Slowdown creates student rush to graduate schools – www.tenaday.in

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As the rattled economy causes companies to shed jobs, business schools across St. Louis are reaping the benefits. Spring applicant numbers have soared with students interested in riding out the economic storm.

At Fontbonne University, MBA applications for spring 2009 are up 13 percent over last year’s figure, according to Jerry Bladdick, associate vice president for graduate and adult education.

“Many are looking to add to their credentials because there is more competitiveness in the work force,” Bladdick said.

At Saint Louis University’s John Cook School of Business, applications for the part-time MBA program are up 15 percent over last year, according to Kathleen Day, assistant dean and director of graduate business programs. The application deadline for SLU’s full-time, one-year MBA program isn’t until May, so it may be too early to gauge the full effect on applicants, Day said, but attendance for fall open houses was up 24 percent.

At Washington University’s Olin School of Business, the number of applicants that met the first-round deadline for the MBA program was significantly higher this year, according to Evan Bouffides, assistant dean and director of MBA admissions and financial aid. Washington University does not disclose those figures.

“Our expectations were that they would go up, but we were surprised by how much,” Bouffides said. “The economy must have something to do with it.”

The recent uptick in action in admissions offices is not surprising, according to Sam Silverstein, manager of media and public affairs for the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). His company publishes the GMAT, a widely used standardized test for business school applicants.

Worldwide, registration for the GMAT is on pace for a record year, Silverstein said. GMAT registration volume through Oct. 31 was 250,890, which represents an 11 percent increase from 2007.

“When the economy shows weakness, GMAT volume shows considerable stren-gth,” he said. “GMAT levels go up when employment goes down.”

Though the applicant pool is growing, so is competition, as not all schools will be able to facilitate larger class sizes.

Washington University is sticking with a class size of 150, although at University of Missouri-St. Louis, Fontbonne and SLU, enrollment will likely increase in the coming semesters.

Last year at Washington University’s Olin School, 33 percent of applicants were accepted with an average undergraduate grade point average of 3.38.

This year, student stats will likely change in two directions — the percentage of students accepted will lower and the average GPA and GMAT score will be higher.

“It is obviously going to be increasingly more selective and very difficult to get in if volume is up,” Bouffides said. “They need to be strong in all elements of the applications and be more competitive.”

At UMSL, class sections will be added as more students are admitted, according to Thomas Eyssell, associate dean and director of graduate studies.

For the evening program, Eyssell said the school has about 520 students. But for their programs, like the weekend professional MBA, UMSL has about 45 students and could potentially reach capacity in the coming year.

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Source: http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2008/12/01/story8.html?b=1228107600%5E1739824