Georgia State University - J. Mack Robinson College of Business

“One of the top business schools in Atlanta,” Georgia State University offers a cosmopolitan MBA to a diverse student body. Catering to a range of urban professionals, the school offers several distinct MBA tracks. For those with busy careers, the Flexible MBA is an evening and weekend program, which allows up to five years for completion. Another popular choice, the PMBA, is also designed for working professionals; however, this program is a two-year cohort-based degree, which moves quickly and maximizes networking opportunities with classmates. In addition to these two programs, the school offers an Executive MBA for seasoned managers, as well as a full-time program with major overseas components, called the Global Partners MBA. With evening classes at “multiple locations” in Atlanta, the majority of Georgia State’s MBA programs give students “the flexibility to remain employed full time throughout the curriculum.”

Georgia State’s MBA provides a “strong background in general business areas, while allowing you to focus on your area of interest” through electives and study abroad. “Professors are a mix of experienced professionals and long-tenured educators,” who are “extremely knowledgeable” and able to “make complicated concepts understandable and relevant.” Teaching working professionals, professors excel at “staying up to date with current business trends, from global to local.” Just as importantly, “the business school learning environment depends heavily on your classmates’ experiences.” Since “many of the students have ten-plus years of relevant work experience,” students are pleased to find that their “classmates bring good industry knowledge to discussions.”

Keeping up with classes and professional life is definitely a challenge for many MBA students, as “the program moves at a very fast pace.” At the same time, the “PMBA isn’t as intense or competitive as some full-time programs because everyone is working full time.” Helping to streamline the experience, “the administration is very involved” with students, and it “has perfected making the process easy” on busy working professionals. Staff handles most of the paperwork, so “students don’t have to do any of the ‘administrative’ tasks, like registering or ordering books.” “PMBA facilities are top notch,” located on a number of convenient satellite campuses in Atlanta.

Throughout Georgia State, there is a strong “focus on getting the MBA student where they want to go” in their career. While many part-time students aren’t necessarily seek- ing a new job after graduation, they are nonetheless pleased that “the school leverages its location in a vibrant business city and its connections to business leaders to give students access to reputable companies for academic and career purposes.” “Individual career counseling is made available as part of the program,” and students have access to myriad services through the Robinson Career Management Center in the business school. There are frequent career development workshops on campus, as well as a few recruiting events. At the same time, “the job selection through the career placement cen- ter is limited,” as the program lacks a large community of job seekers. A student explains, “We don’t have a full-time program, so companies don’t recruit at GSU like they do at Emory and GT.”

In recent years, many important companies have hired MBA grads from Georgia State, including Hewitt Associates, Tauber & Balser PC, KPMG LLP, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Deloitte Consulting, Towers Perrin, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, McKesson Corporation, UPS, Wells Fargo, GE Healthcare, KPMG UNUM Corporation, Frazier & Deeter LLC, Ernst & Young LLP, and Wachovia Securities. The average starting salary for PMBA graduates is $75,000, with a range between $45,000 and $150,000 annually. Flexible MBA students earn an average salary of about $65,000.

Drawing from Atlanta’s large urban population, the MBA program at GSU is “very diverse.” One of the program’s major benefits is making connections and networking with “student peers from major corporations.” Fortunately, social interactions are, to some extent, built into the curriculum. Group work is included in most classes, and students say you should expect to attend “team meetings and phone conferences at least two hours weekly.” On the whole, students are “competitive in their work lives but more collaborative in the academic environment.”

Georgia State students are “surrounded by countless opportunities in downtown Atlanta,” and, when time permits, “students enjoy each other ’s company in and out of the classroom.” Spread across several satellite facilities, many students rarely come to the main campus downtown. However, “the program tries to host mixers” for business students, and “the Graduate Business Association puts on a Leadership Speaker Series and several networking/happy hours throughout the year.” As expected for marketing mavens, “events are generally held at trendy, popular venues and executed flawlessly.” In addition to blowing off steam, these events are “excellent opportunities for network- ing and making new friends.” At the same time, students with families note that most student activities are “geared at single, younger students.”