Veritas Prep Presents: Trends in MBA Admissions: Perceptions of Admissions Officers at Top 30 Business Schools A white paper analyzing the issues and perceptions among admissions officers at the leading U.S. business schools to provide prospective students with the insight to improve their chances for admission in an increasingly competitive landscape. Copyright 2009. Veritas Prep. All rights reserved.
Introduction...1 Selected Results Student Applications...2 Table of Contents Student Evaluation Criteria...3 What Admissions Officers Want...6 The Emerging Role of Parents in the Student Application Process...8 Conclusion....9 www.veritasprep.com
Introduction Application volume continues to climb as the economy slumps. The applicant pool is becoming more diverse. Demand for various types of graduate business education grows as applicants look for more flexible learning options. To spread their bets and improve their chances of admissions success, applicants are applying to more schools than ever before. Clearly, gaining admission to a graduate business program is getting more and more difficult. Business school applicants face a myriad of challenges and considerations throughout the graduate admissions process. As the world s fastest-growing GMAT preparation and MBA admissions consulting provider, Veritas Prep is committed to helping applicants leverage their academic and personal strengths to gain admission into the top business schools in the world, via sound intelligence and thorough preparation. Understanding the issues and perceptions among admissions officers at the leading MBA programs provides prospective students with the knowledge and insight to improve their chances for admission. This white paper highlights notable findings from the Veritas Prep Survey of MBA Admissions Officers, an eight-week online survey conducted during the 2008-09 admissions cycle among the top 30 business schools in the United States, according to bi-annual rankings compiled by BusinessWeek. Based on responses from admissions officers at over half of the top 30 business schools nationwide, the survey sought to glean current trends in the application process. The result is an enlightening snapshot of where the MBA admissions landscape is currently, and where it is likely headed in the next five years. Understanding the issues and perceptions among admissions officers at the leading MBA programs provides prospective students with the knowledge and insight to improve their chances for admission. www.veritasprep.com 1
Student Applications The MBA application process at top 30 U.S. business schools can be a complex and arduous exercise. Today, business schools receive more applications than ever before for the same number of available seats, and the applicant demographic is shifting younger as applicants try to outmaneuver one another for an advantage in the process. In this dynamic landscape, applicants are urged to avoid common mistakes that irk admissions officers and jeopardize their chances of admission. Careless errors (81%) ranked as the top faux pas committed by applicants. Inconsistency between institutional choice and students educational objectives and ambitions ranked second, and the inclusion of unrequested items and inappropriate interview conduct tied as the third most common application faux pas. Forty three percent said they would not prefer a larger applicant pool. As admissions competition continues to grow at top U.S. business schools, quality rather than quantity may be what admissions officers are most concerned about when it comes to attracting applicants. Almost half of respondents (47%) report that the number of admits straight out of college has significantly or moderately increased compared to five years ago. How to Use It to Your Advantage The volume of MBA applications continues to rise and shift toward a younger demographic, reflected by a push at many top business schools to attract younger applicants through initiatives like Harvard Business School s 2+2 program. Interestingly, nearly half of MBA admissions officers report that they would not prefer a larger applicant pool, suggesting that applicant quality is more important than sheer quantity. As admissions competition continues to grow at top U.S. business schools, quality rather than quantity may be what admissions officers are most concerned about when it comes to attracting applicants. In a dynamic admissions landscape, one of the primary drivers of admissions success is static and unchanging an effective, error-free application. While it may seem rudimentary, applicants are encouraged to thoroughly proofread their applications for careless errors and enlist trusted friends, family, colleagues or a skilled admissions consultant to do the same to avoid the number one most common application faux pas. Applicants also need to resist the temptation to copy and paste material from one application to another, or to decide that an essay is good enough. Misspellings, inaccurate uses of grammar or blatant inattention to posted directions all of which can be perceived as signs of a lack of enthusiasm for a program or a lack of aptitude can easily overshadow even the best of essays or resumes. An extra round of proofreading may be the difference between getting admitted to or rejected by a world-class MBA program. 2 www.veritasprep.com
Student Evaluation Criteria Admissions officers at top MBA programs evaluate applicants on a wide scope of characteristics from GMAT score to community service to professional experience. In many cases, candidates will enlist the help of an admissions consultant for guidance in creating the very best application possible, highlighting their strengths in key areas and positioning themselves as viable prospects. The importance of analytical skills (50%) ranked ahead of leadership (19%) in student selection. Relative Importance of Student Selection Characteristics 25% Interpersonal Skills 6% Maturity 19% Leadership 50% Analytical Skills Professional experience (63%) is the most important factor in student selection. Community service (6%), which traditionally ranks high, is reportedly the least important selection criterion. Least Important and Most Important Student Selection Criteria Professional Experience The importance of institutional priorities in the admission process is a significant cue for applicants that the school s needs matter as much in the admissions process as do the applicants needs. Standardized Test Scores Extracurricular Activities Least Important Community Service Most Important www.veritasprep.com 3
Seventy percent of admissions officers feel that admissions consultants help students identify the programs with which they fit best and clarify their career goals. Ninety-two percent of admissions officers are aware that applicants use admissions consultants more often than they did five years ago. Eighty percent of respondents said that institutional priorities and enrollment goals are more important than or as important as an individual applicant s merit. Admissions officers look for applicants who display leadership in all aspects of their lives not just on the job. How to Use It to Your Advantage The importance of institutional priorities in the admission process is a significant cue for applicants that the school s needs matter as much in the admissions process as do the applicants needs. For example, a school that has committed itself to increasing classroom diversity may pass on an otherwise strong applicant if the applicant comes from a professional background that is already well represented in the entering class. Therefore, it is crucial for applicants to clarify their career goals and identify programs with which they fit best. This requires that applicants perform a great deal of introspection to determine what they really want from an MBA program. It also requires a great deal of research, so that applicants know what exactly each business school has to offer. From previous research, Veritas Prep has found that MBA admissions officers consistently look for four traits that have shown to be predictive of an applicant s success in the business school classroom and beyond. While schools differ in how much emphasis they place on each dimension, demonstrating leadership, innovation, teamwork and maturity are essential to suc cess in the business school application process. 1 Leadership Admissions officers look for applicants who display leadership in all aspects of their lives not just on the job. Successful candidates demonstrate leadership in both their professional and personal lives. Stating a tendency toward leadership is meaningless unless supported by specific examples. A helpful exercise to identify leadership situations involves posing a selfdirected question: What are some positive happenings that would not have occurred if I had not been a part of the process? Even if examples are seemingly mundane such as identifying a cost-savings opportunity at work or helping a new colleague navigate his or her assignments admissions officers will recognize them as signs of leadership potential. 4 www.veritasprep.com
2 Innovation Innovation refers to both traditional intellectual ability and creativity. Naturally, the former is reflected in the hard statistics submitted in the application, including GMAT scores and undergraduate GPA. Applicants who wish to increase their academic attractiveness should enroll in a reputable GMAT prep course to attain a competitive score, and should enroll in a quantitative course at their local college to demonstrate the appropriate discipline and intellect to do well in such a course at the graduate level. MBA admissions officers also want to see evidence of creativity in an applicant s background. In the traditional sense, creativity suggests musical talent or other artistic abilities, attributes that can certainly set an applicant apart from the competition. However, admissions officers also look for evidence of creativity in the business sense; in other words, the ability to look at old problems in new ways. 3Teamwork While some people still have the vision of sharpelbowed sharks in the typical business school classroom, the reality is that a team-oriented attitude and the ability to work well in groups are now baseline expectations of every applicant. Basic social skills and a willingness to share successes and take accountability for failures are skills that make a candidate attractive to an admissions committee, even at schools that do not rely heavily on team-based projects. Highlighting teamwork abilities in the application might manifest through referencing instances when objectives were achieved through working together with colleagues or demonstrating understanding of group dynamics. Especially important for younger candidates, referencing experiences that highlight collaboration skills can prove tremendously effective if they lack managerial experience. 4 Maturity While the word maturity is often used interchangeably with age and experience, admissions officers value quality over quantity when it comes to experience. One of the most rewarding aspects of the business school experience is that students teach one another based on their respective backgrounds. Therefore, admissions committees look for mature candidates who have something to teach their peers, but are also willing to learn from them as well. Applicants should identify themselves as unique and stress how their contribution to the business school setting will be distinctive, embracing points of difference as opposed to burying them in admissions essays. Another crucial facet of maturity is integrity. MBA admissions officers expect applicants to be mindful of ethical considerations and are interested to examine how they operate in the moral grey areas. Questions posed in essays and interviews will often be about ethical decision-making in the face of difficult choices. Demonstrating depth of thought and a willingness to make tough decisions is a great way to showcase maturity. www.veritasprep.com 5
What Admissions Officers Want Among the various challenges that plague admissions committees at leading schools, creating classes consisting of diverse, qualified students is an issue of primary concern. In fact, almost half of admissions officers predict the application process will evolve over the coming cycles to identify ideal candidates and yield improved admissions outcomes. The biggest challenges institutions face are attracting more highly-qualified students (33%) and supporting cultural diversity (33%). Challenges Facing Admissions Departments at Top Business Schools Admissions officers would like to see the 8% Increasing student preparedness 26% Other 33% Supporting cultural diversity 33% Attracting more highly-qualified students student application process include more face-to-face or telephone interviews in the next five years. Among desired changes that admissions officers would like to see in their applicant pool, diversity ranks number one (87%). Admissions officers would like to see the student application process include more face-to-face or telephone interviews in the next five years (60%). While a slight majority of admissions officers see the application process becoming less complex, almost half (47%) believe the application process will actually become more complex in the coming years. How to Use It to Your Advantage Fostering a greater diversity of viewpoints in the executive suite is a strategic priority in business, and accordingly, cultivating diversity in each entering class is a key priority for business schools. Students hailing from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances create a vibrant learning environment and reflect the makeup of today s business world. The term diversity is a bit cliché in the 21 st century, the traditional concept of which typically alludes solely to differences in gender or race. Today s notion of diversity, however, transcends sex and ethnic origin to encompass a variety of other characteristics that yield a variety of viewpoints and experiences and can differentiate students in the crowded field of similar-looking MBA applicants. 6 www.veritasprep.com
Applicants should identify themselves as unique and stress how their contribution to the business school setting will be distinctive, embracing points of difference as opposed to burying them in admissions essays. After all, the very things that make them different could be what scores them a seat in a desirable MBA program. Additionally, applicants should prepare themselves to adapt to changes in the dynamic MBA admissions process. While there is generally a lack of consensus among admissions officers as to what exactly those changes will entail, they agree on one aspect more interviews. As the applicant pool continues to get stronger every year, business school admissions officers need more powerful mechanisms to separate the great candidates from the good candidates, and interviews are an ideal instrument through which to do so. The purpose of an interview is not to see how well applicants act under pressure or to try or trick them into revealing something unfavorable about themselves; rather, interviews present a way to reinforce the components of the application, helping the admissions committee put a face and personality to the application. The beauty of the business school interview is that applicants are the foremost experts themselves they know why they have made the decisions that have led them to applying to an MBA program, what their unique strengths are and where they want to go next in their careers. The challenge, however, is figuring out how to best communicate this information to the interviewer and eloquently tell stories from the past that best illustrate the applicant s abilities despite time constraints. While every school looks for slightly different attributes in its applicants, admissions officers will generally use the interview to answer a few key questions about prospective students: Are they who they say they are in their www.veritasprep.com 7
The Emerging Role of Parents in the Student Application Process Helicopter parent behavior the activities of mothers and fathers who are overly involved in their children s admissions applications has recently come to the attention of business school admissions officers. As the millennial generation (those students born in or after 1982) begins to apply to MBA programs, this trend is expected to accelerate. Sixty-seven percent of admissions officers surveyed said that parents are more involved in their children s applications than they were five years ago. While the intentions of over-involved helicopter parents are generally benevolent, such intervention can negatively impact their student s chances of admission. How to Use It to Your Advantage While the intentions of over-involved helicopter parents are generally benevolent, such intervention can negatively impact their student s chances of admission. Graduate school admissions officers are becoming increasingly sensitive to how well an applicant has defined his or her career goals and reasons for wanting to attend business school separate from those of their parents, and when parents lead their child through the application process, this lack of introspection often emerges in the applicant s admissions essays or evaluative interview. However, over-involved parents do not have to jeopardize admission for MBA applicants if they adhere to the core tenets of positioning oneself as serious candidates for admission at the leading U.S. business schools: Understand the value of an MBA. Admissions officers look closely for evidence that applicants have really thought through their career goals and why an MBA is the right degree for them. Be clear about the importance of pursuing an MBA now. Applicants who can articulate why now is the time to pursue an MBA, rather than in two or three years, have a distinct advantage. Highlight leadership experiences. Younger applicants may not yet have led a team or managed others, but successful applicants need to emphasize other instances of leadership in their past, including on the job and in school. Demonstrate maturity. Any successful applicant can show that they will be a positive addition to the classroom. For younger applicants, this is especially important in demonstrating the emotional and professional maturity needed to be a good classmate and project teammate. Since the majority of top 30 MBA programs have yet to implement programs to manage parents that are highly involved in the student application process, admissions consultants can help applicants manage their helicopter parents by providing guidance on helpful versus hurtful interactions with schools and admissions departments. 8 www.veritasprep.com
Conclusion Despite the increased demand for graduate business education stemming from the current economic slowdown and other contributing factors, the savvy business school applicant is in a unique position to secure a coveted seat in a leading MBA program through some additional due diligence. Understanding what wows and irritates admissions officers at leading business schools, and tailoring the MBA application accordingly, can propel one s candidacy from unlikely to competitive. Veritas Prep is committed to providing the latest research and admissions trends to help prospective MBA students navigate the often complicated application process and secure admission into their programs of choice. To access Veritas Prep s full catalog of MBA applicant resources, visit www.veritasprep.com/mba/mba_resources. www.veritasprep.com 9
For more information, contact: Scott Shrum, Director of MBA Admissions Research Veritas Prep (800) 925-7737 scott@veritasprep.com To contribute your thoughts about business school admissions or learn more ways to improve your chances of admissions success, visit the Veritas Prep blog at http://blog.veritasprep.com/.