Program Basics

• • Penn State Smeal MBA Program
  • Penn State
  • 220 Business Building
  • PA
  • University Park, 16802, Pennsylvania
  • United States
  • Program Web site: http://www.smeal.psu.edu/mba
  • Status: Public
  • Program e-mail address: smealmba@psu.edu
  • Graduate business school is accredited by:
    • Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

SCHOOL BASICS

• Graduate business school enrollment:

  • Total: 446
  • Full-Time MBA: 186
  • Executive MBA: 81
  • PhD Program: 78
• • Other graduate degree programs:
    • Master of Accounting
    • Other
  • Masters of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management (MPS/SCM)

PROGRAM COSTS

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

  • Resident: $45,708.00
  • Nonresident: $71,700.00
  • Recommended annual budget (Resident): $43,704.00
  • Recommended annual budget (Nonresident): $56,700.00

PROGRAM LENGTH

• • Full-time program (months): 21

ADMISSIONS

• Application Deadlines

  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Nov 11, 2011
  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Jan 13, 2012
  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Apr 13, 2012
• • Does the program have rolling admissions? Yes
  • 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: Important
  • Resume/Work Experience: Very Important
  • Application Essays: Very Important
  • Interviews: Very Important
  • Recommendations: Important
  • Undergraduate Transcripts: Important

APPLICANTS

• • Applications (admitted and denied) to the newest class: 487
  • Applicants who were accepted to the most recent class: 32 %
  • Admitted applicants who enrolled in the newest class: 49 %
  • Applicants who were re-applicants from prior years: 1 %
  • Percentage of this year's reapplicants accepted: 2 %
  • Applicants wait-listed during the last admissions cycle: 18
  • Wait-listed applicants admitted for the semester to which they applied: 7
  • Applicant interviews are: By invitation only
  • Applicants (admitted and denied) who were interviewed: 60 %
  • Admitted applicants who were interviewed: 100 %

APPLICANT POOL

• • International applications received: 68 %
  • Applications from women received: 34 %

CLASS PROFILE

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

  • Female: 32 %
  • International: 43 %
  • Married: 14 %

• Students from following regions:

  • Africa: 0 %
  • Asia: 34 %
  • Europe: 3 %
  • North America: 59 %
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 3 %
  • Oceania: 1 %
  • Dual citizenship: 5 %

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

  • African American: 7 %
  • Asian American: 13 %
  • Hispanic or Latino American: 7 %
  • Multiethnic/Multiracial: 0 %
  • Native American: 0 %
  • White (Non-Hispanic): 73 %
  • Chose not to report: 0 %
  • Other: 0 %

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

  • Northeast: 9 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 52 %
  • South: 11 %
  • Southwest: 4 %
  • Midwest: 11 %
  • West: 13 %
  • Possessions and territories: 0 %
• • Mean months of work experience of newest entering class: 55
  • Median months of work experience of newest entering class: 49

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

  • From: 15
  • To: 109
• • Median age of entering class: 27
  • Mean age of entering class: 27

FINANCIAL AID

• • Full-time MBAs apply for financial aid through: Central financial aid office at the university
  • 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: 89 %
  • Mean MBA financial aid package for the current academic year: $22,994.00
  • Median MBA financial aid package for the current academic year: $16,622.00
  • On what basis are scholarships awarded?
    • a combination of need and merit
  • How does an applicant apply for scholarship consideration? As part of the admissions application
  • Mean scholarship awarded to full-time MBAs in the previous academic year: $6,140.00
  • Percentage of first-year students receiving financial aid who receive at least the same amount in their second year of study: 12 %
  • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all MBAs regardeless of nationality? No
  • Mean outstanding debt among the most recent graduates from the full-time MBA program: $49,327.00

GMAT

• • Are applicants required to take the GMAT? Yes
  • Are applicants allowed to submit the GRE? Yes

• GMAT score distribution (applicant pool):

  • 25th Percentile 600
  • 10th Percentile 540
  • 50th Percentile (median) 650
  • 75th Percentile 690
  • 90th Percentile 710
  • Average GMAT Score 635

• GMAT score distribution (incoming class):

  • 25th Percentile 580
  • 50th Percentile (median) 660
  • 10th Percentile 550
  • 75th Percentile 710
  • 90th Percentile 740
  • Average GMAT Score 650

CLASS OFFERINGS

• • Average number of students in a full-time MBA core class: 40
  • Average number of students in a full-time MBA elective class: 38
  • Elective courses available to full-time MBA students: 36

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

  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Business Model Innovation
  • Six Sigma Management
  • Six Sigma Statistics

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

  • • Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • General Management
    • Marketing
    • Health Care Administration
    • Supply Chain Management
    • Leadership
    • Strategy

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

  • • MBA/JD (Law)
    • MBA/MD (Medicine)
    • Other
• • Does the school offer an accelerated full-time MBA program? No

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

  • • Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Marketing
    • Supply Chain Management
    • Strategy

FACULTY

• • Faculty employed by the B-school: 146

• Full-time faculty:

  • Tenured: 64
  • Non-Tenured: 82

• Adjunct/Visiting Faculty:

  • Tenured: 0
  • Non-Tenured: 15

• Women on Faculty:

  • Tenured: 10
  • Non-Tenured: 21

• Minority Faculty:

  • Tenured: 13
  • Non-Tenured: 23

• International Faculty:

  • Tenured: 9
  • Non-Tenured: 18

• Faculty with PhDs:

  • Tenured: 64
  • Non-Tenured: 52

STUDENT LIFE

• Professional clubs available to full-time MBA students:

  • • Corporate Social Responsibility/NetImpact
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Consulting
    • Other
    • Finance
    • Marketing

• Networking clubs available to full-time MBA students:

  • • Black MBA Association
    • Partners/Family
    • Women in MBA
    • Other

TEACHING/ACADEMICS

• Teaching methods used:

  • Case Study: 30 %
  • Distance Learning: 0 %
  • Experiential Learning: 20 %
  • Lectures: 20 %
  • Simulations: 5 %
  • Team Projects: 25 %
  • Other: 0 %

• Requirements for graduation:

  • • Students are required to complete international experience
    • Students must complete a company-specific project and present results to relevant parties
    • Students must have attended a minimum number of classes
    • Students must have earned a pre-determined GPA/Letter grade average

TECHNOLOGY

• • Technology improvements in the last three academic years: New computers for both labs in Keller building, network infrastructure updates, new computers and monitors in Trading Room, new ticker for Business Building lobby, digital signage, server storage solution, lecture capture, podium upgrades for MBA classrooms, new computers for MBA classrooms, new projectors for MBA classrooms, wireless replaced, server upgrades, video conferencing upgrades and equipment additions.
  • Amount spent: $694,930.00

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Living MBA alumni: 4,996
  • Active MBA alumni clubs: 0
  • Countries in which MBA clubs exist: 0
  • Living MBA alumni who gave in past year: 8 %
  • Mean gift from MBA alumni: $197.00
  • Median gift from MBA alumni: $50.00
  • Did school receive an individual gift in excess of $10 million in the past academic year? No
  • Business School endowment: $77,250,655.00
  • 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: https://psualumcareer.com/career/
  • Does the B-School have an alumni networking Web site? Yes
  • Business school alumni networking site: http://www.smeal.psu.edu/smealconnect
  • 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: 82 %
  • Graduates not seeking employment: 12 %
  • Graduates for whom you have no information regarding employment: 6 %

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

  • Destination: National Black MBA Association Conference
  • Month: September
  • Amount Paid By School: Partial
  • Destination: National Society of Hispanic MBAs Conference
  • Month: October
  • Amount Paid By School: Partial
  • Destination: MBA Veterans' Conference
  • Month: October
  • Amount Paid By School: None
  • Destination: Net Impact Conference
  • Month: October
  • Amount Paid By School: None
  • Destination: National Association of Women MBAs Conference
  • Month: October
  • Amount Paid By School: Partial

• Primary source of job offer:

  • School-facilitated activities: 80 %
  • Graduate-facilitated activities: 20 %
  • No information provided by graduate: 0 %

• Job Offers for 2011 graduates

  • Received first job offer by graduation: 65 %
  • Received first job offer in three months following graduation: 19 %
  • Received first job offer more than 3 months after graduation: 0 %
  • Did not report having received a job offer: 16 %
  • Accepted first job offer by graduation: 62 %
  • Accepted first job offer in three months following graduation: 16 %
  • Accepted first job offer more than 3 months after graduation: 0 %
  • Did not report having accepted a job offer: 22 %

• Top recruiting organizations most recent academic year:

  • Ernst & Young 3
  • Carlisle Companies 2
  • Corning 2
  • Deloitte Consulting 2
  • IBM 2
  • Oracle 2
  • PNC Financial Services Group 2
  • Sears Holdings Corporation 2
  • Air Products & Chemicals 1
  • Apple 1
  • Dell 1
  • DuPont 1
  • H.J. Heinz Co. 1
  • Johnson & Johnson 1
  • Pfizer Inc. 1
• • Job-accepting graduates who received a signing bonus: 67 %

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

  • Mean base salary: $85,711.00
  • Median base salary: $87,154.00
  • Mean signing bonus: $11,048.00
  • Median signing bonus: $10,000.00
  • Mean other guaranteed compensation: $9,175.00
  • Median other guaranteed compensation: $7,000.00

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

  • Consulting: 16 %
  • Finance/Accounting: 10 %
  • General Management: 8 %
  • Human Resources: 0 %
  • Marketing/Sales: 30 %
  • Management Information Systems: 0 %
  • Operations/Logistics: 36 %
  • Other: 0 %

• Graduating students who accepted jobs in the following industries:

  • Government: 0 %
  • Consulting: 16 %
  • Consumer Products: 12 %
  • Financial Services: 6 %
  • Manufacturing: 26 %
  • Media/Entertainment: 0 %
  • Non-Profit: 0 %
  • Petroleum/Energy: 0 %
  • Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Health Care: 0 %
  • Real Estate: 0 %
  • Technology: 10 %
  • Other: 22 %

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

  • Africa: 0 %
  • Asia: 0 %
  • Europe: 0 %
  • North America: 0 %
  • Oceania: 0 %
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 0 %

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

  • Northeast: 21 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 37 %
  • South: 8 %
  • Southwest: 6 %
  • Midwest: 16 %
  • West: 12 %
  • Possessions and territories: 0 %

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

  • Sears Holdings Corporation 6
  • Apple 5
  • Pfizer Inc. 4
  • Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company 3
  • Hess Corporation 3
  • VWR International, LLC 3
  • AmerisourceBergen 2
  • Carlisle Companies 2
  • Dell 2
  • DuPont 2
  • INDIGO Biosciences 2
  • MARS Chocolate North America 2
  • Momentive Performance 2
  • PPG Industries 2
  • Penn State/Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster 2
• • Internships awarded that are paid: 97 %

• Weekly internship compensation:

  • Mean: $1,255.00
  • Median: $1,320.00
• • Average internship length in weeks: 12

SCHOOL COMMENTS

• • School Comments: Per MBA CSC standards we are unable to provide answers to questions 92 and 93.

• • -Outstanding program and administration! Penn State has a merit based, full-tuition graduate assistantship which made it possible for me to get my MBA. State College is a fun and exciting place to live for a couple of years.
    
    -Seven week classes do not provide ample time to grasp material and apply as practice for a real job. Career services is not effective in guiding students to professional resumes, cover letters, and connections.
    
    -For supply chain, there's excellent faculty, multiple placement and networking opportunities with industry, and the small size means there's more opportunity to participate in different activities.
    
    -The professors are world class, the students are extremely bright and bring quality experience with them, and the class sizes are small enough where you constantly feel involved.
    
    -Coming from a developing country, it would have been difficult for me to afford the high tuition fees and living expenses of pursuing my MBA in the U.S. I was offered a graduate assistantship offer which covered my full tuition as well as provided me with a monthly stipend. I hardly had any out of pocket expenses. As a result, I graduate out of school with a six figure salary in a Fortune 100 company without any loans to pay off. It would be difficult the match the ROI of the Smeal Business program with any business program in the U.S.
    
    -Having attended Penn State Smeal, I can say that this is NOT a top-flight MBA program. The caliber of students is incredibly poor with many having no professional business experience. Many are straight out of college, worked in food service, or simply lack high-level business experience. Additionally, many students lack even basic accounting and general business education and knowledge. This lack of education and experience severely hinders the educational process and much time is spend on remedial, undergraduate topics. Moreover, the courses and syllabi seem to have been devised in the early 1990s and not updated since. While learning basic, proven business concepts is important in an MBA program, a good MBA program should go beyond that and expose students to cutting-edge philosophies and practices. Penn State did not do that.
    
    -The quality of education I received in the Smeal MBA was outstanding. All of the professors were great. In addition, the the program has only around 100 students. All professors know you by name and all students are your friends. The atmosphere in the program is unbelievably friendly. What's more, the program is located in State College, which I would call almost like a paradise especially for students with families/children like me. The cost of living is a lot cheaper than big cities like New York or Boston. I had great experiences throughout my two years in the program, therefore I would not hesitate to recommend it to any of my friends/colleagues.
    
    -The academics are fantastic, we have some of the best professors in the world. So, for the learning I would encourage students to come here. However, in terms of career opportunities, the school is more know for its supply chain only, so I wouldn't encourage international students who want to work in marketing to come here, as it's difficult to get jobs in marketing.
    
    -My favorite part of the program is the personalized attention. I meet at least every other week with my executive coach in the career services office, who helps me with job placement but also with my desires and how I want to move forward. I also have an alumni mentor, who is always accessible by email and comes to campus twice per year. Professors are always available and students help each other. When myself and a classmate were interviewing for the same position and I progressed to the next round, he was genuinely happy for me that I advanced, even though he did not.
    
    -Career services is somewhat of a joke. The advisors say they want to place individuals in their dream job but they often take the easy out and try to place students in positions they don't want and sometimes outside of their concentration. They need to focus more on attracting more companies in general but also offer better guidance on as to how students can get their desired position rather than taking the easy out.
    
    -Penn State may have a small program but the faculty and administration make sure that the students in our program get the recognition and jobs they deserve. This program was literally my second family during my two year MBA. I had the chance to make wonderful friends, study hard, and have fun as well. If I had the opportunity to do my MBA over again, I wouldn't change a thing.