SDA Bocconi School of Management

SDA Bocconi News

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SDA Bocconi Facts

  • 81% of SDA Bocconi students found a new job within 3 months of graduating
  • SDA Bocconi graduate average salary increase is 108%
  • SDA Bocconi MBA students are from 26 different nationalities
  • Milan is famous for fashion (Valentino, Versace and Armani!) and football (A.C.Milan)

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The SDA Bocconi Full-Time MBA

The 1-year Full-Time MBA is the School's flagship program and begins each October with around 100 new MBA students. Great importance is given in the program to soft skills, such as decision-making, personal leadership, negotiation and governance. Students spend the first eight months of the program taking foundation courses and developing management skills followed by a two-month real-world, hands-on experience (individual internship or group consulting project).

Particular emphasis is given to in-company projects (both individual and group), where students, supported by tutors, check out on the field what they have learnt in class.
Most students choose to take the entire MBA at SDA Bocconi in Milano, but some can apply for the Exchange Program option and spend 3 to 4 months at one of over thirty prestigious business school partners located all around the world.


MBA students have full access to the Career Service, which organizes one-to-one career advising and coaching, workshops, corporate presentations, company days, CV book and job postings. Career management and recruiting activities allow participants to get in touch with a wide range of national and international companies.

The Luxury Business Management (LBM) Track

In addition to 5 functional-based Concentrations, such as Strategy, Corporate Finance, Investments, Innovation and Marketing, the Program offers participants the possibility to further personalize their development by choosing the sector-based Track in Luxury Business Management (LBM) in partnership with Bulgari, one of the global players on the luxury market.

Starting in the middle of the third term of the MBA program (mid-May), the LBM track offers students the opportunity to focus their path on subjects related to general management in luxury business. The approach the managerial peculiarities of these businesses is from 360°, from strategy to finance, from operations to legal issues. The track is held in Rome at Bulgari headquarters. The active involvement of Bulgari managers in the program assures a unique interaction between theory and practice.

The courses are grouped into two main parts: Foundation and Advanced Courses. The foundation courses will take place from mid-May to late June. During this portion, students will also participate in a three-day Bulgari Business Game on managerial issues in luxury brands. Advanced courses will be held in October. From July to September, internships and field projects with an international perspective will be offered.

The LBM track will be held in Rome at Bulgari headquarters. The active involvement of Bulgari managers in the program will assure an ideal interaction between theory and practice. This unique track is the only one in Luxury Business Management within a top ranked International MBA.

SDA Bocconi Application Essay Questions

All applications must be completed online with additional documentations sent by post. See all application info here.

  • Write down, in order of importance, all possible past or present community or cultural responsibilities
  • What interests and occupations do you pursue in your free time?
  • What do you think you gained from your university studies? Conversely, what important things do you think your study lacked?
  • Explain the most significant goals you think you have achieved so far and the reasons for their importance in your personal growth
  • Describe your strong points, personal and professional, explaining why you see them as such
  • Describe your weak points, personal and professional, explaining why you see them as such
  • What are the reasons that lead you to apply to the MBA program at this point in your life?
  • What do you hope to get from the MBA program?
  • What other possibilities have you seriously considered, apart from the MBA program, for reaching your goals of personal and professional growth?
  • Where do you wish to pursue your profession after receiving the MBA diploma? Why?
  • What are your short-term professional goals (within the next four years)?
  • What are your long-term professional goals?

About SDA Bocconi School of Management

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SDA Bocconi is the leading School of Management in Italy and also stands among the top-ranked European Institutions. Founded in 1971, with its over 40-year experience, SDA Bocconi School of Management is a pioneer in business education in Italy: its hallmark is innovation and far-reaching modelling that manifest themselves through a wide array of executive courses and master programs.

The School offers a Full-time MBA and a Global Executive MBA in English as well as a modular Executive MBA and an Evening Executive MBA in Italian. It also offers 10 Full-time Specialized Master Programs (5 International + 5 in Italian) and 6 Executive Specialized Master Programs (2 International + 4 in Italian). For more info: www.sdabocconi.it/sdamaster. Furthermore, the School offers a large variety of Executive Education Open and Custom Programs each year.

SDA Bocconi prides itself for: strategic location, an unparalleled faculty, global outlook, its diversity, powerful networks. The school is positioned in the heart of Milano, a major capital of industry, finance, arts, media and, above all, fashion. Milano is a real-life laboratory for SDA Bocconi. The city is home to a myriad of companies and stock markets to which students are directly exposed. SDA Bocconi added-value is that of having on one side the academic excellence and tradition, guaranteed by “Università Bocconi”, its reputation, strong faculty and research centers, on the other, an eye constantly opened on the market, on the business world needs, a practical, business oriented approach when facing contents and situations.


SDA Bocconi is globally focused. Students come at SDA Bocconi from across the globe. Every year, the campus is exemplification for diversity, internationalism and gender heterogeneity; the classes bring together individuals from different professional backgrounds with no industry dominating over the other.
Worldwide network's pillar of strength lies in the quality of the partnership SDA Bocconi holds with key business institutions around Italy and across the world. SDA Bocconi alumni operating in major cities around the world represent a concrete global network.

The Latest rankings

The leading School of Management in Italy and the only Italian School on the top of the charts of all main International Rankings, SDA Bocconi has established itself as a European leader in higher education. SDA Bocconi placed 6th in Europe in the QS Global 200 Business School Report 2012, based on the assessments of Recruiters.

The MBA program also allowed the School to reach 4th place amongst the top non-US Business Schools in the Forbes ranking, which is mainly based on return on investment. In addition, SDA Bocconi started 2011 by placing first in the world in the Bloomberg Businessweek Ranking for Full-Time MBA Return On Investment and ended the year reaching the 7th position in the Financial Times' Best European Business Rankings, gaining ten positions. SDA Bocconi also ranks 15th in Europe and 42nd worldwide and remains the only Italian Business School in the latest Financial Times Global MBA Rankings, which has seen a general downgrade of European Schools in favor of U.S. Schools. SDA Bocconi, however, ranks 4th in Europe for salary increase three years after graduation, in spite of the negative impact of the financial crisis on MBA graduate salaries: new international and growth-oriented initiatives have been implemented, in line with the School's decision in 2008 to move from a bilingual MBA to an International program entirely taught in English.

Further testimony of the quality of the programs offered by SDA Bocconi is the accreditation by the AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), announced on 5 December 2011 by the Board of Directors of AACSB International. This accreditation, in addition to the previously awarded EQUIS and AMBA, marks the completion of the top three accreditations offered by the most important international institutions, and places the School among just 55 Business Schools worldwide to have received the AACSB accreditation.

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