Admissions Director Q&A Michigan Ross

xiongbaobao

Admissions Director Q&A: Soojin Kwon Koh of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business

~~ A CLEAR ADMIT EXCLUSIVE ~~

Soojin Kwon Koh, herself a graduate of the Ross School of Business, knows the school’s admissions process from both sides. She has been leading the admissions team at Ross as director of admissions and financial aid since April 2007, though she served as interim director even before that. During her tenure at the school, she has helped increase the “yield,” or enrollment of students accepted into Ross’s full-time program, in great part by making personal connections with prospective students during the admissions process.

Koh was named one of the Forty Under Forty by Crain’s Detroit Business in 2008. Prior to joining the Ross Admissions Committee, she put her Ross MBA to work as a manager at Deloitte Consulting and as an analyst for both the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and the U.S. Department of Commerce. She is also a member of the Forté Foundation, which encourages talented women toward leadership roles in business.

Koh, who we first interviewed in 2008 for this series, was kind enough to make time again this fall to bring us up to speed on all things Ross, including new developments in the past year and plans for the year ahead.

You’ll want to take particular note of her answer regarding the admissions process at Ross, in which she shares that there will be some changes this year to how interview invitations go out for Rounds 1 and 2. Her team also has revised the essay questions it asks prospective applicants to answer, she says, to better draw out their goals and aspirations and help reveal their fit with Ross.

xiongbaobao

Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change or event happening at Ross this coming year?

Soojin Kwon Koh: Ross continues to push the frontiers of action-based learning and draw on the special capabilities of our entrepreneurship, sustainability and operations institutes. This year, sustainability and corporate social responsibility will take center stage as we host the 18th Annual Net Impact Conference in October. We look forward to hosting the event, which we hope will help us showcase our longstanding support of these important areas of focus.

More generally, we’re excited to see the full benefits of our investments in strengthening our alumni relations around the world. For instance, last spring nearly 500 Ross MBA students spent seven weeks working with leading companies and organizations on hands-on Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP) all over the world. A great number of these projects were sponsored by our alumni and their organizations.

Additionally, we are realizing the full benefits of building an infrastructure that supports our vision of a vibrant learning community. The Wintergarden has provided our students, faculty and staff with a gathering space that has really fostered relationship-building throughout our community. And the state-of-the-art group study rooms have facilitated the team-based projects that are central to our collaborative learning approach.

xiongbaobao

CA: What is the one area of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?

SKK: While many applicants are aware of MAP, it’s just one of the many multidisciplinary learning opportunities that are available here. The University of Michigan provides a wealth of opportunities for Ross students to engage with and learn from students and faculty at Michigan’s other highly regarded schools and programs – from engineering to law, public policy to medicine, education to public health. The cross-campus collaboration happens through classes, case competitions and student-led start-ups, to name a few. A multidisciplinary perspective is critical to effective leadership and innovation. We have great breadth and depth of opportunities through which students can develop that multidisciplinary perspective.

xiongbaobao

CA: Walk us through the life of an application in your office from an operational standpoint. What happens between the time an applicant clicks “submit” and the time the committee offers a final decision (e.g. how many “reads” does it get, how long is each “read,” who reads it, does the committee convene to discuss it as a group, etc.).

SKK: When we first receive an application, we evaluate an applicant’s academic record (i.e., undergraduate GPA, institution, major and course rigor; GMAT/GRE score; and, for non-native English speakers, the TOEFL/IELTS score) and an applicant’s professional experience. The rationale for looking at these two elements first is that we want to have a relatively high degree of confidence that the applicant can be academically successful in our rigorous program and will have knowledge and experience to contribute to class discussions and team projects.

The first review guides our preliminary interview invitation list. Some applicants may be placed on the list early on while others may be added later in the process. But when an applicant is placed on the interview invitation list doesn’t impact the timing of the interview invitation or the final decision nor is it an indicator of an applicant’s likelihood of being admitted. This year, interview invitations will be extended in two blocks in Rounds 1 and 2 rather than on a rolling basis, as we’ve done in the past.

All applications are moved on for a second, more comprehensive review which considers all of the elements of the application – work experience, transcripts, test scores, essays and recommendations.

Next, the whole file, including the interview report if the applicant was invited to interview, is evaluated by our associate directors who make preliminary decisions on each candidate. The AdComm meets weekly during the review period to calibrate decisions and discuss select files. All decisions are then reviewed by the admissions director to ensure class quality and diversity (e.g., work experience, academic background, career goals, etc.). The dean then reviews and signs off on the decisions.

xiongbaobao

CA: How does your team approach the essay portion of the application specifically? What are you looking for as you read the essays? Are there common mistakes that applicants should try to avoid? One key thing they should keep in mind as they sit down to write them?

SKK: Essays are a key component of the application, most notably because they provide insight into applicants’ goals and aspirations and help reveal their fit with Ross. We revised our essay questions this year to better draw out that information.

What we’re looking for in the essays is a written “portrait” of a candidate. We want know how applicants think, how they make decisions, what they value, and, of course, how they communicate. We consider the content, construction, coherence and tone of each essay.

Successful candidates answer the questions we ask, not the questions they are prepared to answer. Quality essays also speak specifically to Ross – it’s usually pretty obvious when an applicant has written an essay for another application and is trying to shoehorn it into our essay questions. Just saying “MAP” and “Action-Based Learning” doesn’t demonstrate a meaningful understanding of Ross.

I would tell applicants not to worry so much about “How can I make myself stand out among the thousands of applicants out there?” By virtue of having had a unique path – personally, academically and professionally – it is impossible for two applicants to have the same stories to tell. The differentiation will happen naturally if you focus on your story rather than trying to “package” yourself. Don’t strive to portray yourself as the “ideal” business school candidate, because there is no “ideal.” We’re looking to create a diverse student body with students who have a broad range of interests, goals and experiences.

xiongbaobao

Clear Admit:What’s the single most exciting development, change or event happening at Ross this coming year?Soojin Kwon Koh: Ross continues to push the frontiers of action-based learning and draw on the special capabilities of our entrepreneurship, sustainability and operations institutes. This year, sustainability and corporate social responsibility will take center stage as we host the 18th Annual Net Impact Conference in October. We look forward to hosting the event, which we hope will help us showcase our longstanding support of these important areas of focus.More generally, we’re excited to see the full benefits of our investments in strengthening our alumni relations around the world. For instance, last spring nearly 500 Ross MBA students spent seven weeks working with leading companies and organizations on hands-on Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP) all over the world. A great number of these projects were sponsored by our alumni and their organizations.Additionally, we are realizing the full benefits of building an infrastructure that supports our vision of a vibrant learning community. The Wintergarden has provided our students, faculty and staff with a gathering space that has really fostered relationship-building throughout our community. And the state-of-the-art group study rooms have facilitated the team-based projects that are central to our collaborative learning approach.CA:What is the one area of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?SKK: While many applicants are aware of MAP, it’s just one of the many multidisciplinary learning opportunities that are available here. The University of Michigan

xiongbaobao

Koh was named one of the Forty Under Forty by Crain’s Detroit Business in 2008. Prior to joining the Ross Admissions Committee, she put her Ross MBA to work as a manager at Deloitte Consulting and as an analyst for both the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and the U.S. Department of Commerce. She is also a member of the Forté Foundation, which encourages talented women toward leadership roles in business.Koh, who we first interviewed in 2008 for this series, was kind enough to make time again this fall to bring us up to speed on all things Ross, including new developments in the past year and plans for the year ahead.You’ll want to take particular note of her answer regarding the admissions process at Ross, in which she shares that there will be some changes this year to how interview invitations go out for Rounds 1 and 2. Her team also has revised the essay questions it asks prospective applicants to answer, she says, to better draw out their goals and aspirations and help reveal their fit with Ross.

xiongbaobao

Clear Admit:What’s the single most exciting development, change or event happening at Ross this coming year?Soojin Kwon Koh: Ross continues to push the frontiers of action-based learning and draw on the special capabilities of our entrepreneurship, sustainability and operations institutes. This year, sustainability and corporate social responsibility will take center stage as we host the 18th Annual Net Impact Conference in October. We look forward to hosting the event, which we hope will help us showcase our longstanding support of these important areas of focus.More generally, we’re excited to see the full benefits of our investments in strengthening our alumni relations around the world. For instance, last spring nearly 500 Ross MBA students spent seven weeks working with leading companies and organizations on hands-on Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP) all over the world. A great number of these projects were sponsored by our alumni and their organizations.Additionally, we are realizing the full benefits of building an infrastructure that supports our vision of a vibrant learning community. The Wintergarden has provided our students, faculty and staff with a gathering space that has really fostered relationship-building throughout our community. And the state-of-the-art group study rooms have facilitated the team-based projects that are central to our collaborative learning approach.CA:What is the one area of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?SKK: While many applicants are aware of MAP, it’s just one of the many multidisciplinary learning opportunities that are available here. The University of Michigan

xiongbaobao

Koh, who we first interviewed in 2008 for this series, was kind enough to make time again this fall to bring us up to speed on all things Ross, including new developments in the past year and plans for the year ahead.You’ll want to take particular note of her answer regarding the admissions process at Ross, in which she shares that there will be some changes this year to how interview invitations go out for Rounds 1 and 2. Her team also has revised the essay questions it asks prospective applicants to answer, she says, to better draw out their goals and aspirations and help reveal their fit with Ross.

xiongbaobao

Clear Admit:What’s the single most exciting development, change or event happening at Ross this coming year?Soojin Kwon Koh: Ross continues to push the frontiers of action-based learning and draw on the special capabilities of our entrepreneurship, sustainability and operations institutes. This year, sustainability and corporate social responsibility will take center stage as we host the 18th Annual Net Impact Conference in October. We look forward to hosting the event, which we hope will help us showcase our longstanding support of these important areas of focus.More generally, we’re excited to see the full benefits of our investments in strengthening our alumni relations around the world. For instance, last spring nearly 500 Ross MBA students spent seven weeks working with leading companies and organizations on hands-on Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP) all over the world. A great number of these projects were sponsored by our alumni and their organizations.Additionally, we are realizing the full benefits of building an infrastructure that supports our vision of a vibrant learning community. The Wintergarden has provided our students, faculty and staff with a gathering space that has really fostered relationship-building throughout our community. And the state-of-the-art group study rooms have facilitated the team-based projects that are central to our collaborative learning approach.CA:What is the one area of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?SKK: While many applicants are aware of MAP, it’s just one of the many multidisciplinary learning opportunities that are available here. The University of Michigan