How To Write The MBA Admissions Essay That Will Get You Into Harvard – 7 Top Tips - BusinessBecause
BusinessBecause | How To Write The MBA Admissions Essay That Will Get You Into Harvard – 7 Top Tips BusinessBecause Stanford has an MBA essay prompt that reads simply, What matters most to you, and why? For this essay, it's very important that you focus on the “why”. What are the aspirations and motivations behind the things that are most important to you? Look for ... |
Seventy-one percent of current applicants to business school say there’s just one industry they want to work in, up from 58 percent with such a singular focus in 2014. This according to the latest Prospective Students Survey Report from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), released today. Not only that, 61 percent have a particular job function in mind upon graduation, up from just 46 percent the year before. The economy, GMAC notes, likely plays a role in this phenomenon, with prospective students perceiving their “dream job” as more attainable in today’s market than in the years following the Great Recession.
The popularity of specialized business master’s programs—which require little or no prior work experience—is gaining on the MBA in Western Europe at a staggering pace, the survey found. Since 2009, the percentage of students in that region considering only specialized master’s programs has jumped from 22 to 45. Those considering only MBA programs has fallen over the same period, from 49 to 36 percent.
Source: Graduate Management Admission Council
Candidates Want a Blend of Classroom and Online Instruction
Regardless of the type of program they prefer, most candidates want a combination of classroom instruction and online learning. Candidates looking at full-time, two-year MBA programs say they want 86 percent of their coursework to take place in the classroom and the remaining 14 percent to be delivered online. At the same time, those looking for online MBA programs still expect 10 percent of course instruction to take place in the classroom to provide networking and experiential learning opportunities, the survey found.
What most motivates prospective students to consider pursuing a graduate management degree? It’s frequently a specific event or circumstance, according to the survey results. More than a quarter of respondents (27 percent) began considering graduate management degrees after initiating job searches only to discover they didn’t have the skills to be competitive for the position they want. Another 17 percent cited reaching a plateau at work as what spurred their interest. Another 17 percent said they were motivated by a lack of knowledge to do their job.
On average, prospective students start formulating their “short list” of schools a year before they apply, and 67 percent use social media to obtain information about programs, learn about upcoming events and connect with current students, alumni and faculty. Facebook and LinkedIn are the most popular social media platforms among this group globally, except for in China, where prospective students are more likely to use the instant messaging platform Tencent QQ.
This was the first year that GMAC included members of Generation Z (born after 1995) in its analysis. “We found that Millennial and Gen Z candidates are more likely than past generations to have ‘stretch schools’ on their short lists,” GMAC Executive Vice President for School Products Bob Alig said in a statement. “All things considered, these candidates want to get into the best program possible—an indication of their high level of aspiration.” Indeed, more than half of Generation Z and Millennial candidates include a stretch school (59 and 55 percent, respectively), compared to just 35 percent of Generation Xers and 28 percent of Baby Boomers.
Overall, two-thirds of prospective students (65 percent) believe that it is important to get into the best program possible, although only 59 percent say they have thoroughly researched the programs where they intend to apply. The overwhelming majority of prospective students, 90 percent, have identified a single preferred school from which they want to earn their degree–regardless of where they are in their deliberation process of applying.
Finally, concerns about financing a graduate management degree continue to be pervasive, the survey found. More than half (51 percent) say that pursuing a graduate management degree requires more money than is currently available, and 46 percent expect doing so to require taking on significant debt.
To download GMAC’s 2016 Prospective Students Survey Report, visit gmac.com/prospectivestudents.
The high cost of a graduate management education continues to be a key concern for prospective students and an important factor in deciding where they will apply and enroll, a new survey of prospective students by the Graduate Management Admission Council found today (May 10).
Would-be grad students in business generally expect using a variety of resources to fund their degrees although they expect to finance almost half of their education through a
combination of grants, fellowships and scholarships (26%) and loans (20%).
Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are more likely to rely on personal savings and earnings as well as employer support to pay for the costs of their education; whereas Millennial and Generation Z cohorts will be more dependent on parental support, according to GMAC’s prospective students survey.
There are also important gender differences to note within the expected
financial mix for different age groups. Among prospective students 24 years of age and younger, men are more likely than women to rely on loans and personal savings, whereas women expect to rely more on parental support. Among those aged 24 to 30, women are more likely to rely on spousal or partner earnings and employer reimbursement than men their age, who expect to rely more on loans. Among those aged 31 and older, women will rely more on a spouse’s or partner’s earnings and men will rely more on personal savings.
EXPECTED SOURCES AND MIX OF FUNDING TO PAY FOR THE DEGREE
Source: GMAC 2016 Prospective Students’ Survey
Prospective students who are employed and who plan to continue working full-time while attending business school face challenges related to levels of employer funding, which continues to decline, GMAC said. Currently, 45% of this group anticipates receiving employer tuition assistance or reimbursement to help pay for their education, down from 54% in 2009. In addition, these individuals anticipate their employer assistance will cover, on average, just 52% of their educational costs, down from 55% in 2009.
GMAC claimed that employers who help finance their employees’ graduate management education often reap multiple benefits as a result of their investment, ranging from workers who now have acquired new skill sets to improved employee retention. Three in five (62%) prospective students who expect employer tuition assistance intend to remain with their current employer versus 26% of those not receiving such assistance. Among candidates most likely to anticipate using employer-funded tuition (e.g., those currently employed who plan to continue working full-time while completing their degree) are women, candidates in entry and mid-level jobs, and those interested in professional MBA programs (see table below).
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS EXPECTING EMPLOYER HELP IN PAYING TUITION
Source: GMAC 2016 Prospective Students’ Survey
The post How MBAs Are Financing The Degree appeared first on Poets and Quants.
Harvard Business School on a beautiful spring day in 2016
The new survey, published today (May 10) by the Graduate Management Admission Council, found that the single most important factor is the percentage of the latest graduating class with job offers (see table below). That is also true of applicants who are pursuing specialized master’s degrees in business.
After job offers, the quality of faculty came second, the availability of scholarships third, and total tuition and required fees came in fourth. Graduates’ starting base salary and other compensation rounded out the top five. Surprisingly, rankings, according to the survey, came in ninth or next to last for full-time MBA applicants.
QUALITY & REPUTATION OF SCHOOL MOST IMPORTANT IN CHOOSING A SCHOOL
Don’t take that finding too seriously, though. Another section of the survey appears to contradict that notion. When applicants were asked to name the most important selection criteria in choosing a school, the highest percentage of full-time MBA applicants–slight more than 40%–named “quality and reputation,” which are largely a function of the rankings. Only 11% identified “program aspects.” None of the full-time MBA applicants name the curriculum, the school’s culture, or the program’s class profile. “Career aspects” came in second, with about 20% of the respondents checking off that factor in the survey.
The survey, however, was not a controlled sample but a poll of applicants who went to GMAC’s website and filled out its Prospective Students Survey. The organization said that more than 10,000 individuals responded throughout the 2015 calendar year.
Prospective students begin forming their short lists of schools one year prior to application submission, on average, the survey found. A specific event or circumstance often triggers a prospective student’s consideration of earning a graduate management degree. Most common events include seeking a new job but lacking skills to be competitive for the positions (27%), reaching a plateau at work (17%), and lacking knowledge to do a job (17%).
TWO-THIRDS FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT TO GET INTO THE BEST PROGRAM POSSIBLE
Two-thirds of prospective students (65%) feel it is important to get into the best program possible. Only 59% say they have thoroughly researched the programs where they intend to apply. But, no matter where students are in their deliberation process of applying to business school, the vast majority (90% overall) have identified a preferred school from which they want to earn their degree. The survey found that this is true for 94% of those already applying, for the 89% who are still planning to apply, and for the 79% of those still deciding whether or not to pursue a graduate management education.
PROGRAM INFORMATION RANKED AS “MOST INFLUENTIAL” IN APPLICATION DECISIONS
Source: GMAC 2016 Prospective Students’ Survey
MOST PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS’ TARGET LISTS INCLUDE SAFETY & STRETCH SCHOOLS
Source: GMAC 2016 Prospective Students’ Survey
At the same time, however, the majority of prospective students (53%) also have identified safety schools. Those with high GMAT exam scores are equally as likely as those with lower GMAT scores to have selected safety schools. A majority of Millennial (55%) and Generation Z (59%) cohorts are most likely to consider “stretch” schools, even though they may not
qualify (see above table).
On average, prospective students considered 2.8 program types in 2015, down from 3.1 in 2014. For their postgraduate careers, 71% of those surveyed cited a single industry of interest, compared with 58% in 2014. In addition, 61% of prospective students cited a single job function of interest, compared with 46% in 2014. The economy, GMAC researchers said, may play a role in this phenomenon as prospective students may perceive it to be easier to go after their “dream job” in this market compared with the post-recession years.
GMAC said that students deciding to enroll in a graduate business program typically have three general career goals in mind for their postgraduate employment: 1) continue on their current career path, 2) switch careers, or 3) start a business. The majority of full-time MBA applicants anticipate they will either continue along in their existing career path (27%) or switch career paths into another job function or industry (43%).
THREE IN TEN PROSPECTIVE MBA STUDENTS WANT TO START THEIR OWN COMPANIES
Overall, three in ten prospective full-time MBA students (29%) surveyed in 2015 expressed a desire to start a business, a decline from 30% percent who declared such interest in 2013 and 2014.
“Entrepreneurship as a goal is most prevalent among those who prefer to study in a full-time MBA program,” the study found. “Prospective students working in senior (28%) or executive (37%) positions are more likely to consider entrepreneurship as a postgraduate goal than those who are currently in entry-level (21%) or mid-level (23%) positions.
“Regional economic conditions may be an indicator of the likelihood to pursue entrepreneurship. As individuals perceive that economic conditions are improving, their desire to start a business declines, GMAC said. “In a growing economy, there are more jobs available, so prospective students may feel more confident about finding employment and less of a need to set off on their own.”
GMAC survey data shows that prospective students appear to be more selective or deliberate today regarding their expected job outcomes after graduation. An improving economy may play a role in this phenomenon. Rather than aiming broadly at a number of industries, nearly three-quarters (71%) of prospects cite a single industry of interest for postgraduate employment compared with only 58% who had such well-defined career goals in 2014. Similarly, prospects are more singularly focused on pursuing one particular job function in 2015 (61%) compared with
2014, when only 46% of prospective students were so deliberate about their postgraduate job choices.
“As more job opportunities open up,” the survey found, “prospective students may perceive it to be easier to go after their dream job rather than thinking about plausible alternatives.
Overall, the top industries they target for postgraduate employment are similar to previous years’ findings and include consulting (32%), finance and accounting (31%), and products and services (25%), although by generation, Baby Boomers are most likely to seek jobs in the nonprofit/government sector.
TOP INDUSTRIES IDENTIFIED FOR POST-GRADUATE EMPLOYMENT BY GENERATION
Source: GMAC 2016 Prospective Students’ Survey
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The story behind the $10 million gift by alumnus Eric Gleacher, ’67, to start a scholarship fund for veterans seeking an MBA at Booth. http://oak.ctx.ly/r/4lz9h
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