On the Journey to Becoming a Top-Notch MBA

Which business school in Korea is the most difficult to be accepted to? According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Business ranked first in terms of admission competition ratio with 3.7:1 while the average competition ratio is 1.7:1 among the 13 business schools offering MBA programs in Korea. “It has been five years since the MBA was launched in Korea and this year will be a critical year in deciding which business school is the best. MBA applicants do not simply choose a school based on its name value or fame, instead they consider more practical values such as curriculum, professors, international programs, career services and alumni networks. We are not going to simply depend on Seoul National University’s reputation, but will strive to go above and beyond and to compete even with prestigious business schools overseas,” said Park Jin-soo, Director of Global MBA.

The SNU GSB has set several records and continues to be the pioneer in business education in Korea. The school was the first business school in Korea to be accredited by AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) in 2002, as well as being the only business school in Korea at which 100% of its graduates entered the job market upon graduation All of these prove SNU GSB’s quality and reflect the school’s confidence in being the best business school in Korea. In an attempt to provide the best MBA programs in Korea and to compete with prestigious business schools in the Western hemisphere, SNU GSB has brought in strictly selected professors from overseas business schools.

The SNU GSB MBA programs consist of three programs, Global MBA (GMBA), SNU MBA (SMBA) and Executive MBA (EMBA). GMBA, the flagship program of the SNU GSB, is designed to provide students with global business knowledge and leadership skills and aims to become one of the top MBA programs in the world. All of its classes are taught and conducted in English. GMBA is a one-year intensive program composed of four consecutive semesters without any break and is equivalent to a two-year program in the U.S., allowing students to obtain the same level of education in a shorter time and at a lower cost. All core courses are taught by SNU professors, while more than half of all electives are taught by prominent visiting professors from prestigious schools around the world.

The SMBA program is designed to provide students with practical business knowledge and professional skills while focusing on business practices that reflect the current business environment of Korea and its corporations. This one year-program is composed of four consecutive semesters and targets business professionals with a minimum of five years work experience. Lectures are given mainly in Korean with some classes offered in English. While students can choose from the General Management Track or Banking and Finance Track according to their needs, all students must conduct research analysis in the form of action-based learning. Core courses are taught by SNU faculty members while electives are taught by renowned business professionals and adjunct professors.

The EMBA program is designed to nurture future CEOs by enriching the business knowledge and improving the leadership skills of managers and executives of major corporations and institutions. It is a two-year program with classes conducted on Friday evenings and all day on Saturdays, thereby not interfering with students’ busy work schedules. The program is designed for those with minimum of five years of work experience and classes are conducted mostly in Korean. During the first year, students take the general, required courses and choose between the General Management Track and Technology Management Track in the second year. The greatest part of the program is perhaps its alumni and network system. Students get to network with other students who are leaders and key persons of various industries and corporations.

Students can also participate in dual-degree or exchange programs at prominent universities overseas. Those who want to go for dual-degree programs will spend one more year at the overseas universities and end up with a dual degree within two years. Partnering schools for dual-degree programs include the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in the U.S., the ESSEC Business School in Paris, France and the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, China. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business is consistently placed high in business school rankings such as Business Week, U.S. News and World Report and the Financial Times. SNU GSB runs exchange programs with Peking University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and also partners with New York University, Columbia University and Hitotsubashi University in Japan. The school is planning to partner with more schools in various parts of the world, including India, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, the U.A.E., Egypt, Columbia and Brazil.

“Our foremost priority is to nurture competent and competitive business leaders that global corporations want. So we emphasize and focus on global leadership which is not about being fluent in English or merely obtaining an MBA but is about being innovative in thinking and having a collaborative mind,” stressed Ahn Tae-sik, Dean of the SNU Business School. SNU GSB not only offers intensive MBA courses, but conducts joint projects with renowned companies such as Samsung Securities and Daewoo Securities and offers UCLA Case Competitions for future global leaders armed with business knowledge, skills, and creative thinking.

Some of the unique programs that SNU GSB offers include Team-Teaching Methods, Guest Speakers Series, Corporate Projects and language programs. Classes adopting the Team-Teaching Method are jointly taught by a SNU professor and an industry expert. This allows students to obtain academic knowledge as well as pragmatic business practices. The Guest Speaker Series allow students to obtain up-to-date knowledge and study current business issues in depth with industry experts’ help.

SNU GSB is currently accepting applications for its fifth year GMBA courses until April 30. No one can deny SNU is the most prestigious name in Korean education and SNU GSB is the business school to provide extensive knowledge and essential educational experience that students need in today’s competitive world of business.