Slumping Economy - Layoffs - B-school

Question

Hello all, I know this topic has already been discussed but I am not sure if this specific aspect has been touched on.

With the economy in the crapper, almost everybody expects all the laid off finance-peeps to hide out in B-school for the next couple of years. This will bring the total number of applications way up.

I am currently in Marketing for a small publishing company. I am pretty sure there are not too many people with my profile applying to B-school. Pretty much all the "experts" say that my profile is unique and an automatic differentiator. My question: Should I be worried about the influx of applicants for Fall 2009 or will they mostly be competing with each other?

Could this actually be a good thing for people with unique profiles? Maybe I can actually take advantage of this :twisted:

jpong21 · Answer

Along those same lines, how do you think Adcom's view someone who works in Finance, but not from the typical Finance background (i.e. Ibanking, P/E, M&A, etc). I'm in Corporate Finance (budgeting, forecasting, etc). Is that somehow viewed as a differentiating factor?

gixxer1000 · Answer

I was wondering the same thing. Applications are up this year and look to be up even higher next year. With the flood of finance people, competition for internship and jobs only gets harder. I read an article about how a lot of the Bear Stearns new hires didn't get picked up by JP. It seems like with all the uncertainty it would make sense to increase students not looking to go into these typical finance jobs. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.

lanter1 · Answer

The economy is very cyclical. We will be fine by the time we graduate.

VictoryMBA · Answer

Or was he referring to his application chances as opposed to post mba job prospects?

lanter1 · Answer

My Bad...I was in a hurry and thought raabenb was talking about the job market from the subject and the first without reading the whole post. That's what i get for trying to get on gmatclub quickly and post without my boss or one of my employees seeing me on the site.

Raabend · Answer

yes I did mean application chances.

p.s. I'm on the tarmac waiting to take off for a business trip in new orleans and I'm *still* checking gmatclub. can you say 'addictive'?

riverripper · Answer

Applications will be up, they have been trending up for awhile now so this shouldnt be a shock to anyone. Will it be another 20% increase like was seen this year? Its possible which means that schools like Kellogg and GSB who went from admit rates around 25% last year to most likely in the upper teens this year, will be down in the low teens. Schools like MIT, Haas, and Tuck who have smaller class sizes could be bordering on single digits. Stanford and HBS will be close to impossible, especially Stanford. Wharton will be very tough for folks who would have had it as a safety/backup 3 years ago.

Yes being a unique applicant will be an advantage but its still going to be tougher. I wouldnt want to be an average former analyst next year aiming high, its going to be a crowded applicant pool. Indians, will continue to climb and become even more difficult.

The simple answer is its going to be harder next year...there were lots of schools who saw 10-25% increases in applications. If that happens it will be approaching early 2000's level of difficulty. Just go look at BW for what it was like back then.

dosa_don · Answer

Well my take at this situation is that most of the increase in applicants is going to be from the banking sector. While this is most definitely going to impact the bankers, you have to figure that bankers are some of the most desired students in b-schools due to their recruitability. Hence while the competition amongst the finance folks is going to be high, I think the % of guys from finance will be higher as well (might not be in the same proportion) and hence might eat into the rest of the folks.

I would suggest not worrying (I know it is not easy) about your chances due to factors you cannot control. Just put in apps to a wide range of schools, throw in 1 or 2 schools more in the "safe" zone and put in your best efforts and hope for the best. Again- I know it is easier said than done.

I would suggest not worrying (I know it is not easy) about your chances due to factors you cannot control. Just put in apps to a wide range of schools, throw in 1 or 2 schools more in the "safe" zone and put in your best efforts and hope for the best. Again- I know it is easier said than done.

cpgmba · Answer

Raabenb - Just curious, do you know if it's marketing that separates you from others or your marketing experience with a small publishing company? I was wondering the same thing about myself since I'm in CPG marketing (which is somewhat rare for a non-MBA).

Raabend · Answer

cpgmba, I am not sure but I think it is more the industry...then small business.....then my striking good looks

....then marketing (since marketing isn't *that* rare).

cpgmba · Answer

You're probably right. However, after reading through this forum it feels like marketing is definitely the minority compared to finance/banking!

happybunny · Answer

What if your career goal is to switch into banking? Does the influx of bankers in the applicants pool would effect you? Banks want diversity no? :shock:

Slumping Economy -> Layoffs -> B-school

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