The Apprentice 3 is the third season of The Apprentice. It premiered January 20, 2005 on NBC. This was the last season to land in the Top 20 Nielsen ratings, ranking at #15, with an average of 13.96 million viewers. This was the only season nominated for an Emmy Award.

Season changes

In this season, two groups of nine were divided into book smarts (who took the name Magna Corp) and street smarts (called Net Worth) referring to those with and without a completed college education. This replaced the Battle of the Sexes concept used on The Apprentice 1 and The Apprentice 2. Trump continued the twist introduced in the previous season that allowed the winning project manager to be exempt from firing should their team lose the next task. However, he discontinued the Season 2 option that allowed the losing project manager to bring three people into the boardroom as opposed to two, after it was only used twice during the season. Trump did make one exception to this rule and allowed Audrey to bring three people into the Boardroom when she lost a challenge, but she ended up being fired anyway.

Candidates

The Net Worth team contained four men and five women, and the Magna Corp team contained five men and four women. Trump stated that "You just have to be business-smart", no matter what kind of smarts you have. See the candidates page for specific details on the candidates. Trump also pointed out one other major difference between the two groups – those with only a high school diploma earn three times as much as the college grads. Stephanie suggested Magna for the team name. It was short for magna cum laude, which means "with great distinction" and is often used as a title for high achieving graduates. Tara suggested Net Worth.

Weekly results

Episodes

Week 1: Whopper 101

Week 2: Motel 666

Week 3: Trouble is Brewing

Week 4: Soap Dopes

Week 5: Airstream of Consciousness

Week 6: The Writing on the Wall

Week 7: Project Putt-putt

Week 8: Bling it On

Mid-Season Highlights: What You Didn't See...

Week 9: Pandora's Box

Week 10: The Pie's the Limit

Week 11: Seams Stress

Week 12: A Lonely Drive

Week 13: I Can't Believe It's Not Clutter

Week 14: Bedazzled by a Beefy T

Week 15: The Interviews

Week 16: The Games People Play & Week 17: Into the Stretch

Additional information