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IHateTheGMAT
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This year's increase in applications... 30 Jan 2008, 18:11
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uphillclimb
You know, one thing I don't think anyone has brought up yet, amidst all the worry about the rise in applicants: just because there are more of 'em, doesn't mean they're competitive. I mean, I'm sure that some of them are, but I bet a lot of people are filing half-assed apps just because they are worried about the market, etc. Just a thought...
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This makes a lot of sense and I have thought about it too. Many of us have spent years preparing to apply to these programs: building an EC profile, studying like crazy for the GMAT, etc, etc. Many of these people may be throwing in apps with very little thought. One thing I saw that supports this - Through July (pre "credit crunch" in August) GMAT volume was up 6% year to date. At year end 5 months later GMAT volume is up 13%. So clearly there was a surge in interest immediatly following the turmoil in the markets, creating a large pool of new applicants that may not be adequately qualified (since it looks like a lot of them may have taken the GMAT within a month or two of turning in their applications)

On the flip side, I think this would only represent a portion of the increase. I would also tend to think that the Top 10 would see a much lower proportion of these more half-assed applicants.
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lepium
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This year's increase in applications... 31 Jan 2008, 00:08
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IHateTheGMAT
So clearly there was a surge in interest immediatly following the turmoil in the markets, creating a large pool of new applicants that may not be adequately qualified (since it looks like a lot of them may have taken the GMAT within a month or two of turning in their applications).
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Another way to analyze the data (a less rosy picture if you are an applicant) is that most of the applicants are:

- Reasonably accomplished people involved in the financial services industry.
- Who should be able to put in good applications despite shorter preparation times.
- Who could have stronger profiles than other applicants.
- Who have recently decided to apply now instead of later (maybe next year) based on the current situation.

If I were a P/E guy who felt I had to go to B-school at one point or another I would probably make all efforts to try and go now and hope that by the time I'm done the markets have recovered.

I'm not saying either option is true or false, I'm just saying that we don't have enough data to know.

L.
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togafoot
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This year's increase in applications... 31 Jan 2008, 00:55
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IHateTheGMAT
uphillclimb
(since it looks like a lot of them may have taken the GMAT within a month or two of turning in their applications)
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That will be me :lol: MBA - research started October, GMAT taken mid- November, 7 apps completed mid-December :shock:

But not due to credit crisis. I was completley unaware of the MBA option pre-October.
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IHateTheGMAT
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This year's increase in applications... 01 Feb 2008, 00:30
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lepium
IHateTheGMAT
So clearly there was a surge in interest immediatly following the turmoil in the markets, creating a large pool of new applicants that may not be adequately qualified (since it looks like a lot of them may have taken the GMAT within a month or two of turning in their applications).

Another way to analyze the data (a less rosy picture if you are an applicant) is that most of the applicants are:

- Reasonably accomplished people involved in the financial services industry.
- Who should be able to put in good applications despite shorter preparation times.
- Who could have stronger profiles than other applicants.
- Who have recently decided to apply now instead of later (maybe next year) based on the current situation.

If I were a P/E guy who felt I had to go to B-school at one point or another I would probably make all efforts to try and go now and hope that by the time I'm done the markets have recovered.

I'm not saying either option is true or false, I'm just saying that we don't have enough data to know.

L.
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If that's the case I have no problem with that, since I am applying to school next year! The more people that apply now instead of next year the better for me :-D
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adcxaway
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This year's increase in applications... 01 Feb 2008, 02:31
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IHateTheGMAT

If that's the case I have no problem with that, since I am applying to school next year! The more people that apply now instead of next year the better for me :-D
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Just curious. Why is that so? I was just thinking, if more people applied this year, and schools don't increase the number of places, that would mean more people getting rejected this year. Now that they've experienced the application process firsthand and have a clearer picture of what needs to be done, next year, there would be more better prepared applicants?

Of course, on the other hand, those who were rejected this year might just decide it's not worth the pain to apply again next year.
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CerealsMBA
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This year's increase in applications... 01 Feb 2008, 03:46
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I think that the application pool for next year will be just as, if not more, competitive as this year. People who get rejected this year will probably join the bandwagon of Fall'09 applicants. By then, there may be a slowdown of applications for Fall'10 as many people who would consider applying for an MBA will have applied, and many of those who got rejected twice may drop applying. I believe that's what happened a couple of years after the .com bubble burst. Also, one factor that may affect application volumes for the Fall'10 intake may be the "not-so-rosy" employment statistics for the class of 2010.

Obviously, this is only pure speculation. No one knows when the next crisis will happen, and whether any of these trends will be confirmed or not. IMHO, one should apply for an MBA whenever he feels ready for it. If you really need one, you will get into the right school for you. It is, and always will be a competitive process, and it doesn't really make sense to try to sneak your way through competition variance...
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