College of Business {College of Business}

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Graduate Programs : MBA : Admissions : Admission Criteria

Qualifications and Requirements

Admission to the MBA program and MS in Accountancy is selective.

The admission committee reviews applicant overall qualifications and takes the following requirements into consideration:

  • Completion of a degree equivalent to a four-year U.S. Bachelors degree from a recognized university
  • Grade Point Average: Final GPA of Bachelor’s degree OR last 60 semester units or 90 quarter units of college coursework completed, must be at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). Or earned a Master’s degree with a 3.0 GPA. Incoming class average GPA is 3.3
  • GMAT test: The verbal, quantitative, writing, and integrated reasoning scores will be evaluated. Incoming class average GMAT score is 570. A writing score of 5.0 or higher on the GMAT is required for Classified Student admission. Minimum writing score of 4.5 may be accepted as Conditional Admission and student must take approved writing course.
  • Or GRE test: The admissions committee is now accepting the GRE test in place of the GMAT.
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Résumé (three years of full-time work experience is recommended)
  • Letters of recommendation from employment supervisors or University professors
  • Foreign language test is required of all applicants who have earned their undergraduate degree from a country where the official language is not English. Any of the following tests taken within the past two years are accepted: TOEFL exam minimum score of 96 IBT ( or 243 CBT or 590 PBT), or an IELTS score of at least 7.0, or Pearson Test of English (PTE) academic overall score of 65.

Recommendation for International Students

The Graduate Business office recommends that international students study at the American Language Institute (ALI), an intensive English program on the SF State main campus, prior to their MBA or MSA studies.

This is strongly recommended if students have not met the GMAT verbal or TOEFL requirements or to improve their English proficiency and academic skills in preparation for graduate study.

American Language Institute

At the ALI, students have the opportunity to improve lecture listening, note-taking, oral presentation, and academic reading and writing skills. In addition, they will become better oriented with the American educational system. For more information, see American Language Institute web site.

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