The Graduate Management Admissions Council (makers of the GMAT) has recently published a comprehensive report on the ‘gender gap’ in business school. The study shows that despite longstanding efforts by business schools, many MBA programs barely crack the 30% mark for female enrollment. The study also carefully examines possible reasons for more balanced male/female enrollment in other professional schools, such as JD and MD programs.

Stanford and Harvard, two top b-schools that have managed to hit the 35% mark, appear to be employing an interesting tactic. Here’s an excerpt from the study:

One way HBS and Stanford have been able to increase their numbers of women students is by encouraging students to apply at a younger age. “The conventional thinking among prospective . . . → Continue Reading

Since this is ‘MBA rankings’ season, I wanted to point our readers to a couple of fascinating articles about the role of rankings in the business school community.

A few years ago, David Downes, the former Director of the MBA program at Haas/Berkeley, ran some basic regression analysis on BusinessWeek rankings and subsequent application volume. The research essentially showed that changes in the rankings have a substantial impact on application volume.

Around the same time, Ivo Welch, a Professor of Economics and Finance at Yale SOM, authored an article that examines the BW rankings criteria and validity, arguing that the size of an MBA program is a key factor in determining ranking (given that the recruiters surveyed are often alumni from . . . → Continue Reading

Current marketing activity on the part of the MBA admissions offices seems to indicate that the schools are working overtime to expand the applicant pool.

Let’s look at some recent trends:

1) MBA marketing efforts have been much stronger this season. Schools are attending more MBA forums and fairs while simultaneously offering their own functions across the globe. In the late 90′s and early 00′s (when application volume was soaring) the schools were actually curtailing their marketing efforts, reducing travel, etc. This trend has clearly been reversed.

2) Many schools have creatively expanded their international marketing team by encouraging current students and alumni to host admissions events in their home countries (during winter break, spring break, etc.). These efforts are designed to increase international . . . → Continue Reading

There’s a fair amount going on over at the BW Online web site. For starters, the transcripts from Stanford’s Q&A have been posted. During the discussion, Derrick Bolton talked about a range of subjects. Here are a few key points:

-Stanford saw an 8% decline in application volume last year (a bit less of a drop than their peers at Wharton and Harvard)
-Stanford interviews everyone that they admit into the program
-The three admissions criteria are: “demonstrated leadership potential, intellectual vitality and diversity in its broadest sense”

You’ll need to be subscribed to the MBA Insider for the full text of the chat.

On the Harvard front, Brit Dewey (Director of Admissions and Financial Aid) will be taking questions as part of a live . . . → Continue Reading

The Wall Street Journal has just published their MBA rankings for 2005. While this recruiter-focused survey has traditionally been somewhat controversial, there are several changes worth noting for this year:

1) The Journal is now ranking schools in three categories: ‘National‘, ‘Regional‘ and ‘International‘. The first two categories essentially consist of the first and second tier US-based MBA programs. The third category is a bit of a hybrid between the top-tier US programs and the top-tier European schools.

2) The paper has slightly modified the way it ranks the programs. For the ‘National’ and ‘Regional’ rankings, the survey uses three evenly weighted criteria:

a) Perception (What do recruiters think of the students and the MBA program?)
b) Mass Appeal (How many . . . → Continue Reading

In the wake of the MBA World Tour’s visit to San Francisco, the SF Chronicle has published an article on the changing trends amongst MBA applicants. The article stresses rising applicant volume for part-time and executive MBA programs while confirming the belief that the MBA degree is highly valued in the workplace. There is also discussion of the economic trends that have led to the recent declines in full-time application volume.

For the full text of the . . . → Continue Reading

The World MBA Tour is traveling through North America in the coming weeks. The ‘tour’ is a great way for prospective MBA students to gather informational materials from the various MBA programs in attendance.

At the tour, the schools each have tables/stands that are typically staffed by admissions officers and alumni from the region – presenting a nice opportunity for applicants to engage in conversation with those who know the programs from the inside. Of course, applicants should not approach the MBA fairs as their chance to ‘talk their way’ into an acceptance letter from a dream school. Instead, the best approach is to use the events as fact-finding missions – gathering information that might help refine a list of target schools . . . → Continue Reading

The Wall Street Journal‘s College Journal site has just published an article about admissions consulting. HBS, Wharton and Stanford admissions officers were all interviewed for the piece, along with Clear Admit, Kaplan, etc.

Here’s the beginning of the article…

Admissions Coaches Become More Popular
By EILEEN GUNN

Candace Davies was working in the wealth-advisory division at Merrill Lynch when she decided she wanted an M.B.A. Not just any M.B.A., but one from a top-ranked school. Ms. Davis had achieved a lot for someone just four years out of college. At 25, she was bringing in and managing her own high-net-worth accounts. Even so, she thought she’d need help since her GMATs weren’t as competitive as she had hoped, her undergrad major was biology and her . . . → Continue Reading