海外MBA申请新政：视频取代书面作文

    当罗伯特的形象闪现在墙上的大屏幕时，房间里所有的视线都聚集在了这位长相英俊的英国小伙子身上。现年30岁的罗伯特正在申请就读多伦多大学(University of Toronto)罗特曼管理学院(Rotman School of Management)的MBA项目。

    这些目光来自该校MBA招生委员会的7位委员。他们一个个正襟稳坐，像影评人那样评判申请者的视频表现。罗伯特穿一身深色西装，蓝色的衬衫上系着一条红领带。他看上去信心十足，侃侃而谈，至少没有做一些促使招生委员们直接把他放入拒绝名单的事情。

    “大家好，”他用清脆的英国口音说道。“话说我希望同事们怎样看待我呢？首先，我希望他们觉得我有趣、爽朗，是一位很好相处的同事，还能够给充满压力的工作带来一些乐趣。我可以帮助公司打破跨部门团队之间的社交障碍，从而促使同事们更加有效地协同工作，我觉得这是我从事过的最有价值的活动之一。”

    欢迎来到MBA入学申请的美丽新世界。

    作为试点，罗特曼管理学院去年要求申请者以视频形式回答两个预先录制的问题。现在，这所商学院已经将其作为正式的招生筛选工具。西北大学( Northwestern University)凯洛格管理学院(Kellogg School of Management )于7月29日表示，该校今年将要求MBA申请材料中必须包括视频内容。与之相似，在即将到来的这个MBA申请季中，耶鲁大学管理学院(Yale University's School of Management)也将要求申请者提交视频资料。

    其他商学院也开始启动视频申请环节，但大多数学校依然给那些不愿上镜的候选人提供了一些替代选择。德州大学(The University of Texas)麦库姆斯商学院(McCombs School of Business)和纽约大学(NYU)斯特恩商学院( Stern School of Business)均接受候选人以视频形式回答问题，但同时也提供了几种不同的回答格式（包括传统作文）供他们选择。加州大学洛杉矶分校( UCLA)的安德森管理学院(Anderson School of Management )去年提供了视频选项，但一些学生抱怨说无法获得必要的技术支持，该校随后又取消了这种申请方式。最近，欧洲工商管理学院( INSEAD)暗示，在即将到来的这个申请周期，该校或将引入视频访谈形式。

    一些招生官员希望，要求申请人在视频上回答意想不到的问题，可以显露出申请者在脱稿和未经排练时的表现。鉴于越来越多的申请者正在聘请入学顾问打磨他们的简历，帮助其修改作文，有的甚至自己动手撰写推荐信，要看清楚申请者的“真面目”已经变得愈发困难。

    果不其然，面对这种变化，一些入学顾问已经做出了回应，他们开始以视频提示的方式帮助申请者提高这方面的技能。芝加哥入学咨询机构The MBA Exchange表示，该公司正在邀请一位“视频专家”加入其团队，向那些打算与目标院校进行视频互动的申请者提供指导和反馈意见。“他的学术和专业资历涵盖戏剧、心理学、多媒体传播等领域，他的加入能够让我们为客户提供内容开发和逼真表演等方面的建议，”The MBA Exchange公司创始人丹•鲍尔如是说。这家入学咨询机构表示，在提供视频辅导时，他们并不打算向那些购买该公司“全套”咨询服务的客户收取额外费用。

    于商学院的招生官员而言，使用视频还可以节省时间，因为它经常被用来替代书面作文，阅读并评估这些文章需要较长时间。“评估视频更容易一些，相对于枯坐着阅读一份静态的申请材料，视频为我们的评审过程增加了一丝多样性。”多伦多大学罗特曼管理学院MBA招生办公室主任尼基•达席尔瓦如是说。

    When Robert's image pops up on a screen on the wall, all eyes in the room are transfixed on the handsome 30-year-old Brit who is applying to the MBA program at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

    The eyes belong to the seven members of the school's MBA admissions committee who sit, like film critics, to judge the candidate's video performance. Robert is in a dark suit, with a blue shirt and red tie. He comes across confident and articulate, doing nothing at least to put him in the reject pile.

    "Hello there," he says in his clipped British accent. "So how do I like my colleagues to see me? First of all, I'd like them to see me as somebody who is fun and outgoing, who is good to work with and can actually introduce some fun into stressful working environments. I think some of the most valuable activity I've done has evolved around when we were able to break down some of the social barriers between inter-department teams to enable us to work more effectively together."

    Welcome to the brave new world of MBA admissions.

    Rotman, which required applicants to answer two pre-recorded questions on video last year as a pilot, is now introducing them as a screening tool for admissions. Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management said on July 29 that it would also require a video component to its MBA application this year. Kellogg joins Yale University's School of Management, which is also going to the videotape for this upcoming MBA application season.

    Other B-schools are dabbling in video, but most still offer alternatives to camera-shy candidates. The University of Texas' McCombs School of Business and NYU's Stern School of Business both accept video responses to questions that allow candidates to choose from several different answer formats, including the traditional essay. UCLA's Anderson School of Management offered a video option last year, but scrapped it when some students didn't have access to the necessary technology. Most recently, the admissions team at Europe's INSEAD has hinted that the school may introduce video interviews in its upcoming application cycle.

    Some admissions officials hope that requiring applicants to answer unexpected questions on video will show candidates unscripted and unrehearsed. That's become increasingly difficult at a time when applicants are increasingly hiring admissions consultants to sharpen their resumes, polish their essays, and coach recommenders.

    Already, some consultants are responding to the change by offering coaching to help applicants with the video prompts. Chicago-based consultant The MBA Exchange says it is adding a "video specialist" to its team to provide guidance and feedback to applicants as they plan for video-based interaction with their target schools. "His academic and professional credentials span theatre, psychology, and multimedia communication, enabling us to advise clients on both content development and authentic delivery," says Dan Bauer, CEO and founder of The MBA Exchange, which plans to offer video coaching at no extra charge to clients who pay for the firm's "comprehensive" consulting package.

    For a business school's admissions staff, the use of video also can save time because it's often used as a replacement for written essays, which take longer to read and assess. "It is easier and it provides a little bit more variety than just sitting down with a static application," says Niki da Silva, director of MBA recruitment and admissions at the Rotman School in Toronto.