Home
| Register/Subscribe Home |
|
 UNDERGRADSMain Page2007 RankingsAdmissions Q&AsCareer Q&AsUndergrad ForumReading ListRecruiter Q&AsSchool Report CardsSchool ToursUndergrad 24-7Undergrad VideosNews HeadlinesPREMIUM CONTENT
| |
JANUARY 20, 2000 B-SCHOOL Q&A: ADMISSIONS Meet Cornell's Admissions Director A Conversation with Natalie Grinblatt, Director of the Office of Admission and Financial Aid at Cornell's Johnson School of Management
Q: Natalie, you've earned an MBA, and have worked in business school admissions for a little under a decade. Have you noticed a difference in the type of student that is pursuing an MBA today? A: For one, the work experience has changed with the applicant pool. When I was in school, I was one of the older candidates with only two years of work experience. Also, the kinds of opportunities that are available to students coming into the Johnson MBA program have changed. The quality of the work experience that students are coming in with is much more dynamic; they've had an opportunity to really make an impact on their organization and that wasn't the case, say, ten years ago where there was sort of a standard applicant flow into MBA programs. We're now seeing people that come from a different variety of backgrounds. There's also been a much larger international component in the applicant pool, and that's certainly added value. Q: That must make your job a bit harder: having to read through thousands of applications, each with an increased level of credentials, and choose the "best" ones. A: That's what makes my job fun for me. Trying to figure out who best would add value to our organization and where they fit in terms of the Johnson School. Q: Has this changing applicant pool made admission into top business schools like Cornell's harder? A: I think it has. Is it more difficult now than it was ten years ago? Probably so. Just based on sheer numbers, there is a larger number of applications today than there were ever in the past. Also, the candidates are much more savvy then they probably were. I keep going back to ten years ago, maybe I should go back fifteen years ago when I was applying to school. There are a lot more tools for the students to utilize, and I think they start a little bit earlier [today] in terms of trying to figure out whether or not the MBA degree is right for them. Q: You worked in Michigan Business School admissions prior to moving to the Johnson School. Those two programs are very good in their own right, but are obviously quite different. How do you feel the admission process differs between a large school like Michigan and one that's a bit smaller like Cornell's? A: At the Johnson School, we continue to have personal contact with students and feel that it's very important. Is that a change? Not necessarily. There's a new staff at the University of Michigan, so I'm not really sure what new programs they've implemented and, frankly the MBA landscape changes so quickly that it's really unfair for me to make comparisons. I do know a priority for me, regardless of the school that I've been affiliated with, has been [to have] close contact with the applicants.
Q: How does that translate itself? What does "close contact" mean? A: I hand out business cards that have my direct [phone] line on them, so that prospective students can get directly to me. In fact, right before you called, I was speaking with three or four prospective students who I had met on the road this past fall. We also call each and every candidate once they've been admitted to the program. We contact them for interviews as well, prior to admission, because we do our interviews by invitation only. In addition, we match each prospective student with a student host when they come to visit. During their visit, one student will take them to lunch, and another student will take them to class. So [candidates] get exposure to a variety of students while they're here visiting. And then I do some outreach as well. I will go out and do interviews and host receptions and do dinners with candidates too. Q: The changing dynamics of the MBA applicant pool has put the onus on prospective students to display a kind of diversity that will help them stand out from the rest of the pack. What can an MBA aspirant do to stand above the fray and catch your eye? A: That's an interesting question. One of the things that a student really needs to do initially is self-analysis, and figure out what it is he or she wants from an MBA program. Step one is trying to discern what is valuable to that candidate and how a school may or may not be able to provide [that value]. A lot of candidates fail in the application process because they haven't gone through that kind of homework. A lot of prospective students would like to make a career change, but they're not really sure what they want to change into. It really benefits an applicant to do that kind of self-analysis and find out which school fits for them, because that's where you can really draw upon the uniqueness. If, for instance, a prospective student is interested in brand management or manufacturing or investment banking or corporate finance, then they're going to want to look at our program for immersion learning. If they're interested in E-commerce, they're going to want to look at our program for the E-commerce intensive. If they're interested in kinetic organizations, they're going to be interested in our program because of the Center for Leadership and Dynamic Organization. Or if they've had opportunities to lead teams or take a project from infancy to fruition, then the U.S. citizens will be able to look at our program for the Park Leadership Fellows Program. So these are the kinds of things that people need to figure out to find their match. Q: After I've done the self-assessment and discerned that Cornell is one of the schools that might satisfy my academic thirst, what can I do or say on my application that will help me to shine above and beyond the rest of the applications that you and your office review? A: What I'm looking for in an applicant is that that individual has added value to his or her organization and is able to articulate that initially in writing and then, if they get to the interview stage, in person. They need to do it in a way that's both thorough and succinct. It's [demonstrating] the value [the applicant has] added to the organization. Beyond that, we're also looking for people who display analytical thinking, creative problem solving... The Johnson program is team-oriented, so people should maybe have examples of teams that they've been on that have been both good teams to be on and bad teams to be on, and understand what makes a good team. Trying to be extremely funny when you may not be, in an application essay, is relatively risky. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Candidates will also send us additional material, CD-ROMs and video tapes... Unfortunately, we really don't have the time to look at everybody's individual additional information. So really what applicants need to work with is the application itself and the interview, to tell their stories well. Q: How important are extracurriculars in an application? A: I go back to the fact that one of the things that we look for is the value added to the organization. And there are candidates who haven't been given the responsibility to really make an impact on a work organization, but can do so in the community. So for [them], it's important. Q: Let's talk about the school's efforts to bolster its reputation with international MBA candidates. What has Johnson done in order to publicize its offerings abroad? A: One of the things we did this year was extensive recruiting internationally. My associate director and I have been on four continents recruiting. We did a little bit of advertising in publications in terms of entering profile data and that kind of thing. But again, we're very customer service oriented, and I want that close personal contact. So for me, doing recruiting abroad and really getting to meet individuals one on one has been the most valuable thing. Q: Technology has played a role in helping schools disseminate information. How has the Internet affected Cornell's outreach efforts? A: We've been able to utilize our Web site, as well as online applications, to remind students that we continue to be interested in them. From an applicant's standpoint, applying to business schools has become a lot easier because much of the initial research can be done on the Web. Access to things like the GMAT exam and [B-school] applications has become easier. You can apply to multiple schools at one time [via the Web]. In the days that I was applying, I had to obtain the paper application from each individual school that I was interested in, and try to figure out which schools I wanted to apply to. So it's just become a lot easier for candidates to apply to programs. And we try to make it as easy as possible by having a Web site that's easy to navigate and offering our candidates the opportunity to apply online. Q: Cornell has instituted a fair amount of change over the last couple of years: the school improved its physical grounds, recently finishing the renovation of its main building, Sage Hall; and overhauled the MBA curriculum. However, the Johnson's underrepresented minority student population continues to be low, especially when contrasted to a number of other schools in BW's Top 25. What has the school been doing to up its number of minority students in the classroom? A: One big initiative that we took on is creating an office for minorities and women in business. One of our former associate directors has been named the director of this office. There's a passion there for her and for the rest of the school. We've become much more active in terms of outreach. We're looking into pipeline programs right now. And we're currently a member of the Toigo Foundation . That's a great opportunity for underrepresented minorities who are interested in finance. So, the past is the past, the future will be more telling. Q: Natalie, you mentioned how much easier it is to gain access to information and apply to business schools today. Given the competitiveness of the MBA application process, how many schools should an applicant apply to, in order to secure a class spot somewhere for the following academic year? A: I think that's an individual decision. There are some candidates, for instance last year, who applied only to the Johnson School. Q: Would you endorse that committed students only apply to Cornell? Or would you feel more comfortable if applicants chose, let's say, to apply to between three and five schools? A: I think applicants should always have a plan B. Sometimes a plan B is to work another year and to reapply. But, in general, it would probably benefit individuals to apply to more than one program. Q: The Johnson School has three deadlines in place for this application season. Speaking with Indiana University's director of admissions, I learned that IU provides an incentive for its applicants to apply early by offering merit scholarships for the earlier deadlines. Does Cornell do something like that? A: We do. We encourage candidates for the two year program to apply within the first two decision periods. They're considered for merit scholarship if they do that. Applicants who apply to the third decision period will not be considered for merit scholarships. Q: When do Cornell's candidates apply? What's been the trend? A: Our largest pool comes in the second decision period, the January 15th deadline, for the two year program, and the December 15th deadline for the 12 month option. Q: Do you evaluate applications any differently depending on when they arrive? A: No. The evaluation process is the same and that's why we batch our applications. Q: So far this year, have a greater number of people opted to apply to Cornell during the earlier rounds? A: Yes. We've had a marked increase in applications for the first decision period. It's up about 25% over last year, and last year we were up close to 40% over the year before. Q: Do you feel that more folks are appying earlier because they feel they'll receive some sort of perceived benefits? A: I don't know that they're applying for that reason. There's always a group of candidates who apply in the first decision period. They've done the research earlier, they're ready to apply, and they go ahead and apply. What I think this indicates is that we will probably be up in applications when all is said and done. I don't know, necessarily, that we'll be up 25%, though. The first and second decision periods usually have more candidates applying than the third decision period. Q: Inquiries about Johnson's MBA program are up, applications are rising, and the school recently completed its renovation of Sage Hall, the main student building. Do all these factors point to the Johnson School increasing its class size? A: Actually, no. The enrollment target for the next year will probably remain about the same for our twelve month option program, and be slightly less for the two year program. I haven't been given a definitive number at this point, we're still discussing this with our dean. But it doesn't look like we'll have as big a first year class as we had this past year. Q: So, in fact, you're thinking about shrinking the school's rolls? A: Yes, and that has to do with the personal contact that I've talked about. [That's] important to this school. If you have a process that is too large, then you lose that personal contact. We pride ourselves on the fact that our faculty can be accessible to our students, and that they can be dynamic and kinetic in the way they work. That has to do with size, and we want to keep the program comparatively small. Q: Right now, there are about 275 spots per class at the Johnson School. Generally, how many people do you admit to fill those spots? A: Last year we admitted about 480 applicants to fill all of the slots in the two year program. Q: Let's get into the application itself. We spoke a bit about the need for diversity and of the different ways one can stand out. Many times, as a first step, admissions officers will look at applicants' GMAT scores, GPAs, and work experience -- what I call the Big Three -- to weed out the weaker applications from the rest of the pile. How much weight do those criteria carry with you and your admissions staff? A: We don't use weighted measures. What's important to me is that a candidate is going to be able to succeed in the program academically, but will also be able to add value to the school. So that's where the Big Three, as you say -- the work experience, GMAT, and GPA -- come into play. Those are three very important factors, but to me, they're separate factors because the academic success is one thing, and the demonstrated record of achievement is another. When you have a pool that's as large as ours, and you can only admit a select number of those candidates, then all of [the criteria in an application] become important. The other thing that's important to note is that [evaluating applications] is a relative process because each application is essentially compared to the entire applicant pool. And, frankly, the pool that I saw last year and the pool that I see this year, have been the strongest quality I've seen in the twelve years that I've been doing business school admissions. This year, most certainly, is stronger than last year, and last year was stronger than any other pool that I've seen. Q: Given the competitiveness of today's MBA application process, it's not surprising that more than a few qualified applicants are denied admission each year simply because there are just not enough class spots available. Does Cornell, in fact, go so far as to weight applicants' undergraduate institutions and majors in order to decide who gets the nod and who doesn't? A: It's certainly something we consider. We look at the academic rigor of the [undergraduate] program. And we don't necessarily look at GPA because there are a lot of candidates who don't come in with a GPA but instead come in with another kind of grading standard. Q: Meaning international candidates? A: Not necessarily. Brown, for instance, doesn't use a GPA. There are schools within the University of Michigan that use a written evaluation of the candidates. So, it's not necessarily international, it can be domestic as well. To me, what's more important is, again, the academic record and within the academic record, what we're looking for is the rigor. We're also looking to see if applicants have competent quantitative skills. The first year course is relatively quantitative here. But speaking more directly to your question, we do look at both [an applicant's] major and school. For example, I am less concerned about a chemical engineer who has a weaker grade point average succeeding in our program academically. But I may be more concerned -- and I'll use my own major so I don't offend too many people -- about theater majors who may not be performing up to par, handling the rigors of our program. So all of that is taken into account along with the GMAT. That, to me, is what makes up the potential for academic success within our program. Q: Let's say I've earned a bachelor of arts degree from a second-tier undergraduate institution. Do I need to make up for not having a more rigorous undergraduate education in other areas of my application? For example, does my academic background mean I need to do better on my GMAT? A: There is no central formula [for evaluating applications]. We are looking for well-rounded candidates who are going to succeed in the program academically, and this is relative to a given applicant pool. If you're admitting people who are academically performing at one level, then everybody should be able to perform at that level academically. It wouldn't serve either of us to offer admission to somebody who's not going to be able to handle the program academically. So I don't have a formula for you, because there isn't a formula. We do look at all the components in terms of determining someone's ability to succeed in the program academically, and take them into account with what's going on with the pool and who else we're admitting. Q: The essays are one facet of the application packet that add substance to the numbers. Have the Johnson School's essays changed over the last couple of years? A: Yes, we changed them this year, actually, because we're trying to elicit different kinds of responses. Again, keep in mind that I started working at the Johnson School just 13 months ago, so one of the things that the admissions staff and I did was take a look at the essay questions to figure out what would be most valuable to us. That's how we developed this set of questions, and frankly, the essay responses that I've read so far are much more dynamic than the answers I'd received in past years from either school. Q: Is that because of the way the school's questions have been phrased? A: Yes, I think it's the way the questions have been phrased, but also, I think these [new questions] are more fun to answer. (Editor's note: The four essays in the 1999-2000 Johnson School application include: 1. "Why are you seeking an MBA from the Johnson School? What do you hope to experience and contribute here and what are your plans/goals after you receive your degree? What factors have influenced you career decisions to date?" 2. "Answer one of the following two questions: a. Describe a recent national or international event that has had a negative effect on the business or economic climate of a particular region of the world. How would you address this issue? What are the implications of your approach? b. Discuss the impact of technology on your chosen career and how your study at the Johnson School will help you face the challenges and opportunities in the new millennium." 3. "Answer one of the following two questions: a. At the Johnson School we highly value the spirit of entrepreneurship. Review the following George Bernard Shaw quote: 'The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.' Then describe a professional situation in which your actions were instrumental in crafting the outcome. b. The Johnson School is well known for its leadership curiculum and for building great business leaders. Please describe your most significant leadership experience. Feel free to draw upon work experiences, exracurricular activities or your personal interactions in describing a period of formal or informal leadership. Please focus on what caused you to be effective." 4. "Optional essay: If there is other information you would like to add regarding your candidacy, please use the optional essay. For instance, if you believe one or more aspects of your application (e.g., undergraduate GPA or test scores) do(es) not accurately reflect your potential for success at the Johnson School and in your chosen career, you may use this essay to explain those circumstances. You may also include background information you would like the admissions committee to take into consideration as it reviews your application. This essay is for clarification purposes only.") Q: One complaint that I frequently hear from admissions officers is that candidates either don't answer the essay question at hand or don't relate the question to their own personal experiences. Is this what you're looking for, when you evaluate the essays? A: Yes. Anecdotal information is very valuable to us, in the interview as well as in the essay. I'd rather not read through fluff and really have the candidate get down to the nitty-gritty. The best way to do that is to have concrete examples of how they've been able to achieve their goals, how they've been proactive, and how they've impacted their organizations. Q: Like most schools, Cornell attaches word limits to its essays. How important are they to adhere to? A: The word limits are 400 words per essay, and that's an increase over last year's 300. What we're looking for is succinct business writing. In this generation, and in this environment that we live in, you don't have a lot of time to make an impact. [Concise essays] are one way to show that you can make an impact. Q: So it's not a wise idea to submit a 14-page thesis? A: No. [LAUGHS] Q: The interview is another way for applicants to personalize themselves. Earlier you mentioned that Cornell only interviews by invitation. Does that mean that an interview is required in order to gain admission into the Johnson School? A: Last year all candidates who were admitted to the program had an interview. Q: Are Cornell's interviews done exclusively on campus? A: No. We trained 90 alumni who actually graduated last year, and they now conduct interviews around the world. We certainly do interviews when we're out in other cities. For instance, I'm going to visit my parents in Florida over the break, but I'll be conducting interviews in Florida too. And obviously we'd love to have people come and see Sage Hall and meet with our students. So if they have an opportunity to come here, we welcome that. There are basically three ways that people can conduct an interview: here on campus, abroad with an alum, or with an admission officer during a reception. And if none of those three options are available to a candidate, then we'll do a phone interview, but that's the choice we'd prefer not to make. We'd really like to do an in-person interview, if at all possible. Q: How long do interviews tend to last? A: About a half hour to 45 minutes. Q: Does Cornell conduct behavioral interviews? Is the conversation free-flowing? What's the typical interview environment like? A: You want all my secrets, don't you? [LAUGHS] Well, [the interview] is not necessarily a free-flowing conversation. It is a conversation, however. But the interviewers have an agenda that they need to get through, and the questioning is developed in such a way that it appears to be a free-flowing conversation, but it's not necessarily so. Does that make sense? Q: As an applicant, how should I prepare for an interview? A: Well, the first thing I'd go back to would be the self-analysis. Make sure you know what you want from an MBA program, particularly from the Johnson School's MBA program. I would think about the story that you want to tell. Think about the achievements that you want to talk about. Also, try to make the achievements different from the achievements that you talked about in your essays, or you're going to sound pretty one-dimensional. Or expand on the experiences that you've described in your essays. But be thorough and succinct. Know the school well, be charming, and be yourself. Applicants will do quite well if they keep all of that in mind. Q: How important is doing a school visit? Does it increase an applicant's chances of getting into the program? Afterall, it certainly demonstrates an applicant's interest in the program... A: Well, we realize that everybody has different circumstances and while we welcome people to come here, applicants are accepted into the program on their own merits. There are situations that prohibit people from coming to Ithaca. For many candidates it's cost prohibitive. They might have to travel half the world around and that's just impossible. So, [the campus visit] is not something that we necessarily take into account, but we do love to have people here because it gives them a better idea of fit. It gives them an opportunity to really visualize themselves here at the Johnson School. And if they're an admitted candidate, then it gives them an opportunity to make a more educated decision. Q: We talked briefly about how competitive today's application has become and how B-schools now sift through a higher number of applications with increased credentials... Do you evaluate an application differently depending on whether it came from an international applicant, versus a U.S. applicant? A: We do it a couple of ways. One is that we realize for many of the international applicants who are applying, English is not their first language, so that's a consideration. We also know that many international applicants have not been exposed to standardized test taking, so we take that into account as well. And then there are certainly some cultural differences. There are countries where military experience is required and where work experience or school are done after a large period of time either in the military or before schooling, for instance. So, there are certainly some cultural nuances that we take into consideration. Q: And lastly, what is the turnaround for response, once I've submitted my application to your office? A: We have some decision deadline dates, so if you submitted an application on November 15th -- which was our first decision period -- then you would hear from us on January 31st. We send all our notifications out at the same time and we make the phone calls starting on the 31st. That eliminates questions in people's minds, especially if their friend received a letter and they didn't. It all goes out on the same day. If somebody applied for the twelve month option on the December 15th deadline, then they'll be notified on February 28th. If you apply for the Decision Two deadline for the two year program, then you hear from us on March 31st. And Decision Three, which is the March 15th deadline, has a May 31st notification date. Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | JANUARY
 Learn about your online education options |
 Copyright 2000 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Policy |
MBA Insider
Printer-Friendly Version
