Program Basics

• • Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business, Cox BBA
  • Cox School of Business
  • PO Box 750333
  • Dallas, Texas
  • 75275
  • United States
  • Program Web site: http://www.coxbba.com
  • Program e-mail address: bbaadmission@mail.cox.smu.edu
  • Program phone number: 214-768-1110
  • Status: Private
• • AACSB accredited: Yes

• Accreditation other than AACSB:

  • SACS
• • Year in which the undergraduate business program was founded: 1920
• • Institution: Four Year
• • Business Program: Four Year

SCHOOL BASICS

• Enrollment:

  • Total undergraduate: 6,221
  • Full-time undergraduate business: 1,130
  • Part-time undergraduate business: 66
  • Distance undergraduate business: 0
• • College or university freshman retention rate: 89 %

• Percentage of students who graduate from the business program:

  • Within four years of admission to the university: 87 %
  • Within six years of admission to the university: 92 %

• Undergraduate Business Degrees Offered:

  • BBA

PROGRAM COSTS

• • Annual Tuition (Resident): $34,990.00
• • Annual Tuition (Non-Resident): $34,900.00
• • Annual Required Fees: $4,440.00
• • Tuition Per Academic Credit (Resident): $1,462.00
• • Tuition Per Academic Credit (Non-Resident): $1,462.00
• • Annual Room and Board: $13,029.00
• • Annual Cost of Books: $800.00

CLASS PROFILE

• Students in newest entering class that are:

  • Female: 32 %
  • International: 2 %

• Percentage of newest entering class:

  • Top 10% of high school class: 65 %
  • Top 25% of high school class: 89 %
  • GPA of 3.75 or higher: 60 %
  • GPA of 3.5 to 3.74: 24 %

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

  • Mean: 1425
  • Median: 1420

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

  • From: 1390
  • To: 1420

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

  • Mean: 32
  • Median: 32

• Middle 50% range of ACT scores:

  • From: 31
  • To: 32

• Citizenship breakdown for newest entering class:

  • US: 98 %
  • Canada: 0 %
  • Other Non-US Citizens: 2 %

• U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

  • Asian American: 11 %
  • Hispanic or Latino American: 5 %
  • Multiethnic/Multiracial: 3 %
  • White (Non-Hispanic): 77 %
  • Chose not to report: 4 %

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

  • Northeast: 4 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 2 %
  • South: 21 %
  • Southwest: 50 %
  • Midwest: 10 %
  • West: 13 %

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Institution

• Standardized tests required of all applicants:

  • SAT or ACT
• • Interviews are: Not offered

• Application deadlines:

  • Fall 2012 1/15/2012
  • Spring 2013 11/1/2012
  • Summer 2013 4/1/2013
• • Additional application requirements: Admission application, transcripts, resume, essay, SAT &/or ACT scores, high school counselor & teacher recommendation letters, TOEFL (500+) for int'l apps. College transcripts received for transfers. Comprehensive & competitive review process.
• • Total undergraduate applicants, all programs: 12,961
• • Percentage of applicants admitted: 55 %
• • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 25 %
• • International applicants: 4 %
• • Female applicants: 32 %

• Relative Importance of Application Elements

  • Secondary school record: Very Important
  • Class rank: Very Important
  • Talent/ability: Important
  • Interview: Not Considered
  • Extracurricular activities: Important
  • Volunteer work: Important
  • Character/personal abilities: Important
  • Application essay: Very Important
  • Work experience: Important
  • SAT/ACT scores: Very Important
  • Recommendations: Very Important
  • High school GPA: Very Important

ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Business Program

• • Undergrad business program admissions are managed by: The business program office
  • Total undergraduate business applicants: 3,567
  • Percentage of applicants admitted: 20 %
  • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 52 %
• • 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: 39 %
  • 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
  • Additional application requirements for freshman admits: Must list business as first major on SMU admission application to be considered. Comprehensive & competitive review of all 1st-year applicants is focused on academic factors (test scores, GPA, curriculum rigor).

• Internal transfers:

  • Minimum college GPA for internal transfers to the business program: 3.3

CAMPUS LIFE

• Five largest on-campus organizations for business students:

  • Delta Sigma Pi
  • Retail Club
  • Alpha Kappa Psi
  • Business Associates Program
  • ALPFA
• • Are freshmen required to live on campus?: Yes
  • Are business students grouped together in 'learning communities' in housing and other facilities?: No

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum number of credit hours required to receive an undergraduate business degree:

  • BBA 122

• Other requirements for the undergraduate business degree

  • Requirements vary based on individual plans. In general, degrees require 1) general education, 2) business core, 3) business major specific courses, 4) free elective courses toward an additional major or minor outside business.

ACADEMICS

• Average class size:

  • Required business classes: 37
  • Business electives: 33
  • Non-business electives: 26

• Percentage of business classes:

  • With 20 or fewer students: 17 %
  • With 21 to 50 students: 78 %
  • With more than 50 students: 5 %

• Course enrollment:

  • Percentage of required business courses reaching maximum enrollment by the first day of class: 29 %
  • Percentage of required business courses with waiting lists: 0 %

CURRICULUM

• Electives:

  • Available business electives: 54
  • New electives: BUSE 3357: Evolution of American Capitalism
• • Last curriculum overhaul: 2009
  • Total business faculty: 82
  • Percentage of the total faculty that is tenured or tenure track: 40 %

• Most prominent faculty:

  • Andrew H. Chen
  • William R. Dillon
  • Roger Kerin

• Business program's leading areas of study:

  • • Accounting
    • Finance
    • Marketing
    • General Management
    • Real Estate
• • Special programs: The Business Associates Program (BAP), BBA Leadership Institute (BLI), Business Scholars Program, Business Honors Program, career/job search programs, pre-professional clubs. Additional information may be found at www.coxbba.com.
• • Work study: Internship class, accounting internship, work-study positions available with faculty and staff.
• • Study abroad programs: SMU offers both business-related and non-business related study abroad programs in 45 different countries. Programs are available throughout the year.
• • Volunteer opportunities: Community service opportunities are available through clubs and service organizations. In addition, SMU has a residential service community.

• Extra-curricular activities:

  • Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA)
  • Alpha Iota Delta
  • BBA Energy Association
  • Beta Gamma Sigma
  • Delta Sigma Pi
  • Finance Club
  • National Association of Black Accountants (NABA)
  • Retail Club

FINANCIAL AID

• • Who manages financial aid for the business program?: Central financial aid office at the university
  • Financial aid web site: http://www.smu.edu/financial_aid

• Scholarships

  • Scholarship money distributed to business students last year: $13,519,202.00
  • Expected scholarship distribution to business students this year: $14,527,104.00
  • Scholarships are awarded to business students based on: a combination of need and merit
  • Other criteria for scholarship consideration: Criteria vary based on endowment specifications, but may include merit, need, geographic origin and academic interest.
  • Students receiving institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 79 %
  • Students receiving full-tuition institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 3 %
  • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on need: 20 %
  • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on merit: 80 %

• Loans

  • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all business students, regardless of nationality?: No
• • Mean outstanding debt, most recent graduating class: $23,770.00

CAREER SERVICES

• Employment Information

  • Percentage of most recent business graduates who supplied information regarding employment: 91 %
  • Percentage seeking full-time professional employment in business: 66 %
  • Percentage not seeking full-time professional employment in business: 34 %

• Received first job offer:

  • By graduation: 71 %
  • After graduation, but within 3 months: 3 %
  • More than 3 months after graduation : 1 %
  • No job offer reported: 25 %

• Accepted first job offer:

  • By graduation : 55 %
  • After graduation, but within 3 months: 9 %
  • More than 3 months after graduation: 1 %
  • No job acceptance reported: 35 %
• • Companies recruiting business students on campus: 72
  • Companies posting job offers for business students on school job boards: 544

• Top employers (number of students hired):

  • KPMG 14
  • Deloitte 13
  • Ernst & Young 6
  • PWC 5
  • The Coca-Cola Company 4
  • Neiman-Marcus 4
  • Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2
  • Citi 2
  • Fidelity 2
  • Orix USA 2
  • Raytheon 2
  • Rothstein Kass 2
  • Target 2
  • Teach for America 2
  • UHY Advisors, LLC 2

• Compensation

  • Mean base salary: $50,883.00
  • Median base salary : $50,000.00
  • Mean signing bonus: $9,552.00
  • Median signing bonus: $5,000.00

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

  • Consulting: 5 %
  • Finance/Accounting: 63 %
  • General Management: 5 %
  • Human Resources: 0 %
  • Management Information Systems: 1 %
  • Marketing/Sales: 19 %
  • Operations/Production: 4 %
  • Logistics/Transportation: 1 %
  • Other: 2 %

• Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following industries:

  • Accounting: 26 %
  • Consumer Products/Retail : 13 %
  • Consulting: 6 %
  • Financial Services: 28 %
  • Government/Education: 3 %
  • Pharma/Biotech/Health: 1 %
  • Manufacturing: 1 %
  • Media/Entertainment: 4 %
  • Petroleum/Energy: 1 %
  • Real Estate: 8 %
  • Sports/Leisure: 1 %
  • Technology/Science: 2 %
  • Non-Profit: 1 %
  • Transportation: 3 %
  • Utilities: 0 %
  • Other: 2 %

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

  • US: 100 %

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

  • Northeast: 6 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 4 %
  • Midwest: 5 %
  • South: 6 %
  • Southwest: 78 %
  • West: 1 %
  • Possessions and territories: 0 %
• • Career services offered: Individual career advising & coaching, career planning seminars, career mgmt curriculum integrated into required academic course, employer mentoring pgm, major & industry employer panels, resume review, job search workshop, interview workshop, dining etiquette pgm, case interview training, analyst development pgm, speed networking, alumni networking events, career-focused lunches w/ alumni, career fairs, referrals for informational interviews, online career resources, career-related podcasts.

INTERNSHIPS

• • Companies recruiting business students for internships on campus: 40
  • Companies posting internship offers for business students on school job boards: 504

• Top internship employers (number of students hired):

  • KPMG 37
  • Ernst & Young 23
  • Deloitte 18
  • Wells Fargo 14
  • Bank of America Merrill Lynch 10
  • PWC 9
  • JP Morgan 7
  • George Bush Foundation 7
  • The Coca-Cola Company 6
  • Rothstein Kass 6
  • Stanley Korshak 6
  • Moroch Partners 5
  • UBS 4
  • General Electric (GE) 4
  • FDIC 4

• Internship pay

  • Internships that are paid: 71 %
  • Mean compensation, per week, for paid internships only: $705.00
  • Median compensation, per week, for paid internships only: $520.00
  • Average internship length, in weeks: 11

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Total number of undergraduate business program graduates since inception: 23,521
  • Total living alumni of the undergraduate business program: 20,442
  • Percentage of living alumni who contributed to the business program or university in the last academic year: 21 %

• Alumni gifts

  • Mean Gift: $2,305.00
  • Median Gift: $100.00
  • 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

  • Ray L. Hunt Board Chair/ CEO/President of Hunt Consolidated, Inc.
  • Martin Flanagan President/CEO of Invesco Ltd.
  • William J. O'Neil Founder/CEO of Investor's Business Daily

• • -Professors are never TAs. They are experienced, well-versed professionals with extensive history in their field outside of academia. They are bursting with enthusiasm, which, in classes of 40 or fewer, becomes contagious.
    
    -It really seems like their ultimate goal is to help me find a job when I graduate. They recognize that for the students, they are the means to an end, and they do everything to help us get there.
    
    -The business program could be stronger if there were more job placement advisory services. For students wishing to apply for investment, consulting, and marketing jobs, there is little support for the recruiting and interviewing process. These programs exist at many other, larger universities, so sometimes SMU students seem under-prepared compared to the competition.
    
    -SMU's business program offers a vast network of resources to students. This network allows students to participate in a variety of prestigious programs, to engage with prominent business people, and to take advantage of opportunities with many companies. The business program is also supported by programs within the greater university that allow students to pursue initiatives.
    
    -The program does not start until the spring of our second year. I do not think it is too early or too late, but I do wish that they had offered more speakers explaining the various majors during our freshman year. I think this additional time to decide on a major would have been beneficial.
    
    -Small classes allow you to have an intimate relationship with the professor concerning the class. The topics discussed are very interesting and new research is readily taught on a daily basis.
    
    -SMU has a great network in Texas, but I feel the program would be stronger if the network extended to other important states and cities as well.
    
    -The connections and interactions with business professionals that Cox provides in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is a paramount in BBA education. My average class size in the business school is between 40-50 students, which allows me to build personal and professional relationships with my professors and colleagues.
    
    -The one thing that the business school could improve upon is the variety of class choices it offers. I know this is greatly restricted by classroom space and faculty, but I would have loved to experience some more focused classes. Adding a few additional majors would e awesome.
    
    -There are infinite numbers of resources available for students. Advisers are always willing to help you; students get emails about job opportunities; there are a lot of events for students to attend and learn about jobs, companies, industries, etc.
    
    -The finance program could use some more consistency with grading. Each professor tells me that there is a rubric the department asks them to follow, but it seems different every semester. Still trying to figure that one out.
    
    -We have small class sizes, which allow more student-teacher interaction. I attended New York University for one semester in an exchange program, and was overwhelmed by the class sizes as well as how unavailable my professors were. At SMU, you can reach all of your professors pretty much 24/7, and they will work with you to improve your grade through outside instruction, recommendation of tutors, etc. Students in the business school are also very close socially, which helps when forming study groups and with class cohesion.
    
    -I would have liked a more diverse career center. There are few opportunities outside the state of Texas, and thus they are little help if you want to move elsewhere.
    
    -The classes are small and competitive. Classes are graded on a curve, so you the workload can be heavy if you want to get A's in your business classes. Also, top of the line technology such as our new trading room and honors classes like portfolio practicum (student managed endowment) make the workplace transition seamless.