Admission Decision Factors in an MBA Program: Beyond the QuantitativeEDWARD F. FRENCH, MBA, DA

INTERIM ASSOCIATE DEAN/COLLEGE OF GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

FRANKLIN PIERCE UNIVERSITY

Factors Used in Admissions Decisions?

What Factors are Important?

What is your objective in reviewing these factors?

How do you know when to make an exception?

Factors Influencing Favorable Admission Decisions

Quantitative

GMAT Scores

Undergraduate CGPA

UG Business major CGPA

What else?

Factors Influencing Favorable Admission Decisions

Qualitative

Admission essays/writing samples

Letters of Reference

Admission Interviews

What else?

NEASC and IACBE Guidance

“Students admitted to graduate degree programs are demonstrably qualified for advanced academic study” (NEASC, 2011, p.9).

Principle 7.2 of the IACBE Self-Study manual requires that the institution “should have standards in place that will help to ensure that [graduate] students have a reasonable chance to succeed in the program” (IACBE, 2011, p.74).

Research Question & Outcome Goal

Research Questions

How is the ability to succeed in a graduate program demonstrated?

Are there factors that are associated with success for students who were academically unsuccessful as undergraduate students?

Outcome Goal

An admissions model which improves the admissions process in ways that ensures applicants who meet the accreditors’ guidance are admitted notwithstanding a poor undergraduate performance.

Institution Profile

Small regional liberal arts university Traditional undergraduate college

Adult learner graduate and undergraduate college

Population Profile

All matriculated students for the academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12 with an undergraduate CGPA of less than 2.8.

30 of 157 students (19%) admitted met this criteria

Exception Student Profile

 Mean Median Minimum Maximum

Standard Deviation

Undergraduate CGPA 2.49 2.51 2.08 2.79 .21

Age at Admission Decision 32.7 31.5 22 57 9.8

Years since UG Degree Conferral 9.1 7.5 0 27 8.8

Successful vs Unsuccessful Exception Students

Successful Exception Students

Completed at least 12 credits (4 courses)

Most recent CGPA is 3.0 or better

Descriptive Statistics – Exception Admitted Students

Undergraduate GPA Successful Unsuccessful

Mean 2.47 2.53

Median 2.50 2.55

Standard Deviation 0.23 0.16

Minimum 2.08 2.26

Maximum 2.79 2.75

Age at Admission Decision Successful Unsuccessful

Mean 34.3 28.2

Median 34 24

Standard Deviation 8.6 11.9

Minimum 22 22

Maximum 48 57

Descriptive Statistics – Exception Admitted Students

Years since UG Degree Conferral Successful Unsuccessful

Mean 10.9 4.1

Median 10 2

Standard Deviation 8.7 7.4

Minimum 0 0

Maximum 27 22

Descriptive Statistics – Successful Students By UG CGPA Quartile

Successful Age – Mean Age - Median

Years since UG degree conferral-

mean

Years since UG degree conferral-median

UG CGPA Mean

UG CGPA Median

Quartile 1 = UG CGPA < 2.2 39.8 41 17.0 18 2.13 2.13

Quartile 2 = UG CGPA 2.2 to 2.399 41.6 40 16.7 18 2.29 2.28

Quartile 3 = UG CGPA 2.4 to 2.599 33.5 33 8.7 9 2.48 2.50

Quartile 4 = UG CGPA 2.6 to 2.799 29.5 27 7.6 5 2.70 2.71

As age increases, undergrad CGPA decreases

Undergraduate Major For “Exception” Students

Undergraduate Major Successful Unsuccessful

# Business Degrees 7 5

# of non-business degrees 15 3

% Business Degrees 31.8% 62.5%

% of non-business degrees 68.2% 37.5%

Almost 70% of successful exception students did not have an undergraduate business degree

Reasons Used for Accepting Exception Students

Reasons For Exceptions

Professional Success Noted Length of time since UG degree conferral

Spoke to Applicant Other UG course work

Other Graduate course work Strong References

UG CGPA close to benchmark Maturity/Thoughtfulness

Well written essays

Findings

UG CGPA is similar for successful and unsuccessful exception students

Successful exception students are more likely to be:

Older (10 years based on median)

Further away from UG degree conferral (8 years based on median)

Findings

For successful exception students:

UG CGPA has less utility for older students further removed from UG degree conferral

A non-business major is more associated with success

Admission decisions for successful exception students had more support (at least 2 versus 1 reason supporting the exception).

Limitations

Subjectivity and reviewer bias

Other factors, not considered, may be important

Have the exception students completed the degree?

Conclusion/Next Steps

There are reasons beyond quantitative benchmarks to accept students who are not academically successful in their undergraduate studies into the MBA program.

Develop a formal model of admissions criteria, including both quantitative and qualitative measures. Include a feedback loop whereby the success of exception students is reviewed

periodically and if necessary, admission criteria are modified.

Develop formal definitions for exception reasons to ensure objectivity and reduce subjectivity between reviewers

Questions????