“I always felt like Berkeley would be a perfect fit for me, but I was afraid it would be out of reach because it was far,” said Amanda Sultan, MBA 25. Far indeed. She most recently worked as a strategic projects lead in Waymo’s Ride-Hailing Operations in Detroit, Michigan. But the Berkeley Haas evening & weekend MBA Flex option, she said, “meets me where I need to be,” providing optionality, flexibility, and a program Amanda really connected with.
Introduced in 2023, the Flex option delivers core courses online at scheduled times that you can participate in from wherever is convenient for you. You have the choice of taking electives online or attending on campus. As Aidan Steele, who was still on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia when he first started the program, said, “Haas was really the only option for me to get into a top-tier MBA program, because of the Flex cohort. My life would be impossible to balance if not for the Flex format.”
Sophie Christian, MBA 25, a component strategy analyst for Daimler Truck North America in Portland, Oregon similarly appreciates the choices. “We meet twice a week for two hours at a fixed time. . . The rest of the time, I could decide on when to study and watch the asynchronous videos.”
Many students note the value of the Flex option for their family life. Marc Armbruster, MBA 25, is VP and principal data scientist in the Wealth Management division of Citizens Bank living in Westchester, New York. He also is the father of a young child. “At this time in my life, I don't think I could have handled the commuting demands of a traditional part time program,” he said.
Shilpa Chidambaram, MBA 25, senior product manager for Demandbase, in the San Francisco Bay Area, agrees. “When I joined Haas, my son was just five months old. The Flex format has really helped me to balance my very demanding career, a very demanding baby at home, and also the curriculum itself.”
“Flex really does let you have it all,” said Emily Harmon, MBA 25, HR integration program manager with Microsoft in Seattle, Washington. “You can have your career. You can have your personal life, be there for your friends and family, watch your kids grow up while also pursuing your educational goals.”
Students like Sophie and Lisa Dalgleish, MBA 25, a talent strategy & innovation manager with Deloitte in Austin, Texas, appreciate lower stress levels related to needing to be at a given place at a given time. “I have taken class from work trips. I've taken class from personal trips, and I've had a lot of autonomy in deciding where in the world I might be logging in to class,” said Lisa.
Even local students like Nour Abi Samra, MBA 25, senior product solutions architect with Certinia in San Francisco, appreciate the Flex option. It “has really allowed me to add on another layer to my life rather than have to compromise in other ways to make my MBA happen,” she said.
And the Flex option does not diminish the quality of education. “This program has the same level of rigor and the same expectations, same professors, same curriculum, as all of the other MBA programs at Haas,” said Lisa.
Marc agreed, saying, “Haas has a long tradition of innovation, and I think the Flex program is sort of an extension of that. They're really pushing the envelope in terms of what an educational experience can be.”
What stood out to Alecia Wall, MBA 25, senior manager Channel Acceleration with Atlassian in Austin, Texas about Haas in general, and the Flex option specifically, is that “I felt that by the end of the program, I wouldn't just be a more well-rounded businessperson, but I would be a more well-rounded person. And that was very appealing because Haas puts a huge emphasis on not only what you will do and what you will learn but who you will become.”
Interested in pursuing your MBA but worried about how it will fit in with your busy life? Learn more about the Berkeley Haas Flex MBA today!
