Program Basics

• • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Lally School of Management & Technology
  • 110 Eighth St.
  • Troy, New York
  • 12180-3590
  • United States
  • Program Web site: http://lallyschool.rpi.edu
  • Program e-mail address: admissions@rpi.edu
  • Program phone number: 518-276-6216
  • Status: Private
• • AACSB accredited: Yes

• Accreditation other than AACSB:

  • Middle States Commission on Higher Education
• • Institution: Four Year
• • Business Program: Four Year

SCHOOL BASICS

• Enrollment:

  • Total undergraduate: 5,240
  • Full-time undergraduate business: 303
  • Part-time undergraduate business: 0
  • Distance undergraduate business: 0
• • College or university freshman retention rate: 93 %

• Percentage of students who graduate from the business program:

  • Within four years of admission to the university: 78 %
  • Within six years of admission to the university: 82 %

• Undergraduate Business Degrees Offered:

  • BS Business and Management
  • BS Business and Management Double Degree: 2 Baccalaurate degrees, 1 in Management
  • BS Business and Management Dual Major: 2 specialty concentrations, 1 in Management
  • BS Business and Management/Law: BS Business and Management degree plus JD

PROGRAM COSTS

• • Annual Tuition (Resident): $41,600.00
• • Annual Tuition (Non-Resident): $41,600.00
• • Annual Required Fees: $1,104.00
• • Annual Room and Board: $11,975.00
• • Annual Cost of Books: $2,500.00

CLASS PROFILE

• Students in newest entering class that are:

  • Female: 25 %
  • International: 24 %

• Mean and median age of full-time business students in the newest entering class:

  • Mean: 18
  • Median: 18

• Percentage of newest entering class:

  • Top 10% of high school class: 26 %
  • Top 25% of high school class: 84 %

• SAT scores (1600 scale) for the newest entering class of full-time undergraduate business students:

  • Mean: 1229
  • Median: 1215

• Middle 50% range of SAT scores (1600 scale):

  • From: 1120
  • To: 1308

• ACT scores for the newest entering class of full-time undergraduate business students:

  • Mean: 24
  • Median: 24

• Middle 50% range of ACT scores:

  • From: 21
  • To: 27

• Citizenship breakdown for newest entering class:

  • US: 76 %
  • Canada: 11 %
  • Other Non-US Citizens: 13 %

• U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

  • African American: 3 %
  • Asian American: 12 %
  • Hispanic or Latino American: 5 %
  • Multiethnic/Multiracial: 10 %
  • White (Non-Hispanic): 68 %
  • Chose not to report: 2 %

• Regional breakdown of U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

  • Northeast: 81 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 10 %
  • South: 2 %
  • Midwest: 7 %

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Institution

• Standardized tests required of all applicants:

  • SAT or ACT
• • Interviews are: Not required

• Application deadlines:

  • Fall 2012 1/15/2012
  • Fall 2013 1/15/2013
• • Additional application requirements: application fee, application, essays, recommendations, secondary and mid-year school reports, SAT or ACT test scores, TOEFL if international.
• • Total undergraduate applicants, all programs: 14,584
• • Percentage of applicants admitted: 40 %
• • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 21 %
• • International applicants: 12 %
• • Female applicants: 25 %

• Relative Importance of Application Elements

  • Secondary school record: Very Important
  • Class rank: Important
  • Talent/ability: Important
  • Interview: Considered
  • Extracurricular activities: Important
  • Volunteer work: Considered
  • Character/personal abilities: Important
  • Application essay: Important
  • Work experience: Considered
  • SAT/ACT scores: Important
  • Recommendations: Important
  • High school GPA: Very Important

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Business Program

• • Undergrad business program admissions are managed by: The university admissions office
  • Total undergraduate business applicants: 592
  • Percentage of applicants admitted: 38 %
  • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 25 %
• • Entrance exam other than the SAT/ACT required for admission to the undergraduate business program?: No
• • Admissions interviews for the undergraduate business program are: Not required

• Freshman admission:

  • Does the business program admit freshmen?: Yes
  • Percentage of business program admits in most recent entering class who were freshman: 96 %
  • Are freshman business admits required to complete or obtain minimum GPAs in pre-business courses before taking upper-level courses? No
  • Process for freshmen admission?: Indicate interest on university application

• Internal transfers:

  • Method for handling internal transfers: Declare business major
  • Additional application requirements, including course/grade requirements: College GPA requirement is at the advisor's discretion.

CAMPUS LIFE

• Five largest on-campus organizations for business students:

  • Rensselaer Student Union
  • Epsilon Delta Sigma
  • Beta Gamma Sigma
  • Management and Technology Club
  • Entrerpreneurship Club
• • Are freshmen required to live on campus?: Yes
  • Are business students grouped together in 'learning communities' in housing and other facilities?: No

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

• Other requirements for the undergraduate business degree

  • 12 credits Math, 12 credits in Science area, 24 credits in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (including a communication intensive requirement), 24 credits free electives

ACADEMICS

• Average class size:

  • Required business classes: 24
  • Business electives: 16

• Percentage of business classes:

  • With 20 or fewer students: 53 %
  • With 21 to 50 students: 47 %
  • With more than 50 students: 0 %

CURRICULUM

• Electives:

  • Available business electives: 25
  • New electives: Financial Simulation
• • Last curriculum overhaul: 2008
  • Total business faculty: 43
  • Percentage of the total faculty that is tenured or tenure track: 58 %

• Most prominent faculty:

  • Dr. Thomas Begley
  • Dr. Bill B. Francis
  • Dr. Gina C. O'Connor

• Business program's leading areas of study:

  • • Accounting
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Marketing
    • Management Information Systems
• • Special programs: Undergraduate Research Program, Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond, International Management Exchange Program, Lally Mentor Program, Lally Career Seminars, Concentrations in Marketing, Management, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Accounting, and Management Information Systems
• • Work study: Work Study is available through the Rensselaer Financial Aid Office. Co-op Opportunities are available through the Career and Professional Development Office.
• • Study abroad programs: The International Management Exchange Program develops both the ability to conduct business in another country and a student's international relations and business skills. These skills make Lally students more effective in their jobs after graduation.
• • Volunteer opportunities: Opportunities are available through the Dean of Students Office and the Rensselaer Student Union, including Habitat for Humanity, OXFAM, Clothe-a-Child, YWCA, Ark Charter School, and more.

• Extra-curricular activities:

  • Beta Gamma Sigma
  • Epsilon Delta Sigma
  • Entrepreneurship Club
  • Investment Club
  • Management and Technology Club
  • RPI Business Plan Competition
  • Change the World Challenge
  • Goldman-Sachs NYC Career Trip

FINANCIAL AID

• • Who manages financial aid for the business program?: Central financial aid office at the university
  • Financial aid web site: http://admissions.rpi.edu/aid/index.html

• Scholarships

  • Scholarship money distributed to business students last year: $5,525,065.00
  • Expected scholarship distribution to business students this year: $5,406,017.00
  • Scholarships are awarded to business students based on: a combination of need and merit
  • Students receiving institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 90 %
  • Students receiving full-tuition institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 8 %

• Loans

  • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all business students, regardless of nationality?: No

CAREER SERVICES

• Employment Information

  • Percentage of most recent business graduates who supplied information regarding employment: 64 %
  • Percentage seeking full-time professional employment in business: 82 %
  • Percentage not seeking full-time professional employment in business: 18 %

• Accepted first job offer:

  • By graduation : 33 %
  • After graduation, but within 3 months: 18 %
  • More than 3 months after graduation: 24 %
  • No job acceptance reported: 25 %
• • Companies recruiting business students on campus: 39
  • Companies posting job offers for business students on school job boards: 74

• Top employers (number of students hired):

  • ZS Associates Consulting 3
  • Target 2
  • Goldman-Sachs Company 1
  • Bank of America 1
  • Ernst & Young 1
  • JP Morgan Chase 1
  • Hartford Financial Services Group 1
  • BST GLobal 1
  • Amphenol RF 1
  • Hasbro 1
  • NYSE Euronext 1
  • QueBIT Consultin 1
  • SABIC Innovative Plastics 1
  • CGI 1
  • Locktron, Inc. 1

• Compensation

  • Mean base salary: $52,184.00
  • Median base salary : $55,000.00
  • Mean signing bonus: $4,750.00
  • Median signing bonus: $5,000.00

• Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following functional areas:

  • Consulting: 12 %
  • Finance/Accounting: 12 %
  • General Management: 10 %
  • Human Resources: 5 %
  • Management Information Systems: 5 %
  • Marketing/Sales: 10 %
  • Operations/Production: 15 %
  • Other: 31 %

• Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following industries:

  • Consumer Products/Retail : 12 %
  • Consulting: 15 %
  • Financial Services: 27 %
  • Government/Education: 2 %
  • Pharma/Biotech/Health: 2 %
  • Manufacturing: 5 %
  • Sports/Leisure: 10 %
  • Technology/Science: 15 %
  • Other: 12 %

• Job offers accepted by most recent graduates in North America:

  • US: 73 %
  • Canada: 5 %

• Percentage of 2009-10 academic year graduates who accepted jobs in regions of US:

  • Northeast: 49 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 10 %
  • Midwest: 2 %
  • South: 10 %
  • West: 2 %
• • Career services offered: Interviewing Skills workshops, resume critiques, job search workshops, career counseling, interest inventory/assessment

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Total number of undergraduate business program graduates since inception: 3,763
  • Total living alumni of the undergraduate business program: 3,688
  • Percentage of living alumni who contributed to the business program or university in the last academic year: 9 %

• Alumni gifts

  • Mean Gift: $596.00
  • Median Gift: $150.00
  • Did the business program receive a gift of $10 million or more in the last academic year? No

• Prominent alums of the undergrad business program

  • Tawheed Kader Founder, Toutapp
  • Dr. Frank James Founder, James Investment Research
  • Steve L. Abrams Founder, Abrams Group Ltd.

• • -The small size of classes makes our program unique. All of my professors know me by name and are more than willing to help me out with recommendations. I have been able to build a strong professional relationship with each of them.
    
    -I like the combination of technology and business. Being a technical school, RPI has a unique way to incorporate business leaders and technologically advanced people (such as engineers,) so that students experience what they are going to experience in the real work environment.
    
    -I think the only thing stopping the Lally School of Business from becoming a top 10 business school is the number of students and the awareness of the program. At times the Lally School is not known and takes a back seat to the rest of RPI. Since RPI is a predominant engineering school, the Lally School has suffered acknowledgement. I also believe we need a better career fair for only business school students and companies only looking for that major. At our career fairs now, all companies searching for all different areas are present. I believe an all Management career fair will greatly help our employment rate and our reputation.
    
    -I believe that the diversity of students provides unique experiences and opinions in strategy related classes. Moreover, I find the program to be strong quantitatively.
    
    -The biggest problem, for me, is the companies that attend our career fair and the jobs they are searching for. It seems very limited and much of the career search is put on the student.
    
    -The professors have real-life experience including experience in manufacturers, banks, IT firms, financial planning. I also enjoy the quantitative side of the Lally School. I love math and enjoy incorporating it into classes.
    
    -I would encourage the faculty and administration to expand our student base. Some courses are not filled and then are subsequently canceled. This has not been an issue for me because I am a finance student with a strong student make-up, but has been an issue for some of my colleagues.
    
    -Being a part of a technical University, the Lally School of Business has the opportunity to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge available to them. Many undergrads in this program are looking to work with high-tech products, here we can learn both the business and technical side of the industry.
    
    -Many of my classes are driven by discussion and collaboration. Therefore, strength of classmates is important to a positive classroom experience. Lally is a top-tier business school, but its reputation is somewhat overshadowed by RPI's reputation as an engineering school. Lally should promote itself more to draw in more students to the applicant pool, thereby raising the standards and selectivity and making the program stronger.
    
    -The Lally School at RPI is committed to the idea that today's business leaders need an understanding of both management and technology, and the ways in which technology is constantly evolving the role of the manager. I cannot think of a single class here that does not touch upon the critical importance of technology to each business function, and feel that the Lally School uniquely prepares its graduates to excel in these businesses of the future. I know from my experience in job interviews that the ways in which Lally does this through the undergraduate experience is of tremendous interest to hiring managers today.
    
    -RPI should offer more technical courses later on in a student’s curriculum instead of having them in the beginning of the curriculum. This would allow less learning curve when starting a new job.
    
    -The teachers are diverse in their methods of teaching and experiences. Everyone in the program as a whole is energetic and willing to help at any time. Faculty is superb in maintaining communication with students outside of class through email and office hours as well.
    
    -They could potentially make an elective class that helps with the job search process. This would make the transition from student to working professional easier.
    
    -The general management program exposes students to all disciplines in a business environment, such as finance, human resources, management information systems, and marketing. Many schools require declaration of a concentration soon after matriculation; Lally allows students to explore all facets of a business degree and makes it easy to become proficient in multiple areas.
    
    -It is an engineering heavy campus so a lot of the money and attention is there but the business program is starting to turn heads and get the attention it deserves.
    
    -It is quantitative based, covers a very wide range of subjects, is extremely comprehensive, and the professors truly care about students. Class sizes are typically no more than 20, allowing all students individual attention. Also, more and more efforts are being implemented to collaborate with partners in other parts of the world, and to make the program international. In my strategy class I recently worked with a partner in Beijing, China. This develops far more culturally knowledgeable students.