Tepper Business School Interview
Do
you have any special instructions or advice for applicants
who wish to visit the business school's campus?
We
encourage people to visit. We have a set sequence of
opportunities to offer visitors, which includes a chance to
sit in on a class, attend an information session conducted
by a member of the admissions team, have a tour of our
campus and facilities and have lunch with students. This
allows candidates to get a feel for the environment beyond
what our Web site and our printed publications show.
How
big is the international presence on campus?
Within
the MBA program, our international student population is
around 30% and that doesn't include citizens of other
countries who are permanent residents of the U.S. We will
typically have 35 countries represented in the MBA program
at any one time. One of the events that all of us look
forward to every year is international week which coincides
with our Welcome Weekend for new students. All of our
international students do presentations about their
countries. It is a great event, with lots of food, music
and introductions to the business culture.
Can
you briefly describe the housing situation for your
students?
I
should start by mentioning that housing is really affordable
in Pittsburgh -- a distinct advantage compared to other major
cities in the US. The housing for our graduate students is off campus and
there are several wonderful neighborhoods adjacent to the
Carnegie Mellon campus where most of our students choose to
find apartments or houses. We have a Community Housing
office on campus that keeps a database of available
housing. Students also share information on student-run
discussion boards where listings of apartments that our
graduating students are leaving are recommended to our
entering students.
What
distinguishes the Tepper MBA and its students?
Our program fundamentally teaches students skills that
help them solve problems. We believe analytical
decision making is fundamental to all of the various parts
of study within our MBA. Recruiters often say that our
students are very good at going into organizations and
making a very immediate impact on the organization or
business that they joined by using these acquired skills.
Our students also have a great deal of flexibility and
options within the program. We follow a mini-semester
course structure so every 7 ½ weeks our full-time students
are taking a new set of five classes. So over two
years they have the opportunity to take more than 30 classes
of which one-half are required and the rest are electives.
We offer more than 100 electives within the MBA program to
students in a typical year. There is a great deal of
flexibility to customize the program to meet a student's
individual interests. Our program director talks about
the two "Ts". They are teams and technology. Our
students are very adept at collaborating with other people
and they are also very comfortable with technology and
change. Finally,
our community in general distinguishes us from other
programs. Our students really bond quickly. Our full time
program is relatively small, so it is easier for students to
get to know faculty (1:5 faculty to student ratio) and to
build strong relationships with other students and alumni.
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