Washington University’s Olin Business School in St. Louis

The Olin Business School MBA: What You Need To Know

Founded in 1917, Washington University’s Olin Business School offers students an MBA program taught in a supportive, collaborative, and driven environment. Through their values-based and data-driven approach, Olin equips students to lead in an ever-evolving and connected world.

Olin is located centrally in St. Louis, Missouri – a city with a vibrant business community with a diverse range of industries yet is most popular for medical and biotech companies. The city is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies, such as Emerson Electric, Centene Corporation, and Ameren Corporation.

Throughout the program, students develop an entrepreneurial spirit as they learn how to formulate the right problem and ask the right questions when evaluating business decisions.

Olin’s accepts around 90 students on average annually. About half of those students are international. Together, they take 67 credit hours of core curriculum and electives. They follow a five-semester format, including a summer internship right after spring of an MBA’s first year.

In their second year, Olin MBAs can focus on concentrations in consulting, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, and operations/supply chain, as well as an optional STEM designation. Part of the curriculum at Olin is traveling through a global immersion in Washington, DC, Europe, and Asia with hands-on, real-world projects that develop students’ global fluency and prepare them for life post-grad.

“At Olin, the opportunity to live, learn and engage in conversations with a cohort composed of diverse nationalities and backgrounds is vital to me. My classmates have been an undeniably strong influence on my understanding of global businesses and challenges,” says past MBA Nitish Yadav.

Outside of required courses, many Olin MBAs take part in case competitions, conferences, and student-led clubs. The Center for Experiential Learning facilitates hands-on learning through student-led consulting projects, giving students the chance to broaden their perspective and build confidence to operate beyond their comfort zone. The Weston Center also provides professional development opportunities for students through engagement opportunities such as networking and recruiting events.

“Before business school, my engineering education guided me with facts and numbers and trained me to be hypothesis driven. Olin has pleasantly surprised me with how much there is to know about businesses in the globalized world—how numbers by themselves paint an incomplete picture,” says Yadav.

Olin Business School MBA Rankings Data

Olin Business School MBA Employment Stats

Olin has not published in its employment report its top employers, preferring to list all of the firms that hired the school’s graduates.

MBA Program Consideration Set:

Stretch Schools: Indiana, USC, Georgetown

Match Schools: Minnesota, Notre Dame, Rice, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Michigan State, University of Washington, Brigham Young

Safe Schools: Southern Methodist, Rochester, Maryland, Boston University, Purdue

Notes: MBA Program Consideration Set: If you believe you’re a close match to this school–based on your GMAT and GPA scores,  your age and work experience, you should look at these other competitive full-time MBA programs as well. We list them by stretch, match, and safety. These options are presented on the basis of brand image and ranking status.

Relevant Features

2020 Best & Brightest MBAs: Rebecca Matey, Washington University (Olin)

2020 Best 40 Under 40 Professors: Seth Carnahan, Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School