Smurfit Graduate Business School Admissions: Entry Requirements, Deadlines, Application Process

UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business College is one of the premier business schools in Ireland. It is one of the first universities in Europe to offer an MBA in 1964. Over 1,300 graduate students study at the university. Approximately half of the student population at UCD is represented by international students coming from various countries to study in Ireland. The admission team of the university is very selective in its student intake. The college offers graduate courses in the fields of Accounting, Finance, Management, Human Resource Management, Management Information Systems, and Marketing.

An interview round is conducted before providing admissions to the MBA applicants, clearing this interview is a must for securing admission. MBA applicants also require work experience prior to application. Other Masters courses do not require an interview, however, some of them do demand mandatory work experience. 

• Admissions for all the programs start in September 2020.
• For the August 2020 MBA batch, the admission process started in October 2019.
• Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and once the seats are filled, the application process is stopped.
• International students are advised to apply as soon as the online admission window opens.

Smurfit Graduate Business College Highlights

Smurfit Graduate Business College Deadlines

Smurfit Graduate Business College admissions are carried out on a rolling basis. However, this does not mean that admissions are freely available. The college shuts down its application window as soon as the number of available seats is filled up. Some courses fill up even before the summer of the year of admission begins.

Thus, students, and especially international students, are advised to apply as soon as the admission process starts. The dates for this is as follows:

Two of the programs at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business College have a formal deadline.

Smurfit Graduate Business College International Student Admissions

International students at Smurfit Graduate Business College represent half of the student population. Before applying students should know about the exams to study in Ireland. As this is a graduate college, all applicants are supposed to have the honor or primary degree.

Application Portal: UCD Applications System 

Application Fee: 50 EUR (56 USD)

Enrollment Fee (Post-Admission): 500 EUR (558 USD)

Admission Requirements:

• Completed application form.
• A university degree.
• Graduate Management Admissions Test (for select courses) Scores.
• Minimum of three years’ quality professional experience (for MBA).
• English language proficiency certificate.

English Proficiency Requirements

All Irish universities use English as their language of instruction, thus, all international applicants must exhibit a good grasp over the English language. International applicants can provide their evidence of English competency through their school-leaving examination or matriculation examination or by scoring minimum standard score in a recognized English language test.

Visa Requirements

In order to study in Ireland, international students need to apply for the Student Visa. The Student Visa for Ireland comes under the category of ‘D’ visa - the term used for all long term visas in Ireland. The required documents for the visa process are mentioned below.

• Letter of Acceptance from the college
• Valid Passport
• Visa application form (online)
• Electronic Transfer of Funds (ETF) receipt of having paid the college fees
• Evidence of academic ability
• Evidence of financial support
• Private medical insurance

All the students are required to carry their proof of acceptance on the day of joining. Apart from the visa requirement, for living in Ireland, all international students need to apply for permission to stay in Ireland at border control.

Smurfit Graduate Business College Masters Admissions

For students who want to enroll in the master’s programs need to fulfill the minimum eligibility criteria set by the university.

Smurfit Graduate Business College MBA Admissions

Smurfit Graduate Business College was one of the first European universities to offer an MBA. The MBA program commenced in the year 1964. The MBA Program of the university has been ranked in “Top 100 “by Financial Times Global MBA ranking and the university programs have continuously held the spot intact since 2000.

The following are the requirements for securing admission in the MBA course offered by Smurfit Graduate Business College:

• University Degree
• Three years of professional work experience
• GMAT Scores:
  • Full-time MBA: 60
  • Executive MBA: 520
• IELTS Score: 7.0
• TOEFL (iTB): 100
• Interview (through telephone or Skype for international applicants)

The college requires an international equivalent of NFQ 8 for the university degree to be accepted. The equivalent for this Irish level of education in some Asian nations are as follows:

• India: Bachelors in programs of Agriculture/Dentistry/Engineering/Pharmacy/Technology and Veterinary Medicine
• Pakistan: Honours Bachelor Degree / Professional Bachelor Degree
• Sri Lanka: Bachelor Degree (Special or Honours)
• Bangladesh: Masters Degree

Admissions in Smurfit Graduate Business College can be the turning point of one’s career as it is one of the most reputed business schools in the world. The admission process, thus, is also quite a challenging one. If one is thoroughly knowledgeable about one’s field of interest and has performed well in previous academic years, then securing admissions becomes much easier. Students should go through the application process for universities in Ireland before so they can easily apply for the university. As only a limited number of seats are available for each course and due to high competition in every program, international applicants are advised to start with the application process as soon as the application window opens. This is necessary because the international students, in addition to securing a seat, also have to go through the visa approval process before finally moving into Dublin for study.