Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management - MBA Program

MBA Program

Johnson offers a two-year full-time MBA program, which consists of one semester of mandatory courses (core), one semester in an immersion, and an optional second-year concentration. Unlike other MBA programs whose mandatory courses occupy the entire first year, Johnson utilizes an intense first semester core model, allowing students to engage in an immersion (concentration) and specialize prior to interviewing for summer internships. Students who do not have a business background prior to matriculating at Johnson may attend a week-long MBA math boot camp to get up to speed, and orientation consists of a two-week leadership course that culminates in the Johnson Outdoor Experience (JOE), a two-day adventure-based activity in the Finger Lakes foothills. Admission to Johnson is highly selective, with the Class of 2013 comprising only 271 students. Entrance statistics for the Class of 2013 include a median score of 700 on the GMAT (90th percentile) and a median of four years of work experience. The student body is international and diverse, with 40% of students holding citizenship outside the United States. Women comprise 30% of the Class of 2013.

The core curriculum consists of one semester, divided into two halves. The first half focuses primarily on the internal aspects of the company and includes the courses Managing and Leading in Organizations 1, Microeconomics for Management, Financial Accounting, and Marketing Management. The first half then culminates in the Marketing Case Competition, sponsored by S.C. Johnson & Son. The second semester focuses on the external aspects and includes the courses Statistics for Management, Managerial Finance, and Strategy. This half culminates each year in the Integrative Case Competition, sponsored by Citi.

The elective curriculum can be chosen from over 80 courses within Johnson and over 4,000 offered across the Cornell campus. Within Johnson, the diverse selection includes courses such as: Applied Portfolio Management, Behavioral Finance, Estate Planning, Power and Politics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategy & Tactics of Pricing, Entrepreneurship & Private Equity, Six-Sigma Quality & Procss Implementation, and International Mergers and Acquisitions. Johnson students are allowed to matriculate in graduate-level courses in any Cornell college, including Cornell Law School, Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Cornell School of Industrial & Labor Relations, and Cornell College of Engineering. Elective curriculum students can also complete a field study or independent student research project in lieu of a class. Field studies allow students to work together in a team closely with faculty members to launch a product, develop a new business, or research a real world issue. Independent student research projects provide an opportunity for a student to work with a faculty member to develop deep insights on a particular topic of interest. These options allow students to create a second year curriculum that is aligned with their personal and professional interests.

MBA students at Johnson are graded on a curve, with fixed grade point averages set at 3.3 for core courses and 3.5 for electives. In most courses, the grade consists of roughly 10% class participation, 10 percent individual case assignments, 40 percent exams, and 40 percent team presentations or papers. In order to graduate, students must have grade point averages of at least 2.7 overall and 2.5 in core courses. If a student drops below or near these thresholds, he or she receives an academic warning. The student is offered help in the form of academic counseling and tutors to improve academic performance. For the Class of 2011, 89 percent of students had job offers at graduation, with compensation packages including a $103,600 annual salary and a $23,200 signing bonus, on average.