This was a great report from the B school Penn Forums last August, the info is still right on and valuable.

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Hey Sandy,

 

Here is my report on the 3^rd “Annual Keys to the MBA Admissions Process Panel” event that took place on August 7.  The event was organized by alums of PennNYC club and sponsored by Kaplan Test Prep.  With panelists of AdCom directors from HBS, Wharton, Stanford, MIT and Kellogg, the evening was well-attended, with about 1,000 applicants gathering in the spacious air-conditioned room at the Grand Hyatt hotel in NYC.

 

Dee Leopold, my absolute favorite, articulated with great eloquence and got to share her tips on Essays in the welcome discussion. 

Dee looked classy and elegant in her fine black suit, lovely pearls, Tank watch by Cartier, black patent leather Ferragamo shoes, and a stylish red bag.  On top of her job and her 6 kids – I am impressed!  When I asked her questions after the event, she looked me straight in the eyes, and answered sincerely – or at least attempted to do so given her role.  She said she did not want to sound “prescriptive,” and yet gave some helpful hints to candidates without her usual “it depends” or “it’s really OK” responses, for which I salute her! 

Dee is awesome and should continue to travel around the world as ambassador for HBS! 

 

Some of

Dee’s “official” tips during the Essay section in the welcome session were: answer the question, don’t be inhibited by the pressure to be unique, execute cleanly/proofread, and link your essays to who you are.  Dee and Derrick Bolton, Stanford MBA Director and former McKey and Goldman IBanker, tended to agree a lot throughout the discussion.  They were especially passionate in their conversation on “leadership”, and the concept of “leadership without authority”, citing qualities like influencing and motivating others, starting things, working magic in small teams, convincing people to effect change, and making things happen, as opposed to a more traditional leadership archetype.  Derrick is a talented diplomat and should continute to enhance Stanford’s relations with HBS. 

 

Dee mentioned that HBS has shifted more resources away from essay reading to interviewing, and interviewed a little under 25% of applicants, substantially more than in the past.  She also mentioned a shift towards younger applicants – this year, HBS admitted close to 40 high-school seniors, thought most them took advantage of the deferral option, and only 12 admitted students actually enrolled this year. 

Dee said people with 10 years of experience should not worry: the class is large enough to accommodate all kinds.  Stanford, on opposite, interviewed about 90% of applicants, conducting 800-1,200 interviews this year, and launched some a Pilot program, in the school’s spirit of innovation. 

 

The event was scheduled with a welcome discussion from 7:00 to 8:30 PM, and a networking information exchange till about 9:30 PM.  The welcome discussion was moderated by a feisty female President of PennNYC, who was not afraid to ask direct questions, such as “what would you recommend if the applicant was your own kid?”  To which Derrick responded “I have to look around the room to see if any of these people ARE my kids” after pausing.  Another funny moment was when

Dee expressed her dislike for the concept of “Know Your Application” as advice to those preparing for interviews.  She called it “ASS BACKWARDS”, arguing that the candidate should know himself and write an honest application, in which case he wouldn’t need to “know” his application.  Derrick, of course, interrupted the discussion to confirm that the Director of Harvard Business School Admissions just used the word “ASS” in front of 1,000 people! 

I spoke with Derrick during the network session, and found him genuine, attentive, and smart.  He also wore a nice suit and smelled nice… The students said you’ll see Derrick a lot if you get admitted, so a good reason to apply to Stanford!  J

 

The event was organized around 5 topics: Academics/GMAT, Experience, Essays, Extra-Curricular, and Interviews.  When asked to share thoughts on Extra-Curricular, Angel Navedo of MIT, a really cool guy I thought, said he wasn’t very busy in high school, but had a 4 page report of high-school activities when he was applying to college.  He naturally advised the applicants against employing this strategy, but pretty much said that MIT doesn’t care if you were that involved, and will not hold it against you, especially if you are in Finance working long hours.  That really inspired my interest in applying to MIT – think I have a chance there!!! J  The MIT desk during the networking session was represented by current students, who were all very friendly and eager to share their enthusiasm for the school, emphasizing that the MBA program is not as technical as one might incorrectly assume based on school’s brand.  MIT should thank Angel and the kids for doing a great job at marketing and re-branding. 

 

I was not AT ALL impressed with Beth Flye from Kellogg, who kept repeating “Know Yourself” no matter what question she was asked – thanks Beth, that is REALLY HELPFUL!   I think she would benefit from

Dee’s advice: ANSWER THE QUESTION!  Judith Hodara, Senior Associate Director of Wharton Admissions, didn’t say anything profound either.  In fact, she really didn’t say much outside of the typical stuff you’d find on the intro page of the schools’ website… Kellogg and Wharton should attend some of these events and make some HR decisions…

 

cheers…

Sandy’s devoted girl-fan in NYC

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pm and is filed under HBS Forum Reports: What Adcoms are Saying, Hall of Fame. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.