In this installment of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we welcome back Lindsay Loyd, Executive Director of MBA Admissions at the NYU Stern School of Business.
Lindsay leads the recruiting and admissions efforts for Stern’s Full-time MBA Programs, including the two-year Full-time MBA, and focused one-year MBAs: the Andre Koo Technology & Entrepreneurship MBA and Luxury & Retail MBA. She joined NYU Stern in 2023 after a 20-year career in financial services, serving in roles of progressive responsibility in analytics, marketing, and strategy at Capital One and American Express. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Washington State University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Read on to take a deep dive with Lindsay into Stern MBA admissions and how to put your best foot forward during the application process.
Clear Admit: What is the one aspect of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?
Lindsay Loyd: This may seem obvious because “New York” is in our name and is our location, but it goes so much deeper than that; what sets us apart is how we leverage NYC across many dimensions! Stern is in and of the city, and we’ve made it a priority to be intertwined with it. What does this mean for our students? The many benefits of this one-of-a-kind city we call home are core to our MBA programs, from our curriculum, to internships, to careers and lifelong peer networks.
For example, we offer a vast array of Stern Solutions experiential learning opportunities for our MBAs. These are electives for those in our two-year program, while they are baked into the curricula for our focused one-year programs, the Andre Koo Technology and Entrepreneurship MBA and the Luxury & Retail MBA. Our NYC location allows us to source projects across a broad set of industries – from tech, to fashion, to real estate, to finance, and more. It allows C-suite executives to attend a board meeting in the morning, then guest lecture or teach a class in the afternoon. We also have a deep base of local alumni for networking, and the Stern administration builds and nurtures strong relationships with top NY-based employers to create lasting talent pipelines for recruitment and placement.
And when our students graduate, the benefits continue in NYC and beyond, with alumni events, networking opportunities, career support through Stern’s Career Center for Working Professionals, and access to lifelong learning, including options to audit graduate-level courses or take Executive Education courses.
CA: Walk us through the life of an application in your office from an operational standpoint. What happens between the time an applicant clicks “submit” and the time the committee offers a final decision?
LL: I recognize our process is a bit different than our peers, so let’s start with some basic mechanics on the Stern approach to deadlines and our admissions cycle. It’s not a purely rolling process, nor are there structured rounds. We operate a hybrid ongoing review, structured around four submission deadlines for applicants. Each deadline has a corresponding “initial notification deadline,” which is the absolute latest date by which you’ll hear about next steps from us. Those steps are: invite to interview, waitlist, or denial of admission. Many will receive notification before then, as we don’t wait for a deadline to pass to start reading applications. We try to release decisions as soon as we make them. We know the MBA application process can involve anxious waiting, and we make best efforts to minimize it. I encourage prospective students to submit their application whenever it’s ready. Applicants don’t have to wait until the deadline day to press submit.
Every single application we receive is read in its entirety by multiple reviewers on the MBA Admissions team and evaluated holistically across three dimensions: academic potential, professional achievements and aspirations, and alignment with Stern core values. Our emphasis on both intellectual intelligence and emotional intelligence, what we call IQ + EQ, is top of mind throughout the reading and evaluation process. We try to exemplify it as admissions officers through all aspects of the process, and we screen for it in prospective students. We strive to build a class and community of individuals who demonstrate IQ + EQ. Our application is designed to help applicants highlight not just what they’ve done, but how they’ve done it, and how they’ve inspired others around them.
If the initial notification is “invite to interview,” an applicant will have the opportunity to get that scheduled. Once the interview has been completed, the application goes back to the committee for at least two more reads. If the decision is to admit, the application will also be reviewed for merit-based scholarship awards. After the interview is complete, we typically get back to the candidate with a decision in about three weeks. If someone is being offered a spot in the class, they get a phone call with the good news. These calls are often a highlight of my week!
We offer regular “Mock Application Workshops” with Stern admissions officers via Zoom throughout the year, and they are very helpful for demystifying the process.
CA: How does your team approach the essay portion of the application specifically? What are you looking for as you read an essay? Are there common mistakes that applicants should try to avoid? What is one key thing they should keep in mind as they sit down to write?
LL: What we tell applicants is that the application and all of its components, including the essays, should be a cohesive narrative of who you are, what your aspirations are, and what you are hoping to experience with your MBA. And the key word across all of that is YOU. Be authentic and be you! Spend some quiet time before getting too deep into this whole process, and really think about what’s important to you. Reflect on your personal values, strengths, and development areas. Investing time in this will give your research into different programs better context, which can help you narrow down your target programs, and ultimately enable you to write stronger application essays.
Regarding Stern’s essays, we know the short answer question on professional aspirations is quite short, with only 150 words allowed. It’s short by design. This is the written version of the applicant’s 30-second elevator pitch. Be concise and answer what is asked: What are your short-term career goals?
Our “Change” and “Pick Six” essays are an opportunity for applicants to have some fun and introduce themselves more personally to the admissions committee. These essays are also where we are looking for elements of EQ – self-awareness, empathy, communication, resilience, openness to new ideas and diverse perspectives, etc.
For the “Change” essay, applicants must pick a verb to create their own Change tagline. Applicants are free to choose from our list of suggestions, or choose any other verb that resonates with them. We aren’t making judgements based on the most unique, never-been-used-before verb, I promise! We want to know: why does that Change tagline resonate with you? How has it been relevant to you, and how will you live it during your time at Stern?
The “Pick Six” is our visual essay, and a chance for applicants to tell their stories using photos, infographics, drawings, or any other images. Applicants should briefly introduce their Pick Six, and include a one sentence caption for each image. If an applicant is visually impaired, they are welcome to request an alternative prompt by contacting the admissions office.
Our optional essay is truly optional. If the applicant has something to share that hasn’t been covered elsewhere in the application, this is the space to do so. If the applicant feels like they’ve covered everything already, there is no need to complete this essay.
CA: Could you tell us about your interview process? Approximately how many applicants do you interview? Who conducts the interview (students, admissions officers, alumni) and what is the nature of the interview (resume-based, application-based, behavioral)? Will your admissions interviews be in-person or virtual for the 2024-2025 admissions season?
LL: The interview is by invitation only and is required for admission. About 30 percent of applicants are invited to interview. Our interviews are 30 minutes long and conducted exclusively by admissions officers. Since the Covid pandemic, we’ve gotten very good at doing them via Zoom, so it’s a consistent and equitable experience for everyone. Interviews are not blind – the person interviewing you will have reviewed your application and resume in advance. It’s very conversational and gives us a chance to get to know an applicant beyond the application, get a sense of their communication style, and understand how a Stern MBA fits into their career journey at this time. It’s also an opportunity for candidates to ask questions and get to know Stern a little better, so come prepared!
CA: What is your testing policy? Do you offer exam waivers? Why or why not?
LL: We are very much test agnostic and consider a test score just one data point in the bigger picture of the application. It is helpful in evaluating academic readiness for our program. We accept the GMAT, GMAT Focus Edition, GRE, EA, LSAT, MCAT, and DAT, and we have no preference for one test over another. We’ll only consider the highest score, so applicants should feel free to retake a test or try a different test if they feel they can improve upon their score.
A standardized test score is a required component for an application to our two-year Full-time MBA Program and one-year focused Luxury & Retail MBA Program. If a candidate is unable to take or prepare for a standardized test, but is otherwise able to demonstrate academic readiness, they may submit an application for a test score waiver. Those who provide examples (e.g., strong analytical or quantitative undergraduate or graduate majors, professional work experience, certifications, etc.) may be more likely to be granted a test score waiver.
The one-year focused Andre Koo Technology and Entrepreneurship MBA Program will continue to be test-optional for the 2024-25 cycle. While applicants to the Tech MBA won’t be required to provide a test score, I encourage applicants to do so if they feel it aids their candidacy.
CA: In the application data form, many schools ask for information about work experience, activities, hobbies, and much more. What advice would you give to applicants as they approach this component of the application process?
LL: All of these pieces contribute incremental context to the applicant’s overall narrative. It gives us a window into their career progression, the depth and breadth of the skills they’ve built, the activities they enjoy, and how they contribute to their community.
In terms of advice for the data form, I would say proofread carefully before you submit. Ensure the information entered about work experience is 100% complete and matches the information on your resume (e.g., start dates, end dates, titles, etc.). The optional essay is a great place to explain any gaps in your employment history.
CA: Tell us briefly about two popular courses at your institution.
LL: One class that always has a waitlist is Professor Gustavo Schwed’s “Private Equity Finance.” In the course, students get a front row seat to the private equity industry, which currently has trillions of dollars under management, making it a field very worthy of study. Students gain an understanding of private equity transactions and of the process of investing in private equity funds.
The School also has many for-credit options for MBA students to learn abroad during their time at Stern. “Doing Business In…” (DBi) courses enable students to explore how business is conducted in another country through one- to two-week intensives. They are taught in partnership with local MBA universities at the DBi destination, and led by local faculty. The courses are offered all around the globe, and we just recently added DBi France to our offerings. We also have a range of global travel courses led by Stern faculty. One of our newest ones is “Real Estate Immersion” led by Professor Sam Chandan, Director of Stern’s Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance. The course frames real estate in the global context, and has already brought students to London, Abu Dhabi and São Paulo, among other locations.
CA: Is there anything else you’d like to highlight about your MBA program or admissions process?
LL: One exciting new update this year is Stern has recently refreshed our innovative one-year MBA in Luxury, which has been renamed the NYU Stern Luxury & Retail MBA (formerly the Fashion & Luxury MBA) to better reflect the Program’s educational experience and the breadth of industry employers — ranging from apparel, fashion accessories, beauty, big box retail, fine wine and spirits, high-end automotive, real estate, and more — that seek and hire our MBAs.
The Luxury & Retail MBA Program will continue to strengthen relationships between students, alumni, and top-tier brand partners via three new initiatives:
- Luxury & Retail Alumni in Residence: students will gain exclusive one-on-one access to Stern alumni industry “insiders”
- Luxury & Retail Council: senior executives from top companies will mentor students to help develop the next generation of talent
- Luxury & Retail Partners: top-tier brands worldwide will sponsor immersive experiential projects and gain early access to Stern MBA talent
This refresh came after in-depth conversations with leaders in the luxury and retail sectors, including many Stern alumni. We are thrilled for this next phase of the Program and excited to speak with prospective students about it!
