Penn State Seeks 'Leadership' And 'Focus'

Subscribe to BusinessWeek

Carrie Marcinkevage is the MBA Program Admissions Director at Penn State's Smeal College of Business. Prior to joining Penn State in 2005 she worked in management and education consulting but made a career transition because she wanted to make a greater impact on students' development.



Marcinkevage recently shared some admissions advice with BusinessWeek.com reporter Alina Dizik. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation.



Are there any major changes to the application process this year?



We have a real focus on principled leadership and personal focus. Changes in our essay questions demonstrate the focus, and we're looking for that reflection as students apply to the program.



Are you seeing more applications?



There's been a steady upward turn [BusinessWeek.com, 8/15/07] in the last couple of years. The GMAT takers in India have doubled, and we're 35% international.



Does this mean that you receive more international applications?



Yes, international volume outpaces domestic.



What are some of the more difficult essay questions that students see on this year's application?



Of our three essays, two of them are related to our values. It's important that someone take a look at the entirety of our vision and values and see how they align to it in their own goals. If there's alignment there, it's deemed a good fit.



How can students answer these essays?



Be genuine and recognize that this our best chance to really get to know you.



Since students apply to Penn State in three rounds, what are the benefits of applying in an earlier round?



Earlier is better because then we craft the class around the applicants. If someone applies later they are coming into a class that's already been composed. The first round also guarantees an admissions interview. The [second] February round is for all international students. All domestic candidates without specific interest in financial aid can apply in the third round. If you are waiting there's less likelihood of financial support.



Can you provide some examples of how you craft the class?



We start to look at the diversity and the breadth of the class, so we're looking for a good mix of all sorts of things. It's not just geographic -- it's functional background, introverts vs. extroverts, NGO vs. corporate, and as many other kinds of applicants as we can bring in.



Since you review so many essays, could you address some common mistakes that applicants make?



The silly one is cutting and pasting and leaving the wrong school's name -- it does happen. Another one is taking three pages to say what you could have said in one. Number three: if the question says to 'describe a great leader and show how you've demonstrated great leadership,' applicants use three-quarters to describe what they think and dedicate only a quarter of the page to show how they demonstrate it themselves. The answer says a lot about what you do but not a lot about what you think. We're interested in students giving both of them equal time, or they can even flip the priority.



How important is an applicant's quantitative GMAT score vs. the verbal?



We look at both so I don't think that we necessarily weigh one higher than the other. But we want to make sure there is strength on the quantitative side [BusinessWeek.com, 9/30/07], otherwise they are going to struggle academically.







How much work experience does a typical applicant need to have?



The average is between four-and-a-half to five years. But we accept people with less than that. We look for other areas of the application to enrich the class. For example, if someone has less work experience we're going to look for them to be academically superior.



What do you want to see in applicants' recommendation letters?



An honest assessment. I would rather see a genuine, thoughtful assessment of someone than what sounds like an overview of a canned response from someone with a fancy title.



How do admissions interviews work?



It's by invitation only after the first-round deadline, but we interview everyone who is eventually accepted. For phone interviews we started experimenting with Webcam interviews. But the intention is not to replace the live interview; in person is obviously the best. This is convenient for many international candidates who can't get here.



What financial aid opportunities are available?



We do an awful lot of it and offer actual awards as well as graduate assistantships. Overall, about 20% have received a scholarship of between $5,000 and $12,000, for a total of $190,000 awarded in scholarships this year. Each year there are also about 40 assistantships that are given to incoming students. About 60 of 85 students have some kind of financial support; that's about 70%, so that's quite a bit.



How do you attract women and minorities? Do you have any special programs to attract these students?



We participate in a number of the typical organizations and we have a diversity appreciation weekend along with a strong alumni community in terms of our underrepresented minority groups. We also reached 33% women this year, the highest in the history of our program. Recently we sponsored the Pink [a magazine for female executives] conference in New York. We had a number of high-ranking women participate and held a Webinar the next day.



Do you have any special initiatives for international applicants?



In terms of outreach, one of the things we have great reliance on right now in our student body is active communicating online through [MBA-specific] sites, such as PaGaLGuy.com in India, along with lots of blogs and other social networking sites. We have viral marketing as a key form of outreach for us internationally, and we also work with international alumni for recruitment.



Can you take me through the process of how you look at an application at Penn State?



Our first job is matching up all the documentation and making sure we have scores, transcripts all together. The next step is we send out an interview invitation. We try to do our first assessment for an interview in the first 48 hours that an application comes in. Then we begin communication with applicants once a week and put an emphasis on keeping them updated with what they need to know throughout the process. We make a personal phone call to every student that we admit -- those are the best calls of the day.



What are some common mistakes that candidates make in their applications?



The global one would be using the application to provide data rather than present a business case for why you ought to be an MBA student at the university. Another one would be the delay in getting the other materials to the school so it holds up the review process, or planning the timing of the GMAT so you only have time to take it once.



Can you share an interview prep tip that you recommend to potential students?



We recently did a Webinar discussing how candidates can avoid typical admissions mistakes, which is available on our Web site. One of the things we talked about was making sure you prepare for an admissions interview as you would a job interview. You need to make sure you always put your best foot forward.



In a nutshell, what kind of student would be a good fit at Penn State?



We focus on creating principled leaders. So we want to find individuals with a strong work ethic and standards for personal performance, who value teamwork and collaboration as key means to organizational success.