FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

General

Application and admission

Qualification and selection process rules

Expenses and financial aids

Lessons and lectures

Classes and examinations

Studies and students

Graduation and dissertation

For international students

Worth knowing

General

Do only consultants profit from the study programme?: No. Our students come from all industries and branches of trade. For executives and managers, consulting know-how is increasingly becoming a success factor because it is primarily about problem-solving methods and competence. Founders of new businesses find this subject matter helpful in the strategic orientation, for the formation of the company and beyond.

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How can you profit from a MBA?: Most importantly, your enrolment in post-graduate studies WHILE working full-time is a proof of your capacities, your stress-resistance and purposefulness.

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Are the MBA programmes accredited?: Yes. MBA-IMC and ILMC are approved and accredited by the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA), which is an internationally acknowledged accreditation agency.

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Application and admission

Are online applications for the MBA programme accepted?: No. All certificates and documents must be officially certified. The application form, however, can be downloaded from our website.

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Can applicants without work experience enrol in the MBA programme?: No. The MBA is a post-graduate qualification intended for specialists and executive staff with 3 years of relevant work experience. In special cases, internships can also be accepted as work experience.

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Can applicants without a university degree enrol in the programme?: Yes. In exceptional cases, a first university degree is not required ? provided that the applicant has at least five years? work experience and a higher education entrance qualification. Additionally, the applicants have to hand in a research paper of 12 - 15 pages.

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Is there an application fee?: No, there isn?t.

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What are the failure and drop-out rates?: Careful selection and extensive counselling result in a low drop-out rate (< 1 %). The failure rate depends on the individual commitment and professional background and has been at less than 2 % up to now.

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What criteria has the applicant to fulfill with his/her research paper?: The research paper has to have a length of 12 - 15 pages excluding bibliography. The paper has to meet scientific criteria concerning structure and language. The topic should link between the professional experience of the candidate and the topics of the MBA-programme. The paper can be written in German as well as in English. The candidate starts writing the paper after the acceptance test and has three weeks time to hand it in.

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Qualification and selection process rules

Is a TOEFL/IELTS test required: No. An English test (multiple choice) is part of the acceptance test.

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Which kind of evidence for language abilities is required?: Part of the acceptance test is a multiple-choice English test of 90 minutes.

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Do I have to take an entry (acceptance) test?: Yes. It comprises a multiple-choice English test and a personal interview with one of the professors or programme managers of the course.

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Expenses and financial aids

What institutions do I-IMC and the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences share?: I-IMC is part of the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences. They share the examination office (examinations, filing of marks, issue of certificates, dissertation process), computer centre (exam registration hardware, IT-support), budget (tuition fees) and students? office (admission and re-registration, student union fees).

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Why do student union charges/adm. fee and tuition fees have different due dates?: Student union charges (at present ? 87.47 per semester) are due within the re-registration period, which is usually after I-IMC?s examinations (for exact dates please see the student ID sheet) and normally before the due date of the tuition fees for I-IMC. Student union charges and tuition fees are two separate payment transactions.

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Which costs/fees arise for the MBA-ILMC programme?: The tuition fees amount to ? 3,500 per semester (plus VAT: ? 16,240 in total). Student union charges are at present ? 87.47 per semester. Additional expenses arise for flights and accommodation for winter school (Thailand) and summer school (USA).

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Can I apply for BAFÖG (financial aid through the Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz) for this study programme?: No, the programme is not supported by BAFÖG.

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Can financial aid be granted by the University of Applied Sciences or the institute?: Being part of a public university, I-IMC cannot grant financial aid. On our website you will find links to institutions offering grants to students.

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Are the tuition fees tax-deductible?: Yes. The costs for a post-graduate study programme are usually tax-deductible to the full extent. This includes tuition fees, working materials, transportation and accommodation costs.

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Lessons and lectures

Is the study programme compatible with professional life?: Absolutely. The 64 teaching days take place, e.g. on Fridays and Saturdays on approximately 9 weekends per semester and/or in blocs of 4 to 7 days, but this depends on the particular MBA-programme.

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In which language is the course delivered?: MBA-IMC® (in Germany and Switzerland): The summer semester is bilingual; 30% is delivered in English. In the winter semester (in Germany)the course language is English only. MBA-ILMC® can only be started in the winter semester. It is held entirely in English. In our MBA-IMC® programmes in India and Vietnam the course language is also English.

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How high is the amount of work outside of the lecture times?: It is recommendable to calculate the same number of total teaching hours of each study programme for preparation and revision of the lessons. In both programmes this amounts to 15 to 18 days on average per semester.

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Which lectures are relevant for the examinations?: Principally, all lectures both by our professors and guest lecturers are relevant for the exams. The only exception is the one about the award ceremony.

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Can lecture notes be made available at the beginning of the semester?: No. Then the up-to-dateness of the lecture notes would suffer ? it is extremely difficult to keep up the present standard. The lecture notes are made available in the download area of our website, right in time before the lectures take place.

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Is regular attendance of the classes necessary?: Yes, regular presence is highly recommendable. Case studies, presentations and the interchange among the students are important assets of our courses of study.

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Classes and examinations

How often can I repeat an examination?: You can repeat both final examinations and credit records only once (please see §§ 9, 12, 13, 26 of our examination regulations). NB: If you failed an examination you must repeat it in the following term (please see examination regulations).

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Additional assessment attempt: If you have taken your final examinations within the standard period of study, you have the option to repeat this final examination; in order to achieve better marks than in the first try or to take an examination ahead of schedule. The examination with the better result counts. This applies for the final examinations only.

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Which facilities are allowed during the examinations?: Facilities and aids differ depending on the individual teaching unit. If necessary, I-IMC provides appliances such as non-programmable calculators (e.g. for economics exams).

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How many examinations have to be taken in total during the entire study programme?: The examinations take place at the end of the semester, covering the entire lecture content of the semester. A detailed list of all exams is available in the examination regulations.

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What are the failure and drop-out rates?: Careful selection and extensive counselling result in a low drop-out rate (< 1 %). The failure rate depends on the individual commitment and professional background and has been at less than 2 % up to now.

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How much time spent studying is required to pass the exams?: HIt is necessary to increase studying in the weeks prior to the examinations. Students often work together in study groups. The time necessary also depends on the experience and professional background of the individual student. As a rule of thumb, we recommend to calculate the same expenditure of time for studying as was spent in the lectures.

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Is it possible to distribute the examinations, to schedule them on different weekends?: No, all written examinations take place on the examination weekend. Exceptions are term papers or presentations; their deadline may be at a lecture weekend, during or after the term.

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Is there an online marks checkback?: Yes, there is. (Intranet of www.i-imc.de ?students, report of marks?)

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I cannot see all my marks/exams I have taken!: All exams written on the examination weekends, that have been registered via PC, are visible online. The examination office enters all marks as soon as they receive them. The credits obtained during and after the semester are registered by the examination office with the subject examined. If marks have been registered by the examination office and are still not visible, please contact our computer centre (Room A10) about this technical problem.

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How many places are available per semester?: Generally, about 22 students per semester can be accepted in each programme.

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Credit Record Research Methods (LRM) - Repetition: In case you failed your credit record in the actual semester, you must hand it in until up to 6 weeks after the examination weekend in the following semester. Please e-mail the LRM incl. the cover sheet (Download from intranet ?Dissertation?) to Mrs Bitsch - Amt für Weiterbildung -(Please see our examination regulations).

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Studies and students

Why cannot all data of students and alumni be accessed in the I-IMC network?: For the publication of personal data we need a declaration of consent. In many cases this has not been provided. Please take the first step and give us your consent under ?General Area, Profile configuration, Authorisation?. Only those students who have declared their consent will be able to contact each other.

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What is the average age of the students in the MBA programmes?: The average age of the students in our MBA programmes is around 35 years.

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What is the percentage of international students in the MBA programmes in Germany?: In the bilingual MBA-IMC programme the percentage of international students is about 20 %, and in the monolingual English programme about 80 %. In the MBA-ILMC programme, we have about 30 % foreign students.

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What are the percentages of male and female students?: 80 % male, 20 % female.

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Where do I find information about the re-registration period for the following semester?: Either on the website of the University of Applied Sciences (http://web.fh-ludwigshafen.de/index.nsf/de/rueckmeldung), or on the student ID sheet, which is posted to you at the beginning of each semester. On this sheet you will also find the re-registration form for the following semester and the re-registration period.

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Graduation and dissertation

What is the earliest / latest possible date on which to start the final thesis (MBA dissertation): You can start your final thesis at the earliest after having passed all final examinations (§ 12 examination regulations). The latest date is six weeks after having passed all final examinations and obtained all credits (§ 13 examination regulations). You have to register your dissertation by handing in the approved proposal and your dissertation contract at the examination office.

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I have lost my MBA-Grade Report/MBA-Certificate. What can I do: Please contact the examination office at the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences. They will issue a duplicate, for which the following costs arise: ? 16 for the Grade Report, ? 18 for the MBA-Certificate, plus postage.

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Is there a given topic for the dissertation?: There is a list of subjects from which a topic can be chosen (Intranet ?Dissertation?). Furthermore, students can choose topics relevant for their own professional experience or consulting practice. These have to be approved by a potential advisor.

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Who acts as a potential advisor for the dissertation?: All IMC / ILMC lecturers and professors (e.g. of the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences). External advisors/guest lecturers with the approval of the head of Examination Board. Application for approval can be submitted directly to Ms. Annika Karger (assistant FB III, study course MBA IMC and MBA ILMC). -You have to state a reason why you want this supervisor. -You have to afirm there is no dependency between the supervisor and the student. -The CV of the supervisor. The application and the CV by post or e-mail to Ms. Annika Karger.

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For international students

How early should the application be handed in before the study course starts?: No less than 6 months before the start of the semester; 12 months are even better.

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In your experience ? how long does the visa process usually take?: Depending on the home country of the applicant, the time needed ranges from 12 weeks to 6 months.

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Where and how can I find accommodation?: Foreign students can rent an apartment at a student hostel. Otherwise: free housing market. There are different possibilities at the student hostels in Ludwigshafen or Mannheim. We are happy to provide contact details or to book the accommodation for our international students.

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Can I take additional language courses?: The Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences offers a range of language courses at different levels during the semester.

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Are there German language courses for international students?: Depending on the number of students the subject Elective German is part of the course. Students without or few German knowledge will be allocated to this course automatically. Additional to the lecture schedule extra lecturing days (1-2 days per month) and self study will be necessary during the first semester.

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Do international applicants have a good chance of finding a job or practical work placement? What is the usual procedure?: I-IMC can support you in your search for a job/practical work placement/intership. A guarantee, however, cannot be given. Without substantial German skills chances are slight.

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Being a foreign student, can I also work while studying?: Foreign students can work full time beyond the usual 90 days without needing a work permit. Your job, however, should be thematically related to your studies. Please ask us in advance!

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Worth knowing

Opening hours AStA (general students? committee): During the semester: Mon-Fri 9:45 - 13:45 and Wed 9:45 - 15:45

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Whom can I contact if I have further questions?: Please feel free to contact Ms. Annika Karger (+49-621-5203251) with any questions regarding the studies.

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When do I get an I-IMC folder and where can I buy new ones?: You will get one folder at the beginning of the semester, additional ones at the office at € 5 each.

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