The Application Process

Admissions consultants from around the world met with admissions directors from most of the top schools at the 9th AIGAC conference at MIT. Held at MIT (June 14-15) with visits to Tuck (June 13), HBS (June 16), and Babson and Fletcher (June 17), the conference was an enriching experience. The MIT Panel discussions on the first day (June 14) provided valuable insights into various offerings by the school. On the second day (June 15), representatives from more than 20 business schools attended the conference and shared their insights on admission trends, challenges, and client expectations/questions. The topics of panel discussed included career services, common questions from applicants, applicant expectations, and executive programs.

Below are highlights of the panel discussion on the topic 'Career Services in a Changing World'.

Question: How prepared you want the applicants to be?

"¢ All the panelists said that they want the students to understand why they are applying to the 'X' school. They emphasized that the schools encourage the students to contact the career services and prepare themselves over the summer before they get to school. Some additional insights were:
"¢ Georgetown- They want the students to do internships. More companies are inviting people to do pre-MBA planning even before they get on the campus.
"¢ INSEAD- They have pdf about different jobs and companies that the students can download.

Question: How do you help students who are not clear about their goals?

"¢ Tepper- They conduct a series of career workshops that helps them clarify their goals; they also identify them with alumni in their industry. Since they are a small school, they work one on one with them.
"¢ Wharton- Being a big school, they have a problem working one on one with them, but they certainly help them do workshops.
"¢ Georgetown- They have individual international coaches for international students; they also have mandatory workshops. However, the school representative emphasized that no matter how much they do, students are the ones who have to take ownership of their career.
"¢ INSEAD- Sometimes students are career focused in the beginning, but when they come to the classroom and talk to other students, they change their minds.

Question: How do you help students who have non -traditional path?

"¢ Georgetown- They have created employment access program. It's not one size fits all, so they have to customize. Their international coach has created a video that is country specific; it is based on students from specific countries and helps them find a job in the industries of their choice.
"¢ INSEAD- All their students are international, so they help them find jobs in companies outside. Their students are very savvy and they follow up with the companies about their questions.

All the school reps emphasized that they are not placement offices; they provide careers services- resources to help the students .

Stay Tuned to the highlights on the other topics discussed on 'All Schools Day' at AIGAC Conference at MIT on June 15.
This post first appeared in myessayreview blog. https://myessayreview.com/blogs/?p=2798