Finding the Best Fit at Berkeley

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Pete Johnson
University of California, Berkeley

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And what about students who apply from abroad? Do they have different issues concerning fit than students who are applying from the U.S.?
I'm not sure that I would say they have different issues, but I think it's sometimes a little more difficult at a distance to determine some of these things. Obviously a student applying from abroad can go online, look at the Web page and get information in that way. But it might be more difficult for them to take advantage of some of the other opportunities to find out about fit, for example, a campus visit or talking with someone from the admissions office or from the faculty. So I'd encourage people who are applying from abroad to make sure, if they don't have the opportunity to visit, that they do take advantage of information sessions that are presented locally, that they perhaps take advantage of talking with alumni that live in their area, because I think that's an important element of the process of selecting the right schools to which they would apply.

The other thing that I think is a little bit more difficult for applicants applying from abroad is that they might not be familiar with the type of student culture that exists at most of the leading MBA programs. So it's important for them to understand things like the importance of being involved in extracurricular activities, whether it's the soccer club or the biotechnology forum or whatever the organization is. A lot of the really strong benefits you can get from a leading MBA program are in fact in those activities that are outside the classroom. Business-planning competitions, student treks, those sorts of things, and I think that students applying from abroad who haven't had the experience of being in that type of program should look very closely at that as they're determining the right fit for them.

How can an applicant demonstrate fit in his or her application?
Well, one of the key things that I look for in an application is evidence that a student has done their homework. So it's very easy for someone in the application to say, yes, the Berkeley MBA program is the perfect fit for me and so on, without backing it up with any details. I'll be looking for evidence that they know about opportunities in our program that would fit their goals and that they have some sense of the basics, that perhaps they've read some of the articles in BusinessWeek or one of the other publications about our school, and perhaps that they've taken advantage of the opportunity to talk to someone from my staff or to some of our alumni, to get their perspective on that experience.

So I look for evidence in the application that someone has taken these steps. In fact, we have a short-answer question on our application where we specifically ask them how they went about gathering information about our business school, and that's primarily what we're looking for—it doesn't really matter what methods they used to gather the information. It's more important that they've taken the time to get some of that information and that they demonstrate a sufficient level of knowledge about our program.

If an applicant comes in for a face-to-face interview, how does that applicant demonstrate that they're a good fit in an interview?
In the same way, I think it would be important in the interview setting for an applicant to tie together their personal, professional goals, and the things that we offer in our business school. So that the interviewer knows that yes, this person really does have a solid understanding of what the Berkeley MBA program is all about, and how they would not only benefit from that experience but what they would add to the experience for their classmates. If someone can speak to that within the interview context, that's a very positive thing.

How do a person's career goals and fit intersect for an applicant?
I think this is actually critically important because many of the leading business schools in the U.S. are strong in a number of different discipline areas. But every business school to some degree is informed by the geographic location in which they exist, and so I think it's important for students as they're considering their career goals, to look for a fit that's going to give them opportunities to network in the industry area that they're looking for, and that they will have the opportunity to take advantage of things that will support their development. For example, if someone is interested in entertainment, they would want to look for things like whether or not the curriculum includes courses in subjects such as intellectual property law or specific media topics.

Now it doesn't necessarily mean that the business school has to be located [where the industry is]. For example, we are relatively distant from Wall Street, but we have a very strong alumni network, and in fact, we have a full-time career services staff member who is based in New York specifically to work with students who are going in that direction career-wise.

So I think the important thing is that students know what the school offers that's going to help them career-wise. At the end of the day, everyone who's looking at a leading MBA program is doing so not only for the learning experience, but for the boost in their career potential, and I think that has to be at the top of the list in terms of things that they're looking at each school.

Is there such a thing as a "perfect" fit?
That's a tough question. I think there are very good fits—I'm not sure there's a perfect fit, because I think that I would say with most of the students that I've worked with over the years, I think there are two or three schools that would be a very good fit and each of them offers slightly different opportunities. So I'm not sure that I believe that there's a perfect fit.

Archives of this year's MBA Expo are available online through Jan. 4, 2008.