Dual-Degree Programs: Emory’s Goizueta Business School
If an MBA provides a fast track to a highly paid and powerful position in the business world, just think of the boost a specialized degree paired with an MBA could be toward the career of your dreams!
Dual-degree programs are ideal for the business school‒bound who know exactly where they’re headed and how they want to navigate (or dominate) their chosen field. Emory’s Goizueta School of Business in Atlanta has more dual-degree offerings than Georgia has peaches.
Low-hanging puns aside, prospective students must apply to Goizueta’s two-year MBA and law, medical or theology schools separately. Here’s how it works: Goizueta evaluates students based on GPA, work experience, essays, recommendations, interviews, and GMAT/GRE scores. Start booking those GRE tutors ASAP because to even be considered, Goizueta applicants are “expected to exceed the 50th percentile on the quantitative portion.” The school says most of its admitted students score in the 75th to 80th percentile.
If you make it into both programs, major kudos are in order and you’re invited to enroll as a dual-degree candidate. Admitted students who submit portfolios by the Round 3 deadline are “automatically reviewed for merit-based, school-funded scholarships, ranging from 20 percent to full tuition.”
Let’s take a closer look at Goizueta’s dual-degree programs:
Many JD/MBA graduates go on to entrepreneurial careers in law, investment management and banking, general management rotation programs, and consulting.
JD/MBA students can choose to arrange their dual-degree curricula in one of two ways:
1) The first option is a four-year track in which students spend their first year in law school, their second in business school, and their third and fourth years taking electives in both, with three summer internship opportunities in between.
2) The second option is a 3.5-year track that sees students kick off Goizueta’s one-year MBA following year one or two of law school. Students complete “three sequential semesters before returning to the law school,” as well as two summer internships (instead of three in the four-year track).
For a high-performing JD/MBA student, the law school awards the Alan E. and Myrna Rothfeder Scholarship “based on academic achievement, character and leadership ability.“
Dual-degree students will be interested in the JD/MBA Society, a club “focused on personal and professional development opportunities and social interaction with both schools.”
The MBA/JM is a five-semester program split between three semesters of business and two semesters of law. Students are welcome to start their dual-degree path in “either school and enter Goizueta’s one-year or two-year MBA programs,” according to the school’s website.
Many MBA/JM graduates go on to illustrious careers in business law, environmental law, healthcare, intellectual property, investment banking, labor and employment, media & communications, mergers & acquisitions, and real estate.
Goizueta is particularly interested in MBA/JM applicants with three to seven years of full-time post-undergraduate work experience.
MBA/MPH – Public Health and Business
The MBA/MPH is a joint program between Goizueta and the Rollins School of Public Health’s Health Policy Management, Global Health, and/or Epidemiology departments.
Emory advises MBA/MPH students to begin their studies at Goizueta to shave a semester off their schedule. “These programs are typically five semesters in length but it may take longer for the School of Public Health departments that require a thesis,” reads the Goizueta website.
MD/MBA – Medicine and Business
The five-year MD/MBA is designed to “prepare physicians for leadership roles in healthcare” and “successfully integrating medicine and business” within healthcare policy, individual or group practices, and corporate or non-profit hospital management.
MD/MBA students spend four of their five years at Emory’s School of Medicine. The remaining MBA curriculum follows “the clinical block of the Medical School curriculum.” Students can choose between a fall start two-year MBA or a summer start one-year MBA. Students are required to complete three semesters in residency and 50 credit hours “including two global requirements and a directed study project involving a topic which bridges the two fields of study.”
MD/MBA students are encouraged to take advantage of the networking opportunities provided by the Goizueta Healthcare Management Association (GHMA).
MDiv/MBA – Theology and Business
The four-year MBA/MDiv is a joint venture between Goizueta and the Candler School of Theology.
Students can choose one of two routes, starting in either school:
- One year at Candler, one year at Goizueta, and two years taking electives in both. This option allows for three summer internships.
- Two years at Candler, followed by Goizueta’s one-year MBA program. This option allows for two summer internships.
Goizueta is particularly interested in MDiv/MBA applicants with full-time post-undergraduate work experience.
MTS/MBA – Theology and Business
The four-year MTS/MBA is a joint venture between Goizueta and the Candler School of Theology.
Students can choose one of two routes, starting in either school:
- One year at Candler, one year at Goizueta, and two years taking electives in both. This option allows for three summer internships.
- Two years at Candler, followed by Goizueta’s one-year MBA program. This option allows for two summer internships.
Many MTS/MBA graduates go onto careers in church administration, church development, estate planning, and investment management.
Goizueta is particularly interested in MDiv/MBA applicants with approximately five years of full-time post-undergraduate work experience.
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
