Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Sales Managers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Babson, Quincy College, Harvard, and Bentley.
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 Bay Path, Becker, UMass Boston, and Mount Ida College.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Pine Manor College, Bay Path, and Simmons College.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Roxbury Community College, Pine Manor College, Atlantic Union, and Endicott.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Atlantic Union, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, and Greenfield Community College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Harvard, BU, BC, and Babson.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Lasell, Stonehill College, Gordon, and Bentley.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Harvard, BC, Northeastern, and BU.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Harvard, BC, Dean, and Babson.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at WPI, Harvard, Stonehill College, and Atlantic Union.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Endicott College • Beverly, MA
Studying Management (completion in 2008)
• 5/8/2011
"Overall, I had a great experience."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | If you want a great education, then yes, come to this school. If want to party all the time, then this probably isn't the school for you. |
| Program Reputation | 4 | It has a great reputation in the area. |
| Program Quality | 7 | It was a good school for my specific major. It just wasn't that big of a school. |
| Instruction | 7 | |
| How Difficult | 5 | It was a small program, so it made it sort of hard. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There were plenty of internship opportunities that contributed to the degree of hands-on learning. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | It was very flexible. I had two classes everyday except for Fridays, so I always had long weekends. I liked that I could set my schedule like this. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Everything was kept very clean. |
| Social Life | 8 | I had a great time and wish I never left! I just have no time to go back and visit because of my job. |
| Placement Services | 4 | I got a job right out of college. |
| Alumni Network | 2 | Few alumni visited the school and I haven't gone back since I graduated. |
Umass Dartmouth • Dartmouth, MA
Studying Psychology (completion in 2005)
• 5/7/2011
"I loved my school. I had fun and enjoyed my major. I just feel like I would have liked to have learned more."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Yes. Overall it is a good school for the price. The programs are great. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | The reputation is just OK. Nobody really talks about it. |
| Program Quality | 7 | It is a very general major. I don't know of any schools that have exceptional psychology programs. |
| Instruction | More than 5 years ago | I would say the quality is poor. I didn't learn much and the courses were easy. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The work load was minimal and I rarely felt challenged. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a lot of hands-on work in my major. We often did therapy exercises and we also had assignments to do outside of the classroom. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | The class flexibility is great. The options for times and days are endless. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | The school's resources need to be updated. Everything was too old when I was there. |
| Social Life | 7 | Athletics were not so great. School spirit was low. Nobody cared much about that stuff. |
| Placement Services | 4 | The career fair was a joke. They don't work hard enough to place you in a job. |
| Alumni Network | 6 | I don't know anything about the alumni program. They have never reached out to me. |
UMASS • Boston, MA
Studying Writing (completion in 2009)
• 7/9/2011
"I was happy at the time but now that I'm in sales, I wish I had gone elsewhere. I love what I do now and I wish I had more experience in business classes."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | It just doesn't make sense! Go get a business degree and make your way to sales manager in the normal route. I only got the job because I worked at three different stores in high school and college and worked my way up. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | It's certainly not what they're known for. I think they might have gotten more funding since, though. |
| Program Quality | 7 | It was okay but I barely write - I ended up selling clothing for a living instead! I wish I had gone to some sort of business school for this industry. |
| Instruction | 7 | It was okay for writing. I learned a lot. I think I would be in the writing field if I had better teachers in college. |
| How Difficult | 9 | It was a lot of work - so much writing! Assignments could be really time consuming. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It varied depending on the teachers, but usually more books than hands on. I wish it had been more creative. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | They have so many options! All times of day, different days, different professors. Very helpful! |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The library was great for writing, and I always felt inspired there. There were always professors and computers available. |
| Social Life | 7 | A good weekend nightlife, good dormlife. I enjoyed the social aspects. |
| Placement Services | 5 | Again, not very helpful. I think it would have been more helpful with a different degree. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | Not bad but also not all that helpful. I applied for a few jobs through alumni and never heard back. |
Mount Wachusett Community College • Gardner, MA
Studying Business Administration (completion in 2008)
• 7/12/2011
"I am satisfied with my experiences overall at MWCC. I have come to realize that online school is not for me and does not fit my needs. I would recommend MWCC to others, however."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | As stated above, I would recommend MWCC to friends and family. MWCC provides hands on instruction and the professors and student advisors are dedicated towards student achievement. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | MWCC is a very highly rated community college with a very high success rate. I would recommend MWCC to friends and family who have the time and motivation to attend college while working. |
| Program Quality | 5 | Mount Wachusett community college is a great over all school where the student advisors works hard with the students to achieve their goals. It was very hard for me to juggle children, and online school, and many different courses at the same time. |
| Instruction | 6 | I attempted to complete my certification online, which was a great challenge for me. The main challenge was the prerequisites that are required to achieve your associate's or a certification. |
| How Difficult | 5 | It is very difficult to not be in a classroom and have to "teach yourself." MWCC has great instructors, however they are very busy and are not always willing or able to instantly reply to your needs. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Professors offer web videos, student feeds, and all students have access to each other's emails should they need help. I would say that MWCC is very involved in hands on activities for proper learning. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | Class schedules are very flexible for online students. You do, however, have weekly goals and sign in times that are NOT convenient. MWCC offers day and night classes for working parents, which is very convenient. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | A very well stocked library and book store inside MWCC makes obtaining materials very convenient. Used books at the book store are cheap, but buy back prices are very low. |
| Social Life | 7 | This does not apply to MWCC. |
| Placement Services | 7 | It is to my understanding that MWCC does not provide job placement services. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | The student advisors of MWCC were excellent. They are very dedicated to helping students reach their goals. The Professors, on the other hand, seem very busy and preoccupied. This makes it difficult to acquire immediate answers when they are needed. |
Northern Essex Community College • Haverhill, MA
Studying Business Management, Hotel/Restaurant Option (completion in 1995)
• 7/25/2011
"I earned the degree that I needed to move into management within the hotel industry. I had the knowledge to help me to advance faster than if I hadn't gone to school."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I am not sure what the hotel/restaurant classes are like today at the school, but I definitely would have recommended this degree to others pursuing this career. There was also a certificate version of the degree that was not an associate's degree. This was helpful for those who did not want to go for the associate's degree, but wanted to learn about the industry. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | The business management side is still very highly rated, but the hotel/restaurant side is not as popular. Unless you are only looking to earn an Associate's degree, most people will go to a four year school for hospitality management. |
| Program Quality | 8 | This is a community college that has a business management degree. I did the hotel/restaurant option to specialize in my career field; however, it did not cover the sales side of things. |
| Instruction | 8 | The classes prepared me to fully understand the operational aspects of running a hotel. It gave an overview of all departments but did not gear in on the sales side of things due to it only being a two year program. |
| How Difficult | 8 | Classes like statistics, English, and history were difficult. The classes that were hotel related were easy because I had the enthusiasm and interest to learn in them. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We had a good mix of book learning and hands on work. In the hotel/restaurant side of things, we came up with a menu, cooked, and served a banquet for our families to experience from start to finish what it was like to work in this field. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | When I went there, they held these classes Mon - Fri only during the day. If you wanted to take generic classes, those could be taken in the evenings. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | My professor was always available to work with us whenever we needed him. The library had great resources for the business management side. My professor took our class on a field trip of several upscale hotels in Boston so that we could see the differences and what was available to us locally. |
| Social Life | 3 | Being a community college, it was difficult to get involved socially. There were some social events that happened, but they were not advertised well. |
| Placement Services | 10 | While I was attending school, they assisted me in landing jobs within hotels. They made sure that I had everything I needed before I started and during the job. I was so impressed by them that when I went into management and needed to hire people, I reached out to them for candidates. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I don't know very much about the alumni network. They had reached out to me shortly after I graduated, but I haven't heard anything since then. |
Simmons College • Boston, MA
Studying Business (completion in 2011)
• 8/5/2011
"It landed me a good job in this economy, and for that I am thankful. However, I wonder if I'd have any options if I were to move out of state."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | It depends on what kind of learner they are. If they are more of a hands on learner, I'd be hesitant to recommend it. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Simmons is very reputable in Boston; I go anywhere and people will respect my degree and college. However, it is not a very well known college elsewhere and this worries me for when I move. |
| Program Quality | 3 | They did a good job of preparing me for market dynamics. However, there was little hands on sales training. |
| Instruction | 8 | The professors went pretty in depth in things like economics and markets: mostly theoretical stuff. However, as mentioned above, more hands on training would have been nice. |
| How Difficult | 7 | There were some kids who were just in it to pass college. You got as much as you put in, so you could theoretically pass without trying very hard; this made the level of the classes less challenging because the class was not as engaged. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | For the most part, our learning was book based. However, I did work on very hands on projects from time to time. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | There aren't that many classes to take as it is a small school. However, evening options do exist and I never found any sort of inflexibility to be a problem. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The location was really good and the libraries and computer labs were state of the art. My friends from other colleges were impressed. |
| Social Life | 7 | It is sometimes hard to have a positive social experience at an all girls college. However, school spirit was still pretty high. |
| Placement Services | 8 | My adviser actually hooked me up with this job. It is sometimes a question of luck though; I know friends who are still looking and find the job placement center very unhelpful. |
| Alumni Network | 6 | Simmons is pretty small so the alumni network is also pretty small. However, the alumni I've interacted with have been helpful in helping me with my career. |
Holyoke Community College • Holyoke, MA
Studying History (completion in 2002)
• 9/11/2011
"I think I got a good education for what I paid for. I felt prepared to go on to a four year school, but I did not have the money. Hopefully I will someday."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I did not intend to become a store manager. I do not know much about the programs besides history at my school. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | History has a good reputation at the school. This is partly why I chose it. I did not know what I wanted to study, so I studied what people told me would be good. |
| Program Quality | 6 | I went to community college, so obviously I was not expecting the best. Some classes were great, and some were not so great. Overall, I feel like I was prepared to continue my education, which is what I ultimately wanted. |
| Instruction | 5 | A degree in history does not directly prepare me for a job in sales, but I never intended to go into sales. I feel that my education has helped me become well versed and a problem solver, which has in turn helped me with my sales career. |
| How Difficult | 2 | I excelled in high school and the only reason I went to community college is because I could not afford a four year school. Thus, while the work load may have been challenging for others, it was easy for me. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Again, I was a history student. We did not go out and do field experiments like biology students. I spent a lot of time reading books and writing papers. My experience was primarily book-oriented. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | My school is very flexible. I took some classes online and some over the summer as well. It is very possible for someone to pursue an education while raising a family and holding a job (although it would be hard and time consuming, I would imagine). |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | I thought it was slightly above average. I could always find a book relating to a given topic in the library, even if it was not the best. Only a handful of times could I not find a computer on campus. I did not use any of the laboratories because I did not take any science courses. |
| Social Life | 3 | There was not a huge social scene. Even if there was I was not involved. It may have been bigger than what I saw, but honestly I was not paying attention. |
| Placement Services | 4 | Again, I went to a two year school. Most people are expected to continue their education. Because of this the jobs that the school helps us find are either meant to be temporary, low level, or not as prestigious as what I was looking for. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | This is difficult because while there is an alumni system, I am not involved at all. Of the few people I have kept contact with, I hear it is decent. One of my fellow students went on to receive a PhD and is not teaching at HCC and believes it is because he is an alumni of the school that he got the job. |
Northeastern University • Boston, MA
Studying Education (completion in 1976)
• 11/28/2011
"It was a decent experience. I thought it did provide enough knowledge to get into the field."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | It really depends on your end career goals. If you plan to stay in the Northeast, I would recommend it. |
| Program Reputation | It has been too long since I graduated. The current state of the school is unknown to me. | |
| Program Quality | 5 | The program was not specific enough in providing experience. The quality of the instruction was average at best. |
| Instruction | 5 | The professors were lazy in their preparation. They were too far removed from real world situations to be effective. |
| How Difficult | 2 | I did not have to prepare very much for classes. The reading load was too elementary. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | That was the best part of the program, we had many internships. They provided good placement. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | They seemed to offer classes at various times and tried to accommodate working people. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | The facilities were adequate. There was no tutoring support. |
| Social Life | I was a grad student and did not care about that type of thing. That would apply to the majority of grad students. | |
| Placement Services | 5 | They did have a placement service, but it was limited. Their outreach was poor. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | There was no contact besides lame magazines. They have not provided a network of alumni. |
MIT • Boston, MA
Studying Engineering (completion in 2009)
• 11/29/2011
"The depth of each course and the amount of work required to successfully the complete the course provided a platform that extended to the corporate environment and created a focus within me that translated to a very successful career. I do not believe there would be any changes that I would suggest for the courses that I was involved with."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Based upon the individual, I would suggest anyone who has the tenacity, capabilities and financial ability to apply to the school. An MIT graduate is in possession of a degree that has a provenance which will attest to the potential of a successful individual. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | I believe the reputation of the school to be extremely enviable as a result of longevity and the degree of difficulty in being accepted and graduating. Grants provided to the school are indicative of the quality of the program. |
| Program Quality | 10 | Excellent depth of careers and professors provides for a rich curriculum. Individualistic approach of professors assists with broad range of conceptual thought. |
| Instruction | 10 | With MIT requiring advanced degrees and recognized and accepted publishing backgrounds, the professors are rated among the best in the world. There is a high degree of study and interpretive thought required for each task assigned. |
| How Difficult | 10 | The mere aura of a school of the caliber of MIT requires prestige in terms of the quality of the programs, of the advanced thought processes required of potential students and the need for those people to advance our world. Programs are designed to push the limit of current thought and to challenge existing paradigms. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In the engineering program there is an equal mix of resources, research opportunities and laboratory involvement. Laboratory experimentation is highly organized and strongly encouraged. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | I have attended 2 other colleges in Massachusetts and in comparing those to MIT, I feel that MIT has a broader reach in terms of online assistance, scheduling of classes is a bit more constrained due to the outside research required of students. MIT provided evening and weekend classes in areas that were not core required. |
| Academic Facilities | All buildings were very well maintained and updated with the most current technological features. The library is one of the best in the world. | |
| Social Life | 7 | The school experience was enhanced mostly due to the location within Boston. My work prevented involvement with student activities. |
| Placement Services | My own experience was one of not using the placement services of the school. My awareness of their assistance with other personnel is that the career services were extremely helpful and proactive. | |
| Alumni Network | 7 | The alumni network has a philosophy of promoting graduates in every phase of their career. As graduates of MIT, all alumni belong to a special group of achievers and are accepted by fellow graduates who have developed their own careers. |
Isenberg School Of Management At UMass Amherst • Amherst, MA
Studying Resource Economics (completion in 2011)
• 12/6/2011
"Overall, I was very satisfied with the Isenberg School of Business. I would absolutely go back, and I believe I could not have chosen a better business school to attend for the course of study I chose."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend the Isenberg School of Business to anybody who is interested in business, finance or resource economics. I would specifically recommend the Resource Economics program to students who are considering either a management degree or who are going into economics. Choosing Resource Economics over simple Econ will give you a much more applicable education and prepare you with skills and knowledge that will be useful and practical in the real business world. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | I think that Isenberg's current reputation is very good and the school is renowned. Recently, the school has been becoming more and more difficult to be accepted into; the required GPA continues to increase. This is causing the reputation of the Isenberg School of Business to continue to increase as time goes on. |
| Program Quality | 7 | I think the Resource Economics program through Isenberg is very good. It is a practical course of study in economics, allowing students to learn useful economic skills and theory. The program could have been better, with more effort put into teacher selection and availability of alternative courses. |
| Instruction | 5 | The quality of the instruction was less than desirable. The professors were many times not well enough adapted to the English language to be sufficient at teaching their course. I had one specific professor who did not speak English well enough to be understood during lecture. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The Resource Economics program was fairly difficult. The workload was hefty, while the work itself was rather difficult. The most difficult course, in my opinion, was finance and operations management. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The Isenberg School, specifically the Resource Economics department, was a very mixed balance of book/theory learning and actual practical knowledge and skills. While many classes included course material on subject material and general knowledge, there was also a large emphasis put on projects and team activities. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | I think the flexibility of classes at UMass was very good. The entire school has a program that allows students to take any class at any of the local 5 colleges. This enables students to take classes that are not necessarily offered at their particular university or college. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The Isenberg business program has especially good facilities. The building is a new and state-of-the-art facility, containing a variety of resources that are not available to other colleges. Some of these include computer labs, access to online business databases, and newer classrooms. I believe that the outstanding quality of the Isenberg program is partially due to the continual funding that Isenberg graduates continue to donate to the program. |
| Social Life | 6 | I believe that the social experience at UMass Amherst is good in some respects and lacking in others. The other university I attended was UVM, and there, the people were much more friendly, inviting and happy. While UMass Amherst does have an extensive social environment, including sports, a downtown with bars and restaurants, and a variety of private parties on the weekends, the student body is slightly less friendly. The major result of this is that when at parties or going to class, the students are less likely to talk to new people and be interested in others that they may not already know. |
| Placement Services | 8 | The job placement and assistance with job searching was very good, compared to the other colleges at UMass Amherst. Isenberg has its own private career services program, which is dedicated to assisting Isenberg students find internships and jobs. The aspect that I believe this program is lacking is a more structured program; if you do not seek out the program advisers, they will not contact you to see how things are going or ask if there is any assistance you may need. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | I do not know very much about the school's alumni network, other than the Boston UMass club, which I am a member of. This club is located in the Financial District of Boston and provides conference rooms, business centers, a 5-star restaurant and various networking events. |
Assumption College • Worcester, MA
Studying Business Communications (completion in 2007)
• 1/25/2012
"I feel that both my social and academic experiences at Assumption were wonderful. I highly recommend it to this day and have heard it is growing every year in competitive admissions."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | If you are not quite sure what you want to be, Assumption offers the liberal arts program which will allow you to dabble in many different areas before settling on a major. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | The department is quite popular and growing a bit more every year. They recently changed the degree title to Business Communication from Organization Communication to make it more appealing/versatile. |
| Program Quality | 7 | Having gone to a Liberal Arts school, I felt there could have been a stronger core concentration for my major instead of having to take the Liberal Arts requirements. This would have allowed me to focus my efforts towards what I had already been interested in. |
| Instruction | 8 | I felt that some of the professors were used interchangeably instead of bringing in the highest caliber for an area in demand. Otherwise, the professors were quite impressive. |
| How Difficult | 8 | The workload itself was quite rigorous. This was a result of having a lot of different areas of study going on at once. Otherwise, the work within my own major was manageable. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Being a smaller school, we were very hands-on in learning and our professors were hands-on as well. It allowed for more face-to-face time with professors and they were able to meet with more students during office hours. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | Our class schedule was pretty inflexible Monday-Friday for undergraduates. Evening options were there, but very dependent on major. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Our library is wonderful and our media center grew while we were in school there. I felt I was very well-connected through media options and always found a lab to work in. |
| Social Life | Assumption was extremely social. I had some of the very best times of my life there and made friends who I am still close with today. For that, I am forever grateful. | |
| Placement Services | 5 | I feel this is an area they could improve on. I found all of my own internships and jobs on my own and felt a bit lost and confused when I met with the career services team. They were really only linked to local businesses instead of having expansion throughout the US. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | I feel very in touch with the alumni network. We are coming up on our five year reunion and I would say that about 75% of our 2007 graduating class is heavily involved. |
Quinsigamond Community College • Worcester, MA
Studying Language (completion in 2005)
• 4/15/2012
"I got what I expected, nothing more nothing less. There wasn't anything that really made the place stand out."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | If they needed to take a short course like me I would recommend QCC, for the cost and ease. For a 4 year college I'm not sure I would recommend it. |
| Program Reputation | I have no idea. I went to QCC because it was inexpensive. | |
| Program Quality | 5 | The teachers didn't seem to care much about any questions outside the "book". They seemed to want to rush through the lessons just to end the day. |
| Instruction | 7 | I didn't expect much from a Community College, and average was what I got as far as learning. Career preparation on the other hand had a wealth of knowledge and helpful teachers and classes to help prepare us. |
| How Difficult | 3 | I've always had a knack for learning, especially things that interest me. The homework and projects were simple and fun for me. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I studied the Hebrew language and Jewish studies. Its not a very hands on subject. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | Flexibility for sure a 10. I pretty much set my own schedule. And I know of parents furthering their education that take night classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | I know that there was a lot that I didn't take advantage of, and I know I didn't lack anything. I guess I'm not sure because I don't really know what to compare it to. |
| Social Life | Never went to any social events or games. I came, studied and went home. | |
| Placement Services | Again, I personally, didn't take advantage of job placement. As I've previously stated I have heard of students getting help with job placement. | |
| Alumni Network | I have no idea as I have not been in touch with anyone from Worcester or QCC since I left. While enrolled I heard about former students that were helped finding work in the field, I just never took advantage. |
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