MBA Insider: Admissions Q&A August 31, 2009, 12:00PM EST

Cranfield: Admissions Q&A

This small program on the outskirts of London has a diverse, older student body and a focus on best practices. MBA Director Sean Rickard discusses the ins and outs of the application process

Sean Rickard
Cranfield

Story Tools

A second-tier school tucked away in a London suburb 50 miles north of the capital, Cranfield School of Management (Cranfield Full-Time MBA Profile) is not on everyone's radar. But the one-year, full-time MBA program, which runs from October to September, strives for diversity, says director Sean Rickard. Of Cranfield's 150 students, only 20% to 25% are British. With students from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, nearly 40 nationalities are usually represented in a class.

Diversity isn't just about having people from different global regions. Students bring lots of varied experiences to the classroom, adds Rickard. With an average age of 32 and 9 to 10 years of work experience under their belts, students are expected to play an active role in classroom discussions.

Rickard, who has been with Cranfield for 15 years and was previously the chief economist for the National Farmers Union (NFU), recently spoke with BusinessWeek reporter Francesca Di Meglio about the admissions process and what he says sets his school apart. What follows is an edited transcript of their conversation:

How would you describe the ideal candidate for Cranfield?

The ideal candidate has at least seven years of business experience. We like to see a track record of success. Ideally, we'd like to see they've worked in more than one country. They should have a GMAT score of at least 600. Candidates with strong performance in the rest of their application might get away with a 590. But if you have an otherwise strong application and a GMAT of, say, 550, we might ask you to take the exam again.

What does the application look like?

We first ask for personal details, such as your age and address. Then we ask for information about your education, particularly at the graduate level. Your work history and information about your current job is next, and we ask about that in essay form. Although the word count is up to you, we expect at least about 300 to 400 words on your current job.

We also ask for an essay on why you are pursuing an MBA and what it will do for you. You must have a clear goal for what you'd like to achieve and a clear understanding of why you'd like to take on an MBA program. We ask about leadership roles and examples of where you've demonstrated leadership. These examples do not have to come from your professional life. It could be from participation in another organization outside of work. Another essay topic is about an ethical dilemma candidates have faced. For example, we often get people writing about someone asking them for a bribe.

Finally, we give candidates the chance to explain why we should consider them for a scholarship. We would expect any serious candidate to write many words on these issues. The average word count is 300 to 500 words per essay. The application is rounded out by two reference letters, which ask many of the same things that we ask the candidates themselves.

Do you require an interview?

The first step is filling in the application and sending it to us. If applicants meet our criteria, we invite them to interview with us. We would like them to come to Cranfield. If they are too far afield and we have someone in their region from the program, then we'll interview them there. If they can not come to campus and we don't have anyone in their region, we'll conduct the interview by phone or Skype, which allows us to see the candidate face to face.

We ask candidates to prepare and give a three-minute presentation at the start of the interview. They will be penalized if they go over the three minutes.