Rice Jones Is Latest Top U.S. B-School To Add A 4th MBA Application Round

The challenges and complexities of life in the not-quite-post-Covid United States have prompted another leading business school to make accommodations for those who are thinking about — but perhaps not yet ready to — apply to study for an MBA.

The Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University announced in an email admissions newsletter that it will add a fourth round for full-time MBA applicants from Canada, Mexico, or the United States “who need a little extra time” to finish their essays and other app components. The round is open to U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or those who currently reside in North America, with a deadline of May 1 at noon CST.

Rice Jones joins more than a dozen top schools that have waived entrance exams, extended app deadlines, offered scholarship money, or otherwise changed their admissions calendar and processes — most of them declaring their intention to appeal to hordes of recently laid-off tech and other workers in an economy that for months has shown signs of slipping into recession. It is the fourth leading U.S. school to add an entirely new application round, after Duke Fuqua, Michigan Ross, and Texas-Austin McCombs.

TECH PLACEMENT UP ALMOST 50% AT RICE IN 2022

True Up, a website that tracks layoffs and jobs in the tech sector, reports that there have been 663 layoffs at tech companies so far in 2023, with 184,660 people impacted, for an average of 2,337 people per day. The most recent mass firing occurred at Amazon, which announced March 20 it will lay off 9,000. In 2022, there were 1,535 layoffs at tech companies with 241,176 people impacted.

Rice's move to add a fourth application round is not explicitly tied to any effort to lure to Houston the masses of suddenly unemployed techies, of whom its March 16 newsletter makes no mention.

Still, tech workers looking to go back to school could find a worse landing spot, as tech job placement is something Rice is becoming known for: In its MBA Class of 2022 employment report, the school reported that just over one-fifth of the class found work in the industry, up nearly 50% from the previous year.

'WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED'

"The past three years have introduced new challenges and opportunities to the business world," the school announced in its March 16 admissions newsletter, citing "unprecedented events" that "have forced many young professionals to adjust their timelines and weigh their options."

Nor is Rice's move about boosting overall application numbers, the school declares, which were up more than 13% across the previous two app cycles.

"We get it, and we’ve got you covered," the school says. "While we’ve seen an increase in applications, we understand if you need more time to decide on next steps."

Decisions on MBA applications made by Rice Jones' fourth-round deadline of May 1 will be rolling and made "on a space-available basis," the school announced. Meanwhile, the school's third-round app deadline continues to be March 31 at noon CST, with decisions announced by May 10.

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