The newly named McCombs School of Business—named after Red McCombs, who gave the school $50 million in 2000—offers a general management program known for innovation in business education. It offers no formal majors, but it does offer concentrations in the traditional business disciplines, such as Marketing and Finance. Students may also choose a "specialization"; a focused set of cross-functional courses designed to address a current business topic such as Entrepreneurship, Market-based Consulting, and Global Business Management. About half of all McCombs students choose one of these concentrations.
Teamwork is a major emphasis at McCombs, with students doing most of their work in project teams. Students also spend their entire first year taking their core classes together in cohorts. Naturally, the school looks for people who will thrive in this environment, so be sure to demonstrate your experience in working with others to make things happen.
One example of McCombs' innovation is its new Plus Program, a two-week mini-term that takes place in the middle of each regular semester. The program is a series of seminars that give students intense, practical training in topics such as sales, communications, and ethics. Students take these courses in one of six "academies," each one having a focus on a particular industry or line of business. Examples of academies are Community Development and Social Enterprise, The Business of Entertainment, and Product Design Innovation. Students apply to these academies in the fall, and are assigned based on their preferences and past experience. Through a series of four two-week Plus Program courses, students work on specific skills and tackle broad business topics within their assigned academies. Much of the work is done in workshops and small teams, and many of these exercises use improvisational exercises and games to help students learn how to think quickly on their feet. These activities exemplify what McCombs is about, so if they appeal to you, make sure to communicate that in your application. Also, as mentioned above, think about ways to demonstrate how you will fit into this environment, particularly by emphasizing your teamwork and maturity dimensions, as described in Chapter 2.
Two programs that demonstrate the school's emphasis on hands-on experience are its MOOT CORP business plan competition and its MBA Investment Fund. Since 1984, the school has hosted MOOT CORP (we wish we knew why it's in all caps), the oldest and largest inter-business school business plan competition in the world. The competition now attracts teams from 30 schools, and winning teams get a chance to start their business in the friendly confines of the Austin Technology Incubator. Be sure to get to know this program better if you plan on applying to McCombs as a prospective entrepreneur.
Each year, 20 students are selected to run the MBA Investment Fund, a $12 million fund that was created in 1994 as the first legally constituted, private investment company to be managed by students. McCombs students have an opportunity to apply growth, value, and fixed-income strategies to several portfolios. The student managers manage a small part of the school's endowment, getting advice from professional money managers along the way. If you have an interest in investment management—or even just like the school's hands-on learning philosophy—be sure to show your enthusiasm for it in your application.
Like other highly-ranked schools with relatively low yield percentages, McCombs is careful about selecting people whom it believes have a sincere interest in its program. While most schools hope to see interest and enthusiasm demonstrated throughout your application, McCombs specifically looks for it in its essays questions. Invest considerable time in researching the school and finding out what kind of opportunities interest you (or could be added to the program). Even more importantly, focus less on trying to pick out an obscure activity to impress the admissions committee, and focus more on writing about something that truly interests you and highlighting how you will pursue that interest at McCombs. If your interest isn't currently met by one of the school's activities, then you have a great chance to show your initiative by proposing how you would start an activity around that interest. The key is to write about something for which you truly have passion, and to show how you will bring that same passion to McCombs.
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