UK MBA Programs and the TOEFL

A stir was caused in the application world a few months ago when news surfaced that the TOEFL test would no longer be accepted as a component of the visa process that accompanied successful applications to top MBA programs in England. This caused some MBA programs based there to announce that they were no longer accepting TOEFL as an element of their admissions process as well. This left applicants scrambling at the time to investigate other tests, such as IELTS.

Shortly after this occurred however, London Business School representatives stated publicly that they could continue taking the TOEFL both as a requirement of admission, and as a part of the visa process. Cambridge Judge, after initially posting on their admissions website that a test other than TOEFL would be required for admission to their program, are now saying that TOEFL is acceptable, both for their own admissions process and for the visa process as well.

Not all school have followed in that lead however. Here's a quick summary of the TOEFL landscape amongst MBA programs in England that I consider the top schools. Each school name can be clicked through to the page on their admissions website that contains instructions on assessing English proficiency.

London Business School:
Accepting TOEFL for admissions, no language requirement needed for the visa

Cambridge Judge:
Accepting TOEFL for admissions, no language requirement needed for the visa

Oxford Said:
Accepting TOEFL for admissions, no word on the language requirement for the visa

Manchester Business School:
Accepting TOEFL for admissions, no word on the language requirement for the visa

Warwick Business School:
apparently not accepting TOEFL for admissions

Cranfield School of Management:
accepting TOEFL, but including a note that the TOEFL is not accepted by the UK Home Office for Tier 4 visas

I am monitoring this situation and will post on it further when I have more information.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

1-year Full-time US-based MBA options

**Note: I have edited this article below to include the Thunderbird 11-month Accelerated MBA.**

While the 2-year full-time MBA remains the standard for a lot of applicants, more and more people are looking for viable 1-year full-time options for their MBA as they place a higher emphasis on the opportunity cost (i.e. foregone salary) of going to b-school. 

Europe has typically been the home of the 1-year MBA, with options such as INSEAD, IMD, Cambridge, Oxford, ESADE, IE, RSM, Cranfield, Warwick, the LBS Sloan Masters in Leadership and Strategy and many others attracting the majority of applications. 

There are some options worth looking into in the USA as well, and they are increasing in popularity. Here is a starting point for those interested in researching 1-year US-based MBA options.  Many of these programs are designed to attract older applicants who have more focused interests and less need for career-changing educational experiences. So, I have divided the list into 1-year programs aimed towards more experienced applicants, and 1-year programs aimed towards applicants of the traditional MBA age.

for more experienced applicants:

MIT Sloan Fellows Program

working experience: 10-years is required to apply

class size: about 100

Stanford Sloan Master's Program

(technically an MS in Management rather than an MBA)

working experience: 8 years is required to apply, and the average is 12 years

class size: about 80

USC IBEAR

working experience: the average is 10 years

class size: about 55-60

for MBA-aged applicants:

One thing that is stressed with most of these 1-year programs below is that you need to have clearly defined academic and/or professional goals. 

1-year students also sometimes miss out on key 2-year student experience, such as the summer internship. For instance, at Kellogg, 1-year students spend their summer on campus. 

In addition, Goizueta notes here than the ideal candidate for the 1-year MBA has earned an undergraduate degree in business or economics or has strong quantitative background in majors such as engineering or mathematics.

Cornell Johnson Accelerated (1-year) MBA

working experience: 4 years (median)

class size: 45 (here is a link to the class profile)

Northwestern Kellogg One-Year (1Y) Program

working experience: the current class ranges in age from 23 to 35

class size: 80-90 (they expect to double or triple this number, read more at a Poets&Quants article here)

Emory Goizueta 1-Year MBA Program

working experience: an average of 5+ years (compared to an average of 5 years for the 2-year program)

class size: 39

Babson One-Year MBA Program

working experience: average of 5 years (the same for the 2-year MBA)

class size: 78

11-Month Accelerated Full-Time Thunderbird MBA

working experience: "To be eligible for the Full-time MBA accelerated program, you must have an undergraduate major or minor in business, have completed courses in accounting, data analysis/statistics, finance and management, or have at least five years work experience including a year or more managing a budget and staff." (refer here).  "Either a degree in business or more than five years of work experience, one in management, is required for entry into the Accelerated program. Consideration on the quant portion of the GRE Revised Test (taken after August 1, 2011) or GMAT will also be weighed heavily in making selections for this program." (refer here)

class size: not given (the MBA GM program overall has 548 students, as per this source)

More reading:

The Top MBA Programs if You're in a Hurry (WSJ.com)

U.S. Schools Increase One-Year Programs (ClearAdmit.com)

Have you Ever Considered an Accelerated MBA Program? (ClearAdmit.com)

If any readers would like to suggest other programs, put them in the comments!

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com