And the Admissions Season Starts…

Well it’s that time of year when we officially launch the MBA admissions season. Our MBA application just went live yesterday. If you’re thinking about applying for an MBA this season, start an application at www.mba.unc.edu/apply.

You may be interested in some of the changes we’ve put in place for the coming year:

Interview Policy – This year we’ve started an “invitation only” interview policy. In order to be invited to interview, you have to complete Part I of our application and we’ll do a quick screen on your profile and determine whether or not you’ll be invited. More details about the policy can be found on the Interviews and Campus Visit section of our website or by viewing the FAQs about interviews. Some of you may recall that I wrote a blog post last year about our open interview policy. But now that’s changed for this year, so please forget that post!

Student-Read Essay – We have a terrific team of current students who are being trained to read and evaluate one of our essays this year. This is a new initiative for us, but we thought it was important to incorporate the student perspective into our admissions process. The essay that the students will be evaluating is Essay #4: Kenan-Flagler has five core values: excellence, leadership, integrity, community and teamwork. If you could add one value what would it be and why? Be sure to explain how you have lived this value.

Looking forward to reading your applications and seeing many of you across of the globe this fall!

– Lisa Beisser

On the Road Again…

In my mind, today marks the beginning of this year’s admissions recruiting season.

Today I’m on my way to Monterrey, Mexico for an MBA fair. I’ve got some time to blog since I’m sitting in RDU waiting for my delayed flight (of course). While we’ve done a few recruiting trips this summer and my colleague spent some time in Asia, the real busy travel and recruiting season in my mind always seems to start with this single Monterrey MBA fair…always held in late August…always marking the end of summer.

So any blogs from our admissions group in the next few months are likely to read more like travelogues. If you’re wondering where we’re going and if we’ll hit your city, check out our list of events.

This year promises to be a banner year in terms of MBA applications. The worries over the economy tend to make people think seriously about going back to business school. For some people it’s because they lost their job and they need something productive to do. Other times because it just seems like a good time to get some new skills and be poised to relaunch their careers once the economy recovers. We’ll keep you posted as the season progresses in terms of how it affects our application volume.

So I start with Monterrey at an MBA fair that’s not huge, but often has a strong number of quality MBA candidates as participants in the fair. Tonight I plan to meet with one of our recent MBA graduates who is back in Mexico working.I have two large stuffed rams (UNC’s mascot) taking up nearly half of my small suitcase to give to him since he and his wife recently had twin girls. At least my bag will be lighter on the trip home!

Tomorrow at the fair a few more alumni will join us at the UNC table to help answer questions from prospective MBA students. We’re fortunate that we have an almost evangelical group of alumni from Kenan-Flagler…and they love to come out and meet with possible future MBAs and tell them about their great experiences in Chapel Hill.

My admissions colleagues and I will try to post throughout our travels and let you know where we’ve been, who we’re seeing and what we’re learning about MBA admissions this season. We should have plenty of time to write since I’m sure we’ll be waiting in a lot of airports…

Lisa Beisser
MBA Admissions