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 Community College of Philadelphia, PSU Brandywine, Penn State, and Slippery Rock University.
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 Harcum, Manor, Erie Business Center, and Yorktowne Business Institute.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Cedar Crest, Carlow, Consolidated School of Business, and Cambria-Rowe Business College.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Cheyney, Community College of Philadelphia, and Peirce College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Peirce College, Eastern University, Chestnut Hill, and Waynesburg University.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of UPenn, Carnegie Mellon, Bucknell, and Villanova.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Ursinus College, Grove City, Franklin and Marshall, and Lycoming.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at UPenn, Carnegie Mellon, Bucknell, and Lehigh.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at UPenn, Bucknell, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, and Lehigh.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Franklin and Marshall, Bucknell, Carnegie Mellon, and Gettysburg College.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Millersville University • Millersville, PA
Studying Business (completion in 2002)
• 10/4/2011
"I'm very satisfied with how my experience turned out. Socially, I could not have had a better time, and I was able to easily get a job based on the education I obtained."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I got a solid education and made fantastic friends. The school provided a base for me to take and shape into the kind of career I wanted. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | I think the school has a decent reputation of giving students a solid foundation of education. Making that into a career is really dependent on the student. |
| Program Quality | 5 | The school gave me the basics I needed to understand concepts. The real experience came from co-ops and internships done through the school. |
| Instruction | 6 | Overall, the instruction was good. Career preparation was done mostly on my own initiative. |
| How Difficult | 5 | My courses were an average workload, compared to others with different majors. My work was manageable. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Book-learning was primary and on-site. Hands-on learning was available if you made the initiative. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | Courses were easily scheduled and I was able to work around my work schedule. Summer classes helped me get a jump on the next semester. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | Business courses do not really require much in the way of facilities. The student should have his or her own computer. |
| Social Life | 9 | The social experience was fantastic. There was a large variety of activities and a nice cross-section of people from different backgrounds and upbringings. |
| Placement Services | 5 | Again, the services provided were adequate enough for me to get placements. I had to make the first move and put myself out there. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | I suppose the alumni network is average. I am not involved with it and did not have any contact with alumni while in school. |
Marywood University • Scranton, PA
Studying Advertising (completion in 2009)
• 9/26/2011
"I enjoyed my time at the school. I would do it again if given the option."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I think Marywood is a great school, but maybe not the best for the Communications field. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | The school is not known for its department. It is known for many other majors. |
| Program Quality | 6 | The department at school was not very technical. The professors were very outdated in their teachings. |
| Instruction | 5 | The quality of teaching was good. The information taught to students was outdated to today's standards. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The program was very easy. There was never much focus on testing. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We had many classes that involved course and hands-on training. In the communications field, it is necessary to learn various equipment and technology. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | Schedules were always easy to make. They do not offer many options, though. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | Most of the facilities were new. All of the equipment was outdated. |
| Social Life | 6 | Most students and staff were friendly. Many clubs and organizations were also inviting. |
| Placement Services | 4 | I never received job placement or special training. The most we saw was listings of upcoming career fairs. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | We have some information delivered from Alumni relations. Overall, they do not do much from the communication department. |
Neumann University • Aston, PA
Studying Communications (completion in 2002)
• 10/5/2011
"It was a good match for me at the time as I needed to work while attending school and keep the homework load manageable. At times I wish I had gone to a better known school, but this one helped me attain a job, so I'm happy."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I think it would depend greatly on the type of environment (living experience) the person is looking for as well as their specific interest in the field. Also for consideration is if this is to be a platform for more advanced studies, or if a job will be sought upon graduation. For a basis, it's a great school - for an immediate job, perhaps not so much. |
| Program Reputation | 3 | The school is known within a very small geographical area, with many people not knowing that they even offered my major. Better job could be done of showcasing the different majors offered beyond their "flagship" major. |
| Program Quality | 5 | The fact that I had a degree proved of more importance than where the degree came from. It would have been nice to have a more recognizable school on my resume, but I do not believe it has had a truly negative impact. |
| Instruction | 4 | The program skimmed the surface of many difference aspects of marketing and communications. I would have liked to have more specialized classes in a particular area of interest. As it is, I really have not used anything from the journalism or production classes (although they were very interesting). |
| How Difficult | 3 | I'm not entirely certain if the work was truly easy, or if it just seemed that way since the material captured my interest. Either way, I found the work to be only slightly challenging (but I appreciated that given I was working at the same time). |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Depending on the class, some were very book-directed while others not. I enjoyed being able to do some hands-on work which provided much more benefit than the book-only (particularly in learning computer programs, design, production, etc.). | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | I was almost always able to get the class I needed, even if that meant evening or over break. There were plenty of options to fill my schedule, and the flexibility of not having to take every class in a particular order was a great help. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Professors were interested in their material and always willing to discuss it, even outside of class, although their office hours could be very difficult at times. The library could use some help, but with the use of online resources, there really were no major issues. |
| Social Life | 5 | Spirit was a bit lacking in that when I attended, the school did not even have a football team. It had more of a club approach to sports (I understand that has since changed). Events themselves were fairly limited but it is understood that the school was slowly growing at that time and a fair portion of students did not live on campus. |
| Placement Services | 2 | The overall feeling amongst graduates seemed to be a "good luck" attitude form the school. I don't recall ever being given career or counseling advice or even knowing to whom I could speak about it. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | Could not even say what my Alumni network does or who from the school is involved. Suppose the onus is on me to gather more information. |
Penn State University • University Park, PA
Studying Business Management And Marketing (completion in 2011)
• 2/12/2012
"I highly recommend Penn State. I would recommend it to anyone who asks."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Penn State is a nationally renowned school. Penn State will set up a student to succeed. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Penn State was recently ranked #1 among business recruiters. The Smeal Business College is an excellent school. |
| Program Quality | 6 | Some of the professors were excellent in their fields, but not at teaching. Other professors were excellent at teaching but had no real-world expertise. |
| Instruction | 8 | My school prepared me for my career through their internship program. Some material I was taught has no real world applications or relevance. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I am a natural learner, so I did not need to study much. The work load was average. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There is a lot of expected book learning, but about 60% of all assignments are group projects. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 6 | Some classes were only available in the fall or spring semesters. If you are out of the cycle, then you can fall behind. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Penn State has state of the art facilities. The libraries and computer labs are very high-tech, including video conferencing capabilities. |
| Social Life | 8 | Penn State has a very large and diverse social scene. It can sometimes get overwhelming, however. |
| Placement Services | 7 | Career services reviewed my resume. They also gave me a list of actively hiring companies to apply to. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | Penn State has one of the best alumni associations. It is also the largest in the country. |
Saint Joseph's University • Philadelphia, PA
Studying Food Marketing (completion in 2009)
• 3/11/2012
"Again, for several reasons this was a great program. I was able to learn from the best in the industry and make a ton of connections throughout the food community. My learnings were key in the sense that it helps me with my day to day job."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I have recommended this program to several of my colleagues. It has helped everyone's career that I went through the program with, financially and in each person's ability to be promoted. The St. Joe's Executive Food Marketing Program is a must for all food industry professionals. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | St. Joe's offers one of the best food marketing programs in the country according to the annual college rankings. This program draws students in from all parts of the country. The program is widely known throughout the food industry. |
| Program Quality | 10 | St. Joe's was very informative and interactive. I was able to learn not only from the staff, but from others in the industry as well. The program was made up of manufacturers and retailers which provided a unique learning experience with regard to the food industry. |
| Instruction | 10 | Again, I was very satisfied with the quality of instruction. Almost all of the professors had some kind of real world experience when it came to the class he/she taught. Their knowledge of the food industry was impressive to say the least, and I felt like after every class I was better able to complete my job. |
| How Difficult | 6 | The quality of the program was great, however some of the actual course work was not that challenging. By the time I was almost through the program, I and several others made suggestions to help make the program a bit more challenging. Since the classes were over 2 full days there was typically an assignment due prior to class, during class, and then a paper after the class. Overall this work was more busy work than it was challenging. The program has since changed and seems to be a bit more challenging. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The nature of this program was hands on when I attended. A lot of industry best practices were shared and talked about. It has become a bit more of a mix these days, but in my opinion remains a great program! | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 3 | It was inflexible, however the way it was structured was extremely convenient. The classes would start on Fridays and go all day. Then the classes would re-convene on Saturday for the remainder of the class. |
| Academic Facilities | Typically our classes were not held on campus. They were held at the ACE center, just outside of Philadelphia. This was to provide the out of town students with a place to stay for the weekend while attending class. The ACE center was great as far as accommodations and learning environment went. The professors were always available by email when needed. | |
| Social Life | 8 | Again, since it was grad school, it was not like undergrad! However, we had several business networking events where we were able to network with industry associates. |
| Placement Services | Since this was a grad program, most students already had a job coming into the program. However, with the industry contacts that I have made through this program, I have been able to keep job options open. | |
| Alumni Network | 9 | There are regular mail updates sent out to all alumni. Also, there are several networking events throughout the year to keep in touch and be able to give back to the school. |
Villanova University • Villanova, PA
Studying Business Administration (MBA) (completion in 2008)
• 3/12/2012
"Great overall experience and I have found employers to be impressed with a Masters degree. I still keep in touch with many of my friends and professors. I attended part time then full time, so I had a chance to experience it all."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Since there is an opportunity to go part-time, someone could work towards their MBA while still working. After completion, they could seek new employment or a change of path at current employer. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | The undergraduate business program is ranked among the best in the nation and the very same professors teach the graduate program. It is a well recognized name on the East Coast. |
| Program Quality | 8 | I focused on marketing and strategy in my MBA program. The professors had great real world experience. |
| Instruction | 8 | The capstone course on management and strategy really stretched me. The career preparation was absolutely there. |
| How Difficult | 7 | One of the more challenging pieces was the amount of group work. I realize this is part of the real world, but scheduling was difficult. It was challenging, but not torture. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Graduate school tends to be more hands on, but we still did use textbooks for the basics (finance, accounting, etc). Discussions were encouraged and presentations by peers also contributed to the learning. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | Full-time, part-time and some distance learning classes. Summer courses were also offered. Found the courses taught in the classroom to be the most beneficial. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Dedicated office hours for professors and they were often available for lunch or dinner meetings, too. Separate business library and staff for assistance in research. Study rooms available - tutors not necessary for graduate students. Separate office for graduate students with friendly and attentive staff. |
| Social Life | 5 | This being a graduate program, the social experience was very different. School still occasionally had programs or volunteer opportunities, but the most social times were happy hours organized by students. |
| Placement Services | 8 | Dedicated career office and staff that worked to bring employers to campus throughout the school year. Quarterly career fairs and separate company presentations showed how highly companies taught of Villanova. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | Villanova has a very strong business network and alumni network. It is more heavily concentrated on the East Coast, but the school provides ample opportunity for networking. |
Pennsylvania State University • State College, PA
Studying Management Information Systems (completion in 2007)
• 3/14/2012
"I was very satisfied with my experiences at Penn State. I am doing very well today."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Great school and experience. A lot of help with career placement. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | Many excellent business men and women have come from this program. I highly recommend it. |
| Program Quality | 8 | I think the school did a good job preparing me overall for marketing and business. My personality and work ethic have had a lot to do with me attaining the position I hold now. |
| Instruction | 8 | I received very good instruction. I was privy to advanced learning materials and technology. |
| How Difficult | 9 | There were a lot of requirements to fulfill. This helped to give me the experience I needed to succeed. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Utilized computers and technology a lot. More than "library learning." | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | I was able to have summers off to work. Had weekends off during the year. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | We had several new buildings added during my time at the university. Excellent technology. |
| Social Life | 10 | Fantastic. Again, it's Penn State. Football season is amazing and it has been rated the #1 party school several times. Beautiful campus and town. |
| Placement Services | 9 | The school is very helpful in job placement and has a lot of connections. They are just as helpful for alumni and those out of work. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | Simply amazing. Penn State has the largest Alumni network in the world. |
University Of Pittsburgh • Pittsburgh, PA
Studying Marketing (completion in 2006)
• 3/7/2012
"Mostly satisfied. I am glad I got my degree from Pitt's business school."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Yes, I think the school is making an effort to provide a quality education. It also works to match students with good internships. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | The school receives a good ranking every year for its business program. I am happy I have a degree from this program. |
| Program Quality | 7 | I think the curriculum at my school was good, but could have put more emphasis on where marketing was going. Very little was done in the way of social media marketing. |
| Instruction | 7 | Some teachers were more concerned with their research. These ones seemed to care less about their students. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The program was sufficiently difficult. It wasn't extremely hard, but some of the coursework was challenging. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Slightly more book learning than hands on. Some classes were entirely hands on, like Business Communications. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | Plenty of classes for both day and night options. I was happy with the number of classes and times. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Great, new building. Had plenty of computers, libraries, and study spaces. |
| Social Life | 8 | Lots to do. Sports were ranked well. Lots of parties and social clubs. |
| Placement Services | 6 | Not much help outside of the Pittsburgh area. There is a small alumni database for people who have moved away. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I receive alumni magazines, but little contact. I don't really care to receive more. |
Carnegie Mellon University • Pittsburgh, PA
Studying Business Administration (completion in 2011)
• 4/1/2012
"Not satisfied... a lot of money went into learning education that wasn't helpful for what I do now. I made lasting relationships and connections, but the education itself didn't live up to the promise I expected with university education."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | I'd recommend people who want to get into direct response marketing and copywriting (like I am now) to start their own business and mentor under a successful selfmade entrepreneur. I've done this, and I've learned more "shadowing" an entrepreneur for 1 day than 1 year at university. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | Highly ranked for business, recognized by many places. This was the reason we chose to attend Carnegie Mellon in the first place. |
| Program Quality | 1 | What I learned in marketing classes at my university had nothing to do with what I do now. To put it simply, most of what was taught in university was theory, but for my role here I use proven, results-driven strategies that I know make people buy our products and services. |
| Instruction | 3 | I appreciated that some classes gave hands-on training of how to use real-life scenarios to get people to buy, but they were the exception, not the rule. Actually there are only 2 classes I can recall in my entire 4-year study where the professor gave this hands-on experience. |
| How Difficult | 7 | Difficult, mostly because it was on irrelevant topics to reality. The curriculum focused so much on theory, and not enough on tangible, real-world examples, that it seemed as senseless as memorizing the digits of pi: sure, it's a criteria to pass their tests, but does the education help in the real world? Not really. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | As I said earlier, very focused on theory and textbook, rather than hands-on. I would've wanted more of real-world experience because that's the work I do now. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Most classes followed the same format: 1 hour in the mid-day, had to be in person. It wasn't flexible, but there was no major problem with it, either. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Superb facilities and resources. The school had multiple libraries, countless computer center. I have to admit that, even though I was there for 4 years, I still don't think I went to every library/room available... there were so many! |
| Social Life | 10 | It's college... opportunities to join clubs and parties are endless. It's more about choosing which one to go to. I was invited to over 3 per week, and I only attended a few, but there was pretty much a social event for every kind of student. |
| Placement Services | 9 | We were offered many opportunities to find careers, including job fairs and consultations - and the school proactively reached out to each of us and offered career counseling if we were "stuck". They were very helpful in this area. |
| Alumni Network | The alumni support was there, but I never used it. I can't provide an accurate explanation of how helpful it is. |
Temple University, Fox School Of Business • Philadelphia, PA
Studying Bachelor Of Business Administration, Marketing Emphasis (completion in 2009)
• 3/31/2012
"Very satisfied. Since graduation I have had 2 excellent jobs."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The campus is huge and has lots of things to do. The classes are big but the teachers know your name and give you personal attention. They are great with job placement and the school has opened many doors for me. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Although Temple University means practically nothing on the west coast, in PA and the surrounding area, Temple U has a great reputation. |
| Program Quality | 8 | I enjoyed the professors and the subject matter. Every class was outlined in an interesting manner, which made it easy show up to class and get assignments done. |
| Instruction | 9 | My professors were great. All of them had very different styles of teaching but all were interesting and helpful. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The program was not difficult and the work load was moderate. It was easy to get good grades and maintain a social life. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Marketing is not a hands-on subject. Most of the material was book related. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | There were many options for various lifestyles. Morning, afternoon and evening classes were all offered. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | There were no resources specific to being a Marketing major. I used what every other student did which was the library, computer room, etc. |
| Social Life | 9 | The parties were great and the friends I met will last a lifetime. There was ALWAYS something to do on or around campus at any time of day or night. |
| Placement Services | 8 | I had a great experience with the career placement services. I was able to be paired with a helpful internship. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I have not participated in the Alumni Network. I have moved since graduation and I do not receive any solicitation =) |
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