3 Ways Part-Time MBAs Differ From Full-Time MBAs

For many, a part-time MBA program can offer more flexibility and the opportunity to earn an MBA degree without having to sacrifice work. But when it comes to applying for a part-time MBA program, what exactly do admissions officers look for and how does it compare to full-time, traditional MBA programs? Fortune recently spoke to experts and provided an overview of the need-to-knows for the part-time MBA program.

ACCEPTANCE RATES HIGHER, BUT NOT EASIER

At many B-schools, the acceptance rates for part-time and full-time MBA programs differ vastly.

In fact, at the Wharton School of Business, the acceptance rate for the part-time program is 44%. For the full-time Wharton MBA program, the acceptance rate is 21%.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that part-time programs are easier to get into than full-time MBA programs. The two programs are unique in their own ways and their criteria for admission differ. While EWMBA programs tend to have higher acceptance rates, they also have fewer applicants when compared to full-time programs.

“We’re not soliciting lots and lots of applications in order to narrow,” Juli Bennett, Vanderbilt University’s executive director for EMBA programs, tells Fortune. “We’re looking for the right applications.”

WORK EXPERIENCE CRITICAL

When compared to traditional two-year MBA programs, many part-time programs tend to favor applicants who have more work experience.

At UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, part-time MBA students tend to have anywhere from 5- 12 years of work experience under their belt. Traditional, full-time MBA students, however, tend to have three to eight years of experience.

“The whole idea is that’s the experience that you are bringing into the classroom,” Jamie Breen assistant dean for the evening and weekend (EWMBA) students at Haas School of Business, tells Fortune.

CAREER GROWTH IN REAL TIME

Just as part-time and full-time MBA programs differ, the students who apply to these programs tend to differ as well. Many are set on their industry and intend on utilizing their MBA education to further advance their current career in real time.

“If you are going into work and you are directly applying cost accounting to the job you have been doing, meaning you already have the full context of the company and its real-world application, that information is going to stick with you much longer,” Suraj Kandukuri, a member of the University of Michigan’s 2021 MBA class, tells Fortune. “There is an advantage to not being in the MBA bubble that you get to apply in real time.”

Source: Fortune, Stacy Blackman Consulting, Top MBA

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