Calling all Lauder Fall 09 Applicants

Do they have a Spanish track at Lauder? How fluent do you have to be? I was fluent 3 years ago when I lived in a Spanish speaking country... probably not so much now.

Joint Application
The Lauder MBA/MA program shares a joint application with the Wharton School’s MBA program. Lauder Admissions and Wharton MBA Admissions review applications in rounds. Lauder participates in rounds 1 and 2 only, since our program begins in early May. Application deadlines for the Class of 2011 are October 9, 2008, for Round 1 and January 8, 2009, for Round 2.

Language Requirements
The Lauder Institute offers advanced instruction in the following languages: Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Candidates apply to one specific language group and its corresponding world region.

All applicants to Lauder must complete an oral proficiency interview (OPI) in their proposed language with Language Testing International (LTI). The OPI, which assesses oral-aural proficiency, is a 15-20 minute telephone conversation in the target language with a tester certified by the American Council of Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Language test ratings are valid for a single application cycle. (Re-applicants who applied in a previous year must repeat the OPI in the current admissions cycle in order to show maintenance or improvement in their language level.)

International Experience
The Lauder Community is comprised of people devoted to International Studies. Most students entering the program have previous experience working, studying, or living outside the boundaries of their home countries. Approximately 1/3 of our students are non-US nationals.

Managing Two Degrees
Time is an asset, and learning to manage it is a valuable lesson you will use time and time again. Over 1,000 alumni have successfully met this challenge by completing the joint-degree program.

MA Research Requirement
A requirement for graduation, research projects and the MA research paper are both an integral part of the Lauder learning experience and a unique opportunity to pursue academic research.

In addition to the Wharton MBA Admissions Re-application Procedures, Lauder requires that re-applicants complete the following:

1. Lauder Supplement to the Application - This form confirms the candidate's proposed language and region of study and provides the current oral proficiency interview rating (see no. 2 below). Information about language proficiency and international/cross-cultural experience is also provided on this form-please provide this information again, even if it is the same as a previous application. Any additional language study and international and cross-cultural experiences, since submission of a previous application, should be listed here.

2. Current Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) - A current OPI is necessary in order to ensure maintenance or improvement of language rating. (We regret that we cannot accept ratings from a previous admissions cycle.)

3. Lauder Essays - All applicants to the Lauder program are required to complete two Lauder essays:

Describe a cross-cultural experience in your adult life that was challenging to you. How did you meet this challenge and what did you learn from the experience? (1000 words)

Please explain why you are currently applying to Lauder. How do you expect the Wharton/Lauder joint-degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and personal level? (1,000 words)

Do they have a Spanish track at Lauder? How fluent do you have to be? I was fluent 3 years ago when I lived in a Spanish speaking country... probably not so much now.

I think that there is no combination. You must take one track but cannot take 2. Maybe you can take another language as an elective (can't find the info).

Other highlights:
The program starts in May, ahead of the standard MBA program. May is spent at Penn and then there is a 2 month summer immersion, when students go to a country from their track.

you must take certain Lauder electives and an MBA major (on top of the MBA core courses). I understand from Lauder's website that the workload is heavier than for "just" the MBA. But that's to be expected from a joint degree program.

As I said in a previous post, if you want to go on exchange to Insead, you must do so after graduation. Insead is, in my opinion , by far the best non-US program. It would make very much sense to encourage Lauder students to spend a term oversees as part of the MBA program.

I think the Lauder program is 24 months, and not 2.5 years. If you like INSEAD, why don't you apply there? There's quite a huge difference with the length of each program (one is 24 months and the other only 10 months), and as an INSEAD student, you can exchange a semester at Wharton.

You actually answered the exact question I had! I am French and wanted to know if I could use my native language for the program.
It looks like you really need to know in advance that you would like to attend Lauder with that language requirement. I am sure that it is a terrific program though.

Hey another Frenchman!

I have took German in Middle School and High School but that's a while back. Have some knowledge of Hindi but that's it. English was my 1st foreign language in school.

D'ou est ce que tu viens? Tu es au Etas Unis ou en Europe?

I took the gmat on Monday. Lauder institute and Wharton are two distinct choices of the schools you want to send you score too. I therefore chose both.

This was a bit weird.