Before we dive in, let me say that I am a 2011 graduate from Hult International Business School from the Master of Business Administration program and the review here represents my opinion of the school. You should, by all means, look at other reviews and talk to other students who graduated from the institution before making a big commitment such a undertaking a masters program. This remains true for any institution and program in the world.

Why Hult

During the course of my study in Hult and my time away from work I have had a ton of people ask me why I picked Hult out of all the possible institutions better and worse out there. Here are the reasons why

1. Reputation – I have always wanted to get a higher degree from an institution that was quite well known. By the time I graduated Hult was ranked #27 best business school in the world! (http://www.hult.edu/about-hult/rankings)
2. 1 Year Program – Being out of the workforce, for me, was a big risk. Especially with the economy being the way it was, the longer you were out of the workforce, the worse off your chances were. So I wanted to pick a course that allowed me to get the education I wanted in the least amount of time possible.
3. Costs – Balancing out reputation and time, then came the issue of costs. With a 1 yr program you almost half your expenditure from reduced tuition fees and living expenses.
4. International Exposure – With the work environment becoming progressively global by the day, its an added advantage to have any kind of international exposure. My class of 60 had students from over 30 countries and Hult website says the student body comprises of students from over 80 countries!
5. Global Rotation Program – During the 1 year program, a student is allowed to rotate to up to 3 global campuses (if planned right). This gives an unbelievable wealth of fun and exposure not easily attainable elsewhere

 Now don’t get me wrong here – the Hult Dubai campus is by no means inadequate. In terms of location, its really in no-man’s land but it’s not exactly Hult’s fault. In Dubai, academic institutions have been asked to move to Dubai’s International Academic City and well that place quite hasn’t developed as anyone had hoped it would. Location aside, Hult occupies one half of the 7th floor in Block 10 and while relatively small has everything you need – breakout rooms, 2 huge classrooms, staff rooms, offices, lockers, mailboxes, video -conferencing room and there is even room for a Foosball table. I have read people complaining about the lack of Hult’s own library and other facilities and those complains are completely unwarranted. There is a well stocked common library available for those who wish to avail those services. Hult also provides access to online library resources so the physical one is redundant. The reason why Dubai get a B+ then is solely because of relative comparison with San Francisco.

Hult Dubai had some of the best professors – hands down! I thoroughly enjoyed almost every class that was taught and the professors had a big part to play in every one of them. Of course as in every institution there are one or two of those you wish never taught but at the end of the day you can only evaluate the overall academic experience and that was, in my opinion, worth every savings I poured into this investment.

The Staff at Hult Dubai – everyone from the Assistant Dean to the security guard were really friendly and were always there if you ever needed any help. Complaints, if any, were handled with the greatest level of professionalism and personal ones were treated with utmost discretion and at the end of the day you cannot ask for anything more.

During the time I was in the Dubai Campus, student services was in a constant change of flux and people were coming in and out. But that isn’t the reason why Dubai Student Services gets this grading. Lack of communication with the students was the biggest drawback during the year. However, when they did organize student events, they were amazing!

Currently, this is by far the biggest weakness of Hult. Student Services in Dubai was really ineffective and pointless. They did offer countless resume review sessions and a few good speaker series but while those are good student need to see career fairs and companies coming in to visit you and maybe at some point even hire a person or two and that makes things credible. Running resume sessions and mock interviews are essential but more focus should be given to other areas. Having said this, if you are one of those students who think Career Services should land you a job then the joke is on you! The role of Career Services in any institution is to get you in a position where you can then put your foot in the door. Everything else is/should/will be up to you.

Hult’s San Francisco campus opened in 2010 and just completed 1 year of operation but the standards here are nothing short of world class. The campus is located in the area of Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 and other touristy places and there is always something to do in a 5 min walk radius. The campus was in the process of expansion while I was there (they already had 2 floors but were getting a 3rd). The campus is ridiculously good looking and there are tons of classrooms, breakout rooms, huge relaxation/study areas – the works!

 While in San Francisco I only took elective courses, but the professors that taught them were awesome. They knew what they were talking about and brought a wealth of real world experiences as well. And talking to the students who did their core curriculum in San Francisco for the year, the professors were really good.

Granted I was there only for 3 months doing my electives, the staff there was nothing but brilliant! Everyone was friendly and always helped out whenever I had a question or an issue. One can ask of nothing more.

Student Services in San Francisco deserve a standing ovation and applause. They were always so helpful and friendly. There was always a constant stream of communication coming from them. There was some event or the other that they were either organizing or that they wanted students to know about. The couple of events that I went to were unbelievably fun. They just seemed to know how to constantly keep doing things and keep the buzz surrounding Student Services and making sure that the students were always doing fun things when they could. Kudos to you!

Sadly, still one of the weakest links in the Hult armor. I must admit that you shouldn’t read into this one particular grading that much because I personally didn’t make use of their services. But from what I know and heard while better than Dubai it wasn’t all that breathtaking. Career Services in all campuses seem to be not helping Hult as much as their other departments and hopefully this will change in the coming years.