One-Year MBA Programs Gain More Traction

ONE YEAR PROGRAMS CAN BE JUST AS COMPETITIVE AND MORE INTENSE THAN A TWO-YEAR MBA

Thomas Keller, director of admissions, recruiting & enrollment at Katz, says the one-year program is very competitive–and very tough. One-year students at Katz come with five years of work experience on average, versus three years for those admitted to the two-year program. They carry a heavy course load of 18 credit hours in the program’s first semester which begins in July. Students can potentially take as many credits in the spring semester, too, so “having a strong academic background and a strong quantitative background are important,” Keller adds.

Given the importance that MBA students attach to alumni networks, it’s reassuring for one-year students to know that once they complete the core requirements they will be integrated into classes with two-year students.

Goizueta emphasizes that come fall, one-year students, after an intensive summer of core courses, join second-year students in the two-year program, becoming one class that graduates together.  The only differences are the lack of an internship and 10 required electives versus 14 for two-year students., says Corey Dortch, associate director of Goizueta’s MBA program.

AN EMORY ONE-YEAR GRAD SAYS THERE WAS NO LOSS OF ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

Brandon Beeken, a 2011 Goizueta graduate, says you don’t sacrifice those alumni connections by getting your degree in half the time. He says that most of his leads doing enterprise sales for WayIn, a startup tech firm, come from Emory alumni, especially for companies in the Atlanta area.  “I’ve also gotten connections through former professors at the business school,” says Beeken.  “It makes the conversation easier, better than doing cold calls.”

In lieu of internships, accelerated programs often require students to take a course that assigns them to work in teams on live projects for companies.  Johnson’s Management Practicum gets projects from technology companies, such as Microsoft, to pharmaceutical and medical device makers, such as Novartis, as well as financial services and manufacturing firms.  At Goizueta, the Management Practice course has worked exclusively with Popeye’s Corp. for the past two years, while a more advanced elective brings in six to eight companies each spring.

Steve Clareen, who graduated from Johnson in 2008, liked his experience on an international compliance project for specific drugs at Novartis so much that as a business unit manager in Synthes’ Trauma division, he has sponsored two projects for Johnson students.  “We were actively recruiting those students who worked on the project. That was less my decision than that of my superiors,” he says.

Goizueta MBA candidates can also get targeted business experience by doing a Directed Studies course, where students look for a faculty member with research interests that match their own and create a project proposal that must get approved by the faculty member. One-third of Goizueta’s one-year MBA students took advantage of Directed Study last year, says Dortch.

DON’T MISS: GUIDE TO THE BEST ONE-YEAR MBA PROGRAMS IN THE U.S. or THE TOP 50 NON-U.S. MBA PROGRAMS