Northwestern JD-MBA Class of 2012 Profile

Northwestern recently announced the JD-MBA Class of 2012 profile. (Click here to see the official stats on Northwestern's website) I wanted to take the opportunity to post the profile stats here and also mention a couple of observations I had on the program. I think this will serve as a good introduction, and will lead into profiling some of the individual incoming students in the program.

Admissions Statistics:
1. Applicants - 246
2. Admits - 36
3. Students - 28
4. Average GMAT - 724
5. Median GPA - 3.5
6. Avg. Work Experience - 5 years
7 . Women - 29%

Comments:

• Class size increased this year to 28 students. Historically, the program aim for 24 or 25 students, but this year we ended up with a larger class. I chatted with admissions, and turns out the difference in number is mostly a matter of yield and less a change in admissions strategy.
  
• Applications also went up dramatically this year, increasing by about 50% to 246. It will be interesting to see if this is a temporary change based on the economy or a permanent one given that JD-MBA programs are continuing to gain momentum. I suspect and hope it's more closely linked to the second, and I personally intend to be a strong advocate for Northwestern's program and hope to see the numbers go up by another 50% over the next few years.
  
• The median work experience of those accepted is 5 years. While many MBA programs are trending younger in terms of applicants, Kellogg and the JD-MBA are not. There are rarely any folks in the program with less than 3 years experience, and it's much more common to see those with 4 and with 5.
  
• Our program has 29% women, which is higher than other years for the program, but still a bit lower than our MBA-only counterpart programs, which are usually closer to 33% to 35%. With the 5 years average work experience and no signs of trending downward, I suspect the program is still trying to find a way to get more woman applicants to the program. I also suspect that JD-MBA students across all schools, where average age at entry is varied, still favors the male population.
  
• Incoming Northwestern JD-MBA students collectively come from more than 20 different schools , of which a very large majority are considered the best programs in the world. This year, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Princeton each have more than one student in the class.
  

Ultimately the class of 2012 is a sharp and really diverse class — in background, nationality, interests and ambitions. I believe that these differences are critical in an interdisciplinary JD-MBA program, which thrives by having folks with various perspectives, unique life experiences, and broad professional goals spanning both business and in law.