Entering MBA students raise the bar at the UH Manoa Shidler College of Business

Incoming full-time MBA students average 632 on the GMAT

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Dolly Omiya, (808) 956-6902
Shidler College of Business
Posted: Aug 27, 2007

HONOLULU — The first, incoming full-time MBA class at the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is breaking school records for the highest average score on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT: 632 out of 800), highest Grade Point Average (GPA: 3.4 out of 4.0) and the highest average years of professional work experience (5 years).

"The scores of this year‘s full-time MBA students are comparable to those listed in the U.S. News Top Graduate Business programs," says V. Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business, referring to the 2008 U.S.News & World Report survey of America‘s Best Graduate Schools released this past April. "Over the past two years, we have worked extremely hard to attract the best students from all over the world. Among the GMAT and GPA averages listed in the U.S. News Top Graduate Business Schools for 2008, the Shidler College of Business new Full-Time MBA students would be placed near the midpoint out of the 66 programs ranked."

The top graduate business program ranked by U.S.News is Stanford, listed at 720 for GMAT and 3.61 for GPA. The University of Utah rounds out the list with average GMAT scores of 605 and 3.4 for GPA. Only full-time MBA programs are considered in the Top Graduate Business School ranking by U.S.
News
. The Shidler College of Business will be eligible in 2009.

The full-time Day MBA program consists of three MBA programs—Full-Time MBA, China International MBA, and Japan-Focused MBA (in partnership with JAIMS). The cohort style program drew students from a variety of backgrounds, both in geographical locations and career. Forty-four percent of the students are from Hawaiʻi, 30 percent from the continental U.S. and 26 percent are from foreign countries such as China, Germany, Nepal, India, Singapore, Japan, Bhutan, Thailand, Ecuador and Czech Republic.

Thirty-seven percent received degrees in business, 30 percent in humanities/social sciences, 7 percent each in computer/information system, 9 percent in economics, 17 percent each from science and engineering, making this entering class a truly international and diverse group.

Entering MBA student John Nordlander has worked as a project facilitator for a non-profit international development organization in China. He chose the China International MBA program as means to prepare for and pursue his dream of developing a for-profit, small-scale enterprise that will assist social efforts in China and Southeast Asia.

For James Knapp, he will use the Japan-Focused MBA program as a way to transition back into the business world while building upon his experiences in Japan. The once mechanical engineer turned English teacher in Japan, would like to work as a consultant and negotiator between U.S. and Japanese high-tech companies.

Ranked in the top 25 for international business by U.S.News & World Report, the Shidler MBA programs attract students interested in international business with an Asia-Pacific focus. Including the 46 students enrolled in the Full-Time MBA cohort, there are 455 graduate students enrolled at the Shidler College of Business. Other MBA programs include: Part-Time MBA, Executive MBA, U.S. International MBA, Executive Vietnam MBA, Joint JD/MBA, Joint MS in Nursing Administration/MBA, Neighbor Island MBA, Master of Accounting and Master of Human Resource Management.


About the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa

Established in 1949 as the College of Business Administration, the College was named in 2006 after alumnus Jay H. Shidler, founder and managing partner of The Shidler Group. The Shidler College of Business is renowned for its expertise in international management education and is consistently ranked
among the nation's top 25 graduate schools for international business by U.S.News & World Report. Long recognized for its Asia-Pacific focus, the College is a professional school, offering a wide variety of degree, certificate and executive programs. The College places a strong emphasis on the development of management skills, entrepreneurship and the management of business information technology. The UH Shidler College of Business is the only graduate program in the State of Hawai'i accredited by AACSB International. For more information, visit www.shidler.hawaii.edu.

For more information, visit: http://www.shidler.hawaii.edu