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In this episode, the Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern explains Stern’s Change Studio and Frontier Labs, explores what it means to be a Sternie, and gives advice to reapplicants. [SHOW SUMMARY]
Are you interested in an MBA that has the goal of preparing you to lead in an ever-changing world? Are you considering one- or two-year options? Does being in New York City with all that it offers, appeal to you? Then today’s episode is for you, the new Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern is our guest.
An interview with Lindsay Loyd, the new Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern. [Show Notes]
Welcome to the 525th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted’s MBA admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz and you’ll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to actually improve your profile and qualifications and it’s all free.
It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Lindsey Lloyd, Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern. Lindsey leads the recruiting and admissions efforts for Stern’s full-time MBA programs, including the two-year, full-time MBA, the focused one-year MBAs, which are the Andre KooTechnology and Entrepreneurship MBA and the Fashion and Luxury MBA. Lindsay has a BA in economics from Washington State University and an MBA from Chicago Booth. Before joining NYU Stern, she had a 13-year career at American Express, where she ultimately became the Vice President of Strategic Engagement Global Commercial Services. She joined NYU Stern in January, 2023.
Lindsey, congratulations on your new role and welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:05]
Thanks, Linda. Great to be here.
Can you provide an overview of NYU Stern’s full-time, two-year MBA program? [2:17]
So NYU’s two year program, full-time, it’s the classic program that you think of when you hear “MBA.” It is a graduate management education that delivers on both breadth and depth. Year one, you’re going to jump in with launch orientation and then focus on the core requirements, both the required and some picks from our menu. Then have a summer internship, followed by your second year, when you really jump into electives and your specializations.
There are three things that I’d highlight that make Stern special. Firstly being access, and really this is, we are located in the heart of New York City and we fully take advantage of that. We are so connected across businesses and industries, from FinTech to fashion, from media to marketing, you name it, we’ve got Stern alumni there and the beauty is, they’re just a subway right away. So we really are in the heart of the city and take advantage of it.
The next thing that I’d highlight is Stern’s Solutions. So this is our experiential learning opportunities for students, where they’re really jumping in and participating in live business challenges in the moment. This is something that Stern launched in the early two thousands, so this is two decades worth of experience and expansion and development. And lastly, I think Stern MBAs really have the opportunity to customize their experience. So I mentioned specializations earlier, you can pick three from over 20. There are more than 200 electives to choose from, and there are opportunities to study abroad, whether that’s for a semester or for one to two weeks, on a Doing Business In (DBI) international intensive.
The second year is entirely elective, isn’t it? [4:19]
Yes, it is.
Since it’s their five year anniversary and there’s increasing interest in one-year MBA programs, can you also provide an overview of the two focused, one-year MBA programs: the Tech MBA and the Luxury and Fashion MBA programs? [4:25]
Right. Quite a milestone for those programs.
They are fast, immersive, and indeed, very focused. They run May to May and it’s a lockstep, 52 credit curriculum. It includes a general business core, a specialized industry core, and then Stern Solutions, experiential learning projects that are really geared towards either tech or fashion and luxury. Starting with the tech program, which isSTEM designated, there’s a West Coast immersion experience and there’s a tech advisory board that connects students with prominent professionals and firms and industry. A couple of highlights here. So we’ve seen 120% growth in applications for the tech program since its inception. Another awesome stat is that, most cohorts in this program now, are at or near gender parity, and our 2022 class had 100% employment, three months post-graduation. So really awesome results happening in the tech program.
Similarly, the Fashion and Luxury Program also has an immersion experience. They go to Europe, and past trips have included stops at places like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Prada. This program also has a council of industry leaders that connect students, because we know that mentorship and networking is really crucial, particularly in these industries. This program has a real small, deeply connected cohort. They all know, love each other, take care of each other,, and it’s a really special thing to see. Their employment rates have also been improving. And in 2022, that class hit 94% employment in three months, post-graduation. So, a high watermark there, as well.
What is the employment rate for the two year MBA? [6:26]
98%.
That’s also a really impressive number. [6:39]
Immediately versus three months, I’m not sure, but it’s very, very high.
The last entering class had the highest GMAT ever, and the last graduating class had the highest average total compensation ever. Correct? [6:51]
That is correct.
What do you attribute that to? [7:00]
So first, all credit goes to my predecessor in admissions, Lisa Rios, for recruiting a stellar class that is strong, not just on GMAT, but across all dimensions. As part of our holistic evaluation process, we’re test agnostic, so we accept the GMAT, GRE, EA, MCAT, LSAT, and we also offer a test waiver process. So I think a contributing factor to this high average GMAT is that candidates are figuring out which test works best for them and putting that best foot forward, which I think is a great strategy. We want candidates to submit their strongest application. On the graduate compensation front, I’ve got to tip my hat to my fellow Amex alum and the Head of Career Development at Stern, Brian Ruggiero, for just incredible placement outcomes, amidst the challenges of the pandemic.
As I’ve onboarded at Stern, it’s clear that that team on the employer relation front is incredibly strong, manages and builds great relationships there. And then on the career coaching front, they are incredible and do such a great job of preparing Sternies for all things recruiting. I’ve also been really impressed with the student-led industry groups and the Stern Pay it Forward ethos, part of that IQ+EQ vibe we’ve got going. The second years do so much to help the first years prepare for networking, case interviews, the whole thing, and it’s really incredible to see it in action.
Can you touch on Change Studio? What is it and how do students take advantage of it? [8:29]
Yeah, change is really the one constant in life.
And as such, it’s Stern’s mission to prepare our students to embrace change, to dare it, dream it, drive it, as the tagline says. And this mission is really foundational. It’s built into all aspects of the Stern program, from launch, to core and on through to electives. Change Studio is really an umbrella concept that encapsulates the many different co-curricular opportunities that Sternies can take advantage of during their time here, whether that’s through Stern’s Solutions, opportunities through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, you name it. And these things, in the spirit of change, are constantly evolving based on student demand and market interest.
Is it a class? Is it an ethos? Is it an opportunity? Is it experiential learning? [9:47]
I would say, it’s not one particular course or one particular prescriptive set of courses, but it’s a buffet of opportunities that are available for Sternies to choose from.
Any examples you can give me? [10:08]
So I would say, Launch would be one of those. I would say, the Consulting Labs. I would say-
Entrepreneurship? [10:17]
Yes, Endless Frontier Labs and some of the entrepreneurship opportunities. I would say, Leadership Accelerator, there’s a whole host to choose from. And like I said, this is something, that new programs are evolving all the time.
Where are Stern MBAs finding jobs, in terms of geography and industry, function, all three? [10:33]
All three. So I’ll take those from the top.
Geography, it should come as no surprise given our location, that we have very strong placement in New York City and the Northeast. We have candidates that are placed Coast to Coast in the US and also beyond the rest of the world, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Industry-wise, it’s got about a third that go into consulting and a third that go into some kind of broader, diversified financial services, and then good chunks go into tech, healthcare, entertainment, sports and media, CPG and real estate. Functionally, we’ve kind of already accounted for that third, going into consulting, so same story there. A third going into finance functional roles and accounting type functional roles and then the rest, product management, marketing, general management, data analytics, operations. Really, if people are interested in the details, I strongly recommend you go to our website and the employment reports. We post them for both the full-time two year program and the two, one year focus programs.
What does Stern offer want-to-be entrepreneurs? I know you mentioned Frontier Labs. Can you go into that a little bit? [11:49]
Stern is a great place for current entrepreneurs and flowering entrepreneurs. We’ve got some excellent elective coursework to choose from, applications and entrepreneurial finance, marketing for entrepreneurs, managing growing companies, and a host more. Endless Frontier Labs specifically, is NYU Stern’s hub for massively scalable tech and life science startups from around the world. These aren’t necessarily Stern startups, they don’t have to be associated with Stern. That program runs from October through May and Stern MBA students have the opportunity to get involved through a companion course that they take, then that allows them to work closely with the EFL founders on business development support. And some actually, have placed into full-time jobs in those companies, after graduation.
Other things that I’d highlight, the Berkeley Center offers startup advising to students and also runs the Annual Entrepreneur’s Challenge that has competitions for seed funding. We also have a program called Stern Works, it’s a fund that supports students who are seeking internships with startups and nonprofits. And then finally, I’ll highlight that we have student-led groups like the Entrepreneurship and Startup Association.
And New York City’s a great place to be an entrepreneur.
What don’t people know about NYU Stern that you would like them to know? What’s a common myth you’d like to bust or something that people just don’t know? [13:23]
Yeah, and it came up recently at preview weekend for our next admitted class, but I think upon first glance, it’s really easy to write off IQ+EQ as a marketing phrase, but I’m telling you, it’s the real deal. While I’m new to Stern, I’m not new to working with Sternies. During my tenure at American Express, I worked with and for many, many Stern graduates, both Amex colleagues of mine and also with folks I was sitting across the table from, and Sternies that worked at partners of Amex’s, like Delta Airlines. All of the Sternies I worked with were incredibly smart, when it came to numbers and business strategy and also very people smart. They were generally very kind and humble leaders. They care deeply about leveling up everyone around them and very much, were strongly committed to doing the right thing by people, whether that was colleagues or customers. And that was one of the many reasons that I was really excited to come work at Stern.
Do you see any changes coming to NYU Stern’s application requirements in the upcoming cycle? Let’s break it down a little bit. You already mentioned that Stern will accept whatever test you feel best represents you, and you also offer waivers. Do you plan to change the test policy, allowing all, and what about waivers? [14:43]
No change is being made on that front.
What about the waiver option? [15:03]
Going to keep it.
What about changes to the essays? [15:08]
We changed those not that long ago, and as I’ve onboarded and talked to the team and gotten familiar with the reading process and that kind of thing, we really like our questions. And the sense is, it really helps you understand and get to know an applicant and they lend themselves well to differentiating between an okay application, a good application, and a great application. So we really like our essay questions.
It’s nice when schools have some signature questions that also reflect the culture. [15:39]
Exactly.
Do you see ChatGPT as a problem in the application process, specifically regarding the essays? Now I realize yours are a little different because you also have a visual component, at least to one, but how do you view that? [15:46]
So ChatGPT is interesting. Amongst my fellow Stern grad program administrators, the Dean of Students who’s a Stern alum, Connor Grennan, has become kind of our Obi-Wan Kenobi of ChatGPT.
He’s a really fun follow on LinkedIn right now, I highly recommend it. He’s always sharing interesting use cases. This functionality is so new and it’s so rapidly changing every day. I will say, I plugged in our change essay prompt to ChatGPT to see what it produced. My conclusion is, I don’t think it’s a good strategy for an applicant looking to put their best forward, to outsource their application essays to ChatGPT. It can create a passable but very generic essay without much in the way of personality. And I think a winning essay is one that’s infused with personality and shows what you uniquely bring to the table.
The one sort of analogy that I’ve heard kicked around, is that ChatGPT is to writing what a calculator is to math and so I think in that vein. Maybe it’s a bit like, I would compare it to bouncing your essays off a friend or maybe an admissions consultant for feedback or using spell check or Grammarly to make sure that you’re not missing any errors. That’s all fine to use those tools, but you still got to do the heavy lifting at the end of the day.
You still have to think. [17:35]
Do the self-reflection, do the research and do the thoughtful composition, if you want your essays to be yours.
I was kind of thinking about homemade, baked products, versus a store bought one. [17:44]
Yeah. Right, it’s not going to taste the same.
But I have no interest in trying to detect who has used it or not. We’ll see. I mean, there’s also AI that is for image generation. So if someone creates something in Mid Journey and includes it in their pick six, that could be interesting.
I’d be curious to know what prompt to use?
Apparently, maybe ChatGPT has its own style and it’ll be in its own way, detectable, not necessarily by a machine, but by human beings.
Conversely, what makes an applicant in an application come alive for you? [18:22]
Yeah, I think an application really shines when every piece of it comes together to tell a cohesive narrative and it shows us three main things. Firstly, the applicant has done deep reflection on their values, on what they’re good at and what they maybe have room for improvement. Secondly, they’ve really researched their intended career path, and they can connect the dots from where they’ve been, to what they hope to experience at Stern and where they hope to be after Stern. And then lastly, shows us. How are you going to contribute and be a part of the Stern community, right? When we’re crafting this class, it’s a mosaic; we want to make sure that that Stern Pay it Forward ethos is really running throughout. So we’re curious as to what your contribution is going to be?
What stone are you going to be in that mosaic? [19:28]
Exactly. Exactly.
What about the EQ endorsement? How is that different from a letter of recommendation? [19:49]
Yeah, I mean, it’s similar, but I think it adds a layer, it adds another dimension. It’s not just the task that you’ve completed or the results that you’ve delivered at work, but this gets into how you did those things? Are you leading with empathy? Are you communicating thoughtfully? Interpersonal skills are just as important as intellectual skills. And we’re looking for exceptional individuals that are self-aware, that are naturally curious, and they’re always working to improve themselves. And I think the EQ endorsement gives us a window into that.
What can an interviewee to NYU Stern expect during the interview? [20:32]
Yeah, I think one of the things the pandemic allowed us to do was innovate on how we interview. All of our interviews are 30 minutes in length, conducted via Zoom with members of the admission staff. So it’s not an alumni, not a current student, it’s a member of my staff. So we are delivering, and we like this because it delivers a consistent, equitable candidate experience. And on the flip side, we get consistent and equitable interview reports from it. In terms of expectations, the interview isn’t blind. The person who’s interviewing you is a staff member who will have reviewed your application and your resume. So it’s really going to be a 30-minute conversation to get to know you better, get a sense of your communication style, and understand how a Stern MBA fits into your career journey at this time. And likewise, it’s an opportunity for you to get to know Stern better, that you should take advantage of and ask questions and help us give you more insight into Stern, as a possible avenue for you.
So you would definitely recommend that an applicant invited to interview prepare some questions. [21:41]
Absolutely.
And I assume that those questions should not be answered on the second page of the website? [21:46]
Ideally. They peel back the onion a bit further than that, yes.
What suggestions would you have for re-applicants to Stern? [21:58]
So when I’m thinking about someone who’s reapplying to Stern, and I’m thinking even if I was in their shoes, I’d be most curious to know, what did they learn about themselves through that application process that didn’t result in what they were hoping for? I think it’s also beneficial to take a real critical look at your last application. Where are the areas that you felt were not as strong as they could have been? How can you tell a stronger story this time around? What’s changed since you last applied?
Those are the questions that I would be asking.
And how did you address those weaknesses? [22:53]
Exactly.
Every so often we are asked, “I know it was my test score, or I know I didn’t have enough experience, but my essays are really good. Can I just resubmit the same essays?” How would you respond to that? [22:57]
I mean, you can.
I don’t know if that’s the best course of action. I think you’d probably have something different to say with another year’s worth of experience. So you would be doing yourself a disservice by just submitting the same application essays. I would really think about what has changed and how could you reflect that?
I was just having this discussion with somebody and he says, “Well, I took some classes, I got some A’s, that’s really what’s changed, and my essays were really, really good.” And I said, “There are very few people who can’t improve their writing a year later when they look back at it, number one. Number two, if you want to telegraph that the only thing you’ve done in the last year is take a few classes and earned A’s in them, then go ahead. But maybe you want to show that you’ve done other things too, or grown in other ways.” [23:38]
Right.
I don’t think part of what a re-applicant should do is, okay, so they analyzed the weakness, they saw that it was grades or test score or whatever the weakness was, and they addressed it, but they don’t want to be otherwise stagnant. They don’t want to come across as stagnant. [24:09]
You want to come to a place where we’re all about change. Right? What have you learned?
What about first time applicants? They haven’t been rejected previously, they haven’t applied previously. How can applicants prepare to apply successfully to NYU Stern? [24:43]
I’m sure at that moment, and I’ve been there myself many moons ago, but it can be very overwhelming. Firstly, I’d say, don’t fuss too much about meeting any one particular deadline versus another. We don’t want you to rush an application. We want to see your application, when you’re ready to submit the best application you can submit. We were talking about test options earlier, do some research, give it some prep, and give it a go as soon as you can. I think you’d want to allow yourself time to see how that score came back, retest or try another test, if you feel like it wasn’t reflective of your capabilities. And then I will also say, please don’t be put off by the high average scores. Keep in mind that averages are not minimums. Take a look at our class profile, we publish our 80% and 100% ranges, and just remember that, we evaluate applications holistically. The test score is only one data point amongst the bigger picture of you, that is the application.
And when we’re talking about tips and the tests, who should apply for a waiver? [25:58]
I’d say, if you feel that the test really isn’t reflective or you’re not in a space where you can take a certain test, we’re looking for folks who have past experience in quantitative courses. Right? You’ve got transcripts supporting that you know will be able to come in and hit the ground running and do well in statistics and financial accounting in that first semester at school. So looking for either transcript evidence or folks who have had significant work experience that’s quantitatively supported. Maybe you have your CPA or your CFA, these are all other proof points that you’re going to do well. But I strongly encourage you to take a test and submit a score because it is a helpful data point. But those are the type of things that we’d be evaluating when assessing for granting a waiver.
What question would you have liked to answer that I didn’t ask? [26:59]
So the one cool thing, and I think I mentioned it earlier as part of the Change Studio, but I really want to highlight it, is Leadership Accelerator, because it is the coolest thing that I’ve learned about at Stern.
What’s the coolest thing I didn’t ask about? [27:18]
Yeah. So this is taking case method learning to a whole other level. They have taken it off the paper and Leadership Accelerator is an opportunity for students to spend a full day living in a case. We bring in professional actors that play business roles, that are live in real-time, throwing twists and turns at the students that they’re responding to in real-time. And it’s an amazing opportunity for practical application of theory and gives them an opportunity to learn leadership agility and reacting to these things in real-time.
What’s the title? [28:05]
Leadership Accelerator.
Professor Nate Petit is the Director of the Leadership Accelerator. He developed this live case method along with Stern colleague Hannah Levinson. So it’s super cool. And one sort of tangential plug for Nate Petit, this is a podcast, so I assume that people listening, like podcasts as a format for consuming content. Nate is also the Faculty Advisor for Stern Chats. And Stern Chats is a podcast that is entirely MBA student run, and it’s a great opportunity to hear about Stern from Sternies.
Thank you for that plug and thank you for explaining it. It sounds really cool. [28:47]
It’s really cool.
So basically, they show up and they’re given a situation and actors act parts and they kind of – [28:52]
Yeah. The students are in roles, you’re in a boardroom and you’re debating a strategy and then a crisis comes in and how do you respond to these things?
So picture reading an HBS case, but then living it in real-time. Right?
That does sound really cool. [29:15]
How people always lay out the scenario.
I want to thank you so much for joining me today. I’ve enjoyed chatting with you about NYU Stern’s three full-time MBA programs. Can you provide a URL for our listeners? [29:22]
Yeah, everything you can find is at https://www.stern.nyu.edu/ and there’s pages for the full-time two year program that we talked about and for the one year focus programs.
Relevant Links:
- NYU Stern MBA Admissions
- MBA Admissions Quiz
- NYU Stern MBA Essay Tips
- NYU Stern Executive MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines
- NYU Part-Time MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
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