MBA Admissions Chat — Feb. 22, 2011

Thanks for joining us today to talk about the rady School and our MBA program. I look forward to your questions.

I plan to do an MBA program more related to the international financial system. I would like to know the approximate total cost of the full-time program, special conditions for international students, and duration of training and apprenticeships.

Our Full-Time MBA program is two academic years in length, with a summer internship typical during the summer between those two years. Typically 30-40 percent of each entering FT class is international. Tuition and fees for international students are currently about $41,000/year, and are subject to change.

What would you say are the biggest challenges that students face going back to school, if they’ve been out of school for a while?

If you’ve been out of school for a while, you may find that you will have to relearn how to study. The longer since you’ve done homework, had assignments, taken exams, the more it’s an adjustment to just be in school again. The other things I’d say — for all MBA students — is that there are many more opportunities than you’ll have time to take advantage of, so identifying your priorities and managing your own time can be a challenge.

I’ve been working as an engineer for the last 4 years, but I’m not certain that I want to continue doing that anymore. Would you recommend that I apply for the full-time as opposed to the flex program?

This depends on a number of things, and is a very individual decision: are you interested in the industry or company where you currently work? If so, you may find that the Flex program is a better choice — it allows you to maintain your networks and connections in your existing arena and learn new skills that will allow you to move to a different functional role or to take on leadership. Do you learn better when you're immersed (Full-Time) or when you can apply things you’re learning directly and immediately to your real work (Flex)? We’re happy to talk with you individually or to arrange for you to meet students from both programs, to help you in this decision.

I’m interested in pursuing a career more in consulting. Could you tell me the connections Rady has that could help my career?

You might want to look at the Employment Reports that are posted on our external website - these probably give you the best sense of the range of organizations we have worked with. Consulting has been of moderate interest to our students — we have relationships with some of the major consulting firms as well as with some specialized firm located in southern California.

I am currently a senior about to graduate from UCSD with a major in Management Science. I have little work experience other than a couple internships in the finance field. Should undergraduates apply and what is my chance of getting accepted?

This is a very individual matter. We do each year accept a very small number of individuals right from undergraduate school. We want to understand why it is that going directly on to an MBA program makes sense for you, professionally and personally, and then we want to understand what contributions you will be able to make to the learning of your classmates.

Can I TA while I go to school? Do I have to wait a while before I can do this? Do you assign a professor, or can I choose my own?

Full-Time MBA students do TA. The most common is for second-year students to TA for first-year MBA core classes. In a few instances, MBA students have sufficient academic background to take on undergraduate TAships, at Rady or elsewhere on campus, in their first year at Rady. We strongly discourage you taking on any TAship until you have completed at least one term with strong academic performance.

What are the top priorities for the Rady program in the next 5 years?

We’ll be continuing to grow our faculty — and then our student body — while really focusing on maintaining and extending our excellence in educating innovation-minded leaders. We see our emphasis on innovation-driven industry sectors expanding. We’re looking now at how technology, particularly wireless, is driving change in health care. There's significant development in this sector in San Diego, some of it amazing. Did you know you can embed a chip in pill and use that to monitor patient compliance with a medication regime? Also, we see increasing interest in the various forms of alternative energy, from solar to biofuels. Our goal is to continue to be cutting edge in the education we deliver.

The really interesting thing — and something that has a good bit of our faculty and leadership attention — is how to continue to re-think what it means to educate leaders for an innovation-driven economy. The world will clearly keep changing, as well as the technologies we use. How do we focus now, when we have you as a student, on things that will prepare you to continue to be effective in that changing world.

Could you please share the current status of your accreditation? Do you have a sense of where the Rady school will be placed in MBA rankings?

UCSD is accredited, and we’ve operated under that accreditation from the start. AACSB’s process for accreditation of business schools is a fairly complicated thing — we began it as soon as we were eligible, and we’re now headed towards the final stage. Our final review by a team of deans, will occur in May, with their report going to the AACBS Board in early fall. All signs, at this point, are positive. I don’t know any way to predict rankings — each of the publications does them differently, some are by invitation only. We have, certainly, been mindful of overall quality as we’ve hired faculty, admitted students, etc.

Can you only apply in the fall on a yearly basis or is there applications to join midyear, in between semesters?

The program begins in the Fall term only: the core curriculum is taught in a sequence that ensures your learning, and you can't walk into it mid-way through. We are accepting applications now for this coming fall.

Thanks for all your great questions. If you do have other questions, would like to talk with us directly, or would like to visit a class or meet current students, please do email mbaadmissions@ucsd.edu. We look forward to continuing to talk with you about the Rady School.