Carlson MBA vs Claremont McKenna MSF
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Claremont has a solid rep, never heard of Carlson tbh
Claremont is a first class program, I've never even heard of Carlson.
I had to Google Carlson MBA, then after discovering it's the B-School at U Minnesota, I had to wikipedia Minnesota... turns out it's actually a US state!
I truly don't mean to offend, that second bit is sarcasm obviously, but I hope it highlights the obscurity of the program. The program isn't even close to being a US brand, let alone an international one as you have suggested. (Post-publication note: the OP originally had a much longer post that said one advantage of Carlson is its international brand.)
This is just my opinion though. As a native Californian, I'm partial to top-quality west-coast programs like Claremont. For me, it would be a no-brainer simply from the fact that Carlson would never be on my list.
Thanks a lot for the insight (I never mind sarcasm though). I am just a bit surprised since the most popular rankings like BusinessWeek, US News and The Economist have consistently placed Carlson - U of Minnesota among the top programs.
draculallvm: Claremont McKenna MSF... is this through the Drucker School?
Wtf is a Carlson
From Minnesota originally and had a decision on whether or not to go to U of Minnesota undergrad business program through Carlson... The school definitely has a good brand in-state - it's a great way to get a foot in some of the large businesses in MN such as Target, Best Buy, Cargill, Ameriprise, etc. but if you don't have any intention of staying in MN, the brand value of Carlson is not great. In terms of banking, they have Piper of course as well as some boutiques and regional MM offices. That being said, Carlson isn't really known to churn out bankers and my experience actually going for a couple of the banking opportunities in MN is that, especially at the analyst and associate levels, you see a lot of people getting educations at good schools out of state.
Carlson is consistently ranked Top 30 MBA program. Detailed employment statistics are over here: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/ 93% placement rate. Average starting salary + bonus is $40 K more than Claremont-McKenna MSF program. Tough to turn down a free ride at Carlson.
The mean/median for Carlson is $50k plus $4k bonus (http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/undergraduate_mba_profile…)
The mean/median for Claremont is $76k plus $8k bonus. http://www.cmc.edu/mastersinfinance/career_management/placement.php
Look at the employers. It's a no-brainer.
The first link your cited for Carlson refers to the undergrad program, which was ranked at 55th. The MBA was ranked at 28st and the stats differ significantly http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/full_time_mba_profiles/mi…
I'll be nice, Carlson. Both are complete unknowns in Asia. Carlson will sound stronger and more legitimate to someone unfamiliar with U.S. colleges. Frankly, the MSF trend is a new thing, and there isn't a ranking for it. For your MBA, you can point and say "look it's a top 30 program." You definitely can't do the same for the MSF.
Average salary out of Carlson is about $88k compared to $76k for Claremont.
Thanks for the reply. Let's say if I've changed my mind and would like to work in the states for a few years to get the prestige before coming back to Asia. Which one will give me the leverage to break into corporate finance/banking? From all the responses in the threads, I'm leaning toward CMC though.
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