Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Lally School of Management and Technology

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School Says - General Information
The Lally School of Management and Technology was founded in 1963 as an integral part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Building on Rensselaer's heritage of more than 175 years of leadership in science and engineering, the Lally School develops technologically-savvy, entrepreneurial business leaders who can initiate and guide innovation for commercial success. All programs enable the next generation of business leaders to combine their passion for technology with the management ability to succeed in today's challenging global marketplace.

School Says - Student Body
Typical Lally Full time MBA Class Profile (Average of Last Three Years) Gender Female 30% Male 70% Age Range of age 22 Ââ€" 35 Work Experience Average 3.5 years GMAT Score Mean 627 Citizenship U.S. Citizen 66% International 34% Undergraduate GPA 3.26 Technology Majors Undergraduate 65% Minority 16%

School Says - Academics
The Lally M.B.A. program prepares business leaders with the skills and thinking that are essential for meeting the day-to-day, real-world challenges of running a business within the evolving dynamics of the global economy. Through experiential hands-on instruction, students acquire an overall understanding of the new sources of value creation brought about by the convergence of globalization and the information technology (IT) revolution. The curriculum is built on streams of knowledge, enabling students to gain critical expertise in launching, running, and growing a successful business: creating and managing an enterprise; value creation, managing networks, and driving innovation; developing innovative products and services; formulating and executing competitive business strategies; and managing the business implications of emerging technologies. These streams of knowledge focus on critical business issues in todayÂ's global marketplace and integrate all discrete business functions, from finance and operations to global marketing and supply chain management, within the dynamics of each course experience. Key modules complement the streams of knowledge. Modules include global business, decision models, social responsibility and business ethics, and succeeding in knowledge-intensive organizations. Students in the Pathfinder MBA program attend MBA classes the first year ; get paid experience during the second year at a Co-op in the U.S. or abroad; and, in the third year, return to campus to complete the MBA program.

School Says - Admissions
The Lally School of Management & Technology attracts candidates who can clearly articulate and act on their personal and professional goals. Accepted candidates share a strong entrepreneurial spirit and are confident about their analytical and quantitative skills. Required items include completion of the online Rensselaer graduate application, essay questions, resume, transcripts, 2 letters of recommendation, and a GMAT score.

School Says - Campus Life
The Lally School of Management and Technology is located in one of RensselaerÂ's most historic buildings, A 1998 renovation transformed the Pittsburgh Building into a technology-intensive center for teaching and research. The facility features four large classrooms with facilities that are computer-interactive, and set up for videoconferencing and distance education. The building also includes fully networked faculty and staff offices, wireless access, a computer study hall, student and faculty lounges, a fifth-floor outdoor terrace, a centrally located student services suite, and a food service concession.

Students Say - Academics
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lally School of Management and Technology offers numerous graduate business programs with a strong focus on technology and close ties to the Northeast business community. For hard-working students, Lally's MBA is fast-paced and efficient: taking a full course load, required credit hours can be completed in a mere 12 months. Those who want to tailor their degree or make a career change can pursue a specialization module in addition to core courses, but they'll still have a diploma within 17 to 24 months. (Currently, the school offers optional specializations in technological entrepreneurship, finance, information systems, operations management, marketing, new product development, and global enterprise management.) Specially designed for the younger set, the school's unique Pathfinder program "offers entrance to an MBA program to recent undergraduates with little or no work experience." Through Pathfinder, students are allowed "to jump straight into an MBA" after college, then "gain a full year of work experience between the first and second year of the MBA degree." For local professionals, Lally also offers an accelerated executive program. In addition, the school operates numerous master's programs in related business fields, such as a MS in financial engineering and risk management. These specialized programs "raise the level of the MBA program by exposing MBA students to other advanced disciplines and specializations so that MBA students, upon graduation, are already familiar with working with field specialists such as financial engineers." While the delivery format differs, MBA programs at Lally comprise 51 credit hours of coursework. The core curriculum takes a cross-disciplinary approach to business, and courses are taught by teams of professors from different disciplines. As students point out, Rensselaer is a "world-class research institution," and the MBA program draws on the school's historic strength in technology and applied science. Here, students benefit from a "very good mix of technology management classes with traditional finance, marketing, and operations management classes." Business issues in fields like information technology or nanotechnology are often discussed in the classroom, and "many of the MBA students are working on commercializing technologies." A student elaborates, "The greatest strength of RPI is the interdisciplinary nature of all of the degree programs. For the Lally School specifically, its strength is the integration of technology into the classroom, preparing students to work in the high-tech 21st century workplace." "The faculty is fantastic" at Rensselaer, and "small class sizes help [students] take advantage of their experience and research." While "Professors and classes get an A-plus," students say Rensselaer's "administration gets a C-plus." Overseen by "a multi-layer bureaucracy," there can be plenty of red tape at the business school. Fortunately, the personnel are approachable and friendly. Despite hassles, "The administrators understand the issues that students have and are very patient and understanding, and go above and beyond to help students."

Students Say - Admissions
Though the majority of Lally's admitted students come from some sort of technical background, 35 percent do not. The average age for an admitted student is 28, the average work experience is about 3 years, the average GMAT is 628, and the average undergraduate GPA is 3.2.

Students Say - Campus Life
The full-time MBA program at Lally comprises "roughly 15 hours per week in class," plus "another 10-15 hours per week doing homework, projects, and readings." Stimulated by the team-oriented curriculum, "Study groups emerge between students, and project teams learn to work with each other and spend time together outside of the classroom." Beyond academics, students also might get together for mingling and career development opportunities. In particular, "The graduate management student association does a great job organizing social and networking events." With an excellent early career MBA program, the students at Rensselaer are "a relatively young group." In fact, many join the MBA directly from RPI's undergraduate college. For those students, it is easy to participate in the multitude of activities on the larger Rensselaer campus. For example, a current MBA candidate tells us, "I am involved in multiple performing arts groups, including Sheer Idiocy, the improvisational comedy troupe; WRPI, the college radio station; and The Players, the traditional theater organization. I am also the Student Outreach Coordinator for the ADMISSIONS Office." Not everyone, however, gets so involved in campus life. At Lally, "Some students are detached from the program, but others are very engaged and make the experience very good."

Students Say - Careers
Lally's Career Resource Center manages a comprehensive online job board, where students and alumni can view current job openings, post their resumes for employers to review, and set up on-campus interviews. The Career Resource Center also oversees employer information sessions, MBA career panels, and company site tours. Despite these services, some students feel that, "career services could use an overhaul," saying, "alumni and career placement is severely lacking." On the flip side, Lally has a strong reputation in the local region, and at least one student found that the "alumni [were] extremely helpful during my career search!" Companies that have recently recruited at Lally include Accenture, American Express, Albany Molecular Research Corporation, Blue Slate Solutions, Citigroup, Clorox, ECG Consulting Group, Foster Miller, Honeywell, IBM, Microsoft, Mimeo.com, Phillips, Proctor & Gamble, United Technologies, and Xerox. More than 40 percent of graduates stay in the Northeast region.

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