MBA stands for Master of Business Administration. MBA has various streams for specializations. Entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, corporate social responsibility are some of the fields of specializations. MBA provides attractive pay packets and placements are offered at college-level itself, it opens doors to various corporate opportunities. MBA turns to be a milestone in career so more and more students tend to go for MBA. As a result of increasing trend of MBA, a number of questions arise in the minds of students before applying for MBA.

Let us see some of these questions and their respective answers:

• Most schools offer full-time and part-time MBAs. Can I choose either one?

A full-time MBA program mostly has four semesters which takes two academic years with a three- or four-months break for an internship. The first year includes core courses required of all MBAs. So the first year is common for all specializations. The second year allows you to choose functional specialization (a specification to study and elective courses). A research shows that 80% of MBA candidates prefer the full-time MBA degree option to part-time or online offerings. Students mostly prefer full time MBA because school is considered as their first priority and it adds to academic expertise plus practical and applied knowledge. Students do not work during full time MBA. Sometimes one-year full-time programs are shortened by reducing the time in core classes, or limiting opportunities to specialize.

Part-time MBA programs are basically designed for working professionals. Most of the part-time MBA candidates work full-time during the day and attend classes in the evening. Part-time programs do NOT issue a student visa to foreign applicants. Students must hold legal residency in their designated countries

• Can I attend an MBA program without former study in business? Is it an advantage or disadvantage as an applicant?

MBA is a program which always emphasises on diversity. MBA has always allowed students from all former academic training as well as professional backgrounds to take admission in this program. Even candidates holding commerce degree or science degree or an engineering degree can take admission for MBA. So MBA welcomes candidates from all academic, social and cultural backgrounds. Even if your background is not from business studies it won’t affect your MBA academics. As MBA course content itself is made in such a way that it enhances your business studies in all possible aspects. Candidates having a background in business studies have no advantage as they may face fierce competition from students of different fields.

• Is there an age ceiling in MBA application? In other words, will I be too “OLD” to apply for an MBA?

Business schools maintain class portfolios which provide the age and background information of their students. Most of the MBA programs do not put an age ceiling regarding their applications. So even if the student is young or old usually imply inadequate or excessive career experience for MBA programs, and hence MBAs would be less valuable to such applicants.

• As a foreign student, am I at an advantage or disadvantage as an applicant?

Some unspoken agreement exists for some percentage of international students for some of MBA programs. But this does not have any ill affect on your admission to MBA program. So there is no disadvantage of being a foreign student.

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