fuyu no miko here
i am a krusnik; i suck the blood of vampires
enter my lair at your own risk

The MBA students: another group of people that inhabit our dear college. They are often invisible. We have conjured images of them as very serious people in perpetual business suits. But little do we know that they are much like us undergraduates, in more ways than one.

The application process has two phases. The requirements are: referral letters, letters of recommendation, the applicant’s background, work experience in business-related field (1 year for those who want to enroll in the full-time program and three years for the part-time program), and an essay. Applicants (the average number is 500 for the past 5 years) have to take the GPAT (Graduate Program Admission Test). The qualifiers have the option if they want to be interviewed or not. The interview is about the applicant’s educational attainment, grades, and work experience. In the second phase, applicants have to pass three proficiency exams: one in quantitative methods (calculus, statistics, etc.), one in economics (basic macroeconomics and microeconomics) and another in financial accounting. Of the passers, the top 120 applicants are selected. One-thirds of those who enroll go into the full-time program and the others go into the part-time program.

Tuition fee is Php 2,500 per unit. Miscellaneous fees covering registration, medical, library, athletic, and cultural fees for part-time students is about Php 1,500 per semester and Php 1,950 for full-time.

The MBA has two programs of study: the full-time or day program which can be completed in five trimesters and the part-time or night program which can be completed in eight trimesters. Both have a minimum of forty-two academic units, translating to 14 core courses and 7 electives. Each trimester for the full time program has at most four courses or eight units (except in the third trimester where the student has to take an elective in addition to four core courses). In the part-time program the student has a maximum of three courses or six units per trimester. The full-time program can be completed in 5 trimesters (1 2/3 years). The part-time program can be completed in 8 trimesters (2 ½ years). Each student has to take seven electives, two of which can be taken in other colleges/units in UP Diliman (namely: Asian Center, College of Education, College of Engineering, School of Labor and Industrial Relations, National College of Public Administration and Governance, School of Economics, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Technology Management Center, School of Statistics, College of Mass Communication, and Institute of Public Health).

The academic calendar is divided into three trimesters. For the academic year 2006-2007, the first trimester is from May 29 to August 25, the second trimester is from September 11 to December 09 and the third is from January 08 to April 04. Classes for the full-time program are scheduled at daytime though most are in the afternoon. Classes in the part-time program are held from 6:30 to 7:50 p.m. and 8:00 to 9:20 p.m. For each course, sessions are conducted twice weekly, usually scheduled on Mondays-Thursdays and Tuesdays-Fridays.

Almost all of the courses are similar to those of the undergraduate programs, like Economic Analysis (BA 201), Management Science (BA 211), Marketing Management (BA 230), and Organizational Behavior (BA 251). But these are taught at a higher level, concentrating more on the course’s practical applications. The courses also emphasize data “mining” and handling especially quantitative and numerical data. “It’s about getting insight in numbers,” Prof. Benjamin Sandoval, MBA program director, says.

The curriculum has no specialty, but students can have an “unofficial” minor in Finance or Marketing. Students also have a retention GWA (general weighted average)of 2.00.

Courses are taught through lectures, case studies, and computer simulations. Seminars are also conducted with experienced managers, company presidents, and entrepreneurs lecturing about basic management skills, finance, marketing, law, and operations. Miko de la Paz, an MBA scholar says, “You learn not just from the teachers and books but from each other. You also have to learn independently.”

The students are quite young. The average age in the full-time program is 26, with 21 as the youngest and 44 as the oldest. Full-time students also have an average of three years work experience. In the part-time program, the average age is 28 years old, and students have an average of five years work experience. There about as many males as there as females. In the full time program 90% of the students are single, 70% in the part time program. 40% of the students have bachelor degrees in business and related fields, 26% have finished engineering and most of the others are from the science courses. 55% of the total students are from UP Diliman, 10% are from Ateneo, 6% are from La Salle, 6% are from other UP units and 3% are from UST. 17% of the total students graduated with honors.

Before they graduate, students have to take a comprehensive examination (scheduled once a year, around February). This examination is administered to test the student’s eligibility to hold an MBA degree. Ratings of “Pass” and “Fail” are given in this examination. A re-examination is allowed within one year after the first examination. Failure in the second examination disqualifies the student from continuing the program. He/She will be given a Certificate of Attendance (for the effort? =) ). The coverage of the examination includes Integration of Management Functions and Strategic Management.

The MBA are also BA people (but on another level and another world..hehe). They also have case studies, exams, seminars. They also interact with each other. However, we, and they, need to connect with the “other group” for us to be one big happy family