2004 January » Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Consultants Blog

APPLICANT RESOURCES

Have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Research schools on the go and keep your applications organized with Clear Admit's new MBA Planner App! Now available in a free 'Lite' version too!

Admissions Director Q&A
Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Dawna Clarke (Tuck)
Rose Martinelli (Chicago)
Judith Hodara (Wharton)
Sara Neher (Darden)
Soojin Kwon Koh (Michigan)
Randall Sawyer (Cornell)
Beth Flye (Kellogg)
David Simpson (LBS)
Liz Riley Hargrove (Duke)
Linda Meehan (Columbia)
Bruce DelMonico (Yale)
Peter Johnson (Berkeley)
Isser Gallogly (NYU)
Mae Jennifer Shores (UCLA)
J.J. Cutler (Wharton)
Jake Cohen (INSEAD)
Rod Garcia (MIT Sloan)
Mary Miller (Columbia)

Clear Admit School Guides
Become an expert on your target schools overnight! Get the program-specific details you need to craft essays that stand out. See how schools compare head-to-head in key areas like recruiting, curricular structure, elective offerings and more. Available for immediate download. As featured in the Economist.

Clear Admit Career Guides
Understand career-specific offerings at leading MBA programs and identify the schools that will best support your career goals with the Clear Admit Career Guides! Available for Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Healthcare.

Clear Admit Strategy Series
Craft a winning application with the Clear Admit Strategy Series! Step-by-Step guidance through the application process. Titles include a Resume Guide, Recommendations Guide, Waitlist Guide and more!

Clear Admit Interview Guides
Be as prepared as possible for your MBA interviews this season with the Clear Admit Interview Guides! School-specific sample questions and in-depth strategy, campus visit details and places to stay.

Application Deadlines
Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools.
Feb 10: INSEAD R3
Mar 1: Michigan / Ross R3
Mar 3: CBS
Mar 3: LBS R3
Mar 4: Kellogg R3
Mar 8: Cambridge / Judge R4
Mar 8: CMU / Tepper R3
Mar 9: Duke / Fuqua R3
Mar 9: Penn / Wharton R3
Mar 10: Berkeley / Hass R4
Mar 10: Chicago Booth R3
Mar 10: Yale SOM R3
Mar 15: NYU / Stern R3
Mar 17: UCLA / Anderson R3
Mar 19: UNC / Kenan-Flagler R4
Mar 30: Cornell / Johnson R4
Mar 31: UVA / Darden R3
Mar 31: INSEAD R4
Apr 1: UT-Austin / McCombs
Apr 2: Dartmouth / Tuck R3
Apr 2: Oxford / Saїd R3
Apr 7: Stanford GSB R4
Apr 8: Harvard R3
Apr 14: CBS

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas*
Chicago Booth*
CMU / Tepper*
Columbia*
Cornell / Johnson*
Dartmouth / Tuck*
Duke / Fuqua*
Harvard*
Indian School of Business*
INSEAD*
London Business School*
MIT / Sloan*
Michigan / Ross*
Northwestern / Kellogg*
NYU / Stern*
Oxford / Said*
Penn / Wharton*
Stanford GSB*
UCLA / Anderson*
UNC / Kenan-Flagler*
USC / Marshall*
UT Austin / McCombs*
UVA / Darden*
Yale SOM*
* denotes '09-'10 commentary

Categories
Use categories to access all that has been written on each of the topics. We have categorized by school and by subject matter.

Interview Reports
A selection of interview field reports from fellow applicants posted to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Add your reports when you are finished with your interviews.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan / Ross
MIT / Sloan
Stanford
UNC / Chapel Hill
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
London Business School

GMAT Resources
MBA.com
Manhattan GMAT
GMAT Club
Princeton Review
Test Prep New York
Kaplan
Beat The GMAT
Knewton

Writing Resources
Guide to Grammar and Writing
The Internet Grammar of English
English Usage, Style and Composition
The Economist Style Guide
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

School Rankings
Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
Business Week
Economist
Financial Times
Forbes
USNews
Wall Street Journal

Career Guides
The following resources should be useful to those who want to research the careers open to them after (or before) earning an MBA.
Vault.com
Wetfeet

Business School Resources
The following are business resources offered by a variety of leading Business Schools. It's useful to subscribe to these resources, especially for the schools to which you are applying.

MBA Programs: North America
If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
Berkeley / Haas
Boston College / Carroll
Carnegie Mellon / Tepper
Chicago
Columbia
Concordia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Emory / Goizueta
Harvard
HEC Montreal
Indiana / Kelley
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
Northwestern / Kellogg
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Kenan Flagler
Notre Dame / Mendoza
Pennsylvania / Wharton
Queens
Stanford
Syracuse / Whitman
Texas / McCombs
Thunderbird
Toronto
USC / Marshall
UCLA / Anderson
Vanderbilt / Owen
Virginia / Darden
Washington University in St. Louis / Olin
Western Ontario / Ivey
Yale

MBA Programs: Rest of the World
As there is some variety in the length of international MBA programs, we have denoted the length of the program next to its name (1 = one year; 2 = 2 years). If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
AGSM (Australia) 2
Cambridge / Judge (UK) 1
CIEBS (China) 2
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (China) 1
Cranfield School of Mgmt (UK) 1
ESADE (Spain) 1 or 2
HEC (France) 2
Hult (UK) 1
IESE (Spain) 2
IMD (Switzerland) 1
INCAE (Costa Rica) 2
INSEAD (France) 1
IPADE (Mexico)
ISB (India) 1
London Business School (UK) 2
Manchester Bus. School (UK) 2
Melbourne (Australia) 2
Oxford / Said (UK) 1
Rotterdam (Netherlands) 1
Tsinghua IMBA (China) 2
University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1

Additional Resources
Here we link a host of additional resources available across the web. E-mail info@clearadmit.com to have resources added to this list.
AACSB International
Association of MBAs
Beyond Grey Pinstripes
EFMD
gradschools.com (worldwide)
Infozee
International Student Loans
mba.com (GMAT Scores)
MBAInfo
mbaleague.blogspot.com
MBAzone
MBA Jungle
TOEFL
Top MBA

MBA Tipline
We encourage admissions officers, students and applicants to alert us of interesting news and developments, please send an email to news@clearadmit.com so we can blog it.

Blog Archive

Get a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card! Contribute your MBA interview reports to the Clear Admit Wiki.

Taking the GMAT? Download our free, independent guide to the leading test prep companies - includes coupons for savings at 10 leading test prep firms!

ARCHIVE FOR JANUARY 2004

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Alex Brown offers his take on ’round 3′ at Wharton…

Here’s the latest from Alex Brown, an admissions officer at the Wharton School. Although his comments are balanced, there is certainly a hint of optimism for those considering ’round 3′ this year.

http://s2s.wharton.upenn.edu/wh-wharton/messages?msg=6908

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 7:41 pm in School: Penn / Wharton

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Rapid Turnaround in Round 2!

‘Round 2′ interview invites have already begun trickling out from Stanford, Tuck (international candidates) and Wharton. In addition, it appears that some ’round 1′ decisions have been made based on the looks of ’round 2′. For example, HBS sent out a handful of ’round 1′ interview invites at the last minute after they had received their second round applications. Once again, this sort of activity is likely due to the decrease in volume this year…

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:04 pm in General

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Stanford ‘Round 1′ Decisions Going Out…

Stanford has begun calling ‘Round 1′ applicants who made the cut! They actually started in the middle of the night (Pacific time) to catch European and Asian students as they started their day. Check the BW Forums for detailed discussions….

Congratulations to those of you who have been admitted to the Stanford class of 2006!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:00 pm in School: Stanford

Early Decision vs. Early Action vs. earlier deadlines…

Today’s Wall Street Journal Online, has an interesting article about the shift in undergraduate admissions trends. In essence, the article outlines undergraduate policies like ‘early action’, ‘early decision’ and ’single-choice early action’ while offering information on acceptance rates in these early rounds, etc.

The interesting link between this article and the world of MBA admissions relates to the increasing use of ‘early decision’ rounds or early ‘Round 1′ deadlines at business schools. MBA programs like Cornell/Johnson and Dartmouth/Tuck are pushing ‘early action’ deadlines (mid-October) and Columbia continues to find takers for their often controversial ‘early decision’ deadline (mid-October). Other schools, like Wharton, have simply made their ‘Round 1′ deadline earlier in the last couple of years (mid-October) and are offering decisions prior to Christmas (mid-December).

The nice thing about ‘early action’ or even an early ‘Round 1′ deadline is that it allows an applicant to hang on to an acceptance without being forced to attend a program. ‘Early decision’, on the other hand, is typically a binding policy where the admitted student is forced to committ (often via a large deposit) or lose the offer. I would love to post some comments from readers of this blog on the various admissions policies and how they impact applicant decision making. Feel free to email your thoughts to info@clearadmit.com

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:11 am in Admissions Tips, Deadlines

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Decision Season

‘Round 1′ decisions have begun to flow at a number of schools. Of note are U. Michigan and U. Chicago, along with MIT’s final notification this past Monday. Here are a few relevant chats going on in the BW Forms:

MIT (general), MIT (admits), MIT (waitlisters)
Chicago (round 1 decisions)
U. Michigan (round 1 admits)

For those of you who received bad news, now is a good time to think about your options. Before you make any decisions, you need to ask yourself the following question: Do I absolutely need to attend an MBA program this fall – no matter what – or can I wait another year? Depending on the answer to this question you may follow one of the two options below:

1) Apply to additional schools in ‘Round 3′. Believe it or not, this may be the year to do it (see earlier postings in this blog about admissions volume).

2) Reapply next season.

Either of these options will require a careful assessment of what may have gone wrong in ‘Round 1′. Make sure you objectively assess your profile (GMAT, GPA, caliber of education, work experience, recommendations, essays, etc.) before proceeding with a reappliciation strategy for next year or new applications in ‘Round 3′. Contact Clear Admit if you need a feedback report on your first round applications.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:34 pm in General

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

Application Volume in Round 2

Volume appears to be down in ‘Round 2′ at nearly all of the top schools. When combined with the ‘Round 1′ declines, this brings a couple of interesting questions to mind:

1) Will the chances of admission be slightly better than usual in the typically feared ‘Round 3′?

As long as we keep in mind the fact that we are still talking about the very best schools in the nation (and generally slim odds to begin with), the short answer is yes. This is true for a couple of reasons. First, if volume is down as much as 25%, schools will inevitably admit a greater percentage of ‘Round 3′ applicants than in past years (assuming they maintain class sizes). Second, and perhaps more importantly, if volume is down and the schools failed to adjust their admissions tactics in ‘Round 1′, they may be forced to use rounds 2 and 3 to ensure that they fill their classes. Again, this will all happen at the margins, but it is important to note.

2) Why is volume down in the first place? Now is arguably a great time to enter business school, since the forecasts seem to point towards increased economic activity over the next couple of years (e.g. more jobs for graduates).

Let’s look at a few of the popular theories with regards to MBA admissions trends:

-Some people say that MBA admissions volume mirrors financial markets (this argument doesn’t seem to hold much water given the high volume in both 2000 and 2001).

-Others point out that admissions volume is counter-cyclical to the markets (certainly a possibility, but the late 90’s weren’t really ‘lean’ years in the MBA admissions world).

-Recently, there has been talk of the business scandals casting a shadow on the degree itself, tarnishing the MBA (especially when compared with the JD and MD options that young people may be considering). This is interesting, but seems unlikely to have caused such a dramatic drop – at least not one that would be seen in the admissions pool as of yet (since students choosing the JD or MD paths typically do so right after college).

-Finally, there is also the current global uncertainty with regards to international affairs. Are fewer international students applying? Are students opting to stay in secure posts rather than risk testing the job market again after an MBA?

Unfortunately, the answer is probably not reached by any of these common theories. In fact, at Clear Admit, we’re partial to a different theory, that we call the ‘market-lag’ theory (application volume follows financial markets but with a significant lag). While there may be a hint of the ‘international uncertainty’ theory lowering MBA application volume from overseas, the market-lag theory is likely to be the driving force in the recent declines seen by top schools.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 7:29 pm in MBA News

Friday, January 09, 2004

On Deck….

If you think this past week was busy (9 major deadlines over 5 days), there’s still more to come! Let’s have a look at what’s on deck for next week:

Tues: UNC
Weds: UVA
Thurs: Carnegie Mellon, NYU and Cornell
Fri: Insead
[Rolling: Columbia]
[Still to come the following week: Duke, Berkeley, MIT]

Despite the continued decline in volume that most schools are seeing in round 2 (anywhere from 15-30%), it allows makes sense to diversify your portfolio and consider a range of programs. As such, there may be some opportunities to consider in the coming days….

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 7:24 pm in Deadlines

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

Don’t rush the application forms!

Many MBA applicants are burning the midnight oil this week in order to polish their essays and increase their chances of admission. After all, in the world of MBA admissions counseling, nearly everyone focuses on the essays as the key area to focus one’s efforts (once the GMAT is out of the way).

One often overlooked aspect in the process, however, is the application form itself. Most candidates leave the forms for the last minute or rush to fill out online applications from work on D-day, but the truth is that a weak effort on these forms can do all kinds of harm to your candidacy. As such, here are a few tips for applicants who are about to approach the application forms:

1) Follow instructions. If the schools asks you to list activities in chronological order, then do not list them in order of importance to you (as you may have done for another school). If the school asks for a contact person, title or the number of hours/week, do not leave these fields blank.

2) Make things clear. The last thing you want is for your admissions reader to have to play detective in determining your career progression (gaps in employment) or undergraduate career. Admissions officers are busy people and they don’t have time to connect the dots on your background. If your listings are not clear, the reader may assume you are hiding something. Once they make this assumption, your chances will evaporate. Given the level of competition in the applicant pool, the admissions office can afford to avoid files that seem a bit confusing.

3) Don’t be lazy. Since it’s likely that you’ll be ‘burned out’ from your essays, the temptation will be to zip through the application forms. In many cases, the forms are a great opportunity for you to list outside activities in depth, offer a quick explanation for a bad grade, etc. In fact, your application forms will often be the starting point for the admissions officer’s review of your file. Put your best foot forward.

4) Avoid going overboard. Admissions officers typically review several files in a sitting – devoting much less time than you might imagine to each file. As such, try to avoid listing 18 activities, 22 awards and 17 publications – especially if some of those items date back to high school (or are more than 10 years old). Stay focused on the elements of your background that are most relevant. Also, when asked for a short-answer, do not draft an essay. If your admissions file is twice as thick as the rest of the files, it will not necessarily be twice as good. How do you think the admissions officer will feel when they go to pick up a thick file for a ‘quick’ review?

As always, best of luck to those of you who are applying!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:21 am in Admissions Tips

Friday, January 02, 2004

Happy New Year!

Happy 2004 from the entire Clear Admit staff! We hope that all you gain admission to the school of your choice in the coming year! Our New Year’s resolution is to spend more time blogging. Feel free to email us anytime you have a comment on the blog or suggestions for content, etc…

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:28 pm in General

ACTIVE CONTENT

Clear Admit's Recent Posts

Facebook

Become a fan of Clear Admit on Facebook and join a vibrant MBA applicant community to engage in discussion, stay on top of deadlines, follow MBA news and win prizes!

Twitter

Follow Clear Admit on Twitter for breaking MBA news before it's blogged, just-posted interview reports in the Wiki and more!

MBA Twitter Index!

We've created the MBA Admissions Twitter Index, a directory of applicants, current MBA students and b-schools on Twitter.

Wiki

MBA Admissions Wiki
The Clear Admit Wiki is designed to allow b-school applicants to share their experiences through the application process. You can learn from others' experiences and contribute your own reports to the community. Below are the five most popular pages in the wiki:
Wharton Interview Field Reports
HBS Interview Field Reports
Kellogg Interview Field Reports
Chicago Interview Field Reports
Columbia Interview Field Reports

Discussion Boards

BusinessWeek Forums
The BusinessWeek Discussion Boards are another way to learn about the issues applicants face. Clear Admit hosts the Ask Clear Admit thread, which should help answer your questions. Here is a link to the original interface (for those of you who didn't like the recent upgrade). Also, here are the five most recent discussions taking place in the forum:

Beat The GMAT Forums
Clear Admit is a featured expert in the BeatTheGMAT forums, answering questions from applicants across the globe. Feel free to ask us your questions in this forum! Here are the most recent posts:

StudyLink Forums
Clear Admit manages the Applying section of the StudyLink MBA discussion boards.

GMAT Club Forums
Below are the five most recent posts to the GMAT Club message boards.

student 2 student
The student-2-student Discussion Boards are managed by Wharton. Here are the five most recent discussions.

School-Hosted Blogs

Straight from the source: aggregated posts from students and administration. Below are the seven most recent posts in school-hosted blogs.

Individuals' Blogs

A selection of the latest updates to MBA blogs compiled by Hella.
MBA Applicants

MBA Students

Bloggers by School

The following are links to bloggers at each of the schools listed.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Chapel Hill
Stanford
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
Yale
ESADE
IESE
INSEAD
London Business School

Community Blogs

Bshoolers.com
Community blog with MBA student and alum contributors.

Forté Foundation MBA Diaries
Video blog entries posted by women MBA students.

Owen Bloggers
Independent blog with content by Vanderbilt MBA students.

Best of Blogging

2008-2009 Top Ten: