Program Basics

• • Full-time MBA Program
  • David A. Tepper School of Business
  • 5000 Forbes Avenue
  • PA
  • Pittsburgh, 15213-3890, Pennsylvania
  • United States
  • Program Web site: http://www.tepper.cmu.edu
  • Status: Private
  • Program e-mail address: mba-admissions@andrew.cmu.edu
  • Graduate business school is accredited by:
    • Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

SCHOOL BASICS

• Graduate business school enrollment:

  • Total: 726
  • Full-Time MBA: 422
  • Part-Time MBA: 201
  • PhD Program: 103
• • Other graduate degree programs:
    • Other
  • Master of Science in Computational Finance; Executive MBA in Asset and Wealth Management

PROGRAM COSTS

• Total direct costs (tuition and required fees) of the entire MBA program:

  • Resident: $109,600.00
  • Nonresident: $109,600.00
  • Recommended annual budget (Resident): $77,000.00
  • Recommended annual budget (Nonresident): $77,000.00

PROGRAM LENGTH

• • Full-time program (months): 21

ADMISSIONS

• Application Deadlines

  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Oct 24, 2011
  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Jan 3, 2012
  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Mar 5, 2012
  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Apr 23, 2012
• • Does the program have rolling admissions? No
  • Is proficiency in English required for admission? Yes
  • Is a minimum score on an English language proficiency test required? Yes

• Which English language proficiency tests are accepted?

  • • IELTS
    • TOEFL Internet Based Test
    • TOEFL Paper-based Test
• • Minimum paper-based TOEFL score required for MBAs: 600

• Relative Importance of Application Elements:

  • GMAT Score: Very Important
  • Resume/Work Experience: Very Important
  • Application Essays: Very Important
  • Interviews: Very Important
  • Recommendations: Very Important
  • Undergraduate Transcripts: Very Important

APPLICANTS

• • Applications (admitted and denied) to the newest class: 1,544
  • Applicants who were accepted to the most recent class: 24 %
  • Admitted applicants who enrolled in the newest class: 53 %
  • Applicants who were re-applicants from prior years: 6 %
  • Percentage of this year's reapplicants accepted: 28 %
  • Applicants wait-listed during the last admissions cycle: 217
  • Wait-listed applicants admitted for the semester to which they applied: 24
  • Applicant interviews are: By invitation only
  • Applicants (admitted and denied) who were interviewed: 64 %
  • Admitted applicants who were interviewed: 100 %

APPLICANT POOL

• • Mean base salary forgone: $58,200.00
  • Median base salary forgone: $60,000.00

CLASS PROFILE

• Full-time students in newest entering class (2010-2011) that are:

  • Female: 29 %
  • International: 40 %
  • Married: 25 %

• Students from following regions:

  • Africa: 1 %
  • Asia: 28 %
  • Europe: 4 %
  • North America: 58 %
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 3 %
  • Dual citizenship: 6 %

• Percentage of U.S. students in newest entering class that are:

  • African American: 9 %
  • Asian American: 15 %
  • Hispanic or Latino American: 3 %
  • Multiethnic/Multiracial: 3 %
  • Native American: 1 %
  • White (Non-Hispanic): 67 %
  • Chose not to report: 2 %
  • Other: 0 %

• Percentage of U.S. students in newest entering class who are from the following regions:

  • Northeast: 19 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 42 %
  • South: 4 %
  • Southwest: 3 %
  • Midwest: 14 %
  • West: 18 %
• • Mean months of work experience of newest entering class: 54
  • Median months of work experience of newest entering class: 48

• Middle 80% range of work experience of newest entering class in months:

  • From: 24
  • To: 96
• • Median age of entering class: 27
  • Mean age of entering class: 28

FINANCIAL AID

• • Full-time MBAs apply for financial aid through: Dedicated financial aid office at the B-school
  • Full-time MBAs who applied for financial aid for the current academic year: 100 %
  • Full-time MBAs receiving financial aid in the current academic year: 80 %
  • Mean MBA financial aid package for the current academic year: $44,653.00
  • Median MBA financial aid package for the current academic year: $52,500.00
  • On what basis are scholarships awarded?
    • academic merit
  • How does an applicant apply for scholarship consideration? As part of the admissions application
  • Percentage of first-year students receiving financial aid who receive at least the same amount in their second year of study: 100 %
  • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all MBAs regardeless of nationality? No

GMAT

• • Are applicants required to take the GMAT? No
  • Are applicants allowed to submit the GRE? Yes
  • If not, how are applicants' quantitative abilities checked before enrollment? By supplying EITHER GMAT OR GRE scores.

• GMAT score distribution (incoming class):

  • 10th Percentile 620
  • 90th Percentile 740
  • 25th Percentile 650
  • 75th Percentile 720
  • 50th Percentile (median) 690
  • Average GMAT Score 686

CLASS OFFERINGS

• • Average number of students in a full-time MBA core class: 51
  • Average number of students in a full-time MBA elective class: 35
  • Elective courses available to full-time MBA students: 97

• Electives that have been added to the full-time program since June 30, 2010:

  • Organization Design Project
  • Internet Commerce and Intellectual Property
  • Ethics and Leadership
  • Financial Intermediation

• Concentrations and specializations offered to full-time MBA students:

  • • Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Accounting
    • Operations Management
    • Strategy
    • Economics
    • Organizational Behavior
    • International Business
    • Technology
    • Statistics and Operations Research
  • Communications

• Joint-degree programs offered to full-time MBAs:

  • • MBA/JD (Law)
    • Other
• • Does the school offer an accelerated full-time MBA program? Yes

• The school believes that its leading areas of study for full-time MBA students are:

  • • Finance
    • Marketing
    • Strategy
    • Operations Management
    • Organizational Behavior

FACULTY

• • Faculty employed by the B-school: 143

• Full-time faculty:

  • Tenured: 44
  • Non-Tenured: 57

• Adjunct/Visiting Faculty:

  • Tenured: 0
  • Non-Tenured: 42

• Women on Faculty:

  • Tenured: 3
  • Non-Tenured: 25

• Minority Faculty:

  • Tenured: 7
  • Non-Tenured: 15

• International Faculty:

  • Tenured: 13
  • Non-Tenured: 39

• Faculty with PhDs:

  • Tenured: 44
  • Non-Tenured: 52

STUDENT LIFE

• Professional clubs available to full-time MBA students:

  • • Biotech/Health care
    • Corporate Social Responsibility/NetImpact
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Consulting
    • Other
    • Finance
    • Marketing
    • Nonprofit
    • VC/ Private Equity
    • High Tech
    • Investment Banking
    • Manufacturing

• Networking clubs available to full-time MBA students:

  • • Black MBA Association
    • Hispanic Student Organization
    • International Club
    • Partners/Family
    • Women in MBA
    • Other
    • Volunteer
    • Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual
    • Wine

TEACHING/ACADEMICS

• Teaching methods used:

  • Case Study: 25 %
  • Lectures: 50 %
  • Simulations: 15 %
  • Team Projects: 10 %

• Requirements for graduation:

  • • Students must have attended a minimum number of classes
    • Students must have earned a pre-determined GPA/Letter grade average
    • Other
  • capstone completion requirement and elective class completion requirement

TECHNOLOGY

• • Technology improvements in the last three academic years: New tv studio; web apps for alumni/student services; Faculty Center projectors, touch panel control, flat panel displays, podiums, flexible display orientations; Classrooms dual HD projectors, touch panel control, HD dist. learning equipment, recording technology, doc camera, audio/sound treatment, widescreen projectors, current generation touch panel control & updated video switchers; Virtual Machine architecture, converted web/database servers to virtual machines; upgraded Bloomberg terminals.
  • Amount spent: $6,000,000.00

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Living MBA alumni: 8,800
  • Active MBA alumni clubs: 35
  • Countries in which MBA clubs exist: 14
  • Living MBA alumni who gave in past year: 19 %
  • Does the main university offer career placement services for alumni? Yes
  • Does the main university have an alumni networking Web site? Yes
  • University alumni networking site: http://www.cmu.edu/alumni
  • Does the B-School have an alumni networking Web site? Yes
  • Business school alumni networking site: http://tepper.cmu.edu/alumni/index.aspx
  • Does the B-SCHOOL offer career services for alumni? Yes
  • Do current MBA students have access to an alumni database? Yes

CAREER SERVICES

• • Graduates seeking full-time professional MBA employment: 87 %
  • Graduates not seeking employment: 12 %
  • Graduates for whom you have no information regarding employment: 1 %

• Annual job-searching trips that the school coordinates or participates in:

  • Destination: Wall Street
  • Month: October
  • Amount Paid By School: 0
  • Destination: Silicon Valley
  • Month: January
  • Amount Paid By School: 0
  • Destination: Seattle
  • Month: January
  • Amount Paid By School: 0
  • Destination: Boston
  • Month: October
  • Amount Paid By School: 0
  • Destination: Hong Kong
  • Month: November
  • Amount Paid By School: 0

• Primary source of job offer:

  • School-facilitated activities: 72 %
  • Graduate-facilitated activities: 28 %
  • No information provided by graduate: 0 %

• Job Offers for 2011 graduates

  • Received first job offer by graduation: 84 %
  • Received first job offer in three months following graduation: 7 %
  • Received first job offer more than 3 months after graduation: 2 %
  • Did not report having received a job offer: 7 %
  • Accepted first job offer by graduation: 74 %
  • Accepted first job offer in three months following graduation: 14 %
  • Accepted first job offer more than 3 months after graduation: 3 %
  • Did not report having accepted a job offer: 8 %

• Top recruiting organizations most recent academic year:

  • Amazon.com 8
  • Cisco 6
  • H.J. Heinz 5
  • Deloitte 5
  • A.T. Kearney 4
  • PriceWaterhouse Coopers - Diamond 4
  • PriceWaterhouse Coopers 4
  • UBS 4
  • McKinsey 4
  • Ernst & Young 4
  • IBM Consulting 3
  • PNC Financial Services 3
  • Bank of America 3
  • Deutsche Bank 3
  • Citi 3
• • Job-accepting graduates who received a signing bonus: 79 %

• Base salary, signing bonuses and other compensation for most recent employed graduates:

  • Mean base salary: $101,150.00
  • Median base salary: $100,000.00
  • Mean signing bonus: $20,977.00
  • Median signing bonus: $20,000.00
  • Mean other guaranteed compensation: $13,568.00
  • Median other guaranteed compensation: $10,000.00

• Graduating students who accepted jobs in the following functional areas:

  • Consulting: 27 %
  • Finance/Accounting: 30 %
  • General Management: 19 %
  • Human Resources: 0 %
  • Marketing/Sales: 18 %
  • Management Information Systems: 0 %
  • Operations/Logistics: 5 %
  • Other: 1 %

• Graduating students who accepted jobs in the following industries:

  • Government: 0 %
  • Consulting: 25 %
  • Consumer Products: 5 %
  • Financial Services: 29 %
  • Manufacturing: 5 %
  • Media/Entertainment: 1 %
  • Non-Profit: 1 %
  • Petroleum/Energy: 1 %
  • Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Health Care: 9 %
  • Real Estate: 0 %
  • Technology: 20 %
  • Other: 4 %

• Graduates who accepted full-time jobs in the following regions:

  • Africa: 0 %
  • Asia: 4 %
  • North America: 96 %

• Within the U.S., graduates who accepted full-time jobs in the following regions:

  • Northeast: 34 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 19 %
  • South: 8 %
  • Southwest: 2 %
  • Midwest: 15 %
  • West: 22 %

• Top recruiting organizations for internships, most recent academic year:

  • Amazon 14
  • H.J. Heinz 9
  • Deutsche Bank 6
  • Johnson & Johnson 6
  • Google 5
  • JP Morgan Chase 5
  • Bank of America 5
  • General Electric 4
  • A.T. Kearney 4
  • UBS 4
  • Goldman Sachs 4
  • PriceWaterhouse Coopers 3
  • Deloitte 3
  • Merck 3
  • Proctor & Gamble 3
• • Internships awarded that are paid: 94 %

• Weekly internship compensation:

  • Mean: $1,547.00
  • Median: $1,617.00
• • Average internship length in weeks: 12

SCHOOL COMMENTS

• • School Comments: There is rolling admission AFTER all other admission deadlines have passed. The last admission deadline, April 23, is for US residents only. The mean and median base salaries foregone by entering students is based upon the 76% of the entering student class that provided usable data.

• • -Tepper offers students a unique curriculum. Before delving into case analysis, students build a strong foundation of analytical techniques that can solve a wide array of business problems. The curriculum is challenging and requires patience, but it also prepares students to make complex business decisions using innovative solutions that cannot be taught simply by reading a textbook.
    
    -Though Tepper is not for everyone--especially those afraid of numbers--the coursework thoroughly prepares you for any analytical work down the road. Additionally, the small class size really lets you get to know just about everyone in the school on personal and professional levels.
    
    -The career services center at Tepper was one thing that disappointed me in the end. They were found wanting especially with regard to attracting companies to recruit on campus. They did not have dedicated resources for specifically targeting companies that were open to hire international students. I am aware of some companies that hired international students in other schools but did not do so here.
    
    -I felt that the qualitative and quantitative sides of every problem were explored. Qualitative reasoning can help guide but quantitative reasoning is needed to prove and make a strong case. Outside of the classroom, the small community size made it quite easy to know all of your classmates and move through the two years with lots of social support.
    
    -The Carnegie Mellon MBA program is excellent for financial professionals as it combines a strong mathematical presence with practical industry theory and concepts.
    
    -Given the small class size that graduates from Tepper every year, it is understandable for us to have a small alumni network. However, it is the lack of interest on behalf of a lot of alumni to help current students that was disheartening. There were outstanding alumni who went out of their way to help out, but this was more of an exception than the norm. Maybe a part of this could be attributed to the economic conditions that persisted while we were in the middle of our education, but based on my interactions with students from other top MBA programs, it seemed to me that it was our alumni more than anything.
    
    -Tuition is a little too steep for a school of this stature. That can be a problem especially in a tough economy with lower starting salaries. It might take a long time to pay back your loans.
    
    -What makes the Tepper School of Business such a great school is its community--not only current students, but the alumni network as well. It is very evident among the more recent MBA grads that there is a strong sense of community. This, along with the "science" of management, (a very quantitatively oriented approach to decision making) is really what makes the Tepper School stand out among its peers.
    
    -From my personal experience, Tepper School of Business has a decent curriculum and career service. The only disadvantage is the small building, which prevents the school from enlarging the class size.
    
    -I do believe the "quant" reputation of the school can be a double-edged sword. Two-thirds of the student class will come from an engineering background, so you cannot draw upon the varied business experiences of others, as this is probably their first exposure to business education, culture, and corporate environment. This can also lead employers look at Tepper as a pool of students to fill the more technical or back office support roles in their businesses. Additionally, there is a learning curve for interpersonal soft skills for those from more technical backgrounds. So even though students are very bright, they may not appear to be as polished as their peers from competing business schools. Also, most of the professors have stayed in academia their entire career, so bridging the gap between theory and "real-life" application of the techniques and knowledge is somewhat lacking. On the flip side, you will sharpen your analytical skills to the nth degree--comparable only those of Wharton and MIT.
    
    -Tepper is all about white collar excellence and blue collar work ethic. Tepper very much reflects the spirit of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is a town with the bluest of blue-collar roots, with an entrepreneurial spirit and (in no small part because of Carnegie Mellon) a flourishing technology industry. Pittsburgh is more a Midwest city, than an East Coast city, in that it is truly a community where strangers will wish you a good evening while walking their dogs. Tepper reflects all of these facets of the community...based on standard financial principles we work hard to understand the nature of business, and then build knowledge and infrastructure that will benefit and grow a company, and we do it with a smile.