University of Washington - Michael G. Foster School of Business

The Foster School of Business at the University of Washington is a public business school that provides students with a transformative, inclusive education focusing on strategy and global business in the core curriculum while giving graduates “the ability to get what [they] want out of the program.” The school offers Full-Time, Evening, Executive, Technology Management, Global Executive, and Hybrid (mostly online) MBAs, all operating on the quarter system for a greater degree of customization. Even those in the full-time program find “the class hours are perfectly balanced,” and they can build out a personalized curriculum that lets them take electives to serve their career goals without being tied to a specific track. However, all students complete final core classes in ethics and macroeconomics and a summer internship or project. They must also compete in an MBA core case competition and take part in two international perspective and two practical experience activities, which can include courses and projects with actual businesses. Additionally, there are “significant opportunities to get involved with entrepreneurship, whether commercializing technology developed within research institutions, consulting projects with local entrepreneurs,” or the Center for Entrepreneurship, which hosts the annual Dempsey Startup Competition for $60,000 in prize money.

There is a “student-focused and student-led environment [that] is very palpable” at Foster because the school encourages proactivity from the start. As one student shares, “There is a shared expectation that you lean in and contribute to Foster, rather than always take take take.” As such, “work is done in groups for the most part” and “will definitely make you emphasize time management.” Seattle may be a business hotbed, but Foster offers a “small class culture in a booming city,” which “increases student learning and attention.” That means “learning is not only done in the classroom from teachers, but also from peers.” Still, the faculty are “incredibly engaged and care about student learning,” particularly in the core classes. “From finance and accounting, to ops and modeling, each core professor has far outperformed expectations,” says a student.

Where to begin with the career success of this school’s graduates? For starters, the Full-Time MBA boasts a 99 percent job placement rate. That’s aided by Foster’s prime location in Seattle, which puts it in close proximity to Amazon, Microsoft, Nordstrom, and Starbucks, among a slew of start-ups. As such, the school has “strong relationships and deep alumni connections with local technology companies.” Many students come here as a “great career switch opportunity into the technology industry or consulting,” and the school’s MBA Mentor Program connects Seattle-area corporate professionals with Foster students for on-site visits, personal advice, and dinners. It also arranges for students to utilize “concepts learned in the classroom through Applied Strategy projects with top-tier companies.” More generally, the Career Management Office hosts “quarterly employer networking opportunities” and “organizes massive tech events on-campus.” For example, “Amazon came in for a day and did eight hours with twenty-one different employees, explaining five different post-MBA roles … and how to prepare for them.” Overall, “the alumni network is quite large even though the class size has always been small,” and for those pursuing tech, it helps that a large portion of classmates will become a future network.

This group of “collaborative, friendly, and all-around supportive people” are “willing to assist in any way, even to the extent of recommending roles that did not fit them during the interview process.” Additionally, students with prior experience in certain subjects “frequently arrange review sessions for their classmates before exams.” There “is never a shortage of small groups chatting about their work or social engagements in the hallways.” Overall, this is a “friendly, pragmatic, and driven” bunch, so peers “are extremely supportive of parent-students” and are “always willing to help a classmate.” Plus, “the school is a beautiful, quiet place with lots of space for fun stuff, too.” There “are more club activities than humanly feasible to attend,” and “from day one students are encouraged to take ownership of their experiences by joining club committees, pursuing independent studies, [and] inviting speakers on campus.” The school is located in the middle of the city (which “offers a high quality of life”), and all students with IDs “get access to all the bus and Light Rail (train) systems in the state” to easily take advantage of what Washington has to offer.