Troubled economy means business school applications are up

DoveofPeace · 11-03-2008, 10:33 AM

Quote:

"HERE’S a pop quiz for the M.B.A. crowd: With the sharp downturn on Wall Street, applications to the nation’s business schools are likely to a) fall, b) hold steady or c) rally like a tech stock in 1999?

It’s not an academic question. Deadlines for first-round applications at many business schools are rapidly approaching. Some admissions officers are already reporting larger-than-normal crowds at events for potential applicants, which could mean that many people are thinking about leaving the Street to take shelter in the quad.

“It’s a very predictable and reliable pattern,” said Stacey Kole, deputy dean for the full-time M.B.A. program at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. “When there’s a go-go economy, fewer people decide to go back to school. When things go south, the opportunity cost of leaving work is lower.”

During each of the four officially declared recessions since 1980, the number of people taking the Graduate Management Admission Test — a requirement for most business school applications — peaked or was about to peak. Through Sept. 30 of this year, registrations for the test were running about 11.6 percent higher than in the comparable period of 2007, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council, which administers the test...."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/bu.../07SCHOOL.html

yournamehere · 11-03-2008, 03:22 PM

wow that's not an advantage for undergrad biz-kids applying to top schools then..................... everything is bad timing...i believe this yr's number of total applicants is larger than any other years. class of, say, 2013 (HS) will probably have it easier

VectorWega · 11-03-2008, 05:32 PM

People in the echo-boom (generation Y, millennials) generation are at a disadvantage regardless simply due to the population size of the echo-boomer generation. By comparison, those of us late Gen-X'ers looking to go into mgt have the advantage of competing with relatively few people for management positions required (to manage the large number of echo-boomers).

House of London · 11-03-2008, 09:19 PM

People would most likely major in the field that would harbor them financial security in the job market unfortunately business is not for everybody as with every other major.

Millhouse · 11-03-2008, 09:47 PM

wait yournamehere why do you think...
"wow that's not an advantage for undergrad biz-kids applying to top schools"

isabellaaa · 11-03-2008, 10:55 PM

Millhouse- if there are more people applying to the school, then admissions becomes harder.

keefer · 11-04-2008, 12:16 AM

It's just going to get harder and harder every year.

Millhouse · 11-04-2008, 12:36 AM

right but im just wondering how the graduate schools will affect the ugrad bschools that much (i see them as 2 different types of applicants to each and just cant really see the correlation between the two)

VectorWega · 11-04-2008, 11:32 AM

Millhouse, was the previous poster referring to undergrads going directly to graduate business school? Not sure. Prior to the current state of the economy, these students didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting into a top program. Now, their chances are even less.

Millhouse · 11-04-2008, 04:48 PM

ok wow i didn't read that correctly then... i thought he meant kids APPLYING to ugrad b-schools

Roger_Dooley · 11-04-2008, 04:50 PM

In general rough economic times can be a plus for grad schools - individuals who might have been lured to the work force by lucrative job offers find it more attractive to enhance their credentials.