Trouble on Wall Street...more of less B-school applicants?

Question

So, with the trouble in the financial markets on Wall Street, do you think we can expect to see more applicants thinking that now might be a good time to take two years off and get the MBA? Might there be less applicants since people are predicting fewer jobs in those markets? I think the former is probably more likely. This should only impact people competing with others in the finance application pool, right?

riverripper · Answer

Everything points to there being a large increase in applications again tihs year (many schools saw 20%+ last year). Remember though the finacial crisis is a lot worse for the banker set but its does impact the other people so applicatoins will increase across the board.

Nerdboy · Answer

Applicants who rely on loans to finance their MBA will get nervous. Many are bound to question whether it is worth taking debt in the region of $100k that they may not be able to repay. Especially if said debt is a mortgage on their homes. Applicants with sizeable savings, who can pay for an MBA out of their pocket or with minimum debt, are probably going to flood B-schools.

International applicants, such as myself, mostly fall into the first category. So I should theoretically face less competition, provided that I don't get scared myself...

International applicants, such as myself, mostly fall into the first category. So I should theoretically face less competition, provided that I don't get scared myself...

cbreeze · Answer

International applicants, particularly those who want to switch from IT to IB or MC should reconsider their chances for employment before they embark on such an expensive journey. Banks and consulting companies have traditionally sponsored H -1B visas for their non US citizen employees and landing a job with them from now on will be extremely tough.

89nk · Answer

To add to what has been posted so far, how much harder do you think it will be for US citizen career changers, let's say from engineering to IB? I understand that it will be difficult, but let's say for a graduate from Chicago GSB, would he be able to land an IB job non bulge bracket?

kwam · Answer

Also I believe that many ex-IBankers and IBankers-wannabe will go for consulting, so competition will be tough across the board.

It depends. Many internationals were already returning to their countries to work as IBers at their country. That said, this crisis will affect the whole world do even this may change, but I see still many Brazilian Banks hiring at the GSB for instance, and believe me or not, people are getting bigger pay checks there - I've heard the same for HK and South Asian markets in general.

kwam · Answer

I was wondering how many spots Bear, Lehman and Merrill hired, and from the BW site:

GSB Wharton Kellogg Ross MIT Duke CBS
Bear 10
Lehman 19 18 9 9 6 13
Merril 19 13 8 4 14

At Harvard's page it was stated that Lehman was a Heavy Hiring company, but they don't disclosure the number of people hired. GSB, Wharton and CBS, are the most affected in absolut terms. Anyway, overall, not counting Harvard and other schools, the number is 142 spots! OUCH!

I don't know how accurate BW numbers are, but it gives an idea...

Hjort · Answer

I would expect a surge in applications in the coming months. As one of the previous posts mentioned concerns about loans, perhaps this will lead to more candidates considering the public programs with large subsidies for in-state students.

Leverandon · Answer

Hopefully since I am applying from a non-profit background and hoping to continue work in non-profit after b-school, the financial instability won't affect my applicant pool that much.

Trouble on Wall Street...more of less B-school applicants?

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