Each Autumn Quarter, the Michael G. Foster School of Business registers approximately 100 new Evening MBA students (see Class Profile.) Our objective in the admissions process is to select the men and women who have the highest potential for achievement in the management profession. To meet this goal, the MBA Program admits those individuals who have demonstrated the greatest capacity for high-quality academic work and who will contribute to the diversity of both the student body and the ranks of professional managers.

Although there is no specific set of undergraduate courses or majors required for admission, MBA applicants must have well-developed language and reasoning skills. During our evaluation process, which includes application review as well as Evaluation Day, we examine prospective students to determine their facility in reading, writing, and speaking English, and their mastery of the ability to reason analytically, logically, and creatively.

We evaluate each applicant in terms of:

• Demonstrated Leadership Potential. We assess each prospective student's level of responsibility by looking at his or her work experience, accomplishments in school and community activities, and extracurricular involvement during college or university. We also assess leadership potential by looking at assessments made in an applicant's recommendations.
  
• Past Academic Performance. We review each prospective student's undergraduate history, taking note of the difficulty of the curriculum, the scholastic quality of the school, and the existence of any social or economic disadvantage that may have affected past academic performance. We also consider the applicant's post-baccalaureate academic experience.
  
• General Intellectual Ability. We evaluate each individual's performance on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), which provides a reasonably valid and reliable measure of the applicant's general verbal and quantitative abilities. These attributes, which develop over a long period of time, are related to success in graduate management curricula.
  
• Ability to Communicate Clearly and Persuasively. The required essays demonstrate each applicant's level of writing competence as well as his or her ability to think issues through.

In selecting the entering class, we also strive to create an environment that fosters a rich and satisfying learning experience and is representative of society as a whole. We believe that a diverse student body are reflected in the age, racial or ethnic origin, cultural background, activities and accomplishments, career goals, living and work experiences, and fields of previous academic study of the individuals helps create such an environment.