Wave 3, Culture and Relativity

Last wave of Round 2 interview invitations will go out late tomorrow afternoon. Remember that if you're not invited to interview, it doesn't necessarily mean you're heading to deny. Applicants whose materials were not complete at the time of the application deadline may not have undergone the requisite reviews. We're doing our best to get through the apps in a timely and thorough fashion.

Last weekend we enjoyed meeting over 60 applicants (including 13 men) for our Women's Interview Saturday. The event was co-hosted with our Michigan Business Women (MBW) student club. Attendees got to hear perspectives on Ross from different women across the Ross community including myself, Paula Caproni (the MBA Academic Director), the co-presidents of MBW, a panel of current women students, and a (co-ed) production of Follies, our annual student-produced comedy show. One of the points I invited attendees to validate with current women students is whether they feel like they're only a third of the class. The answer that I've consistently gotten over the years is that our women students feel like they're far more than a third of the class. That says a lot about our culture - both the women and the men.

When you're about to embark upon an intense experience like an MBA, the culture in which you do it can make a big difference in what you give to it and get out of it. You've heard it before - finding the right fit is very important. And it's a very personal decision - it's not about what the right fit has been for many others like you - it's about finding the right fit for you. The same holds true for us as we make our admissions decisions - there may be two candidates in the pool who seem similarly qualified, but one is admitted and another is not. Admissions decisions aren't just about who's qualified, it's about who we think will fit best in the fabric of our community. And it isn't a static definition of fit from year to year. It changes with the pool of applicants we have each year. To give you a real life example, we admitted a candidate several years who decided not to matriculate that year. He reapplied the following year and was surprised to be waitlisted. He assumed that having been admitted once was a virtual guarantee of being admitted the following year. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't the case since he was being considered in an entirely new pool of applicants. We've seen the opposite happen as well - an applicant who was waitlisted or denied in one year is admitted the following year. The thing to keep in mind as you get decisions from the various schools - it's not just about you, it's also about who you are relative to the rest of the applicant pool. 

 

 

Comments

[Antonio]

Dear Soojin,

Unfortunately I did not get an invite to R2 interview in any of the three waves. Is there anyway to know if I am waitlisted, dinged or still under review?
Thank you for the information,

Antonio
BRAZIL

[Samarth Rungta]

Dear Soojin,

I haven't yet received an interview invitation or application rejection in any of the three waves. It would be kind if I could have an update about the current status of my application. Is there any way I can come to know more about the status of my application?

Warm Regards,
Samarth Rungta

[Boarding Schools India]

Resp. Sir, I know this is not the time to take admissions.By now the admissions are closed.We stay at Bolivar and have taken my child's admission for nursery here.But now we are shifting our residence to vile pale..Can I get admission for my child for the year 2011-2012 for nursery...I know its difficult.But a ray of hope..