Smeal Welcomes New Undergraduate And MBA Students

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (August 22, 2007) – With the start of the 2007-2008 academic year only a few days away, new Smeal College of Business students have begun arriving on campus and some have already started their programs.

MBA Students
Students in the Smeal MBA Program class of 2009 arrived on campus on August 13 to participate in the college's two-week orientation program. The class is made up of 87 men and women from around the world, including international students from Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Serbia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

The students come from careers at companies including Accenture, Ford Motor Co., Honda, Morgan Stanley, Oracle, and Sony. Others served in the U.S. Armed Forces and one student comes to Smeal after working in The White House. The class includes a genetic researcher, a television reporter, a sommelier, attorneys, chemists, entrepreneurs, financial analysts, and software engineers.

Classes officially start for MBA students on August 27. Their first year focuses on the MBA core curriculum which emphasizes principled leadership, financial management, and the integration of business fundamentals. They'll also focus on the global aspects of business highlighted by the MBA program's weeklong global immersion experience.

Executive MBA Students
Students in the Smeal Executive MBA Program class of 2009 arrived on August 20 for their first of three five-day residencies on the University Park campus. The remainder of the EMBA program is administered on alternating weekends in Philadelphia over the next 21 months.

The new EMBA class consists of 53 students from Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. The class's average age is 39.

During the first year of the EMBA program, students learn the fundamentals of business and begin meeting one-on-one with an executive coach. In addition, each student conducts a Strategic Assessment Project in which they analyze their own firm in detail, and then present the analysis to their classmates and their firm's management. The second year continues with individualized executive coaching and a classroom concentration on executive strategy and leadership.

Undergraduate Students
The Smeal undergraduate class of 2011 consists of 793 students, bringing the college's total undergraduate enrollment to more than 5,600 students. This year's freshman class consists of students from 28 different countries and about 25 states and the District of Columbia.

These new Smeal students and returning undergraduates come to campus to find a new Web site dedicated to their specific needs and a renewed emphasis on academic integrity (www.smeal.psu.edu/honor). 

The new Smeal student Web site, students.smeal.psu.edu, brings together all of the online resources students need to thrive in their academic careers. The site will feature student news, blogs, and multimedia content, as well as access to academic advising, course scheduling, and job and internship announcements.

For more on Smeal's MBA, executive MBA, and undergraduate degree programs, visit www.smeal.psu.edu/degreeprog.