Once you have been accepted to the university and have decided to attend, you must keep in touch with the university international office. Follow the steps required for nationals of your country to receive a U.S. student visa. As soon as your visa is granted, email the International Student Office by directly at International@lindenwood.edu so that the university is prepared to expect you! You should also email the International Office with your travel plans. (Without this correspondence, the university will not know whether to expect you or to keep a room reserved for you!)

For international students, the MBA program is typically completed in 6 terms (14 months). The exact length of the program depends on three things: (1) the student’s level of business background, (2) the student’s English language skills, and (3) the student’s preferred course of study. For this reason, the exact duration of an MBA program cannot be determined until students arrive on campus and after they have completed the Business Diagnostic and English placement exams and have selected an area of emphasis, if desired.

Prerequisite courses are fundamental concepts courses that must be taken before taking core courses. The business program includes three program prerequisite courses. All students in the business program must take all prerequisite courses except for students (1) with a transcript from an American university showing a degree in business with equivalent coursework or (2) by students who receive a score of 70% or higher on the relevant sections of the business concepts diagnostic exam. Students joining the MBA program directly from the Lindenwood undergraduate program may waive the prerequisite courses if their Lindenwood transcript shows a grade of C or better in the equivalent undergraduate courses. If the equivalent coursework does not appear on the undergraduate transcript, or if a grade of D or F was earned in the course(s), the student will be required to take the prerequisite(s) at the graduate level.

The business concepts diagnostic exam is a test that determines whether or not a student may waive a prerequisite course (without a U.S. degree in business). Any student with a background in business (but no degree) or any student with an international degree in business, marketing, accounting, or finance may elect to take the Business Concepts diagnostic exam. A score of 70% or above on the diagnostic permits the student to waive the prerequisite course in that content area only. No core courses may be waived. (A Lindenwood student who did not earn a C or better in the prerequisite areas may also take the Business Diagnostic to waive the prerequisite course(s) by receiving a 70% or better on the exam.)

International graduate students are required to maintain a minimum of 9 credit hours (three courses) per term. The maximum number of credits per term is also 9. If a student chooses to pursue a General MBA, (without an area of emphasis), that student will be required to take 15 business courses (3 prerequisites, 9 cores, and 3 elective courses). If a student chooses to pursue an MBA with an area of emphasis, he or she will be required to take 16 business courses (3 prerequisite, 9 core, and 4 elective courses). (Note that students pay for each course separately; students who complete an area of emphasis will pay for one class more than students who do not.) In addition, students may be required, based on the scores of their English language placement exam, to take 6 credits of academic English language instruction. For this reason, the total possible number of courses a student will complete to earn an MBA may be 17 courses (51 credits) or 18 courses (54 credits). (Note that if a student chooses to pursue an MS degree, the student will be required to complete a 6-credit thesis, which will increase the total number of credit hours.)

A total of nine credits may be transferred into the graduate business program. There are two ways in which this transfer of credit may occur. (1) Students may transfer up to 9 credit hours from a regionally accredited institution (a U.S. school). To do this, the student must present an original syllabus (the description of all topics covered in the course, provided by the instructor of the course) for each course he or she wishes to transfer into the business program. These documents should be presented to the international office upon arrival to Lindenwood and will be forwarded to the student’s advisor for approval. (2) Students may also be eligible to transfer up to nine credits of from an international school. To do so requires the approval of the dean of the Business School. For that reason, students wishing to apply to transfer international credit into the Lindenwood School of Business must bring to Lindenwood translated, certified, and notarized copies of the syllabi for each course that he or she would like to be considered for transfer of credit. (Students must obtain these syllabi from the instructor of the course; no transfer credit will be accepted without a translated, certified, and notarized copy of the instructor’s original course syllabus.) These copies should be presented to the international office upon arrival and will be forwarded to the student’s academic advisor and to the dean of the business school for consideration.

The MBA program begins at the start of orientation and does not end until after the last class of the last term of the program. Students must schedule travel plans accordingly. However, because the exact duration of your program will depend on the results of placement testing, students may not know their program end-date when purchasing tickets. For that reason, be aware that if travel plans are scheduled in advance, some students may have to reschedule the departing flight according to the end dates of the student’s program. If a student misses any exams because of a travel schedule, the student may not be eligible for a grade in that course. (Note that if a student takes a term off during the business program, the student must return to the university no later than the first day of classes for the following term. The student must also inform the housing office of his or her intent to return to the university so that a housing assignment is created for the returning student.)

Orientation is an academic and administrative introduction to the business program. During the orientation program, students will receive information regarding all immigration and legal documentation issues. In addition, students will undergo placement testing, learn about the business program requirements, and select an area of emphasis, if appropriate; finally, students will meet with the international student academic advisor, schedule classes, order books, and begin first night assignments. The week of orientation is mandatory for all new international students, including former Lindenwood University undergraduates. Please note, if a student does not attend orientation, he or she may not be permitted to begin the program until the following term.

Yes, all students must take the English placement exam. The TOEFL score is a requirement for admission to the university. However, the TOEFL cannot fully determine a student’s readiness to participate in an English speaking graduate classroom. For this reason, a student’s English language proficiency must be evaluated in person, upon arrival to the university. The placement exam contains listening, grammar, and writing components. Based on this exam, student’s classroom readiness will be assessed and a course schedule will be determined.

Yes. Students who are required to take English language classes will be able to take business courses and English language courses at the same time during their first two terms. After two terms, the students will take business courses only.

There is an assignment due on the first night of class for all business courses. Because each term is only 9 weeks long, it is expected that students will complete a significant amount of work outside of class, including before the first class. For the first class meeting, students will complete an assignment that can be found on the Lindenwood website (details during orientation). For a sample of the first night assignments, see the Lindenwood University website (www.lindenwood.edu). Go to Academics, Course Catalog & Schedule, Course Schedule, MBA [term + year], First Night Assignments.