At business meetings the world over, PowerPoint presentations are often met with yawns and glazed eyes.
But at one of the world's top business schools, such slide shows are now an entrance requirement. The University of Chicago will begin requiring prospective students to submit four pages of PowerPoint-like slides with their applications this fall.
The new requirement is partly an acknowledgment that Microsoft Corp.'s PowerPoint, along with similar but lesser-known programs, have become a ubiquitous tool in the business world. But Chicago said so-called "slideware," if used correctly, also can let students show off a creative side that might not reveal itself in test scores, recommendations and essays.
By adding PowerPoint to its application, Chicago thinks it might attract more students who have the kind of cleverness that can really pay off in business, and fewer of the technocrat types who sometimes give the program a bad name.
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"We wanted to have a free-form space for students to be able to say what they think is important, not always having the school run that dialogue," said Rose Martinelli, associate dean for student recruitment and admissions. "To me, this is just four pieces of blank paper. You do what you want. It can be a presentation. It can be poetry. It can be anything."
Online applications are already the norm, and it's not uncommon for colleges to let students submit extra materials such as artwork. Undergraduate and graduate applications also are beginning to require more creative and open-ended essays, to better identify the students with a creative spark. Partly it's also to fend off the boredom of reading thousands of repetitive responses.
But asking for four electronic slides appears to be a new idea.
A ubiquitous tool
Chicago's new requirement may provoke groans from some quarters. It could be called corporate America's final surrender to a technology that, in the name of promoting the flow of information, often gums it up by encouraging bureaucratic jargon and making colorful but useless graphics just a little too easy to produce.
Nonetheless, PowerPoint has become the lingua franca of business meetings worldwide. Its 500 million copies are used (or misused) in 30 million presentations a day, Microsoft has estimated. PowerPoint is so common in the business world that "it's actually your word processor," said Michael Avidan, a second-year Chicago MBA student who reads applications for the graduate program and helped it do a dry run.
"It's only natural that your 'deliverables' be in PowerPoint" when you apply to business school, he said, using a buzz word for the best a student has to offer.
Martinelli acknowledges one reason for the requirement is that students will inevitably have to master the technology in their jobs. But she says students won't be judged on the quality of their slides. Rather, the slides are an outlet for judging the kind of creativity the business world needs.
Chicago does have a few ground rules: no hyperlinks, and no video. Beyond that, "I really don't know what we're going to get," Martinelli said.
Access to technology
It's not surprising the first application in PowerPoint is coming from the world of business schools. In an undergraduate admissions office, there would likely be worries about the applicant pool's familiarity with and access to technology.
Technology isn't a hurdle for most University of Chicago applicants, but "other schools might have to think about that," said Nicole Chestang, chief client officer for the Graduate Management Admission Council, a worldwide group of management programs that oversees the GMAT entrance exam.
It's also business schools that usually have the boring essays, focusing on workplace accomplishments rather than passions or unusual talents.
Avidan predicts some applicants will be turned off by the requirement, but said it's an opportunity for clever students whose test scores and other application materials might not stand out to shine.
"If there's one foundation of business, it's innovation, and this is your chance to elevate yourself and show you can do something innovative," he said.
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The MBA program at the UA's Eller College of Management is in the midst of changing the questions it asks in its applications, said Brent Chrite, an associated dean who is director of the MBA program.
One of the three questions the school asked this year's applicants: "If you could do anything, regardless of your education, skills, talent, expense and time, what would it be?"
Applicants for admission next year will contend with two essay questions, Chrite said. One will be a case-based question on ethics and leadership and the other will deal with the applicant's aspirations.
No PowerPoint requirements are planned, Chrite said.
"PowerPoints, by design, force you to pick and choose carefully your wording, so that doesn't seem to work for us," he said. "It's an innovative and interesting idea. It's just not clear to me how that format lets you capture the (applicant's) depth of insight that's important to us."
Business school essay questions
Business school applications generally ask students to write about their career progress and aspirations, but some also give students an opportunity to say more about themselves. Here are a few examples of essays, some optional and some required, included in this year's applications to some prominent MBA programs.
Kellogg (Northwestern University):
• Each of our applicants is unique. Describe how your background, values, academics, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experience of other Kellogg students.
• Outside of work I ... (complete this thought)
Haas (University of California, Berkeley):
• If you could have dinner with one individual in the past, present, or future, who would it be and why?
• Describe an innovative solution you have created to address a specific challenge.
Harvard:
• What have you learned from a mistake?
• How have you experienced culture shock?
Kenan-Flagler (University of North Carolina):
• Describe the major obstacles or challenges you have faced in pursuit of your goals. Tell us how you addressed these challenges and how they have shaped you.
• Tell us about any international experience you have, either living or working abroad. Tell us how it has impacted your global perspective.