Here's the university release. Some excerpts:
"In addition to the slides, applicants for next year's entering class must also answer two essay questions. The first essay, limited to 1,500 words, is: "Why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your career? What are your personal and professional goals and the role an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business plays in your plans to reach these goals?"
The second essay, limited to 500 words, asks: "If you could step into someone else's shoes for a day, who would it be and why?" "Feedback from our current students shows that one of the unique things about our MBA program is that it challenges people to think in different ways and to be prepared for the unexpected," Martinelli said. "We keep that in mind as we select our essay questions. The new requirement for slides just takes that to another level."
The slides submitted with the application will not be judged on technical ability but rather the self-expression that is revealed, the school said. "Slides allow people to stretch beyond just the written word and one inch margins into a different space where an applicant can be much more expressive," Martinelli said.
"The slides will be printed and placed in each applicant's file for review, which means all the bells and whistles such as Flash, video clips, embedded music and hyperlinks won't be considered in the evaluation process," she said. "This clearly levels the playing field for everyone."
At least that means they won't have any Alexsey Vayner applications... for now.
The AP story on this quotes Associate Dean Rose Martinelli as saying: "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."
Perhaps I'll write some limericks. That should get the MBA train rolling.
David Parker's Cognitive Cocktail blog did a good evaluative summary of what is bad about PowerPoint back in 2005. Too bad he has apparently stopped blogging, there's some good stuff there. And while you have to pay for Tufte's "Cognitive Style of PowerPoint", you can get a summary from the man himself as printed in Wired back in 2003.
I guess what this all comes down to is that I think it's a bit ridiculous that a graduate school of business should be advocating for the use of a tool that is as flawed as PowerPoint. I also think that beyond the flaws of PowerPoint itself, the habits that PowerPoint encourages in people who may have weak presentation skills are fatal ones. Show of hands -- who hasn't become suicidal watching and listending to someone drone their way through a long, bulletized presentation that they READ TO YOU OFF THE FRICKING SCREEN? Am I the only one who's thought I CAN READ IT MYSELF YOU BLOCKHEAD! YOU'RE STEALING TIME FROM ME I CAN'T GET BACK!
So while Seth says:
I'd challenge the school to publish the first year entries, eliminating most of the gimmicks from use. Just as blog entries and YouTube videos keep getting better, this gimmick will probably start to lead to useful contributions.
I disagree. I think that the sloppy tool of PowerPoint will just lead to better-executed and sloppily thought out application slides.
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