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Start From Scratch: The Analysis of An MBA curriculum
- Anand Patinge
- May 25, 2023
- 10:37 am
- No Comments
Skills, networking, and advancement, along with leadership, specialization, contacts, and credibility.
That’s just some of what an MBA in the USA gives you.
However, the main selling point of an MBA in the USA is the course curriculum.
Why It Matters
Long story short: we’ve compared several MBA programs from around the country, including those from ivy league universities, and have found something very interesting.
Almost every MBA program we have researched covers all the following topics:
- Finance/ Financial Reporting (Official Grade) and/ or Accountancy;
- Markets and/ or Microeconomics;
- Ethics and/ or Law;
- Consulting/ Leadership/ Entrepreneurship; and
- Technology.
Of course, the beauty of pursuing an MBA in the USA is that you can “build” your own course through your electives.
To summarize: the list above is what constitutes most of the “core components” for an MBA curriculum.
You can, of course, specialize in any field of your choosing.
See The Data For Yourself: Official Links
If you prefer to cut right to the chase, here are the (official) web pages for MBA programs from five well-respected management universities in the USA.
Next to them are the pages for the curriculum from the gold standard: five Ivy League universities — and in truth, both lists have 90% of the same material.
Common Components In An MBA Curriculum
And now, we delve a little deeper into what subjects you might study while pursuing an MBA in the USA.
Here is the concept of the US MBA curriculum at the grassroots level: Your chosen college will have certain mandatory “core” subjects that everyone has to study.
Things like finance, accounting, negotiation, team management, and economics usually constitute core courses of an MBA in the USA.
On top of that, they have a whole lot of “electives” — subjects of interest and/ or value to the student.
This could be things like corporate finance, specialized marketing, statistics, data analytics, etc.
The common core components in a US-based MBA curriculum typically are as under;
1. Finance/ Financial Reporting
Finance is an integral part of any MBA curriculum because it helps in making investment decisions, dictating managerial policy, and managing budgets, and a whole lot more.
Within the finance component of an MBA students will often learn the analysis of various statements such as monthly financials, audit reports, income flows, and the like.
2. Accounting
Yes, accounting is a part of finance, but is distinct enough to warrant a distinction.
Where the finance courses in an MBA curriculum deal with how to make sense of financial statements, the accounting components deal with actually recording those components.
There is also a high volume of people who pursue an MBA in the USA with the goal of specializing in business accounting.
3. General Marketing
The general marketing component of a US-based MBA curriculum will cover topics like customer relationship management, demographic analysis, strategy development, promotions strategy, and market penetration, among others.
The marketing component of an MBA in the USA is quite sought-after, and most specialized marketing electives (very sought after) require a basis in marketing before being allowed to be opted for.
4. Economics
Arguably the most technical part of any US-based MBA, students mostly deal with microeconomics as part of an MBA in the USA.
This component will mostly cover things like market dynamics, data analytics, the demand-supply network, pricing strategy, statistical analysis and the like.
The mostly-compulsory economics component also opens up the door for MBA students in the USA to also opt into macroeconomics as a specialization.
5. Law Or Business Ethics
The final component that is covered in almost every US-based MBA curriculum is legal studies with or without business ethics.
Aside from helping future managers manage moral dilemmas, such course components also help in shaping HR policy, and come in extremely handy when reviewing contracts or looking at things like mergers and acquisitions.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long does it typically take to complete an MBA program in the USA?
The duration of MBA programs in the USA can vary, but most full-time programs are completed within two years.
Part-time and online programs may have more flexible timelines.
2. What are the admission requirements for MBA programs in the USA?
Admission requirements vary across universities but commonly include a bachelor’s degree, GMAT or GRE scores, letters of recommendation, a decent resume, and sometimes work experience.
For example, the University of Maryland and Yale University have work experience as a prerequisite for admission to their MBA programs.
3. What career opportunities can be pursued after completing an MBA?
Graduates of MBA programs can pursue various career paths, including roles in finance, consulting, marketing, entrepreneurship, operations, and general management.
The degree provides a strong foundation for leadership and management positions.
The Next Step
With the wealth of choices available to potential MBA candidates in the USA, the decision, notably choosing your specialization, can be quite a dilemma.
This is where a personalized service such as SelectRight may come in handy — visit us to know more.
Once you have a final offer from a university, in addition to any bursaries, scholarships, or grants that you may have gotten, there are a host of payment options available to you.
Even if people have the money to pay for their degree outright, many choose to finance their course instead, to spread out the financial load as US degrees tend to be on the costlier side of things.
In this situation, our FundRight service is probably an excellent fit to determine your needs with.
With that, we hope that you found this article helpful, and we’ll see you in the next one.
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