B-Schools with worst application process

Question

Although I dont want to degrade any school based on the application process but certain schools have really made the already nerve-wracking process a big nightmare. I hope this thread helps future aspirants in getting better idea about the the schools that have horrendous application process.

My worst would be McCombs : Horrendous-horrendous process. Just check the 2011 McCombs admission thread.

Your turn?

My worst would be  McCombs  : Horrendous-horrendous process. Just check the 2011 McCombs admission thread.

Your turn?

mankini · Answer

USC was disappointing:

-Admissions posted an interview deadline of 2/15/11. Most thought if they didn't get an interview on or before that day, you were dinged. Not true at all. Interviews trickled out after that.

-I wasn’t able to get any kind of update besides “your application is under review” until the final admission decision date. Not even ApplyYourself was updated. When the final decision day came, I thought I was going to get a ding, but instead I got an interview.

-I ended up being admitted, but missed out on the admit weekend because of my late interview and admission.

-A general lack of communication and information prevailed through the admission process. Other schools blog about rounds of admission decisions, interview invitation waves, etc., but USC didn't release anything like this. The admissions folks on the phone and e-mail didn't provide this info, either.

Everyone I met at USC was very nice and they have a great program to which I was very happy to be admitted, but the application process left me a bit disappointed.

graphix · Answer

McCombs for the following reasons:

1) The amount of time you must wait for a decision after you interview is  at least  12 weeks, but often even longer. This was by far the longest wait of any school I applied to, and it makes me wonder what they are doing over there.

2) I left several voicemails with the office of admissions with questions, and my calls were never returned.

3) You must mail your official transcript to a separate office at UT  before  your application can be considered complete. This is confusing and should be made clearer from the beginning.

In general, I just felt like their office of admissions is either incredibly swamped or extremely disorganized. I know the school itself has an excellent reputation, but I was really turned off by their admissions process from start to finish.

lagomez · Answer

The problem with McCombs, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, is that everything still has to go through one-single University of Texas system. In other words, any other school that is part of the UT system is using the system. Therefore, McCombs has to take an application and it has to be processed with the system as well. I believe there has to coordination between McCombs and the UT system with regards to getting payments, transcripts, etc. Obviously, if McCombs were to handle everything directly then I'm sure things would be easier. To your second point, not all schools return calls right away or at all (this from experience). Back to your first point, 12 week is a lot but I've had to wait 10 weeks for some decisions. Now, in order of ease, yes, McCombs is probably the more annoying one but hey, I blame the system I guess. Yale is by far the easiest as far as actually submitting an application.

B-Schools with worst application process

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