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It’s the time of year we yearn for an answer to the eternal, existential question, “Am I alone?” Yes, it’s time to see if the volume of applications to b-school programs increased, decreased, or stayed the same in 2002–03, compared with last year.
GMAC has published summary results of the Application Trends Survey 2003 online and distributed more detailed reports to the schools that participated in the survey (the survey results are excerpted below). The information should help explain why some programs may not have reached all their admissions goals this year and why it may be helpful to monitor economic and demographic trends and worldwide political and health issues when setting next year’s goals.
Between May and June 2003, the Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®), in cooperation with the Executive MBA Council, surveyed 289 MBA programs from 147 schools on the number of applicants seeking enrollment in the 2003–04 school year. In the survey, GMAC asked respondents to compare the number of applications they received in 2002–03 with the number they received in 2001–02.
Here’s what the programs said about their application volume:
Of the 117 full-time programs responding to the survey—
- 35% reported an increase in the number of applications
- 12% reported no change
- 53% reported a decrease
Of the 94 part-time programs responding to the survey—
- 34% reported an increase in the number of applications
- 21% reported no change
- 45% reported a decrease
Of the 78 executive MBA programs responding to the survey—
- 36% reported an increase in the number of applications
- 13% reported no change
- 51% reported a decrease
Making Sense of the Stats
At first blush, 53% of full-time programs reporting a decrease in applications sounds like evidence of a decline in interest in graduate management education. But placing these statistics in context is imperative. First, the application volume for 2001–02 was atypically high. If the 2002–03 application volume is compared with the volume in 2000–01 instead, the percentage of full-time programs reporting a decrease is 41% and the percentage of full-time programs reporting an increase is 50%.
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