Michigan Ross Signing Week Open Thread: Day 1
This is the open thread for any and all Michigan Ross MBA Round 1 candidates to publicly announce their suitors and decisions. The program is hoping to sign a Top 10 class in both Businessweek and US News and World Reports. Feel free to post your recruiting profiles for the B-School or any other under/grad programs you’re applying to below. This is so much more stressful than undergrad admissions.
Name: Zone Left
MBA Prospect
Class of 2013
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Employer: Marine Corps
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 200lb
Evaluation:
What really jumps off the page when looking at Left is his extensive work experience. He’s got over eight years, which is significantly more than the average candidate. While the experience lends him a perspective unavailable to the average mid 20’s consultant, we wonder if schools will see him as past his prime and unable to compete with the younger folks.
His GMAT score is average to slightly above average for this level of competition. He has solid, above average writing skills, producing strong essays and interviews well, but we’re unsure if his sub-par GPA, despite being over eight years old, is going to cause the elite programs to take a pass. Overall, he’s the kind of solid prospect you build programs around. He’s got descent upside, is a solid team player, and projects as a solid professional.
Considering: Michigan, Texas, Notre Dame
While Left is a Southern California resident, he’s a Midwestern native and has been surprisingly disinterested in the powerhouse LA programs at UCLA and USC. He also got a strong push from the local boys at San Diego State, but thought nothing associated with the program had anything to offer a native of Michigan. His recruitment has been focused on national brands, including the goliaths in the Northeast, but that interest was not mutual.
His most active suitor was Notre Dame. They stepped in with his first offer, and have made a really strong push. Despite its diminished stature, the Irish brand name has great pull nationally. However, his family appears to be against the move, with one member actively comparing South Bend to the frozen 9th Circle of Dante’s Hell.
While he doesn’t have any geographic ties to the region, Texas has made a strong push for Left’s commitment and is certainly in the running. He is reportedly attracted to the Longhorns for the high quality of education, strong local economy, family values, and the second floor view of the treadmills at the school’s student gym. He has offers from both Notre Dame and Texas.
However, Ross is clearly his number one choice. The combination of hometown connections, excellent program, and outstanding history of churning out excellent professionals appears to be greater than Texas’s excellent location or Notre Dame’s strong recruiting push. That said, we’re unsure if Zone has a committable offer to Ross or not. He expects to find out in the next week and will announce on January 14th.
On the Trail:
Sep 20: Official visit and interview at Notre Dame
Sep 22: Official visit to Michigan
Sep 25: Official visit to Texas
Nov 3: Interview and unofficial visit to Michigan
Dec 3: Interview with Texas
Dec 17: Offered by Notre Dame
Dec 18: Offered by Texas
Jan 14: Expected decision (Likely not televised by ESPN)
Which will he choose?
January 11th, 2011 at 11:38 AM ^
But its a holistic view of a bunch of stuff like GPA (including to a small extent the school and program), GMAT, extra-curriculars, work experience, interview, your case for why you need an MBA and, specifically a Michigan MBA (though once accepted, all bets are off as far as any plan or case you put on an app)
That said, I'd take the GMAT again to try and get your score up to the mid-600's. They say the middle 80% gets 650-750 so people do get in with less than 650 but (sorry to say this) you have given yourself a steep, slippery, likely insurmountable,slope to climb (though I don't know how the rest of your candidacy looks).