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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 December 31, 2004, at 9:41 am
Business Week has published a very interesting article about recruiting conflicts between part-time and full-time MBA students at the top programs. The article covers the variety of systems that are in place at some of the top schools offering both full and part-time options (Kellogg, NYU/Stern, Chicago and Babson).
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2004/bs20041230_3924_PG2_bs001.htm
There are several things to consider here:
1) What percentage of part-time MBA students are actively looking for a new employer post-MBA? This is a key point, since many part-timers are employer-sponsored and intend to stay with their companies post-MBA.
2) Are admissions standards the same for part-time students vs. their full-time counterparts at schools like NYU, Chicago, etc?
3) Which schools are having greater success with their efforts? For example, it might be interesting . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 30, 2004, at 10:55 am
There is an interesting article in today’s New York Times about the use of technology in the admissions recruiting process.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/technology/circuits/30coll.html
While the article focuses on the undergraduate market, there are clearly parallels in the MBA admissions world. In fact, some would argue that MBA programs like MIT/Sloan (the first to introduce a paper-less application) and Wharton (the first to feature a blog, discussion forum and live chats) have actually paved the way for many of the schools mentioned in the article.
Overall, an interesting read for those who are taking a quick break from their R2 . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 29, 2004, at 11:12 am
As we approach the numerous admissions deadlines in the coming weeks, we thought we might offer a handful of tips to help you manage your time:
1) Do not overlook the application forms. This aspect of the process takes much longer than most applicants expect and is not simply a matter of pasting your mailing address and resume into an online form. Keep in mind that beyond your GMAT scores, GPAs and essays, admissions officers are also evaluating your ability to coherently and concisely present information while following directions.
2) Check on the progress of your recommendation letters. It would be a shame to submit your application in the nick of time only to learn that one of your recommenders failed to do . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 28, 2004, at 10:53 am
Since many of you will be having your R1 HBS interviews during the first week of January, we thought we’d offer you some excerpts from a ‘field report’ we recently received. These notes came to us from a client who had their HBS interview earlier this season.
- HBS INTERVIEW NOTES -
Duration of Interview:
Precisely 30 minutes. Interview started perfectly on time.
Questions:
1. Intro, “How was your trip here?”, etc…
2. Have you visited HBS before? Have you visited a class?
Moving into the interview, my interviewer said, “Since we only have 30 minutes, please don’t be offended if I stop your line of conversation. I will take notes occasionally during our conversation. These notes will go in your file and your complete application will be . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 27, 2004, at 1:26 pm
Two prominent publishers of MBA rankings (Business Week and the Wall Street Journal), have undergone some changes at the top:
The Associated Press has reported that Stephen J. Adler, deputy managing director of the Wall Street Journal has taken the editor’s job at Business Week magazine. He’ll be moving over to Business Week in January for a transitional phase before taking the helm on April 1st.
Adler said the following when the announcement was made:
“I’m enormously honored and hugely excited to have [the] opportunity. I’ve always admired BusinessWeek’s clarity, reliability and insight, and I look forward to helping to build on those traditions while working creatively to meet the opportunities of the digital age.” Article: click here
Over at the Wall Street Journal, . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 24, 2004, at 10:27 am
The entire Clear Admit team wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday!
(Clear Admit blog-addicts, fear not – we’ll be back on Monday with more MBA gossip, tips and information. Just like Santa, we tend to work overtime at this point . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 23, 2004, at 10:27 am
Here’s a bit of advice on a rather non-traditional essay question that Kellogg poses in their MBA application. (Consider it an early holiday gift to our readers who will be spending their vacation days writing Kellogg essays for R2…)
3. You have been selected as a member of the Kellogg Admissions Committee. Please provide a brief evaluative assessment of your file. (one to two pages double-spaced)
Although this seems like a very broad question, your response can actually be pretty straightforward. We find that the essay works best when applicants pick a few very concrete categories and evaluate themselves in these areas. If you are struggling as far as which categories to select, it can be helpful to have a careful look at . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 22, 2004, at 10:55 am
First off, we’d like to offer our congratulations to everyone who gained admission to Wharton yesterday! We really enjoyed receiving all the emails and phone calls from our clients as well as reading the latest blog and discussion forum postings from everyone in the MBA applicant community.
Since we’re aware that not every applicant received an admit, we thought we would offer some tips with regards to handling rejection or waitlist situations. In both cases, it’s important to remember that there are several silver linings here:
1) Timing is everything. The fact that Wharton releases R1 decisions well before most of the R2 deadlines provides applicants with an early signal of where they might fall in the applicant pool. This feedback can be . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 21, 2004, at 2:11 pm
The New York Times has published an interesting article about the declining number of international applicants to universities in the United States. While it’s clearly difficult to draw long-range conclusions at this point in time, the Times suggests that European and Asian universities are catching up to the US – offering more options for today’s students seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees. There are also suggestions that post-9/11 visa difficulties have discouraged some applicants from looking at US options.
This concept is certainly reflected in the declining GMAT volume for countries like China and India. Of course, before jumping to conclusions, it is worth noting that the article indicates that 17 of the worlds top 20 universities are located in the United . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 20, 2004, at 10:03 am
Our best wishes to those of you who are anxiously awaiting R1 results from Wharton. Decisions will be released tomorrow morning at 9 AM (EST). If you are feeling especially impatient for the news, you can log into the Wharton online application tomorrow morning at 8:59 AM and begin clicking ‘refresh’ until the news goes live. If you have taken more of a zen approach, you might opt to wait for the automated email which will alert you to a change in status at around the same time.
For the record, here is how Wharton goes about posting their decisions:
By this point, your file has been reviewed at least three times (two pre-interview reads and one post-interview read). In some cases, you . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 17, 2004, at 11:57 am
There is a fascinating article on university rankings in the latest edition of Knowledge @ Wharton. The article discusses a research study led by Wharton finance professor Andrew Metrick. Using a model similar to those used to rank professional chess players, Metrick and several colleagues from Harvard and Boston University have developed a new ranking for undergraduate programs.
Although this article focuses on college rankings, there are some interesting parallels to the MBA rankings world. For example, one of the central critiques that Metrick and company have for current college rankings revolves around the fact that schools can manipulate them. According to Metrick, this is typically done via early decision options (to artificially boost yield) and by encouraging unqualified applicants to apply . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 16, 2004, at 10:24 am
Several items to report today:
1) The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) will be raising the price of the GMAT exam from $225 to $250 as of January 1st, 2005. The reasons that were cited for the price increase are as follows: a) test security, b) rising demands for offering the test in more locations, c) ongoing improvements to customer service, and d) costs of litigation to protect the GMAT copyrights and trademarks. GMAC has also indicated that they feel that the cost of the exam is negligible in contrast to the cost of an MBA education.
Full text of the article: click here
2) Harvard Business School sent out a helpful ‘email reminder’ yesterday alerting all applicants to the upcoming R2 . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 15, 2004, at 10:37 am
At this point in the MBA admissions season, the majority of applicants fall into one of three categories: 1) elated, 2) nervous or 3) stressed out.
Before we get much further, let’s define these three groups in more detail:
1) Elated. These are the applicants who have applied very early to their dream school, gained admission sometime in the last few weeks and feel as if they might walk on air. They spend their time procrastinating at work, thinking about when they should give their notice and where they would like to travel in the months leading up to their MBA program’s ‘pre-term’. Ample time is also spent reading discussion forums with a pleasantly detached point of view.
2) Nervous. The nervous applicants . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 13, 2004, at 6:40 pm
This just in from the Wharton Admissions Blog:
Wharton R1 Decisions date moved to Tuesday, December 21, 9 AM
We have decided to move the decision-release date for Round 1 applicants, who were interviewed, to Tuesday, December 21. Decisions will be released at the usual time, 9 AM. At that time, an applicant will receive an e-mail notifying the status update, but the important thing to note is the online status will be updated at that time. We will be sending out an e-mail today, to all those who interviewed in R1, notifying them of this change.
http://adcomblog.wharton.upenn.edu/admissions/2004/12/r1_decesions_da.html
As predicted in this blog last Thursday, Wharton has bumped their date to notify R1 applicants a bit sooner. That should make the wait a . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 13, 2004, at 10:08 am
Following the theme of transparency in MBA admissions (see last week’s blog entries), we’d like to draw your attention to the most recent edition of Berkeley’s MBA E-News. The December edition of this newsletter has an informative explanation of the admissions process at Berkeley, describing the reading process. Here are a few key of the key points:
1) Applications are reviewed in random order.
2) All applications get a minimum of two reviews.
3) If the first two reviews both get a ‘thumbs down’, the applicant is rejected.
4) Applicants who make it past a third read are invited to interview.
5) Interviews are conducted on campus by students or off campus by alumni interviewers.
6) Following the interview, a file is reviewed again at an . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 10, 2004, at 10:56 am
The India Daily has published an interesting article covering GMAT trends amongst Indian test takers. Citing a study conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council, the article notes that the number of students taking the test in India has dropped off dramatically in the last two years (by 16% last season and as much as 25% this year). The author explains this trend as follows:
1) More Indian students are taking the CAT (Common Admissions Test) instead of the GMAT. This test enables them to apply to several top business programs offered in India – but is not valid for US and European MBA programs.
2) Programs offered in India are inexpensive when compared to options in Europe and America.
3) MBA options in . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 9, 2004, at 10:05 am
Last week was an exciting week with numerous admits going out for Darden (EA) and Columbia (ED). We also saw interview invitations mailed to Stanford and MIT R1 applicants and continued to receive ‘field reports’ from applicants completing their Wharton and HBS interviews.
Despite all of the activity last week, this week looks to be even more charged with news. As usual, our clients have been updating us with their results. The BusinessWeek discussion forums have also been flooded with noteworthy developments. Yesterday, Tuck (EA) began calling applicants with good news (admit calls will continue to go out through the end of the week). Kellogg also began notifying a handful of R1 applicants who have made the cut. Meanwhile, . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 8, 2004, at 10:07 am
The New York Times has published an interesting piece on the lack of writing skills in corporate America and the amount of money that firms are spending on remedial training for their employees. This article should give MBA applicants a sense for what admissions officers often have to put up with when they read applications. It should also explain why admissions officers really appreciate coherent essays that respond to the questions and demonstrate a healthy amount of introspection.
For the full text of the article:
What Corporate America Can’t Build: A Sentence
In other news, one of our favorite bloggers has published a ‘Wharton R1 Countdown’ on his site. For those of you who enjoy watching the minutes tick off the clock, check . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 7, 2004, at 10:24 am
This is certainly an exciting time of the year for admissions officers and applicants alike. Over the course of this young admissions season, we’ve seen more and more evidence of schools reaching out to applicants. Before we examine some of the new marketing developments at top MBA programs, let’s look at the data that appears to be driving these initiatives:
-HBS had 10,382 applications in 2001-2002, vs. 7,139 last season (a 31% drop)
-Wharton had 8,371 applications in 2001-2002, vs. 5,622 last season (a 32% drop)
-Stanford had 5,864 in 2001-2002, vs. 4,697 last season (a 20% decline)
It’s clear that the last two years have been a bit lean, although the volume reported last season is not terribly far from data in the late . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 6, 2004, at 10:05 am
The past week has been incredibly busy with interviews and interview invites (Stanford, HBS, Wharton, Columbia, etc.). We’ve also heard from many clients who received positive admissions news from programs like Columbia and Darden last week.
Here are a few of the emails that came in from our Columbia ED applicants:
—– Original Message —–
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: Graham Richmond
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 4:20 PM
Subject: Good news from 116th and Broadway
Hi Graham,
I just got a note from Columbia — I got in! Tried calling you a few mins ago but couldn’t stop my hand from shaking! Very, very, very excited…just wanted to say thanks for your help. Thanks again!
-xxxxxx
—–Original Message—–
From: xxxxx
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 11:45 AM
To: Eliot Ingram
Subject: Re: Columbia?
Hi Eliot,
I was accepted . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 3, 2004, at 9:26 am
The Economist has published a special report on the field of Private Equity and its rise to prominence in the economy. This article is relevant to MBA applicants for two reasons:
1) More and more applicants express dreams of going into private equity after completing their MBA. Since many of these applicants have no prior work experience in the field, reading the report in the Economist should provide a very helpful overview.
2) For the rest of the applicant pool, this article should help demystify the world of private equity. Even if you intend to work in another field, it clearly makes sense to have a strong understanding of what all the fuss is about.
Finally, we’d also recommend this special report to admissions . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on December 2, 2004, at 9:30 am
As many of you know, Stanford has started offering interview invitations to R1 applicants. In the event that you are keeping score, the school’s numbers typically look like this:
Number of applicants: 4,696 (last year)
Number of interview invites: 1,000 – 1,250 (21-26% of the pool)
Number of admits: 400-500 (roughly 40% of those interviewed, or 9.6% of the applicant pool)
For those of you who are curious about the interview process itself, here’s the letter that goes out to applicants who are invited (Note: we’ve removed some information about ‘official transcripts’ for the sake of brevity):
From: Stanford MBA Admissions Office interview@gsb.stanford.edu
To:
CC: “interview@gsb.stanford.edu“
Subject: Stanford MBA Program Interview
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 2004 21:47:09 GMT
Hello xxxxxx,
The Stanford MBA Admissions Office has reviewed your application to . . . → Continue Reading
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