MBA Insider: Admissions Q&A February 9, 2009, 8:58PM EST

USC Marshall: Admissions Q&A

Keith Vaughn, director of full-time MBA admissions, talks about what Marshall offers prospective students and what it takes to get in

Keith Vaughn
University of Southern California

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Keith Vaughn came to the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business for his MBA in 1992 and never left. After graduating, he moved into the Career Resources Center and by 1997 he was the director of full-time MBA admissions. He credits his quick rise at Marshall to the strength of their programs: "That's what an MBA will do for you."

Today, Vaughn is the admissions director for full-time and part-time MBA programs as well as the Executive MBA program. He recently spoke to BusinessWeek.com reporter Anne VanderMey about what it takes to get into Marshall and what it has to offer a prospective student. Here's an edited transcript of their conversation:

This year you accepted only 23% of applications. Last year it was 29%; the year before that, 36%. Is the program generally becoming more selective?

Yes. I think that we get a lot of attention from applicants, and with that comes more applications. Los Angeles is in one of the most populated metropolitan areas in the U.S., as well as in the world, and that affords us some degree of attention.

What are some of the other reasons?

I think that as people look more closely at USC, they look at our students and the recruiting success that they have had in the past, and that helps them to make a decision as to where they plan to apply to business schools and where they plan to go. So, the success stories—for instance, tonight we have one of our alumni, Chris DeWolfe, coming on campus and speaking to and audience; he's the CEO of MySpace—put a spotlight on the program.

At least over the last three years, and especially for 2010, the number of applications has been trending upward. There were 1,483 in 2008, 1,651 in 2009, and 2,076 this year.

How do you think that's related to the recent economic hardship, if at all?

With respect to the full-time program, the number of layoffs that are happening is a factor, but I think part of that is a demographic trend. We were expecting a certain number of people to be in the pool based on the number of graduates out of colleges in the U.S. As a function of the economy, one of the alternatives for people who have been in the workplace for a couple of years is to go back and retool. Some people expect to be able to ride out this trend, if it is a trend, and ride it out for two years and hope that the market gets better, and then get back out into the job market at a better time.

Has the yield rate changed?

The yield rate has been pretty consistent around the 45% to 48% range. That's been pretty stable.

What is Marshall doing in terms of financial aid and scholarships right now?

We are maintaining, I think, a pretty decent budget with respect to scholarships. About 30% of our class received some type of financial assistance from us in the form of either half of tuition paid or a full scholarship.

Can you take me through the life cycle of an application?

O.K. We have four rounds, so let's say a person submits their application on Dec. 1, and on Dec. 1 we begin to assess the application. We look to make sure that it's complete, meaning that they've sent in the required transcripts and that they've sent in the letters of recommendation. Once we make sure that the entire application is in our hands, then that can be distributed to one of the readers in the office, and so two people will read their file. After their first read we will determine whether or not that person will be selected to interview, and then we schedule the applicant for an interview.

While the applicant is being scheduled for an interview, someone else may read the file, but then that application is sort of set aside until after the interview. On a weekly basis we meet as a committee to discuss applicants who have been read as well as interviewed. And then the decision can be either admit, deny, or wait-list.