Discussion: App Volume? Up or down this year?

Question

Anyone here seens any projections or any indication of app volume this year? Looking with GC forums we only have 33 profiles so far as opposed to 48 profiles this time last year. Also BW traffic seems to be much lower than last year, although I can't quantify it.

I know that typically people say apps run counter to the economy so the apps should be up but with the decline in finance, difficulty for international loans, americans focusing more on saving and lower risk, how do you view this years prospects?

billyjeans · Answer

I blame kellogg for not making their application available sooner. j/k.

I think app number is up at least by the number of the people taking gmat has seen a steady increase for the past 5 years. No reason to think the application volume will go down in any time soon.

GoBruin · Answer

This graph is interesting https://www.gmac.com/gmac/NewsandEvents/ ... 09/DTG.htm

sharstarz12 · Answer

I agree with billyjeans. I can see it definitely going up, especially with the appeal to younger candidates.

pm4553 · Answer

I see it going up; may be, it's a slow start that's why we don't have too many profiles updated. With the introduction of GRE scores, I think the traffic is going to atleast increase in those schools accepting both GRE & GMAT scores.

gregarious · Answer

There have been a few articles on BW predicting that there would be an increase in early career applicants. One that discussed how more schools were accepting the GRE stated that this would be a contributing factor as well. However, I don't imagine that the top schools would start admitting more students straight out of college even though the pool might be larger (recruiting challenges, discussion contribution etc.) Given all the economic factors, I personally think the overall number of apps will be down this year. This isn't necessarily rational since the Class of 2012 will probably have much better conditions at graduation, but knee jerk reactions rarely are.

ACNguy · Answer

I have a feeling there could be a significant drop off at Columbia and NYU, possibly Chicago and Wharton, the really finance heavy schools that had close connections with the NYC workforce that was laid off en masse last year. Other schools may be down a little bit, but could be offset by the GRE. Either way, I don't think it'll be drastic enough to make a huge difference.

wiseguyMBA · Answer

I believe this year applications will drop off. I applied in 2008, and the activity is nowhere close to where it was back then.
Back then, both BW forums and GMATClub were buzzing with activity every hour. Not the case now
Also, I know atleast 4-5 people who've held off on their plans because work has become too hectic(with a reduced workforce in most companies), and the economic downturn means people can no longer expect a $150K salary out of school, and are thinking more practically about how they will pay back their loans.
Add to that the horror stories about recruiting from the Class of '09, in schools like Stern, Ross, Kellogg and Sloan..it's not beautiful out there anymore.
my 2c.
cheers
NM

sharstarz12 · Answer

Do any of you think earlier deadlines may be a source of "quietness" across the boards? Oct. 1st is incredibly early for many individuals who begin thinking about bschool in the spring, and take the GMAT during the summer. I could see a lot more individuals going into R2 this cycle. I don't know if a 14 day difference is all that much, but I could see it impacting those who thought about bschool "later" on.

GoBruin · Answer

most schools are about where they are last year, but I do notice like a couple day shift across the board is the trend. I personally feel there are pretty strong declines in people talking about Finance and international students this year. There even seems to be less discussion about people going into consulting. But to be honestly, last year at this time I was completely absorbed with Columbia and didn't really read too many other threads.

GoBruin · Answer

This is kinda interesting and related to the subject.

https://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/ ... own-a-bit/

NYTimes
Stampede to Business School Eases

Definitely not like an academic investigation but still interesting.

pleonasm · Answer

There's definitely less activity on GC as compared to last year. Is that a sign of declining applications? could be. It'll be interesting to compile the statistics though.

gregarious · Answer

Anyone have any theories about what the correlation is between the average GC poster and the general application pool? It would seem that most people here have had BSchool in their sights for a while. From looking at the current school threads, it looks like Kellogg, Booth, and Wharton are way ahead in terms of activity. I'm pretty sure that Stanford and Harvard have had the most applicants in recent years. I wonder if the activity here will pick up as people start deciding to apply for R2.

pleonasm

There's definitely less activity on GC as compared to last year. Is that a sign of declining applications? could be. It'll be interesting to compile the statistics though.

pm4553 · Answer

This year, there is definitely less activity in the B-School forum as compared to last year. Personally, I'm eyeing R2, and will join the bus once the god darn GMAT is over!

Good luck!

unhedged · Answer

I've visited about 7 schools in the last 2 weeks, and I kind of got the feeling applications will be down this year. Most people there were just gathering information.

As far as activity on the board, there does seem to be less posting, but in my personal situation I am on this board less because I am focusing on my applications. I increased the amount of schools I was applying to because of the unpredictability this year and perhaps other people have done that as well. As far as deadlines, I feel like so many of them are crunched very close together. That also might be a contributing factor.

mindgame · Answer

I think its down this year...I am a re-applicant as well and I agree with the comments about applicants collecting info / low activity (significantly) on these forums. Indian applicant pools (pretty large usually) seems to be quite as well because of recent changes in immigration policy and pretty good opportunities in India and nearby countries like Singapore, Dubai etc.

AlexMBAApply · Answer

I posted this in the BW forums, but figured it'd be useful here:

-------------------------------
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.

highhopes · Answer

Dang it - this would be the year female competition increases :-D

GoBruin · Answer

make sense to me, I feel from reading post this year, there are less Future IB fokes and more HC fokes around. I think we can thank Obama for that (I'm actually changing me UCLA essay on problems in the world, because HC is even more cliche this year than before).

and I don't know why more girls, but awesome! girls are good. Who wants to be in a class of all dudes

billyjeans · Answer

hey guys, look at this graph. we (gmatclub) are definitely making a lot more noises than last year!

The increasing traffic volume of this site is out performing many of the test/application prep site.

Discussion: App Volume? Up or down this year?

Where do you feel app volumes will go this year

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