Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

Re:Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications by airstrike on Tuesday October 15, 2019 @12:52PM (#21260642)

There are multiple in-person interviews, your resume has to be pretty balanced (you can't just be a math wiz), you need to show a track record of performing well on the job for 3-5 years prior to your MBA, usually in the form of multiple promotions, which signals you're not terrible to work with. Also helps to have a broad range of interests (including things you like doing for fun) because admission committees don't want to exclusively admit kids who just like to golf and play poker (though many of those do get admitted).

TL;DR Admissions for top MBAs are very holistic, and schools will try their best to create diverse classes made up of well-rounded individuals. Some schools do this better than others, but then again each school is trying to solve for a different outcome and just like hiring, admitting students isn't an exact science.

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Re:Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications by chrisfinazzo on Tuesday October 15, 2019 @02:56PM (#21262293)

Honest question: Do you think this disadvantages people who have basically followed a traditional path? By that I mean, if you are a finance major from Harvard, Yale, etc who goes to work at a large firm (say Goldman).

Is there a chance they might get looked down upon because of the emphasis on the "whole person" or finding "interesting" candidates.

Poets & Quants MBA odds doesn't talk about those kids, yet they will freely admit many of them end up at a top program for their MBA.

(For the record, this is not me personally, but still I wonder how these kinds of candidates get evaluated, given the current environment)

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Re:Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications by alasdair_ on Tuesday October 15, 2019 @04:35PM (#21263435)

>Is there a chance they might get looked down upon because of the emphasis on the "whole person" or finding "interesting" candidates.

There is a deliberate admissions emphasis on ensuring the class is as diverse (in terms of viewpoint and experience) as possible. An MBA class full of only people with finance degrees would be a poor experience for everyone.

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Re:Elite MBA Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications by chrisfinazzo on Tuesday October 15, 2019 @09:11PM (#21266030)

No question that people who are in that situation need to have some other defining traits that an admissions committee might find attractive, but I'm not sure if that sends a broad signal to people like, 'Don't pursue finance, we have enough of those people already'.

Do any of these articles track what effect this kind of messaging has had on the number of MBA's choosing specific concentrations?

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