How are EMBA grades calculated - Class of November 2024 and Beyond

To earn your Executive MBA degree, you must:

Complete all courses in the EMBA curriculum within the required time frame.
Complete all the graded SMARTCASE lessons.
Complete the exams associated with each concentration.
Complete the written projects and proctored oral examinations as presentations.
Complete the Capstone Project and Presentation. In order to graduate, you must submit and pass both your written Capstone project (with a score of 3 or higher) and your Capstone presentation (with a score of 2 or higher).
Submit the required documents that confirm your identity, eligibility and past academic performance as referenced in your EMBA application.

Your grade is weighted in the following way:

Projects & Presentations: 30%
SMARTCASEs: 10%
Exams: 60%

A final overall score of 80% is the minimum to graduate. The distinction of Honors is awarded to the top 10% of each cohort upon graduation. Students who graduate behind schedule are not eligible to receive this distinction. Apart from the Honors distinction, as Valar operates on a pass/fail basis, there are no class or personal ranks to provide. Please note that all grades are percentage-based, and not issued as letter grades or GPA.

Projects & Presentations - 30%

Over the course of this program, you will complete four projects and three proctored oral examinations as presentations, including the Capstone project and presentation. Each project and presentation we assign will be accompanied by a prompt and grading rubric. The assignment and due dates for each project are listed on your cohort's curriculum page. Learn more about how projects are graded here.

SMARTCASEs - 10%

As you progress through lessons in Valar, feel free to explore different answer options (both correct and incorrect) that trigger helpful feedback. You are not expected to get all "correct answers" while you are learning—mistakes are an important part of learning, after all—so, you aren't graded on regular lessons; however, you are graded on SMARTCASE lessons. Only your first SMARTCASE score will count towards your final grade, but you can retake SMARTCASEs as many times as you like for additional review ahead of exams. Learn more about how SMARTCASEs are graded here.

SMARTCASEs that are a part of the Business Foundations playlist available to complete prior to your start date are not included in your final score.

Exams - 60%

You will take nine Concentration Exams over the course of your program. These exams are made available after each concentration, according to your schedule. The exams are all open book, and may consist of more than one lesson. They're similar in format to SMARTCASEs, meaning there are no open response questions. For more about the concentration exams, click here.