California State University Admission Requirements

The California State University system requires all applicants to meet the following requirements to be considered for graduate admission:

• A four year Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in the U.S. or the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree from a recognized institution if the degree was earned outside of the U.S.
• A 2.50 grade point average. 
• Applicants who have earned a degree from a higher education institution in which the primary language of instruction was not English must take an English-language proficiency exam. You must score a minimum of 80 on the internet-based TOEFL, 7.0 on the IELTS, or 68 on the PTE.

Please note that the Graduate Admissions and Evaluations Office (GAPE) staff performs the initial review of the above requirements after an admission application and all required documents are submitted to the GAPE Office. GAPE is unable to conduct a review of graduate admission eligibility prior to the completion of an applicant’s admission file. However, the Lucas Graduate School does periodically conduct pre-qualification interviews with prospective MBA students. You may find detailed information on pre-qualification interview opportunities on our website.

Admission to The Lucas Graduate School Of Business

The Lucas School does not follow a set formula for determining admission into our MBA programs.  Our goal is to admit academically qualified candidates who show potential for completing the program and advancing into a successful business career.  We seek to admit students whose backgrounds will enable them to contribute to the academic excellence and the demographic, educational and experiential diversity of each class.

Your academic profile – undergraduate major and institution, any graduate level work, GPA, and GMAT scores – is a major factor in the admission decision.  Other important areas of evaluation include essay responses, work experience, letters of recommendation, writing skills, and extracurricular, community and professional activities.  From this overall review, we assess your potential for success and your compatibility with our MBA program. 

A competitive GMAT score is 550. Your score must rank in at least the 50^th percentile in both the verbal and quantitative components of the exam.  We realize that the GMAT has certain limitations, as does any standardized test; however, the GMAT does allow comparison among applicants from different schools, different countries and different majors.  We encourage you to prepare for the exam, take it as early as possible, and retake it if you do not score competitively.

The average GPA of admitted candidates is 3.30.  The minimum GPA is 3.00; however, circumstances may exist which offer explanation for a GPA below 3.00. If this is the case, candidates are encouraged to submit a statement of explanation. Please note that an absolute minimum GPA of 2.50 is required for graduate admission at San Jose State University as well as throughout the California State University system.

Prerequisite Courses
Principles of Macroeconomics; Principles of Microeconomics; and Business Statistics are courses that must be completed as prerequisites for the MBA program and do not count as part of the program of study.
Please note:

• The Conventional MBA program requires prerequisite course completion or evidence of current enrollment in unfulfilled prerequisite course requirements by the published document submission deadline.  Courses must be completed prior to the first day of instruction.  Appropriate documentation will be required.
• The Executive-Style MBA and MBA-One programs require prerequisite course completion by the first day of Orientation.  Appropriate documentation will be required.

Applicants should plan accordingly for completing these courses.  To see a list of equivalent courses from local community colleges, please visit this link: http://www.sjsu.edu/bsac/concentrations/equiv_courses/

For all Lucas MBA programs: The prerequisite courses can be waived for individuals who have completed these courses within the last seven years with a grade of B or better. Admitted students who have never taken these prerequisite courses must complete these three courses and achieve a grade of B or better before enrolling in our MBA courses. Successful completion of the prerequisites will be a condition of admission for such applicants.  Individuals who have earned a grade of B or better and have completed these courses more than seven years ago can satisfy the prerequisite requirements by taking an on-line tutorial refresher course. Access to this course will be provided upon admission to the program.

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GMAT and English Language Proficiency Test requirements.