ENCORE: Cornell Johnson EMBA Program: 4 Options for the Largest EMBA Program in the U.S. [Episode 543]

Admissions Straight Talk

Please enjoy this encore edition of one of Admission Straight Talk’s most popular episodes of 2023: “The Cornell Johnson EMBA Program: Four Options for the Largest EMBA Program in the United States.” This encore was chosen not only due to the episode’s popularity, but also because it’s a fascinating exploration of a well-established, large EMBA program with four distinct components. If you are even considering an Executive MBA, this episode is a must-listen. Alternatively, if you are debating whether to go down the MBA or EMBA path, Dean Mark Nelson and Dr. Manoj Thomas provide unique insight with indispensable advice obtained from their years of experience. To learn more about EMBA admissions, download Accepted’s free guide, Ace the EMBA. Did you know that Cornell Johnson has the largest Executive MBA program in the United States with four distinct flavors? I didn’t, but let’s learn together about Johnson’s EMBA program, its unique distributed classroom, and how to get in from its dean and director. [SHOW SUMMARY] Welcome to the 506th episode of Admission Straight Talk, Accepted's podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Before I dive into today's interview, I want to invite you to download Ace the EMBA, expert advice for the rising executive. This free guide will compliment today's podcast and give you suggestions on how to choose the right EMBA program for you, differentiate yourself from your competition in a positive way and present yourself effectively as a future business leader, who will bring credit to any program that accepts you. It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Dean Mark Nelson, the Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean and Professor of Accounting at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, and Dr. Manoj Thomas, Senior Director of EMBA and MSBA programs, and the Nakashimato Professor of Marketing, also at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management. Dr. Nelson and Dr. Thomas, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [Dean Mark Nelson] Thanks for having us. [Dr. Manoj Thomas] Thank you, Linda, delighted to be here. Dean Nelson, what makes a Cornell Executive MBA program different from other EMBA programs? [1:55] [Dean Mark Nelson] That's a great question, Linda. I mean, first off is the fact that we have these four different flavors of a Cornell MBA. And that's very intentional, it's been developed over time. We started initially with our Metro EMBA program, which is based in New York City, and which is focused on a general management EMBA, providing that jurisdiction, that market. Second, then we have our Americas EMBA program, and that's a really unique program where we're reaching out to executives throughout the Americas using our own unique approach to distributed learning. And then third, we created an FMBA program, a collaboration with Tsinghua University, a finance-focused EMBA, and that's bilingual and offered in Beijing. And then fourth, we have our MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program, which is providing both an EMBA and also an MS in healthcare from two great institutions, the Johnson School and the Weill Cornell Medicine. And so I go through that because the unique combination here is that we've got a general interest EMBA in New York, we've got something focused in the healthcare sector, we've got something that's a unique and leading program in China, and then this Americas program serving the Americas. And I see that as a pretty special and unique roster of great EMBA programs. Now, when you think about what's the spine that relates all these together, there's a couple things that I'd shout out, and then I'd maybe ask my colleague, Manoj, if there's anything he wants to add in. One is that in all of these programs, we have a team-based learning approach that we think is really, really important. And by that I mean that we have students that, of course they're performing individually,