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FEBRUARY 12, 2004 MBA INSIDER: ADMISSIONS Q&A SAMPLE Fitting In at SMU Cox B-school Admissions Director Arrion Rathsack looks for applicants who want to be "in a small, collaborative, and community-oriented environment"
Arrion Rathsack is director of MBA admissions at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. Before joining Cox in 2001, she worked in graduate alumni relations at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, and in MBA student services at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University as well as the University of Phoenix. On Jan. 16, Rathsack spoke with BusinessWeek Online reporter Mica Schneider by e-mail and phone about admissions trends this year at Cox. Here's an edited transcript of their conversation:
Q: How does this admissions season compare to last year's, when the school received 353 applications for 110 seats? A: While we've significantly increased our efforts to reach out to prospective students, currently our applications are about the same as last year. We're hearing that many schools are down, so our outreach may be helping us. The decrease in applications overall may be a reflection of a prolonged sluggish economy as well as demographics. Population trends show that we're in a trough in terms of the age group we seek for the full-time MBA. We're anticipating another two to three years of down applications as we wait for the next generation of MBA candidates to come of age. Q: How might the application dip affect your ability to compete for the best students? A: Applicants are going to have more choices as to which school to attend, which is a switch from a few years ago. We'll need to put more effort into getting candidates onto campus and familiarizing them with the program before they make a commitment. Q: What other tools does your office use to entice admitted applicants to enroll? A: We offer the Cox Distinguished MBA Scholars Program to as many as 10 new students every year. People interested in the program need to apply separately, respond to one additional essay question, and are invited for a separate interview. We tend to invite 20 people for a second interview with faculty, who judge them on their career goals, academic achievement, and knowledge of business ethics. [Editor's note: The additional essay question for the Cox Distinguished MBA Scholars application is: Milton Friedman once said: "The social responsibility of business is to maximize profits." Do you agree or disagree with him? Why?] See Full Version 
 
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