Wednesday’s Headlines: Business schools turn down alumni for interviews, rely on video and in-person meetings

Think your alma mater is a sure-fire when applying to business school? Not so fast, warns a story in The Wall Street Journal. Business schools, including University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, are passing over alumni for admissions interviews in an effort to ensure interviews are being conducted in a uniform manner.

The story found: For years, many graduate schools relied on their vast alumni networks to screen MBA candidates. Now, some schools want tighter control over interviews to better judge whether an applicant who looks great on paper really stacks up in person. They're also hoping that a smaller set of interviewers will allow for more consistent comparison among candidates.

Wharton is sending six admissions officers to a dozen cities around the world to conduct the 3,500 interviews, which will result in the admittance of 1,000 students. About 850 ultimately enroll. Anderson School of Management, at UCLA, relies increasingly on video-conferencing for interviews.

Other News:

Banks in Asia have slowed their hiring. [Financial Times]

MetLife will close its mortgage unit with most of the 4,300 workers losing their jobs. [Bloomberg]

Michael Williams, head of troubled Fannie Mae, will leave after a successor is found. [AP]

RBS’s Irish unit, Ulster Bank, is preparing for its second round of layoffs. [Businessweek]

Global regulators’ definition of “too big to fail” could extend to insurers, clearing houses, hedge funds, money market mutual funds and other types of firms. [Bloomberg]

Three Carlyle founders earned a combined $400 million in 2010. [WSJ]

Occupy Wall Street has interviewed four candidates for a job overseeing the movement’s finances. [BuzzFeed]