Business Administration

The Business Administration Program in the Tepper School is intended for students interested in an undergraduate management education experience that is broad, and based upon quantitative studies and analytical reasoning, and the liberal arts as its foundation. Such a program is both intellectually strong and flexible enough to accommodate the interests of students with diverse goals, ranging from beginning a career to graduate study.

The curriculum is designed around: a central core of courses in the functional areas of business, economics, mathematics and computing course requirements. To this is added a requirement for in-depth study in one of the functional business areas such as finance, technology, marketing, entrepreneurship, or operations management. Finally, the curriculum requires all students to have a minor in order to obtain the additional breadth and flexibility that promotes confidence in one's knowledge and its benefits for a lifetime. We believe this curriculum structure is that which is needed by those who will be leaders in the increasingly global business and political environment in which organizations of the future will pursue their goals.

Our curriculum prepares students to begin their professional careers in all areas of management and they do so in some of the world's leading service, manufacturing, and governmental organizations. Many go on to graduate study in economics, finance, law, and policy studies at leading universities in the world.

In addition to the major in Business Administration, we offer the opportunity for a minor or second major to students in other programs of the university. If you are seriously interested in management education in an environment that offers the best undergraduate experience, please contact the program's academic advisors.

To receive the B.S. degree in Business Administration, students must complete at least 364 units, consisting of the requirements for the Business Foundation, Business Core, Concentration Area, Liberal Arts & Sciences Breadths, and a Minor.

Business Foundations

1 or 21-259 Calculus in Three Dimensions.

2 or 21-292 Operations Research I

Business Core

Concentration Areas

A program concentration area provides a focus of additional courses (both required and elective) that the student must complete in order to obtain in-depth knowledge of a particular functional area of management expertise. Students must complete at least one of the following areas.

• Accounting
• Business Analytics
• Business Technology
• Entrepreneurship
• Finance
• Graphic Media Management
• International Management
• Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness
• Marketing
• Operations Management

Accounting

Business Analytics

Business Technology

Entrepreneurship

Finance

Graphic Media Management

International Business

* These requirements may be met by comparable courses taken abroad, subject to approval by the Area Advisor.

EXPERIENCE ABROAD

The International Business Area requires at least one semester of study abroad, or a substantial internship abroad (e.g., one summer or one semester), or both. Study abroad programs should provide substantial immersion in the culture. Contact the Area Advisor for assistance.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT

Students must demonstrate conversational proficiency in a language other than English, to the satisfaction of the Area Advisor. (This may be, but is not necessarily, the same language used during the experience abroad.) Proficiency may be demonstrated in several ways, including:

• Long-term residence in a country that requires knowledge of the language (normally the case for international students).
• Language courses, normally including at least one intensive course that lasts several weeks. A few semesters of high school or college study do not necessarily satisfy the requirement.
• Successful completion of at least one semester of courses taught in the language in a country where it is spoken, or employment that requires conversational knowledge of the language.

Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness

Marketing

Operations Management

Business Electives

Complete three upper-level Business courses (70-3xx and above) that do not double-count with any other requirement. This may include 21-270 Introduction to Mathematical Finance and upper-level Economics courses (73-3xx and above) that do not double-count with any other requirement. A second concentration area may be completed in place of this electives requirement. Total number of units required to fulfill this set of Business electives is at least 27 units.

Liberal Arts & Sciences Breadth Requirements

Complete seven breadth requirements. Two are first-year requirements and five are from five distributional categories, taking one course in each category. Total number of units required to complete the whole set of breadth requirements is at least 63 units.

First-Year requirements

Distributional Requirements

• Common Application
• $75 application fee*
• Official high school transcript (please review our Academic Requirements)**
• Secondary School Counselor Evaluation
• Teacher Recommendation
• Common Application essay and personal statement
• All fine arts applicants to the Schools of Architecture, Art, Design, Drama and Music are required to arrange an audition or portfolio review.
• Home schooled applicants should submit an academic portfolio/transcript consistent with their state guidelines and a list of all textbooks used.
• Applicants must provide proof of meeting all requirements for an official high school diploma, by the end of May of the year of graduation, and submit an official final transcript, GED or certificate of completion from your local school district or state board of education by the end of July of the year of matriculation.
• The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is required if your native language is not English. Carnegie Mellon requires TOEFL scores of 102 or better on the internet-based TOEFL (as of Fall 2010) or an IELTS score of 7.5 and above. Carnegie Mellon carefully reviews the sub-scores of each of these exams and considers those candidates with reading, listening, speaking and writing sub-scores of 25 or more on TOEFL and 7.5 or more on IELTS to be candidates with high levels of English proficiency. Please arrange to have these scores sent no later than January 1st. Carnegie Mellon's TOEFL code is 2074.
• InitialView interviews are recommended for non-native English speakers but are not required. Often these interviews can measure readiness for engagement in the classroom and also showcase a student’s personality, likes and dislikes as well as the area of intended major. InitialView interviews can show English language proficiency while also corroborating the application with more details about the student.
• If your secondary school transcript or any other admission document is written in a language other than English, it should be accompanied by an official translation and verified by a counselor or school official to be true copies of the original.
• If you are preparing for the International Baccalaureate or the General Certificate of Education (GCE) A-level examinations, please send your expected exam results.