Frequently Asked Questions

In both programs, you can take advantage of Berkeley Haas' vast resources, and you will earn the same Berkeley MBA degree. The key differences are in the experience level of the students in the Executive MBA program (12 years on average vs. 7 for Evening & Weekend), the program structure (every three weeks over 22 months vs. weekly for 3 years), the residency aspect, the class size, and some of the programmatic elements, such as EMBA's five field immersions that make up 25 percent of the curriculum.

With classes meeting about every three weeks, the program also attracts more students from outside the San Francisco Bay Area. Hear how two students made their decisions in this podcast on EMBA vs. Evening & Weekend.

• Math for Management - online course (there is a cost) through UC Berkeley Extension that gives you an introduction to quantitative and statistical techniques in preparation for MBA coursework. You'll learn math principles in a business context and apply those principles to the study of economics, statistics, probability, finance and capital budgeting. This is a graded course and can help strengthen your application by speaking to your quantitative abilities.  
• MBAMath – online learning platform (there is a fee) that provides course material, drill exercises and assessments in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Statistics and Excel. The platform is self-paced and the subscription is available for a year, allowing a user to continue to access the material if needed. MBAMath will help refresh your math skills but since it's not graded, it is not recommended if you are using it as evidence of your quantitative skills to support your application.
• Lynda.com – online interactive learning platform (there is a fee for a monthly subscription) that provides course material on a variety of topics, including Excel and Statistics. 
• Khan Academy – free online resource that has basic modules on most of the areas outlined above. Highly modular, it can be a good place to start if you’ve been away from quantitative analysis for a while.
• Excel for Dummies – if you seldom or never work with Excel, this is a good place to start to get familiar with the program and its basic features.

In 2021, the program starts in August, lasts 22 months, and is divided into 5 terms.

See Program Details

The Berkeley MBA for Executives Program is designed for seasoned executives with a median of 12 years of professional work experience (with the middle 80% range being 7-20 years), who represent a wide range of industries and functions and who span the western United States and beyond. Some already have graduate degrees, and some may travel from abroad to attend the program.

See Class Profile

We expect to enroll 65 to 75 students for the next incoming EMBA class.

There is no strategic advantage in applying in Round 1 vs. Round 2. Round 1 is designed for those candidates who are eager to apply and would like to receive an admission decision earlier in the season. 

The Berkeley MBA for Executives Program curriculum engenders the same general management perspective and focus on innovative leadership as the school's acclaimed Full-Time and Evening & Weekend MBA programs.

The EMBA program consists of 19 units of core courses and 22 combined units of elective coursework and immersion modules, including leadership communication, an applied innovation course on problem framing and design thinking, one on Silicon Valley innovation, an international trek, and a final immersion that is industry-specific, for example, a deep dive into public policy and learning how business works in Washington, DC.

Other elective offerings will allow students to further develop their executive skill set and to shape the program according to their interests.

See Academics

While it varies depending on the specific courses taken, you can expect to spend an average of 15-20 hours per week on program work outside the classroom.

At Berkeley Haas, students in the Executive and Full-time programs earn the same Berkeley MBA degree. Both the Berkeley Full-time and MBA for Executives programs teach a general management curriculum, with an emphasis on building innovation skills.

However, the Berkeley MBA for Executives Program is tailored to students with extensive work experience who will be attending class once every three weeks and taking their learning experiences straight back to their jobs.

While elective offerings are more targeted in the EMBA program, EMBA students may also choose to partner with a faculty member for an independent study project.  They also have access to electives in other Berkeley MBA programs, and, pending any scheduling or space constraints, to electives in other UC Berkeley graduate programs.

Five times during your EMBA studies, at the end of each term, you will engage in immersive learning.

Immersions are 5-7 days long, take place off campus, and include opportunities to develop your authentic leadership style on a leadership communications immersion on the Monterey Coast; explore the startup culture of and get a real feel for entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley; learn and apply design thinking and other innovation skills to a large-scale challenge in San Francisco; delve into the intersection of business and public policy in Washington, DC; and explore the culture and key factors influencing global business success during a week in an international hub, such as Shanghai, Singapore, or Copenhagen.

See Experiential Learning

The Berkeley Haas Career Management Group provides a wide variety of services for EMBA students including, but not limited to: executive coaching, advising, job listings and job search services, resume posting, career fairs and networking events, and career management workshops and webinars.

See Career Management

Evening & Weekend MBA Program elective courses are available to Executive MBA students pending space availability and instructor approval.

It is important to note that the format and schedule for the Evening & Weekend MBA Program is significantly different from the Berkeley MBA for Executives Program, since the EWMBA program holds weekly classes on Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday evenings and on Saturdays.

The Berkeley MBA for Executives Program plans off-site learning experiences to bring its students closer to a variety of today's business challenges. Off-site locations have included Washington, DC, the Napa Valley, Silicon Valley, and Shanghai, Singapore, and São Paulo.

See Experiential Learning

We draw from the same faculty pool for the Full-time MBA Program and the Evening & Weekend MBA Program. The faculty will be a combination of tenured and tenure-track and professional faculty, chosen specifically for their ability to effectively teach to executives.

The cost for the executive MBA class entering in August 2021 was $196,000 for the 22-month program. This includes hotel accommodations during core course sessions in terms 1-3 and immersions week, most meals while in residence and on field immersions that happen off campus, as well as books and an ebook reader. Airfare to and from Berkeley and field immersions is not included.

The Executive MBA Fellowship consists of a limited number of scholarships of $10,000 to $20,000 each. The scholarships are awarded after admission to exceptional students, based on various criteria including outstanding merit, industry or function uniqueness brought to the incoming class, and/or employment in the nonprofit or public service sectors.

See EMBA Scholarships

U.S. Military service members (active duty and veterans) and non-profit/public service employees may be eligible to waive the $200 application fee. After you have started your online application, but before submitting it, please complete our Application Fee Waiver Request form. We will process your request and get back to you within 2 business days with eligibility confirmation and next steps. Please do not submit your application until you receive a response to your request. 

Typically, 10% of our EMBA students are fully sponsored by their companies.  The majority of students are self-sponsored.

Because the Berkeley MBA for Executives Program is a part-time program, we are unable to assist with student visas. Typically, our students work with their employer to assist with a visa. The common visa types that we see are L1 and H1B. We cannot issue an F-1 student visa.

If you have submitted an application to a Berkeley MBA program within the last two years, you are considered a reapplicant.

You are required to submit all sections of the application, including the Reapplicant essay, unless otherwise specified below:

Essays

You do not need to respond to Essay #1. Instead, please answer the Reapplicant Essay and Essay #2.

Reapplicant Essay:
Please submit a statement explaining how you have improved your candidacy since your last application to the MBA for Executives Program. If you have previously applied to one of our other Berkeley MBA Programs, please help us understand why you are now interested in attending the MBA for Executives Program. (350 word limit)

Essay #2:
The definition of successful leadership has evolved over the last decade and will continue to change. What do you need to develop to become a successful leader? (300 word limit)

Recommendations

You will need to include one new or updated letter of recommendation. In Recommender 1 box, you will provide your additional recommender information. 

To complete this section, you will need to input information for Recommender 2, regardless of whether you are submitting a second reference. If you are only submitting one new letter of recommendation, please follow these steps for Recommender 2:

1. Click "To be mailed by the recommender".
2. Input Haas EMBA as the first name and Reapplicant as the last name in the Recommender 2 box.
3. Input mbaforexecs@haas.berkeley.edu for the email address.

Transcripts

If you previously submitted official transcripts, you are not required to resend them. However, if you only submitted unofficial copies, you are required to send in official transcripts. You must also send transcripts for new coursework completed since your previous application.

Test Scores

Reordering official test score reports is not required unless you are listing new EA/GMAT/GRE or TOEFL/IELTS scores in your application. If so, please send an official score report to the Berkeley MBA for Executives Admissions Office.

You must submit new test scores if your test was taken before June 2019 (TOEFL, IELTS) or October 2015 (GMAT, GRE, EA). Please submit an official score report to the MBA for Executives Admissions office using the following codes:

• GMAT: N2V-PT-85
• GRE: 0667
• EA: N2V-PT-85
• TOEFL: 4833
• IELTS:  N/A

Notice of Availability:

In compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, the University of California, Berkeley publishes an Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. This report includes current security policies plus crime and fire statistics for the previous three calendar years. The body of the report also contains contact information for various campus and community resources related to crime prevention and survivor assistance. A digital copy of the report can be accessed via the link below, or paper copies are available free of charge at 1 Sproul Hall.

UC Berkeley Annual Security and Fire Safety Report