Kelly-Kay: Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to Washington State University's information session, where we'll be discussing our online masters in business administration program. We appreciate you taking some time out of your schedule today to join us to not only learn more about our program, but to discover if this program is a good fit for you. Now, before we dive into the program, I would like to discuss the logistics of this webinar. In order to minimize the background noise, we have offered this presentation in broadcast-only mode, which means that you can hear us, but we cannot hear you. Now, in the event that you would need to ask a question, feel to drop down that question in the Q&A feature at the bottom right of the screen. Also, in the event that you are unable to stay with us for the entire webinar, it will be recorded, and it will be emailed to you after the webinar has been concluded.
Kelly-Kay: Now, for today's agenda, we'll be going over the introductions of who is on this call here today. We'll also cover the history, rankings and accreditation of our online MBA program. We'll discuss a little bit more about the military and veteran student benefits, in addition to the online MBA program overview. You'll also understand a little bit more about our admission requirements and the curriculum as well, and a day in the life of an MBA student here at Washington State University. You'll learn a little bit more about the network opportunities that are available to you, in addition to our international field study. Then, at the end, we will dive into those questions that you have posted below.
Kelly-Kay: Thank you again for joining us. My name is Kelly-Kay Brown, and I am the moderator and I am an enrollment advisor here at Washington State University. And my role is to partner with individuals such as yourself, who are not only interested in learning more about the program, but if you decide that this is a good fit for you, we can talk about the application process and walk you to how to submit a successful application. On this call, we also have Laurie. Laurie, do you mind introducing yourself?
Laurie: Absolutely. Thank you, Kelly-Kay. Hi everyone. I'm very excited to meet with you today. My name is Laurie Marcum and I am the MBA admissions coordinator for the graduate and online programs with the Carson College of Business. Primarily, I help coordinate with the application review process, attend webinars and career fairs throughout the year. I am also a WSU global campus alum and have been with the WSU online MBA program for just over two years. Holly, would you like to take a moment to introduce yourself?
Holly: Yes. My name is Holly Connley and I and care for your consultant for veteran MBA students. I work along [inaudible 00:02:53] Matt Beer, who's the military and veteran affairs manager, and I'm here to help you with LinkedIn, resumes, career planning and all of the above. So we'll talk a little more about that in a few minutes.
Jennifer: All right. And hi everybody. I'm Jennifer Inboden. I am a recent graduate of the program just in December 2021. And I currently work in Arizona for local government as an assistant aquatics manager in the parks and rec department.
Kelly-Kay: Awesome. Thank you, everyone. And now that we have our introductions, we'll pass the mic over to Laurie again, so that we understand a little bit more about Washington State University. Laurie.
Laurie: Thank you, Kelly-Kay. As Kelly-Kay said, I'm going to spend just a couple minutes to give you an overview of this history of WSU, as well as the geographical locations. WSU was founded in 1890 in Pullman, Washington. For those of you who are not familiar with Washington State, Pullman is located on the eastern side of Washington, which is about a five hour drive from Seattle, 80 miles from Spokane, and about six miles from the Idaho border, which is also the location of a neighboring state university, the University of Idaho. WSU is Washington's land-grant institution. What this means is that the university was founded on the mission of provide affordable education to anybody who is willing and able to pursue it. When the university was founded in 1890, it began mostly as an agricultural institution. If you're familiar with the Palouse region, you can witness the wheat fields all around us. So it makes sense that agriculture was a primary focus.
Laurie: Up to date, we have about 125 years of alumni legacy and currently have one of the largest alumni associations. Once you become a Coug, it is really exciting to see how many people from around the world can be seen wearing Coug gear or a Coug logo and we'll shout, "Go Cougs!" It really happens literally anywhere and everywhere. Regarding the Carson College of Business, we have over 60 years of graduate business education. Our first MBA was awarded in 1957. Then we have over 20 years of online degree experience. Interestingly, when we first started 20 years ago, the lectures would be recorded and then sent to the students via a VHS. They would then watch it, rerecord the VHS and then send them back. We've really come a long way from those VHS days.
Laurie: Our online MBA program, as we now know it started in 2007. Our goal of our program has been to provide a flexible yet high caliber learning environment in which students can develop business acumen and leadership skills that will advance them in their careers. With our high quality, 100% online program, our students can literally learn anywhere, they can plug in their laptop and receive quality instruction from a reputable institution. The last thing I did want to mention is that we have an international network of corporate and academic alliances, and this allows our students more corporate and learning opportunities. If you do go on the international field study, which we'll talk about in more depth later today, you'll be able to see some of those opportunities.
Laurie: Okay. And for our next portion, I'll speak a little bit about accreditations and rankings. Accreditations are a great way of looking at the respect and rigor of a program's academic nature, whereas rankings are a really good way of looking at the brand recognition or reputation of the school and the MBA degree as you're looking to use this to further your career. To begin with accreditation, there's going to be two main ones that you want to be looking for. The first one is the AACSB accreditation, which stands for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools Of Business, or AACSB International. Washington State University and the MBA program is among the less than 2% of business schools in the world that are accredited at the bachelor, masters and doctoral levels. This accreditation is thought of as the gold standard for business programs. When you're comparing schools to determine which program to apply for, I would really encourage you to try to find program the AACSB accreditation.
Laurie: The second accreditation to look for is the school accreditation in whole. Typically, there's two main ones. There's the regional accreditation, and then you have a national accreditation. These are the two main bodies that accredit for... Ideally, you want to see regional accreditors as the primary one and so the national accreditation. WSU is regionally accredited. Since we're located in the Pacific Northwest, you'll see we have the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accredit Washington State University as a whole university, whereas the AACSB is specific to a college such as the Carson College of Business and its associated programs. So a quick summary, you want to look for a regional accreditation for the whole university, and you want to look for AACSB accreditation for the business programs. Then you can review the rankings as a way of looking at brand recognition and the strength of the program's reputation in comparison to other programs.
Laurie: As you can see, we are ranked number 20 from U.S. News and World Report for the best online MBA programs in 2022. Specific to our military and veterans, they recently ranked us 15th as best online veterans MBA programs in 2022. Overall, we've been consistently at the top 5% of programs that are being ranked. So we're happy to be once again, awarded a pretty high ranking. Additionally, another great resource is an organization called Poets&Quants. In 2022, we ranked 25th in the best online MBA programs. Lastly, we were ranked 34th in global online MBA for 2021 by CEO Magazine, which we are very pleased to have received excellent rankings from both organizations.
Laurie: Now, I'd like to highlight some information that'll give you some insight into the students who are currently engaged in our program. Well, our students are predominantly located in the Pacific Northwest. We often have students who study with us from all corners of the United States and even internationally, many of whom have spent most of a decade in their career field and are looking to advance in their business knowledge and leadership skills, with needing to find a balance between work, family, activities, et cetera, an important consideration in choosing an MBA program is knowing how much time will be required to the degree. Typically, our students can expect to complete their degree within 22 to 29 months, depending on whether any foundational courses may be needed. For those of you who are military-affiliated, I wanted to highlight that of our students, almost a quarter of them are either active duty or a veteran or affiliated another way. I'll now give the time over to Holly to tell us a little bit more about our military members and some of the support we provide for them. Holly, you want to go ahead and share your expertise?
Holly: Yeah. So if you are a military or veteran student, whether you're active duty or a veteran, or even a military spouse, we offer a lot of great opportunities for students in this area. One thing I do want to point out is that we have an application fee waiver. So if you are applying, all fees are waived from that. Also, there's no late fees. So sometimes I know waiting for funding to come in to pay your tuition, it can be late, or you might have some setbacks, so never worry about that. There are never any late fees. And if you want some more information, you can always write us at that email address there at veterans@wsu.edu, where you can get more information. With the Carson veterans, we have three pillars that we really focus on and that's experience, community and professional development. With experience, we really strive to develop meaningful opportunities above virtual and in person for our military-affiliated students.
Holly: Also, with community, we really try to expand that community. We have veterans and active duty students all over the globe, and we really try to develop that, since the community, through different webinars and activities, there's a lot of things and ways to get involved. And then finally, there's a professional development component and that's where I kind of step in. And I work with students everything from, developing their resumes and trying to figure out how do we transition 15 years of military experience into a civilian resume, or how do we tackle problems such as, I've been out in the military for 15 years and do I include that information on a resume? So those are the kind of things I help you navigate and walk through. We also offer webinars and different networking events, but if you want to know more, anything, any questions you have about military or veteran affairs, please reach out to myself or you can write Matt Beer who's the military veterans affairs manager.
Kelly-Kay: Thank you, Holly. Thank you for going over the benefits for our military students. And thank you, Laurie, for providing us with more information regarding the background of Washington State University. Now, we will dive into a little bit more about what to expect the online MBA program. Now as mentioned earlier, we are 100% online, which means there are no requirements for you to come on campus. You can complete this program in as few as 22 to 29 months. Now, with this program, you'll be introduced to the foundation courses. Now the foundations courses are the prerequisites. So individuals who do not have a business background or did not complete a business undergraduate degree will have the opportunity to learn more through the foundation courses, after which they will transition into the core classes and choose from one of our four concentration courses. Concentrations that we offer is marketing, finance, hospitality, business management, and international business.
Kelly-Kay: Now, with the structure of the program, we offer an synchronous structure, which means that you'll be not only taking one class at a time, but there's not a specific class time that we require our students to be logged in for. Instead, we ask that you dedicate anywhere between 10 to 15 hours per week on your coursework. And that would also to include the live lectures and recorded lectures. Most of the professors, they offer live lectures. In the event that you're unable to attend, we understand that most students are full-time working and professionals, so that may not be convenient for them. So in the event that you're unable to attend those live lectures, it will be recorded and you can watch them at a later time without penalty. So with doing one class at a time, you can also anticipate completing your Capstone project, which will be towards the end of the program.
Kelly-Kay: Also, one of the benefits of our MBA program is that we offer smaller class sizes with approximately 35 students. And there is an international field study that you'll get more information on that is optional, but is also encouraged for you to attend as well. Now, one of the main questions that you may have joining this webinar is how can I be admitted into this program? So let's go into the admission requirements. So part of the application process, there are few documents that we are going to require in order for your application to be successful. Now, part of that is your official transcripts. So your official transcripts will be from all attended universities. We ask that you send over your official transcripts to Washington State University, either electronically or via mail. Also, we would also require an updated copy of your resume at a maximum of two pages, but being as detailed as possible. We also require one letter of recommendation, and this can either be an academic or professional reference. And lastly, we ask that you write your statement of purpose.
Kelly-Kay: Now, in your statement of purpose, you'll highlight why you're interested in pursuing your MBA, what your goals are, and what you hope to accomplish with your MBA as well. For our MBA program, there are no minimum work experience needed in order to be admitting. And so we ask that you at least have a GPA of a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. For this, we offer a little bit more flexibility. If you fall below that 3.0 minimum, you can reach out to your enrollment advisor to determine whether or not you qualify for the program or how to qualify for that program below that 3.0. In addition to this, we require the GMAT. Now the GMAT is a standardized test that we require for most MBA programs. Successful candidates typically score a 550 or better to be admitted into the program. However, we also offer opportunities for you to request a waiver. We will discuss that in the following slide. And now a typical question that you will ask is how much would this tuition be for my MBA?
Kelly-Kay: So as to cover that question, the cost per credit hour, it's 855 per credit hour. And this does not include your books or university fees. For military-affiliated students, the cost per credit hour is 750. Again, not including your books or university fees. So as a student, you can anticipate your tuition ranging from anywhere between 30,780 to 44,460. And the range would be determined on whether or not you would need to take those foundation courses as well. So hopefully this provided a little bit more insight of what's anticipated from you as a potential candidate for our program. Now, a little bit more about the GMAT waiver. So for the GMAT waiver, you can reach out to your admission advisor to see which one of these opportunities you potentially may qualify for. Typically, we're asking that our students have completed or previously earned a graduate or professional degree.
Kelly-Kay: So if you have a master's or doctorate already completed, you would be a good candidate to request the waiver. Also, if you have five plus years of progressive work experience, we ask that your GPA be a minimum of a 3.0 or higher in order to be considered for the GMAT waiver as well. If you are a student that completed a STEM degree, so have an undergraduate degree within the field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, we ask that you have a GPA at 3.0 or higher for this. There are no work experience required. Additionally, if you have a business degree from an AACSB-accredited institution with your GPA at 3.0 or higher, we do not require any work experience for this option as well. Lastly, if your GPA falls beneath that 3.0, but at a 2.79 or higher, we ask that you have at least 10 years of professional work experience in order to be considered for the GMAT waiver. Now, these are a few options and again, I encourage you to connect with an enrollment advisor to see if you may qualify for one of these options.
Kelly-Kay: Okay. Now, for the curriculum. Now, here are two examples of what to anticipate with the MBA structure. As mentioned earlier, you'll be taking one class at a time. And for the first semester that we have an example of is the summer '22 semester listed with individuals who would need to take the foundation courses. So for the foundation courses, this is an example, if you're starting in the upcoming summer semester, which should begin May 10th, you would start with your BA 500, which is data analysis for managers.
Kelly-Kay: As you can see, the classes are offered one at a time, and this is for five weeks in length for each class. Versus the spring 2022 example, you will be taking seven week classes. Again, these classes are offered one at a time and you would potentially start with the Accounting 533, the administrative control. Now this is an example of what to anticipate starting the program with either your foundation courses or needing to take your foundation courses. At the bottom left corner, we have an example what to anticipate with the online virtual classroom. So this is Canvas. This is where all your information will be stored, you'll have access to your classes, your professors, your lectures, everything that you need to be successful in this program will be in this virtual platform.
Kelly-Kay: Now, one of the benefits of completing your MBA through Washington State University is that you also have the opportunity to complete a graduate certificate. Now, each concentration that I mentioned earlier, marketing, finance, international business, and hospitality business management is also offered as a 9-credit graduate certificate. So in addition to the 36 to 52 credits that you'll be completing towards your MBA, you have that opportunity to include a graduate certificate that will set you apart from the other candidates that may be applying to a similar role that you see yourself transitioning into for your career. So if you would like to have your MBA in addition to your graduate certificate, then you can take advantage of these opportunities here at Washington State University. Now, if you're not ready to commit to an MBA, you also have the opportunity to complete the certificate separately. So you can choose from one of the four concentrations, or you can complete the general business administration certificate. I would encourage you to connect with one of the enrollment advisors to determine which one of these may be the better option for you.
Kelly-Kay: So we can talk a little bit more about student support. Pursuing your MBA may be intimidating at first, but we want to encourage you that there is support here at Washington State University. The first support that you will receive is once you requested information, you'll be connected with one of or knowledgeable enrollment advisors. Now, as I mentioned earlier, my role as an enrollment advisor is to partner with you to provide you with as much information about our MBA program to help you make that logical decision to determine if this would be a good fit for you. Once you have decided that Washington State University is best fit for yourself, we will then provide you with recommendations on how to be successful in your application. So we can talk to you about how to complete application successfully with your GMAT waiver request and how to learn more about transitioning into the program as a new student.
Kelly-Kay: Once you're accepted into the program, you'll be partnered with a student support advisor. Now, the advisors are here to help you register for your classes and point you in the right direction to purchase your books, information such as that. Your student advisor will be there for you for the entirety of your MBA degree. So if you have any questions throughout any of your courses, you can connect with your student support advisor. Next, we understand that this is a virtual platform that you'll be completing your MBA, so you may encounter technical difficulties. In that event, you will have access to our Crimson help desk, where you can reach out and they can provide you with the best decision on how to solve that problem.
Kelly-Kay: Also, one of the benefits, like I can mention earlier is the smaller class sizes. So with smaller class sizes, you have the ability to get that attention and learn from your classmates as well. In the event that you are unable or you don't feel comfortable reaching out to your professor, you will also have access to your section instructors. You're able to build relationships and ask questions directly to your section instructor as well. So hopefully this information will encourage you to know that completing your MBA may be intimidating at first, but having the support will allow you to do so successfully. Now let's understand a little bit more about what to expect with a day in the life of an MBA student. I'm going to have one of our recent graduates join us on this section for her to tell us a little bit more on her experience as an MBA student.
Jennifer: All right. Hey everybody, this is Jennifer. And I would like to just tell you a little bit about my experience with the MBA program. First of all, my experience was a little bit unique. I decided, before the program started that I was going to take a longer time, five years to complete the program, but definitely most of the students took the 22 to 29 months that Laurie mentioned earlier. So, because I took so long, I appreciated the opportunity to devote quite a bit of time to each class. I would say that the 10 to 15 hours per week is a good estimate of what most of the classes took. So it wasn't a huge time commitment. I would spend three to four hours before or after work, and then maybe six hours on a Saturday, but then takes Sundays off. So that's kind of what a typical day looked like.
Jennifer: There definitely were more challenging courses. For me, Accounting 533 was the most challenging course. And I would spend, I'd say closer to 25 hours a week just on that course. So don't be shocked if you do have one, maybe two courses that you need to spend more time on. I'll share with you that my favorite class was actually the very last class I took, Management 593. And this class was very interactive. We had lots of opportunities to take assessments and learn more about ourselves. So for me, the timing, that was a great way to end the MBA program.
Jennifer: As far as how the MBA has helped me in my career, I encourage you to share with your coworkers and your colleagues and your supervisors at work that you are participating in this MBA program. For my situation, I work in local government and the town manager learnt that I was in this program. And immediately upon graduation, she reached out to me and said, "Hey, I want to recommend you for a few promotions within the organization." So I actually had two different departments basically fighting over me. And last week I accepted a position in human resources, actually. So that was the most exciting part of just... It's a prestigious degree and you will find people seeking you out and recruiting you to either switch to their organization or be promoted within your organization.
Kelly-Kay: Awesome. Thank you for sharing that with us, Jennifer. And congratulations as well on your new promotion. That's very good. That's something that you can take advantage of after completing your MBA. And it sounds like the flexibility of the program was a good fit for you as well.
Jennifer: Yes.
Kelly-Kay: Awesome. So now we will talk a little bit more about the international field study. Laurie, do you mind assisting?
Laurie: Oh, most certainly. Okay. So for our international field study unfortunately, the last couple of years had to cancel it due to COVID. However, we are really excited to be able to share that this summer we're resuming the seven day trip, and we'll be traveling to Prague. While this trip is not a program requirement, we highly encourage our students to participate for a variety of reasons, such as being able to experience different cultures, observe international business operations, and network with faculty and fellow students. It's a wonderful, once in a lifetime opportunity that will allow you to see the classroom knowledge applied to real life. Some of the cultural experiences that you can look forward to on this trip are an in-person guided tour of the castle, the Prague Castle, and you'll also be able to experience firsthand the old royal palace, St. George Basilica.
Laurie: Additionally, there'll be an opportunity need to go on a paddle tour down the rivers and taking all the scenery. And there will be a one hour tram ride, which you'll get to witness the breathtaking views of the city of a hundred spires. These won't be the only cultural experiences you'll have. There'll be many more opportunities on the trip to go out on your leisure time and experience the local fair, including like outdoor cinema screenings, and then trying out the beach possibly, or even trying out their gelato. While that is the cultural aspect to it, there's also the learning opportunity to include touring business facilities and learning from them about the impact that COVID has had on the Czech businesses and how they adapted and turn these challenges into opportunities. It truly is an exciting opportunity to be part of and we'll hope that you'll give some serious consideration to include as part of your MBA journey and personal development.
Kelly-Kay: Awesome. Thank you for letting us know, Laurie. And do you mind sharing with us more information regarding network opportunities here at Washington State University?
Laurie: Absolutely. Again, due to COVID and having to have some in-person restrictions, many of our in-person events at the time were canceled, or we had to adapt ways to host them safely in person. So with this in mind, and because the program is 100% online, we understand the importance and value of creating networking opportunities for our MBA students and we hope to continue to hold in-person events. Some of the upcoming events to look forward to are our meet and greet/happy hour events, power breakfast, CougsFirst, trade shows and alumni association watch parties and other events that they host. International field study that I previously mentioned. And then there's a military student events and conferences, and of course, commencement and the Carson College Graduation Reception. One of our big events is the meet and greet/happy hour. This past September, we were able to host the event at Flatsticks Pub in Seattle, for those who are familiar with that location.
Laurie: If you take a quick look at the current slide, you'll see a picture from that event. This event is usually scheduled alongside the Carson College of Business Power Breakfast. And during this all Coug breakfast event, our guests will have the opportunity to hear from our college dean, Dr. Chip Hunter, in addition to a couple of other speakers. As a quick note, we do host these events every spring and fall. This spring event will be held in Spokane and our fall event will be held in Seattle. In addition to these opportunities, we have a CougsFirst Show. This event is like a trade show like format and it's free and has a lot of activities to engage in. With the alumni association, they typically announce events on their website or via email about upcoming events and activities. For example, during football season, we're hosting person watch parties throughout Washington State.
Laurie: Lastly, we have our commencement ceremony at Beasley Coliseum on the Washington State University campus and the Carson College reception on graduation eve. Fortunately, we've been able to resume in-person graduation ceremonies, and it's always a joy and pleasure to see our MBA [inaudible 00:32:34] lined up and ready to walk across the stage and congratulate them on this huge accomplishment. With that said, we sincerely hope that our students will be able to not only join us at commencement, but to celebrate with us the night before at the Carson College reception. During this reception, you can visit with other class members, faculty, and you'll even receive a gift throughout. The evening, our college dean will make a toast, and it's just really exciting to gather together and celebrate such a huge accomplishment with each other. And we hope that we can celebrate this with you. A couple of opportunities that I haven't gone to detail yet was the military events. And I'll give the floor over to Holly to review those and go into more detail about that. Holly, can you tell us more about our military events?
Holly: Yeah. Thank you. We offer several military-affiliated events throughout the year. One that we're excited about that's coming up is our military all call. We offer that every spring. This year's topic will be discussed by a panel of different professionals in the industry of logistics and supply chain. And they'll actually be talking about the value that veterans add in our country to the supply chain field. So that's an exciting one coming up. We also offer several professional develop workshops throughout the year. These are all webinars and they're recorded as well. So everything from how to write a resume and transition it from military experience into civilian experience. So some deeper things, such as the art of storytelling in your interview and advanced networking skills and really beefing up your LinkedIn. So we offer several of those opportunities, including some mock interview events and some virtual conferences as well. So [inaudible 00:34:33] things to keep your eyes open for military-affiliated students.
Laurie: Thank you.
Kelly-Kay: Awesome. Thank you so much, ladies. And I hope that our listeners today understand that even though this is an online environment, you do have that opportunity to network in person, you have an opportunity to learn more outside of your curriculum, you'll be expanding your research and your knowledge as a Cougar, and hopefully you'll be able to join us maybe this upcoming summer. We are accepting applications for our summer semester, with classes starting May 8th and the application deadline being April 4th. So there is still time to be considered for our summer semester. In order to learn more about the application process, you can connect with one of the enrollment advisors by scheduling appointment, or giving us a call at 877-348-8154. Now I see that we also have a few questions being prompted in our Q&A section. And I think we can start with this question. Jen, this one is for you, Jennifer, how easy was it for you to make connections and network within this online program?
Jennifer: Yeah, that's a great question. Actually, when I was considering the MBA programs, I was only looking at programs that had the online options so that I could work on coursework on my own schedule. I was a little nervous about how I was going to network and meet people, but every class has discussion topics once or twice a week. And I would see connections made on a weekly basis between people in Oregon and people in Washington. Like, "Oh, we both work for IT." "I used to work for your company." And there were just numerous connections that were being made. I'll also just add that the main reason I picked WSU was because of the Capstone project, it's a 30 week project, right at the end of the program. And my Capstone group members and I would support each other for the other courses that we were taking concurrently. And within that class, since you're with those people for 30 weeks, it's a section of 35 students as are most of the classes, there were also numerous connections being made just within that section since we were with each other for so long.
Kelly-Kay: Awesome. So taking advantage of those networking opportunities was quite available in your classes and before you actually stepped out and had the opportunity to network in person. So that's definitely something to take advantage of or to look forward to. Also, we have another question regarding the fall application. So I am applying for the fall semester, when do I need to apply? So one of the benefits of our MBA program is that our applications are open. So you can start your application today. Work with an advisor to get a successful application in, and hopefully you can have a decision before the fall semester, which would be August 23rd. Okay. And then we have a question again, regarding networking sessions with the companies. So is that in-person?Or is that online? Laurie, do you mind assisting with that?
Laurie: Yeah, absolutely. Right now our goal is to make them in-person, for those events that I have previously mentioned of. If there are some online events, we'll most certainly make you aware of those as they are planned out.
Kelly-Kay: Thank you. So we have great questions being dropped into the chat as well. So another question we have are classes continuous? Or can I take the summers or even a year off if I need to? Great question. So as mentioned earlier by Jen, even though the program is structured for you to compete anywhere between 22 to 29 months, you do have opportunity to extend that for some time. As Jen mentioned, she completed her MBA program within five years. If that is something that you may need to do, you may need to take the summer off or maybe a business opportunity or life happens and we understand that. So we are a little bit more flexible with our program. You do have the availability to take a summer off. However, we would encourage you to communicate that with your professors and your student advisor, so that they can create a plan in order for you to resume classes in the upcoming fall semester.
Kelly-Kay: Okay. So we have a few questions regarding the GMAT and the GMAT waiver. So if I'm exempt from the GMAT, is there any admissions benefit to taking the GMAT anyways? By this, I mean, will a good GMAT score increase my chances of admissions even if I'm exempt? Okay. Thank you for that question. So taking the GMAT will definitely provide you with how prepared you are with starting an MBA program. The GMAT is a standardized test that will provide you with questions on what to anticipate with your, for example, your statistics classes. So not only is this going to benefit to for the application process, but also prepare you for the program itself. So if you feel comfortable taking that standardized test, then yes, we encourage you to go ahead and do so. We will provide you with some helpful resources that you can take advantage of to not only prepare you for the GMAT, but also provide you with different locations that you can potentially take that GMAT as well.
Kelly-Kay: And then we have another question regarding the classes, if the classes are live or if they are recorded. So most of our professors, yes, they do offer live lectures. And we encourage that our students, if you have that availability to join those live lectures to attend. However, like I mentioned earlier, in the event that you're unable to attend those live lectures, you may be in a different time zone, or you may be working at that time, or may be attending a soccer game for your child, those classes will be recorded and you can watch them at a later time without penalty. So yes, we offer live classes and those live classes will be recorded.
Kelly-Kay: Okay. Great question. We have a question regarding the GRE scores. So can I use my GRE score instead of taking the GMAT? Yes. You have the ability to speak with an advisor to determine whether or not your score will be a good fit for, or supplemental for the GMAT score. So connect with an advisor to discuss what score you received and if that would be a passing mark for the GMAT as well. How many classes are there per week? So for that question, you will be taking anywhere between two to three classes per semester, but one class at a time. So every five to seven weeks you'll be transitioning into another class. So ultimately, you're taking one class at a time with our asynchronous structure. We don't want you to be too overwhelmed with taking your classes. So we want you to have that focus on one class at a time.
Kelly-Kay: And clarification regarding the GMAT as well. So regarding application process, again, I encourage you to connect with an enrollment advisor that'll be able to answer your questions specifically towards your needs. Regarding the GMAT, the GMAT would need to be taken before submitting your application. We want to make sure that you have a complete and successful application before review. So our program is offered online and the MBA program that we offer here at Washington State University is only offered online. So whenever you complete the program, it will say that you've earned your degree in business administration from Washington State University. Okay. So I see we're having more questions regarding the application process. Again, every student is different, so we would need you to connect with your enrollment advisor to provide you with more specific questions on how that may be for you.
Kelly-Kay: Okay. Here is another question that we have, do you require any time between completing an undergraduate degree and starting the WSU MBA program? Or can I go directly into that MBA program? So with completing your graduate degree, you can, the following semester, as long as your degree is conferred, you can start in the following semester. So with our program, there are no requirements, no professional work experience required in order to be accepted into the program. So as long as your GPA is at a 3.0 or higher, you would be a good candidate to potentially apply for the program. So yes, you can jump in to your MBA directly from your undergraduate degree. Thank you for that question.
Kelly-Kay: And we will take this last question. What if I graduated from a university in Washington and my GPA is a 3.5 and have over 10 years of professional work experience? Again, I encourage you to connect with your advisor to determine if this program would be a good fit for you, depending on what your goals are for your MBA as well. Are there any good resources to look into funding your program? Yes. So financial aid is available for those who apply and qualify. Also, we encourage you to take a look at our scholarship pages. You can see what scholarships are offered and to see if you would be a good candidate for the scholarships. You can use our scholarships page, you can find that on WSU's graduate school's page, or you can get in contact with an enrollment advisor and we can directly send you the link.
Kelly-Kay: Okay, so we have one final question. Can I take one course per semester, term and keep maintaining that pace? Again, I would encourage you once you start the program, you can connect with your student support advisor to determine what is the best trajectory for you in order to complete the program at that time. So if you'd like to take one class at a time, you would need to discuss that with your student advisor. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that question. Now, Nancy is asking, what is a good GRE score to get? In order to determine your GRE scores, I would recommend speaking with your advisor, it will depend on your current GPA and we take in your resume as well to determine what is the score that you should aim for. Typically, we're asking that you score at least... How you're in the quantitative portion, since this is an MBA program, we'll be looking at the quantitative portion first, but we're also looking at that entire number.
Kelly-Kay: Thank you for all your questions. I see that we're getting more questions regarding the admission requirements. We appreciate you joining us today to learn more about our MBA program. As discussed, this webinar will be sent to you as soon as we have ended the webcast. So you can anticipate rewatching this webinar and sharing it with a friend. If you're interested in starting your MBA here at Washington State University, connect with us, connect with an advisor, we can talk you through those questions regarding the admissions process, and then get you started hopefully for the summer or the upcoming fall semester. We'd love to get you started. Thanks again for joining us, and we anticipate talking with you very soon. Have a great day.
