Selections Interview with Michelle Jacobson, Director of Graduate Business Programs at the Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University

<-- Previous page | Next page -->

Page 1 | 2 | 3

Selections: What role does the GMAT play in the admissions process? What does a GMAT score tell you about an applicant?
Jacobson: We use the GMAT as a predictor of success. Much like law schools use the LSAT. But we use it coupled with the GPA. We look at the written analysis and compare that with [the applicants’] essays. So the average score is about 640. Some people score higher, some lower. The GMAT is a very important component, but we are not GMAT-driven. If someone applies with a 710 GMAT, they won’t be automatically admitted. We deny people with 710 GMAT scores. We look at people as a whole, and our criteria are pretty straightforward.

These are not necessarily in order, but we will start with GMAT, undergraduate GPA and major, their postundergraduate work experience, their essays and letters of recommendations. As we are looking at applications, if we have someone who has great letters of recommendations—and not everyone does, by the way—and they have great essays. . . The average years of work experience for us is 4.5 years. If they have really low grades but really but a high GMAT, I might think, “Here is someone who is bright but has not applied himself.” We look at people as a whole. The GMAT is obviously a very important component, but we don’t use that in isolation. It is coupled with other criteria.

Selections: What role does the interview play?
Jacobson: We generally have a sense of whether an applicant will be a good fit and whether they will contribute to our program, and then we want the student ambassadors to get a sense of that, too. Sometimes what happens is, the applicant comes across with the student in a whole different light. If that were to happen, we may deny the person admittance. Again, it always depends on the situation. Sometimes, it could be a language barrier or a control dynamic. We will follow up with the information that the student gives us from the interview. On that day when the applicant is interviewing, we will also couple the student interview with an interview with a full-time staff [member] so we are able to cross-reference those two pieces.

Selections: How do you measure things such as leadership ability and value to an employer?
Jacobson: We look at what the recommendations are. Quite honestly, we are looking to get a sense of: Are these the type of people that the employer would want to hire again? Are they loyal, trustworthy, do they take initiative? Those are transferable skills. If these skills come across in the essay and in the recommendations and in the interviews. . . Now we know people can pull the wool over our eyes sometimes, but for the most part, we are generally a good judge of that. We don’t have that perfected. And sometimes, people can “talk the talk,” but we are hoping with the combination of factors—the grades, scores, work experience and all of those kinds of things—that somebody wouldn’t go to those lengths only to not really want to be here.

Selections: Describe the ideal class. What kind of class do you try to “build”?
Jacobson: I would really like to have 150 incredibly bright, committed, team-focused people. I would like for there to be about 25 to 30 percent international students. I would like a nice mix of men and women from a variety of backgrounds. I would like African Americans, American Indians, Hispanic Americans. Diverse undergraduate majors.

From our international population, I would like for it to be very global. Let’s say we have a significant amount of very strong applicants from China or India. We are going to accept a certain amount of those, but we won’t admit everyone from China. We want a diverse class. I am really proud of the diversity we have in our class. We have 40 percent women and 18 percent African American. And everyone here truly deserves to be here.

What happens is, when we have a really good class like this, and overall when they have a good experience and they see that they can learn from their classmates, they want to keep that going. So diversity is critical. As a matter of fact, last year we didn’t meet numbers. We were shooting for a class of about 140 and we have a class of 120. We strategically decided not to compromise on quality. My goal now is 150, not compromising on quality.

Selections: Are applications up this year?
Jacobson: Hard for me to say if the number of applicants is up, but just based on prospects and people making enquiries, the numbers have increased.

<-- Previous page | Next page -->

Page 1 | 2 | 3