Ross Admissions Director Blog

Fall 2014 Essays

2013-05-28T07:00:19-07:00

Before we jump into the next admissions cycle, our team takes some time to reflect on how our application process worked for the past year and where we can make improvements. We get feedback from a variety of people - our application readers, our student and alumni interviewers, and even those who we admitted but who decided to enroll elsewhere. We also meet with our colleagues in our MBA Program, Career Services, and Academic Services offices to learn about what characteristics and traits make for star students and what might be predictors of someone who may struggle at Ross. These...

Round 3 and Waitlist Update

2013-05-10T13:58:27-07:00

I just sent the Round 3 and waitlist decisions to the Associate Dean for her signoff. The team and I spent quite a bit of time focusing on rounding out the class based on the students who have told us they're coming so far. We hope to create as strong and diverse a class as possible in terms of career backgrounds, goals, geographies, etc. We anticipate that we'll start making calls to admitted students on Monday, May 13. On May 15, we will release many applicants from our waitlist. If you are not notified, that means that you will remain...

April Update

2013-04-15T14:15:27-07:00

The last month has been a whirlwind in the Admissions office. We finalized Round 2 decisions, scattered to various parts of the country to host admitted student events, prepared for and hosted our on-campus admitted student weekend, reviewed Round 3 and waitlist applications and continued to interview candidates. We've been pleased to see that both applications and yield are up so far. And based on the admits who came to campus for our admitted student weekend last week, I'm really excited about the Class of 2015. There's great diversity, energy and enthusiasm. I was particularly happy to see so many...

Round 2 Decision Update

2013-03-08T13:58:26-08:00

I met with the Associate Dean for Graduate programs today to discuss Round 2 decisions. We're still contemplating final decisions on a few applicants. I also met with my team this afternoon to give them a final opportunity to advocate for candidates they reviewed and I might have decided differently on. This is a slightly different final review process than we've used in the past. It gives the ADs, who are more familiar with their regions, their assigned segments, and individual candidates, more say in final outcomes. The plan is for all decisions to be final by Monday. Admit calls...

At the Height of Round 2 Decisions

2013-02-26T12:26:35-08:00

Reflections on the group interview exercise We completed three pilot group interview exercises over the last month - one in Beijing, one in Shanghai and one in Ann Arbor. I couldn't have been more pleased with the experience. The level of engagement among the facilitators (Ross alumni and current students) as well as applicants was high. During the training session and debrief with facilitators, there was widespread support for doing this. Many of our alums shared that their companies do a similar group exercise to assess candidates' interpersonal, communication and teamwork skills. Candidates were anxious, at first. But at the...

Clarification on Pilot Group Interviews

2013-01-18T14:02:15-08:00

We've been getting many questions and hearing misperceptions about the pilot group interview process so I thought I'd clear some things up. The primary purpose of the group interview is not to gauge English-speaking skills. Rather, the primary purpose is to evaluate candidates' interpersonal skills, how they engage with others, how well they work in groups, and their creativity. All of these are skills that are central to the Ross MBA experience, so we wanted to create a setting in which we could observe and evaluate those skills. We also wanted to expose candidates to the concept of group work...

Round 2 News - Pilot Group Interview Process

2013-01-08T14:09:34-08:00

Happy new year! It's definitely a happy one for us as we got Round 1 decisions and calls out before the holidays, and we can start the new year focused on Round 2. The first wave of Round 2 interview invitations will go out on Thursday, January 10. One of the things that the team and I are working on this week is a pilot for a supplemental interview process designed to give us further insight into candidates' fit with our learning community. Because of the highly interactive and team-based nature of our classes, we're seeking to assess applicants' ability...

End of year info

2012-12-17T12:44:28-08:00

Judging from the spikes in pageviews of my blog today, I'm guessing that Round 1 applicants are wondering whether I'll be sharing when the admit calls will go out. I spent the morning debating this with my team. We landed on continuing the tradition of making the calls. We love doing it and it's in keeping with our recruiting philosophy - making it personal and human. We recognize that there's a lot of anxiety in the wait. In an effort to minimize the anxiety, we'll be compressing the calls into two days. US calls will begin on Wednesday, December 19,...

In the home stretch

2012-12-07T07:47:34-08:00

We're two weeks away from releasing Round 1 decisions and the Associate Directors (ADs) have seen more of their computer monitors than anything else these last couple weeks. They are in the throes of selection angst as they agonize over recommendations on whom to admit. What makes it so tough is that applicants put a lot of time into preparing compelling applications. I remind the ADs that their job is to make decisions on individual applicants: Can they do the work? Will they bring something to the table? Will they be a good fit? Then, Jon Fuller (the Senior Associate...

Standing out in an interview

2012-11-13T10:41:01-08:00

Wave 2 interview invitations went out yesterday. The first wave of interviews will wrap up this Friday. Here's a tip coming out of those interviews: It's a good idea to do homework on our program (or any program or company to which you apply). Generic responses like, "I like the diverse student body" and "I want to get a general management education," will leave your interviewer with the impression that you're not seriously interested in their school or organization. I've been interviewing candidates for admission and employment for 15 years. And the ones who "stood out" (as candidates are always...