SMU Cox: Admissions Q&A

Admissions director Patti Cudney talks about what it takes to get into the small, but highly ranked MBA program

Patti Cudney
Southern Methodist University

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The Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University moved into BusinessWeek's Top 30 B-schools this year. Director of Admissions Patti Cudney says some of the program's distinguishing factors are its small, intimate environment (there are 90 students in the entering class) and connection to the business community in Dallas.

And speaking of Dallas, Cudney has much to say when it comes to the stereotype that SMU's students are all from Dallas and plan to stay there after graduation. "I see so many people of different backgrounds and with different goals, engaging with each other and making this a dynamic program," said Cudney, who has been the Director of Admissions at Cox since February 2006.

Cudney recently spoke with BusinessWeek's Alysa Teichman about the admissions process and gave her suggestions for candidates to the program. Here are edited excerpts of the conversation:

Are there any major changes to the application process this year?

No, you know, we took a look at the application and really felt the questions we were asking and information we were requesting was giving us what we needed to know, so the application is very similar to what it was last year.

Do students apply in rounds? Are there benefits to being in an earlier round?

We do offer multiple deadlines, but we review on a rolling basis throughout. So if a student misses a deadline by a day or two, it doesn't matter. There are two benefits to applying earlier. We haven't given away as many seats in the class, so the chances are higher of being offered admission. The second is that we do have scholarship opportunities, but they are not unlimited. Students who apply early with strong profiles put themselves in a better position for these opportunities.

Are you seeing more applications now than in the recent past?

So far, yes. We've had our first round deadline on Nov. 15, which historically was our smallest, but we did see an increase for that first round. At this point we're assuming that we'll hope to see that continue on through the admissions process.

What's the most unusual or difficult essay question on your application, and what's your advice to students on how to answer it?

I think our questions are pretty straightforward, but one option is to give an example of failure. Some people get caught up in telling the story of what happened and don't spend enough time telling us how they've learned from the experience. If they choose that option, they'll want to make sure they devote space not just to telling the story but giving us some insight on what they learned and how they grew.

What do you look for in applicants' essays?

Honestly, we want them to be themselves. Lots of people try to second-guess what we're asking and think there's special meaning in the questions. There's no perfect candidate; we want to bring in people with lots of different backgrounds with lots of different goals. We want people to be honest about who they are and why they want in an MBA program. If you want to be a consultant, fine, but don't tell us that if you don't want to.

What do candidates tell you is the hardest part of the admissions process at your school, and how do you help them deal with it?

What I hear most in terms of the hardest is going through the recommendation process because that's the step that students have very little control over. I always tell people that they need to put a lot of due diligence into the process of determining who is going to write recommendations, giving enough time for them to complete the process in a timely manner, and also being thankful to these folks, letting them know you appreciate them. Also, after the fact, it's important to send them a thank you.

How important is an applicant's quantitative GMAT score?

I would say in general, it's important to us, but it's not the only thing. We'll look through someone's transcript to see what classes they've taken and how they've done.