No Essay and No Waiting: What’s Not to Like?

Jodi Schafer

The One and Done program, launched in the summer of 2013, doesn’t accept all comers. Along with GMATs and GPAs, Tippie qualifies students based on work and leadership experience. What’s more, the program is looking for candidates with a semblance of direction. “We don’t necessarily expect them to know what they’ll be doing at this point,” adds Schafer. “[But] we want to see that they have an understanding of how their path matches up with what they might want to do.”

One and Done events are held throughout the year for both domestic and international students. Generally, Tippie approves 10-11 students for such visits, which last four-to-five hours. After checking in, candidates are broken into groups of two or three and rotate through 30-45 minute sessions. They meet with directors from student services, career services, an academic academy (i.e. marketing, finance or strategic innovation) and the business solutions center. Along with dining with current students or alumni, each candidate also receives an admissions interview with Abby Parker, associate director for admissions and financial aid.

Afterwards, the various directors meet to discuss their impressions of the candidates. “We don’t want them to just have an admissions interview,” says Schafer. “We don’t want judgments to be based on one person.” The next day, students are notified whether they’ve been accepted into the program and how much financial aid they’d receive.

IS THIS SPEED DATING OR BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT?

A few hours may seem like a short time to make a decision. In fact, a novice might equate Tippie’s approach to speed dating. Despite the wham-bam finality of the “One and Done” moniker, the process is actually a bit more intricate. For starters, the school is pretty stringent on the front end on who can participate. “The admit rate is pretty high because we’re pre-qualifying before they’re here,” says Schafer. “We know quite a bit about them by this point.”

In fact, some participants have already been engaging with Tippie before arriving on campus. “We may have been speaking to [participants] throughout the last year or more…We’ve already held conversations about their background, what they want to do in the future, the aspects of the program that may be appealing to them. We push them to think about the program through this event.” While some late additions may be responding to word-of-mouth or marketing efforts, the school has still held preliminary conversations with them via phone or email.

By simplifying the admissions process, the One and Done concept also attracts fence-sitters, professionals who are considering an MBA but still hesitant to endure a grueling application process.  “[The event] gives us a chance to attract students who may or may not look at our program,” says Schafer. “In previous One and Done days, we’ve heard from students that they’re looking at us because of this event because we’ve simplified the process for them.”

The student essay is a case in point. While some MBA programs have tapered back their essays in recent years, Tippie waives theirs entirely for One and Done participants. While dumping the essays makes the process more student-friendly, Schafer doesn’t believe the school loses anything in the process. “More and more, we’ve already learned a tremendous amount about these candidates through admissions interviews, through just talking to them about their work experience, seeing their resume, [and] understanding their career goals. The essay wasn’t adding much value, anyway.”

In other words, the One and Done program isn’t all that different than what Tippie is doing now. “This is every bit as rigorous as anyone who would come in to apply to this program (or any program for that matter),” says Schafer. “It’s just that it’s a condensed period of time. It’s not that we’re spending less time with them. It’s just that it’s a faster turnaround.”

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