Interview with CUHK Administrative Director Lawrence Chan

Lawrence Chan: CUHK Business School is one of the earliest established business school in Asia founded in 1950’s. We launched MBA programs in 1966 and that was the first available program in Asia. One of top ranked schools in Asia (MBA was ranked by FT 30th worldwide in 2015). Offering the most diversified curriculum with Entrepreneurship concentration.

Admissions.SG: Who is the CUHK MBA for?

Lawrence Chan: The motto of CUHK (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) is always East meets West. We aim to develop leaders who can cut across cultural barriers and be able to lead globalised organizations (regardless of their original) across the globe in the 21st century. Most suitable for Western students who would like explore and develop profound understanding of Asian business and on the hand, developing Asian students to lead globalised Asian Companies. Special training for Entrepreneurs and Startups.

[pullquote cite=”Lawrence Chan” type=”right”]Candidates should NOT be looking at their salary immediately after MBA.[/pullquote]Admissions.SG: Candidates often ask whether business school is a worthwhile investment. What would you say with respect to the ROI of the CUHK MBA?

Lawrence Chan: Candidates should NOT be looking at their salary immediately after MBA. They should look at their return throughtout their whole post MBA career (Oftern 30+ years) where they always stay ahead of the game and advanced in a much quicker manner comparing to the rest. Our 6000+ MBA alumni over the last 50 years is a strong proof of that. For example, the chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is our alum.

Admissions.SG: You offer multiple rounds of applications. Are there any advantages to applying in particular rounds compared to others?

Lawrence Chan: Technically they are the same. We apply the same objective criteria to assess applicants. Applying early may have advantage on hostel allocation and scholarships.

[pullquote cite=”Lawrence Chan” type=”left”]we do not chase after applicants with highest GMAT score.[/pullquote]Admissions.SG: What happens to an application once the applicant hits the Submit button? Walk us through your evaluation process. How many people read each application?

Lawrence Chan: Key senior managers will read those applications, conduct first screening and then short list for interview. We will vet critical information before we conduct interview. Our school put a lot of emphasis on interviews and we score candidate and benchmark them to selection and assessment criteria by top MBA recruiters.

Admissions.SG: What are you really looking for in an ideal candidate? How can candidates stand out?

Lawrence Chan: Diversity, multi cutural exposre, learship experience, ability to work across diverse group of stakeholders. Other key hard skills will be assessed. We trace carefully about their experience before MBA to establish a deep understanding about their skills, aptitute and exposure.

Admissions.SG: How important is the GMAT in your decisions? What, if any, roles do the AWA and IR sections of the GMAT play in your decisions?

Lawrence Chan: GMAT is not the most important factor, we do not chase after applicants with highest GMAT score. Many other soft criteria as mentioned in the previous question are more important. AWA and IR are examined as they tend to be a good reflection of the English capability than the overall GMAT score.

Admissions.SG: What percentage of the pool do you interview? What does your interview process look like? What percent of the interviewees are offered admission?

Lawrence Chan: Percentage of the pool invited for intervews tend to be high as we believe we should be fair to applicants and to offer a chance for them to express themselves. Interviews last for 1 hour and typically conducted by senior management of MBA programs, general not academic, similar to serious job interviews.

Admissions.SG: Do you have a pet peeve? What is the one mistake candidates make that gets them rejected outright?

[pullquote cite=”Lawrence Chan” type=”right”]By 30 Jun 2015, 93% of our 2015 graduates already landed on jobs.[/pullquote]Lawrence Chan: A lot typo errors, poorly structured CV and inability to establish a professional conversation during the first 15 mins of the interview.

Admissions.SG: How have your application numbers, acceptance rates, and yield changed over the past few years?

Lawrence Chan: Generally speaking, the woldwide application number for MBA is shrinking a little bit over the last few years. Our acceptance rates remains pretty stable over the last few years.

Admissions.SG: What percentage of last year’s incoming class found jobs within 3 months of graduation? What jobs did they find? With which companies? In which locations?

Lawrence Chan: Majority of our graduates (80%) found jobs in Asia region, such as Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Japan, Korea etc. 40-45% will join Finance and Banking including i-Banks, Asset Management, Risk Managent, VC/PE. The others spread over Consutling, Technology, Marketing and Branding. By 30 Jun 2015, 93% of our 2015 graduates already landed on jobs. Employment is not issue for our program.