Admissions

Qualifications

Successful applicants generally have between 8 and 30 years of professional experience including recent experience in a leadership role. Students with fewer years of experience will be considered with a sponsorship letter and strong support from their firm. Applicants typically have a desire to move up or into the senior management ranks of their firm or, in some cases, into their own entrepreneurial venture.

Students come from various industries including manufacturing, consulting, financial services, healthcare, and pharmaceutical. Individuals joining the program have diverse backgrounds in fields such as marketing, engineering, operations, finance, IT, sales, and more. Organizations represented include some of the largest companies in the world as well as smaller firms.

The admissions committee is most interested in your career accomplishments to date, your goals for the future and your capacity for reaching those goals. Although the GMAT is not required, the Admissions Committee may ask certain candidates to take the exam.

If you would like to discuss your qualifications, please contact our office to schedule an appointment.

Application Requirements

Generally, a complete application will include the following. We will work with you on each step once you have expressed your interest.

• A completed application form (click here to start an application)
• A current resume
• A personal interview with the director of admissions
• Two recommendations
• Original transcripts of undergraduate and graduate course work
• An application fee of $60.00

Application Process

The application process consists of five steps:

1. Send your resume by e-mail to SmealExecMBA@psu.edu.
   
   
2. Contact the Executive MBA Office at 1-866-999-EMBA to schedule a personal interview. Interviews are an informal discussion with our Director, Jake Ray. During the meeting, you will talk extensively about your experience, current job responsibilities, and future goals. We can schedule the interview at your office or other convenient location or at the ACE Conference Center.
   
   
3. Complete the Online Application.
   
   The online application includes:
   
   
   1. General application information (name, address, work and education history, etc.)
   2. References: References are initiated by entering the names and e-mail addresses of the individuals providing your references. Those individuals will receive a note via e-mail asking them to complete a brief online questionnaire that will serve as your reference.
   3. Essays: Essays should be authored in MS Word or other word processing program. You will then attach them to your application via the application Web site.
   4. Application fee of $60
      
      
   The application system works best with Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you experience technical problems with the application, please contact the Executive MBA Program office at SmealExecMBA@psu.edu or 1-866-999-EMBA.
   
   
4. Request transcripts for your undergraduate and graduate course work and have them sent directly to our office:
   
   Executive MBA Program
   Smeal College of Business
   The Pennsylvania State University
   220 Business Building
   University Park, PA 16802-3603

Application Deadlines

We are now accepting applications for the Fall 2009 start.