Chat with MBA Admissions — February 2, 2012

Welcome! We're so glad you could join us this afternoon. We’re happy to answer your questions. Please feel free to post them over now

I have a question about the Math prerequisite. I have one semester of Calculus that I took as an undergrad, and my official grade is a B-. I am not sure if this will fill the prerequisite. If not, will the summer math course fill that prerequisite?

The calculus prerequisite does not need to be fulfilled for admission. If you're offered admission and you haven't met the prerequisite, we'll recommend for you to do so in the summer before you start classes. There are also other factors that will determine if you actually need to take a calculus class in the summer. For example, if you receive a high percentage on the quant part of the GMAT, we will most likely not require you to take a calculus class.

If I apply to the FlexEvening program, can I also be considered for the FlexWeekend program? Also, would I be able to take some of the FlexWeekend classes if I'm enrolled in the FlexEvening program?

From time to time we find that students need to switch cohorts from Evening to Weekend (or vice-versa), for a variety of reasons. Requests for such a switch are reviewed on a case by case basis. Because you move through all of your core classes with the same group of people and will be assigned to a study group, we do advise that students try to complete their first year of classes with the same cohort.

For the Flex MBA - can you provide an outline of the daily schedule - What time of day are the classes?

Your first year is spent taking the core classes, and they are typically twice a week in the evening for the FlexEvening program - Tues & Thurs, from 6:30pm - 9:30pm. FlexEvening students typically get here around 5:30pm to have the catered dinner that Rady provides for them and to meet with their study groups. FlexWeekend students come to class twice a month - all day Friday and all day Saturday.

The Rady MBA program emphasizes sustainability and green initiatives. Can you please describe some of the research the faculty is conducting in these areas?

Our faculty work in a number of disciplines and are conducting research across a number of industry areas. Faculty profiles and their corresponding CV's can be found here: http://rady.ucsd.edu/mba/faculty/. A popular elective being offered this winter is "Topics in Innovation: Clean Tech & Sustainability," in which students are consulting with local San Diego greentech and sustainability initiatives and companies.

What are the minimum admission requirements needed to get into the program, such as GRE/GMAT and GPA, as well as years of professional experience?

We don't really have minimum requirements - we like to advise interested students to look instead at the previous class profile to get a better idea of the level of competition. For the full-time program, our last incoming class had an average GMAT score of 680, average gpa of 3.2, and average work experience of 5 years. You can see more about our class profile here: http://rady.ucsd.edu/mba/fulltime/profile/. Also, you should note that we don't have a work experience requirement and that we only accept GMAT scores, not GRE.

Do you find that more people with jobs that require travel enroll in the FlexWeekend program? Are professors at Rady open to working with students who may miss a class here or there due to travel?

The decision to apply to FlexEvening versus FlexWeekend depends on a number of factors, one of which may be the extent of business travel required during weekdays. Faculty members have individual policies regarding how many classes a student may miss over the course of one quarter. When needing to miss class for business purposes, our FlexMBA students may submit a request for a class to be videotaped and available via streaming within a couple of days.

I am considering the Flex and the Full-time MBA. I would like to know what the different age breakdowns are between the different programs.

Here is a link for a comparison chart highlighting some of the differences between our three cohorts: http://rady.ucsd.edu/mba/compare/. Keep in mind that the average age listed is just that, an "average." I believe that the range of ages in our current FlexWeekend cohort is 24-55, with a very diverse group of educational and professional backgrounds represented.

I'm just not sure who to ask for a letter of recommendation on my application. Does it need to be from a former professor? Who would you want to read a letter of recommendation from?

If possible, a recommendation from someone who knows your work accomplishments and leadership/potential for leadership is most useful. Former professors can sometimes comment on this. However they often do not have information about their former students beyond performance in one or two classes. If you can ask your current supervisor for a recommendation that's great. If not, a mentor, colleague or client is another option.

How does the Rady School look at an entrepreneural applicant?

The Rady School 's core values pertain to a spirit of innovation, entrepreneurialism and intrapreneurialism. We welcome applications from candidates from a broad cross-section of industry-- those with startup company experience are certainly interesting to us.

Can you comment on current electives available in Behavioral Economics/Finance?

I can certainly comment on the Finance electives offered this quarter. There's a "Topics in Finance: Valuation" course that answers the question: given a set of characteristics, how should an asset be priced? There's a Consumer Behavior class taught by Wendy Liu (you can see more about her background here: http://rady.ucsd.edu/faculty/directory/wendy-liu/), and the Finance Portfolio Theory class taught by Harry Markowitz.

Are people in the Full-time program able to take some electives with the Flex program people? I believe you mentioned something to that effect.

Certainly, when it comes time for students to take electives, they will occasionally be in class with students from the FlexEvening and/or FlexWeekend cohorts, particularly if the elective is offered in the evening or on a Saturday.

Between the FlexWeekend and FlexEvening programs, is there a difference in opportunity for networking and community involvement? Do most students in the FlexWeekend program meet only on weekends?

There are numerous professional development and networking opportunities for students in both cohorts. The amount of time that FlexWeekend students meet outside of class days varies greatly, and depends on who is in your assigned study group. For example, some of our FlexWeekend students live out-of-state, so are typically not available to meet in person outside of the FlexWeekend class dates. However, groups certainly will meet "virtually," or in person whenever is mutually convenient.

Thank you for joining us today. We hope this was helpful for you, and we welcome you to contact us directly with any further questions at MBAadmissions@ucsd.edu.