Do you feel that you’ve reached a major crossroad in your life? Do you want change? Do you have that burning ambition to make a difference and have a tangible impact on your business and society? Then it seems you are ready to embark on a new adventure.
You might even think about following an Executive MBA program. However, what is an Executive MBA and what kind of value does it offer to you? To help you determine if an MBA is the right step in your career path, we've provided all related information in three blogs:
- What's an MBA
- Planning for an MBA
- How to find the right MBA
Who can do an MBA?
The entry requirements for an MBA can vary between business schools. It also depends what kind of MBA you want to follow: a specialized, a full-time, an executive MBA,.. Normally there are:
- academic requirements (a master’s or minimum a bachelor’s degree)
- professional requirements (minimum number of years of work experience)
- personal requirements (support from family, friends, employer, discipline to put your time in the study,..).
Another thing they can ask for, are your academic records. Some ask for an average GPA of 3,6. If you are not sure, you can of course always contact the business school and check if you are eligible to do an MBA.
What is the value of an MBA?
By following an MBA, you get a lot of advantages. You will develop your management skills that will help you to prepare for a higher managerial function and to be able to face and handle changing business environments. Being in a business school following an MBA, you will get a lot of networking opportunities getting in touch with people from different industries and, depending on the international level of the school and program, from different countries.
Next to that, people graduating from an MBA tend to get higher up the ladder in the business world and thus getting a higher salary. An MBA helps you in developing a variety of business skills, amongst which the entrepreneurship skills. Maybe you dream of starting your own business but you don’t know how or what? An MBA will definitely give you the right skills & knowledge to pursue that dream. Maybe a teamwork or specific project during your (e)MBA track will lead you there? For some it is also the push your need for a career change or an important career growth. Next to all of the advantages on a business level, it will also be of big value for your personal development.
What skills will you develop during an MBA?
A Master in Business Administration will help you develop business skills that are needed to function well in a managerial function. The core modules of an MBA cover various topics such as financial accounting, human resources management, economics, marketing management, strategic management, businness planning and logistics and supply chain management. By following an MBA you will develop skills to be able to process information quickly, analyze business problems and come up with solid solutions and strategic decisions.
MBA programs also want to develop the personal skills of the students, preparing them for an international business career and/or to start their own business. Personal development, individual coaching to set up a life and career plan, consulting projects giving you presentation, communication and motivational skills needed when you work in a team. By the variety of courses and electives about relevant and actual topics, you will develop your creativity and critical thinking. Classes are in general held in small groups which will give you the opportunity to work in teams and to brainstorm, developing your self-awareness, flexibility, interpersonal skills and also leadership skills. As an MBA is an international program, you will easily get in contact with students from other nationalities, broadening your horizon and developing your cross-cultural competencies.
Why is an Executive MBA so expensive?
Everybody knows that an EMBA next to the time you spend in it, has quite a high tuition fee. How is this possible and how come the cost is higher than, let’s say, a master’s degree? Well, for an EMBA, you need high class professors with a high level of academic and business expertise in their domain. Sometimes the faculty is international which drives the cost to get the professors to the specific campus up. Next to that, the program is very extensive and gives you the opportunity to go abroad. Those seminars abroad are in general included in the program fee. A lot of EMBA programs also offer electives. This is an extra opportunity to deepen you knowledge in a specific domain and is an addition to the normal program. EMBA students often get to attend for free or get a big discount.
What is the average age of an MBA student?
The average age of MBA students depends a lot on the type of MBA. A full-time MBA student is on average 28 years old, already graduated from a master’s degree and with some years of working experience. The average age of an executive MBA student is 36 years old, and have more years of working experience than the MBA full-time student.
How long does it take to get an mba?
A normal full-time mba is a program of 2 years. But the time it takes to get an MBA depends on your own schedule, discipline, work situation and time investment. For instance, an executive MBA can take longer, as these students also have a full-time job and have to take their professional needs and demands into account.
What is the MBA acceptance rate?
As an MBA is a selective program which has high admission requirements, the acceptance rate is lower than other business programs. The admission requirements also variate between schools, where the top 20 business schools have a lower acceptance rate compared to mid-ranked business schools. Since 2017, the acceptance rate has slightly increased according to the BusinessBecause Analysis. They took the top 10 of the Financial Times ranked schools and compared the numbers of 2018 with 2017.
If we look at more recent numbers, the acceptance rate in the top 10 US universities ranks by US news varies between 6 and 22%. The acceptance rate of European and UK business schools is slightly higher with an average of 33%. Mannheim Business school and HEC Paris have the lowest acceptance rate where Warwick has the highest. The acceptance rate depends on a lot of things, so you cannot just relate on this rate to decide which Business School to choose.
