MBA Prep | Required Skills | MBA for Executives

The Executive MBA academic experience is rigorous. Upon entering the program, you'll need to have a solid foundation of quantitative and Excel skills to succeed in your classes. Here's how to ensure you're fully prepared:

Step 1: Review the required skills below.
Step 2: Attend Term Zero in order to gain an introduction to some of the required skills described below (if needed).
Step 3: Complete the optional Haas Quantitative Readiness Course (QRC) (highly recommended). Registration information will be available in the spring.
Step 4: Review the Additional Resources below.

Quantitative Skills Requirements

Three of your Term 1 core courses require particular knowledge of quantitative skills: Data and Decisions (XMBA 200S), Managerial Economics (XMBA 201), and Financial Accounting (XMBA 202).

Required Skills for Data and Decisions - XMBA 200S
Students are encouraged to attend the "Stats Refresher" at Term Zero which will review the material in the first 12 chapters of the required textbook: Statistics for Business: Decision Making and Analysis, Stine and Foster, (3rd Edition, Pearson, 2018). * a reminder that all required textbooks are included with your EMBA fees.
Describing categorical and numerical data (Chapters 3-6)	Mean, median, variance, standard deviation Distributions, histograms, boxplots Scatterplots, covariance, correlation, lurking variables
Probability (Chapters 7-8)	Conditional probability, the law of large numbers, Bayes’ rule
Random Variables (Chapters 9-10)	Properties of expected values, independence association between random variables, sums of random variables
Normal Distribution (Chapter 12)	Central limit theorem Using a normal table, standardizing, z-scores

Required Skills for Managerial Economics (Micro) - XMBA 201 and Financial Accounting - XMBA 202
This course assumes prior knowledge of these skills, and will immediately begin building on them: Solving equations – quadratic, simultaneous, two unknowns Linear equations and graphing Simple derivatives, including derivatives of quadratic equations Probability and probabilistic events Discounting

Required Skills for Managerial Economics (Micro) - XMBA 201 and Financial Accounting - XMBA 202

This course assumes prior knowledge of these skills, and will immediately begin building on them:

Solving equations – quadratic, simultaneous, two unknowns
Linear equations and graphing
Simple derivatives, including derivatives of quadratic equations
Probability and probabilistic events
Discounting

Microsoft Excel Skill Requirements

Excel proficiency is expected of all Haas students. You should be comfortable with the Excel features and functions listed below.

Required Excel Skills
Data manipulation Formulas and functions Graphing Formatting data and spreadsheets

The Haas MBA Quantitative Readiness Course (QRC)

Bolster your application and prepare for MBA coursework

The optional QRC provides a no-cost option for demonstrating academic readiness and prepares you for the rigors of MBA coursework. The virtual course is self-paced and includes online support from an instructor.

Who should take the course?

The QRC is for MBA applicants who have limited experience using quantitative skills in their academic or professional background and would like to provide more evidence of academic readiness to support their MBA candidacy. It also benefits incoming students who would like to brush up on and/or enhance their quantitative skills in preparation for their MBA.

Note: If you are taking UCB Extension Math for Management, you do not need to take this course.

QRC Course Format and Cost

The course videos and instructor access are offered free of charge. You may complete the course or portions of the course by watching the videos at your own pace with online support from the professor.
Your QRC registration is valid for 12 months. If you enroll at Haas, you will be granted access to the materials until you graduate.
The course is divided into 7 modules:

Math Fundamentals for Business Part I
Math Fundamentals For Business Part II
Statistics Part I
Statistics Part II
Finance Part I
Finance Part II
Microeconomics

Each module is intended to take about one week to complete; however, it is possible to go slower or more quickly depending on your experience with the topics and how much time you invest each week. You may also accelerate through the first two modules by testing out of them.

To Enroll in the Course

Applicants must start an application
Select the ‘Essay’ tab where you can indicate you are interested in the QRC course and complete the request to enroll.
If you have already submitted your application, you may use this link to log into your portal and complete the request to enroll.
Your QRC registration is valid for 12 months. If you enroll at Haas, you will be granted access to the materials until you graduate.

Additional Resources

We recommend the following options for additional learning before Term Zero and the start of Term 1:

Term Zero - highly recommended Term Zero Workshops held virtually throughout the summer by the EMBA Program Office with Haas faculty, Haas alumni, and members of your new cohort.
LinkedIn Learning (www.linkedin.com/learning) – online interactive learning platform (there is a fee for a monthly subscription) that provides course material on a variety of topics, including Excel and Statistics. If using LinkedIn Learning, we recommend searching the extensive library for courses that cover the topics listed on the first page of this document.
Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org) – free online resource that has basic modules on most of the areas outlined above. Highly modular, it can be a good place to start if you’ve been away from quantitative analysis for a while.
Excel for Dummies – if you seldom or never work with Excel, this is a good place to start to get familiar with the program and its basic features. The Term Zero Workshop does assume that you have a basic knowledge of Excel.

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