I posted this in the BW forums, but figured it'd be useful here:
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Now that the Round 1 deadlines are drawing to a close and the Round 2 applicants are starting to show up, I just wanted to give you folks some info on the overall landscape for b-school applicants this year (at least from my
vantage point).
For my own edification, I keep track of the demographics of all my inquiries and clients over the years. It actually ends up being pretty reflective of the overall applicant pool at least historically -- about 65/35 male/female, 60/40 US/international, and the majority in finance, consulting, engineering or corporate. Of the non-traditional applicants, most are US armed forces personnel. The age range tended to cluster in the mid- to late-20s, although still relatively wide - a good smattering of fresh faced college grads to 30-35+ candidates.
However, this year may turn out to be a watershed year if what I've seen in Round 1 is any indication.
There are a LOT more women. In fact, more than half are women (and the majority of my clients are women for the first time ever). And as a group, these women are the strongest I've seen (of course there have been exceptional women I've seen in the past, but the overall quality and caliber this year seems to be even stronger). They are young, accomplished, blue chip, hungry, and articulate. Hard to say whether this will mean that it's more competitive for women, but my hunch is that this will translate to more women in b-school this year - maybe not quite 50% (my Round 1 may be an anomaly) but if what I've seen is reflective of the overall applicant pool, I think b-schools this year are going to be extremely happy with what they see -- more women applying, and (likely) women making up an even higher percentage of the incoming class than years' past.
The other big change is the age distribution. This year, the age range that I've seen has really narrowed. In years' past, I would see a pretty big range of folks young and old(er). But this year, the *overwhelming* majority of folks are '05 to '07 college grads. Not just "most" but "overwhelming majority". And a smattering of '04 folks but beyond that, it's really thin.
So it seems like the b-schools outreach over the last few years has started to pay off -- the age range is narrowing, and they're getting more highly accomplished young women who see the "window of opportunity" in their mid-20s to do an MBA.
Also, the last thing (which may just be a coincidence) is that moreso than years' past, there's a lot more healthcare folks (whether healthcare banking/consulting or those working in life sciences) and a lot more who *genuinely* want to transition to or remain in a healthcare-related career post-MBA. Although probably not surprising as it's the one sector that will continue to grow over the next generation or so (regardless of how healthcare reform plays itself out).
As for overall applicant volume, it's hard to say at this point, but my hunch is that it won't change significantly from last year up or down. But it seems that the most important change this year isn't the actual volume, but the composition of the applicant pool itself.
Again, this is just based on what I've seen so far up to Round 1. Who knows, there could be a deluge of IT dudes in Round 2 that it starts to look like 2005 all over again.