Atlanta is many things to many folks—Coca Cola country, Black Hollywood and Turner HQ among others. The metro area is home to around 5.5 million people, boasting one of the busiest airport hubs in the world along with first-rate commercial, technological, educational and cultural resources. As one Redditor plainly puts it, “We rose from the ashes of Sherman’s march like a phoenix to become the cultural and business capital of the Southeast.”
Like many cities, ATL’s identity is changing to accommodate its burgeoning tech community populated by innovative startups like Mailchimp. In the thick of it all is the Atlanta metro’s startling collection of quality business schools, which offer diverse curricula to accommodate the needs of today and tomorrow’s professional.
And tomorrow’s professionals are increasingly fresh-faced folks straight out of undergrad, which makes it tricky to snag the prerequisite internships and work experience before hopping on the MBA bandwagon.
We took a gander at 4 Atlanta metro b-schools that cater to emerging professionals with little-to-no work experience.
Clark Atlanta University School of Business
CAU’s MBA program is “America’s major producer of black MBAs” and an ideal path for professionals seeking footholds in corporate marketing, finance, accounting, and, information systems. Applicants with no work experience will not be automatically disqualified. Rather they will be evaluated primarily based on “maturity, motivation and leadership performance during their undergraduate years.”
Georgia Institute of Technology’s Scheller College of Business
Scheller’s 22-month full-time MBA was designed to accommodate professionals who are looking to pivot to a more tech-focused career. Scheller offers “immersive cross-training at the intersection of business and technology” so graduates can learn how to “lead an emerging field like financial technology; help incubate a startup; or disrupt an entire industry by adapting emerging technologies to business operations.” There is no work experience required of applicants.
University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business
Terry’s full-time MBA is designed for students who seek to develop or update their business acumen in a range of concentrations that address an increasingly cutthroat job market, from entrepreneurship to business analytics to finance. The program doesn’t require applicants to possess work experience, although admissions “strongly prefers” two years of full-time work experience.
Georgia State’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business
The Global Partners MBA is a “14-month, four-continent” program that emphasizes Executive Leadership and Commercial Diplomacy. The MBA is designed to “prepare the next generation of leaders for careers in the global business arena.” The program rotates students “through extended residency stays in Atlanta, Rio, and Paris,” followed by “extended company visits within Beijing, Shanghai, Washington DC and Brussels.” Applicants need not arrive with work experience.
Mercer University’s Eugene W. Stetson School of Business & Economics
The accelerated 10-12 month full-time Stetson MBA requires no work experience, which makes it ideal for “recent college grads and adults seeking a change of career.” Students move collaboratively through the full-time MBA, which was designed as a cohort model. The program touts itself as a “gateway to the Atlanta business market” by “launching individuals into the field through faculty mentorship, challenging graduate-level study, networking, special events, and face-to-face opportunities with potential employers.”