• A completed online application form
• Three personal essays responding to application questions
• Standardized Test Scores (GMAT, GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE)
• Two letters of reference, preferably from a professional colleague or supervisor
• All official transcripts, validating completion of a four-year degree or equivalent
• A current, sequential resume of educational and professional accomplishments

A bachelor’s degree from an approved (accredited) institution. International applicants must have a degree comparable to an approved U.S. bachelor’s degree. Certified copies of transcripts from the insitution where the degree was conferred, as well as copies of transcripts from all undergraduate institutions attended, are required.

A minimum of two years of post-undergraduate professional work experience is required. Only exceptional candidates with limited professional work experience may be considered.

A Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score taken within five years of the term for which you are applying. Please direct the testing service to forward your test results to the University of Wisconsin-Madison (institution code: 79K-2S-72).

The Graduate Record Examination may be accepted on a case by case basis. Please reach out the Wisconsin MBA Admissions Team at mba@bus.wisc.edu to determine your eligibility.

Formal admissions interviews are required for all candidates. Candidates who wish to schedule an interview can do so during our open interview time in the fall or by using our Personalized On Campus Visit Request. Candidates can interview both before or after their application has been submitted. Candidates not interviewing before submitting their application, however, will be interviewed by invitation only. Candidates invited to interview may be invited to visit campus or participate by phone.

Select recommenders that are qualified to evaluate your potential as a business leader or for management. Your recommenders should have a strong understanding of your abilities along with solid examples of your accomplishments. These individuals may include current or past supervisors or managers, clients or vendors, or individuals from volunteer or community organizations in which you are involved. The online application will allow you to identify each of your recommeders and email them a link to the recommendation form. Recommendation letters can also be written free form and submitted via the application link or be emailed to mba@bus.wisc.edu.

A one-page resume outlining your academic/personal/professional achievements and business experience. To assist you with your resume preparation, the Wisconsin MBA Career Services Office has provided materials on resume format and guidelines. You may find these resources helpful as you prepare your resume. Please note that we do not require you submit your resume in this format.

• Resume Template
• Wisconsin MBA Resume Guide

One question is applicable for all MBA candidates, while the other two questions are based on the career specizalization you select. The essays can be found once you create an online application. Please combine your essays into one document, label each question clearly and include your name at the top of each page before uploading them to your application.

General Essay Question:

The Wisconsin MBA considers academic integrity to be the foundation of any well-functioning academic community.  Thus, it is imperative that we maintain high and exacting academic integrity standards if we are to succeed in building a community of business leaders of tomorrow.  As the conduct of business is based first and foremost on trust, so our success depends on our ability to trust each other.

Please respond to the statement above.  Do you agree/disagree?  How does this statement reflect in the larger business context?  More specifically, how does this statement reflect in both your short and long-term career goals?

Career Specialization Essays:

Based on the career specialization within the Wisconsin MBA to which you are applying please address the following:

Applied Security Analysis

Why specifically do you believe you are a good fit for a career in money management?

Please describe your history of interest or participation in the area of investments.

Arts Administration

How will the MBA in Arts Administration advance your career goals in arts and cultural management? What specific skills or abilities do you hope to gain and what do you think you will bring to the program?

Identify and describe a key issue facing the marketing, management, development, creation, or support of arts and culture today. Explain why you think this is a critical issue to arts administrators, and provide your recommendations as to how this issue might be addressed. Include specific examples from your own experience if applicable.

Brand and Product Management

What personal qualities and past experiences have most directly influenced your decision to seek a career in brand management?  What are your short- term career goals?  What are your long-term career goals? What would you consider one of your “dream” product management positions to be?  

Give an example of a product that is marketed particularly well.  Why?  What is an example of a product that is not marketed well?  Why and what would you do to improve it?

Corporate Finance & Investment Banking

Explain why you are interested in pursuing your MBA at this point in your life.  Specifically, how will this degree impact your future career and describe your professional short term career goals.

Please describe why you should be admitted to the Corporate Finance & Investment Banking (CFIB) program, and why you believe CFIB is a good fit for you

Marketing Research

Please describe any research you conducted on graduate programs and career choices. Why did this lead you to choose the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research? What specific types of industries and marketing research responsibilities are you most interested in pursuing after graduation?

What do you think it takes to be successful in marketing research? Why? How does your past experience demonstrate your ability to be successful as a marketing research professional?

Operations and Technology Management

Briefly describe three critical operations or technology management-related issues facing global businesses today (you may narrow this down to an industry with which you are familiar). Also describe why you think they are critical and what you as a manager could do to address them.

Why are you, and what made you, interested in operations and/or technology management?

Real Estate

Why are you interested in Real Estate as your area of concentration? What specific aspects of real estate most interest you, and why?

What specific qualities and skills do you bring to the study and practice of real estate? Given your short and long run goals (Question #1), in which qualities and skills do you think you need strengthening? How do you see your development in the next two years? Please be as specific and concrete as possible

Risk Management and Insurance

Who are the individuals and/or what are the events in your life that have led to your specific interest in pursuing a degree in risk management and insurance? Please explain.

In what area of risk management and insurance are you most interested? Provide a discussion of the current key issues associated with this field and the skills you bring to efforts in addressing those issues. Be as specific as possible.

Strategic Human Resources

In what way, or in what area of Strategic HRM, do you hope to make your biggest mark and why? In answering this question, also elaborate on your earlier discussion of your short- and long-term career goals. What type of organization would you like to work for after completing your MBA? Ideally, what roles and responsibilities would you take on? Now, jump ahead 15 to 20 years, and consider the same questions. What would you like to be doing and in what kind of organization?

Thinking of the plans you have described, what are your reasons for choosing to do an MBA in SHRM at the University of Wisconsin? What is it about our program that will help you achieve your goals? Given what you would like to do, what are the advantages and disadvantages of our program relative to other programs?

Supply Chain Management

List three critical supply chain management challenges facing business today and select one to discuss in depth.  Explain why the issue is important, including suggestions for how to address this challenge and examples from your own experience if applicable.

Successfully managing a business’ supply chain requires continuous innovation and leadership.  What personal qualities and experiences will make you an effective leader in this field?  What skills and experiences do you hope to gain and/or improve from the Grainger Center and MBA program?

Optional Essay

You may include an additional essay, the topic of which is your choice. The Optional Essay is typically used to cover any issues you may want to address to the admissions committee that are not already covered in your application. Examples include a low undergraduate GPA, gaps in education or employment history or explanations of your choice in recommenders. The Optional essay is not required.

TOEFL

A Test of English as a Foreign Language is required for applicants whose native language is not English or whose undergraduate instruction was not in English. Applicants who completed their undergraduate degree where the primary mode of instruction was English do not need to complete this requirement and may request a waiver on the application.

Please direct the Educational Testing Service to forward your test results, taken within two years of your intended start term, to the University of Wisconsin-Madison (institution code: 1846).

Equivalent Degree

Students are required to have the equivalent of a four-year U.S. bachelor's degree. Requirements may vary between universities within a country, however most 3 year bachelor's degrees are accepted.

There are no School of Business prerequisite courses for students in the MBA program. If you would like to take a course prior to starting your MBA program, we suggest that you consider taking a statistics and/or an economics course. Both courses have proven to be beneficial to incoming students in helping them gain the necessary knowledge to begin the program.

The application fee is $56 for the full-time program. Payment by credit or debit card is available through the online application system. Admissions decisions will not be communicated to the applicant until the application fee has been received.