Shelley Heinrich, Director of Admissions and Marketing at Georgetown MBA shares some of the common misconceptions about the Full-time MBA program. She also provides an overview of the curriculum.
What is the biggest misconception about the Full-time MBA program?
One big misconception is that an MBA is just for those going into finance and consulting, and only those from traditional business backgrounds are competitive applicants. While a significant number of our Class of 2016 students did go into financial services (30%) and consulting (29%), many of our students also pursue careers in consumer product goods(6%), real estate (6%), nonprofit (3%), and government (2%).
Our top employers have included Amazon, American Airlines, American Express, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Bank of Montreal, Citi, Cognizant, Deloitte, Ernst & Young LLP, IBM, Group Nduom, Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, JP Morgan Chase & Co., M&T Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Samsung, SC Johnson, and Wells Fargo Securities.
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Additionally, students arrive with a diversity of experiences and undergraduate degrees, not just a business undergraduate degree. We look for diverse experiences and ideas that will make our classroom conversation rich and engaging so that students learn from one another.
Another misconception students have is that Washington, D.C., is just a government town. This cannot be further from the truth. It is a vibrant international city rich with Fortune 500s, nonprofits, NGOs, and startups. People here are changing the world. As a student and for your family, D.C area is ideal for relocation. You’ll hear dozens of languages spoken on the metro everyday and meet people from all over the world. I personally love it here; it’s a wonderful place to live for two years and maybe more if you decide to stay here for your career.
2) How is the curriculum structured to help MBA students?
The MBA curriculum at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business was designed based on the Jesuit principles of “men and women in service to others” and focuses on creating ethical leaders with a global mindset to be in service to business & society.
The curriculum is structured to help students be competitive for jobs and gain a strong return on investment. Our Opening Term and Fall Semester are rigorous and highly quantitative. The goal, however, is to prepare students to perform well in their internship interviews. So, students often grumble about how difficult the first semester is until they get to their interviews and realize how much this intensity and preparation is structured to allow them to succeed. Additionally, through a career-centered curriculum coordinated by the MBA Career Center, students start preparing for the MBA the summer before the program begins. This allows them to focus on becoming prepared and polished for the internship and career recruitment season prior to classes beginning.
After taking 36 credits of core coursework in a cohort, students then go on to take 24 credits of electives. We have over 70 electives to choose from and students do not have to declare a concentration. They can, instead, customize the curriculum by taking courses which will make them most competitive for their future career. There are electives in accounting, finance, management, strategy, marketing, and operations and information management.
Shelley Heinrich leads the marketing and communications team at Georgetown MBA McDonough School of Business. Heinrich has spent more than 12 years in the higher education, nonprofit, and corporate sectors. Heinrich earned her bachelor's in Business Administration from Texas Christian University and Master's in Education from the University of Texas, Austin. Currently, she is pursuing Executive MBA from the McDonough School of Business.