Michigan Ross MBA: Admissions & School Research

Here at Menlo Coaching, we appreciate the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for its commitment to teamwork and real-world experience.

Menlo Coaching’s Founding Partner, David White interviewed Soojin Kwon, the Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Student Experience at Ross to get the inside scoop on what it’s like to be both an applicant and a student at this prestigious MBA program.

This interview includes:

• How the MBA Admissions Process is a Bit like Dating
• Researching Target Programs

You can watch more from David and Soojin, with videos covering The Ideal Ross MBA Candidate, The Ross MBA Curriculum, and Employment Outcomes and Ross Alumni Network.

Interview with the Ross School of Business Admissions Director

Ready to start your application? Apply to Ross

Who is Ross Interested in for Its MBA Program?

And why is MBA admissions like dating?

There are a lot of ways in which the MBA process is a bit like dating. Hear us out, there are two different parties involved with their own needs, preconceived notions, and expectations for the future. Let’s break down the ins and outs of this analogy and discuss how to map Ross’ admissions process onto it.

• A One- or Two-Way Street. A lot of applicants think of MBA admissions as a “one-way street” i.e. they think that it’s their job to impress the school and that the school can pick from among the applicants that do the best job of it. But it is much more useful to think of it as a “two-way street” which looks an awful lot like a dating relationship. Putting your best foot forward and impressing a potential date is still important, but both people need to find someone who brings out the best in them. Ross subscribes to this philosophy, understanding that applicants should be investigating them just as much as they are are investigating the applicants. It may happen at different stages in the process, but both school and applicant need to make the right decision for their future.
• Setting Your Sights Too High. There are many students who only want to attend the very top schools: Harvard or maybe Stanford. Likewise, there are probably people who only want to date billionaires or supermodels. But in one’s dating life, most people are more realistic about the opportunities they have. Even setting an artificial boundary like “I will only date people who are 5’10 and taller” might mean missing out on the love of one’s life who happens to be 5’9. Attempting to realistically assess one’s MBA opportunities with measures like GPA, GMAT score, and work experience will help an applicant figure out which programs will work for them within the group of schools that might want them.
• Finding the Best Partner or the Right Partner. Applicants tend to be obsessed with school rankings, figuring that the number one school is going to objectively be the best fit for them. But that is not actually true. As with dating, it’s not about finding the person who is objectively the best—the smartest, the kindest, the most attractive—but about finding the person that is the best fit for them and vice-versa. An MBA, like a relationship, is, at its best, a mutually beneficial partnership where both sides feel like they get something out of the relationship. And that kind of fit doesn’t work on purely objective measures. It has to be mutually beneficial
• Why It Can’t Be Love at First Sight. Just like the dating process, it can be very difficult to tell who is going to be an ideal partner just by looking at them. A lot of top MBA programs might seem to be pretty similar on the surface. Doing some research, much like looking at an online dating profile, can reveal some specifics but that is still just scratching the surface. Most Business School websites are shiny and bright and positive, yet in order to really understand how programs work and what opportunities are actually available, one needs to talk to current students. Campus visits may be cost prohibitive for some applicants, but taking advantage of any resource to learn more about a school can give them a better sense of how their partnership will go. To this end, Ross has more than 200 student ambassadors who volunteer to talk with perspective candidates. Reaching out to them is an essential step in learning more about the program. You don’t want to show up at the altar having never met the person you’re about to marry. 

So given this dating-like relationship, it’s important for applicants to understand if they are a good fit for Ross and vice-versa.