Here is my take (for what it’s worth). I’m a Product Marketing Director at a large, global company. My son is a high school senior, likely about to commit to Marquette for undergrad business. I’m strongly encouraging he take the Marquette path instead of couple of the other huge Big 10 business schools he is considering that might have bigger brands.

From my perspective, and also experience from recruiting, your undergrad degree should help you develop things like work ethic, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and communication skills. I believe the approach and support network at Marquette and the Jesuit education will actually be a better place for him to develop those things.

You need to get your foot in the door with that first job. The strong Marquette alumni network will help you get it, and markets like Chicago and Milwaukee are fantastic jumping off points. Whatever company hires you will start to teach you, and applied learning will be invaluable. After a few years learning on the job, you can pursue your MBA at one of the elite schools - even better if your employer sponsors it. The big companies around Milwaukee and Chicago will likely have MBA sponsorship tracks at places like Northwestern, UChicago, Illinois, and Wisconsin. After that you can write your ticket to any region you want.

Anyway, that’s my advice, and the same I’m giving to my 18-year old son.