Behind The Scenes: How A Business School’s Admission Committee Decides

A meeting at Boston University's Questrom School of Business

A meeting at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business

SOMETIMES RECOMMENDERS FILE LESS-THAN-POSITIVE OBSERVATIONS ON THE APPLICANTS

Often, recommenders weighed in with surprisingly candid assessments of the candidates. One noted an applicant’s lack of self-confidence and the fact that he sometimes takes on more work than he can complete on time. Another recommender rates the candidate below average on respect for his colleagues as well as his sense of humor (he is admitted because the rest of his profile was strong and his recommender ultimately said that when pushed the applicant performs well.)

Frequently, there is a nagging question about a profile that fuels an extended conversation. A quant score could below an average, causing concern about the candidate’s ability to handle the core workload. Or their work experience could be light, meaning that there’s either not enough of it or the quality of the work appears less meaningful. And then there are some international candidates whose English language skills could be problematic.

The day’s final candidate illuminated the latter issue for a software engineer from Southeast Asia who is working for an educational startup. He boosted his GMAT score from 620 to 750 on the second try. He has a 3.09 GPA in computer science. Maya Howe swiftly runs through his profile.

‘HE ASKED ME TO REPEAT EVERY QUESTION DURING THE INTERVIEW’

“He wants an MBA to gain more business and technical skills,” she says. “He feels he has taught himself as much as he can on his own. Short term, he wants to work at a tech company in education. Long term, he wants to lower the cost of education and bring it to more people in his home country. His dream job would be to work with Google education.”

She then explains why he wants to get his MBA at Questrom. The applicant says he is attracted to the school for his curriculum, its close connections to industry, its location in Boston as well as the university’s alumni network.

“His behaviorals and presentation were good,” Howe continues, “but his language skills are my biggest concern here. He asked me to repeat every question to make sure he understood it. I’m not sure if it was the connection, nerves or real comprehension issues. I would love to see him here because he is a great fit for us.”

‘HE SEEMED REALLY NERVOUS AT THE BEGINNING’

Jennifer Cohn read his application and gives it a thumbs up, nothing that he took the GMAT twice and “his quant score was excellent both times, a 50. His verbal went from a 25 to a 40.” His TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score was 105 (out of a maximum score of 120).

Siegel weighs in, noting that “sometimes international candidates are told to slow down the pace of the interview and ask for questions to be repeated if English isn’t their native language. But did he answer your questions correctly?”

“Yes,” replies Howe. “He seemed really nervous at the beginning.”

“Well, that’s a good sign,” says Dubovik. “I really like him. Outside of the comprehension issue, he seems really great.”

“This is one of those times that you really wish he did the video essays,” chimes in Matychak. But the candidate instead opted to do the written essay.

‘ERRING ON THE SIDE OF GIVING THE CANDIDATE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT’

“I err on the side of giving him the benefit of the doubt if everything else seems good,” concludes Siegel. “If we move forward with an admit, we could encourage him in an admit call to go to CELOP (the university’s Center for English Lanuage & Orientation Programs). They have a pre-MBA summer program. If we like him in all other ways, we could encourage him to look at that.”

A consensus quickly emerges. He’s in.

As Seigel adjourns the meeting, everyone seems pleased with the result. “This was a strong group,” sums up Dubovik. “The decisions felt a little easier.”

Based on today’s decisions at least, Siegel will not have to do what she most dislikes about her job: Delivering bad, sometimes crushing, news to a rejected applicant. “It’s never easy to turn away someone and say we don’t have a spot for you,” she says. “But it’s not the hardest part of the job. That’s making sure that everything we do is reflective of who we are as a community.”

DON’T MISS: HOW A TOP BUSINESS SCHOOL SCREENS MBA APPLICANTS

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.