MBA Insider: Admissions Q&A August 5, 2010, 2:04PM EST

Admissions Q&A: Cornell

Randall Sawyer says Cornell is looking for team players who are intellectually curious and passionate about the school

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Randall Sawyer doesn't mind that people think Cornell's Johnson School of Management (Cornell Full-Time MBA Profile) is a friendly place. The Ithaca (N.Y.) school values MBAs who work well with others, and their passion for the school often influences prospective students. Says Sawyer: "We have a lot of people here who love the Cornell experience, so when people come up to visit, our people are very friendly to them."

But Sawyer, the school's assistant dean of admissions, financial aid, and inclusion, doesn't want anyone to assume that because this Ivy League B-school is friendly, students aren't hitting the books. "I can assure you that friendly does not equal lack of academic rigor," he says. "I don't want anybody to think it's easy, because it's not."

Sawyer recently spoke with Bloomberg Businessweek's Zachary Tracer about what it takes to get into Cornell and how living in Ithaca affects the job search. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation.

Zachary Tracer: What is unique about the Johnson School, and why should an applicant pick it over other business schools?

Randall Sawyer: I think we're unique for a lot of different reasons. Students who come to the Johnson School have the opportunity the second semester to take our immersion program. [It's] a program that immerses you, for lack of a better phrase, in the program you want to study. For example, if you want to do brand management, then all the classes you take—every lecture, guest speaker, theory, case study, field trip in the second semester—has to do with brand management. Also, we're a very collaborative community.

What sort of student are you looking for at the Johnson School?

We're looking for people who are academically or intellectually curious. We're looking for students who see value in a community, in working together in teams. I often say to students, if you like to go to class and then go home by yourself and study by yourself, Cornell's probably not the right school for you. I think that predominantly, we have a lot of type A students, like every other business school, but our folks are very outgoing and very excited to be at Cornell. There's a reputation that goes along with Cornell, and they're excited to be here and be a part of Cornell's legacy.

Drilling down a bit into admissions, are you looking for a minimum number of years of work experience?

We have students with limited or no work experience all the way through [several years of work experience]. I think this year we have a couple of students with 9-plus years of work experience, so we really run the gamut. When we look at the average candidate and how many years of work experience they have, traditionally in the average class we see 4 to 5 years of work experience. But if you have one or two or zero, [that doesn't] preclude you from getting into the class.

What about the GMAT? Is there a minimum score you want to see?

We really don't have minimums on the GMAT. While our average is traditionally in the high 600s or low 700s, and our median is somewhere in the 700 to 710 [range], I urge everyone to apply. Some people are bad test takers, and we can talk about that.

When you are reading through these applications, what are some of the most common mistakes you see?

First off, I'd like everybody to answer the questions. When you're done writing, take off the questions and give your answers to a friend and say, "What's the question here?" If they can give you the [question] back, then you've done very well. If they can't, then maybe you should go back and tune it up a little. A lot of students copy and paste their essays if the questions are close enough.