Average GMAT: 656.00
GMAT Range (25-75%): 620-700
Average Undergrad GPA: 3.00
Regular Application Deadline: 10/15
Rolling Admission: Yes
School Type: Public
Average Age: 29.00
Average Work Experience (months): 84
Student Faculty Ratio: 4:1

Evening Program: Yes
Executive MBA Program Offered: Yes
Total Faculty: 33

Average Starting Salary: $116,411.00
Hired Consulting: 35%
Hired Finance: 17%
Hired Marketing: 9%

Out-of-State Tuition: $48,930.00
In-State Tuition: $48,930.00

School Says - General Information
The AGSM MBA Program provides a world-class business education and extensive business networking opportunities that will help you achieve your career and personal goals. YouÂ'll also find extensive opportunities for personal development in one of the most livable cities in the world Ââ€" Sydney, Australia. The AGSM MBA is ranked in the top 20 outside the US (Financial Times, 2008), and was the first in Australia to be granted AACBS Accreditation. The MBA course commences with the innovative Â"Foundations of ManagementÂ", a three-week intensive overview of general management, in which youÂ'll pick up skills that will be invaluable during your MBA and into the executive world beyond. This is followed by a rigorous grounding in Organisational Behaviour, Economics, Accounting, Data Analysis & Decision Making under Uncertainty, Finance, Marketing Management, Operations Management and Strategy. The last two sessions are where you can choose from a wide selection of Electives, or, as so many of the AGSM MBA students choose to do, go on International Exchange at a top business school such as Wharton or London Business School. The community of faculty, students and industry networks, together with the design of the MBA Program produce a learning experience that will prepare you for the rigors of senior management, and lay the foundation for you to achieve your career goals. With over 200 faculty members at the Australian School of Business at the University of New South Wales, and a typical cohort of students representing over 25 countries and a multitude of industries, the AGSM MBA Program is truly diverse. Collaboration within an intellectually stimulating environment at the cutting edge of management thought promotes the confidence you will need to tackle emerging issues at the highest level. The AGSM MBA is the most prestigious MBA in Australia, with an enviable reputation amongst employers of MBA graduates. The Career Management Program provides you with the tools you will need to find that ideal job. Over 20 top companies actively recruit from AGSM MBA Programs, and the network provided by current students, alumni, faculty and through the many events held on campus will give you the connections to explore employment and entrepreneurial options. You will be studying in Sydney, one of the most exciting cities in the world. The campus is located in SydneyÂ's Eastern Suburbs, close to some of the worldÂ's most beautiful beaches. Many students live nearby in the suburbs of Coogee, Bondi, Centennial Park, Randwick, Kingsford and Maroubra, and enjoy the multicultural, outdoor lifestyle that Sydney has to offer. All in all, youÂ'll find that an AGSM MBA will mean new opportunities both professionally and in terms of your personal development.

School Says - Student Body
Â"Having made the decision to return to Sydney to undertake my MBA, the AGSM was an obvious choice due to its reputation and ranking. What surprised me about the AGSM was the diversity of students in the full time program, both in terms of their professional background and their country of origin. This mix contributed to widely different perspectives on business challenges that were both enlightening and refreshing. Before embarking on the MBA I could not have imagined how life changing the experience would be,Â" Fiona Macrae, Class of 2008. Â"I treated the opportunity to travel from the US to Sydney in pursuit of an MBA as an adventure, and the experience did not disappoint. Over the past 18 months IÂ've received a world class education that has helped me to grow on a number of levels, both personally and professionally. IÂ'll be leaving the program supremely satisfied in an experience that helped me to rapidly accelerate my career as well as develop a network of friends spanning the globe. If youÂ're looking for an MBA that represents the total package, look no further than the AGSM,Â" Danny Van Clief, Class of 2008.

School Says - Admissions
The AGSM MBA Admissions staff are always available to help prospective students with the completion of their application. The AGSM MBA Programs website provides a detailed description of what is required.

Students Say - Academics

Students praise the "well-developed generalist course taught by renowned faculty" at the Australian Graduate School of Management, the b-school affiliate of both the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales. The school, which is "well-known in the Asian Pacific" (especially at home and in Southeast Asia), has made its mark through its "world-class research." In 2005, the Financial Times ranked the school 40th in the world for research output.

AGSM's research institutes include the Center for Corporate Change (CCC), described by the school as "Australia's leading center for the study of organizational transformation." Other institutes include the Center for Research in Finance (which "was set up to collect, store, and analyze data for both pure and applied research in finance and related disciplines"), and the Center for Applied Marketing (which "aims to further marketing knowledge and encourage state-of-the-art marketing practice [and which] sponsors an overseas visitor program to ensure that the latest in international thinking is available to Australian researchers and practitioners").

Research is not AGSM's only asset, however. Professors are not just brilliant, innovative thinkers, they are also "very motivating, approachable, and inspiring, with good teaching style and diverse teaching methods." Students caution that "a couple of them are much better on a one-to-one basis than lecturing to a class, so sometimes you have to make use of their openness," but since most professors are "extremely approachable," this rarely causes problems. Students single out the school's "recognized experts in organizational behavior, organizational design, statistics, and negotiations" for praise.

The AGSM curriculum draws on an "innovative, research-driven knowledge base that provides the framework for management decision-making and development of leadership competencies," according to the school. Students approve, but warn that "grading is on a bell curve," making it tougher than usual for students to earn their accustomed As and Bs. They also warn that "for some reason, qualitative subjects are always graded harder than quantitative ones." In other words, don't expect to cruise through. The workload, we're told, is "heavy, but not all that extreme."

Students Say - Admissions

Applicants to the MBA program must have an undergraduate bachelor's degree and at least two years' full-time professional or managerial work experience postdating their undergraduate degree. Students must score a minimum of 550 on the GMAT (a score of 600+ is preferred; those with lower scores must "excel in all other areas"). Students whose native language is not English must score at least a 600 on the TOEFL. Completed applications must include transcripts, test scores, two letters of recommendation (one from a current or recent employer), a detailed resume, and personal-statement essays. Applications "are processed as they are received, [therefore,] the earlier the application, the longer the period of time available for international students to have their student visas approvedâ€"this can take up to six months in extreme cases. An early application helps to ensure a place is still available for you."

Students Say - Campus Life

The students at AGSM form "a very close-knit and supportive environment, and everyone is made to feel very welcome. The students are high-achieving but not too competitive." One student explains, "The full-time MBA program is intimate. The class size will vary from 90 to 140 for an incoming class. This means that relationships grow quickly and grow strong. Additionally, there is no undergraduate program, so the facilities are dedicated to the graduate students." Students bring "good breadth and depth of experience, and there are many multicultural students from different backgrounds," all of which enhance the AGSM experience. Some students feel the only component missing is an outreach to students' spouses and children. "Inclusion of families through establishment of a formal network/association to help families survive our ‘MBA experience' would be great," students tell us.

Because the school sits on the University of New South Wales campus, it has "several thousand post and undergraduate students and a wide range of clubs and societies to join." MBAs enjoy "various networking opportunities for present students, such as barbecues, cruises, courtyard lunches in the sun, presentations, and contests run by clubs. The school has a commitment to ensuring extra-curricular programs accompany demanding course work." All told, AGSM provides "a relaxed atmosphere that accommodates focused students well." Students also love the "clean and tidy" campus, which has "good technology and plenty of appropriate areas to study."

As for hometown Sydney, well, "How can anyone not like Sydney?" The school is located "close to Sydney CBD and Bondi Beach," and the area offers "wonderful weather [and] lots of sunshine." With a population of four million, Sydney is a major business and cultural center.

Students Say - Careers

The Career Center of AGSM offers students the usual potpourri of services: workshops, one-on-one counseling, maintenance of a resume book, self-assessment tools, and networking events. The office also runs the Management Projects Program, which "creates, develops, and facilitates opportunities for AGSM students to work in teams with [senior executives] on issues of strategic importance [to] define and analyze a business issue and make recommendations for action through written and oral presentations." Students tell us that AGSM is most effective in placing students in consultancy positions. In 2004, 60 percent of all graduates reported that their job offers were the result of networking; 20 percent attributed their job offer to contacts made through the Career Center.

Those most likely to employ AGSM MBAs include: Accenture, AT Kearney, Colgate Palmolive, KPMG, Macquarie Bank, McKinsey, and Westpac.

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