I didn’t get into Ross and I’m not sure how to proceed.
- How can I maximize my chances of getting in next year?
- What should I do as a fallback in case I don't get in next year?
Hi nervousophomore,
- If you are really passionate about Ross, you should reapply. I’ve heard people saying that chances of acceptance for reapplicants are higher. Ross decides on it’s applicants based on a 2/3 basis. 1/3 for GPA, 1/3 for essays and 1/3 for extracurricular activities. As long as you do 2/3 of the application well, you’re most probably IN!
a) To maximize your reapplication, firstly you need to analyze what went wrong in your first application. (is your GPA not very strong or maybe you weren’t very involved in activities or your essays didn’t show who you were and why you want Ross and how it can help you in future?)
B) Next, you have to do something about it. For example, if you had poor GPA, you will need to show upward trending improvements (preferably do well in tough quantitative courses too). If your activities weren’t strong enough, try to soul search and find what suits you and connects you to your passion in business.
C) Your essays will act as the conveyer of your activities and who you are. If you need help on that, it’s good to ask a couple of close Ross friends to help you review it. If you are a girl, the Michigan Business Woman club conducts essay review sessions in March (before the application deadline). You can check that out too. - As a fallback plan, there are plenty of interesting majors in Umich. Full of opportunities! If you want something related to business, you could look into Economics, Statistics or Organizational Studies. Bear in mind, you will have to apply for the Organizational Studies major. You can check out the Umich LSA website for more majors. You could also consider the business minor /entrepreneurship minor.
Hope it helps! I’ve been in your shoes before and yes, it hurts and is sad. But don’t give up! Persistence led me to getting into my dream school.
I would be careful about saying the 2/3 advice.
I had VERY good extracurriculars, VERY good essays (had them read by some great writers in Ross), but a lackluster GPA (3.0-3.2 with tough classes, I had an A- in econ, A- in FYWR, and had Calc credit coming in), so that would qualify for 2/3. I did not get in, however.
Right, there is no way academic success isn’t the largest qualifier. Ross wants to show their average student was accepted with a high GPA.
True ^^ I call bs so hard on the 2/3 … People with poor gpas still do get in , but in order to give yourself a reasonable chance you need a 3.2-3.3 with hardish classes
You could do a minor in Business through LS&A (some of the courses are through Ross), or major in Econ.
I would just move on, major in Econ, take as many accounting or finance courses as they will let you and get some strong internships. Show Ross that they were wrong about you.
@nervoussophomore Have you looked into Business by LSA? It’s a kind of convention held by the LSA advising staff (some of who have BBAs and some of who have gone into business with a BS/BA) that helps LSA students prepare themselves in going into business with a liberal arts degree.
If you want to learn more about this, schedule an appointment at the advising center in the Fall (if you are close to AA, you can even do it now), and ask them about it.
@londondad I had a friend who got rejected by Ross, but ended up getting into Columbia this year to get his PhD in Economics. So not all is lost. If you’re really really hellbent on getting that MBA, you can just graduate from Michigan first, get good grades, and enter an MBA program at another university of your choosing. Or you can go down the PhD path like my friend. Either way, good luck with everything!
Fishfish123 is on-point with the PhD recommendation. There is a group of 3-4 econ programs which place a huge number of PhDs after their program is completed into top spots in academia. Michigan is one of those power programs. The Federal Reserve bank is a HUGE hiring agent in the PhD econ space.
Or as s/he notes, if you are hellbent on the MBA, pump up your game and proceed to an appropriate program.
Frankly, at this time, I’d probably recommend the school of information over an MBA…you can’t open a business article without tripping over comments about “Big Data”. Michigan has an exception I-school, so consider looking into that program…get the aforementioned good grades and then reapply. The supply chain programs are lights out for employment. Can you think of a program which you might enter directly? If not, what is the logical precursor credential?
I honestly can’t give you any useful recommendations though about what to do, because I got my degree in something completely unrelated to business and economics. lol.
As for the school of information, the biggest fear that most people have is that the school is brand spanking new, but that’s okay because you’ll still have a degree from Michigan when it’s all said and done. I had a friend who was in the first graduating class for the school of information, and now she works at Apple to help manage their ever-increasing database with Apple Music and iTunes. Also something I know next to nothing about, since I’m terrible with computer programming.
Either way, don’t fret, keep your head up, and always know that there are other options on the table for you! Play to your strengths and don’t be afraid to go out there and take classes that actually sound interesting to you! As long as you find a way to make up for your bad grades during freshman year or keep your grades up, you’ll be more than prepared in the future. You won’t have too many problems finding a good graduate school to take you in or a good job in the future anyways. I guess having lots of majors available is a big upside to going to a school like Michigan.
Most people who work in “business” don’t have business degrees.