Former Adcom Director Returns To Haas

MORE WOMEN TOO?

In coming years Johnson also hopes the school can increase the percentage of women in incoming classes. After raising the percentage of women to a record 43% in the incoming class two years ago, Haas saw a slight decline last year to 41%.

Johnson said that the percentage isn’t really a reflection of who’s getting into the school, but rather reflects which admitted students are choosing to accept. “It’s something that our student and faculty groups have been very focused on, and they’ve been engaging in some activities to ensure that our top women candidates come in,” he adds. 

Women faculty and students at Haas have been calling admits and talking to them about the value of attending Haas, and about what it’s like to be a female student there. “It’s too early to say for sure, but it looks like we’re going to have another strong cohort of women who will accept their offers,” Johnson says. “It’s a good trend for the Berkeley MBA program.”

Change is the only constant. Haas also saw the average GMAT for the Class of 2017 slip two points to 715.

IMPROVING ECONOMY LEADS TO DIP IN APPLICATIONS

Johnson says the application volume at MBA programs has been very volatile in the last few years, and he’s paying close attention to the MBA market. Applications to Haas’ full-time MBA program climbed 3.4% last year to 3,592, from 3,475 a year earlier. Final data isn’t yet available for the newest class that will enter this fall.

“Historically when the economy improves, applications tend to dip,” he says. “It remains to be seen if the economy will continue to improve, but it’s important for us to be constantly monitoring the flow of applications and the level of interest in our program.”

DON’T MISS: WOMEN AND GMATS FALL AT UC-BERKELEY or HAAS TO INCREASE CLASS SIZE BY 15%