BW-online: Make It Personal for Yale

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BusinessWeek Online's guest for a live chat on September 11, 2003, was Anne Coyle, director of MBA admissions at the Yale School of Management, No. 14 in BusinessWeek's latest B-School rankings. Coyle took over admissions in July, 2003, after most recently coordinating executive searches for Phillips Oppenheim, an executive search firm that places execs in nonprofit organizations. Her career has taken her from government -- she was once a Presidential management intern at the Senate Budget Committee -- to Cornell University's Johnson School of Management as an admissions director, to McKinsey & Co., where she managed recruiting for non-MBA associates.

Coyle received an MPA (master's in public administration) from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a BA in biological anthropology from Harvard College. Coyle spoke with BusinessWeek Online reporter Mica Schneider, who hosted the online chat.

Q: How does your recruiting experience lend itself to MBA admissions?
A: For the past five years, I've worked on several [executive] searches at once, and at McKinsey, I saw how the company made decisions about where to recruit. I had to sift through thousands of résumés to get down to hundreds of people to interview. That experience helps me because I have the employer's perspective [when I look at applications]. I know how to look at a résumé and what employers are looking for. That's important in admissions at a professional school. Academics are a big part, but so are someone's career prospects.

Typically -- and on our staff -- admissions officers come from all sorts of backgrounds, so we can all use our perspectives when we're reading an application or interviewing applicants. One person might have a question about [an applicant's] work experience, and someone else will say, "I was in that industry, and that experience is a positive thing."

Q: What are some common misconceptions about Yale's MBA program?
A: I hate to repeat misconceptions -- I wish they would go away. But in the popular press, or in applicants' minds, the misconception is that Yale is the business school for people interested in careers in the nonprofit world or even that it's a public policy program.

Last year, about 2% of the graduating class went into nonprofit organizations. We attract applicants from that sector, but about 40% of our graduates go into finance every year.

The truth is that all the top MBA programs have strong faculty and smart, interesting students. It takes visiting a campus to know the difference. A distinction of our program is that we have a small class size, so you get to know your classmates. There are just 60 students in each of our four cohorts, so it's a manageable size.

Q: How do you plan to adjust the admissions policies at Yale?
A: We are trying to reduce barriers for busy people to apply. We recognize that in the years between college and an MBA program, a lot of the really talented people are working very hard and long hours. We want to get them the information they need [about Yale] to make good choices, but not any more than that.

So we're trying to be as applicant-friendly as possible. For instance, this year we're requiring one essay, instead of the five [required in past years]. After careful analysis, we realized that the information we were getting from one essay was consistent with what we got in the other four. That gives people who are working ridiculous hours a chance to apply. And [it's also helpful because] writing essays doesn't always come easy for the people with the quantitative skills we require to get through our program.

We've asked people to attach a résumé to their application, but we're not specifying what we want to see. We want to see how people portray their work experience.

We want to make it easier for people to interview. We'd love for people to come to campus, because when they come here, they have a great time interacting with ours students. But for some people, it's just not possible.

Finally, we're also trying to make decisions quickly, and getting them out as they're made, instead of waiting until the end of the [admissions] round.

Q: What's the recruiting goal of the First Annual Yale School of Management Washington Summit, which is Oct. 16?
A: We value the experience [of people in government], and we think that many of those people can benefit from an MBA. Some of the people working on Capitol Hill, or in the executive branch agencies, are thinking about graduate school, and their thoughts may or may not include an MBA program.

Q: It doesn't seem that government employees are targeted quite so much by other schools. Is Washington an untapped source of MBA applicants?
A: I think it is. I worked on Capitol Hill, and I worked with some very intelligent people.

Q: When is the best time for people to apply? Are applicants' chances reduced if they apply in the spring?
A: We encourage anyone who is ready to complete the application by the first deadline to do so. If an applicant is better prepared for the second round, that's fine. By the third deadline, the class is filling up, and anyone who waits until the fourth deadline would be putting themselves at a significant disadvantage. Our advice is to apply as early as possible, consistent with putting one's best foot forward.

Q: It's your office's job to sift through more than 2,000 applications to enroll a class of 240 MBAs each year. How does an applicant gain your team's approval?
A: We have six admissions professionals. We're all reading applications, interviewing people, and involved in each admissions committee decision. We also get input on a regular basis from our faculty admissions policy committee.

We are looking to put together an interesting class. We want people who can learn from each other. We're looking for self-starters, go-getters. So no matter what it is they want to do, they're always doing it at their best. These are people who are making the most of every opportunity.

Obviously, we're looking for smart people, not just smart in IQ, but also smart in EQ -- emotional intelligence. So we're looking at how much group work they've done, and that they're not a sole enterprise. There are plenty of people who we don't have the space to admit because we have such a competitive pool.

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Q: Where do the people who don't get accepted to Yale's MBA program tend to fall short?
A: Right now, we're wrapping up some of our feedback sessions for people who weren't admitted last year and want insight as to why. I don't know that there are any patterns, but obviously we have a high average GMAT score, so a lot of people fall short on that. The GMAT is probably one big area -- especially quant GMAT -- because in the other areas of the application it's easier to compensate.  

Q: Which are the least important components of the application, the pieces that can be compensated for elsewhere?
A: We probably put a bit less reliance on the essay than some other schools might. That's one of the reasons we went from five essays to one. We're also concerned about authorship. The vast majority of the applicants write their own essays, but it's not fair to them to compete against people who are getting lots of help writing their essays.

In the essays, we want people to jump off the page as a real person. We want to remember them [in the committee meetings] as "The person who did x, y, and z." Make it personal. If your childhood, family, or an important life experience has had an impact on why you're pursuing an MBA, or a career in business, we'd love to hear about that.

Q: How will you review GMAT scores? The average is 703 for Yale's class of 2005.
A: We're interested in both the quantitative and verbal sections of the GMAT. We focus, especially, on the quantitative section.

In our program, there's a strong correlation between the quantitative GMAT score and the undergraduate GPA, and surviving our first-year core curriculum.

Q: How many people don't get past the first year of Yale's MBA program?
A: Every year there are a few. More often than not, it's personal circumstances that determine that. All sorts of things can happen to people in their late 20s.

Q: How does Yale view applicants who take the GMAT a number of times?
A: It's fine, though I hate to see people spending too much time with the GMAT. We look at the highest score.

Q: What does someone with a cumulative score that just breaks the 600 mark need to do to compensate?
A: We would have to look closely at the person's undergraduate transcript: the courses they took and the grades they got. Especially if they've taken any classes since then and the grades they received. In their current job, are they doing any quantitative analysis?

I also want to get a sense of their work ethic -- how hard are they going to work at a problem? -- because the program is very difficult.

Q: Does Yale only review GMAT verbal scores of applicants for whom English isn't their native language?
A: No, we always look at it.

Q: What's a GMAT breakdown that gives you pause?
A: That's not so easy. There's no particular number. We go through every transcript, look at every quantitative class and grade, and we make notes. And of course, every undergraduate institution is different, so we note that, too.

Success in some undergraduate degrees can indicate that the applicant is pretty well prepared [for business school]. If an applicant is on the lower end of the GMAT range, if he or she hasn't had any undergraduate quantitative courses that are good preparation, such as economics, statistics, or calculus, then we'd recommendation taking a statistics class.

Q: What are some strong undergraduate degrees?
A: MBA programs were designed for people who graduated with liberal arts degrees. So we're very interested in people with liberal arts backgrounds. But when I say liberal arts, I'm including the sciences, not just the humanities. For humanities students, we want to see that they have a strong quantitative ability, and some background -- both aptitude and experience. We want to know that they didn't go into humanities because they couldn't do the quantitative work, but because they preferred the humanities. It would be helpful to them if they had taken economics or statistics courses.

Many of the top MBA programs enroll a pretty healthy percentage of engineers -- sometimes 20% of their class -- because in order to do well in such an undergraduate program, students need quantitative ability.

Interestingly, physics majors get the highest average GMAT scores, and business majors tend to get the lowest scores. For some business majors, an MBA isn't necessarily adding value.

Q: What tips can you offer applicants before they sit down to write their essay?
A: Students can choose one topic from four questions. We're most interested in essays that give us a sense of the person. A personal statement, broadly defined, is the best way to approach it, because the person who reads it probably isn't the person who interviewed the applicant.

We want to know what motivates someone. What is the person passionate about? What are the person's short- and long-term career goals? Ultimately, make us feel as if we've met you and are glad that we met you.

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Q: What can applicants expect from their Yale MBA interviews?
A: This year, our policy changed. In order to get an on-campus interview, you have to have completed the online section of the application. [You don't have to submit all of your recommendations, official test scores, and transcripts to get an interview.] Once you've done that, the online application will link you to the online interview scheduling for on-campus interviews. Until the end of October, anyone who completes that can schedule an on-campus interview.  

In November, anyone can request an on-campus interview. We'll do our best to accommodate those requests, but at that point we need to be more selective about who is invited to an interview. We'll also be making an effort to reach out to people who are unable to interview on campus. Many strong candidates can't make it to New Haven for an interview. If an applicant seems strong, we'll do our best to schedule an interview with an alumnus, or to schedule an interview when one of our admissions team members is traveling in the area. We'll interview close to 1,000 people this year.

In an on-campus interview, applicants can expect a 30-minute conversation. We're looking for an opportunity to get to know the person as well as we can. Second year MBAs [who are interviewing] will be thinking, "Is this someone I'd want in my classroom, contributing to classroom discussion?" And we'll ask ourselves, "Is this someone whose short-term career goals are realistic, given where they are now? Will they impress recruiters in a few years?"

Q: Yale also asks MBAs hopefuls to submit three letters of recommendation. Two should be professional contacts, and one should be from a former professor. How does Yale respond to applicants who didn't stay in touch with their undergraduate professors?
A: We have typically asked that two recommendations be from professional [colleagues], and that one be from a professor from college. But we do recognize that sometimes it's difficult to get a professor's recommendation. You won't see this in writing in our application, but it's really O.K if all three recommendations are professional. Some applicants are a few years out [of undergrad school], and haven't been in touch with professors.

At least two should be from people who supervised the applicant professionally. But my advice to applicants is to talk to each person [writing a recommendation]. Ask them if they're comfortable writing a strong recommendation for you. You'd think that all recommendations are the same, but they're not. Our readers have to rate where recommenders rate the applicant compared to other applicants. So if the reference says no [to writing a strong recommendation], then find someone else who feels strongly about you.

If your recommender is your boss, that person may be busy and may say, "Draft something for me, and I'll sign it." That's not O.K. It has to be in the recommender's words. Find someone who's not too busy.

Finally, have the recommender write your letter of recommendation on business letterhead and staple their business card to it. We value that, and it helps us in the verification process. It's seen as further proof that they are who they are.

Q: Yale has joined the growing list of schools scanning the applications to check for fraudulent facts. Why does the school think it's necessary to review the applications this way?
A: We do, and we're undertaking an effort to do more. We have so many people who work so hard to put their best foot forward [in the admissions process], and it's not fair to them if someone takes a spot who doesn't deserve it.

We're hiring a firm that will be verifying all the information an applicant has given us once the entering class is verified. It's too costly to do it for every applicant, so we're verifying a certain percentage of applicants on a random basis. We're also training our staff in what to look for in a fraudulent application.

There tend to be patterns in fraudulent applications, and we're well aware of them, and we're stepping up our efforts to verify applicant information. The penalty for submitting false application materials is that the admission is rescinded.

Q: How do you plan to mange Yale's MBA wait list in 2004?
A: Our wait list is fairly short. We only put as many individuals on the wait list as we might possibly need to manage our enrollment so that we end up as close as possible to [enrolling] 240 in the class. This past year, I believe we only admitted one person off the wait list -- he was a very strong, joint-degree candidate who just happened to apply very late in the season when our class was already full.

This year we will probably have a somewhat shorter wait list and will continue to work toward not keeping anyone on the wait list any longer than necessary. We don't like to keep anyone waiting unnecessarily once we know that we won't have to use the wait list.

Anyone who is wait-listed or denied admission can ask for feedback. This year the feedback will be in the form of a letter, since feedback sessions by phone can potentially create more problems than they solve. For instance, an applicant might misunderstand the advice given or misconstrue that following the advice would guarantee admission the following year.