Instructions for Applicants

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Selection of Candidates

The Admissions Committee bases its decisions on careful review of a candidate's credentials, application, supporting documents and appropriateness for the field. All applicants must have a bachelor's degree (BA or BS) from an accredited college or university, with a competitive grade point average. Admission is open to qualified students without regard to gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic origin or physical handicap.

Application Submission

Completed applications and all supporting materials should be sent to the MBA Office of Graduate Admissions. The priority application deadline for the Fall semester is March 1. The priority application deadline for the Spring semester is November 1. Applications received after the priority deadline will be reviewed on a space available basis. For detailed information about the requirements of individual programs, please consult the website, www.ajula.edu/mba.

It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that all application materials are received by the MBA Office of Graduate Admissions. We welcome calls or e-mails from students inquiring about the status of their files.

Applicants must submit the following materials:

  1. A completed, signed Application for Admission (can be submitted online).
  2. Typewritten essays (see Essay Questions; can be submitted online).
  3. Official transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate studies from accredited institutions. Transcripts in any language other than English must be accompanied by an official translation and evaluation. Transcripts must be sent from the institution directly to the MBA Office of Graduate Admissions.
  4. An official score report from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) General Test.* Applicants to the Graduate Programs in Nonprofit Management may substitute the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).*
  5. An official score report from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)* for all foreign students whose native language is not English and who have not received a degree from an accredited U.S. college or university.
  6. Two letters of recommendation using AJU Application Forms submitted to the MBA Office of Graduate Admissions directly from the person writing the recommendation (can be submitted online). One letter should be from an academic source if the student has been out of school for less than two years. Otherwise, letters of recommendation can be received from superiors, colleagues, or other professional affiliations. Letters of recommendation can be submitted by the applicant if they are contained in a sealed envelope with the recommender's signature across the flap.
  7. A non-refundable application fee of $50.00 (can be submitted online).­­­**  Or, please make check payable to American Jewish University.
  8. OPTIONAL: Submit a recent photograph to help us associate your face with your name (can be submitted online). This helps us remember you as a person, rather than a collection of papers.

*Institution Code #4876
**All fees subject to change without notice.
 

 (* indicates required information)
Personal Information

Mr. Ms. Mrs.

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List standardized tests taken, dates and scores (GRE, GMAT and/or TOEFL)

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Applying for

Fall, 20
(Priority deadline March 1)

Spring, 20
(Priority deadline November 1)

Degree

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

MBA/MAEd Joint-Degree Program

Master of Arts (MA)

MBA/Rabbinic Joint-Degree Program

Master of Arts in Jewish Communal Studies (MAJCS)

MAEd/MAJCS Joint-Degree Program

BA/MBA Joint-Degree Program

  

Have you ever applied for admission or been a student at American Jewish University?

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If so, when and what program?

To what other graduate schools are you applying?

Have you spoken with an American Jewish University representative?

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If yes, with whom?

How did you hear about American Jewish University? (check as many as apply)

Email notice

Advertisement, which one?

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Conference/event, which one?

Family/Friend

On-campus event, which one?

Workplace

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Radio ad

    
Financial Aid

To be considered, please submit:

  • An American Jewish University Financial Aid Application to the Office of Financial Aid

  • File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) with the College Scholarship Service at www.fafsa.ed.gov

If you have not already received financial aid forms, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at American Jewish University. An application for financial aid will not in any way affect your application for admission.
Letters of Recommendation

Two letters of recommendation are required (one academic preferred).
Click here for the link to the reference letter. You may also cut and paste the following link and send it to your recommenders: Letter of Recommendation Form 

List the names, occupations, addresses and telephone numbers of the people you have asked to write and submit letters on your behalf.

I expressly waive any rights I might have to access any letters of recommendation under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, or any other law, regulation or policy.

I do not agree to waive my rights to access any letters of recommendation.

1. (name, title/occupation,

address, telephone)

2. (name, title/occupation,

address, telephone)

Post-Secondary Education

List chronologically all colleges and universities attended since high school. Include extension and non-degree programs.

Name of institution

Location

Major

Degree

Dates of attendance

Extracurricular Activities

Activity

Dates of participation

Offices/positions held

Employment History

List chronologically beginning with the most recent.

Date of employment

Position

Employer

Address

Telephone

Essay Questions

   Read essay questions here.

Graduate Programs in Nonprofit Management

Applicants for admission to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Arts (MA) in Nonprofit Management are asked to write in response to the following questions.

  1. Briefly tell us about your life's journey and what has brought you to this decision point.
  2. Much of the teaching in business schools is done through the case-study method. In this document there are links to a couple of abbreviated cases. Please read them and choose ONE case to analyze. In your analysis we would like you to decide:
    • Who are the principal characters?
    • What is happening?
    • What is the major problem or issue?
    • What additional information would be helpful to you in understanding the situation?
    • Given what you do know, what would happen if no action were to be taken?
    • What actions would you recommend to the professional leadership to resolve the problem?
  3. Please choose THREE of the following questions (a–e) and write an approximate 200–300 word response for each:
    1. The Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004, known as SB 1262, applies new requirements on the conduct of charities, commercial fundraisers, fund-raising counsels, unincorporated associations and trusts. What do you think the impact of SB 1262 is on nonprofit organizations?
    2. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, allows federal and state governments to fund social-service programs offered by religious groups. What is your view of this development?
    3. Robert Putnam, in his book Bowling Alone argues that there has been erosion in civic involvement that has influenced our civil society. What is your position on his view?
    4. Peter Drucker, in his book Managing Non-profit Organizations writes "In no area are the differences greater between business and nonprofit institutions than in managing people and relationships. " Elaborate on his statement and explain why you agree or disagree with him.
    5. Since 1917, individual federal taxpayers have been allowed to deduct gifts to charitable and certain other nonprofit organizations. Do you think people would continue to support nonprofit organizations and causes without the benefit of tax deductions for charitable contributions?

Graduate Program in Jewish Communal Studies

Applicants for admission to the Master of Arts in Jewish Communal Studies (MAJC) are asked to write in response to questions one and two above, as well as question four below.

  1. The Jewish community is faced with new challenges in the 21st Century. Identify three issues you think are of critical importance and write a paragraph on each detailing why they are important, what happens when they are not dealt with, and how you propose addressing the situations.

Joint Program Applicants

Each joint program has a unique set of application requirements. Please contact an admissions representative for further information about applying to a joint-degree program. Programs include BA/MBA, MBA/MAJCS, MBA/MAEd, MAJCS/MAEd and MBA/Rabbinic.

Case Study One

   Read case study one here...

Jane is a past president of the board of directors of a multi-service agency with multiple sites. She has just received an urgent email asking her to come to a special meeting of the current and past presidents to discuss an "urgent matter. "

When Jane joined the group, all of whom were looking rather surprised at the short notice and sense of urgency, the executive director, Maybelle Evans, stood up to speak.

"As you know, " said Maybelle, "I have been your executive director for six months. I have served you well in the past as the director of programming, and I have the interest of this agency close to my heart. After all, I have worked with all the top professional and lay leaders, I have helped work out our program needs and overseen our delivery systems, I have developed budgets with the chief financial officer and with my predecessors as executive director. What I have to say is not easy. "

The group looked very concerned and didn't interrupt as Maybelle continued. "I have been told by the national organization, which has been handling our payroll, that we have failed to reimburse them for the past six months; I didn't realize that we were so far behind. We owe them 1.3 million dollars. They will not front any more payments unless we open our own payroll account and deposit money into it in advance. And we have to find the cash to pay back what we owe. "

"How could this happen? " asked Jane. "Surely someone was monitoring our accounts payable? Is this our only unpaid obligation? "

"No, " answered Joe, the chair of the board budget and finance committee, "we also owe other creditors about $259,000. I have checked our records and we have cash to cover those obligations and our next payroll, but nothing more unless we sell our real estate assets. And it seems that any of the income that we could expect to get from our programs has already been collected. There is no more easy income. "

"Well, " responded Maybelle, "I might as well tell you everything. We had our accrediting body review our early childhood and pre-school programs, and they came back with a fairly damning report. Our playground equipment doesn't meet code and our facilities need upgrading. That is going to cost us at least $200,000. Only one of our sites came out with acceptable reviews. Once that news gets around we are going to lose our fee paying customers, too! "

What should the organization do? When answering this question, keep in mind the instructions listed in question number two.

Case Study Two

   Read case study two here.

Jack was the managing partner of a downtown accounting firm, a large national firm with a high profile. His phone had been ringing all day and many of the callers had been angry and upset.

The facts of the situation that led to the onslaught were not in dispute. Hope, a female partner, had gone into the office on Sunday afternoon to do some work. She had swiped her card to access the underground garage and as she had pulled in, a driver pulled in after her as the gate was closing, without swiping a card. When Hope got out of her car to confront the driver of the car, she saw he was a young man in casual dress whom she did not know or recognize. She asked who he was and he informed her that he was Dillon, an associate at the company and that he had left his access card in his jacket at home. Hope asked for his ID and he presented his company card. She thanked him, went back to her car, parked and went to work. Hope was white, Dillon was black and the whole situation was threatening to tear the company asunder.

Jack was distressed. Dillon had been on the phone to him from San Francisco, where he had flown to meet a client. He explained to Jack that he had rushed into the office on Sunday unexpectedly to meet a colleague who was helping him with material for the meeting that Monday with the client. He realized as he pulled into the garage that he did not have his garage access card and so entered on the tail of the front car. Dillon believed that Hope had confronted him because he was young and black. He told Jack that this was not the first time he felt singled out. Comments had been made about his wedding picture on his desk since his wife was white. He had been taken off a team working on a project in Texas because he, Dillon, felt that the partner in charge was concerned about having a black associate on the team when they were not sure about the attitudes of the Texas client. Dillon felt that this latest experience was a continuation of the discrimination that was directed at African Americans in the firm.

Hope knocked on Jack's door. "I've heard a lot of rumors going around today, " she said, "and I have to tell you that I am shocked. I didn't ask for Dillon's identification because he is black. I asked because I was freaked out that a man was following me into the garage—a man who didn't seem to have an access card of his own. …I was concerned for my own safety. " Hope told Jack what happened, and that when she did not recognize the car that was following her she was scared. Two of her female friends had been mugged and one raped in a parking garage and she felt really threatened.

Jack listened and told Hope he would think about what to do. For the rest of that day he continued to field angry calls, including calls from African American associates and partners. Jack called the human resources department to set up a meeting with Dillon, Hope and the HR manager the next day. He just hoped to be able to hold things down until then. But what was he going to do at the meeting?

What should Jack do? Keep in mind the instructions in question two.

(Adapted from Harvard Business Review, September–October 2000, written by J.C. Connor)
Essay

Essay Questions

Applicants for admission to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Arts (MA) in Nonprofit Management are asked to write in response to the following questions.

  1. Briefly tell us about your life's journey and what has brought you to this decision point.
  2. Much of the teaching in business schools is done through the case-study method. On the opposite page are a couple of abbreviated cases. Please read them and choose ONE case to analyze. In your analysis we would like you to decide:
    1. Who are the principal characters?
    2. What is happening?
    3. What is the major problem or issue
    4. What additional information would be helpful to you in understanding the situation?
    5. Given what you do know, what would happen if no action were to be taken?
    6. What actions would you recommend to the professional leadership to resolve the problem?
  3. Please choose three of the following questions (a–e) and write an approximate 200–300 word response for each:
    1. The Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004, known as SB 1262, applies new requirements on the conduct of charities, commercial fundraisers, fund-raising counsels, unincorporated associations and trusts. What do you think the impact of SB 1262 is on nonprofit organizations?
    2. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, allows federal and state governments to fund social-service programs offered by religious groups. What is your view of this development?
    3. Robert Putnam, in his book Bowling Alone argues that there has been erosion in civic involvement that has influenced our civil society. What is your position on his view?
    4. Peter Drucker, in his book Managing Non-profit Organizations writes "In no area are the differences greater between business and nonprofit institutions than in managing people and relationships. " Elaborate on his statement and explain why you agree or disagree with him.
    5. Since 1917, individual federal taxpayers have been allowed to deduct gifts to charitable and certain other nonprofit organizations.
    6. Do you think people would continue to support nonprofit organizations and causes without the benefit of tax deductions for charitable contributions?
Essay  

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I certify that I have considered each item on this application carefully and that my statements are true and complete to the best of my knowledge. Furthermore, I understand that admission to or enrollment in American Jewish University may be denied if any information is found to be incomplete or inaccurate. I authorize the use of my transcripts and recommendations by the appropriate University personnel in evaluating my application to American Jewish University.
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