Carlson School of Management – University of Minnesota

FAQ

What is the tuition for Carlson's MBA program?

The tuition for Carlson's MBA program per year is $40,176 for Minnesota residents, $51,456 for non-residents and international students.

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

The average 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 average 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 $116,995.

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, 2022. The Round 2 deadline is December 1, 2022. The Round 3 deadline is February 1, 2023. The Round 4 deadline is April 1, 2023. All International Applications must be complete by April 7th at the latest. June 1, 2023, is the Round 5 deadline for domestic applicants only. Deadlines that occur on a weekend or holiday are extended through the next business day.

VIDEOS

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; there is an additional deadline for U.S. applicants only on June 1 (though the school will accept applications after the final deadline on a space-available basis). 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.

Interview Reports

Minnesota Carlson Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Adcom / Zoom

The Carlson interview was very short, and it looked the Adcom member was just trying to run through the list of questions he had written down. It was a blind interview, the Adcom member only had my resume and not the rest of the application. 1. Walk me through your resume. 2. Why Carlson? 3. […]

Minnesota Carlson Interview Questions & Report: Round 3 / Adcom / Zoom

As expected, Carlson Interview was relaxed and conversational. The admissions team member had my resume on the side to refer to. She was very kind and humble and asked me few Basic questions such as – walk me through your resume? Why MBA, why now? There were few behavioral questions like tell me a time […]

Minnesota-carlson Q&As

Admissions Director Q&A: Betsy Ryan of the Minnesota Carlson School of Management

We continue with our Admissions Director Q&A series with Betsy Ryan, MS, the Senior Associate Director of Admissions for MBA & MS Programs at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. She holds a Master’s in Community Counseling from Mount Mary University (WI) and has over 10+ years of experience working with adult, graduate, […]

Admissions Director Q&A: Carlson School of Management’s Linh Gilles

Last month as part of our Real Humans of MBA Admissions Series, we introduced the Clear Admit audience to Linh Gilles, director of admissions and recruiting at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Today, we’re pleased to shed even more light on the admissions process she oversees with a more in-depth interview as […]

Real Humans of MBA Admissions: Carlson School of Management’s Linh Gilles

Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of getting to know Linh Gilles, director of admissions and recruiting at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. She’s been in admissions at Carlson for the past decade and in the director’s role since 2012, but she also knows the school from the student’s perspective. That’s […]

Minnesota / Carlson LiveWire and DecisionWire

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, 95% of the Class of 2021 had received job offers with a mean salary of $112,235, and a mean signing bonus of $25,763. 

Carlson graduates of the Class of 2021 found employment in a variety of industries. Healthcare was the most popular industry of choice, taking in 30% of grads. Consumer packaged goods followed at 23%. Thirteen percent joined the tech industry and nine percent went into manufacturing. Consulting saw eight percent of Carlson graduates and financial services saw six percent.

With regard to region, a vast majority of the Class of 2021 stayed in the school’s area. Seventy-four percent of graduates settled in the Midwest. Thirteen percent settled in the West and six percent in the Northeast. Two percent each headed to the three other regions of the U.S.—South, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic.

Financing

Carlson’s 2020-2021 tuition is $40,176 for in-state residents, which includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Manitoba, and Wisconsin residents, and $51,456 for out-of-state and international students. There is an additional annual international student fee of $378. 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 $47,829 for in-state; $59,110 for out-of-state; and $59,488 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): $40,176

Out-of-state/international tuition and fees: $51,456

International student fee: $378

Other Expenses:

Estimated Room and Board: $14,000/year

Books: $3,000/year

Student Services Fee: $908.88/year

Collegiate & Technology Fee: $1,160

Health Insurance: $2,340/year

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

Other fees (Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, stadium, transportation, & Capital Enhancement fees): $245.12

Global Experience (excluded from tuition): cost varies

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