Finding the Best Fit at Berkeley

During our annual MBA Expo, we discussed finding a "best-fit" business school with Berkeley Admissions Director Pete Johnson. Here's a transcript

Pete Johnson
University of California, Berkeley

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BusinessWeek recently hosted its third online MBA Expo, an information-gathering session for potential business school applicants. BusinessWeek.com Business Schools Editor Phil Mintz explored the Expo's theme of finding a "best-fit" business school with several admissions directors from top business schools, as well as with a private admissions consultant. Here's an edited transcript of BusinessWeek's discussion with Pete Johnson, director of admissions for the full-time MBA Program at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

The subject of today's discussion is finding the best-fit business school. What's the first thing you do at Haas to determine if a student is a good fit for the school?
Well, one of the first things that we look at is the level of knowledge that an applicant has about our program. There are a number of characteristics that would make for a good fit, and one of the ones that I feel is most important is that the applicant knows about the program and what things it offers that fits their personal and career goals. So I would look for evidence that they had information about things like particular specialization areas that were consistent with their career goals and that they know something about our student culture.

What are the three or four main considerations someone should think about in determining which business school is the best fit for them?
As I mentioned, the first thing that I think that they should be considering is how well does the particular MBA program fits their career goals. Does it offer the kinds of elective courses that they feel would help prepare them? Are the right types of extracurricular opportunities offered, for example, maybe an investment fund that's managed by students if someone has an interest in that area? What kinds of corporate connections does the business school have that would be relevant?

Then they would need to take a look at things like the student culture and the way in which the program is structured. Do they feel most comfortable in a smaller, more intimate program? Do they want a large program? Are they comfortable in a setting where they'll frequently be called on to answer questions in class? What kind of an environment do they feel most comfortable in? Are they looking for a student culture that tends to be more collaborative? That, in many ways I think, is something that's attractive to a lot of applicants, but it also requires that they come to business school ready to jump in and participate in a variety of things outside the classroom.

So I would look for that fit with the student culture, and then finally I think there is an element that some people overlook, which is simply the location. Location is important for two reasons. One, because of the particular corporate environment in the area around the business school. So for example, in our case, being in the San Francisco Bay area, some of the big industries here include technology-focused companies, biotechnology, venture capital, private equity, and those things. I think it's important for a student to think about where they want to be after business school and what kinds of ties the business school will have with the local business community. So I think all those things are considerations that an applicant should be looking at, which group of business schools might be best at their personal and professional goals.