Professional MBA

The Olin Professional MBA program has the same high academic standards as our full-time MBA program. Our courses are taught by faculty members who have some of the best minds in business. And more than 90 percent of our Professional MBA students complete their degrees, an outstanding rate of success that we attribute to the incredibly supportive environment among peers and professors.

Most Professional MBA students take classes two evenings per week (6:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.). However, many choose to accelerate their studies and earn the MBA in less than three years.

You enroll (in either the fall or spring semester) and stay with the same group of students for about the first 15 months. Starting as early as semester two, you can select from a wide range of electives to build a program targeted to your academic and professional goals. Over half your courses are electives. 

You need 54 credits to graduate. Typically, students enroll in nine consecutive semesters (fall, spring and summer). Each semester consists of six credit hours and is divided into two mini-terms (Mini Term A and Mini Term B). Over half of all courses are electives. 

You’ll take the majority of your core courses during the first year and begin choosing electives as early as your second semester. After the completion of the core, you may opt to take only three credits per semester. You have seven years to complete your degree, though most Professional MBA students graduate in three years or less.

Transfer of Credit
Olin Business School will accept up to nine credits of course work taken at another AACSB accredited institution, if the grades you earned are "B" or better, and the Academic Review Committee judges the courses to be equivalent to Olin MBA classes in quality and content. Submit the course syllabus and transcript to your business advisor. The review process usually takes at least two weeks to complete.

Teamwork and Collaboration 
A recurring theme with our students is the importance of team-based learning; "collaboration" is a word you hear repeatedly. Each entering class – the cohort is divided into study groups of four to five individuals. These teams share responsibility for projects, papers and presentations. Your classmates are some of the most talented professionals in the St. Louis area. A tremendous networking resource, they offer you lifelong business connections, friendship and support.

ADMISSIONS 

The PMBA Program has two entering classes each year – Fall and Spring.

The PMBA program is currently accepting applications for its Fall 2013 (late August) class.

The PMBA Program has some students with relatively little work experience and some with decades of experience, but most are somewhere in between. Olin PMBAs come from a wide variety of functional roles within dozens of area companies and organizations, and their academic backgrounds range from the social sciences and business to the humanities and engineering.

In short, there is no one “right” or “wrong” background to be a good Olin PMBA candidate. To ensure diversity in each entering class, we admit students with varied backgrounds, talents and interests. We consider every applicant’s academic ability, leadership potential, professional experience and career goals – and how well those are communicated to us. Every PMBA applicant is carefully considered by our Admissions Committee, using a holistic approach with both objective and subjective criteria.

Apply Online

Submit the following to complete your application:

• An Olin MBA application – forms, essays and a résumé submitted online.

• 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 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 PMBA Program requires either the GMAT or GRE. The GMAT institution code for the Olin PMBA Program is R4T-WG-91.  The GRE institution code is 4939. For GMAT information or registration, go towww.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 don’t 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.

Re-application Policy
If a PMBA applicant is denied admission for a certain class, we are happy to counsel the candidate on how they could improve their candidacy, all with the intention of being admitted in the future. In most cases the candidate would not have to submit an entirely new application to be re-considered for admission. For more information on the re-application process, please contact the admissions office at mba@wustl.edu or (314) 935-7301.