Downturn in MBA Program Applicant Volume Continues

Despite top-ranked MBA programs continuing to report record-setting levels of compensation for graduates, application volume is way down. It may just be an ideal time to apply.

A Poets & Quants’ analysis of application trends found that in the 2021-2022 admissions cycle, application numbers fell at 16 of the top 25-ranked schools, when compared to the prior year. At some schools, applications dropped by more than 10 percent year-over-year, including MIT (-24.8 percent), Stanford GSB (-16.5 percent), Yale SOM (-16.5 percent), Harvard (-15.4 percent), UPenn Wharton (-13.9 percent), and Chicago Booth (-13.6 percent). 

According to a recent QS survey of business school admissions officers, many expect this downturn to continue through the current admissions cycle. Among the respondents, just over half replied that they expect domestic applications to be slightly lower (30 percent) or much lower (22 percent) this year. Responses were more optimistic in regards to international applicants, however, with most (91 percent) noting that they expect the number to stay the same or increase. 

“There has been a lot of discussion about the ‘great resignation’ in the US. It’s likely that what we’re seeing here is that the buoyancy in job vacancies is presenting sufficient opportunities for career mobility for aspiring managers, so there is less of an incentive to invest in an MBA to develop their skills and accelerate their career progression,” Nunzio Quacquarelli, CEO of QS Quacquarelli Symonds said. “In my experience, MBA demand is counter cyclical. With interest rates rising and market volatility, this situation could change quickly and MBA demand for 2023 could see a significant uplift.” 

As a result of the continued drop in application volume, domestic applicants are seeing some benefits:

--Schools have continued to maintain or incorporate flexible standardized testing policies. Columbia University, Duke Fuqua, UVA Darden, Michigan Ross, and Georgetown McDonough are all accepting the Executive Assessment (EA) as an alternative to the GRE/GMAT. The EA is a shorter exam (90 minutes) requiring less preparation. Additionally, UVA Darden, Michigan Ross, and Georgetown McDonough are continuing to offer test waivers to applicants who can demonstrate academic readiness through work experience, undergraduate academic record, and in some cases even expired GMAT/GRE scores (older than five years). 

--A number of schools have made public overtures to those who have been affected by layoffs in the tech industry. Schools, hoping to attract highly qualified applicants, have made various offers to accommodate tech veterans wishing to switch course and pursue an MBA. They include flexibility in terms of application requirements (e.g., test waivers) and extended round two deadlines.  

Related: Preliminary Reports Show Significant Increases for MBA Class of 2022 Starting Salaries

Law School Applicant Volume Dropped Significantly from the Historic Spike in 2021

The number of law school applicants dropped significantly in 2022, -11.7 percent, from the historic spike seen in 2021. The decline may seem striking, but taking a longer-term view shows that this year’s applicant pool may just be a return to the mean after a dramatic surge in 2021 rather than a concerning decline. When this year’s applicant numbers are compared to 2020, there is just a -0.5 percent decline, and the number of applications actually increased by 13 percent, demonstrating a continuing trend of prospective law students applying to more schools. 

The largest decline in 2022 occurred among applicants who identify as White/Caucasian (-13.9 percent). There were also significant declines in applicant groups who are historically underrepresented in law, and which the legal community is actively working to attract. There was a 10.1 percent drop in Black or African-American applicants, as well as declines from applicants identifying as Puerto Rican (-8.0 percent) and Hispanic/Latino (-5.7 percent). Other groups including Canadian Aboriginal/Indigenous (-13.7 percent), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (-13.1 percent), American Indian or Alaska Native (-11.0 percent) also had large declines, although the smaller applicant numbers in these groups create more variability in the change. Asian applicants also saw a decline (-4.8 percent).

This year’s data also shows that the largest applicant decline stemmed predominantly from the top end of the LSAT score distribution. The largest decline came from applicants scoring between 170 and 174 (-14.4 percent), followed by those scoring between 160 and 164 (-14.3 percent) and then those scoring in the highest range between 175 and 180 (-14.0 percent). 

LSAT scores are down overall from 2021, but it is worthy of note that applicants’ score distribution for this year compares favorably to applicants in previous years (2018, 2019, and 2020). The number of applicants scoring in the top three brackets, 165-169, 170-174, and 175-180 are all higher, while the number of applicants submitting lower LSAT scores (below 149) has declined.