Core Course Exemptions

Two-Year MBA students take NCC Financial Accounting during the first half of the fall semester of their first year. Accounting is unique in that is the only core course in which there is more than one path to exemption:

Course Exemption Possibilities

• Prior Certification
• Exemption Exam

Prior Certification

If you are a CPA (or have passed the Financial Accounting and Reporting section of the CPA examination), CA, CMA, CFA (Level II or higher), or equivalent, you are automatically exempt from NCC 5000—you will not need to take the exemption exam, nor will you be allowed to take the accounting course. Please email a copy of your certificate or scores to the Johnson Registrar Office after June 1 to confirm your exemption.

Exemption Exam

The Accounting exemption exam is a problem-based exam similar to the NCC 5000 course exams. Only a passing, not perfect, performance is needed for exemption.

How to Prepare

• Review any modern Financial Accounting text, such as Financial Accounting by Libby, Libby, and Hodge, published by McGraw-Hill.
• Review these sample Core Accounting Exemption Exam questions.

Please Note

You will be permitted to use a provided Texas Instruments BA II Plus calculator during the exam. The use of laptop computers, tablets, or smartphones is not allowed.

If a student is exempt from NCC Financial Accounting either by prior certification or successfully passing the exemption exam, then they will take NCC 5060 Managerial Finance in the first half of the fall semester of their first year instead of the Core Accounting class.

Two-year MBA students take Microeconomics for Management, the core microeconomics course, in the first-half of the fall semester. The only way to gain exemption from NCC 5020 is to pass the exemption exam. The exemption exam is the equivalent of a final exam in a rigorous undergraduate intermediate-level course with a managerial emphasis.

How to Prepare

• Review Microeconomics texts (and study guides including problems) such as Microeconomics by Goolsbee, Levitt, and Syverson.

To be successful in any industry, business leaders require a solid understanding of their core customer. Strong reasoning, communication, and creativity are more important now than ever before. To develop and refine these skills, all two-Year MBA students are required to take Marketing Management in the first half of the fall core.

Exemptions will be offered in very limited cases when the following criteria are met: (1) exceptional demonstration of quantitative marketing skills, (2) exceptional demonstration of qualitative marketing skills, and (3) exceptional ability to build a logical argument for a coherent marketing strategy to address a business problem. All three of these skills will be assessed via an exemption exam.

Two-Year MBA students take NCC 5060 Managerial Finance in the second-half of the fall semester of their first year. The only exception is if a student is exempt from core Accounting they will take Core Finance in the first-half of the fall semester of their first year (see the NCC 5000 Financial Accounting section).

Course topics include capital budgeting, the tradeoff between risk and return, and the valuation of stocks.

How to Exempt Managerial Finance

The only way to gain exemption from NCC 5060 is to pass the exemption exam.

How to Prepare

Review the NCC 5060 course textbook: Corporate Finance (12th edition) by Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe, and Jordan. The Core Finance course covers material that is roughly equivalent to these chapters in the text:

– Chapter 4: Discounted Cash Flow Valuation
– Chapter 5: Net Present Value and Other Investment Rules
– Chapter 6: Making Capital Investment Decisions
– Chapter 7.1: Sensitivity Analysis, Scenario Analysis, and Break-Even Analysis
– Chapter 8: Interest Rates and Bond Valuation
– Chapter 9: Stock Valuation
– Chapter 10: Risk and Return: Lessons from Market History
– Chapter 11: Risk and Return: The Capital Asset Pricing Model
– Chapter 13: Risk, Cost of Capital, and Valuation

Students interested in exempting Core Finance are strongly encouraged to review the above material before taking the exam. You are also encouraged to review this sample Core Finance Exemption Exam.

Exam Format

The exam is comprised of 30 multiple choice questions; you will have 2 hours to answer the questions. The exam is closed book, but you are allowed to bring one 8.5″ x 11″ sheet with your choice of material on both sides. (Please note that you will be required to submit your sheet with your exam upon completion of the test.)

You will be permitted to use a provided Texas Instruments BA II Plus calculator during the exam.  The use of laptop computers, tablets, or smartphones is not allowed.

Exam Results

Students who score 75 or above on the exam are exempt from core finance. Once exempt, a student will not be enrolled in the course and will not receive course credit. A student who scores below 75 on the exam will be required to take NCC 5060.

Two-Year MBA students take Data Analytics and Modeling in the spring of their first year. The only way to gain exemption from NCC 5010 is to pass the exemption exam. If you have practical experience applying data analytics methods and have successfully completed similar coursework, you are encouraged to consider taking the exemption exam.

To sit for the exam, you will need permission from the course faculty. Instructions on how to request permission will be shared in the fall term.

How to Prepare

Review textbooks such as Statistics for Business and Economics, by David R. Anderson, Dennis J. Sweeney, and Thomas Williams or Data, Models and Decisions, by Dimitris Bertsimas and Robert Freund. A sample exam will be emailed to all students who register for the exam.

Two-Year MBA students take Managing Operations in the spring of their first year. The only way to gain exemption from NCC 5080 is to pass the exemption exam. The exam will include core course topics such as process analysis, queuing theory/service operations, Monte Carlo simulation, project and quality management, inventory theory, forecasting, linear programming, and basic supply chain management.

To sit for the exam, you must either have work experience in operations or have taken related coursework, in which case transcripts must be provided. Information on how to submit these materials in order to request permission to take the exam will be shared in the fall term.

How to Prepare

Review management textbooks such as Matching Supply and Demand, by Cachon and Terweish and Practical Management Science by Winston and Albright. A sample exam will be emailed to all students who register for the exam.