While many of our readers follow this and other MBA-related blogs, we’d like to highlight two publications that are worth tracking along with some tips on how to maximize your blog-reading efforts:

HBS Working Knowledge
This online publication follows trends in the business world and offers new articles on a weekly basis (many of which are culled from the Harvard Business Review). The latest issue includes articles on whether or not business management should be a licensed profession (Is Business Management a Profession?), retail (Zara’s Secret for Fast Fashion) and the surplus of VC funding (The VC Quandary: Too Much Money).
web site: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/index.jhtml
RSS feed: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/rss/rss.xml

Knowledge@Wharton
As one of the first publications of it’s kind, this bi-weekly offering . . . → Continue Reading

The Economist has published an excellent article about corporate scandals and the role of the MBA in training future leaders. While many publications have been playing the blame game – using the MBA degree as their scapegoat – the Economist takes a refreshing approach on the topic, pointing out that the vast majority of those business leaders who are in trouble never pursued an MBA education.

For the full text of the article as well as links to related stories on the . . . → Continue Reading

For many international students considering a top MBA program in the United States, the major obstacle is cost. This is particularly true if one applies from a developing country and intends to return home to a low salary post-MBA. An article in today’s India Times highlights this difficulty and talks about several new loan forgiveness programs that are in the works at the top schools:

“The idea is of encouraging and being open to people going back to their country of origin and (they) being able to afford that choice” – Daniel N Rudolph, senior associate dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB)”
For the full article: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1024323.cms

In other news, a couple of bloggers have been doing a wonderful job of . . . → Continue Reading

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has just reported that the number of GMAT tests taken in January of 2005 is higher than the number of tests taken in January of 2004. This is the first up-tick in volume since the 2001-2002 timeframe. If this trend continues, one should expect increased application volume in the coming admissions cycle.

According to the report, overall GMAT volume in January increased by 4.8%, with a 5.5% increase in the US and a 3.5% increase outside of the US. India registered a 12% increase, while France was up 14% and Taiwan up 37%. For the details of the study as well as 4-year trends in test-taker volume, visit the GMAC site:
http://www.gmac.com/gmac/ResearchandTrends/GMATStatistics/CurrentGMATVolume.htm

In related news, GMAC’s Graduate . . . → Continue Reading

Business Week has published an interesting article about the increased competition between European and American MBA programs, citing the rising popularity of several 1-year European MBA programs as well as the recent declines in international application volume seen at the top schools in the United States (particularly among Indian and Chinese applicants). Clear Admit’s Graham Richmond is quoted in the article:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/feb2005/bs20050211_8028_bs001.htm

While the Business Week piece tends to suggest substantial momentum on the European side, we’d like to caution our readers when it comes to comparing the two degrees. Here are a few reasons why:

1) Academics. From an academic standpoint, the 1-year MBA experience is quite different from the 2-year option. While 1-year programs often boast of nearly equal course hours . . . → Continue Reading

As many of our peers in the world of MBA blogging have noted, the University of Texas at Dallas has published a new ranking of MBA programs based on the number of publications a school’s faculty has produced for leading academic journals in recent years.

While we always recommend that rankings be taken with a grain of salt (particularly if they have a narrow focus), this is an interesting and almost refreshingly simple way to look at the academic strength of the leading programs. It is also a ranking that is seemingly devoid of opinion (student, recruiter or otherwise)…

Let’s take a look at two date ranges for the publication rankings:

MBA Rankings 2000-2005
University of Pennsylvania (The Wharton School)
Harvard University (Harvard Business . . . → Continue Reading

There is a distinct advantage to getting a head start in the MBA admissions process. This is why so many of our clients come to us well in advance of the application deadlines. Here is a testimonial we just received from a client that began working with us nearly a year before applying:

—– Original Message —–
From: xxxxx
To: Clear Admit
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 11:49 AM
Subject: Testimonial

Hi Graham,

I put together a brief testimonial for the website (and it’s all completely true!!)…..

Feel free to post it to your site.

Thanks again!

-xxxxx

–TESTIMONIAL–
“I was the typical ‘early bird’ candidate: I wanted to start as early as possible but was completely overwhelmed by the challenge. Luckily, a year before my applications were due, I stumbled across the . . . → Continue Reading

Many of our blog readers and clients come to us with questions about the GMAT:

1) How many times should one take the exam?
2) Is it worth retaking a score of 700?
3) Are international students expected to do as well on the test as domestic applicants?
4) How does the GMAT relate to one’s GPA?
5) Why do the schools use the GMAT?

There are now two chances this week for our readers to learn more about the role of the GMAT in MBA admissions and get the answers to these questions.

1) If you live in the New York City area, sign up for tonight’s free GMAT and MBA admissions seminar in Manhattan. Grace Wang, an HBS graduate and Manhattan GMAT instructor will be . . . → Continue Reading