I needed to learn to be successful in the job."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Kellogg has a highly rated marketing MBA program. It offers students a lot of opportunity to learn, network, and get into a career they will love. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | Kellogg gets one of the top ratings among business schools from year to year. Marketing is a particular area of strength that the school is known for. |
| Program Quality | 10 | By getting my MBA, I was able to make a career change and get a great job in high-tech marketing. I learned a great deal that is making me successful in this field today. |
| Instruction | 10 | I use my training nearly every day, and my professors generally were experts in their fields and excellent at delivering the information to students. The career center, resume workshops, interview training, and on-campus interviews were all essential for me to get where I am now. |
| How Difficult | 6 | The material was not terribly challenging and the workload was moderate. This gave me time to network with classmates and work on my job search. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In addition to book learning, many classes offered real-world projects. For instance, I did a study on video games in Japan, and I actually went to Japan to do my research. We also were required to have a summer internship. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | I did a full-time, 2-year MBA, but I understand Kellogg offers evening options, a 1-year program, and some executive MBA programs. My understanding is that the evening program is not as rigorous as the full-time programs. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | Professors were extremely accessible. The building itself where the school was located wasn't that great. It had limited meeting space, was a bit cramped, and wasn't state of the art. |
| Social Life | 9 | The student body was encouraged to be proactive about things like extracurriculars, networking and social interaction. There were always tons of social things to do, including lots of service-oriented/philanthropic extracurriculars. |
| Placement Services | 10 | The career center was so helpful to me in getting the basics of my resume and interview skills up to standard. They brought tons of employers in for on-campus recruiting, which is where I found my current job. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | The strength of the network varies a lot from city to city. In my city of Seattle, there just aren't that many Kellogg grads. We all know each other, which is great, but the network tends to be too small to be effective for things like job searching. |
Loyola University Chicago • Chicago, IL
Studying Psychology (completion in 2002)
• 4/9/2012
"I was happy with my overall experience. The school did a great job of preparing me for my current job and leading me to continue on to graduate school."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The school is well known and does a great job teaching their students. It is also a challenging school so you get your money's worth. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Loyola is an excellent university. It has always been ranked fairly high among schools. |
| Program Quality | 6 | The program did an above average job in regards to their Psychology program. The program challenged me. |
| Instruction | 7 | The Professors were very knowledgeable and made learning fun. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The program was challenging but not overly challenging. Felt as though I had to work hard to get a good grade but did not feel defeated. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I did not have much hands on experience. I learned most of my information through the book. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | Classes were pretty flexible. I was pretty much able to take classes that conformed to my schedule. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The school provided above average resources. They had a lot of computer labs and the library was not lacking. Advisors were always available. |
| Social Life | 7 | My experience helped me to go on to begin graduate school. The school encouraged advanced education. |
| Placement Services | 5 | School did not really provide any job placement. This was an area where they could improve. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | Alumni network keeps in touch with its students very well. The alumni network has a lot of people. |
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