MBA News: Gaining Admission to Top B-Schools Gets Easier

As a result of a decline in the number of business school applications and, in some cases, of a greater number of available places in MBA programs as well, many of the top U.S. business schools are becoming less selective, allowing applicants to full-time programs to more easily be admitted. As reported in BusinessWeek, the Ross School of Business, Anderson School of Management and Kelley School of Business have all admitted a larger percentage of applicants in 2009-2010 than in 2008-2009, when business school applications were on the rise. Some schools say their selectivity is slipping because of positive changes—Ross opened a new building that accommodates more students per class, and Maryland’s Smith School has improved their marketing efforts. Still, business schools such as HBS, Kellogg and Mendoza have reported no such change or have in fact become more selective. Many school officials believe this trend is not negative, but that candidates are applying more selectively and efficiently, thereby giving admissions committees less choice, but higher quality applicants and better matches for each individual school.