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FEBRUARY 18, 2003 B-SCHOOL Q&A: ADMISSIONS Making It into Maryland Sabrina White of the university's Smith School of Business with application advice and tips on navigating the quirky questions
Q: When are the last application deadlines for the full-time program? A: We have a Feb. 15 deadline for international students. We then have Mar. 15 and May 1 deadlines for domestic applicants. Q: How big will the incoming class be in the fall? A: We generally target 200 students. Sometimes we go above that, and sometimes we fall below. I think last year we were 198, but the year before that we were 222. Q: How quickly does a class fill up? A: I won't say that we've never admitted students from the last deadline. In the past we have, and we've also pulled students from our wait list during the summer. But I would say that 85% to 90% of the students are selected by May 15. Q: Is the volume of applications this year up or down compared with last year? A: We're pretty much on par with where we were this time last year. Last year we experienced a slight increase in full-time applications: 50% in the domestic pool and a slight decrease in the international pool. Q: What about quality? A: Thus far, I've been very pleased with what I've read. I'm the first read on all applications. I think that, from round one, the quality of the application -- as identified by grade point average (GPA), Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) scores, and especially work experience -- is impressive. One of the things we've noticed is that there's probably a greater percentage of students who are currently unemployed applying to the MBA program. But we've been pretty pleased with what we've seen thus far. Q: The average work experience of your students is about five years. A lot of admissions folks are telling me that they're starting to ratchet that number down to three or four. Where does the Smith School stand on that issue? A: We're still looking at right around five years. Having said that, however, the work experience in our class ranges from 1 to 22 years. Q: At the higher end of that range, why wouldn't an Executive MBA be more suitable? If somebody is, say, in his or her mid-30s, or has upwards of 10 years of work experience, why would they consider a full-time program rather than an executive program? A: One thing we ask students is why they're pursuing the MBA. We often encourage students who are choosing to transfer into another industry or another line of work to look at the full-time MBA program to benefit from the experiences of their colleagues and because of the internship between their first andsecond years. Students in an exec program usually are company-sponsored with the thought that this person is going to be promoted in that company. Q: One thing that stands out about Maryland's MBA program is the quantitative focus. Can you tell me a little bit about why that is? A: Our core curriculum is pretty quant-intensive. However, second-year students have the flexibility to take electives in a number of areas. With regard to the rigor of the quant, we attempt to prepare students to lead global businesses. And so the student must have a solid grasp of statistics, accounting, and finance, because business is about money. Q: If that's so, should students who don't score well on the quantitative section of the GMAT think about retaking the test? A: We don't necessarily encourage a student to retake the test. One of the prerequisites of the Maryland MBA program is that a student must have successfully completed a calculus course within the past five years. If a student's quantitative performance on the GMAT is under 75%, we often encouragethe student to go back and take a calculus class, a statistics class, and, if they have time, an accounting class. Q: If a person hasn't taken very many quantitative classes such as calculus or statistics -- say they were a liberal arts major in undergrad -- what steps can they take if they're interested in Maryland? A: Usually, when we interview them, we'll talk to them about their quantitative experience. And we'll look for the calculus requirement. If they've not fulfilled that requirement, they must do so. In addition to that, we encourage them to take statistics and accounting. Last year, Maryland began offering a quant camp. Students who are interested in participating in the quant preparation are invited to start the program early by attending a pre-orientation workshop. Q: During the boom years, Maryland was out front with offerings in e-business. Even as other schools have pared back those offerings, Maryland continues to promote them. Why? A: Maryland recognizes that it's a network economy, and it's going to be a network economy. Our emphasis is to prepare students to lead, to manage, to harness resources in a network economy -- regardless of the area of discipline, whether it's finance, marketing, systems, supply-chain management, orentrepreneurship. The dynamics of the economy are digital, and thus you must excel in a digital economy. And that's why we've continued our focus in technology. Q: Apart from e-commerce and information systems, what are some other strong areas at Maryland? A: We're known for technology and information systems. But one-third of our students still study finance, 25% study management organization, and 15% study marketing. So traditional business fundamentals are still the most popular areas of study. Q: Where do most of the students come from, geographically? A: Within the U.S., 43% are from the Mid-Atlantic -- that's Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, D.C., and Delaware. The next largest group, around 10%, are from the Northeast. Six percent are from West Coast, and about 5% are from the South. Q: Last year, 33% of your students were international. What countries are most represented? A: China, India, Taiwan, Peru, and Argentina. Q: What are the most common backgrounds of Smith MBAs? A: We see a large percentage of students with engineering degrees. We also see a number of students from traditional management and business disciplines. The most popular industries students come from are consulting, financial services, government or not-for-profit, military, and manufacturing. Q: The first required essay asks applicants to discuss their goals and how they fit with the Smith MBA. What are the keys to success on that essay? A: To be able to articulate your focus, your career path to date, how that career has prepared you for an MBA, and how it will assist you in reaching your post-MBA goals. Many students see the MBA as the end-all/be-all. We want to make sure that they've looked at their history -- their educational history, their career history to date -- and have positioned themselves to reach their post-MBA goals. Q: Do you feel that people underestimate the need to think about their post-MBA career goals? A: Yes. That's why we worded the question the way it is. We want students to be their own career counselors before they get to the program. [We want applicants to] make the connection or create the bridge: Here is where I am, this is how the MBA is going to assist me, and this is where I would like to be.
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