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The Art of Admissions
by Carlotta Mast
Selections Interview with Bob Bonner, Director, MBA Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Selections: How closely do you work with admissions staff in deciding what kind of candidates will fit your school best?
Bonner: It is a delicate balance. We try to keep our admissions processes and our career services processes separate in many ways. We let admissions know where there is demand and where there isn’t, but we don’t look at candidates to say, “Great, this person looks like he’ll be able to find a job more easily than this person.” We don’t want to do that, so we do keep those separate.
Where we do come in is, the admissions group has a committee that is composed of folks from career management and other departments across the school. When they are looking at difficult cases that they want further input on, this committee looks at those. Most of the departments are represented on those committees.
We do work with admissions as a team, but we do feel like it is important to have those other checks. Like at an investment bank, where the research side is separate from the banking side. We think it is important not to skew the decisions.
However, we communicate back about what is happening in the marketplace. But the goal of our admissions office is to find the best leaders and the most talented applicants. Because there are a lot of people who when you look at them on paper you might say, “They may have a tough time in their career pursuits.” But they don’t. They are active and very successful. And there are other people who on paper you would think would have an easy time but don’t. That is part of our value. The school should not over prescribe or try to predict what they think someone will be able to do, because it depends on the individual.
Selections: Are you concerned about your ability to place incoming candidates, and do you ever think about having a bigger role in deciding who gets into your school?
Bonner: I think you will find career services professionals at different schools who do want to have a larger say in who gets into the school. Where we are. . . we have such a wonderful applicant pool that we work with whoever comes in through the door. We do give feedback on the employment market, and if there are any difficult situations or cases or if there are students who have had great success, we talk about that with admissions so they know that. When you make admissions, just like when you hire somebody, you don’t know how they will perform. They look at the career side of things as well as how someone performs academically. Looking at all of those factors, I know admissions continually evaluates how the admits have done over the years. So, no, I don’t have any strong desire to have a big impact on that. We’re here as a resource to help [admissions professionals] if they have any questions, but we feel strongly that they do a great job. We don’t want to make their decisions for them. They are very competent.
Selections: What kind of people do you find easiest to place?
Bonner: A student who has worked for different companies and in different industries and even in different functions within a company. Any kind of diversity of career experience that they bring to the table really helps them to better evaluate the options in front of them. So we find that students with some kind of diversity of experience, whatever it may be—that is really valuable. The more exposure that somebody has to different career paths, the sounder their decision will be when they come here. So we enjoy working with those students.
Selections: What are recruiters looking for in an intern and a new hire? Have you observed any recent changes in what they are looking for?
Bonner: We haven’t seen any dramatic shifts in terms of skills they are looking for. In this economy, I think they are able to be more selective in who they are looking for. So they will see a number of applicants who can do the job. They fit all of the skill requirements. So then a big part of it will come down to chemistry. Is this someone [the recruiters] want to spend 12 or 14 hours a day with? That is a big factor. We’re not seeing any big shifts in skills. Despite the dot-com bust, they still love people with an understanding of technology: information technology, biotechnology, the life sciences. Any of those backgrounds are very valuable, as are management, finance, and marketing.
Selections: Has the economic downturn affected the kinds of questions you get from applicants or students? In what ways has it affected the admissions process?
Bonner: When the economy was really strong, students were being very critical about determining whether going to business school would put them where they want to be. They were focused on leveraging the opportunity. And they do that in a tight economy, as well. So I don’t think there has been any shift in questions, but I think applicants are wanting to make sure that the career choices that they want to look at are represented at Wharton, and if they are not, that at least we have the tools here to help them move forward and find what they want.
Selections: Has the economy affected the admissions process?
Bonner: Rose [admissions director Rose Martinelli] revamped the entire admissions process this year, so it will be tough to tell the difference between what is the impact of the changes she has made and what is an impact of the economy. Separating that out will be difficult.
Selections: How does the economy affect the relationship between the admissions and career services departments at your school? Do you feel there is a symbiotic relationship between admissions and career services that grows stronger/closer in a weak economy?
Bonner: We have always worked closely with admissions. I can’t say that the economy has changed it in any way.
What the whole career services industry is trying to do, and certainly the admissions industry as well, is trying to make sure that all applicants who are looking at business school have truth in advertising and the right data in front of them. So the MBA Career Services Council has been terrific in trying to standardize that data across schools. So that when you’re an applicant and you’re looking at the career choices and options and salaries and all of that, that you are looking at the same data for all of the schools. That is really important.
Also, we have tried to reach out beyond the traditional applicant. We have really worked hard to look at people in the public sector who might not have thought about coming back for an MBA. That is great. That helps on the career side. It really helps us diversify the companies we work with and the people that they are looking for, and it brings a broader diversity of people in our applicant pool and classes. We are really behind that initiative. You asked about who is easier or tougher to work with. Those applicants are great. Some schools might say, “Well they are not the typical applicant, so they would be more challenging to work with.” But we love to see those students who come from a nonprofit background or the public sector or the military. They bring a richness to the community, and I think they are able to be very successful with companies because they have an interesting story to tell. //
© Selections: Spring 2002