The University of Notre Dame MBA program at the Mendoza College of Business has made a significant change to the admissions criteria for its One-Year Program that will allow prospective students with a broad range of undergraduate degrees to apply.
Historically, the Notre Dame One-Year MBA Program required applicants to have a business undergraduate degree. Now the program invites all prospective students who have a demonstrated proficiency in business knowledge and skills — plus three credit hours of financial accounting and three credit hours of statistics — to apply.
“Often a prospective student gains the kind of foundational knowledge needed for the program through a significant work experience that involved roles and responsibilities such as project management, resource allocation strategies, budget planning and employee supervision,” said Mary Goss, senior director of the Notre Dame MBA. “And what we are finding is that people with a broad array of knowledge and experience are seeking a business degree in order to have impact through diverse career paths. The change in the One-Year Program admissions criteria allows us to recognize and accommodate the changing landscape.”
The Notre Dame MBA One-Year Program format is designed for candidates with at least two years of work experience who typically are not looking for a major career change. (Visit the Notre Dame MBA One-Year website to view all admissions requirements.)
“The priority of our admissions policy is to bring in the best applicants — people who want a high-quality education, are willing to work hard and who share our sense of mission to do things differently, to be concerned with ethics and values,” said Brian Lohr, admissions director for the Notre Dame MBA. “The One-Year Program is intense, but we recognize the value of work experience and are confident a student can be successful if all of those elements are in place.”
“At the Mendoza College, ‘business’ has come to mean a way of impacting the world for the better. It’s a perspective as much as it is a series of skills or set of knowledge,” said Goss.
The May-to-May curriculum provides a balanced mastery of all functional areas of business. During the 10-week summer semester, students attend intensive sessions in the core disciplines, then join the second year of the Two-Year Program in the fall semester. Throughout the program, students are exposed to the complexities of global business through a series of engagements with business leaders worldwide.
The new guidelines apply for the incoming 2014-15 class, which has its first application deadline of Nov. 4, 2013.
The Notre Dame MBA traditional Two-Year Program is intended for students with non-business undergraduate degrees and three to five years of work experience, who often are looking for new career opportunities. They participate in internships during the summer months.
The Notre Dame MBA is noted for its innovative teaching, with such signature courses as Problem Solving, Business Forecasting and Data Mining, Business on the Frontlines, Innovation and Design, and Applied Investment Management. The program is ranked No. 20 among U.S. business schools in the Bloomberg Businessweek magazine’s biennial survey, “The Best U.S. Business Schools 2012.” It also earned “A’s” for career services, teaching quality, critical thinking and leadership skills. For more information, visit business.nd.edu/mba.