Admissions Director Q&A Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Application Deadlines Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to the leading MBA programs.
Essay Topic Analysis Below are links to our comments on some of the leading programs' essay topics.
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. MBA Programs: North America If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
MBA Programs: The 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.
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Posted by Clear Admit on July 30, 2004, at 11:53 am
For those of you who are not tuned into Wharton’s discussion forums (Wharton student2student), here are some recent comments posted by members of the admissions committee and former students on the critical subject of essay writing:
Alex Brown (Senior Associate Director, Wharton Admissions):
“…goals (vision) are important to us as you really need to articulate effectively why you plan to be at wharton so you can make the most of the wharton experience. wharton is a big place with a tremendous ammount of options / resources. your goals etc. provide the needed plan and discipline to stay focused and make the most of this place. without the plan you may lose focus and ultimately pursue things here that are not necessarily useful . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 29, 2004, at 11:54 am
The Detroit News has published an interesting article about the recent increase in female students at programs like the University of Michigan.
For the full story: . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 28, 2004, at 11:34 am
Here are some very basic tips on how to approach one of the HBS essays. (The following information has been taken from Clear Admit’s Guide to HBS Essay Topics):
Essay 2: What are your three most substantial accomplishments, and why do you view them as such?
Spend a little time thinking about this question to find a good balance in your accomplishments. These accomplishments can be from any part of your life – though time-wise, they should probably be from college or after. There should be at least one professional accomplishment, and at least one personal/extracurricular accomplishment. A good mix might be one professional accomplishment; one personal (individual) accomplishment – it could be academic, perhaps; and one extracurricular/community service accomplishment. If you decide . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 27, 2004, at 8:49 am
Most applicants assume that the best MBA programs outside of the USA are in Europe. This approach unfortunately overlooks several programs in Canada, including the University of Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business and The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business (both featured in most of the popular global MBA rankings).
Along those lines, BusinessWeek has just published an informative interview with the Director of Admissions at Ivey (Scott Walker). In the interview, Walker discusses the admissions process at the school, along with his take on the latest admissions trends. This is a must read for those of you considering your options beyond the US . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 26, 2004, at 10:51 am
The Sunday New York Times featured an interesting article about the financial maneuverings surrounding Harvard’s endowment. As many of our readers know, Harvard University has the largest endowment of any university ($19.3 billion). This is more than the next two schools combined (Yale and University of Texas).
Although reading this article will not necessarily help your chances of admission to HBS, it should certainly be of interest to anyone thinking of attending the school, as well as anyone with a background in accounting, finance and/or . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 23, 2004, at 9:07 am
From the 2005 Darden Application (just released!):
–ESSAYS–
Use your best judgment in determining the appropriate length of your essays.
1. Write your life story in one page or less.
2. Why do you want to earn an MBA? In an ideal scenario, what would you be doing in fifteen years?
3. What is your understanding of how Darden is different from the other schools to which you are applying? Why do you feel Darden is a good fit for you?
4. Describe your most rewarding leadership experience and what it means to your development as a potential leader.
5. (Optional) Please use this opportunity to present any additional information that would assist the Admissions Committee in the evaluation of your candidacy.
Although there are some changes for this . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 22, 2004, at 12:11 pm
An Israeli online business journal has published an interesting interview with Columbia’s former Dean (Meyer Feldberg). It highlights how much the program changed during his 15-year tenure, while asking him questions about his vision for the . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 21, 2004, at 9:06 am
Columbia has recently gone to their waitlist, offering a couple of waitlisted applicants spots in this fall’s class. Although we are certainly coming down to the wire, this movement indicates that there may be a chance for a few of you who are still hanging on.
The CBS admissions committee has stated that the class is basically full, but Columbia often has some movement around the first day of classes, since there can be a bit of a ‘trickle down’ effect as programs like Stanford, Harvard and Wharton make last minute adjustments to their waitlists, etc.
As usual, it’s a good idea to keep your Columbia waitlist manager informed of your continued desire to attend along with any recent personal/professional accomplishments or changes . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 20, 2004, at 11:10 am
For our readers in the Boston area, here’s an event you may want to attend:
“The Third Annual 2004 Business School Admissions Panel – The University of Pennsylvania Alumni Club of Boston hosts this panel discussion, featuring officers from Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Sloan and Kellogg. Various aspects of the business school application process will be discussed, including academics, professional experience, essays, interviews and recommendations. The event will be held from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at John Hancock Hall, 180 Berkeley St., Boston.”
For further information, visit . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 19, 2004, at 11:19 am
Married couples applying to business school face unique challenges in the process. Here is a wonderful note we recently received from a ‘Clear Admit couple’ who are heading off to INSEAD:
—– Original Message —–
From: xxxxxxx
To: info@clearadmit.com
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 8:40 PM
Subject: Re: Update
Dear Graham and the entire Clear Admit team,
Thanks for all your assistance and advice! It would be our pleasure to give you a quote which you could use on your website. Here is our attempt at one:
“My wife and I both had a dream of doing our MBA together at a top institution. We chose INSEAD as the school of our dreams but found out that it is not a school which readily offers admission to . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 13, 2004, at 4:23 pm
Columbia has recently released their dates for the coming year and made their application available for download. Since CBS offers rolling deadlines, I have also included the date that they begin to review applications.
Dates:
Full Time MBA – September 2005
Early Decision: review begins August 16, 2004; deadline October 11, 2004
International Applicants: review begins January 10, 2005; deadline March 1, 2005
U.S. Citizens and Residents: review begins January 10, 2005; deadline April 20, 2005
Accelerated MBA Program – January 2005
International Applicants: review begins August 16, 2004; deadline October 1, 2004
U.S. Citizens and Residents: review begins August 16, 2004; deadline October 11, 2004
Essay Questions:
1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (1000 word . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 9, 2004, at 9:03 am
Harvard has now released their essay questions and deadlines! As predicted in this blog (see our posting from 7/2/2004), the first deadline will fall right next to Wharton’s R1 date.
Deadlines:
Round 1: October 13th, 2004
Round 2: January 5th, 2005
Round 3: March 9th, 2005
Essay Questions:
1. Describe a significant change that you brought about in an organization and its impact on your development as a leader. (400-word limit)
2. What are your three most substantial accomplishments, and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
3. Provide a candid assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. (400-word limit)
4. How do you define success? (400-word limit)
5. What are your career aspirations, and how can an MBA help you to reach them? Why now? (400-word . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 8, 2004, at 9:19 am
BusinessWeek has published an interesting article on the decline in international applications to American MBA programs. The article cites a number of potential reasons for the decline, ranging from uncertainty in the US economy to competition from 1-year programs available overseas. Of course, many admissions officers point out that much of the ‘decline’ is coming on the heels of record setting years (1999, 2000, 2001), when schools were simply overflowing with applications – both foreign and domestic.
For the full text of the article: . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 7, 2004, at 10:44 am
Here are links to a few more web diaries (blogs) on offer from applicants who are keeping track of their path to business school. It’s always nice to be able to compare notes with others in your shoes, so feel free to visit these sites and let their authors know that you appreciate their efforts!
Dave for MBA: http://daveformba.blogspot.com/
Beowulf: http://mbawulf.blogspot.com/
Brit Chick . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 6, 2004, at 10:24 am
Duke’s deadlines for the 2004-2005 admissions season are as follows:
Round 1: November 1, 2004
Round 2: January 3, 2005
Round 3: February 1, 2005
Round 4: March 15, 2005
As usual, the school is going with four deadlines. Last year, the program offered dates in both mid-October and early December, but this year they seem to be pushing the entire schedule back a bit, perhaps in hopes of capturing more of the applicant pool (and avoiding head-to-head deadline competition with the likes of Harvard, Wharton and Columbia).
As for the essay questions, they are nearly identical to last year, with the chief difference being essay #3, which focuses on ‘Team Fuqua’.
1. Describe your professional work experience since earning your bachelor’s degree and discuss how you chose . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 5, 2004, at 10:35 am
Friday’s issue of The Harvard Crimson published an article about the school’s interest in recruiting Chinese professors and students for the HBS community in Boston. Brit Dewey, Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, said the following:
“We are in the process of expanding our global reach,” Dewey said. “China is an area of tremendous potential and tremendous economic growth.” Dewey said that the school already has efforts underway to entice more applicants from China. “We have had members of the MBA admissions board travel to China to do outreach, and we have had students and alumni serve as ambassadors to help market the program,” Dewey said.
Working Toward Globalization, HBS Expands Recruiting . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 5, 2004, at 10:32 am
Posted by Clear Admit on July 2, 2004, at 11:00 am
The following schools have now posted their first round deadlines for this fall:
INSEAD: October 6th, 2004
Wharton: October 14th, 2004
Tuck/Dartmouth: October 18th, 2004 (early action)
Haas/Berkeley: October 19th, 2004
Sloan/MIT: October 27th, 2004
Stanford: October 28th, 2004
Chicago: November 12th, 2004
Stern/NYU: December 1st, 2004
The deadlines appear to be shaping up in a similar fashion to prior seasons. Although not yet published, it is safe to assume that Harvard’s first deadline will end up on or about the 14th of October and that Kellogg’s date will be in early November. Similarly, Columbia’s ‘rolling’ Early Decision deadline is likely to fall in mid-October.
For those of you aggressively targeting several top 10 programs, it will be critical to develop a schedule that allows you to coordinate all of the . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on July 1, 2004, at 9:54 am
Throughout the admissions season, we receive hundreds of emails with great questions. Some time ago, Clear Admit was invited to host a live chat and Q&A session on the BusinessWeek web site. During the chat, we addressed dozens of critical questions posed by applicants who were just starting down the road to b-school application. Here’s a sampling of the type of questions that were answered:
BusinessWeek: What’s a good strategy for contacting professors at a school that an MBA applicant is interested in? How does the applicant get his or her name known among the faculty before his or her application is submitted?
Clear Admit: It makes a lot of sense to communicate with students and professors who are . . . → Continue Reading
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Clear Admit’s Most Recent Posts
MBA Admissions Wiki In the Clear Admit Wiki, you can share your experiences through the application process and learn from those of others. Below are the five most popular pages in the wiki:
BW Business SchoolsThe 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 are the five most recent discussions taking place in the forum:
Beat the GMATClear 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:
GMAT ClubGMAT Club
Below are the five most recent posts to the GMAT Club message boards.
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The student-2-student Discussion Boards are managed by Wharton. Here are the five most recent discussions.
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School-Hosted BlogsStraight from the source: aggregated posts from students and administration. Below are the seven most recent posts in school-hosted blogs.
Individuals’ BlogsA selection of the latest updates to MBA blogs compiled by Hella.
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