It's true that most traditional full-time MBA programs look for candidates who have demonstrated leadership and success in professional positions. But, just as many MBA programs don't require the GRE or GMAT exams, many business schools are willing to consider applicants with limited or no prior professional experience. We've compiled a list of these schools in the California below. Click on a program profile below to see if you meet the eligibility requirements for that program.
The Anderson School of Management full-time MBA program does not require previous employment in order to qualify, although it may help with one's application. The school's Master of Business Analytics and Master of Financial Engineering offerings also do no explicitly require prior work experience in order to apply.
Work experience is not explicitly required in order to apply to the full-time or Flexible MBA programs at the Chapman University Argyros School of Business.
In lieu of submitting a GMAT scores or work experience history for the Alliant MBA program, the admissions committee may conduct an interview to assess an applicant’s abilities.
No work experience is required in order to apply to the California State University, Long Beach College of Business Administration Accelerated MBA program.
The PLNU Graduate Admissions team takes into account certain professional certificate programs, other graduate-level experience and the GRE in waiving the GMAT for the part-time MBA and the full-time MBA programs. Work experience is also not required in order to apply.
The GMAT or GRE may be waived in light of a Ph.D., MD or JD degree only for the part-time MBA or full-time MBA programs. Applicants to the Sports Management MBA program may request a waiver for the GRE or GMAT if they hold a doctorate from an accredited university, or earned a 3.0 GPA or higher in undergraduate or graduate school. Work experience is also not explicitly required in order to apply.
The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University suggests applicants have around three years of work experience before applying to the full-time or part-time MBA programs, but it is not completely required.
The prestigious Stanford GSB full-time MBA program does not require work experience in order to qualify, though standards for admitted students is still very high, with an average GMAT score of 732.
On the fence about whether or not to take the GMAT / GRE?
If you are thinking about taking the GMAT or want to learn more about Veritas Prep’s GMAT courses, register to attend a one-hour seminar hosted by Veritas Prep’s course co-creator. This seminar will show you what to expect from the GMAT and how to conquer the exam.
The state of Tennessee likely brings to mind Graceland, Dollywood, the Appalachians, and the Great Smoky Mountains. But for those with an eye to top business schools, the Volunteer State is also home to several competitive MBA programs.
There are a multitude of reasons to consider Canada as a destination for your business degree. To name just a few—there’s the low exchange rate from the U.S. to the Canadian dollar; the relative ease of obtaining an educational or professional visa; and the overall openness of the country to international students and employees. Also, many regions in Canada are rife with opportunity for startups and small businesses in addition to already established firms in the finance, tech, engineering, and healthcare sector.
Launching January 22, 2020, Accelerated Access will at first only be open to students in their final year of study, but UC plans to expand the program to include all students across the university system. Applicants who are accepted will gain conditional admission with a two to five year deferment period.
Morgan Bernstein, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Haas, says, “Accelerated Access is an innovative way for students to secure a seat in our MBA program, providing a way for them to pursue full-time work that aligns with their passions, with reassurance that they will be able to return to a top-ranked MBA program in a few years…We have so much talent here in the Berkeley community—and this is another way that we are cultivating and committing to that talent.”
The goal of Accelerated Access is to open admission to students who may not have previously considered pursuing an MBA due to a lack of professional experience.
The opening year of the program has two application deadlines: Thursday, April 2, 2020 and Thursday, June 11, 2020. The application process has similar requirements as the regular MBA program, with one notable difference. Haas has waived the $200 application fee for Accelerated Access students. In addition, qualified applicants will be eligible for up to five scholarships worth $100,000.
Read here for more on Accelerated Access and UC Berkeley admissions.
A delegation of ten Dartmouth Tuck School of Business students attended the United Nations’ COP25 conference in Madrid last December. Led by Professor Tracy Bach, the delegation was able to observe climate change negotiations in action.
Outside the COP25 in Madrid, Spain.
One delegate, Melena Sanchez Montanes, (T, 20), is the Director of the Tuck Social Venture Fund. She says of COP25, “It was very energizing to see all these young people committed to finding solutions to climate change and an amazing experience to see the negotiators working live on behalf of their countries and hearing what’s important to them.”
Tuck’s Revers Center for Energy and the Center for Business, Government & Society each had a hand in sending the delegation. It is one of numerous experiential opportunities offered to Tuck students interested in sustainability, impact investing, and energy innovation. Tuck offers electives devoted to the business of climate change and to leadership in the new global economy.
Another Tuck delegate Kevin Yuan (T, ’20), recently accepted a position with Nike as global manager of sustainability. He became connected with the brand at a previous COP conference in Poland, and his new position will allow him to work on such projects as seeking ways to offset Nike’s carbon footprint.
“The climate crisis can seem like this huge problem, where we don’t even know where to start, and it can feel defeating and deafening. But if you find your sliver of the pie and give it everything you can give, the world will be in a better place … As the world’s largest apparel company, Nike is a bellwether, and I feel uniquely empowered to impact climate change because of Nike’s global presence.”
Shanah Gaskill, a current MBA at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, recently shared the experience of her application, interview and hiring process as a Program Manager at Twitter.
Her story is part of the school’s “How I Got the Job” series. Gaskill began her career in marketing at Uber, where she eventually became a Senior Marketing Manager. There, she discovered her yen for ‘people-centered’ projects. Gaskill’s desire to use these skills prompted her to consider a future in HR, in addition to pursuing an MBA. This decision led Gaskill to the Owen MBA, which offers a concentration in Human and Organizational Performance (HOP).
“Coming to get my MBA, specifically at a school that was focused on HR, would allow me to make the jump. In [Twitter’s] interview process, being able to speak to what I was learning in class was super cool. What we learned in the HOP classes are very applicable to the HR roles that we’re going into,” Gaskill says.
Her success in the interview process won her a summer internship at Twitter, which has led to a full-time position as a Program Manager on their Global Talent Management Team. Of her new position, Gaskill adds, “I’m just really excited to work with and learn from my colleagues … They just pour so much into their employees that everyone there is so proud to work there … everyone is [dedicated to] the same mission.”
Read here for more on Gaskill’s MBA experience at Owen, including a helpful timeline of events that led her to Twitter.
The University of Toronto Rotman School of Management‘s Behavioral Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR) research center will host a global conference on behavioral science on July 13 and 14, 2020.
The next Behavioral Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR) conference is coming to Rotman this July.
Behavioral Exchange 2020 (BX2020) brings together industry, academic, and government experts to explore innovations in the field of behavioral innovations. The conference’s 500 delegates will share their expertise in the areas of public health, diversity and inclusion, global finance, and sustainability as each pertains to human behavioral science.
Click here to learn more about the upcoming event.
When it’s not engulfed in flames, Australia boasts a diversified economy and holds high scores across the board on the OECD Better Life Index. Australia is also advantageously located close to Asia, with some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
Do you want to live in the city or the country? Do you prefer working in the epicenter of finance in Europe or do you enjoy a slightly slower pace of life? Do you want to earn your MBA from Imperial College Business School or Warwick Business School? That’s the question we’re going to answer today in our latest School vs. School series article.
As this writer prepares your weekly MBA job digest, the weather has hovered around a brisk 35º F (1.6º C). Many of us who have grown accustomed to this kind of inclement weather try to occupy ourselves with daydreams of more easygoing locales with more hospitable climates. Texas isn’t a bad place to be in the middle of January.
The German auto industry is a world leader, with more than 830,000 employees worldwide. It’s an impressive global industry, which is just one reason why it’s attractive for MBA graduates. If you’re interested in manufacturing, these large care makers are a great choice.
Moelis & Company is the investment bank of the future. The New York-based company was founded in 2007, on the heels of the Great Recession, so it’s familiar with the uncertainty our future holds. That’s why clients have trusted it with more than $2.9 trillion worth in investments. That makes a Moelis & Company career a great place for MBA students and graduates to grow.
Scandinavia isn’t just a beautiful location where you can
see the northern lights. There are some top-notch global universities in Sweden,
Finland, Denmark, and Norway that shouldn’t be ignored. These schools offer
high-quality teaching, cutting edge research, and exceptional student services.
Starting in the fall of 2020, Michigan Ross will offer its full-time MBA students a new STEM-designated track. The new track focuses on quantitative management and business analytics across industries and is ideal for students interested in pursuing STEM-related business careers.
UCLA Anderson Master of Financial Engineering Program Structure
The UCLA Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) at the Anderson School of Management is a 15-month program, taught at the Los Angeles campus, merging education in quantitative theory and current business practices. Through the course of the program, students complete 70 credits worth of coursework, in addition to an Applied Finance Project (AFP) and an internship during the summer.
Curriculum
The MFE at UCLA Anderson is broken up by four separate quarters, with students completing four courses in each of the first two (fall and winter) quarters, respectively. In the third quarter (spring), students begin elective options in courses centered around financial engineering disciplines, completing any two of the following three courses:
• Financial Innovation
• Quant Asset Management
• Data Analytics and Machine Learning
In the fourth and final quarter, students complete the aforementioned applied finance project, which is completed within groups of four students. In the corporate-sponsored project, teams attempt to solve real-world issues in topics such “as quantitative trading strategies, portfolio management, risk management, hedging and derivatives valuation,” according to the MFE official website.
The student to faculty ratio for the MFE program is currently 3:1.
Class Profile
A total of 84 students are enrolled in the UCLA Master of Financial Engineering program at the Anderson School of Management. Around 34 percent of the class are female students.
As a whole, the average age of the class is 26-years old, with an age range of 21-45. The undergraduate GPA is 3.65, while the graduate GPA is slightly higher at 3.75. The average GMAT total is 720. Prior to enrollment, the average work experience per student is around four years.
Career Statistics
UCLA MFE grads report a job placement rate of 94 percent within six months of earning the degree, with an average annual salary of $100,000.
Tuition, Scholarships, and Financial Aid
The total cost of the UCLA Master of Financial Engineering is $78,470. If factoring in the cost of health insurance, the total comes to $84,228.64. A non-refundable fee of $2,000 is required to hold a spot in the program after gaining admission, which is credited to the total cost. Cost of extemporaneous non-required expenses, such as room and board, travel, food, and other factors, raise the total expected cost to $98,768 for the first three quarters and $32,544 for the final quarter. In total, this comes to $131,312.
Federal Direct Loan (Unsubsidized), Federal Direct Grad PLUS Loan. private loans, and employment sponsorship can help provide funding for the MFE program.
Admissions
Applicants to the MFE program are expected to have experience in computer programming, using mathematical tools, statistical and econometric applications, a strong quantitative background, and a goal of obtaining a CFA. Work experience is expected but not explicitly required.
• Academic transcripts
• GMAT/GRE scores
• Two letters of recommendation
• A resume
• TOEFL/IELTS scores (if necessary for non-English speaking international applicants)
• Any professional designations
• $200 application fee (non-refundable)
Strong candidates will be asked to interview as part of the admissions process, by invitation only.
Application deadlines are as follows:
Round Two – March 1, 2020 Round Three – April 30, 2020
California’s a great place to jump into business grad school. Depending on what part of the state you choose, you got mountains, beaches, and endless sunshine. On top of that, California is among Forbes’ best states for business. California is 31st, in fact. And with the fifth-biggest economy in the world at $3 trillion, the state offers plenty of opportunity for those looking to make it in the world of business.
Fish and
chips or bangers and mash? Marks & Spencer or Harvey Nichols? London or
Oxford? Choosing between two incredible options isn’t easy, particularly when
they’re so comparable. And the same goes for top business schools. How do you
know which MBA program fits your needs? That’s why we’re here.
The Steel City’s reputation has evolved since its post World War II Rust Belt glory days. Since the decline of the manufacturing industry in the 1970s and 80s, Pittsburgh has made a comeback as one of the leading cultural and economic hubs of the Northeast. Banking, healthcare, and tech are thriving in Pittsburgh, which make it a perfect place to earn an MBA and to begin or shift into a lucrative career.
Most people may be familiar with New Jersey-based software company ADP when it’s pay day. The company offers human management software—and it’s where many turn to access their digital paystubs and salary info. But remember: There are people behind the machine, and an ADP job offers incredible career opportunities for MBA students and grads alike.
The company—whose letters stand for Automatic Data Processing (or Always Designing for People (depending whom you ask)—has some 58,000 associates worldwide, and that number is only growing with open positions around the globe. Business school grads are sure to have the necessary chops to improve the company’s workforce, but they’ll need some key info to be sure that it’s the right place for them.
ADP Career Outlook
This is a pretty big-deal company even if it’s not a household name. It’s been featured on the Forbes 500, which ranks companies based on their sales, profits, assets, and employees. In fact, ADP boasts an annual revenue of more than $13 million. Since first joining the Forbes 500 in 1996, the company’s ranking has only gone up.
To make things better, Forbeslists it 21st overall for its “Best Employers for Diversity 2018” list, so MBA students and graduates of color can rejoice in knowing this is a place that’ll appreciate their unique experiences and perspectives. The fact that its employees come from around the world is certainly a plus, too. Its office has locations in more than 25 countries, including the U.S., Brazil, Hungary, Singapore, and India.
Featured job openings at ADP include:
Sales executive
Project manager
Client support consultant
Account executive
Business consultant
Associate district manager
ADP Job Salary and Benefits
Let’s be honest: Much of a company’s appeal comes down to what it offers. The average salary at ADP is $80,000, according to PayScale. That’s not too shabby. And employees at the company seem fairly happy. That’s true, according to the country’s own testimonials but also from what employees have recorded on Glassdoor.
The view from inside ADP’s new Allentown, PA office / Photo via Rick Kintzel and The Morning Call.
The reviews are largely positive, and most workers would even recommend the job to a friend. Why? Weekends are off. People actually go home when they’re supposed to. Many people rave about the company culture. I guess offering holidays, personal days, and paid vacations will create a damn good culture.
But that’s only a snippet of the benefits ADP offers. The company also is sure to give its employees the basics: life insurance, medical insurance, a matched 401K, and commuter savings. ADP doesn’t stop there, though. Tuition reimbursement, paid volunteer time off, access to the ADP Federal Credit Union, and mentoring also come with a job at ADP.
“This is the kind of environment that embraces new associates and that really is looking for external perspective, looking for a diversity of opinions, and you can come to this organization and really make an impact,” said Susan Quatrella, ADP’s vice president of compensation, in a statement.
Landing The ADP Job
Someone can score a role at ADP in the field of marketing, sales, or human resources. Still, a diverse skill set never hurts, especially when entering the tech world. The company is globally minded, so those interested in working should be sure they have the proper know-how to appeal to that. Perhaps consider focusing your MBA in global management or choosing a program with an international MBA. Interning at another company with a global workforce could sure help, too.
The possibilities are really endless here. If you want to take a more tech focus with your MBA, ADP’s got something in development for you. If numbers are more your jam, a role in finance is sure to be waiting. Just be sure to hone your craft and sell whatever your focus area may be so that you can show ADP—or any company, for that matter—just why they need you on their team.
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