So I figured as many people have messaged me asking about the MBA program at Norwich that I would provide a some feedback thus far. The application process was pretty straight forward, complete an application and $50 non-refundable deposit, resume, official transcripts, letter of intent, and provide professional letters of recommendation. The program is RA/ ACBSP accredited; no GMAT was required but if your undergraduate GPA was low then they will require that you take the GMAT. Once excepted I received my books about one month prior to the official start date. Approximately one week prior to starting the program I was assigned my first series of assignments, which included a few online surveys about my experiences with the entrance process, followed by several short assignments related to the history of the school and what will be expected during the MBA program; including their 1 week residency requirement toward the end of the program. Once the program started things progressed rapidly. Each student is assigned to a group of cohorts; group Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and so on. Each cohort group is comprised of 8-10 people, and the program is sequential (one class at a time). Norwich uses Angel learning as their online learning platform. The system is not difficult to navigate, but it does take a moment to acclimate. Assignments are released on Monday, and you have to log onto the website at least three days per week; assignments are due every Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. The rules for the program are rigid, as one would expect from a military college and like many colleges you must maintain a B average in order to progress through the program and eventually graduate. I'm in my first semester, but that is how things have gone thus far. Our first group project will be a 25 page research paper on electric health record (EHR). Our project will be provided to the executive management team at a nearby hospital in Vermont who will evaluate and grade our work. Norwich appears to have close ties to many large but local organizations within Vermont, who they partner with to help evaluate the projects assigned to their graduate students (MBA and otherwise). That is what I have so far. I will keep everyone abreast as the program moves forward.
Wow, sounds pretty impressive. I'm not a big fan of group assignments but understand the school's emphasis on them and it sounds like they're doing it right. I like the idea of cohorts and the feedback of corporate peers. Good luck with this, and please keep this thread going.
I completely agree. I am wary of group projects as well, but that is the hand I have been dealt so I'll just roll with it; but I am apprehensive due to my prior experiences with group projects in an undergraduate setting.
As I am poised to complete my first semester at Norwich I figured I give everyone some input related to my experiences. The Norwich MBA program is a cohort format, which I'm finding that I am not a fan of. I had some reservations about a cohort format going in, as I generally hate group projects, and my opinion remains unchanged even at the graduate level. I understand cohort experiences can change with each group, but I am finding the experience painful to say the least. Norwich is currently transitioning from their Angel online format to another system called Moodle. It's so new I haven't had a chance to mess with it, but next semester I will. As far as course load goes, Norwich is pretty intense and the program requires a ton of writing (Approximately 110 pages +/- per 12 week semester) and a 25 page group final exam. Granted each course is 6 units in length, so its kinda par for the course. One interesting facet of the program is its unadvertised growth in the number of concentrations that will be offered at some point. Currently, there is a handful of MBA concentrations; but they have a few more in the development stages which are not advertised on their website.
