To complement the posting earlier this week about the very first MBA blog, we’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the latest additions to this growing trend. It’s only the end of April, and we’ve already identified more than twenty Class of 2008 aspirants who are committed to recording their journey on the world wide web. While we expect many more to join their ranks in the coming months, we’re really pleased to see so many already taking the plunge, as these individuals will serve as a great source of information and moral support for each other throughout the application season.

And now, without further ado, here are the Class of 2008 Bloggers (along with a brief summary regarding . . . → Continue Reading

For those of you who are currently applying to b-school, MBA applicant blogs likely seem ubiquitous. In fact, once can hardly imagine going through the MBA admissions process in 2005 without the help of the b-school blogging community.

What’s interesting about all of this is the fact that MBA applicant blogs are still a relatively new phenomenon. In fact, the first known MBA admissions blog can be traced back to the summer of 2002, when an applicant using the pseudonym “Tad Holbie” began keeping a log of his journey through the process. That blog, which can be found here, is still a wonderful resource for new applicants.

In addition, now that Tad Holbie will be graduating as a member of the . . . → Continue Reading

Following up on last week’s post about the MBA information sessions currently being conducted on college campuses, we’d like to pass on some information about the schools’ pitches to undergraduates that we’ve received from our sources who attended the recent panel conducted at Haverford College. The invitation was extended to current students and recent graduates of the University of Pennsylvania and a number of smaller selective colleges in the Philadelphia area. As we mentioned in this blog when we first commented on this panel, the point of sessions such as this one is to get students thinking about the MBA as a viable possibility and encourage them to pursue their professional interests after graduation. Because the crowd was largely comprised . . . → Continue Reading

Ron Alsop at the Wall Street Journal has just written an article entitled B-Schools Still Seeking Ways to Stress Ethics. With the wave of fresh corporate scandals (AIG, Boeing, etc), Alsop decided to go back to leading schools like Columbia, LBS, CMU and Harvard to get an update on their ethics courses (many of which were launched in the Enron, Worldcom, Tyco aftermath).

Alsop finds that ethics coursework is still a work in progress for many MBA programs, but there are examples of dedicated modules/core classes that seem to be tackling the right issues and satisfying MBA students.

For the full text of the article:
http://www.collegejournal.com/mbacenter/mbatrack/20050412-alsop.html

In other news, the Graduate Management Admissions Council has published a list of potential discussion . . . → Continue Reading

Many of our younger readers enjoyed the article that Business Week published last month entitled The MBA Youth Movement. This article highlighted the desire of leading MBA programs to expand their applicant pool by looking at younger applicants.

Beyond the traditional submatriculation programs or summer opportunities that were mentioned in the BW article, many schools have decided to hit the road and visit leading colleges and universities to spread the MBA gospel to undergraduate students.

Here’s an example of how this sort of effort is taking place on the campuses of Haverford and Bryn Mawr colleges:

———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Apr 4, 2005 12:07 PM
Subject: Haverford College: MBA Admissions Panel

MBA Admissions Panel Tuesday, 4/12/05, . . . → Continue Reading

Jennifer Merritt at Business Week has just written a piece entitled MBA Applicants Are MIA. The article paints a very gloomy picture for the US business school community, citing declining application volume, less enthusiastic recruiters and increased competition from less expensive (and often shorter) MBA programs abroad.

For the full text of the article:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2005/nf2005047_8428_db016.htm

In contrast to the ‘Missing In Action’ article, is the now available 2005 Recruiters Survey, published by GMAC. This report suggests that times are good (and getting even better) for MBA graduates, citing increasing salaries, extensive on-campus recruiting and expanded hiring estimates from leading firms.

For access to the report:
http://www.gmac.org/gmac/ResearchandTrends/SurveyResearch/CorporateRecruitersSurvey.htm

As previously reported in this blog, our research suggests that application volume to the top programs has actually . . . → Continue Reading

Before you can successfully prepare for the GMAT, it is important to understand the exam’s role in the overall MBA admissions process. Many of our readers send us questions along the following lines:

1. If an applicant’s GMAT score is significantly lower than a school’s average, is there anything else he or she can do to prove his or her quant or verbal skills?
2. Can excellent work experience compensate for a weak GMAT score?
3. Do schools have “internal” GMAT cutoffs?
4. Could an applicant who scored poorly on the GMAT submit a high score from another exam (e.g., GRE, LSAT) to bolster an application?
5. Why do business schools give so much weight to the GMAT? What do they think the GMAT tests?
6. How . . . → Continue Reading

GMAC (the Graduate Management Admissions Council) has just published the latest edition of their Corporate Recruiters Survey (a survey of MBA recruiters). This year’s report, which should be available on the GMAC website shortly, looks very promising for MBA graduates.

Here are some excerpts from the press release issued by GMAC:

“The improved job market for MBAs is largely a result of greater confidence in the economy. Over the past few years, the percentage of survey respondents who said the economy is weak has been steadily declining, from a high of 99 percent in 2001-02 (the first year of the survey) to 82 percent in 2003-04. But this year’s survey represents a significant turnaround in the perception of recruiters, with only 55 . . . → Continue Reading