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ROSS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

AnnualReport 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ROSS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

01 A B O U T R O S S

About the Ross School of BusinessRoss may have the most momentum of any top business school in the United States. It boasts a brand new, state-of-the-art facility, offers all the advantages of being part of a premier research university, and comes in at a price tag that is often lower than that of comparable schools (even for students coming from outside of Michigan). Further-more, in a business school environment that sees top schools scrambling to showcase unique offerings, Ross is ahead of the game with truly customized approaches to both experiential learning (the most prominent example being the Multi-Disciplinary Ac-tion Projects program, born out of the school’s “action-based learning” philosophy) and leadership training (as evidenced by the Ross Leadership Initiative).

University of Michigan Programs

The Ross School of Business is one of many prestigious programs at Michigan. The school’s rigorous undergraduate program was one of the eight original “Public Ivies” and is consistently ranked in the top 20 of America’s universities according to U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, the university is noted for its tradition of athletic excellence and its massive alumni network (the largest in the world, at over 450,000). Graduate program highlights include engineering, clinical medicine, education, and a top-10 law school.

The Ross School of Business

Established in 1924, Michigan’s school of business was renamed the Ross School of Business in 2004 on the heels of a then-record $100 million naming gift by Stephen M. Ross (founder of The Related Companies and majority owner of the Miami Dolphins). Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the university’s largest campus, Ross is one of the leading proponents of a teaching method known as “Action-Based Learning,” which is similar to experiential learning in that it fuses traditional classroom instructional mod-els with myriad real-world scenarios and opportunities for hands-on learning. This, along with a renowned multidisciplinary projects approach, has given Ross a reputa-tion for being a cutting-edge business school.

The school’s profile has been on the rise under Dean Robert J. Dolan, consistently ranking among the top business schools in the world according to virtually all ranking services and being named as the top business school in America in 2006 by the Wall Street Journal.

A complete list of the University of Michigan Schools includes:

Ross School of Business

Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning

School of Art & Design

School of Dentistry

School of Education

College of Engineering

Rackham School of Graduate Studies

School of Information

School of Kinesiology

Michigan Law School

College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA)

Michigan Medical School

School of Music, Theatre & Dance

School of Natural Resources and Environment

School of Nursing

College of Pharmacy

School of Public Health

Ford School of Public Policy

School of Social Work

“The school’s profile has been on the rise under Dean Robert J. Dolan.”


02 A B O U T R O S S

The Ross Approach

Ross takes great pains to distinguish itself from other top business schools. The fol-lowing are key elements of the Ross approach:

Action-Based Learning. Although this is an increasingly popular catch phrase among business schools, Michigan goes beyond fancy language and show-cases an urgent belief in this educational approach. In fact, one could argue that Ross coined the term and even made it the anchor of the MBA program at Michigan. The school defines action-based learning as “an approach to business education that re-quires us to continuously create relevant, challenging ways to connect our students with the world of practice.” Certainly, the idea of action-based learning is more of a governing philosophy than a tangible program element, but at Michigan it gives rise to several unique offerings, such as Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP).

Multidisciplinary Action Projects. Every spring, Ross MBA students break from traditional coursework and focus entirely on the MAP program, which is a required component of the Michigan curriculum. The school takes ownership over the projects and fields opportunities from a variety of sectors, including corporate America, nonprofit organizations, and start-ups. MAP teams are composed of be-tween four and six Ross students who are tasked with solving a very real, very current organizational problem. Faculty advisors guide the way, but the MAP program is said to require a great deal of “by your bootstraps” fortitude on the part of the student teams. Projects end with both a formal written report as well as an oral presentation.

Ross Leadership Initiative. It is difficult for an elite business school to distinguish itself with regard to leadership training, but Ross attempts to do just that via the Ross Leadership Initiative (RLI). A program that lasts for 20 months (basically the entire MBA experience) and is required of each MBA student, the RLI attempts to put students into situations where leadership strengths are fostered and weaknesses are exposed (and addressed). If the description or mission of the program sounds vague, know that Ross has a very detailed roadmap for how RLI develops students. It begins with what is called a “foundation session,” which is a six-day orientation pro-cess (mandatory for all students) that starts with theory, ideas, and self-analysis. From there, students are exposed to a variety of leadership opportunities (variously known as challenges, odysseys, exploratories, workshops, and programs), highlighted by the Leadership Odyssey, which is an outdoor training program held at a new location each year (2009 was at the Utah Canyonlands). All of these activities are buttressed by a student advisory board and an ongoing peer feedback program. Again, “leader-ship” is a buzzword at all top schools, but Ross really does take it to another level.

“The school defines action-based learning as ‘an approach to business education that requires us to continuously create relevant, challenging ways to connect our students with the world of practice.’”

“Faculty advisors guide the way, but the MAP program is said to require a great deal of ‘by your bootstraps’ fortitude on the part of the student teams.”


03 A D M I S S I O N S A T R O S S

Admissions at RossApplication Essay Topics

Ross typically requires two “long” essays (500 words each) and two “short” essays (300 words each), while including a standard optional essay question. The essay questions at Ross have been the same for the past few years.

For 2009-2010, the essays on the Ross application are as follows:

Long

1 Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals. Why is an MBA the best choice at this point in your career? What and/or who influenced your decision to apply to Ross? (500 words)

2 Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization. (500 words)

Short

1 If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1, what profession would you pursue instead? (For example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternate interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multidisciplinary problems? (300 words)

2 Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it. (300 words)

Optional

1 Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy?

Veritas Prep clients working on their Ross applications will receive expert guidance on each of these essay questions. Head Consultants help clients understand how to highlight strengths and weaknesses as well as unique elements within the confines of the question, while also addressing each of the key business school admissions themes. Furthermore, Ross Specialists help clients decide whether to make use of the optional essay and will ensure that all essay responses are in keeping with what Michigan is looking for in its applicants and that the program highlights included in this guide are used as appropriate reference points and examples.

Deadlines

Ross features the standard three-round admis-sion cycle and the deadlines have remained unchanged for the last several years.

Round 1 Application Deadline October 10, 2009

Decision Release Date January 15, 2010

Round 2 Application Deadline January 2, 2010

Decision Release Date March 15, 2010

Round 3 Application Deadline March 1, 2010

Decision Release Date May 15, 2010



Admissions Criteria

The admissions criteria used at Ross is fairly straightforward and the school makes note of the following items:

Key Characteristics:• Intellectual ability• Leadership• Teamwork• Goals• Fit with Ross

Application Components:• Transcripts• GMAT score• Resumé• Essays (see above)• Letters of Recommendation (2)• TOEFL (for international students)• Interview (by invitation)

Like many top business schools, Ross reviews applications in a holistic manner, evaluating each candidate “within the context of the larger applicant pool.” Ross does not use GPA or GMAT cutoffs, prerequisites (other than to stress an expectation that students possess a “working knowledge” of college-level math), or formulas to reach admissions decisions. Interviews are by invitation only, conducted by members of the admissions office, Ross alumni, and members of the Admissions Student Committee, and the school typically interviews around 40 percent of the applicant pool.

Admissions Statistics

Among top business schools, Ross actually features the lowest average GPA, which is a strong indication that the program prizes real world accomplishments over pure class-room success. For applicants who went to challenging programs and engaged in diffi-cult coursework, Ross may be a slightly more forgiving program when it comes to a lower GPA. The other admissions statistics paint the usual picture of a highly competitive and selective business school that looks for high GMAT scores and can be very picky in build-ing a class. One of the most striking statistics below is that Ross yields 71% of its applicants – a ratio that rates ahead of Wharton and just behind Stanford. This indicates that either the admissions committee has become very ad-ept at spotting a good fit or that students fall in love with the place when it comes time to make a decision.

Total Applicants .................................. 3026

Percent Admitted ................................20%

Percent Yield ...........................................71%

Average GMAT ........................................706

20th/80th Percentile GMAT Range ...................................650-760

Average GPA ...........................................3.32

“One of the most striking statistics below is that Ross yields 71% of its applicants – a ratio that rates ahead of Wharton and just behind Stanford.”



Visiting Ross

One of the best ways for candidates to truly understand if Ross is a proper fit is to visit the campus and get a feel for the academic environment, student life, and overall campus culture. Additionally, visiting the school offers the opportunity for face-to-face contact with current students, professors, and admission representatives. Ross offers a variety of ways for candidates to come and experience the school for themselves.

Campus Visit. As is becoming increasingly popular at top business schools, Ross packages its many visitation options into an entire day of activities, which are available from September to March, on Mondays through Thursdays (an abbreviated schedule is available on Fridays).

The typical visitation day at Ross looks like this:

8:30-9:20 An introduction and question-answer session with a current Ross student (referred to as a “Ross Ambassador”).

9:30-10:15 Tour of the business school, led by a Ross Ambassador.

10:20-11:50 Class visit (from a list of available classes).

12:00–12:45 Lunch with current students.

12:40-2:10 Class visit.

The school also allows prospective students to mingle with current Ross MBAs on Thursdays by attending Happy Hour at 5:30.

Interested female applicants can also attend the Michigan Business Women (MBW) luncheon which is held on the second Monday of every month.

Campus Events. In addition to the typical day visitation, Ross also holds spe-cific events on campus designed to showcase the programs and experience to inter-ested candidates. Ross Preview Day is the most popular, as it showcases the school’s various programs and involves the entire admissions office and campus. The school also offers visitation experiences for more focused audiences, whether based on de-mographics (e.g., “UpClose,” which is for minority students, and “Discover Ross,” which is for female students) or focused interests (such as Operations, Business & Society, Sustainable Business, or Entrepreneurship).

Café Chats. For those candidates who can’t make the trip to Ann Arbor, Ross also offers student interaction through a series of events called Café Chats, which are held around the world in locations that correspond with the summer internships of current students. For the summer of 2009, Ross held Café Chats in 10 different states and five countries.

Information Sessions. Like many top business schools, Ross holds informa-tion sessions about the MBA program in a variety of cities worldwide.

Contact Information

The Ross School of BusinessThe University of Michigan701 Tappan StreetAnn Arbor, MI 48109-1234

Director of Admissions: Soojin Kwon Koh

Phone: (734) 763 - 5796Email: [email protected]

mailto:Rossmba%40umich.edu?subject=


06 F I N A N C I A L A S S I S T A N C E A T R O S S

Financial Assistance at RossFinancial Assistance Options

Ross presents the following options for exploring financial assistance:

Ross Merit-Based Scholarships. All admitted students are considered for merit-based scholarships, which are awarded in amounts ranging from $5,000 all the way up to the cost of full tuition. According to the school, such awards are based on “academic ability, professional and personal achievements, and potential to contribute” to the Ross community. In other words, the school is using the same criteria it uses when making admissions decisions. Therefore, candidates can safely assume that merit awards go to the upper echelon in each admitted class.

Ross also awards a variety of specific scholarships, including a few highlighted programs:

• TauberInstituteScholarships– Members of the Tauber Institute for Global Operations are eligible for specific scholarships.

• ErbInstituteScholarships–For Ross students involved in the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise.

Need-Based Scholarships and Grants. In addition to merit-based awards, Ross also provides need-based scholarships which are based on information from the FAFSA.

Loans for International Students. Given the global economic climate, loan availability for international students is constantly changing. Ross currently offers a loan package through the University of Michigan Credit Union that covers the cost of tuition and is approved as a “source of funding” on the all-important I-20 paperwork.

Tuition and Cost

The following annual costs are based on in-formation released by Ross for the 2009-2010 academic year:

Michigan ResidentsTuition and Fees ........$40,439 per year

Books and Supplies ....$4,160 per year

Housing ........................$11,320 per year*

Miscellaneous ...........$4,142 per year**

TOTAL...............................$60,061

Non-ResidentsTuition and Fees ........$45,439 per year

Books and Supplies ....$4,160 per year

Housing ........................$11,320 per year*

Miscellaneous ...........$4,142 per year**

TOTAL...............................$65,061*Includes food**Includes health care costs

Federal Loans

As with most graduate programs, Ross makes available a series of loan programs that comprise the bulk of each student’s financial assistance:

FederalStaffordLoan – Available to U.S. citi-zens and permanent residents. The maximum dollar amount is $20,500 and the subsidized amount can be up to $8,500, depending on financial need.

FederalPerkinsLoan – An interest-free loan while in school, it is a smaller loan program available to qualified students who are U.S. citi-zens and permanent residents.

Federal Graduate PLUS Loans – This loan can cover cost of attendance after other as-sistance has been calculated, provided the stu-dent qualifies and is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.


07 R O S S S T U D E N T S

Ross StudentsRoss is a mid-sized business school, with a class size of approximately 450 students and a very diverse population. A robust 34% of the class is made up of underrepresented demographic groups, which is a remarkable total given the school’s Midwest location (although Ross is quick to point out that it is not as landlocked as it seems as it is under an hour from an international airport). The international population is not as large, clocking in at just 27%, perhaps due to fears that the career pipeline does not extend back into foreign markets or even into New York. Given the companies that recruit at Ross, these fears are likely unfounded, but it does have a slight impact on the makeup of the class.

Student Organizations

Ross boasts over 70 clubs on campus, spearheaded by the Student Government Association (SGA), which serves as a liaison between the student body of the business school and the administration. The school’s website includes a complete list of clubs and student organizations. However, some of the most popular and important clubs, organizations, and activities at Ross include:

• The Community Consulting Club (CCC)• Michigan Business Women• Ross Student Association• Golf Club• Net Impact Club• MBA Finance Club• Marketing Club• Consulting Club• Luxury Goods & Retail Club• Wolverine Wine Club

Student Stats

Total Enrollment ................................. 1,728

Full-Time Enrollment ...........................898

Percent Male ...........................................66%

Percent Female .....................................34%

Percent Minority ....................................35%

Percent International ........................27%

Region of Origin

United States ...........................................69%

• Midwest ................................34%

• West .........................................25%

• Northeast .............................21%

• Mid-Atlantic ........................11%

• South .........................................5%

• Southwest ..............................3%

• Other ..........................................1%

Asia ................................................................15%

Latin America ............................................ 7%

Middle East ................................................. 4%

Europe ........................................................... 3%

Africa ............................................................... 1%

Other .............................................................. 1%

Average Age ...............................................29

Average Work Experience .... 57 months

Percent Married ....................................16%

http://www.bus.umich.edu/Organizations/Clubs/

http://www.bus.umich.edu/Organizations/Clubs/


08 R O S S A C A D E M I C S

Ross AcademicsAs discussed in the “Ross Approach” section, Michigan takes a very hands-on ap-proach to the educational process. Built around the philosophical idea of “action-based learning,” Ross is truly unique in the way their Multidisciplinary Action Projects shape the student experience. The foundation of the experience is still built upon general management principles, but Ross students will encounter a different spin to the first year of their MBA program than most of their peers at other top schools.

Teaching Philosophy

While Ross does not provide percentage breakdowns of their various teaching meth-ods, students can expect to encounter three basic styles of instruction:

• Traditional course work• Group (or entire class) projects• Experiential Learning

Given the emphasis on action-based learning and the MAP program, Ross students are likely to encounter more of the third option – experiential learning – than at most elite MBA programs. Furthermore, “outside the box thinking,” so clichéd in the business world, is actually something that happens at Ross, as students are often exposed to Hollywood screenwriters and creative authors for their first lectures dur-ing the foundation sessions of RLI that serve as orientation to the Ross School of Business.

Class Organization

Each incoming class is divided into six sections of approximately 70 students per sec-tion, which are referred to simply by their numbers. While every top business school uses some sort of section or cohort approach, Ross is one that keeps students in their sections for the entire first year. This has a tendency to build a strong-knit community among section members and small study groups, although some students feel ready to move beyond the constraints of the section before the end of the year.

“‘Outside the box thinking,’ so clichéd in the business world, is actually something that happens at Ross, as students are often exposed to Hollywood screenwriters and creative authors for their first lectures.”

“Each incoming class is divided into six sections of approximately 70 students per section.”



“Ross uses the increasingly-common bidding system to manage course enrollment for popular elective classes.”

Core Classes

Ross organizes its academic calendar into two semesters: Fall and Winter. For first-year MBA students, each semester is further divided into terms A and B, creating, in effect, a quarter system within a semester system. The MAP program takes place during Winter B, which is the final seven weeks of the academic year. In the previous three ‘quarters,’ students take the following core classes:

• Principles of Financial Accounting• Applied Microeconomics • Applied Business Statistics• Corporate Strategy• Financial Management• Marketing Management• Human Behavior & Organization• Managerial Accounting• Operations Management• MAP

First-year students also take two optional courses, one each during Fall B and Winter A. During the second year, students enjoy the flexibility common among top MBA program as they take at least 25 elective units on the way to accruing the 57 total units required for graduation. Additionally, students complete final degree require-ments at this time, including a World Economy strategy course, a Law /Ethics course (one of 14 choices), and a so-called “communication requirement,” which consists of completing a course or passing an exam that calls for certain communication skills.

Course EnrollmentRoss uses the increasingly-common bidding system to manage course enrollment for popular elective classes. Students are automatically enrolled in core courses based on their sections, but are able to push for desired professors and classes through the bidding process. Each student receives 1,000 bid points for each term, and can bid as many of those points as they desire for any particular class or for multiple classes. Spaces in the class go to those students whose bid achieves “market clear” status, which simply means the equilibrium between supply and demand (a look at past results suggest that the most popular courses have a market clear “price” of approxi-mately 250-300 bid points). In the event that there are more students above market clear than can be accommodated, the school uses an algorithm to randomly assign seats to a subset of the winning bidders.

A bid that does not achieve market clear status lands a student on the waitlist for that class. While there is no limit to the number of courses that a student can bid on (only capped by the points), there is a credit limit to how many courses a student can actually “win” a space in. After the dust settles on the bidding process, students can register for any available class space on a first-come, first-serve basis via a period called Wolverine Access Registration.



Ross Institutes, Research Centers, Joint Degree Program, and Study Abroad Options

Institutes

Michigan features a handful of renowned institutes that often serve as lynchpins of interdisciplinary programs and research efforts. These notable institutes include:

• Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise (run jointly between Ross and the Natural Resources division)

• Institute of Labor & Industrial Relations (run jointly between Ross and the school of Social Work)

• Zell and Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies

• Tauber Institute for Global Operations (run jointly between Ross and the school of Engineering)

• William Davidson Institute

Research Centers• American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)• Center for Global Resource Leverage: India• Center for International Business Education (CIBE) • Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS)• Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance• Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work (CREW)• East Asia Management Development Center• Mitsui Life Financial Research Center• National Quality Research Center (NQRC)• Nonprofit and Public Management Center• Paton Center for Research in Accounting• Tax Policy Research, Office of• Tozzi Finance Center• The Yaffe Center for Persuasive Communication

International MBA ExchangeRoss offers students the chance to spend a semester abroad, studying through an MBA exchange program that partners with foreign business schools. Students take elective courses at the “host” school and choices of exchange programs include the London Business School, the Rotterdam School of Management, University of St. Gal-len, IESE Business School, Hong Kong University, ESADE Business School, China Eu-rope International Business School, Copenhagen Business School, and the Australian Graduate School of Management.

Joint Degree ProgramsPerhaps no elite MBA program offers more joint degree programs than Ross, as the school features more than 20 such options in a range of subjects and specialties. Every joint program involving Ross and other Uni-versity of Michigan schools requires separate applications to each admissions office. Ross features joint programs with the following programs:

• Law

• Medicine

• Public Policy

• Public Health

• Social Work

• Architecture

• Fine Arts

• Information

• Nursing

• Music

• Natural Resources and Environment

• Urban Planning

• Educational Studies

• Higher Education

• Construction Engineering & Management

• Industrial and Operations Engineering

• Manufacturing Engineering

• Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

• Asian Studies

• Modern Middle Eastern & North African Studies

• Russian & East European StudiesThe MBA portion of each program requires that a student earn at least 45 MBA credits, including the core classes and the communi-cation requirement.



The Ross faculty is divided into 9 academic areas:

1. Accounting

2. Business Economics & Public Policy

3. Business Information Technology

4. Finance

5. Law, History, & Communications

6. Management & Organizations

7. Marketing

8. Operations & Management Science

9. Strategy

“What students appreciate most is how candid Professor Karnani is about his work and his viewpoints and how willing he is to discuss somewhat controversial positions in class.”

“At Ross, Professor Nordhielm is teaching her marketing framework to not only individual classes and sections (as she did at Kellogg), but also to the entire faculty.”

Ross Faculty

The Ross faculty is populated with many prominent business leaders, researchers, and teachers. Among Ross students, there are a handful of professors who are considered a “must” to have for a class, due to their reputation both as educators and as experts. This list isn’t merely a collection of famous names, but rather the instructors that Ross students deem to be essential for the full experience. These notable professors include:

Aneel KarnaniAssociate Professor and Chair of Strategy

Known among Ross students as a “tell it like it is” straight shooter, Professor Karnani is most notorious for his ongoing academic battle with fellow Ross faculty member C.K. Prahalad. The two have been going back and forth about a concept known as “bottom of the pyramid” (exploring the market potential of the world’s poorest people) for years. What students appreciate most is how candid Professor Karnani is about his work and his viewpoints and how willing he is to discuss somewhat controversial positions in class. All of this takes place as part of his interest in global competition – one of his two chief areas of research and instruction, with the other being basic strategic management.

M.P. NarayananProfessor and Chair of Finance

Professor Narayanan teaches in both the full-time MBA and EMBA programs at Ross and specializes in capital management and strategic growth. Known to pick up a racket and swing it with some of his students, Professor Narayanan is known and loved for making finance as simple and easy to understand as possible. His stated goal is to help students “connect the dots” between simple concepts and complex outcomes and he often does that through clever and entertaining metaphors.

Christie NordhielmClinical Associate Professor of Marketing

Recruited away from Kellogg in 2004 after being one of students’ favorites there year af-ter year, Professor Nordhielm is well known for her “Big Picture” method for strategically breaking down marketing problems. In fact, she was one of the first pieces in Dean Dolan’s vision for the school, which was to teach students how to be thought and ac-tion leaders in every segment of business. Having known about Professor Nordhielm’s revolutionary framework (formally known as The Big Picture: Integrating Marketing Strategy and Execution), he made it his first order of business to nab Kellogg’s 2003 Professor of the Year. At Ross, Professor Nordhielm is teaching her marketing framework to not only individual classes and sections (as she did at Kellogg), but also to the entire faculty. With a style suggestive of her early career in advertising (at Leo Burnett), Profes-sor Nordhielm is a engaging speaker who also presents seminars to top companies as well as to the Ross Executive Program (run through the Marketing Center for Excel-lence, which she also heads up). Finally, she is also a singer and songwriter who often has friends over to her house for an evening of singing. While she is extremely available to students, she draws the line at the singing parties.



Andrew HoffmanHolcim Professor of Sustainable Enterprise

Professor Hoffman teaches at both Ross as well as the School of Natural Resources & Environment, and also serves as the Associate Director of the Erb Institute. He has published seven books and over 70 articles on sustainability and is a thought leader in every conceivable area of environmental impact on business. That said, Professor Hoffman’s actually most popular for his Bargaining Behavior and Influence Skills course which almost always has the highest “market clear” price under the Ross bidding sys-tem. In some years, it will take more than half of a student’s bid points to land a spot in Professor Hoffman’s class.

Gautam AhujaProfessor of Strategy

A much decorated professor at the University of Texas, Ahuja has continued to rack up awards since coming to Michigan in 2003, where he was named the best profes-sor in the entire PhD program in 2004. He is often cited by Ross students as a favorite professor despite his broad involvement in multiple programs and his research on innovation and technology as it relates to strategy has been groundbreaking.

Linda LimProfessor of Strategy

Often described as “plugged in,” Professor Lim is a foremost expert on Southeast Asia and aims most of her research at that area of the world. Known for bringing her research to the classroom, Professor Lim’s students enjoy looking at multinational problems from multiple angles, and often find themselves discussing her op-ed pieces or interviews from major publications. Her World Economy course is a very popular option for those students seeking to complete one of Ross’ unique strategy requirements for graduation.

Ross Business Plan Competitions

Michigan Business Challenge. This university-wide event is one of the primary business plan competitions in which Ross is involved annually. It is fairly unique in the way it draws the competition out over a prolonged period – usually at least four months. This process allows for viable changes in response to feedback that arises at various checkpoints during the four rounds of competition. The top prize – the Pryor-Hale Award – is good for $15,000.

DTE Clean Energy Prize. A greater cash amount is available to the winners of the Clean Energy Prize where first place comes with an award of $65,000. Spon-sored by DTE Energy, the competition is run by the Zell Lurie Institute and borrows closely from the structure of the Michigan Business Challenge. There are fairly strict eligibility requirements, but the payoff is substantial.

“Professor Hoffman’s actually most popular for his Bargaining Behavior and Influence Skills course which almost always has the highest ‘market clear’ price under the Ross bidding system.”

Grading Policies

As with several other top schools, the grading policy at Ross fosters collaboration and team-work by moving from a traditional letter grade approach and instead using soft terms. A strict curve is enforced for all required courses and in most elective courses as well, although the curve is a bit more “top heavy” for electives. The so-called “five-level grading system” consists of the following marks:

Excellent ........................................................EX

Good ...............................................................GD

Pass ....................................................................PS

Low Pass .........................................................LP

Fail .........................................................................FStudents believe that what could be con-strued as a semantic change really does have an impact. Many feel that switching from let-ter grades to the five-level system removes the interpersonal “grade competition” that makes academic life awkward and distrustful in some other schools.


13 R O S S C A M P U S

“Students have the best of both worlds, learning and working in a contained facility that is part of not only one of the largest university populations in the world, but also conveniently located just blocks from dining, shopping, and entertainment options.”

“Ross’ new building features its own fitness center, complete with a gym and a locker room.”

The Ross CampusThe Ross School of Business can boast of one of the truly great business school cam-puses in the nation, as students enjoy both a brand new, state-of-the-art building (opened in January of 2009) as well as placement within the fabulous University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. Students have the best of both worlds, learning and working in a contained facility that is part of not only one of the largest universi-ty populations in the world, but also conveniently located just blocks from dining, shopping, and entertainment options.

The new business school facility is what really takes the Ross campus experience to the next level. A 270,000-square-foot building with a highly modern design and wide open feel, the new Ross building provides some of the most appealing work spaces of any business school campus: designers put a premium on creating dy-namic breakout rooms as well as inviting meeting spaces such as the Davidson Win-ter Garden (a glass-enclosed area at the center of the facility). As with most new business school campuses, Ross features top flight classrooms and all of the most recent learning technologies (wireless Internet, seat-specific data feeds, three digital video cameras in each classroom, multi-media lecture devices, plasma screens in nearly every study room, and over 25 high-speed printers with virtual queuing). One truly distinguishing factor is that Ross’ new building features its own fitness center, complete with a gym and a locker room.

In addition to creating a campus that backs the school’s action-based learning phi-losophy, Ross also made a strong push to incorporate sustainable energy into the design of the new building. From the use of dimming and high-efficiency lighting options to the placement of “green roofs,” the new campus is designed to place the minimum possible burden on the environment. This aspect of the campus is prob-ably of greater appeal to potential donors and prospective applicants than it is to current Ross students, as things like “low flush” toilets may not be seen as much of a step forward. Still, it is another sign of the school’s dedication to innovation.


14 P R O F E S S I O N A L R E C R U I T M E N T A T R O S S

Professional Recruitment at RossCareer Development ResourcesRoss divides its career services office (Office of Career Development) into two specific areas: career counseling and recruiter relations. This approach allows for singular fo-cus on counseling the individual before turning the attention to the recruiting frenzy that is common at top business schools. The following are the primary career devel-opment resources at Ross:

On-Campus Interviewing. The lifeblood of any MBA recruiting process, Ross hosts on-campus interviewing through the recruiting relations staff. This group of professionals works with students on the submission of resumés, the interview bid-ding process (similar to course bidding, Ross students use points to bid on the inter-views they most desire), and managing interview schedules.

Individual Counseling. While the recruiting relations staff works with stu-dents on the interview process, the career counseling professionals work with Ross MBAs on an individual level to narrow career options, perform self assessment, hone job searches, and build strong resumés.

Resources

As with most top MBA programs, the Ross Office of Career Development provides students with a variety of resources to help them manage the recruiting process and job search:

• Workshops–Hosted by the career coun-seling staff on a variety of topics (assess-ment, resumés, networking, interviewing, bidding, and negotiation, among others).

• RecruitingEvents– Held both on cam-pus and off, Ross pairs top employers with students through corporate presenta-tions, career fairs, and dinners.

• JobBoards– Ross features the usual col-lection of company databases, research tools, and links to current positions.

• Alumni Career Services – Complete with unique job postings and an alumni resumé database, Ross offers services spe-cific to alumni and has even created a free one-year membership opportunity for any unemployed alumni.


15 P R O F E S S I O N A L R E C R U I T M E N T A T R O S S

Employment Statistics

Ross has arguably the most balanced graduating class each year, with regard to employment functions. The percentage of students the school puts into consulting, finance, and marketing is almost dead even – a total anomaly among elite business schools, where one of two of those paths inevitably gain more traction. Additionally, Ross puts a fair number of people into general management jobs and has a higher-than-normal percentage of graduates go to work in the technology sector.

FunctionFinance/Accounting 27%

Marketing & Sales 25%

Operations 1%

General Management 10%

Other 8%Consulting/

Strategy29%

Industry

Consumer Products 9%

Technology 15%

Other 13%

Health Care/Pharmaceuticals/Biotechnology 6%

Energy 3%

Manufacturing 4%

FinancialServices

25%

Consulting25%

North American Location

Northeast 27%

West 22%

Southwest 7%

South 4%

Mid-Atlantic 5%

Midwest35%

Global Location

Asia 8%

Other 1%

Europe 2%

North America89%

Salaries

Median Base Salary ...................$100,000

Median Signing Bonus ..............$20,000

Median Other Guaranteed Compensation ...$15,000

Major Employers

Major companies across the globe recruit Ross graduates and many of the most common employers are similar to those that recruit at other top business schools. The following were among the 10 most common employers for graduates from the class of 2008:

• McKinsey & Company (16)

• Boston Consulting Group (12)

• Deloitte (11)

• Citigroup (9)

• Bank of America (9)

• Booz Allen Hamilton (7)

• JP Morgan (7)

• Deutsche Bank (7)

• Intel (6)

• Credit Suisse (5)

Source of Job Offers

School Facilitated .................................72%

Graduate Facilitated ............................28%


16 R O S S A N D V E R I T A S P R E P

Ross and Veritas PrepVeritas Prep has a distinguished track record helping our clients gain acceptance to one of the world’s truly elite business schools. The secret to our success, as always, is in first ensuring that Ross is a proper fit for the client, and then assisting the client in expressing that unique fit in the most articulate and impactful way possible.

Our Team

Our team of Ross consultants includes former admission representatives, alumni interviewers, members of influential student groups, and, of course, accomplished professionals in a variety of fields. With multiple Ross consultants on our admission consulting team, we are able to provide customized service to clients based on background, timing, and logistics. Our Ross consultants have career experience in a variety of industries and functions.

Each client who works with Veritas Prep on a Ross comprehensive package will receive a customized team of consultants: a Head Consultant and a Ross Specialist.

Head Consultant. All of our Head Consultants have experiences as admissions representatives that afford each of them a unique perspective on the applicant pool and how candidates must position themselves to express proper fit and to stand out in an increasingly competitive process. The Head Consultant will guide the client through every step of the process: from the initial Diagnostic Session to submission of the ap-plication.

Ross Specialist. Every comprehensive package client who chooses Michigan will also receive a Ross Specialist who is either a current student or recent graduate of the school. This individual will ensure that essay responses are both topical and aligned thematically with the things that matter to Ross. In addition to helping clients find spe-cific courses, programs, clubs, and professors that match their interests, the Ross Spe-cialist will also comb through each question and answer to ensure that the response is properly aligned with the qualities that Michigan seeks in a candidate.

For more on Veritas Prep’s incredible team and the individuals who serve as our Ross consultants, please visit the Consultant Profiles page of our website.

Our Ross Services

The Ross School of Business is always one of the most popular school selections among our clients due to its reputation as a strong general management program with an emphasis in true action-based, hands-on learning. However, the Veritas Prep approach is built upon identifying the right fit for each client, regardless of the generic qualities of the business school. Only once we have verified a proper match do we begin to build the candidate’s personal marketing platform and piece together the perfect Ross application.

Diagnostic Session. Our Diagnostic Session – the first step in our comprehen-sive packages as well as a stand-alone service – assures that each client’s goals and prospects are properly aligned. Once we have helped ensure that the client is making sound choices with regard to each business school application, we start building a timeline and a strategy specifically tailored for a Ross engagement.

“The Veritas Prep approach is built upon identifying the right fit for each client, regardless of the generic qualities of the business school.”

http://www.veritasprep.com/mba/consultant-profiles/

http://www.veritasprep.com/mba/enroll/comprehensive

http://www.veritasprep.com/mba/enroll/comprehensive


17 R O S S A N D V E R I T A S P R E P

Personalized MBA Game Plan. Each client’s Head Consultant will create a Personalized MBA Game Plan, a strategic approach based on the client’s profes-sional, academic, and personal history. Those elements will become the foundation of the Ross application story, allowing the client to demonstrate leadership, innova-tion, maturity, teamwork skills, analytical ability, and potential for academic excel-lence. A major component of the Game Plan is the identification of each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses – as well as truly unique qualities – relative to the Ross applicant pool (this applies to nearly all of the elite business schools). This will cre-ate an application platform from which to work and will help mold and shape the strategy of how to address application components such as the resumé, essays, and letters of recommendations.

Involvement. Ross is not a business school for shrinking violets or tentative stu-dents. With a bedrock of true action-based learning, Michigan is looking for students who want to dive in, get involved, and use their previous work experience to drive the learning process. Applicants to Ross need to showcase a track record of being highly involved in the workplace and in extracurricular activities and express short-term and long-term goals that start with day one of the business school experience. More specifically, candidates must understand how the MAP program impacts the student experience.

Leadership. Always an important business school topic, leadership is a theme that takes on added importance in a Ross application, given the relevance and of the Ross Leadership Initiative (RLI) that starts with the first day of orientation. Given that RLI spans for all 20 months of the MBA experience, students would be wise to include the program as part of their motivation for an MBA, as well as a key element of reaching short-term and long-term goals. Note that Ross believes that leaders are “made” and not just “born,” so a willingness to learn and develop leadership skills is often just as important as advertising the skills that a candidate already possesses.

Balance and Perfection. Once the themes of involvement and leadership have been installed as the backbone of the Ross application, the Veritas Prep Head Consultant and Ross Specialist will team up to ensure that all of the questions have been properly answered, that the resumé and essay questions have been crafted with style and efficiency, and that all of the key business school themes have been addressed in a balanced way throughout the application. It’s not easy applying to one of the most popular schools in the country, but our consulting team will en-sure that Veritas Prep clients give themselves the best chance of admissions success through the most accurate, engaging, and persuasive portrayal of their candidacy that they can possibly create. This is true of our approach to all schools, but par-ticularly at Ross, where two critical themes – involvement and leadership – must resonate so strongly and consistently throughout the application.

“Each client’s Head Consultant will create a Personalized MBA Game Plan, a strategic approach based on the client’s professional, academic, and personal history.”

“Ross is not a business school for shrinking violets or tentative students.”

“Given that RLI spans for all 20 months of the MBA experience, students would be wise to include the program as part of their motivation for an MBA, as well as a key element of reaching short-term and long-term goals.”


18 A B O U T V E R I T A S P R E P

About Veritas PrepFounded in 2002, Veritas Prep has emerged as a global leader in GMAT® education and MBA admissions consulting. The company’s business school team includes more than 300 graduates of the world’s elite MBA programs, managed from its headquar-ters in Malibu, California.

The Veritas Prep consulting model is built on adding value to a student’s application process by providing both mentorship and expertise. The business school admis-sions process has become increasingly competitive and applicants must do every-thing possible to showcase their value. Our consultants assist applicants in present-ing their unique stories in the most professional and meaningful way possible. In a sense, our consultants are translators – helping an applicant discover raw materials and information and then helping that candidate articulate a unique story in a lan-guage that admissions committees understand. More than anything, Veritas Prep gives candidates a sense of ownership and control over the process. Quality of work, attention to detail, care for the student, and integrity are the lynchpins of a successful consultation.

In addition to elite MBA admissions consulting services, Veritas Prep also offers the finest GMAT preparation available in the industry, as well as admissions consulting for law school, medical school, and graduate school services.

For comprehensive information on all of Veritas Prep’s many services, please visit our website.

“Success Favors the Prepared“

http://www.veritasprep.com/admissions_consulting/

ross school of business - vault.com of michigan...the ross school of business is one of many...

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