<p>I was actually referring to undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>surely even at graduate level there could be a shift away from the most expensive schools. I don't know what proportion of MBAs fund it themselves, but for the ones who do that I'd have thought now's not the time to spend so much money.</p>
<p>Online business schools are also increasing enrollments, but they can be less competitive than regular business schools and they are a great alternative for people who need to work full time and/or raise a family.</p>
<p>I get the feeling EVERY graduate program in the country is going to see a massive increase in applications.</p>
<p>Price is not a factor in students' decisions to apply to top programs. The ROI is so high that whatever they charge, if you can get in, you're going to go. And competitive applicants for those top schools all know it. I would say that's limited to the top 8 (H, S, W, K, Columbia, Sloan, Tuck, Chicago), plus maybe Stern/Haas/Michigan.</p>
<p>The increase in applications, if it comes, will come from the traditional MBA-applicant sectors which are downsizing. Those are:</p>
<p>1) Management consulting - not downsizing significantly if at all
2) Investment banking - Downsizing substantially
3) Accounting - Downsizing somewhat
4) Engineering - not downsizing significantly if at all
5) IT - Downsizing somewhat</p>
<p>The real competition will be the members of the world of high finance, competing against each other to get into business school. Top schools don't want 75% of their class to be bankers (well, okay, unless you're Stern), so other "feeder" industries will have normal application quantities and thus normal admission rates - in my humble opinion.</p>
<p>4) Engineering - not downsizing significantly if at all</p>
<p>Sun just announced 6K layoffs. AMD has had several rounds of layoffs. I think that nVidia has had layoffs. Intel is cutting headcount 5% but they've been doing that regularly for a while. Tech has held up well while retail and banking have gone into the toilet. That can't last forever. Intel warned a few days ago that revenues will be about a billion lower for the quarter. If we go into a deflationary spiral (as in houses, gasoline and other commodities), then spending the most for a degree might not make sense. It certainly does in inflationary times (which we've had a lot of for many years).</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Online business schools are also increasing enrollments, but they can be less competitive than regular business schools and they are a great alternative for people who need to work full time and/or raise a family.</p> </blockquote>
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<p>The part-time/evening programs at many schools (like UCLA Anderson) are a known quantity, with known trade-offs in interaction with fellow students, etc.</p>
<p>But I've heard a lot of employers don't take online MBA programs seriously, yet (too new to rank and compare with traditional on-campus programs.) Is that true?</p>
<p>Western Digital (hard drive company) just had a bunch of layoffs (most in manufacturing, but still a number of positions in engineering here in California.) It's a matter of time until all the support industries around the primary hurt sectors start to waver and possible topple. But that's WD's management pathology -- they're in a strong position (relative to Seagate), yet they have layoffs anyway.</p>
<p>And of course, the (financial) mortgage industry in California has been very hard hit ... another potential source of applicants to B-school.</p>
<p>I imagine it'll only be a matter of time until the reduced tax base has ripple effects on engineering companies doing government contract work.</p>
<p>I have a one-week old Western Digital MyBook 1 TB sitting on my desk and WD is my preferred disk supplier at the moment. They make very attractive products right now at attractive prices. It's a shame that they're laying off.</p>
<p>As an FYI, it appears I was wrong in my above post.</p>
<p>A Columbia B-school admissions officer told me that, although they will not be releasing actual statistics until the year is over (obviously), they are seeing a "double-digit" uptick in apps, which I took to mean 10-20% over the previous year. Ordinarily, anything over 5% is a significant increase.</p>
<p>When I asked if the increase was focused on the hardest-hit industries (as per my post above), the response I got was that it was actually across all industries and they haven't noticed an industry-based trend.</p>
<p>It's anecdotal but probably good to know.</p>
<p>CBS operates on a rolling admission basis. I think those number may not reflect the final increase.
There’s also a trend of applicants applying earlier giving the growing # of applicants. This is probably especially prominent in rolling admissions schools, since later applications mean less available seats and stiffer competition.</p>