mmios wrote:
I don't think there's any question that Yale's not as international as INSEAD. Not many MBA programs are, if any at all. I can't comment on Duke, as I know very little about it, but I don't think that MBA programs should only be judged solely by how internationally aware their students already are. Is INSEAD a more 'international' school than, say, Harvard? Probably. That alone doesn't necessarily make it better.
I'm international as well, and had a great interview experience. My interviewer was forthcoming about not knowing much about my country and they asked what felt like genuine questions about it. That didn't bother much - I know very little about the part of the US that they're from - and in fact I think that made for a more mutually enriching conversation. I don't know if my interviewer would have been able to point my country out on a map, but to be honest, despite the fact that I've lived, worked, and traveled in/to many countries, there are plenty that I wouldn't be able to point out on a map either. But if that makes me interesting to my interviewer and them interesting to me, I'm cool with it.
From memory, I think that Yale SOM's international student population is reasonably sizeable, is it not? So I look forward to meeting people from all over the world and, in turn, learning about lots of different cultures that I know very little about. I'm not that concerned about a less international adcomm not being able to evaluate international experience. To a certain extent, an interesting profile is an interesting profile, and at the very least the onus should be on the applicant to show that they're qualified through their essays and interviews, right? The adcom have been admitting international applicants for years, and have presumably been observing how successful those students ended up being during and after their studies. Surely they'd pick up a thing or two from that.
It also makes some sense that there is a northeastern emphasis at Yale. People often choose the location of their schools because it's in a general geography where they want to live after their MBA. Many people go to Stanford because they are (or want to be) on the west coast. People might choose Columbia in part because they are (or want to be) in New York. LBS, because of London. INSEAD is an exception, but surely most schools have some degree of regional emphasis by being, at least in part, a product of their geography. I wouldn't choose Yale if I really wanted to meet people from the UK. I'd go to the UK for that.
I suppose these things are quite hit or miss, particularly when they're done by second year students or alumni. It does seem like INSEAD, and evidently Duke, are better fits for you. For me, on the other hand, I don't really care how many credit hours you need to fulfill an MBA, and I'm more excited at the prospect of taking courses with Shiller than I am concerned with the fact that there are other students at Yale who don't care enough to know if he teaches there.
An MBA program does ultimately have to feel right for you, and you unfortunately have to judge them based on interactions with a very small sample of people that often inadequately represent an entire school. My case is particularly anecdotal. I interviewed over Skype, so I literally only interacted with 1 person from the school. Either way, I was fortunate, got a good vibe, and am really excited about the prospect of going to Yale.
Fingers crossed for Thursday. Good luck to all who are still hanging in there!
INSEAD – Yes it is a completely different situation
Yale – I’m not trying to put it down, but I would like to understand the criteria on international applicants who have not studied or work in the US and the adcom’s ability to asses them, in general not just in Yale.
Overall, I like the nature of Yale very much, which is why I applied. The quality of the education is good, there is no question about that, but what personally attracted me to it were the holistic approach to business education and the “diverse” backgrounds promoted by them, especially in terms of social responsibility. So you can safely assume I’m not crazy about most rankings.
Fit – Yes, fully agree, everywhere it is a question of a fit. Nobody is going to fit everywhere.
International aware students - Yes it is an important criteria in the 21st century, especially for most people who have international experience and know that they will benefit from being with like minded people in that sense. Going from an international environment to an insular one is not a step forward.
Not knowing about my country – It’s not really a question of whether it can bother a person or not, as for many of us it happens all the time. But when you are going to invest time and money in an MBA program, it is a question of “how can you asses my profile if you cannot put it into context”, “how good of a job can your institution do at providing me with a global business perspective (which EVERY program is promoting now) if my first impression through the adcom does not follow that line?”
Being Interesting – I feel selection should be beyond that.
I’ll try to use an example from my own work experience doing international recruitment to explain my concern. Without discussing quality of the programs, there are countries were Masters and PhDs are “easily” accessible and are a must in order to secure a good position. On the other hand there are countries in which these types of programs are not the norm, neither in terms of availability nor in terms of job market demands. If I did not know this, I would not be able to assess sufficiently the context that helps define:
a) The motivations and drive to pursue a graduate degree
b) The merit that obtaining a graduate degree in different circumstances
Both things which are crucial in evaluating a candidate, whether for a job or an educational program. And I have done both. Same applies to understanding different job markets, impact of a position, or simply academic selection. To be honest it’s not the kind of thing that you can show in an application or define in most interviews, especially when there is generally not enough time or character count for it. Neither is it the kind of thing you can learn from reading development or economical indexes.
Hence my question about international selection.
Personally I guess it’s a ding for me, because I haven’t heard from them. I'm obviously not happy about it, but I am not speaking out of spite. I honestly just want to learn how this aspect works.
22 Mar 2012, 12:49
, Please bear n mind, this is not to underestimate yale som or its students as it is just my experience and I wish for this institution to have the right people in the admission panel to help them attracting best students..the current admission people are not on the same level as Yale name! I wish Mr Ted read this and address this issue very soon..
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