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Admit decisions, for all the effort that goes into them, don’t come with any guarantees. Some admits turn out to be “hits”—great students, strong contributors to the learning environment, and eminently employable graduates. But others end up as admissions “misses,” taking more than they contribute and lacking the career direction and self-confidence that would make them placeable upon graduation. How can your admissions program achieve more “hits” and avoid the “misses?”
In March and April, the Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®), in cooperation with the MBA Career Services Council, presented and fully underwrote a new professional development program for director-level business school staff in admissions, career services, and MBA program management. The purpose of the 2004 Directors Symposium was to bring together teams of leaders in different functional areas of each participating school to talk about the identifiable characteristics of their schools’ admissions “hits” and “misses” and how the different business school functions can work together to identify applicants who will be outstanding students and alumni for their particular schools.
The Directors Symposium was offered on different days in Los Angeles, New York, and Paris, with audiences ranging in size from 25 to 65 participants. Despite the geographic differences and the wide range of schools represented, there were many common traits of admissions “hits” and “misses.” Some of them are listed below.
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