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Carlson School of Management – University of Minnesota

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Class Size 89
Female 32%
Median GMAT 690
Median GPA 3.45

The University of Minnesota’s Curtis L. Carlson School of Management is located in central Minneapolis, along the Mississippi River on the state’s east side. It was founded in 1919, and the following year, the university became the 18th school accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Carlson offers a two-year, full-time MBA program as well as dual degree, part-time, executive, STEM-designated and online MBA options. The school’s hallmarks include its experiential learning curriculum, global business education and enterprises, and strong extracurricular professional and social networks.

FAQ

What is the tuition for Carlson's MBA program?

The tuition for Carlson's MBA program per year is $43,680 for local residents, which includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Manitoba, and Wisconsin residents, and $55,920 for out-of-state and international students.

What is the average GMAT score for admission to Carlson's MBA program?

The median GMAT score for the incoming class at Carlson is 690. The GMAT middle 80% range is 620 to 740.

Does the Carlson MBA program accept the GRE?

Yes. The Carlson MBA program has accepted the GRE for a few years now.

What is the average GRE score for admission to Carlson's MBA program?

The median GRE score for the incoming class at Carlson is 321. The GRE middle 80% range is 307 to 330.

What is the minimum number of years of work experience required for admission to Carlson's MBA program?

Carlson does not state a minimum requirement for years of work experience. However, it is important for candidates to be aware that they are being considered against other candidates with an average of 4.74 years of experience.

What is the average number of years of work experience for admission to Carlson's MBA program? (or, What is the average age of a Haas MBA student?)

The average number of years of work experience among students in Carlson's MBA program is 4.74. On average, Carlson students are 28.7 years old.

What is the average starting salary for graduates of the Carlson MBA program?

The average starting salary for Carlson MBA graduates is $121,882, with a mean signing bonus of $27,920.

How long is Carlson's full-time MBA program?

Carlson offers a traditional 2 year MBA program.

What are the application deadlines for Carlson's MBA program?

The Round 1 MBA application deadline is October 1, 2023. The Round 2 deadline is December 1, 2023. The Round 3 deadline is February 1, 2024. The Round 4 deadline is April 1, 2024. All International Applications must be complete by February 1st at the latest. Deadlines that occur on a weekend or holiday are extended through the next business day.

Videos

Picturing Business As A Force For Good

The Carlson School of Management commissioned MBA student Laura M. Johnson to explore the idea of “Business as a Force for Good” and depict her findings on canvas. Follow Laura’s journey as she talks with fellow students, faculty, and professional colleagues to create a mural that visualizes how we are connected with one another and our communities. For more information on Laura's and the mural, including a blog and additional videos, visit http://interact.csom.umn.edu/communitymural/ For more information on the Carlson School, visit http://www.carlsonschool.umn.edu. Follow us on social media! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarlsonSchoolUMN/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarlsonNews LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/carlsonschoolumn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlsonschoolumn/

Carlson MBA Alum Describes Her Experience Valuating Medical Technologies - Carlson MBA

Archana Balasubramanyam, ’11 MBA, assumed her role at Medtronic well-prepared her to speak the language of medical devices. As part of her MBA experience, she partnered with students from colleges across the University of Minnesota to perform market analyses for a variety of real-world medical technologies. Read her story at http://carlsonschool.umn.edu/degrees/master-business-administration/full-time-mba/where-management-and-the-medical-industry-meet.

Admissions

Class Profile

The average class size at the Carlson School of Management is 89. Thirty-two percent are women and 19% are international. Sixteen percent identify as students of color. Nineteen percent had a military background. 

During their undergraduate years, Carlson MBA students earned a median GPA of 3.45. Business was the most popular major, as 22% studied it. Engineering was a close second, with 20% of the class studying it. Social science followed at 18% and science or maths at 17%. Nine percent each studied economics or the humanities. When it came time to take the GMAT or GRE, Carlson MBAs scored a median of 690 and 321, respectively. Altogether, they averaged 4.74 years of work experience before matriculating.

Application Procedures

Applicants are invited to apply in one of five admissions rounds, on the first days of October, December, February and April. Candidates must complete Carlson’s online application, which requires submitting a résumé, two personal references, a personal statement, unofficial college and graduate transcripts, and a video essay. Applicants also must report their GMAT or GRE test results, and, when applicable, TOEFL, PTE, or IELTS scores. Interviews are required for admission, upon invitation from the Admissions Office. A $75 application fee is required, though the fee is waived for active-duty military and recent veterans.

Essay Topic Analysis

Need help with your essays? Get our experts' advice.

Interview Reports

Minnesota-carlson Q&As

Minnesota / Carlson LiveWire and DecisionWire

MBA LiveWire

March 9, 2024 2:44am ET
Rejected at Minnesota / Carlson
Round: Round 3
Received via portal on March 07, 2024
GPA: 3.6
GRE: 310
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Post MBA Career Name: Consulting
February 12, 2024 1:01pm ET
Interview Invite to Minnesota / Carlson
Round: Round 3
Received via portal February 12, 2024
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Post MBA Career Name: Finance
Application Location: Ghana
January 18, 2024 6:41pm ET
Accepted to Minnesota / Carlson
Round: Early Decision
Received via portal
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Post MBA Career Name: General Management
Application Location: Chicago
December 14, 2023 1:25pm ET
Accepted to Minnesota / Carlson
Round: Round 1
Received via email on November 15, 2023
GPA: 3.55
GRE: 317
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Post MBA Career Name: Marketing
Application Location: Texas
Note:

U.S. Vet. A lot of great military support here!

December 7, 2023 1:19pm ET
Accepted to Minnesota / Carlson
Round: Round 1
Received via email
GPA: 3.66
GMAT: 760
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Post MBA Career Name: Other
Application Location: Minnesota
November 27, 2023 3:22pm ET
Accepted to Minnesota / Carlson
Round: Round 1
Received via portal on November 15, 2023
GPA: 3.8
GRE: 326
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Application Location: Chicago
November 17, 2023 2:33pm ET
Accepted to Minnesota / Carlson
Round: Round 1
Received via portal on November 15, 2023
GPA: 3.8
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Post MBA Career Name: Healthcare
October 3, 2023 3:04pm ET
Interview Invite to Minnesota / Carlson
Round: Round 1
Received via email October 3, 2023
GPA: 3.8
GRE: 326
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

MBA DecisionWire

Oth
March 18, 2024 6:04pm ET
Enrolled: Other
Admitted: Other $
$60416
Applied: Other
Entering Year: 2024
Post MBA Career: Consulting, Technology Companies: Bain, BCG, Ernst & Young, McKinsey, Apple, Google, Microsoft
GRE: 307
GPA: 3.25
Location: Nigeria
Notes:

Getting a fully funded scholarship from the Haslam college of business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville greatly influenced my decision to pursue my MBA there.

Chi
March 18, 2024 5:29pm ET
Enrolled: U. Chicago Booth
Admitted: U. Chicago Booth $
$100,000
,
Northwestern / Kellogg $
$100,000
,
UPenn / Wharton
Applied: U. Chicago Booth, Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, UPenn / Wharton
Entering Year: 2024
Post MBA Career: Consulting
GMAT: 760
GPA: 3.8
Location: New York
Notes:

Main deciding factors were 1) flexible curriculum and academics; 2) preference for being in a city; 3) class size. Sponsored so scholarship was not a major deciding factor.

?
March 18, 2024 5:17pm ET
Enrolled: Undecided
Admitted: Dartmouth / Tuck $
$40000
,
Georgetown / McDonough
Applied: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Georgetown / McDonough, NYU Stern
Entering Year: 2024
Post MBA Career: Pharmaceutical Companies: Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche
GRE: 322
GPA: 3.2
Location: LatAM
Notes:

90% decided on Tuck but not completely sure about the location (I live in a big city) and the MBA reputation in Pharma.

MIT
March 18, 2024 5:12pm ET
Enrolled: MIT Sloan
Admitted: MIT Sloan
Applied: MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, UPenn / Wharton
Entering Year: 2024
Post MBA Career: Technology Companies: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft
GPA: 3.63

Academics

Faculty

Carlson School of Management employs over 150 full-time faculty members, 112 of whom are tenured track. These faculty members serve across seven departments: supply chain & operations, strategic management & entrepreneurship, accounting, finance, marketing, information & decisions sciences, and work and organizations. Carlson’s full-time MBA faculty is comprised of renowned scholars as well as seasoned business leaders who serve as educators, corporate advisers, and researchers who apply their knowledge in real-world business solutions.

Curriculum

The Carlson School full-time MBA program concentrates its academic experience on global and experiential learning. The program requires 64 credits across two academic years. Students’ education begins before the first fall semester with online “pre-launch” webinars, survey, career assessment, and accounting pre-work. Subsequently, orientation in late August prepares students to dive into the fall semester’s 20 credits of core classes, which include Strategic Management, Data Analysis, Financial Accounting, Operations Management, Financial Management, Marketing Management, and Economics. Five more core credits are completed over the spring semester, including digital age competition and leadership classes. Students also begin taking electives and credits towards the Enterprise Program in the spring semester. The Carlson School Enterprise Programs enables MBA students to collaborate with Fortune 500 business managers to identify and resolve challenges. In essence, the program lets students operate as a professional consultancy firm serving multiple clients—all while applying their classroom knowledge and high-level strategy.

Electives and Enterprise credits continue into Year Two. Students also complete more courses on leadership and ethics. Full-time MBA students must complete Global Enrichment, whether through a two-week experience, a semester abroad or experiential domestic course. Traveling in cohorts, Carlson students can spend two weeks abroad in January with faculty, learning about the global marketplace and different business practices, philosophies, and cultures. The additional global enrichment programs are based as electives at Carlson, but also allow students to visit local and multi-national firms around the world.

Other MBA Degree Options

Beyond the standard full-time MBA, Carlson offers a full-time dual-degree option that pairs an MBA with fields such as applied economics, healthcare administration, or public policy. The school offers a standard part-time MBA and an online MBA as well as executive MBA programs in Minneapolis, Vienna, and southern China. Their new Management Science MBA requires two business analytics courses and at least 12 elective credits to be completed from a pool of STEM-designated courses across disciplines.

Specializations

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Finance
  • Food & Agribusiness
  • Information Systems
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Medical Industry
  • Supply Chain

Degree Offerings

Full-Time MBA
https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/degrees/master-business-administration/full-time-mba

Dual Degrees
Human Resources and Industrial Relations/MBA, Juris Doctor/MBA, Master of Healthcare Administration/MBA, Master of Science in Business Analytics/MBA, Master of Public Policy/MBA, Medical Doctor/MBA, Doctor of Pharmacy/MBA, Applied Economics/MBA
https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/degrees/master-business-administration/dual-degrees

Part-Time MBA
https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/degrees/master-business-administration/part-time-mba

Online MBA
https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/degrees/master-business-administration/online-mba

Executive MBA
Minneapolis
https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/degrees/master-business-administration/executive-mba-minneapolis

China
https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/degrees/master-business-administration/executive-mba-china

Vienna
https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/degrees/master-business-administration/executive-mba-vienna

Campus Life

Clubs, Conferences and Competitions

Carlson students have diverse opportunities to get involved with their school community. There are more than 20 clubs and organizations that invite students to expand themselves socially, professionally, culturally, and athletically. Some of the business-related extracurricular groups explore specific industries including energy, medical, and finance—all of which serve to delve deeper into a niche understanding, employment opportunities, and networking.

Cultural and affinity groups further enrich Carlson students’ on- and off-campus experiences. Groups like the Carlson 4 Community, Graduate Women in Business, Military Veterans club, Compass LGBTQ group, and Sports Business Club serve as social outlets with educational opportunities.

Carlson also maintains relationships with partner organizations beyond the university, each one with national and global ties. One of them is the Forté Foundation, a consortium of corporations and business schools that help educate and connect talented women with business-leadership roles. They also partner with People of Color Careers, Genesys Works and other DEI organizations.

Campus Spaces

The Carlson School of Management is located by the Mississippi River in central Minneapolis. Its main five-story building is on the University of Minnesota’s West Bank Campus and houses more than 40 classrooms, 35 meeting rooms, a lecture hall, a large auditorium, and a dining center on the basement level. The nearby Hanson Hall is also home to additional business school offices. 

The university campus is situated between vibrant urban neighborhoods and is just a 10-minute drive from the city’s famous Walker Art Center and professional sports arenas. Carlson is in an ideal metropolitan area for MBA studies, with 18 Fortune-500 companies headquartered in the dynamic twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

MBA Careers

Career Services

The Carlson School’s Graduate Business Career Center (GBCC) offers a variety of resources for MBA students, from internship placements to postgraduate employment. On campus, the center hosts 20 to 30 workshops per year to help prepare students in their job searches, and it connects them with professional career coaches who help candidates craft their employment strategy and manage interviews and job offer negotiations. The GBCC also coordinates year-round events to connect hiring managers with MBA candidates, including company information sessions, on-campus recruiting fairs, the Career Exploration Conference, and the MBA Corporate Reception. 

Career Statistics

Within 90 days of graduation, 98% of the Class of 2022 had received job offers and 95% accepted one. The mean starting base salary was $121,882, with a mean signing bonus of $27,920. 59 of the 69 graduates of the Class of 2022 were seeking employment.

Carlson graduates of the Class of 2022 found employment in a variety of industries. Consulting was the most popular industry of choice, taking in 25% of grads. Healthcare followed at 23%. Tech and manufacturing each saw nine percent of the Carlson class. Seven percent each joined financial services or CPG.

With regard to region, a vast majority of the Class of 2022 stayed in the school’s area. Eighty-four percent of graduates settled in the Midwest. Seven percent settled in the West and three percent in the Southeast. 

Financing

Carlson’s 2023-2024 tuition is $43,680 for local residents, which includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Manitoba, and Wisconsin residents, and $55,920 for out-of-state and international students. There is an additional annual international student fee of $572. With additional fees such as health insurance, student services fee, and books, however, the estimated annual cost of full-time MBA attendance for nine months is $52,788.60 for in-state; $65,028.60 for out-of-state; and $65,600.60 for international students. One year’s living expenses (excluding transportation) in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul is approximately $14,000. Carlson also recommends an “international experience” that would amount to additional costs. The school requires a nonrefundable $1,500 tuition deposit to confirm MBA-program enrollment, and it is paid in two installments. Additionally, international students are required to prove their ability to pay for their tuition and personal expenses prior to enrollment. 

Full-time MBA applicants are automatically considered for scholarships for which they are eligible, and the school awards several merit-based fellowships. Applicants also should consider external scholarships based on their demographic categories and personal experience, such as military specialization. All MBA students are able to apply for financial aid, including federal loans and work study. International students may seek loans through various programs, though the University of Minnesota does not offer co-signed, non-U.S. loans.

Cost of Attendance (one year)

In-state tuition and fees (includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Manitoba, and Wisconsin residents): $43,680

Out-of-state/international tuition and fees: $55,920

International student fee: $572

Other Expenses:

Estimated Room and Board: $14,000/year

Books: $3,000/year

Student Services Fee: $1,015.78/year

Collegiate & Technology Fee: $1,160

Health Insurance: $3,590/year

MBA Association dues, one-time fee (optional) $450

Personal: $2,000

Global Experience (excluded from tuition): cost varies

Contact

Mailing Address:
Carlson School of Management
321 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Phone: 612-625-0027 or 877-625-6468
Fax: 612-626-9129 (West-Bank Campus)
Email: [email protected] (general: [email protected])
Website: carlsonschool.umn.edu
Twitter Handle: @CarlsonNews