#58 Illinois MBA Program & Admissions Chat with Mark Lockwood – “Take Charge”
“This is a great place to learn from the smartest people in the world that have created incredible innovations in business and technology… and you’re doing it with a flexible curriculum that let’s you leverage world-class resources and large student organizations. I don’t recruit people that want an MBA. I recruit people who want to get to a better spot in life and the MBA is the path.”
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About Our Guest
Mark Lockwood is MBA Director of Recruiting, Admissions, and Alumni Affairs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business. Mark graduated from the Illinois MBA program in 2007.
What is relatively unique about the Illinois MBA? What are its key advantages?
- Small, globally-diverse class (~80 students) housed within one of the top research universities in the world
- Strong reputation for accounting and corporate finance. Also strong in consulting, HR, supply chain and operations, and leadership development programs.
- Sneaky good value – tuition is only $44,000 USD for Illinois residents and $66,000 USD for non-Illinois residents & int’l students, which is why this program was ranked #3 by Bloomberg in 2011 for US MBA Programs ROI
- Illinois Business Consulting is the world’s largest, fee-based, student-led consulting firm
- Potential to earn a joint degree by taking a large portion of your electives outside the business school, and a flexible curriculum at a University with over 100 Masters programs offered at the University of Illinois
Potentially a Good Fit if:
- You want to customize your business education to your own personal and professional interests. Illinois has over 100 graduate programs, some of which are ranked #1 in the US. You can get a joint MBA/Masters degree or you can take half of your electives outside the b-school
- You’re self-directed and can take advantage of the resources of a large research university (and not get lost)
- You’re looking for great value from a US MBA – you’ll find few 2-year Full-time programs priced more affordably and ranked as highly
- You want a large alumni network – Illinois has the largest alumni network in the world
- You are targeting companies and jobs in Chicago or San Francisco which have the highest concentration of Illinois MBA alumni
- You want to live and study in a college town
Listen on for the insider’s scoop…
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Touch MBA’s Illinois MBA Fast Facts
Program Highlights (3:25)
- College of Business founded in 1914. University of Illinois has an undergraduate enrollment of over 32,000 and over 17 different schools and colleges.
- 1 intake / year in Aug
- Length: 21 months
- Campus in Urbana-Champaigne, a friendly midwestern community of 120,000, a few hours from Chicago
- 82 participants/intake
- ~25 nationalities/intake, class is ~43% international
- Structure: core courses offered first year, electives second year – students can take half of their electives outside the business school
- Focus on experiential learning: global consulting program, Illinois Business Consulting, Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Kola Foundation
- Concentrations in Finance, Marketing, Strategic Management, Healthcare Management, Human Resources, Corporate Social Responsibility, General Management, Operations Management, International Business
- Students ranked Finance and Accounting highest
- 8 student clubs
- Rankings: #44 Financial Times 2014, #35 US News 2015, #40 Bloomberg Businessweek 2012
- Ranked #3 for accounting by US News and #3 among US schools for ROI by Bloomberg Businessweek
- Accredited by AACSB
- Dual Degrees / Joint Programs: MD/MBA, JD/MBA, MBAs can earn a joint degreee with any Masters degree offered at the University of Illinois
- Illinois Business Consulting, the world’s largest student-run consulting firm
Admissions (19:35)
- 4 deadlines early Oct to late May; int’l students needing a visa need to apply by Jan 18, 2015
- 690 applications received, 177 accepted, 79 enrolled, 25.7% acceptance rate
- Avg GMAT: 661 (90% range 590 – 730), Avg GPA: 3.41 (90% range 2.89 – 3.86)
- GRE accepted
- Avg age: 27, Avg work experience: 4, 2 years min work experience strongly recommended
- Min TOEFL: NA, IELTS: NA
- Interviews done by Admissions Team, Career Services
- Looking for “leaders, for innovators, for men and women who bring ambition, passion, experience, and work ethic to the table”
Financing (33:26)
- Full-time MBA Tuition: $43,948 (Illinois residents) – $65,948 (Int’l students and non-residents)
- Recommended budget: $95,264 (Illinois residents) – $117,404 (Int’l students and non-residents)
- 75% of participants awarded merit scholarships
- Average scholarship amount was $10,000; scholarship amounts range from $2,500 to full tuition
- Scholarships are merit-based and awarded along with decisions
- Scholarships awarded for undergraduate performance, work experience, and standardized testing
- See scholarship & loan options here
Career (37:45)
- Illinois MBA – Full-time placement report (Class of 2013)
- 84.7% of graduates had jobs within 3 months of graduation
- Average Salary (Bonus): $87,000 ($12,280)
- Graduates in 2010 experienced 110% increase in salary after 3 years
- Top 5 functions: Marketing 22%, Finance/Accounting 21%, Management 20%, Consulting 19%, Operations 6%, HR 6%
- Top 5 industries: Consumer Products 19%, Manufacturing 17%, Financial Services 16%, Consulting 13%, Technology 11%
- Top employers include AT&T, IBM, Capital One, General Electric, Mastercard, Samsung
- MBA: 6200 alumni worldwide in 60+ countries. Illinois: has the world’s largest alumni network, with 100,000 alumni in Chicago alone
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