Concurrent Program
B.S. Animal Science/MBA
Master of Business Administraon (MBA)
The MBA Program at Iowa State University is designed to create an opportunity for students to pursue careers
in many elds. Specically, this opportunity will allow a student with an Animal Science degree to explore more
career opons in accounng, nance, markeng, supply chain management, technology and innovaon.
Why get a MBA as an Animal Science Major?
Opportunies, opportunies, opportunies!
The MBA program opens up a countless number of doors! If you have a desire to work in the
agriculture industry, but would rather focus on business aspects, a MBA is a great opon for you. Job
availability is plenful and you will become highly qualied for the working environment.
Career Sasfacon
Have your career interests changed or maybe your interest of working in the business eld has
grown? You might have the passion for animals and agriculture but just haven't found the right career
you’ve been looking for. Obtaining a MBA provides you a broad range of career opons to choose
from thus creang a greater opportunity for job sasfacon.
More Bang for your Buck
Pursuing an MBA usually takes a couple years and coming back to school later might be dicult. The
concurrent program will only take 1 more year! It is a great long term investment and with an MBA,
you may advance faster in your career and potenally earn higher salaries.
"Deciding to pursue an MBA was the perfect
opportunity to complement the praccal knowledge
that I had gained in the animal science classes with
business principles. Aer compleng both degrees, I
feel more condent in my ability to solve problems
that I will face in my career."
Mahew Kerns
2016 Animal Science/MBA Graduate
Alpha Gamma Rho Agricultural Fraternity
Key Features of the MBA Program
Teams
During your me in the
program, you will be assigned
to a team. You will work with
this team for the enre core
poron of the program,
covering three semesters
Services
Customized and
comprehensive academic
and career support services
are available to you
Environment
The learning environment is
mulcultural and parcipatory.
The classroom will give you a
beer feel for the workplace
full of students with diverse
backgrounds
Faculty
Professors are naonally-
recognized in their
research and are
commied to teaching
excellence. They are
approachable and care
about each students
academic success
Skills
Employers value well
developed professional skills.
In the MBA program, you will
have opportunies to improve
your collaborave,
communicaons, problem-
solving and leadership skills
Experience
Experimental learning
opportunies are plenful
including, internaonal and
domesc study tours, MBA
case compeons, and
service learning projects
Resources and Career Tools
Resume Book
Subming your resume to the Resume Book is a great way for you to get your resume in front of several employers.
This becomes useful when you are seeking full-me or internship employment.
Mock Interviews
Career Services will set up mock interview dates near each career fair to allow you to pracce interviewing with
actual employers. Mock interview days are set up for your benet to help you get construcve feedback or to simply
get rid of your nerves before your real interviews.
hp://www.business.iastate.edu/careers/students/preparing-to-job-seek/
12Twenty
12Twenty is a career services management system that allows students to access outcomes data including salary
history and naonal trends. 12Twenty allows career advisers to be more eecve with managing the employment
process. It allows students a beer understanding of the recruing cycle and helps students nd jobs.
hps://www.12twenty.com/
GradLeaders
GradLeaders soware plaorms match high-performing MBA talent with high-quality employment opportunies by
connecng top MBA programs, job-seeking MBA students and alumni and the worlds leading employers.
Networking Events
As an MBA student, you will be invited to parcipate in several networking opportunies. These events give you a
chance to speak with recruiters from various companies allowing you to build connecons and get noced! This is
extremely benecial to aend before a Career Fair because recruiters will already know you.
Career Services
There are many other services and tools available to you as an MBA student. Above are just a few examples of
commonly used resources and tools, but career services has a partnership with hiring managers and employment
recruiters to facilitate recruitment and hiring of students.
Program Overview
Other Specics…
The concurrent, full-me MBA program consists of 48 credit hours.
The MBA core classes are scheduled in 6 week blocks, therefore, not all classes scheduled for
the semester will be taken at the same me.
At the start of your fall semester, there will be one week of orientaon to allow for more
preparaon and team introducons.
400 level Animal Science courses can dual count up to 6 credits of MBA elecves. You MUST
be enrolled in the MBA program rst before these dual credits can be taken.
Management 503 and 504 are shared as 6 total free elecves for the undergraduate degree.
Any extra undergraduate classes that work in your schedule can be taken during the program
to complete the undergraduate degree.
If you choose to specialize in a specic discipline during the program, it will require up to 9
credit hours of specic MBA course work.
The Core Curriculum
Management 502
Organizaonal Behavior:
Understanding behavior in organizaons from a managerial
perspecve
Business Administraon 502
Quantave Business Analysis and Decision Making:
Covers the sources and stascal analysis of data along with
opmizaon models for use in decision making
Economics 532
Managerial Economics for the Global Organizaon:
Applicaons of microeconomic theory and decision analysis
for rms
Accounng 501
Financial Accounng:
An introducon to nancial accounng informaon partly by
use of spreadsheets to assess and analyze data
Finance 501
Financial Decisions:
Shareholder wealth maximizaon as the goal of the rm with
specic contexts
Management Informaon Systems 501
Management Informaon Systems:
Understanding the role and applicaon of informaon
systems within a globally compeve context.
Markeng 501
Markeng:
An analycal approach to the study of markeng issues and
challenges of business rms and non-prot organizaons
Supply Chain Management 501
Supply Chain Management:
Introducon to SCM including aspects of operaons, logiscs
and global supply chain strategy development
Business Administraon 594
MBA Professional Skills Development:
A second course designed to improve the professional skills of rst-year MBA Students. Emphasis on building eecve
communicaon and networking skills.
Management 503
Professional Responsibility in Business & Society:
This class considers the ethical and social responsibilies
of top managers in corporaons.
Management 504
Strategic Management:
Crical analysis of case studies in strategic management
with an emphasis on integrave decision making.
Business Administraon 592
MBA Professional Skills Development:
This course is designed to help the rst-year MBA students with the tools needed to develop and implement a successful
internship and career search strategy. It will also help develop professional skills for success in the business environment.
1st Year Spring Semester
2nd Year Fall Semester
Weeks 7-12 Weeks 1-6
1st Year Fall Semester
Weeks 1-7 (Varies)
Weeks 1-6 Weeks 7-12
Weeks 1-12
Weeks 1-6 Weeks 7-12
Wondering what you have to do in the classroom?
Here are some examples...
Presentaons
Similar to undergraduate classes, you will be giving presentaons. However, unlike undergraduate
presentaons, you will most likely be working with a diverse group of individuals. Not every student, or
most likely no students, in your team will be studying Animal Science. This means you will be facing new
challenges and experience various obstacles when working with a team.
Parcipaon
Parcipaon and engagement are everything. You must challenge yourself to stay engaged and provide
input to discussions. Your grade and team depend on it. Asking quesons to understand topics will help
you learn and grow in new areas of study.
Homework
In any job environment, you will most likely be working with groups of people. Many classes in the program
will assign one or more projects for you to complete with your team. An example of the projects would be to
evaluate a company’s nancials and their competors, then conclude with a stock recommendaon for the
company. You will then present these ndings to the class. Another example of a project could be to evaluate
variables that eect the enrollment of students at a university through regression analysis and present these
ndings to the class.
Case Compeon
Exams come in many variaons. It is advised to not expect bubble sheets and mulple choice quesons.
Most of these problems will be more praccal and require crical thinking. Essay type exams can also be
given. Do not fear! The professors do an excellent job of preparing you for the content and being very
clear on what you can expect to be tested on.
Projects
In conclusion to your core classes, you will be assigned to parcipate in the Iowa State’s MBA Case
Compeon. The compeon lasts two days. The rst day, teams are given a business scenario to analyze
and formulate soluons. The team then works to create a professional presentaon to present their
ndings. The second day consists of teams delivering presentaons to a panel of judges.
Other Expectaons
While in the program, you are expected to present yourself professionally inside and outside of the
classroom. Most students in the program will wear business casual are every day for class. On
presentaon days, teams presenng will dress business formal. This is a great way to become accustomed
to professional expectaons.
Homework is not busy work. Homework is designed to help you with concepts you will see on quizzes, exams,
or even projects. Oen, you will see it assigned in the form of group projects . You could also be assigned
readings of arcles, books, or case studies. It is all achievable and is benecial to the overall course.
Examinaons
Is nancial assistance available for full-me MBA students?
Financial assistance is available to students primarily in the form of graduate assistantship appointments. Typically, an
MBA student on an assistantship is assessed resident tuion, is awarded a tuion scholarship equivalent to one-quarter
of the cost of resident tuion, and earns a monthly spend. In exchange, graduate assistants work 10 hours per week for
the faculty, academic and career services units, or aliated centers. Scholarship is also oered on a compeve basis.
What is looked for when evaluang candidates for admission?
The goal is to bring in students represenng a rich blend of academic disciplines and work histories, industries and
occupaons, genders and ethnicies who share a common goal – to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Each student
is expected to contribute, grow, and excel in this challenging and rewarding learning environment. We carefully assess
each candidate’s academic and career accomplishments, professional skills, goals and expectaons, and desire to earn
an Iowa State MBA degree.
When do I apply?
Full-me admission is granted for the fall term. Deadlines for the program are July 1st for domesc students and March
1st for internaonal students. Students oen choose to apply to the program as a Junior in your undergraduate studies,
but don’t wait too long! Some students who are ahead on their meline choose to apply even earlier. Meet with your
advisor to see what your academic meline looks like.
How long will it take me to complete the program?
The program is a two-year concurrent program that oen begins in your fourth year of undergraduate studies. This
allows you to connue earning credits in your undergraduate program while working towards your MBA. To help with
the course work load, it is wise to have fewer undergraduate courses remaining when beginning the program and work
hard to stay ahead of your undergraduate schedule. An example of a 5 year program is posted online as well as a guide.
hp://www.business.iastate.edu/masters/mba/prospecve-students/full-me-mba/collaborave-mba-programs/stem-
mba/science/
What is the GMAT/GRE and how do I take it?
The GMAT stands for the Graduate Management Admissions Test which helps predict how you will perform as an MBA
student. You can go to the ocial GMAT website (hp://www.mba.com/us) to create an account, discover more about
the examinaon, and set up a date and locaon to take the test.
The GRE stands for Graduate Records Examinaons. It is an assessment of crical thinking, analycal wring, verbal rea-
soning and quantave reasoning skills. This too is a standardized examinaon which you can sign up for online at the
GRE website (hps://www.ets.org/gre/).
You may take the GRE or the GMAT for admissions to the program.
Do I need to take business course prerequisites before I start the program?
No. The program is designed in a way where students will not be required to take any prerequisites before being
admied to the program. Each student entering the program will start the MBA core regardless of their backgrounds.
Frequently Asked Quesons
Am I required to have an internship in order to apply?
An internship related to your major is strongly encouraged for all animal science students. However, the program will
also consider any other experience you may have as well. Related work experience is extremely crical to help you be
qualied for the acceptance into the Concurrent Program.
Informaon to Help You Apply:
Contact Informaon
Contact: Ron Ackerman
Phone: 515-294-8118
Email Address: rjacker@iastate.edu
For quesons, you can email Ron Ackerman or visit the Graduate Programs Oce in
1360 Gerdin Hall
Materials Needed
Online Applicaon
Apply to the full-me program
GMAT or GRE
TOEFL or IELTS (Internaonal Students)
Transcripts
Resume
Two leers of Recommendaon
Personal Essay Form
Interview (Invitaon Only)
This informaon is current as of March, 2017. For any potenal changes or updates refer to the Iowa State
University MBA website- hp://www.business.iastate.edu/masters/mba/
Published by: Danielle Tucker
"Going into the MBA program, I ancipated having to
work harder than students from other majors to keep up
with the classes. However, aer my rst year, I have
seen that the diverse skills I developed as an Animal
Science undergrad have allowed me to lead my team to
success.
The concurrent MBA program has expanded the
opportunies available to me, both within Animal
Science and Business. “
Danielle Tucker
2018 Animal Science/MBA Student
