Grad School In Colorado?

[TheDon]

I am heading to Grad School next year and was looking originally at Thunderbird in AZ but one problem...YOU CAN'T SKI THERE! So I need help I have to find a place to get my MBA or INTERNATIONAL MBA and was going to see if I could get some local's point of views.

1st priority- It has to be relatively close to a rockin ski area.

2nd priority- Gotta be decent EducationS.

Where is the place to be?, and Why?

[Biscosity Breakdown]

I am graduating from CU in May, and entering for MBA at CU in fall '07. Love it here (don't listen to the haters). May not be your scene, but it is a great school, pretty close to skiing, with great people. Consider it.

[Sphinx]

You won't have time for skiing. Move to the desert so you aren't tempted.

[dk_alaskan]

or find a way to work it into your masters like i have...

[KansasBoarder]

TheDon-

I'm in a similar situation as you - graduating this spring, and looking to pursue a masters degree at a university near (in) the mountains. Of course, I want the institution at which I will pursue my graduate studies to be strong in my subject area...

With that being said, I have found but three legit options.

(1) CU at Boulder - sounds like you already know all about this one.
(2) CU at Denver - nothing like a strong Health, Science, and Professional School in the heart of downtown Denver.
(3) University of Utah - Salt Lake City Campus is but 30-60 minutes from the mountains that make us sick with powder envy each season. If you can handle the Mormon influence, probably the best choice for maximum ski and study time...

Let me know if you have heard of any other options - I'm super excited for the next few years, despite the large amount of uncertainty at this point.

[Cruiser]

If you can afford it the University of Denver (DU) has a respectable MBA program. If you can find the time to ski, you'll be glad you made the decision to come to Denver.

[Dobish]

i would also recommend DU (daniels college of business) if you are looking at great programs. Especially in the international MBA program. It is a great school, and yes it is pricey, but I think it is worth it. I am currently a student in the MBA program there... and since we are on the quarter system, i'm off from nov 20th through jan 3. On top of that, all of my classes are on monday and wednesdays, so I can ski every other day..... not super close to the mountains, but close enough.

[AdironRider]

Im in the same boat myself. Right now Im applying to Clarkson U here above the adirondacks and plan to defer a year to go to Jackson, but I think Im going to start looking into schools out west. How much does Denver run and how tough is it to get in?

[Raps]

Yeah i second the DU option - i'm thinking about an MBA in the next couple of years and a buddy of mine is loving his DU experience. Last year he got 60 days on snow and could have gotten more. A bunch of his buddies rented a place in breck during the nov - jan break that someone mentioned. Sounds like a pretty good combo of good education and skiing possibility

[TheDon]

i would also recommend DU (daniels college of business) if you are looking at great programs. Especially in the international MBA program. It is a great school, and yes it is pricey, but I think it is worth it. I am currently a student in the MBA program there... and since we are on the quarter system, i'm off from nov 20th through jan 3. On top of that, all of my classes are on monday and wednesdays, so I can ski every other day..... not super close to the mountains, but close enough.

What kind of accreditations?

What town/ski areas?

Thanks

[TheDon]

Im in the same boat myself. Right now Im applying to Clarkson U here above the adirondacks and plan to defer a year to go to Jackson, but I think Im going to start looking into schools out west. How much does Denver run and how tough is it to get in?

One web site that had been helping me check those questions out is,
http://www.princetonreview.com/home.asp

Let me know if you find anything definate...thanks

[telechuck]

What town/ski areas?

Dude, get an atlas and look up Denver. You will see Squaw and Alta are both an easy drive away.

If you want an international flavor to your MBA, CU may not be the right fit. They have several exchange programs that you can do the second year, but the people in my class and the class afterwards had mixed at best reviews. If you want to focus on entrepreneurship or finance and meet contacts in the Front Range, then CU is great.

It all depends. There is little recruiting on campus compared to a place like Harvard or some other big name school. But, if you work at it and network, you will do fine. I had a job 2 months before I graduated and everyone in my class who wanted a job got one in a reasonable amount of time.

[mr_gyptian]

Yeah i second the DU option - i'm thinking about an MBA in the next couple of years and a buddy of mine is loving his DU experience. Last year he got 60 days on snow and could have gotten more. A bunch of his buddies rented a place in breck during the nov - jan break that someone mentioned. Sounds like a pretty good combo of good education and skiing possibility

few other schools can claim the speed of ascent that DU's Business school has achieved in the past couple of years. Add that to the amount of money pouring (literally) into DU's infrastructure and it is a hard place to beat if you aren't going to a first tier school.

secondly, DU was recently ranked in the top 30 healthiest schools in Men's health. Apparently the focus on which kind of huffing and puffing has shifted with the advent of the new millenia.

[BurnHard]

I'm not familiar with your current background, so take my advice as it is.

I'm about to graduate with two B.S. (engineering and math), I'm already working as a Systems/Software engineer. I'm planning on eventually getting my M.S. and MBA. But I wanna ski as much as possible in the time being.

My advice - FIND A JOB. Find it close to the mountains, find it next to a ski resort. Work there for a while and if the company is small and flexible enough, you'll be able to manage your hours around some morning skiing time. And then, get the company to pay for your MBA - take night classes, it will barely feel like you're taking classes at all, you can manage your work time and ski time easier, and get 3 things done at once.

Just my 2cents.
Bernardo

[altasnob]

University of WA; better school than CU, UU, DU, and although a bit of a drive to get above the snow-rain line, when its on here, it is on.

[BeanDip4All]

What are you planning to do when you're done with school?

If you're trying to get into an extremely competitive job market with your MBA, it's worth the sacrifice to go to a top program that is far from skiing.

FWIW, I looked extensively at Thunderbird however decided against them based on lackluster recruiting by top firms. The program seemed great, it just seemed like the more I interviewed top execs on emerging markets desks and international consulting companies, no one had ever heard of them, or even if they had, they didn't know anyone who had went there. The program is solid, it just seemed like you'd really have to bust your ass out of there to get a good job, whereas the school I decided on, the recruiters are coming to me.

Best international MBA programs that I have found: Haas at Berkeley and Sloan at MIT. You'll be able to ski more at Haas. I also really liked Darden at UVA when I visited. I've been researching PhD programs at a few of these schools and would be happy to share more of my findings with you if you're interested in any of those programs.

Also, a lot of this depends on your scores. The best advice I can give is for an MBA, to get your $$'s worth, quite simply, go to the highest ranked program you can get into. Of course, you want to make sure it's a good fit blah blah, but for two measley years of your life, for something that can open so many doors for you in the future, the better named school is going to get you the better jobs.

Finally, if you're passionate enough and organized with your workload, you can get in skiing anywhere you go. I ultimately decided on Columbia and despite being stuck in NYC still got 60+ days skiing last season- two trips out west and every weekend up north... so it can be done.

[smmokan]

What kind of accreditations?

What town/ski areas?

Thanks

Hello, my name is TheDon, and I'd like everyone on TGR to do my research for me.

I'm pretty sure DU has its own website where you can find ALL kinds of information, and Denver is located somewhere in the middle of Colorado. We all know that Eldora is an easy hour drive to the northwest.

[shmerham]

Statistically, only the top mba programs (top 30ish) are worth the money, so edumucation better be priority numero uno, if a roi is important to you. …and if it's not, then what the hell are you doing go to B school?

[rometheworld]

The Don - listen up

I am an MBA student at CU-Boulder currently, first year, and love it. It is a ton of work so don't expect to ski everyday. Though I still plan on skiing a lot. We have a week for thanksgiving, month for X-mas and of course spring break. It all depends what you are looking for in a program. If CU or DU offer what you are looking for then pull the trigger. I have a ton to add so PM me if you have any specific questions.

[rometheworld]

Shmerham, where are you getting these numbers? Top 30ish?

[smmokan]

^^^^ It depends on your situation and what you're expecting. Things are a lot different if you go into B-School making $35k than if you make $100k. Plus, a lot of people go because their current job/promotion depends on a MBA, and it doesn't matter where you get it from.

[cj001f]

I'm sure you'll make an excellent MBA TheDon - you've all the makings - convincing a bunch of other people to do the research for your skiing .

[cranked]

Any reason you want to go right now instead of getting a jobby job for a few years? Why not break into a resort company or work in hospitality for a few years. You can get experience and get your days in...you will get a lot more out of b-school if you have been in the cubes for a few years. Not to mention, experience makes it easier to get into a better program.

[jonpierre]

colorado is closed.
move along, nothing to see here.

[Tunco]

...
2nd priority- Gotta be decent EducationS.

....

I think you've had enough already.