The Practicum provides a vehicle for students to apply their experience and classroom knowledge to solve real world business problems. As a team of four independent consultants, a Practicum team works directly for the sponsoring company to solve a defined problem. This is a semester long project supervised by an expert faculty advisor, that allows students to be a part of a problem solving team in an area of interest. Olin MBAs have conducted more than 190 Practicum projects for more than 160 organizations, on topics including market research, cost analysis, best practices, pricing, distribution, operations, acquisitions, information systems, strategy, and entrepreneurship.

A Practicum team works as an independent consulting team, devoting a minimum of 150 hours per person to the project, for a team total of at least 600 hours. A faculty advisor contributes 20-30 hours of mentoring and instruction. The Center for Experiential Learning (CEL) works with the sponsoring company to design a project that is valuable to students, serves the needs of the sponsor, and can be accomplished in time. The company is expected to provide the team with access to the data and people necessary to fulfill the project goals. Students will not report for work at regularly scheduled intervals, but some projects might require weekly contact or on-site visits. Near the end of the project, students will spend several hours working with the company while the team refines its final presentation.

Projects run during the fall and spring semesters, beginning in early September or January, and run the length of the semester (approximately 16 weeks). First-year MBAs are only eligible to participate in the Spring semester. Students apply for a project by submitting a résumé and narrative describing their interest in the project. The calendar provides dates. Students compete with each other for the projects, as the clients compete with each other for the students. It's to the students' benefit to provide a thorough narrative describing their interest in the project, as it's to the company's benefit to provide an interesting and educational project. The résumés and narratives for all interested students are submitted to the client, who selects the 4 members of the team and alternates. The CEL recruits the most appropriate faculty advisor.

At the conclusion of the project, the team submits a written report and makes a formal presentation to an audience of the company's choosing. Students receive three credit hours, a grade, and an applied learning experience in their chosen field.