Page Image
Step 3: Understand our Selection Criteria
The Foster MBA Program registers approximately 100 new MBA students (see Class Profile) each fall, selecting individuals with the highest potential for achievement in the management profession — those who have demonstrated the greatest capacity for high-quality academic work and who will contribute to the diversity of both the student body and the ranks of professional leaders.
We strive to create an environment that fosters a rich and satisfying learning experience and is representative of society as a whole. We believe that a diverse student body — reflected in age, racial or ethnic origin, cultural background, activities and accomplishments, career goals, life and work experiences, and fields of previous academic study — helps create such an environment.
Although program requirements do not specify particular undergraduate courses or majors, prospective students are evaluated for their facility in reading, writing, and speaking English, as well as their ability to reason analytically, logically, and creatively. In addition, we evaluate each applicant in terms of:
Leadership potential as demonstrated in work experience, accomplishments in school and community, and extracurricular involvement during college or university; assessments in an applicant’s recommendation are also reviewed.
Academic performance as revealed by undergraduate history, and — in consideration of the difficulty of the curriculum — scholastic quality of the school, and any social or economic disadvantage that may have affected past academic performance; an applicant's post-baccalaureate academic experience is also considered.
General intellectual ability evaluated by an individual's performance on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), which provides a reasonably valid and reliable measure of general verbal and quantitative abilities, attributes related to success in graduate management curricula.
Ability to communicate clearly and persuasively as evidenced in required essays that demonstrate an applicant's level of writing competence as well as his or her ability to think issues through. In addition, select candidates will be invited to complete an admission interview. The interview helps the admissions committee evaluate communications skills as well as gather more information about the candidate.