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I believe we had access to world-class business leaders during the entire program and after. I believe the faculty was top notch, especially the marketing department, which was my emphasis. The biggest weakness was a couple of faculty members were older and were not as involved in their consulting projects, so they were a little out of touch.

The Paul Merage School of Business has an excellent faculty and very good resources (for example, IT). The main downside to the program is that the student body tends to have limited work experience, which limits the in-class exchange of information.

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For my career, the degree gives me enough credibility to continue my career path. I had a desire to transition industries, but I don't think that is possible with the combination of the economy as well as the school's reputation.

I did not think the career center was helpful for part timers. They are not geared to assist people who are already in professional roles. The program overall needs better processes and organization to be geared to part timers who work full time and have different needs than the full-time students who do not work. The program also lacked any focus or even a course on social responsibility. I found this to be very concerning and surprising. There is also a lot of waste on campus and in the program that should not happen in an institution that associates itself with innovation.

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The part-time program at Merage was tailored for people with full-time jobs. The structure made it challenging but possible to continue working while attending school. First couple of quarters were tough because of the core classes like accounting. However, once we got to choose electives, the program and experience got to be really fun. The international residential was my favorite part, I do not believe other programs offer anything along those lines.

This program is good, but the real reason I chose it was the proximity to my home. There just aren't any other decent MBA programs around Orange County. If USC or UCLA had a full satellite campus in Orange County, I would have definitely applied to those as well, and I'd be completely willing to forgo the "on campus" experience. UC Irvine had the best name and most convenient schedule in my area.

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I thought UCI did a great job in preparing us for the real world. However, I do think a "brand" school opens more doors. If a person had that option, I would always recommend that option.

The Paul Merage School of Business provides their students with excellent opportunities to learn beyond the classroom experience. I was fortunate to participate in the Business Plan Competition and learned valuable lessons from that experience. The reputation of the school provides access to business leaders around the Orange County area and the dean does network heavily around the business community to encourage business participation with the school. I believe that the Paul Merage School will continue to grow and expand.

We had dinners or breakfasts before class where we could be with classmates. We also had three residentials with our classmates. There were networking sessions with alumni and social mixers with full-time students. A lot of opportunities were provided.