Singelyn Graduate School of Business

MSDSCM Program Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

1-year roadmap takes three semesters (Fall, Spring, Summer) to complete the program, while 2-year roadmap takes 5 semesters (Fall, Spring, Summer, Fall, Spring) to complete. On average you will take 12 units (4 classes) each semester with the 1-year roadmap and 6 units (2 classes) each semester with the 2-year roadmap. Cost-wise, the tuition is the same, except you will need to pay university fee for 2 more semesters with the 2-year program.

Our program is designed to be cohort based, so you will need to take the classes as scheduled for the roadmap you have chosen. If you deviate from the roadmap, your time to complete the program will be significantly longer as all courses are only offered once per year.

Yes! Both our 1-year and 2-year roadmaps are designed to satisfy the minimum 6-units semester-unit requirement for international students, given that you don’t deviate from the roadmap.

The actual schedule of the classes will be available ahead of the beginning of each semester, as it depends on the teaching schedule of our faculty. In general, each class will meet once a week, for 2 hours and 45 minutes. It could either be a night class (7:00 PM – 9:45 PM) during Mon. to Thu., or a morning class (9:00 AM – 11:45 AM) on Sat. For example, with 1-year roadmap, usually you will take 3 night classes Mon. to Thu. and 1 Sat. morning class. With 2-year roadmap, usually you will take 1 night class Mon. to Thu. and 1 Sat. morning class, or 2 night classes Mon. to Thu.

No. This program is designed to be face-to-face. Therefore, you need to be prepared to take all classes on campus. Some of the courses may be offered in hybrid mode (defined as less than 50% of online meetings), and the schedule of face-to-face and online meetings are decided by the corresponding instructors.

You must take and pass a comprehensive exam in order to graduate. The comprehensive exam consists of at least 4 sections and will be administered over the course of 1 to 2 days. You need to pass (score at least 75%) all sections in order to pass the comprehensive exam. If you fail any section(s) the first time, you will be given one more chance to retake. If you fail again, you shall not be granted the degree.

  1. I don’t have a bachelor’s degree in the business area. Am I eligible to apply for this program?

Yes! We are taking a holistic approach to review the applications, taking into consideration your educational background, your past work experience, etc. Actually, our students come from various backgrounds, including business, engineering, natural and social sciences, and arts.

  1. Do I need to know programming and math well to apply for this program?

Although we do not require you to have strong programming and math background, having them would be very helpful in preparing you for the rigorous coursework of this program and flatten your learning curve. You can find many programming (e.g. R and Python) and math (e.g. statistics) courses on the Internet that can be very helpful.

  1. Can I request to transfer credits of courses I took from other universities/colleges?

It depends on the following factors and will be reviewed and decided case by case.

  1. The course you took covers all the topics of the matching course in our curriculum.
  2. The breadth and depth of the course you took meet those of the matching course in our curriculum.
  3. The course you took must show up in your official transcript. Certificates will not be recognized.
  4. You must earn a good enough grade per our judgement.

Our university policy allows up to 9 units of transfer credits.

  1. What if I haven’t graduated from my current undergraduate/graduate program?

If you are qualified and deemed a good fit for our program, we will conditionally admit you. You will be admitted officially upon the completion of your current program before our program starts and meet our admission criteria (minimum GPA of 2.5/4).

 

  1. When shall I submit my application?

Our fall cohort application window starts on Oct. 1 of the previous year, and our spring cohort application window starts on Aug. 1 of the previous year. We encourage you to apply as early as possible, as it takes a few weeks for our admission office to process our application before forwarding it to us. We will review the applications on a rolling basis and make decisions as soon as possible. This way you will have more time to prepare for your enrollment (especially for international students as you will need to apply for the I-20, apply for your student visa, arrange your trip to the US and settle down near the campus).

  1. Can you waive my application fee?

Unfortunately, the application fee is collected by the California State University and cannot be waived.

  1. What if I cannot attend after I was admitted?

You may request to defer your admission to a later cohort, but it will be decided by our admission office. You may need to re-apply and pay the application fee again.

  1. Are there any scholarships, financial aids, and on-campus job opportunities?

Graduate students are eligible for both scholarships and financial aid. For more information about scholarships, FAFSA and different types of financial aid, please visit the Office of Financial Aid website. The program MAY also provide some graduate assistantship awards (depending on the availability of funds), which are open to apply in the Spring semester after you are enrolled.

  1. Do you provide any scholarship to admitted students before they are enrolled?

Unfortunately, we do not provide any scholarship before a student is enrolled.

  1. Are there any on-campus job opportunities?

Yes, there may be on-campus job opportunities, which may be applied by both domestic and international students. However, international students are restricted to work no more than 19 hours per week.

  1. Is there any difference in tuition and fees for in-state, out-of-state, and international students?

There is no difference. All students pay the same tuition and fees.