COB students defy trends, stay in school
By STACEY KAPLAN
News Writer
Troy Murphy may not be the only Domer turning down millions in order to stay a few more years in the land of the Irish.
A recent trend has shown students, both at the MBA and undergraduate levels, dropping out of school to pursue fame and wealth on the wave of the Internet revolution. According to a recent joint issue by Newsweek and Kaplan, the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania lost 25 of its 765 students during the 1998-99 school year. Business school applications are down, as dot-com start up companies snap up some of the nation's best and brightest.
"Everyone's going to have to get a lot more creative, not only in recruiting students, but in retaining them," said Cheryl Crowel, assistant director at the Doermer Family MBA Career Development Center.
Against all odds, Notre Dame has seen an opposite trend. Business school applications soared 32 percent this year, and the mean GMAT score jumped from 613 in 1997 to 667. "Applications are way up and the quality of applicants is the highest it's ever been. We have a fabulous retention rate (99 percent)," said Brian Lohr, the MBA program's assistant director of admission.
Much of the reason for the positive numbers lies in a recent push towards entrepreneurial and e-commerce studies. The MBA program recently expanded to include tracks in e-commerce, e-consulting and e-entrepreneurship.
"There is a lot of hype surrounding the Internet," director of MIS programs Khalil Matta said. "People fail to recognize that for every venture that succeeds, nine others fail. Here students can use our expertise as faculty. It increases the probability for success."
"Almost everyone has a good idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen," Matta continued. "What people pay for in the end is the ability to execute on the business plans that you have. People want to look at the skill and the education level that you have."
"The Notre Dame student is very entrepreneurial," said James Davis, director of the Gigot Center for entrepreneurial studies. "He doesn't want to be the passenger on the ship; he wants to be the captain. We are very conscious of the trends. I taught an MBA entrepreneurship class last semester and I would say that two thirds of the business plans were for dot-com companies. It's been a struggle to keep them in house. It's easier than ever before to get funding."
Although most Irish entrepreneurs have elected to stay, there are a few who have ventured out from under the Golden Dome. Three Ph.D. candidates left last year to start a company called Nuron.
"We remain in contact, and they're doing great. They make enhanced video graphic cards. Intel and Micron are interested and it's created a heck of a lot of excitement, " said Davis.
Davis, however, does not advocate this path for everyone.
"It's such a personal thing, to stay or drop," he said. "It's like should Troy Murphy drop and become an NBA player? He's improving his game and our students have a greater probability of success."
To improve even more on this probability, the Gigot Center is planning to launch a program next fall called Irish Angels. The program would use the extensive Irish alumni network to put entrepreneurial students in contact with funding opportunities.
"Our primary goal is to launch Irish Angels next fall. There has been a lot of interest in it and we are really excited about the work," said Theresa Sedlack, program manager at the Gigot Center.
The Gigot Center hopes to be able to provide students with not only faculty resources, but also funding and mentors for their particular projects.
"We're matchmakers," Davis said.
All News Stories for Tuesday, April 11, 2000
