Big Changes for Michigan BBAs

This year, Ross instituted two major changes to the undergrad program: it's now three years and you can apply out of high school

This year's freshman business majors at the University of Michigan were the first to be admitted as business majors. Prior to this fall, students could only apply to the Ross School of Business at the end of sophomore year. Now students have the option of applying directly to Ross while they are still high school seniors, or else once they get to Michigan, says Michele Thompson, director of BBA admissions.

The school also changed the length of its undergraduate program this year from two to three years, though the curriculum is staying the same. Thompson, a Michigan (undergraduate) and Thunderbird (MBA) alum, is starting her third year in Ann Arbor. She started out at Michigan as associate director of MBA admissions before moving to the undergraduate world.

She recently spoke to BusinessWeek.com reporter Julie Gordon. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:

This was the first year that Michigan allowed high school seniors to apply directly to Ross. Why?

We find that the BBA program is very attractive and competitive and we wanted to allow students the opportunity to have that peace of mind that they would be able to be admitted to the School of Business without having to apply during their freshman year (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/17/06, "A 'Luxurious Position' at Michigan").

What are the benefits of the new three-year program versus the old two-year program?

There's less stress on the students in their junior year. Rather than having several tough quantitative courses in one semester, their courseload is more evenly spread out over their sophomore year and junior year. That allows some flexibility for them to do a dual degree as well. If it were a two-year program, they could do a dual-degree, but they would have had to have figured it out in their freshman year. It was tough for students to do the dual degree. Now it should be much easier, and we expect an increase in the number of students who do a dual degree.

How is the change affecting faculty?

They're still teaching the same courses. There haven't been any major programmatic changes, as it is the same two-year program spread out over three years. It's just that the timing of the courses is different.

Are accepted high school students, known as 'preferred admits,' accepted to the university first and then moved on to your office?

Yes. The requirement to be a preferred admit is to be accepted by the University of Michigan and have filled out the application indicating they wanted to do preferred admission and doing our essay.

What was your preferred admission essay this year, and does it change each year?

It doesn't actually. The question is, 'Based on your accomplishments, experiences and goals, tell us why you want to pursue a BBA degree at the Ross School of Business, and how all that you describe will contribute to your success in the program?'

We're not necessarily saying, 'What do you want to do when you grow up?' We're really trying to keep it at a high level so we can get a sense of their direction and maturity, to see how much research they've done, and see how much they've thought through their application. What we're trying to get them to do is not talk about things that we can see in their applications such as grades.

Is there a formula for figuring out admissions?

There is no formula.

For all Ross admits, are extracurricular activities as important as grade point average (GPA) and test scores?

When we assess it, the grades are important, as are the quantitative skills. Essay quality is important, as is extracurricular depth. How am I going to judge you by looking at a number or by looking at one thing? I can't.