MBA Overview

Students entering business school to earn their MBA degree will need varied skills and have basic proficiency in certain areas. The level of math skills necessary in business school will vary depending on the program.  Many Master of Business Administration programs require statistics, algebra, and most likely, calculus.  You may want to refresh your skills if they are in question before entering an MBA program.  Most business schools require the use of personal computers throughout your MBA program. Many schools will require that you have your own laptop.  Though the extent to which you use a computer will vary, you should be comfortable with word processing, spreadsheets and databases.  Each school will give you their minimum basic requirements for computer skills and hardware/software needs.

Schools today attempt to mimic the business environment in their academic programs by using student teams. As corporations have increasingly turned to teams to work on projects and to solve problems, MBA programs have transformed a larger portion of course work from individual work to teamwork. Many master of business administration programs now include teambuilding training as team building workshops, or as a subject in organizational behavior courses. Teams may be formed for the purpose of one project in one course or they may remain together for months, working on multiple courses. In the competitive setting of MBA programs, the cooperation of students in teambuilding exercises is often difficult. Students that participate in team activities find that working with others takes up a lot of academic time. 

The fundamentals of business are taught in every MBA program. Economics, finance, accounting, organizational behavior, marketing, and statistics are in the basic repertoire for master of business administration programs. In business school these subjects are considered a core group of courses required of every student. These core courses make up the first year of study in a two-year full-time program. In some programs, students who have a prior background in business can bypass some or all of the core courses on the basis of either a special examination or an evaluation of the undergraduate transcript.