Full-Time MBA

At Olin Business School, honing your functional skills is just the starting point. Because here, a full-time MBA education is about more than what you think…it’s about mastering how you think. 

"Research-driven thinking, applied.” Our entire program, including the very way we teach, is built on this operational principle. More than any other single thing, it’s what sets us apart. And it’s reason enough to put Olin at the top of your list as you consider MBA programs. 

Research-driven thinking is a way of approaching business problems or issues with the same rigorously analytical mind set used to conduct research. And we take that lesson to the street by offering you applied learning opportunities to integrate your functional, critical thinking and collaborative skills to solve real-world business problems. Read more in Olin Experience.

As a full-time MBA student at Olin, you get the best of both worlds – the kind of personal, individualized attention from staff and faculty that only a small, exclusive program can provide, plus unlimited access to the resources of a major world-class university. Not to mention great alumni and recruiter contacts and plenty of leadership opportunities.

An Olin MBA arms you with a skill highly valued by hiring companies: the ability to drive business innovation and results. Match that with career development coaching and a robust professional network, and you get an experience that provides motivated high achievers with all the tools they need to launch new careers or take their current careers to the next level.  

CORE CURRICULUM

The core gives you a comprehensive grounding in business fundamentals. It develops your critical-thinking skills, teaching you how to frame questions, weigh alternatives, manage risk and solve complex problems.

The Olin MBA curriculum offers a comprehensive set of required and elective courses built upon a foundation of critical-thinking and leadership skills. The degree requires completion of 66 credit hours, nearly two-thirds of which are elective courses selected by the individual student. Olin MBAs, therefore, are able to shape the curriculum to meet their unique personal objectives.

The fall semester of year 1 focuses on critical thinking, leadership, career strategy and the major functional areas of business. During the spring semester of year 1 and throughout year 2, students take mostly elective courses of their choosing, often pursuing a concentration (we call them Career Platforms) that help them navigate toward their career goals. Elective courses include semesterlong (3-credit) courses, six-week “mini” (1.5-credit) courses and experiential learning opportunities. Olin MBAs can also take up to nine credits of approved course work from other graduate programs at Washington University.

ADMISSIONS

Meet our faculty, staff, students and alumni. Sit in on a class and tour the Washington University campus. See for yourself how an Olin MBA can transform your life. 
Admission to the Olin MBA Program is competitive. Each applicant is carefully considered by the Olin Admissions Committee, using a holistic approach with both objective and subjective criteria. We consider your academic ability, leadership potential and experience – and how well you communicate those to us. To ensure diversity in each entering class, we admit students with varied backgrounds, talents and interests.

*After April 1 we move to rolling admissions, during which we continue to accept applications on a first-come, first-served space-available basis. Incomplete applications will be shifted to the subsequent rounds until all required materials have been submitted. 

Application Fee
There is NO application fee. Our goal is to consider every candidate who has a serious interest, regardless of ability to pay an application fee. 

Application Process
We want to make the process easy for you. So for preliminary admission decisions, we prefer “unofficial” copies (a scan, fax or PDF) of test scores and transcripts that you may easily upload in the application. If you are admitted and decide to enroll at Olin, you’ll be required to submit your official results. 

Apply Online

Submit the following to complete your application:

• An Olin MBA application – forms, essays and a résumé submittedonline.
• Academic transcripts – from all colleges or universities you’ve attended, including any graduate or professional course work. Transcripts should include all course work taken with corresponding grades and any transcript instructions/descriptions provided by the institution. 
  
  Submit by electronic upload (preferred method) into the online application (2 MB maximum) or email to apply@olin.wustl.edu. If you are unable to submit an unofficial copy, you may submit an official copy by mail. A copy of all official transcripts (with degree and degree conferred date) will ultimately be required for all enrolling students.
• Standardized test scores
  Submit by electronic upload (preferred method) into the online application or email to: apply@olin.wustl.edu.
  
  GMAT or GRE – The MBA Program requires either the GMAT or GRE. The GMAT institution code for the Olin MBA Program is R4T-WG-61. The GRE institution code is 4961. For GMAT information or registration, go to www.mba.com. 
  
  TOEFL or IELTS (Academic Format) – Required if your native language is not English, unless you have completed an undergraduate or graduate degree at a college or university where the primary medium of instruction is English. The TOEFL institution code for Washington University in St. Louis is 6929. The TOEFL or IELTS is not required for U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents.

Letters of Recommendation
We do not require or accept letters of recommendation. Rather, we ask that you submit names and contact information for two references as part of the online application. The Admissions Committee may contact these references as part of its evaluation of your application.

Interviews
Invitation-only interviews are conducted at the discretion of the Admissions Committee after the submission of a complete application. The only exception to this rule is for candidates who are visiting campus from outside the United States. These visitors may contact Joya Shepard, MBA Admissions Coordinator, by phone at 314-935-6341 or by email at shepard@wustl.edu, to schedule an interview.