Flex Option

• The Flex option is two of six cohorts in the Berkeley Haas Evening and Weekend MBA Program. 
• The Flex cohort conducts all of its core classes in an online format comprised of approximately half synchronous (live instruction) and half asynchronous (recorded content, discussion boards, etc.) content – except for Orientation, the Leadership Communications weekend immersion, and the Mid Program Academic Review capstone course – all of which are held in person.
  
  • WE Launch: This is the required Evening & Weekend MBA Orientation held from Friday through Sunday on a weekend in late July on campus at Haas. Students in all cohorts are expected to attend this entire orientation in person in order to commence the Evening & Weekend MBA program. Hotel rooms are provided free of charge for all six cohorts.
  • Leadership Communication: This core course is taught as a weekend immersion for the Flex cohorts from Friday through Sunday in the second half of your second semester. The course is held in person at Haas. Hotel rooms are provided free of charge to Flex students.
  • Mid Program Academic Review: This is a required weekend immersion focused on the "Communicating in Diverse Environments" core course for the entire evening and weekend class. It is taught offsite, typically at a resort site in Napa, California, from Friday through Sunday on the Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend in January of your fourth semester. Hotel rooms are provided free of charge to all six cohorts.
• Electives can be taken either online or in person. For in-person classes, we offer electives on a weeknight or on a Saturday. For online electives, the schedules will vary based on faculty availability.

• The Flex cohorts have online core classes. Core classes are taken during the first three semesters of the traditional 6-semester, three-year program.
• Flex cohort core courses contain weekly synchronous and asynchronous material. Synchronous classes will be taught on either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Pacific Time. Students will have roughly an additional four hours of asynchronous content per week.
• The other cohorts are taught in person on the UC Berkeley Haas campus and meet either two evenings a week or all day Saturday.

Yes. The Flex cohorts are part of our Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA Program which will award you with the same life-changing Berkeley MBA degree as all of our other top-ranked MBA programs.

• WE Launch (required): This is the required Evening & Weekend MBA Orientation held from Friday through Sunday on a weekend in late July and includes all cohorts. Hotel rooms are provided to all students.
• Leadership Communication (required): This core course is taught as a weekend immersion for the Flex cohorts from Friday through Sunday on a weekend in the second half of your second semester. The course is held in person at Haas. Hotel rooms are provided to Flex students.
• RE Launch (optional): This is a weekend immersion from Friday through Sunday on a weekend in October of your third semester on campus at Haas. Portions will be open to all Evening & Weekend MBA students, but there is additional programming for students in the Flex cohort. The weekend is designed as an opportunity for the Flex cohorts to bond in person with their fellow Flex classmates and other Evening & Weekend MBA students. Hotel rooms are provided to all Flex students.
• Mid Program Academic Review (required): This is a weekend immersion focused on the Communicating in Diverse Environments core course for the entire evening and weekend MBA class. It is taught offsite, typically at a resort in Napa, California from Friday through Sunday on the Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend in January of your fourth semester. Hotel rooms are provided free of charge to all students.
• WE Lead (optional): Optional weekend celebration and recap of the MBA experience, held in May of the Class’s graduating year. This immersive experience is open to all evening and weekend MBA students.

The Flex program is designed to replicate the in-person MBA experience without commuting to the Berkeley campus. Core classes are taught by the same pool of Haas tenure-track faculty. In addition, you will have opportunities to engage in extracurricular activities and career development resources at Haas virtually and on campus.

You can take in-person electives once you have completed the required core classes online.

• Absolutely. Please engage with your academic advisor early on to plot an accelerated program.
• Students finishing in less than six semesters often take summer electives in addition to taking more than the average of 6 or 7 elective units per semester.

Core classes are expected to be about half synchronous content and half asynchronous content. Elective classes may vary from this split, depending on the subject matter.

• You will need a device that supports video conferencing.
• Faculty expect that all students be on camera during class, so you should also have access to a stable broadband internet connection.
• Dedicated headphones also help with the online experience.

• The Evening & Weekend MBA Program Office organizes study teams within each cohort for core classes. Group projects are done with your study team. 
• These assigned study teams will continue throughout your first year of core courses.
• Your assigned study team members will all be part of your Flex cohort.
• After your first year of core courses, students in all cohorts organize their own study teams as necessary in the remaining core courses and electives.

• You will be required to attend these classes and events in person:
  • WE Launch: This is the required Evening & Weekend MBA Orientation held from Friday through Sunday in a weekend in late July on campus at Haas. Students in all cohorts are expected to attend this entire orientation in person in order to commence the Evening & Weekend MBA program. Hotel rooms are provided free of charge for all six cohorts.
  • Leadership Communication: This core course is a required weekend immersion for the Flex cohorts from Friday through Sunday in the second half of your second semester. The course is held in person at Haas. Hotel rooms are provided to Flex students.
  • Mid Program Academic Review: This is a required weekend immersion focused on the “Business Communications in Diverse Environments” core course for the entire class. It is taught offsite, typically at a resort in Napa, California, from Friday through Sunday on the Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend in January of your fourth semester. Hotel rooms are provided to all six cohorts.
• Optional events:
  • RE Launch: This is a weekend immersion from Friday through Sunday on a weekend in October of your third semester on campus at Haas. Portions will be open to all Evening & Weekend MBA students, but there is additional programming for students in the Flex cohort. The weekend is designed as an opportunity for the Flex cohorts to bond in person with their fellow Flex classmates and other Evening & Weekend students. Hotel rooms are provided to all Flex students.
  • WE Lead: Optional weekend celebration and recap of the MBA experience, held in May of the class’s graduating year. This immersive experience is open to all Evening & Weekend MBA students.

• Flex classes have online exams where applicable. 
• In-person electives have either online or in-person exams at the discretion of the instructor.

• In-person attendance for all of the WE Launch weekend is mandatory in order to begin your Haas MBA and cannot be waived.
• If you cannot attend one of the other mandatory events, you need to contact your academic advisor immediately to understand your options.

Yes. As part of the Flex cohort, you will have two weekly sessions in each of your core classes, on either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm PST.

Yes.

Yes, but Flex cohort students will receive first bid for the online electives.

Yes. It’s the same application as our Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA Program because it’s part of the same program — just a new cohort option that offers remote access.

Yes. The same standards apply because the Flex cohort is part of the Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA Program.

Like all evening and weekend cohorts, each Flex cohort enrolls approximately 70 students. Students are admitted independently of cohort preference and assigned to cohorts based on space availability.

No. The admission decision will be made independently of your cohort preference. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate your cohort preference when we extend your admission offer. Therefore, if you have a strong preference or need for a specific cohort, we recommend applying in earlier rounds to increase your chances of getting your first choice.

You will be applying to the Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA Program and will need to meet the same competitive standards no matter which cohort you join (Flex, Evenings, or Weekends). If you can only attend the Flex cohort, please indicate that in the cohort preference section of your application.

The application deadlines are not specific to Flex. They are the same for all cohorts in the Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA Program.

We reserve some seats for applicants in each round.

• Almost all “online” MBAs are taught asynchronously, using recorded lectures and other asynchronous online teaching tools (simulations, discussion boards, etc.).
• The Flex cohorts provide live online classes two times per week for core classes, along with expertly designed asynchronous modules to be completed at your own pace. The Berkeley Flex MBA also provides 5 in-person signature events (3 are required), which allows for valuable networking and connection with the Flex and other Evening & Weekend MBA students. Flex students also have the opportunity to attend electives in whatever format works best for them after attending core classes online.

Our learning management platform, bCourses (based on the Canvas application), has straightforward upload processes for required deliverables in addition to online discussion boards which can be used to increase asynchronous engagement.

• Yes. All Flex courses are taught by the same faculty who teach our in-person classes.

You can arrange office hour sessions with your professors in a format that is mutually agreeable.

Because Berkeley Haas faculty emphasize teamwork and collaboration, you are part of a study team of about five students. Each team is selected to include diverse professional experiences to ensure you learn from and with people with different perspectives and skills.

Yes. You are welcome on campus whenever you want.

You have the same access as the rest of our MBA students to all of the events at Haas and on the UC Berkeley campus.

Students are responsible for obtaining their own textbooks listed in course syllabi.

We provide access to other materials at no charge (articles, case studies, simulations, etc.) as assigned by faculty.

Yes. We will provide accommodations and meals at no additional cost.

We will also provide transportation from the hotel to the campus at the beginning and end of each day.

No. The fees are the same as they are for all of our Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA Program cohorts.

No. There is no difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition.

Yes. Check out the available scholarships for evening and weekend MBA students.

Yes. You have access to all of the Career Management Group services available to all of our Evening & Weekend MBA students.

Yes. Here's a list of co-curriculars and clubs at Berkeley Haas.

• The required in-person events are designed to provide key bonding and networking opportunities for all students enrolled in the Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA Program.
• Electives are a great way to meet fellow students. Dual-listed electives with the full-time MBA program and the MBA for Executives program are also great networking opportunities.
• In addition, the Evening & Weekend MBA Association leadership works on social and networking events for all Evening and Weekend MBA students.
• Career Management Group events and workshops, Alumni Relations events, Haas student clubs and organizations, and regular Haas-hosted events like the Dean's Speaker Series are also great ways to network with Berkeley Haas students across all MBA degree programs.