Rochester Institute of Technology - Saunders College of Business

Located in upstate New York, Rochester Institute of Technology is known for its academic excellence in technology and applied science. Accordingly, RIT’s MBA programs provide a “great blend of management and technical education,” preparing students for the realities of the workplace through practical instruction, teamwork, and applied learning. Within the MBA curriculum, “courses are updated frequently to allow for new events, technologies, and information.” (In recent years, “sustainability is growing in importance,” as is entrepreneurship.) A major benefit of the program is the “the wide array of concentrations offered,” including such unique offerings as digital marketing, quality and applied statistics, and environmentally sustainable management—as well as more traditional business fields like accounting, operations management, and supply chain management. In addition to established concentrations, students can tailor their education through elective courses in eight other RIT colleges, like computer science, fine arts, sustainability, and engineering.

The MBA can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis, with classes offered in the daytime and the evening, as well as online. Course work is “fast-paced” and challenging.” Despite the “vigorous schedule,” “professors are extremely flexible if students need to miss class for work.” On that note, most RIT instructors “know students’ names and take interest in the students’ personal lives.” With an average class size of just twenty-three students, “professors go out of their way to be sure concepts are well understood and topics are relevant and beneficial to us.” Even in the classroom, RIT emphasizes practical skills, and most professors “have significant corporate experience and tie it well with the academics to offer an enriched experience.” In fact, many RIT instructors “still work as consultants for major companies.” All classes are taught by faculty, not teaching assistants.

Students who received an undergraduate business degree from RIT and 4+1 MBA Partner schools can “waive some classes” in the MBA program, or complete a BS and MBA through on accelerated five-year schedule. Taking advantage of this attractive opportunity, many “students seem to come directly from undergrad,” though “each class tends to have at least some students who have been in the workplace.” Furthermore, RIT undergraduates “are required to have a good deal of co-op (internship) experience before they graduate (usually between six months to one year or more.)” For those who want to build on their real-world credentials, RIT offers plenty of “hands-on, experiential, practical learning” experiences. Here, students can participate in optional internships or co-op work experiences, business plan and case competitions, and team-based projects both on and off campus. Among other offerings, the school’s “Innovation Center is a new-business incubator, and they are always asking for the business students to come and consult for them.”

Serving the undergraduate and graduate community, RIT’s Cooperative Education and Career Services offers robust career preparation services, including an executive-in-resi- dence program, mentorship program, online job resources, career fairs, and networking events. While the campus maintains a robust recruiting program,” based on the school’s strength in engineering, technology, and science, “Most of the companies at the career fair are looking to hire tech students with very few hiring management students.” As such, “the campus is still trying to get more interest from the business community to send companies here for new talent.”

In recent years, full-time MBA candidates reported a median starting salary of more than $58,000, with a range between $40,000 and $130,000. They took jobs at AXA Advisors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Discover Financial Services, Goldman Sachs, Google, Harris Corporation, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Insero & Company, Key Bank, Kinex Pharmaceuticals, Ortho Clinical Diagnostic, Paychex, PWC, Toyota, United Technologies Corp., Wegmans, and Xerox.

Part of a large, private, comprehensive university, Saunders College of Business offers a well-rounded student experience, which appeals to both part-time and full-time stu- dents. Here, “the facilities are good and campus activities are diversified,” and there are plenty of “great resources available”—including an “outstanding” gym. As you’d expect from a technical school, business students enjoy contemporary technology in the class- room and “have access to amazing equipment” to prepare their “group presentations.”

On this large campus, students “come from about twenty different countries,” creating a “very diverse and global environment.” While they enthusiastically participate in class, “it is hard for graduate students to be more involved due to the late night classes and other obligations.” Still, even these students acknowledge that “there are lots of opportu- nities on campus for fun and Rochester is a great place to live.” Among full-timers, “the students are friendly and very focused when it comes to school, but don’t shy away from playing the occasional poker game now and then.”