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World-class professors and challenging coursework are the biggest pros for the part-time MBA program. Professors have spent a significant amount of time working in their industry, or conducting extensive research, or both. Class sizes are manageable, and professors and TAs make an effort to be available to students who are employed full-time and have specific needs for office hours. A wide variety of course offerings is available, as well as multiple formats. I have been able to create a comfortable... Read More mix of on-site class, online class, and condensed courses (3 full-day classes over 3 weeks) to fit my professional and personal life, while still feeling challenged academically. Cons include the lack of a cohort, due to the part-time nature of the program. Carlson bridges the gap well by providing extracurricular networking activities and clubs that are open to full and part time students. Many of the year 1 courses are a slightly more advanced repeat of upper-level undergraduate coursework, designed for students who have been out of school for a while or who have no academic background in business majors, which can sometimes feel tedious. However, instructors do their best to teach at a pace that will challenge students and achieve academic goals over the course of the semester.

Overall Carlson is an excellent program. They really value their MBA students in each of the programs (part-time, full-time, & executive). Professors are very approachable, program mentors are extremely responsive, and the quality of education is outstanding. However, because of the quality of the program I think the school could be more selective of applicants. I would prefer to see a greater level of peer competition within the program as I think this strengthens the learning process. Also, I am... Read More rather disappointed with the number of grants and scholarships available to all students. Most if not all of the scholarships are available only to minority groups.

The core MBA curriculum is well balanced and gives MBA students the broad view of topics they need to know as business administrators. My area of focus is in marketing. I've continued to be disappointed by the depth of the elective marketing courses. I'm already in this field, most classes feel like a rehash of skills and concepts that I already use on a daily basis. Minnesota has gone to a "high tuition, high aid" financial aid model, meaning lots of un-subsidized and PLUS loans. At the same time,... Read More I've seen my tuition go up more than $200/credit since I started the program. Use of technology is average - many of the instructors rely on VHS or CD, but the Carlson School facilities don't tend to play nice with those formats - audio is always a challenge. Career services at Carlson are AWESOME. If you're an MBA student and don't work with the career coaches, you're wasting the most valuable part of your tuition.