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4. Washington University in St. Louis
Olin Business School
Campus Box 1133
1 Brookings Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63130
Admissions: 314-935-EMBA
Email: emba@wustl.edu
Website: http://www.olin.wustl.edu/executiveeducation/ExecutiveMBA/Pages/default.aspx
Apply Online: http://www.olin.wustl.edu/executiveeducation/ExecutiveMBA/StLouis/Admissions/Pages/default.aspx
Washington University’s Olin School has four Executive MBA programs: at its home campus in St. Louis where it takes in two cohorts a year, Kansas City, Denver, and Shanghai, China. The Denver program opens in September of 2013.
In the first year of the Olin Executive MBA program, students are immersed in fundamental business functions and processes. They build on concepts introduced during the opening residency and explore the synergies and complexities of business disciplines. Critical-thinking, analytic, quantitative, negotiation, and problem-solving abilities are developed while case studies, skill-building exercises, and assignments encourage immediate application to the workplace.
During year-two, the curriculum incorporates an interdisciplinary, team-taught approach to four top management challenges: developing leadership in the organization, operating strategically in global and emerging markets, creating a culture of innovation and creativity, and growing profitably and sustainably.
“We give the fundamentals with a strong focus on leadership and an emphasis on trying to understand the needs of every student,” says Panos Kouvelis, senior associate dean and director of executive programs at the Olin School. “Students are continuously assessed for their leadership strengths and weaknesses and they get a lot of feedback. There is personalized coaching. And in the second half of the program, we have four integrated themes, each taught by three or four faculty from different perspectives: leadership, globalization, growth, and innovation.”
Through Olin’s domestic and international residencies, students increase their understanding of how business is conducted in different environments. The school’s required residencies include an orientation residency, leadership residency, and an international management residency in Shanghai that lasts two weeks. “The international trip is integrated into the program a month or two before graduation,” says Kouvelis. “It’s not just a nice vacation.”
Olin EMBA classes meet monthly for three-day sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The school annually enters two cohorts of 40 students each in St. Louis, a single cohort of some 25 students in Kansas City, and about 55 students in the Shanghai EMBA program. Olin is aiming for a debut class in Denver of about 25 students.
The school says that 35% of its EMBA students already have advanced degrees and 11% have the title of president, CEO or Chairman. The average base salary of an incoming EMBA student is $140,000. About a third of Olin’s students fully pay for their education, while another 30$% to 50% are fully sponsored by their corporations, says Kouvelis.
Application Deadline: March 1
Latest Up-to-Date Executive MBA Rankings:
2013 Poets&Quants: 4
2013 U.S. News & World Report: 9
2010 The Wall Street Journal: 2
Rankings Analysis: Washington University climbed to its highest level in Poets&Quants’ composite ranking of 2013. The reason: improved positions in both the U.S. News and Financial Times surveys. These latest gains follow better rankings from BusinessWeek in 2011.