{"id":52705,"date":"2021-07-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=52705"},"modified":"2021-07-14T12:01:19","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T19:01:19","slug":"how-to-get-a-cmu-tepper-mba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/how-to-get-a-cmu-tepper-mba\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get a CMU Tepper MBA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"How<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Are you aiming for an MBA from CMU Tepper? Here\u2019s how to make that dream a reality. [Show summary]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kelly Wilson, Executive Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon University\u2019s Tepper School of Business discusses Tepper\u2019s MBA programs, which are focused on analytics, leadership and technology advancement.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With full-time, part-time and hybrid options, Tepper offers an MBA program to fit any schedule [Show notes]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the 425th episode of Admissions Straight Talk Accepted Podcast. Thanks for tuning in.

Are you ready to apply to your dream business schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Acceptance MBA admissions calculator can give you a quick reality check. Just go to accepted.com\/mbaquiz<\/a>, complete the quiz, and you\u2019ll not only get an assessment but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it\u2019s all free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gives me great pleasure to have on Admissions Straight Talk Kelly Wilson, who is the Executive Director of Masters Admissions at the Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business<\/a>. Kelly earned her Bachelor\u2019s at Grove City College and three Master\u2019s degrees: an MBA from George Mason and a MS and MIS from the University of Pittsburgh Joseph Katz Graduate School of Business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After working for several years in business, she began her career in admissions at Katz in 1999. In 2008, she became Assistant Dean and Director of MBA Admissions at Georgetown\u2019s McDonough School, where she served for four years and which is where I think I first had the pleasure of meeting Kelly. She then returned to Pittsburgh and became Executive Director of Masters Admissions at CMU Tepper, and has been working in that capacity for the last almost nine years. Kelly, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many master\u2019s programs are you overseeing and what are they? [1:40]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have our MBA program in three different formats: the Full-Time two-year program, our Part-Time Online Hybrid program, and our Part-Time Flex MBA. In addition, we have the MS in Product Management and then MS in Business Analytics. We will be launching a couple of master\u2019s programs in the near future. So keep an eye out for that information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the difference between the three MBA programs? [2:15]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So the Part-Time Online Hybrid is our online program; there is an in-person component to it which is why it\u2019s hybrid. The way that it works is the part-time students<\/a> will come to campus about every six and a half, seven weeks between mini semesters where they\u2019ll do a weekend together on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Part-Time Flex was our traditional Pittsburgh-based, part-time program. The really cool thing now is that our part-time students in both programs will spend the first year together in that Part-Time Online Hybrid format, giving flexibility to both groups of students, and then the Part-Time Flex students from the Pittsburgh region can choose to take more traditional evening classes if they\u2019d like, or they can continue on the Online Hybrid format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you give an overview of the CMU Tepper full-time MBA programs, focusing on the more distinctive elements? [3:24]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely. It\u2019s hard not to bring in the part-time options when we\u2019re talking about the full-time program, because in fact they are the same MBA taught by the same faculty. And one of the few MBA programs that allow students to transfer between programs after year one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For our MBAs, what really sets Tepper apart is the combination of leadership development and analytics skills that the students get in the program. If we first talk about analytics within the core of our program, which is a fairly robust core, you will see that in addition to the typical business classes, we\u2019ve got three specific classes that focus on developing those analytical skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a probability and statistics course and optimization course, and a statistical decision-making course where students will learn optimization, modeling skills, as well as the business fundamentals in the core. And then throughout the electives, they\u2019ll apply those tools (both the business fundamentals and the analytical skills) throughout the rest of the curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And those three analytical courses that are part of the core are required for all students? [4:55]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

They are. For both full-time and part-time. And then all of our students will work with our Accelerate Leadership Center. So we have a leadership development component that\u2019s part of the core curriculum as well. Our executive coaches who previously worked in corporate roles are staff on the Accelerate Leadership Center team. They focus on development plans for each of our students, these plans are tailored for each individual, based on the experience and expertise of each student as they come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether a student is full-time or part-time, their work with Accelerate begins with an assessment tool that will give them a sense of the leadership skills that they may want to focus on during their time in the program and the leadership skills they may want to leverage while they\u2019re in the program. This is on top of, of course, some courses that our faculty deliver within leadership as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also noticed Tepper has a rather distinctive approach to concentrations and tracks in its curriculum. Can you go over that for our listeners? [6:04]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Students at Tepper are required to take at least one concentration. Many of our students will have multiple concentrations. So in an MBA program, it\u2019s typical that three classes will give you a concentration. That\u2019s true at Tepper as well, but often you\u2019ll see Tepper students have two, three, and sometimes four concentrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It really depends on what skills they\u2019re trying to develop while they\u2019re in the program. The breadth of electives provides them an opportunity to gain different concentrations across the skills that they\u2019re looking to develop. And then our tracks are a little bit of a deeper dive than a concentration. They are a pre-described set of courses that gives students a depth of study in a particular area, whether it\u2019s Business Analytics, Technology Strategy and Product Management, Energy Business, Entrepreneurship, or Management of Innovation and Product Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those are the tracks that we offer, and they\u2019re usually eight to ten electives that make up the track, and it\u2019s a much deeper dive into that area. Then they will have a capstone as part of their track as well, to fulfill the capstone requirement for the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is everybody required to pursue a track? [7:37]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No, it\u2019s absolutely up to the desire of the student. Everyone must do a concentration. The tracks are available and there are some tracks that students must apply to become part of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many concentrations are there, and how many tracks are there? [7:54]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So there are 13 concentrations and 15 tracks at this point. You would see the functional areas on the concentrations and then the tracks may be broader than a functional area. So Energy Business for example will have broad courses in it, but will give the students a very specific skill set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some of the tracks? [8:36]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re Business Analytics, Technology Strategy and Product Management, Energy Business, Entrepreneurship<\/a>, or Management of Innovation and Product Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How have pandemic restrictions affected the MBA experience in program at CMU Tepper? And perhaps, since we\u2019re all hopeful that the pandemic is more and more in the rear view mirror, what of the adaptations that CMU Tepper made due to the pandemic do you think it\u2019s going to keep? [9:03]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s important for us as we\u2019ve gone through this just unbelievable situation globally, that we do focus on the positives, which are the innovations, right? So whether it\u2019s from an admissions standpoint or from an experience standpoint, our students had to think about how do we build community in a way that\u2019s very different from what we\u2019ve done before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they were very creative in that regard. One of the things that I liked best about it is, well, I guess there are two things. One, there was much more interaction between our full-time students and our part-time students because the activities were virtual. It really allowed for the students to participate in activities that they might not have been able to before, whether it was a corporate speaker or alumni coming in to talk with a club. And that\u2019s the segue to the second favorite thing which is just access to alumni and corporate representatives. If you think about it, no longer did people have to come to campus instead they were a Zoom call away, and really made themselves available. Our alumni were fantastic making themselves available for different activities because frankly, it wasn\u2019t as heavy a lift. They didn\u2019t have to travel, and it really made for a robust experience for the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that engagement is one of the things that we\u2019ll be able to hold on to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What don\u2019t people know about CMU Tepper that you would like them to know? What\u2019s a common misconception that you would like to dispel? [11:30]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a question that I think is really interesting. As I think about it, there\u2019s a misperception that a candidate must have a heavy tech or quant background to attend and do well at Tepper. The reality is candidates really only need to demonstrate the aptitude and we\u2019ll teach them the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was thinking about some feedback we got from our diversity weekend. A student said that they were previously intimidated by Tepper\u2019s reputation of being tech and quant heavy, and thought that the experience in connecting with the community would be a very rigid and dry experience. But the reality was, people were warm and reassuring and this person walked away understanding that there\u2019s a place for students of all backgrounds<\/a>. That to me is a testament of someone that came to visit and that saw that difference, which I think is really exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously students have to have the aptitude and a desire to learn. Are you looking for a high quant score on the GMAT and GRE? Are you looking for high grades in quant classes previously? How else can somebody demonstrate their aptitude? [12:42]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Through their work experience<\/a> and work that they\u2019re doing, I would encourage candidates to share that type of information. The application of those skills is something that we think about as well. It may also happen outside of work through an entrepreneurial endeavor, or just something they\u2019re interested in outside of work. You\u2019re right, it is important that there\u2019s foundation, whether it\u2019s through demonstrated coursework or a test score, but there is a broader way to share information about those skills as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Calc 1 required? [13:44]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We still have a calculus requirement. I think the change over the past couple of years is that if a candidate does not have a Calculus and it\u2019s not necessarily Calc 1, it\u2019s a Calculus course. So a Business Calculus class is a requirement as well. If a student does not have Calculus, per se, once they\u2019re admitted, we\u2019ve developed a Calculus Fundamentals course. Our faculty have developed it to allow for people that may not have taken it yet to fulfill their requirement that way before they matriculate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is CMU Tepper planning to continue offering test waivers? What percentage of applicants who applied for a waiver were granted a waiver last year? [14:19]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We do plan to continue to offer test waivers<\/a>. It\u2019s an interesting opportunity to consider candidates that may not otherwise have applied or that really lean into other parts of their application, specifically the academic work. For us, the percentage of applicants where test waivers were granted is about half of the students who applied for a test waiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If someone is not granted a waiver, we would encourage them to consider taking some time and if they still desire to take the test they can apply. So it\u2019s not a denial of admission, it\u2019s just a decision about the test waiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I assume you want the tests for them to show aptitude, whether it\u2019s verbal skills or quantitative skills? [15:32]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right. I think for different candidates, those two components of the test may come into play a little bit differently so it\u2019s important for a candidate to reflect on their application. For someone that may not have as many quantitative courses, the test may help them in that regard.<\/a> So to kind of step back and reflect might be helpful. Of course, we will offer application workshops where we\u2019ll take a deep dive into that with candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Tepper, last year had one essay question which was:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Tepper community is dynamic and unique. Each community members\u2019 individual journey has shaped them into classmates who are collaborative, supportive, and inclusive. Describe how you have overcome adversity during your journey. What did you learn about yourself and how has that shaped who you are?\u201d <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Are you planning to ask the same question or are you planning any changes to the application? [16:36]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We are going to ask the same question. I was super excited and the admissions committee in general was excited about the types of essays that we were able to read and the information we were able to learn about candidates. For us, community is important. Being a contributing member of the community is important, and I think the things that we go through in life do shape us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grit is one of those words that is becoming a little bit clich\u00e9 maybe, but the idea of being able to face something that\u2019s really hard<\/a> and could for some people stop them where they are, but being able to just face that and overcome it and then grow from it is something I think that contributes to who we are as contributors and to our communities and we think that\u2019s important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n