Rochester Simon Answers 5 Questions About Their MBA Program
In our latest installment of the MetroMBA “5 Questions” series, we speak with Rebekah S. Lewin, the Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Rochester Simon Business School. Lewin talks about the small, close-knit Simon MBA community, the optional STEM designation for all ten specializations, and the program’s highly approachable faculty members. She also introduces the Simon Admissions Blog as an excellent resource for prospective and current students. Read the full interview below to discover the four aspects of the Rochester Simon MBA program that every incoming student needs to know.
1. What should hopeful students know about the program that they may not necessarily know until they start?
Rebekah Lewin, Assistant Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at University of Rochester
“The Simon program is small by design. The relationships our students build during their time here are the cornerstone of the collaborative, supportive community that defines the Simon MBA. Our class size at Simon is only about 110 students, which allows us to create a unique culture that we have heard time and again has a significant impact on student satisfaction.
The best way to get a sense of life at Simon—and what it’s like to be a part of our inclusive community—is to visit our campus. We offer four Experience Simon Weekend events throughout the year. They’re a great opportunity to interact with current students, alumni, faculty, and staff. We’d love to see you in Rochester!”
2. What makes Rochester Simon stand out amidst other programs?
“Rochester Simon offers an option for STEM designation in any of our ten specializations: Asset Management, Banking, Brand Management, Corporate Finance, Operations, Consulting, Pricing, Product Management, Strategy, Technology, and Venture Capital & Private Equity. Or, you can follow our general management track to choose from a broad selection of courses. STEM designation signals quantitative rigor to employers, and for international students, a STEM-designated MBA offers the ability to extend OPT (Optional Practical Training) by 24 months, for a total of three years to work in the US without H1-B visa sponsorship.
Our inclusive atmosphere benefits all members of the Simon community. Throughout your MBA experience, you’ll study alongside a diverse group of peers with unique experiences and varied perspectives. Forty percent of the Class of 2020 are international students hailing from 17 countries, and 31 percent of our U.S. students are African American, Hispanic American, or Native American. We encourage you to embrace our vibrant community to the fullest–and we know Simon will embrace you.”
3. How accessible are Simon Business School professors? Do they frequently serve as mentors?
“Though highly sought after for their subject-matter expertise and often at the forefront of innovative research, our faculty remain approachable, accessible, and dedicated to their role as mentors. With small classes sizes and a close-knit academic community, you’ll benefit from individual attention that supports your personal and professional growth.”
International students in the Simon Business School MBA Class of 2020 hail from over 17 countries.
4. Are there any courses, clubs, specialty tracks, or events that MBA applicants should know about?
In the spirit of the University of Rochester’s motto Meliora—Latin for “ever better”—we are always in the process of improving and innovating elements of our MBA program as industry needs evolve. Here are a few recent examples:
- Our innovative curriculum is career-focused and allows you to take more elective courses and to take them earlier in your course of study, to better prepare you for your internship experience. You will also choose two breadth electives designed to bolster the professional skills employers desire.
- There are various opportunities to make an impact at Simon, like our Net Impact club, which inspires, educates, and equips individuals to use the power of business to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world. Simon’s chapter was one of two finalists for Net Impact Graduate Chapter of the Year in 2018. In addition, Simon VISION Consulting provides pro-bono consulting services to pro-profit and not-for-profit businesses throughout the Greater Rochester area.
- In order to expand your understanding of the global business marketplace, you need to see it up close. We offer international exchange programs in Finland, Germany, and Japan for the Spring A semester of the second year of the MBA program. In addition, we also offer shorter 10 to 12-day career treks and academic immersions to China, India, Israel, South Africa, and Switzerland.
- This year, Experience Simon Weekend with Diversity Conference Programming (Oct. 11-12) is the culmination of Simon’s Diversity and Inclusion Week. Our Experience Simon Weekend with Women’s Conference Programming (Nov. 8-9) grows more popular each year, a trend we expect will continue. We would love to host you here in Rochester for any of these events! Visit our website for more details.”
5. What’s your favorite online blog that you would recommend for students?
“We might be biased, but we think the Simon Admissions Blog is a great resource as you’re preparing for business school! It’s a great place to find everything from advice on navigating the admissions process from members of our Admissions Committee, to guest posts from students, Simon news updates, alumni videos, links to new Simon Bizcast podcast episodes, and more.”
Rochester Simon STEM-Designated MBA Paves New Path
As international applications at U.S. business schools drop, there’s more demand than ever for science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines in MBA curriculum.
Why? The new STEM designation program.
Created by the federal government to help with the shortage of qualified workers in the STEM fields, the program makes H1b visas far more attractive. If a student attends a STEM-designated education program and gains a STEM job after graduation, they gain an additional 24 months of optional practical training (OPT) time. This lengthens their stay in the U.S. from one to three years, which is very attractive to candidates and a solid reason for schools to consider the STEM designation. And many have.
Top B-Schools Get STEM-Designated
Dean Andrew Ainslie, University of Rochester Simon Business School.
Last year, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business added a full-time MBA certificate in management science and technology management that was STEM designated. Two years ago, the University of Wisconsin School of Business achieved STEM designation for two MBA specializations: supply chain management and operations and technology management. The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth also has a STEM designation for its Charlton MBA with a specialization in business analytics.
However, only one b-school has earned a STEM designation for its full-time MBA program no matter the specialization: the University of Rochester Simon Business School.
“We’re the most quantitative business school in the top 50, and that’s necessary to get this STEM certification,” says Dean Andrew Ainslie. “We’re in a unique position. We have an unusually high amount of math and technical curriculum. So, when we started looking at the percentage of our classes dedicated to STEM, it was obvious that we easily met the guidelines. A STEM-designated MBA just made sense for our students, and I don’t think anyone can follow us.”
How Simon Business School Achieved its STEM Designation
Moving to a STEM designation was reasonably easy for Simon Business School; it’s been built into the school’s DNA since the 1970s. Back then, the dean decided that the majority of the coursework should be focused on quantitative subjects—economics, statistics, and operations—and that’s held through until today.
“STEM designation is interesting; it’s all done internally. There are federal guidelines for what’s required, and we can be subject to audits, but we’re the ones responsible for overseeing our STEM-designated MBA program on campus,” says Ainslie.
This meant it was up to Rochester to take a look at their MBA curriculum and decide if they had the right percentage of math- and technology-based curriculum to fit the absolute minimum acceptable level. That level was, “at least 50 percent of the classes should have at least 50 percent STEM content. So 25 percent of all classes being STEM,” Ainslie explains. “We’re well above that.”
50 to 60 Percent STEM Curriculum
“We don’t have any faculty in soft areas such as HR or behavioral studies,” Ainslie explains. “That’s necessary to do this. All of our faculty voted positively on STEM designating in every area.” And while the school has started to add some curriculum in other areas—communications and experiential learning—around 50 to 60 percent of all their MBA content is STEM, far more than necessary to get the certification.
Even with variability in the second year when students can choose their electives, it was easy for Simon’s MBA program to achieve the STEM designation. “We are something of an unusual program in how analytics focused we are. Our branding is around analytics, and that shows,” says Ainslie.
And in cases where more STEM content was required, many of the faculty were happy to revise their curriculum to fit the designation better. One professor even decided to create an entirely new finance course that “uses R and Python programming to teach about finance through algorithms and coding,” Ainslie explains. “It’s a new course on technology and finance, and he wasn’t the only professor to do something like this.”
Simon Business School Meeting Recruiter and Student Needs Post STEM-Designated MBA
As for what’s happened at the school since achieving a STEM-designated MBA program, while it’s always tricky to tell what’s driving things, Ainslie believes things are going well. This year, MBA applications were up 7 percent, and while that might seem modest, it’s an increase that Simon Business School is quite happy about.
They’ve also recognized some changes in regards to recruiting and hiring. While they’re not changing who they go after or how, they are definitely making sure that all of their MBA candidates understand the advantage of STEM. “It’s not just the three years of a work visa, but business has become much more analytics-focused,” says Ainslie. “STEM skills are valuable in the marketplace. A STEM MBA is what companies are looking for.”
And that’s definitely true when it comes to Simon’s recruiters. Since their STEM designation, they’ve had many alumni and recruiters reach out to them about their STEM MBA and express their excitement.
“Technical skills are in high demand,” explains Ainslie. “But there are only 65,000 H1b visas every year and 2.3 million STEM jobs. The market is desperate to get those positions filled.” And Simon is in the perfect position to help.
You can learn more about Simon Business School’s new STEM MBA here.
