Which top schools target college seniors?

[beny]

Hi Amy,

Please help with this question. I'm interested in top-10ish schools that actively recruit college seniors.

1. From other research, I've heard that Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, and Chicago are most inviting towards younger applicants. Can you confirm this?

2. In addition to this list, are there other top schools that recruit younger applicants?

3. How do Tuck and Columbia view younger applicants? (I heard Tuck doesn't like them... not sure if this is true as Tuck has a section on its website under FAQs saying that some college seniors are admitted. I haven't heard anything about Columbia.)

Thanks!

[Amy]

Hi beny,

It is true that many schools, including the ones you listed, are now considering college seniors, whereas in the past full time work experience was required. Most of the seniors that are successful have very relevant work experience. It is obviously not full time, but it can still be quite impressive. They have focused career goals and are demonstrate maturity. It is still fairly uncommon for someone to be admitted right out of school, but if any school does not require work experience than there is a chance.

Most schools will consider an applicant right out of school. If there is a school that you are interested in, you can contact them to double check.

Kellogg is an example of a school that historically has required full time experience. While it does not explicitly state this on the website, it hints at the policy:
"The Committee highly values full-time professional experience. Work experience adds to maturity and career- and self-awareness, which contribute to a student’s success."

Good luck!

Amy

[beny]

Hi Amy,

Thanks for the response. I was hoping that you had a bit more insider info regarding the schools' views on younger applicants. I know Kellogg is infamous for not flinching on its work experience policy. However, other schools are less readable.

For example, I am really interested in Tuck. From their website, it seems that they would be some-what receptive towards college seniors. Their website reads:

"On rare occasions, Tuck will offer admission to exceptional applicants who have no post-college work experience but excel in other areas. Tuck may also grant deferred admission to college seniors whom we feel would benefit from full-time work experience. On average, Tuck students have five years of full-time work experience before entering Tuck, but given the broad age range in each class, it is the quality, not the quantity, of an applicant's experience that is relevant in the evaluation process."

This is very similar to what HBS or Stanford have on their websites ("it's quality, not quantity"; "exceptional seniors who feel they are ready should apply"; "we grant deferrals"; bla bla bla). However, I've heard from my previous supervisor (a Tuck alum), one of my graduate professors, and Paul Bodine of Accepted.com that Tuck does not actually welcome college seniors, whereas HBS and Stanford love them. When I asked Paul about my profile, he said that I had a decent chance at HBS, but probably not as great of a chance at Tuck.

Is there any way to accuratly gauge how a school views younger applicants?

Thanks!

[Amy]

Hi beny,

I'm just not comfortable giving a simplistic answer about one school "liking" college seniors more than another. This is a new trend, and we've only seen active recruiting of undergrads in the last few years. If the school is willing to consider college seniors, and you want to go, I think it's worth the shot to apply.

Programs are seeking exceptional, super star candidates in college senior applicants. Like many things in this process, it's holistic and a lot of it comes down to the individual applicant and how appealing the entire package is.

Good luck!

Amy

[beny]

Thank you for the response. Despite extensive research, I really couldn't tell which schools favor younger candidates: now I understand why. I guess I'll visit Tuck to get more accurate picture.

[aim-wsc]

: now I understand why. I guess I'll visit Tuck to get more accurate picture.

& then dont expect binary answers
All you'll get is diplomatic answers. That's the beauty of applying.

I think trend is changing and more top-notch schools taking young students.

[Stele]

I think I read out of Harvard's accepted candidates, only 3% were straight out of undergrad (forget for which year). So given their 15% acceptance rate, that's a 0.4% chance. Yeah, I think if you get accepted into a Top 10 straight out of undergrad, you will probably need to be somebody like Bill Gates or Michael Dell back in the day -- running a business while still in school. Except anybody like that will already have the business acumen to succeed without a MBA or even a bachelor's for that matter. It's the rest of us that need help.

[jelt]

I think your probability's a bit off. 3% of the class is undergraduate, sure (27 out of a class of 900). But if only 3% of the applicants are undergraduates, (180 out of 6000 applicants), then 27/180 = 15% as well. What you're lacking are the figures to show how many applicants are undergraduates, yeah?

I think I read out of Harvard's accepted candidates, only 3% were straight out of undergrad (forget for which year). So given their 15% acceptance rate, that's a 0.4% chance. Yeah, I think if you get accepted into a Top 10 straight out of undergrad, you will probably need to be somebody like Bill Gates or Michael Dell back in the day -- running a business while still in school. Except anybody like that will already have the business acumen to succeed without a MBA or even a bachelor's for that matter. It's the rest of us that need help.

[Stele]

lol... Only 3% of the 15% of people that get accepted out of the total pool of applicants are undergrads. That's what I'm getting across. I know I wrote 'chance' (indicating this must be a probability question I'm putting forth so please try to answer it) but I didn't think anyone would get all GMAT on me, lol.

[jelt]

i'm just saying, as an undergrad that figure means nothing to me, because it does not tell me what my chances are at all. undergraduates are in an entirely different pool from normal applicants, after all. that there are few undergraduates may mean that they don't like undergraduates, but it may also equally mean that few undergraduates apply. I know you're insinuating the former, but i'm just pointing out that the latter may also be true. In which case being an undergraduate applicant may give u an even BETTER chance at admission!

[Stele]

There's a thin line between being hopeful and being pollyannaish, but hey, let us know how it goes. Maybe you're just like that Harvard kid who created Facebook.

[jelt]

I don't understand why you need to get all personal here. Having said that, maybe you're one of the lucky guys who only bothered to apply what they learnt about stat and probability to the GMAT, which is of course a much better situation than being an ivy league applicant who uses such knowledge (shocking!) even when it's not appearing in a GMAT question.

Let me know how that goes, maybe business schools will prefer you over someone who has learnt something and uses it even when it's not in a GMAT? Who knows? After all, would these schools even dream of applicants using skills learned in a business school outside of their career? Gosh, then why would it even be called 'business' school? Who needs leadership skills, or knowledge of finance, if it's not for one's career?

Certainly, it should be everyone's aim in life to create the next Facebook.

[aim-wsc]

Interesting!
really liked you guys applied stats & your CR skills in discussion.

BUT, personal attacks wont lead you anywhere. You dont always have to reply. Stick to the thread topic and dont let it lose the track.

[Icemastr]

I think to believe that the college senior applicant pool might be smaller so would therefore be less competitive is overly optimistic. Without knowing the number of college seniors applying compared to those accepted we cannot draw any inferences about the application pool. There are college seniors interested in doing an MBA and many other graduate degrees have large amounts, even a majority, of recent undergrads as students. By visiting business school websites you can see which ones accept college seniors. Here is info on the University of Chicago early career candidate program for college seniors or those with one years work experience:https://www.gsb.uchicago.edu/fulltime/ad ... ile.aspx

I think of this group as probably the most competitive group not because the size of the applicant pool but because the expectations are high for academic ability, gmat score, and leadership experience. If you are a college senior I think you need some very strong reasons for completing an MBA now. To me because you will make more money with an MBA or you want to get it out of the way are not good reasons.

[jelt]

I definitely agree. Next to other non-early career applicants, college seniors probably have to spend much more time justifying why they want/ need an MBA, and to show that they have the business potential even without much work experience.

Having said that, I recently talked to the assistant director of admissions at the GSB Chicago, and she said that there is a huge misconception that having years of work experience is a necessity in order to apply. In her words, college seniors bring in not just a fresh perspective but also academic respectability to a programme. According to her older applicants with years of working experience are far more likely to treat the MBA as a holiday. In fact, she also commented that it is GSB Chicago's goal to lower the average age of its class, and admitting college seniors is a big part of that.

I think being a college senior is a very competitive group in the sense that it is self-selecting. However, I tend to be enthusiastic about those in this group who do find justification to apply because at least one school has made it clear that they view college seniors as a positive addition to the class.

I think to believe that the college senior applicant pool might be smaller so would therefore be less competitive is overly optimistic. Without knowing the number of college seniors applying compared to those accepted we cannot draw any inferences about the application pool. There are college seniors interested in doing an MBA and many other graduate degrees have large amounts, even a majority, of recent undergrads as students. By visiting business school websites you can see which ones accept college seniors. Here is info on the University of Chicago early career candidate program for college seniors or those with one years work experience:https://www.gsb.uchicago.edu/fulltime/ad ... ile.aspx

I think of this group as probably the most competitive group not because the size of the applicant pool but because the expectations are high for academic ability, gmat score, and leadership experience. If you are a college senior I think you need some very strong reasons for completing an MBA now. To me because you will make more money with an MBA or you want to get it out of the way are not good reasons.