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Here’s the latest from Alex Brown, an admissions officer at the Wharton School. Although his comments are balanced, there is certainly a hint of optimism for those considering ’round 3′ this year. http://s2s.wharton.upenn.edu/wh-wharton/messages?msg=6908  ‘Round 2′ interview invites have already begun trickling out from Stanford, Tuck (international candidates) and Wharton. In addition, it appears that some ’round 1′ decisions have been made based on the looks of ’round 2′. For example, HBS sent out a handful of ’round 1′ interview invites at the last minute after they had received their second round applications. Once again, this sort of activity is likely due to the decrease in volume this year… Stanford has begun calling ‘Round 1′ applicants who made the cut! They actually started in the middle of the night (Pacific time) to catch European and Asian students as they started their day. Check the BW Forums for detailed discussions…. Congratulations to those of you who have been admitted to the Stanford class of 2006! Today’s Wall Street Journal Online, has an interesting article about the shift in undergraduate admissions trends. In essence, the article outlines undergraduate policies like ‘early action’, ‘early decision’ and ‘single-choice early action’ while offering information on acceptance rates in these early rounds, etc. The interesting link between this article and the world of MBA admissions relates to the increasing use of ‘early decision’ rounds or early ‘Round 1′ deadlines at business schools. MBA programs like Cornell/Johnson and Dartmouth/Tuck are pushing ‘early action’ deadlines (mid-October) and Columbia continues to find takers for their often controversial ‘early decision’ deadline (mid-October). Other schools, like Wharton, have simply made their ‘Round 1′ deadline earlier in the last couple of years (mid-October) and are offering decisions prior to Christmas (mid-December). The nice thing about ‘early action’ or even an early ‘Round 1′ deadline is that it allows an applicant to hang on to an acceptance without being forced to attend a program. ‘Early decision’, on the other hand, is typically a binding policy where the admitted student is forced to committ (often via a large deposit) or lose the offer. I would love to post some comments from readers of this blog on the various admissions policies and how they impact applicant decision making. Feel free to email your thoughts to info@clearadmit.com ‘Round 1′ decisions have begun to flow at a number of schools. Of note are U. Michigan and U. Chicago, along with MIT’s final notification this past Monday. Here are a few relevant chats going on in the BW Forms: MIT (general), MIT (admits), MIT (waitlisters) Chicago (round 1 decisions) U. Michigan (round 1 admits) For those of you who received bad news, now is a good time to think about your options. Before you make any decisions, you need to ask yourself the following question: Do I absolutely need to attend an MBA program this fall – no matter what – or can I wait another year? Depending on the answer to this question you may follow one of the two options below: 1) Apply to additional schools in ‘Round 3′. Believe it or not, this may be the year to do it (see earlier postings in this blog about admissions volume). 2) Reapply next season. Either of these options will require a careful assessment of what may have gone wrong in ‘Round 1′. Make sure you objectively assess your profile (GMAT, GPA, caliber of education, work experience, recommendations, essays, etc.) before proceeding with a reappliciation strategy for next year or new applications in ‘Round 3′. Contact Clear Admit if you need a feedback report on your first round applications. Volume appears to be down in ‘Round 2′ at nearly all of the top schools. When combined with the ‘Round 1′ declines, this brings a couple of interesting questions to mind: 1) Will the chances of admission be slightly better than usual in the typically feared ‘Round 3′? As long as we keep in mind the fact that we are still talking about the very best schools in the nation (and generally slim odds to begin with), the short answer is yes. This is true for a couple of reasons. First, if volume is down as much as 25%, schools will inevitably admit a greater percentage of ‘Round 3′ applicants than in past years (assuming they maintain class sizes). Second, and perhaps more importantly, if volume is down and the schools failed to adjust their admissions tactics in ‘Round 1′, they may be forced to use rounds 2 and 3 to ensure that they fill their classes. Again, this will all happen at the margins, but it is important to note. 2) Why is volume down in the first place? Now is arguably a great time to enter business school, since the forecasts seem to point towards increased economic activity over the next couple of years (e.g. more jobs for graduates). Let’s look at a few of the popular theories with regards to MBA admissions trends: -Some people say that MBA admissions volume mirrors financial markets (this argument doesn’t seem to hold much water given the high volume in both 2000 and 2001). -Others point out that admissions volume is counter-cyclical to the markets (certainly a possibility, but the late 90′s weren’t really ‘lean’ years in the MBA admissions world). -Recently, there has been talk of the business scandals casting a shadow on the degree itself, tarnishing the MBA (especially when compared with the JD and MD options that young people may be considering). This is interesting, but seems unlikely to have caused such a dramatic drop – at least not one that would be seen in the admissions pool as of yet (since students choosing the JD or MD paths typically do so right after college). -Finally, there is also the current global uncertainty with regards to international affairs. Are fewer international students applying? Are students opting to stay in secure posts rather than risk testing the job market again after an MBA? Unfortunately, the answer is probably not reached by any of these common theories. In fact, at Clear Admit, we’re partial to a different theory, that we call the ‘market-lag’ theory (application volume follows financial markets but with a significant lag). While there may be a hint of the ‘international uncertainty’ theory lowering MBA application volume from overseas, the market-lag theory is likely to be the driving force in the recent declines seen by top schools. If you think this past week was busy (9 major deadlines over 5 days), there’s still more to come! Let’s have a look at what’s on deck for next week: Tues: UNC Weds: UVA Thurs: Carnegie Mellon, NYU and Cornell Fri: Insead [Rolling: Columbia] [Still to come the following week: Duke, Berkeley, MIT] Despite the continued decline in volume that most schools are seeing in round 2 (anywhere from 15-30%), it allows makes sense to diversify your portfolio and consider a range of programs. As such, there may be some opportunities to consider in the coming days…. Many MBA applicants are burning the midnight oil this week in order to polish their essays and increase their chances of admission. After all, in the world of MBA admissions counseling, nearly everyone focuses on the essays as the key area to focus one’s efforts (once the GMAT is out of the way). One often overlooked aspect in the process, however, is the application form itself. Most candidates leave the forms for the last minute or rush to fill out online applications from work on D-day, but the truth is that a weak effort on these forms can do all kinds of harm to your candidacy. As such, here are a few tips for applicants who are about to approach the application forms: 1) Follow instructions. If the schools asks you to list activities in chronological order, then do not list them in order of importance to you (as you may have done for another school). If the school asks for a contact person, title or the number of hours/week, do not leave these fields blank. 2) Make things clear. The last thing you want is for your admissions reader to have to play detective in determining your career progression (gaps in employment) or undergraduate career. Admissions officers are busy people and they don’t have time to connect the dots on your background. If your listings are not clear, the reader may assume you are hiding something. Once they make this assumption, your chances will evaporate. Given the level of competition in the applicant pool, the admissions office can afford to avoid files that seem a bit confusing. 3) Don’t be lazy. Since it’s likely that you’ll be ‘burned out’ from your essays, the temptation will be to zip through the application forms. In many cases, the forms are a great opportunity for you to list outside activities in depth, offer a quick explanation for a bad grade, etc. In fact, your application forms will often be the starting point for the admissions officer’s review of your file. Put your best foot forward. 4) Avoid going overboard. Admissions officers typically review several files in a sitting – devoting much less time than you might imagine to each file. As such, try to avoid listing 18 activities, 22 awards and 17 publications – especially if some of those items date back to high school (or are more than 10 years old). Stay focused on the elements of your background that are most relevant. Also, when asked for a short-answer, do not draft an essay. If your admissions file is twice as thick as the rest of the files, it will not necessarily be twice as good. How do you think the admissions officer will feel when they go to pick up a thick file for a ‘quick’ review? As always, best of luck to those of you who are applying! Happy 2004 from the entire Clear Admit staff! We hope that all you gain admission to the school of your choice in the coming year! Our New Year’s resolution is to spend more time blogging. Feel free to email us anytime you have a comment on the blog or suggestions for content, etc… |
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