SMBA at San Diego State University (SDSU), USA: Dream campus for MBA abroad aspirants; Admission open

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Amit Agnihotri
Columnist & Author, MBAUniverse.com
Updated on September 26, 2015
Sports MBA program at San Diego State University, USA is unique and during the past few years, it has attained the reputation of an intensive, accelerated MBA program focused entirely on the international sports business
SMBA programme at San Diego University is intended for highly motivated students seeking to further their business skills and professional network to secure management positions in all areas of the global sports business industry

San Diego State University USA is one of the highly ranked Universities of USA and has gained recognition as a leader in higher education. It is currently ranked in the top 150 national universities and in the top 80 public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of America's Best Colleges.

The Sports MBA program at San Diego State University, USA is unique and during the past few years, it has attained the reputation of an intensive, accelerated Master of Business Administration (MBA) program focused entirely on the international sports business. The College of Business Administration of San Diego University is accredited by AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau proudly claims "San Diego enjoys beautiful weather year round," and a review of yearly temperatures supports this claim.  The average temperature for the city is a mild 21.4 degrees on the Celsius scale. The City gets over 300 days of sunshine per year, and abundance of outdoor recreation areas make it not only an ideal place to live, but also a heaven for outdoor sports of all kinds.

With the widespread appeal of the San Diego region within the sports industry, this area is home to professional teams, headquarters of major sports equipment, apparel, and memorabilia companies, collegiate athletics, and major international sporting events, providing the best possible environment in which to pursue a career in sports.

The SMBA programme at San Diego University is intended for highly motivated students seeking to further their business skills and professional network to secure management positions in all areas of the global sports business industry.

SMBA: Highly demanded
Despite being a relatively new concept than the other pre-defined MBA programmes, the MBA in Sports management is highly in demand nowadays as the requirement of candidates with managerial expertise has grown along with the level of money involved in sports, through player transfers, wages and commercial deals.

Sports management is the study of planning, supervising and organizing various sporting activities like international and domestic tournaments for cricket, football, hockey, golf, base ball and several other games.

San Diego offers Unique & Committed MBA Programme
Sport Management degree program at San Diego University is committed to producing top-notch managers and executives who are practitioner-oriented and are educationally, professionally, and ethically sound.

Accelerated & Intensive
The only sports specific program and one of the few MBA programs nationwide SMBA from San Diego can be completed under 18 months. It provides a 12 month intensive session in the classroom, followed by a 6 month consulting experience in the sports field.

Dedicated Alumni Network
SDSU Sports MBA alumni serve as guest lecturers, student career mentors, and are enormously dedicated to connecting students and fellow alumni with high-level job opportunities in the sports industry.

SMBA admission requisites

SMBA Admission committee at San Diego will need the following to determine SMBA aspirant’s aptitude for this programme

-- A GPA of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 semester units (90 quarter units) of undergraduate work (absolute minimum undergraduate GPA for graduate students at SDSU is 2.85)

-- Two letters of recommendation

-- Professional Résumé

-- Personal Statement

-- Sports MBA Alumni Interview

-- Official GMAT Score Report

-- An undergraduate background in a quantitative discipline is favourable, but not mandatory

-- Applicants from all undergraduate disciplines are eligible for admission to the program

-- Sports MBA students will be expected to have a college-level understanding of Mathematics

Work Ex not mandatory
Previous work experience after college is highly recommended, but not mandatory for admission to the Sports MBA program.

Additional documents for International applicants
International students are highly encouraged to apply to the Sports MBA program at San Diego State University. The Sports MBA curriculum is globally focused, with classroom discussions, case studies, and guest lecturers frequently covering all areas of international sport. Over the past 4 years, international students have averaged over 20% of the cohort.

In addition to the application steps, international students need to submit the following documents:

-- Bachelor's degree or higher degree

-- Official university mark sheets of courses completed and grades earned along with provisional degree certificate or final degree certificate if degree has been completed.

-- If academic records are not issued in English, then an English translation must accompany all academic records. Academic documents (both the original language and the English translation) must be university issued or university attested (sealed copies of the original academic record) and arrive in a sealed envelope directly from the university.

-- 3 year Bachelor's degree accepted if all coursework is completed and the final diploma has been issued. 3 year degrees that are in progress will not be accepted.

Application Deadlines
Please note that the Sports MBA program starts every Spring semester (January). SMBA at San Diego currently does not offer Fall semester admissions.

Applications for the cohort beginning January 2016 are accepted from August 1 to November 1, 2015.

International applicants should complete and submit all application materials as soon as possible to allow additional time for the Office of Graduate Admissions to review international transcripts and other supporting documents.

SMBA Fee
The total tuition fee for the Sports MBA program is currently $48,780, which is $1,084 per unit for the 48 unit program.

Upon acceptance to the program, you will be asked to submit a $500 non-refundable tuition deposit (deposit will be applied toward your first tuition payment). This is the tuition fee for the full 18-month length of the program.

If you are in the final or senior year of your college with interest in sports business and aiming for an MBA from a top business school in the world, there is no better bet than the SMBA from San Diego University.

SMBA Career path
Growing awareness of fitness and wellness and the popularity of professional sports, results in marketing and media opportunities and sponsorships. Sporting events with worldwide exposure, require professional managers to ensure maximum benefit for all stakeholders. SDSU has designed its curriculum to prepare students for a wide range of managerial positions in sport-related fields.

With the sky high competition for the management roles in the sports industry, aspirants need to make the right contacts – and Sports MBA from San Diego will place considerably more emphasis in helping students make valuable connections, on the course itself or by setting up internship placements.

There are lot of jobs that require entry level executives to Managers in the companies involved in Sporting, and all the Sporting events/series/league that you watch today are handled by the sporting companies backed by the sports associations.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on San Diego State University USA