A great year not to apply to B-school?

In this post, I provide some guidance on whether it is better to apply for Fall 2009 or to wait for the market for MBA admissions to improve. All trends (see below) indicate that Fall 2009 entry will be one of the most difficult for applicants, so it is worth considering whether it is better to apply now or to wait.

Situation: You have 2-5 years of work experience, are between the ages of approximately 22-27, like your job now, and have GMAT score in the 80% range for those admitted to the schools you want to attend. Should you apply for Fall 2009 or wait till Fall 2010 or later?

Answer 1: It depends. Let's assume your dream schools are HBS and Stanford GSB.

HBS & STANFORD GSB ARE FOR THE YOUNG
Of course, if you are over 25 and specifically focused on HBS or Stanford GSB where age seems increasingly to be a factor and youth is an advantage, I would not advise waiting in most cases if your TOEFL score meets the minimum and your GMAT is at least 650 (HBS's minimum score). According to BusinessWeek for Fall 2007-2008 admission, the average age of admits at HBS is 27 (mean and median), with the 80% range for months of work experience being 35 to 62 months, while Stanford does not report the average age, the 80% range for work experience was 23 to 66 months. By comparison, Wharton's average age was 28 (median) and 29 (mean) with the 80% range for work experience being 48 to 96 months, Chicago GSB's was 28 (mean & median) with the 80% range for work experience being 35 to 85 months, Kellogg's was 28 (mean and median) with the 80% range being between 41 and 96 months, Columbia's was 28 (mean and median) with the 80% range being between 31 and 88 months, and MIT Sloan's was 28 (mean and median) with the 80% range being between 24 and 120 months.
BOTTOM LINE: If you want to get into Stanford for HBS, it is optimal to apply by or before age 27. At the other top schools mentioned, it is optimal to apply by or before age 28, but their greater age ranges (as indicated by 80% range for work experience) indicate that they are more welcoming to those who will be as old as 30-32 upon entering. I don't suggest waiting till your 29, 30, or 31 to apply, but the admissions outlook for doing so is significantly better at such schools as MIT, Wharton, and Kellogg.

If you fit into the criteria I mentioned at the begining of this post, even if your test scores are low (but meet the minimums for GMAT and/or TOEFL), if you can put together a strong application, it would be rational to apply to HBS and/or Stanford. For some 26 or 27 year olds who are generally happy with their present work situation, but who want to go to HSB and/or Stanford, I think it would be perfectly rational to only apply to one or both of those schools for Fall 2009 admission. Such individuals can always apply to a greater range of schools the following year, even as their age begins to be a negative factor for entry into HBS and/or Stanford.

ANSWER 2: MARKET CONDITIONS FOR FALL 2009
From US News and World Report, 9/27/2008:

Due in large part to volatile markets, the business school business has been very hectic lately, a climate that could—if conventional wisdom holds—create one of the most competitive admissions cycles in history.

Business school recruiting events are often standing-room only, and test prep companies are fielding dozens more phone calls a day from nervous prospects. The organization that administers the Graduate Management Admission Test, the business school admissions exam, reports that the number of tests taken worldwide the past two years has increased far faster than in previous years. Although some of the growth can be attributed to interest in business schools rising overall, the numbers speak for themselves. GMAT growth for August was 24.5 percent from 2006 to 2008, compared to 16.5 percent growth from 2004 to 2006.

This is consistent with what I have previously stated (See here) and should come as little surprise to many well-informed applicants. All I can say is that based on my experience as an admissions consultant since 2001, Fall 2008 entry was hard, but I fully expect Fall 2009 entry to be miserable with many candidates who would in previous years have obtained admission at top schools, finding themselves either accepted into their safety schools or nowhere. Like with any investment, there is a time to enter the admissions market and a time not to.

If you are passionate about making a major career change OR
If you have suddenly become unemployed or otherwise need a new career option
OR
If you are passionate to get an MBA education
OR
If you have scholarship
OR
if you are sponsored by your company
OR
if you are getting too old to get into the schools you want to go to..
APPLY FOR FALL 2009 OR AS SOON AS YOU CAN.

ON THE OTHER HAND, if you are happy with your present work situation and will still be at an optimal age for another year or more, I would suggest either only applying to the very top schools you want to attend or simply waiting. While it is possible that Fall 2010 entry will be worse, if over the next year you can enhance your application through improved test scores, further work accomplishments, and/or valuable extracurricular experience, I think you might find Fall 2010 or later entry a better option in terms of your ability to obtain admission. Again, you might to test the waters by simply only applying to a school or schools that will not be a compromise choice. The clear implication of this is that you might need to apply again as reapplicant. Please note this is not a good option for schools like INSEAD or IE which have restrictions on reapplication. For US schools reapplication is common and in my experience reapplicants can get into HBS, Stanford, Wharton, and other top programs.

HOW TO CONTROL FOR MARKET CONDITIONS:
Whether you are applying for Fall 2009 or later, I think it is especially important to have a school selection strategy that fully accounts for the difficulty of admission. Please see my earlier post on a portfolio approach to school selection.


Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

ビジネススクール MBA留学 カウンセリング コンサルティング 米国大学法学院 大学院入学 大学院 合格対策

Oxford Said Fall 2009

This will be a relatively brief post on the Oxford Said Business School MBA application essay questions for Fall 2009 admission. I have taken the questions from the Online Application.

Oxford has two questions.

1)Explain why you chose your current job. How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions? Maximum 1,000 words.
As the first and third parts of this question are similar to my analysis of Wharton, I would suggest you read that in addition to what I say here.

That said, Oxford Essay 1 is a completely practical question. Unlike schools like Stanford that ask about the applicant's "career aspirations" or even a school like Wharton that asks for long and short-term goals, Oxford is looking for something more grounded and more specific: A FIVE YEAR PLAN. Note the ambiguity in the question itself, the plan maybe written from the perspective of the present or from the perspective of after one finishes the MBA. I advise clients to treat it as as post-MBA five year plan as I think that is implied by the presence of the third part of the question ("How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions?"), but I would not insist on that. I think most applicants should treat it as a post-MBA five year plan.

WHAT IS A PLAN?
A plan is practical. It has details. It shows you have really thought about what you want to do. It shows you have done research about your intended future employer and/or future entrepreneurial venture. It shows you are realistic. That does not mean that it should be boring or lack ambition, but it does mean that it has to rise beyond a level of mere abstraction. Treat it as seriously as you would treat a memo to your boss on the future direction of your department, a proposal to a client on an expensive project, or a business plan. Make sure you show how Oxford fits the plan. If you can't establish a tight connection between your plan and Oxford, either apply somewhere else or change your plan. And remember as long as you can speak effectively about your plan in an interview, the second after you are admitted, you have no obligation to stick to that plan.

2) Which recent development, world event or book has most influenced your thinking and why? Maximum 2,000 words.
This is "The Oxford Question" and just as Essay 1 is highly practical, this one is the place to think great thoughts, to show your personality, and to establish you fit at a school known for centuries as one of the great centers of scholarship. Over the years, including last year, I have worked with great applicants who used this question successfully to win admission to Oxford. Each told their own story. The things that were common to all, was a willingness to take on a big subject and to show their connection to it.

THE RELEVANCE TEST: A great answer here will be on something relevant to why Oxford should admit you:
- A concept or value that has influenced a major decision(s) you have made in your life
-An important aspect of the way you view an issue critical to your goals
-Your commitment to something greater than your own personal interest
-Your inner intellectual life
-Your ethical values
-Some other aspect of who you are that will compel admissions to want to interview you

The thing that has influenced you is less important then how it is has influenced you. A good answer will focus less on the recent development, world event, or book and more on its impact on you. This is not supposed to be a book report. Focus on those aspects of the development, world event, or book that specifically impact you. Show how it has done so.

Make certain that your explanation of the recent development, world event, or book is very clear as Oxford is using this question to determine your ability to analyze something. Be precise in your explanation and do not assume the reader has extensive knowledge of the subject. Even if the subject is well known, say "9/11" in the US, it would still be critical that you explain the exact impact of particular aspects of that event had on you.

Finally, effective answers are always personal. Given the limited space in Essay 1 to discuss accomplishments, you may very well find that you can do so in Essay 2, but if you have a great topic for Essay 2 and it is not necessarily focused on your accomplishments, don't worry as long as it clearly helps Oxford understand why they should interview you.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

オックスフォード大学のビジネススクール MBA留学

The Cocktail Hour Post

Well, its Friday night, so I thought a cocktail would be in order. Think about this video like an opportunity to run into me at happy hour.
In the video below, I discuss:
1. First Round vs. Second Round
2. Having a realistic application schedule
3. Interviews and why you should start thinking about them now



For more about interviews, see here.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

ビジネススクール

Interview with 2nd Year Berkeley MBA/MPH Student

One of my former clients, who wishes to remain anonymous, was kind enough to answer my questions regarding his experience in the University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the School of Public Health 2 1/2-year MBA/MPH concurrent degree program. Below he discusses subjects both relevant to those specifically interested in the joint program as well as those interested in the Haas MBA more generally.

Interviewee ("MBA/MPH") background: He is a 2nd year student in the UC Berkeley MBA/MPH program. He has over seven years business experience. He was born and raised in Japan and he worked as a management consultant focused on the healthcare industry and was a manager in a consumer goods company. In the latter position, his areas of responsibility included consumer research and market/target strategy development for a global brand in the Japanese and Korean market. Upon graduation, he aims to contribute to improve the quality of service and financial stability of healthcare providers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADAM: You are in the MBA/MPH Program. How is that different from the regular MBA Program? How many students are in your program?

MBA/MPH: You will find a couple of points that differs from MBA program; 1) it requires 2 1/2 years for graduation, 2) students are required to take acertain amount of units from school of Public Health and 3) internship is required (though 99% of all Haas students do it anyway) for graduation. Typically, we have around 10-15 MBA/MPH students every year and most of them have a fair amount of work experience in the healthcare industry.

I believe the program gives unique advantage to students such as 1) strong academic background for healthcare system and health, both of which are indispensable to work at and lead the healthcare industry, 2) good friendship with talented classmates in a small class setting, 3) alumni network and strong reputation in healthcare industry that allows us to have various opportunities to meet industry leaders, 4) career opportunities both from MBA and MPH side (some employers are knowledgeable about our program and really value MBA/MPH dual degree students), and 5) opportunities to expand your personal network in MPH field (i.e. non-MBAers).

ADAM: What were some of the courses you took in your first year? What courses do you plan to take in your second year?

MBA/MPH:In my first year, I took Haas core courses except for Macro economics, which I waived by passing a waiver exam. Plus, I took “introduction of U.S. healthcare system”, “strategic management of healthcare organization”, and “Social Sector Solution (class- consulting project for not-for-profit organization with McKinsey consultants)”, all of which were required course for MBA/MPH students. I also took “consumer behavior” from Haas and “healthcare information services”, offered by the School of Information. Haas is well integrated with other schools and I can easily take courses from those schools. That allows me to get to know more people with different background and interest and provides me with a unique perspective.

In this semester, I am taking courses mostly from the School of Public Health including epidemiology, international healthcare economics, independent study with a professor about healthcare quality. Also, I am taking healthcare finance and service strategy courses from Haas. And, I take beginning Danish solely from my interest (that does not count as units for graduation). I am planning to take a course from the School of Architecture in Spring on top of courses from Haas.

ADAM: What did you do last summer?

MBA/MPH:I split my last summer between two internships. In early summer, I went back to Tokyo and I worked at a consulting firm in Tokyo on a project for a pharmaceutical company. I came back to the U.S. and have been working for a health systems company as a project management intern.

ADAM: What does Berkeley’s slogan, “Leading Through Innovation,” mean to you?

HAAS 2Y: First of all, innovation does not mean just “technology innovation” and it should be understood to have a broader meaning. Innovation, I believe, should be in any industries in various ways. Leading through innovation for me is to have a mindset to challenge the status quo, to think through and accept the diversity for new idea generation, and to influence the organization so that it commits to make things (or even the world) better. Haas is a place to incubate innovation. In my personal view, Haas has a real variety of people with different values, backgrounds and expertise. And, we have a culture of understanding each other. In addition, UC Berkeley has many cross-listed programs with other schools (e.g. School of Engineering, School of Public Health, School of Information etc.) that helps us to foster new ideas.

ADAM: How important is team/group work at Haas?

MBA/MPH: First, no business is done by an individual and no business is done only with math or calculation. I think students at Haas understand that and we seriously value collaboration and others’ point of views. I don’t know about other schools, but we are basically not so keen on getting an “A”, rather, we value getting unique insights or trying something that inspires us. We have a fair amount of work for each group we are assigned by the school (especially in the first semester) and obviously it is not easy at first due to differences of background, expertise and culture of each student. But, we are get used to it as we know each other well and understand each other’s value.

ADAM: Are you active in any clubs?

MBA/MPH: I am a member of H2B2(Haas Healthcare and Bio Business), Soccer Club, and Net Impact Club. I participated in Net Impact case competition held in Boulder, Colorado with 3 classmates in the summer. I was also on the mentoring committee for incoming student this summer. These club activities helped me to expand my network of friendship.

ADAM: Are there any common characteristics you find amongst your classmates?

MBA/MPH: I don’t know about others school so my answer may be subjective. I view everyone here as having the idea of what he or she wants to do, and has passion for that. Good example is that a fair amount of students at Haas have their career interest at not-for-the-profit, CSR and social ventures and they inspire other students.

The other point is that, students here are basically very nice. Not only they are nice from their nature, but also I guess the fact that we know each other well helps a lot. We have many opportunity to know students each other as we only have 240 MBA students in one year.

ADAM: Why should someone considering an MBA choose Haas?

MBA/MPH: If you just want to spend 2 years (or 2.5 years in my case) just as a prep school for I-bank or consulting, then Haas may be just “one of many options.” Having spent 1 year here in Berkeley, I am pretty sure that my experience in business school is absolutely more than that. Studying and collaborating with classmates, I learned from the various values, ways of thinking, beliefs, communication styles, and expertise in business and cultural context of my classmates and professors. I am sure that, here at Haas, I have made life-long friends from all over the world.

In addition, our MBA/MPH program, as mentioned above, is simply great. It has been honestly much better than I had expected. I am sure that the program fit my academic interest very well (there are lots of things we can learn only because we are in the School of Public Health, and these are absolutely good to know or a must to know for working in the healthcare industry). The program expands my possibility of networking and career as well. If you are interested in healthcare industry, MBA/MPH is an option you may want to consider.

Lastly, not the least, the Bay Area is simply perfect. Great nature, great city (San Francisco), laid back culture, great food (vegetables and fruits are amazing) and sunny and mild weather.

ADAM: Do you have any specific advice for those considering application to Haas?

MBA/MPH: Many people might have already told you about this, but, again, I think you need to spend your best effort to know Haas thoroughly before you apply. And, you should ask yourself if you fit to what Haas offers and to your future classmates. Meet alumni or current students and feel Haas by yourself. If you visit school or meet alumni, it is a good idea to prepare before meeting by carefully reading through website or other publications. It should help you to identify what you need to know about Haas more and helps you ask the right questions to students or alumni. I personally believe that just a strong GMAT cannot differentiate you from others.

Finally, I would recommend checking the official website of our program (http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/advantage/health/) if you are interested in applying MBA/MPH program or knowing more about the difference between the MBA program and MBA/MPH program.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I want to thank "MBA/MPH" for taking time out of his busy schedule. You can read my analysis of the Haas MBA questions for Fall 2009 entry here. Japanese interested in Haas should visit http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/japan/.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

ビジネススクール エッセイ 大学院入学 カウンセリング コンサルティング 合格対策 MBA留学 カリフォルニア大学バークレー ハース

HBS Director Leopold on applicants from the financial sector and being unemployed

Dee Leopold, Director of HBS Admissions, posted the following as part of a Q&A:

Q: If there is an increase in the number of applicants from financial services, will the number of admits from this group be greater than in prior years?
A: Not necessarily. Our goal is to compose a class which represents many different kinds of diversity, of which professional experience is only one element. We don't have fixed industry or geographical targets so the year-to-year class profile may change.

Q: Are candidates who are not currently employed at a disadvantage?
A: No. We realize that these are unusual times and that many strong contributors may find themselves in this situation.

In a word, if you are recently unemployed, HBS will not hold that against you, but don't expect it will be easier to get in if you are coming from the financial industry. Nothing really surprising here, but good to know nonetheless.

I think it is safe to assume that Ms. Leopold's comments apply more generally to other schools as they reflect standard admissions practices.

By the way if you are coming from a country (Japan, where I live, being the best example) whose financial industry has not been significantly damaged or may actually stand to benefit, make sure you point that out to admissions (HBS or any school). You don't have to provide them with a full economic analysis, but a brief reminder of local conditions in your essay can't hurt.

And if you are unemployed, stay positive and don't be apologetic about it in your application. No one likes a cry baby, but people respect those who can make the best of such situations. As someone who experienced the Internet Boom while living in New York City (I had the title of death, Senior Manager for Online Sales and Marketing, and my wife worked for a start-up with no business plan), I know that from my own experience. Focus on the future and enjoy New York State's Unemployment Benefits and "The Inflation Special" at Gray's Papaya. For those of you still working in New York City, I bet it is now much easier to get dinner reservations.

Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

ビジネススクール MBA留学