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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.

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Seventeen titles available! Understand how the leading programs compare and learn more about the MBA experience in and beyond the classroom through Clear Admit School Guides. As featured in the Economist.

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics for the 2007-2008 admissions season.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas
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CMU / Tepper *
Columbia
Cornell / Johnson
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Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
IESE *
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London Business School
MIT / Sloan
Michigan / Ross
Northwestern / Kellogg
NYU / Stern
Oxford / Said *
Penn / Wharton
Stanford GSB
UCLA / Anderson
UNC / Kenan-Flagler
UT Austin / McCombs *
UVA / Darden
Yale SOM
* denotes last year's commentary

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ARCHIVE FOR APRIL 2005

Friday, April 29, 2005

Class of 2008 Bloggers!

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 location and professional industry - when available):

Anand Rao - http://www.anandologue.blogspot.com/ (works in hi-tech, lives in India)
AxeChick - http://www.axechick.blogspot.com/ (a consultant in Atlanta)
azaka dessalines - http://mbayisyen.blogspot.com/ (engineer from Canada)
Call Geek - http://callgeek.blogspot.com/ (lives in Texas)
Cubicle Lady - http://cubiclelady.blogspot.com/ (financial services, lives in upstate NY)
Dave - http://daveformba.blogspot.com/ (works in hi-tech, lives in California)
DestinationMBA07 - http://www.destinationmba07.blogspot.com/ (finance, Texas)
Eric - http://www.beatthegmat.com/ (works in software, blog focused on GMAT)
Forrest Gump - http://run-forrest.blogspot.com/
franky A - http://franky4mba.blogspot.com/ (engineer, lives in India)
grik - http://www.grikboy.blogspot.com/ (works in hi-tech, lives in Southeast Asia)
John Galt - http://e-atlantis.blogspot.com/ (works in hi-tech, lives in NYC)
Mave - http://maverick-nerd.blogspot.com/ (works in hi-tech, lives in Germany)
mbafarbe - http://colours.typepad.com/mbafarbe/ (works in software, in Germany)
Meri Jung - http://merijung.blogspot.com/ (located in Asia)
Muninerd - http://muninerd.blogspot.com/ (works in finance, lives in Philadelphia)
murs4mba - http://murs4mba.blogspot.com/ (engineer, lives in India)
OnTrack2008 - http://ontrack2008.blogspot.com/ (works in hi-tech, lives in Illinois)
Redwolf056 - http://redwolf056.blogspot.com/ (works in finance, lives in NYC)
Sghama - http://sghama.blogspot.com/ (consultant, lives in Singapore)
sorebrek - http://holymba.blogspot.com/ (works in hi-tech, lives in California)
TheFamilyGuy - http://thefamilyguymba.blogspot.com/ (engineer, in Massachussets)
Vinod - http://infokozmik.blogspot.com/ (lives in the USA)
Yukta - http://yukta.blogspot.com/ (works in hi-tech, lives in the USA)

Newcomers to this group might look to the archives of veteran reapplicants Dave, DestinationMBA07 and Redwolf056 for pointers as they gear up for this undertaking. Given the time of year, it’s no surprise that many of these blogs are presently focused on GMAT prep - but as time passes we look forward to seeing a good deal of insight into the entire application process. Good luck!

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Yale SOM Announces New Dean

Yale University has announced the hiring of a new Dean for the School of Management (SOM). The new Dean is Joel Podolny (of HBS and Stanford fame).

One of our correspondents at Yale has forwarded us the original message that went out to the SOM community from Yale’s president, Richard Levin (see the details below).

—–Original Message—–
From: Richard C. Levin
Sent: Tue 4/26/2005 9:00 AM
To: School of Management Community
Subject: Announcement

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Joel M. Podolny, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management and Director of Research at the Harvard Business School, and Professor of Sociology in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed Dean of the School of Management for a term of five years, commencing July 1. Professor Podolny brings scholarly distinction, administrative experience, and an infectious enthusiasm that will serve us well.

Professor Podolny, an Ohio native, earned A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. degrees in sociology at Harvard. On completing his Ph.D. in 1991 he joined the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he spent the next eleven years. He was promoted to a tenured position at age thirty and a chaired professorship four years later, in 2000. Later that year he was appointed Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In 2002 he returned to Harvard to assume his current positions.

As a scholar, Professor Podolny is best known for applying the sociological concept of status to the study of market competition. Over the years, he has examined status dynamics in a wide variety of industries, including investment banking, semiconductors, and venture capital. His research on market status has appeared in the leading sociology and organization journals, and he has just completed a book entitled “Status Signals: A Sociological Study of Market Competition,” which will be published by Princeton University Press this fall. Professor Podolny is also known for work in which he brings a social network perspective to the study of technological evolution and to the study of individual mobility within organizations. Along with economists Garth Saloner and Andrea Shepard, he co-authored the textbook “Strategic Management.” He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen business cases.

In 2004, Professor Podolny was invited to deliver the Clarendon Lectures in Management at Oxford University’s Said School of Business; in those lectures, he explored how leaders infuse meaning into organizational activity. He is currently transforming those lectures into a book on meaning and leadership in organizations, to be published by Oxford University Press.

Professor Podolny has served on the editorial boards of the “American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Administrative Science Quarterly,” and “Industrial and Corporate Change.” In addition to being Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Stanford GSB, he was also head of that school’s organizational behavior group. He has been the director of the doctoral programs in organizational behavior at both Stanford and Harvard as well as faculty director or chair of numerous executive education programs. Within Harvard College, he has taught an undergraduate sociology course entitled “Images of Truth,” and a freshman seminar entitled “Visualizing the Social World.” Both courses focus on visual imagery in the social sciences.

Outside the university world, Professor Podolny has recently concluded a term as board member of National Arts Strategies, a non-profit organization focused on nationwide leadership development in the arts. He is currently on the technical advisory board of Spoke Software.

Coming to Yale with Professor Podolny, an admirer of Yale’s architecture, are his wife Tamara, their two sons Aaron and Asa, and their dog C.J. (short for Court Jester). The Podolnys intend to live in New Haven. I know you all will join me, and the SOM community, in giving the entire family a warm Eli welcome.

At this time I would like to offer my deep gratitude to the search committee, chaired so very skillfully by Professor Sharon Oster. Professors Judy Chevalier, Ravi Dhar, Jon Ingersoll, Ed Kaplan, Alan Schwartz and Jake Thomas joined Professor Oster in contributing their energy and good judgment to ensuring the future stewardship of the School. Gratitude is also due to the alumni advisory group, chaired ably by Corporation Fellow Linda Mason, and including Senior Fellow Roland Betts, John Howard, Ed McKinley, and Fred Terrell. I thank them for their advice and support during this important work.

No announcement of a new dean would be complete without an expression of profound gratitude to Jeff Garten, who over the last ten years has revitalized and strengthened the School of Management. He leaves as his legacy a vigorous SOM community, a strong and productive faculty, and an engaged and supportive alumni body. Although Jeff is always quick to credit others with the School’s development, he was the architect of SOM’s revival. It is to Jeff’s leadership that the School owes its expanded and strengthened faculty in finance, accounting marketing, and strategy, a sharpened focus in the change of degree from MPPM to MBA, the creation of the many programs and centers that now help define the School’s agenda in research and education, the broadening and deepening of the School’s relationship with other parts of the University, the many improvements of student and research support services in the School, and the involvement of outstanding business leaders in two boards of external advisors. All of these initiatives, and more, have put the School on course to take its place among the world’s leading professional schools of management. I know that all of you will join me in wishing Jeff a peaceful and productive sabbatical next year. In the fall of 2006, we will be pleased to welcome him back to full-time teaching and writing as the Juan Trippe Professor in the Practice of International Trade, Finance and Business.

Sincerely yours,

Richard C. Levin

Bussiness Week has also covered this announcement:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/apr2005/bs20050428_6274.htm

Additional Coverage in the Harvard Crimson and Yale Daily News:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=507389
http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=29452

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Columbia Clarifies Policies

A few days back, a discussion thread entitled “Waitlist use by schools” was created in the Business Week b-school forums. The original poster was looking for information with regards to the schools’ use of waitlists this season vs. prior years. Many of the forum users chimed in with their thoughts on different schools, and the policies at Columbia Business School were explored in depth. This discussion about CBS ultimately prompted a response from Keith Katz in the Columbia admissions office.

Here’s the link to the thread:
http://forums.businessweek.com/bw-bschools/messages?msg=63355.1

And here is Columbia’s posting in reply:
Hi everyone,

I rarely post outside of my cozy little “Ask Columbia Admissions” space, but this thread caught my attention and I thought I should comment on some things that are inaccurate. Full disclosure for those who don’t know: I’m a Columbia MBA from 2003 and have been filling in as an admissions officer for a while. One of my jobs is to answer all the questions from you fine folks here on the BW forums.

First, I’d like to explain why we have our Early Decision round. As many of you know, we are unique in that we admit two classes every year: one for September, one for January. We actually used to read our January applications prior to reading any of our fall applications. This worked okay for a while, but as the number of applications to our program increased we found that this system delayed our fall decisions by as much as a month or two. As you can imagine, this created huge headaches for our applicants, so we needed to create a way to read some fall applications ahead of time. Our response was the creation of the ED round, which allows us to read a group of fall applications during the time we read the January applications. This prevents us from being late with the remaining fall applications, which we think is a good thing! (By the way, in response to all of you guys, we’ll begin reading January applications even earlier this year. The application will be up within a week.)

The ED decision is binding because this has the effect of limiting how many people will apply in this round. That is all. Having too many applications in this round could delay our January decisions, and we obviously don’t want that. If applicants know that Columbia is their top choice, we feel that it’s perfectly reasonable to give them the first crack at the available spots in the class. If applicants aren’t sure, they should wait until the regular decision round. That’s fine and quite understandable.

Another thing I want to bring up is our interview process, specifically the questions that our alumni ask. I’ve addressed this before in my forum, but I want to make some things clear. First, we don’t give alumni questions to ask. We give them some guidelines, but they are free to ask whatever they like. If you check around on these forums, you’ll see that many interviews are quite casual and conversational. Some of our 35,000 alumni may ask what other schools “you” are applying to, but the intent is not to asses “yield” as some have suggested. The intent of this question, or others like it (”Why Columbia?” etc.), is simple. As I’ve said, we like people who really want to be here–and they could want to be at a couple of schools for different reasons by the way–because they tend to be more active students and alumni. That’s important. Alumni like to check “fit” with the program. If an applicant replies that they’ve applied to, say, 6 wildy different programs, it could be that she hasn’t given much thought to what she wants out of an MBA or to what she’ll contribute to the program. We expect students to apply to some of our peer institutions–I know I did–because the top programs are all great. That’s completely fine and normal. What would raise eyebrows is if the applicant offered no explanation for the choices. This could indicate, as I mentioned, someone who may not “fit” with the program and really put in as much as he’s getting out. Our program is student driven, so this is crucial.

I’m sorry for the long response, but it is my job to make sure our processes are as transparent as possible. I think they are as clear as anyone’s, but if they are not please do not hesitate to contact me so I can explain them further. Thanks so much, and happy posting!

Regards,

Keith Katz
Columbia MBA Admissions

The interesting thing about this thread - and Columbia’s response in particular - is that it seems to go against the commonly held theories about CBS’s ED round and their interview tactics. The posts that follow Columbia’s response raise several good questions that are worth considering. Stay tuned to this blog for more thoughts on this developing story…

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Admissions Tip: Choosing Your Recommenders

Since many of our readers are just beginning the business school application process, we wanted to offer some basic tips with regards to a critical variable in the MBA admissions equation: recommender selection.

Choosing Your Recommenders
When choosing your recommenders, remember that this can be seen as a test of judgment: if you choose a recommender whose letter is ineffective or who appears dubious about your abilities, the adcom may question how well you can judge your interactions with others, as well as their skills and weaknesses.

You should look for several qualities in a recommender. In order for your letters to be as effective as possible, all of your recommenders should have greater seniority than you, unless the school specifically asks for a peer recommendation: the adcom gives greater weight to things said by your superiors than to letters written by a peer because of the assumption that a peer is essentially a friend, and therefore predisposed to write a very positive recommendation.

As we discuss in greater depth with our clients, the most persuasive recommendation letters are those which contain specific examples and anecdotes. Because of this, you should select recommenders who are very familiar with your work and with whom you interact(ed) on a regular basis - usually current or former direct supervisors, rather than picking someone at your company whom you think will impress the adcom, such as your CEO. Choosing someone based on their reputation or title could also imply that you put an undue emphasis on such qualities, rather than thinking about who would be the best person for the job. In addition to picking people who know you well, you should pick recommenders with whom you have had a positive relationship: if they like and respect you, their letters will be much more positive and persuasive.

When deciding amongst your current and former supervisors or mentors, there are many factors to consider. First, the people you choose should be able to provide the adcom with a fairly comprehensive and recent view of your experiences. Often, it works well to ask your current supervisor and a supervisor from the job you held directly before your current one. If you have been at your current job for more than a few years, you might want to consider asking someone from an extracurricular activity in which you have taken an active role. If you find that it works best to choose two recommenders from the same employer, you should make sure that they can talk about different aspects of your experiences there so as to provide letters that are complementary, rather than indistinguishable. In such a case, you should talk to each recommender about the anecdotes and traits each of them would like to cover. If you do decide to choose a recommender with whom you worked some time ago, that should be a person with whom you have maintained regular contact, so that your relationship is still strong.

Ideally, you would also want to choose recommenders who could write well and who were receptive to input. The former is obviously important as an articulate letter will be more effective than an inarticulate one. The latter is important so that you can provide your recommenders with the information necessary to ensure that their letters build upon and reinforce the general message of your candidacy, and that they provide the detailed anecdotes referred to above.

These tips offer a good start for those of you who are thinking about recommendations. Of course, issues surrounding the lack of a letter from your current employer, what to do if you are self-employed (or work for your family’s business), as well as the age-old debate over the importance of using MBA graduates to write your letters are also important. We’ll aim to discuss these matters in future blog postings…

Monday, April 25, 2005

Where Is Tad Now?

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 Michigan class of 2005, he’s created an epilogue in which he talks about his life as a student, his future plans, and his overall take on the admissions experience. Given Tad’s status as the first real MBA blogger, this epilogue is a must read:

http://mbawire-epilogue.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_mbawire-epilogue_archive.html#110294402029221819

In other MBA-blog related news, the League of MBA Bloggers has revamped its site for better organization and more up-to-date information on active blogs, etc. It also looks like the Hella blog content aggregator has unveiled a new look! See the links below:

http://www.mbaleague.blogspot.com/
http://hella.opencoder.org/applicantblogs/

Friday, April 22, 2005

Article: Grade Inflation and the MBA

Business Week put out an interesting article earlier this week commenting on business schools and grade inflation. The discussion looks at the issue from both ends of the business school experience - how the perception of undergraduate grades and performance determine who gets admitted into business school, as well as the way that recruiters’ understanding of an MBA program’s grading system influences who gets hired afterwards. The article is certainly worth a read for those looking to better understand the ways that different schools approach evaluation of students and the implications of each.
You can find the full text here:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/apr2005/bs20050419_8678_bs001.htm

On an unrelated note, just when you thought it was safe to apply to business school again, another MBA program has reported a security breach of its online system. Carnegie Mellon announced earlier this week that hackers might have gained access to the social security numbers of students, graduates and employees of the Tepper School of Business.
More details can be found at:
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D89JRAQ00.htm?campaign_id=apn_tech_up

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Deadline Extensions, Application Volume

In recent weeks, we’ve seen a number of top MBA programs contacting applicants who had expressed interest in the school to notify them that applications would be reviewed even after the last admissions deadline passed. Here’s one example of such an invitation from UCLA Anderson:

—– Original Message —–
From: UCLA Anderson MBA Program
Sent : Wednesday, April 20, 2005 2:38 PM
Subject: Final Round Applications

Dear xxx,

Although the 4th round application deadline has passed, we are continuing to
review appplications submitted, in the order they are received.

If you have only recently begun your online application, or started one some
time ago but have yet to submit, we encourage you to complete and submit it as
soon as possible.

We look forward to receiving and reviewing your application!

warmest regards,
UCLA Anderson MBA Program

We’ve seen this same strategy being adopted by Darden (as reported last month in this blog) and Duke over the past month or so. In light of falling application volume - our sources report that with the exception of Wharton, whose rate has remained flat, many of the top-tier schools are down anywhere from 5-15% this year - accepting applications after the deadline must seem like an attractive way to increase selectivity statistics and catch any exceptional last minute candidates.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Admissions Tip, Breaking News

While the news of a ding from one’s target school can lead to a period of disappointment and reflection, the time of year is approaching for reapplicants to get up, brush themselves off, and get ready to give it another go. If you’re in this position, then you’ve undoubtedly learned a lot about the application process over the past admissions season. While you do have this working to your advantage, you’ll obviously want to do everything in your power to put together the most effective application possible the second time around. One of the most important things a reapplicant can do is to seek feedback on his or her application from an informed source - ideally the school itself.

Wharton and Kellogg allow all rejected applicants to request a feedback session on their previous year’s application. Meanwhile, other programs are more selective in offering tips and encouragement to especially promising candidates. A number of applicants who were denied admission to Tuck recently received an email with the following offer:
“Tuck pro-actively offers feedback to a small number of applicants, so our encouragement is sincere. Of the applications we reviewed this round, the admissions committee felt that your candidacy showed significant potential and merited encouragement. If you plan to re-apply next year and would like to receive feedback on ways in which you could strengthen a future application to Tuck, a member of the admissions committee would be happy to provide you with coaching. Given the admissions cycle, we will be able to offer feedback the week of May 23, 2005.”

You can make the most of such a meeting with an adcom member by having a number of pointed questions about specific elements of your application. However, you should keep in mind that the schools can only be so forthcoming about certain topics and are only able to spend a limited amount of time with each applicant. Feel free to drop an email to info@clearadmit.com for more information about our Feedback Report, a service that offers candid and comprehensive feedback about your entire application.

In other news:
Alex Brown, whose efforts were instrumental in shaping Wharton’s transparent admissions process and facilitating interaction among past, present and prospective students, is on the move. The Clear Admit team would like to acknowledge all that he’s done for the space, and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

The Youth Movement: Redux

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 of students pursuing liberal arts curricula, the panelists also tailored their approach and aimed to dispell a number of misconceptions they believed such a group might hold about business education.

1) First and foremost, the panelists stressed the relevance and applicability of the degree. Insisting that “this isn’t your parents’ MBA,” they conveyed a message that business school is for curious people who want to learn about the world and not only for those who are interested in a niche field. Not only will the theory learned in coursework illuminate the factors behind a student’s experiences to date, but it will also provide him or her with a toolbox that could be used in any industry or function. Stating that there are “no doors that are closed to you with an MBA,” the panelists emphasized the utlity of the degree and the possibilities that lay ahead.

2) Another message, not surprising given the audience, was that there is no prescribed course that aspiring MBAs need to follow to prepare for business school. The importance of making a demonstrable impact in the workplace was stressed, and those attending the session were encouraged to follow their passion and pursue whatever professional course they found most interesting, since this is the environment in which they would be most likely to flourish and excel. Speaking of the various backgrounds of students at each school and the importance of diversity among members of a class, students were told that applicants with non-profit and other nontraditional experience were just as, if not more, appealing to the admissions committee as the many bankers and consultants who apply each year.

3) The panelists took differing stances on the work experience issue. While Beth Flye of Kellogg cited the school’s belief in the importance of full-time exposure to the professional world and Wharton’s Judith Silverman commented that candidates applying directly from college are only occasionally admitted, representatives from Stanford and MIT were more welcoming of such applications. Angel Navedo of Sloan commented that it’s not common that students be admitted directly from college - this group comprised less than 10 of the school’s 350 students - Stanford’s Allison Davis reported that 3-5% of each incoming class had no full time work experience and indicated that these numbers were likely to grow in coming years. The message was that college seniors would be given due consideration and stand a chance of being admitted if they present strong records of leadership in extracurricular activities, demonstrate that they have made an impact on companies at which they have interned, have a clear conception of where they want to go and are able to make a compelling argument for pursuing an MBA at that time.

As you can see, the schools are delivering a pitch that they hope will increase application volume both in the present, by urging seniors and recent graduates only a few years out to give serious thought to applying sooner rather than later, and in the future, by reaching out to underclassmen to alert them to the MBA’s applications as they plan for their academic career and beyond.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Free Workshop, Other News

We’d like to remind our readers about a free online workshop which will outline the role of the GMAT in the MBA admissions process and offer key strategies for the exam. The workshop will take place this Sunday, April 17th from 3 PM - 4 PM (EST) and will be led by Zeke Vanderhoek (founder of Manhattan GMAT). Graham Richmond, co-founder of Clear Admit and a former Wharton admissions counselor, will also be on hand to answer your questions.

Sign up for this online event now:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/EventShow.cfm?EID=3&eventID=357
(Advance sign-up is required - and these events usually fill up quickly - so don’t delay…)

In other news, Business Week has published more information about the Kellogg hacking incident as well as an update on a new scoring method for the GMAT and the details surrounding new Deans at Vanderbilt (Owen) and American Universities (Kogod).

For the full text of the b-schools update:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/apr2005/bs20050412_1226_bs001.htm

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Ethics and Transparency

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 panels for their annual conference in June. Because this conference brings together admissions officers from hundreds of MBA programs around the world, we’re always interested to see what’s on their minds. Potential topics include:

- Creating the Ultimate MBA Student Experience
- Education’s Future: New Models, New Challenges
- E-mail Marketing: The Power and Perils
- Fight Critics with Data
- A Wake-Up Call: Moving MBA Programs toward the Future
- Inspiring Your Web Site Visitors to Take Action
- After Michigan: The Black, White, and Gray of Race/Ethnicity-Conscious Practices
- Building a Pipeline for Minority Recruiting in the US
- The Challenge of Transparent Communications
- What Women Want: Strategies to Help MBA Women Succeed After Graduation

Judging from the topics above, it would seem that issues surrounding declining admissions volume, attracting under-represented populations (women and minority applicants) and the use of technology in the admissions process continue as dominant themes. We’re particularly pleased to see that GMAC is thinking of having a panel that is dedicated to transparency in communications - since our clients repeatedly express a preference for the schools that take this approach.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Admissions Tip: Your Resume

In our continuing series of blog entries aimed at early-bird MBA applicants, we’ve focused today’s posting on an overview of the pre-MBA resume:

The Role of the Resume
The resume serves as an excellent starting point for MBA applicants because it will play several roles in your business school application process. You will likely be asked to send your resume to your MBA interviewer before you meet him or her so that it can serve as the basis for the conversation you will have. You can also use your resume as a foundation for your responses to questions on application forms about your work experience, education, and activities. Finally, your resume can serve as a handy summary of your experiences to which you and your recommenders can refer when crafting essays or letters.

Given these purposes, your resume should give the reader a clear overview of what you’ve done and would ideally impress the reader with the impact you have had on organizations for which you have worked or volunteered. This is especially important when taken in the context of an interview, where you will have a limited amount of time within which to make a positive and lasting impression on your interviewer.

Your resume should also be consistent with the other documents you will be submitting to business school admissions committees. You should present the same accomplishments as being significant in your essays, resume, and application forms, and hopefully in your recommendation letters as well. This will not only underline the importance of those accomplishments, but help you to stay on message and not convey a confusing, jumbled story. As with everything you submit to the admissions committee, your resume should emphasize your management skills and leadership and teamwork experience, as well as the influence you have had on your company.

Because your resume will play so many different roles and be presented to so many different people, you should start to work on it early in your application process, but also update it as you go along. That way, your resume can serve as a reference for you from the beginning, but will also evolve to reflect the strategy you develop. You should make sure to revise your resume shortly before sending it to your interviewer, as well as after completing your essays for the final time.

Stay tuned to this blog for information about the things to avoid in your resume as well as the vital tips for excelling when you draft this document!

Friday, April 08, 2005

Youth Movement: Exhibit A

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, 6:30 pm
Bryn Mawr Room, Dining Center

-Meet with admissions representatives from leading U.S. business schools to learn about the value of an MBA in your career.
-Hear about the competitive advantages of an MBA and glean insight into the admissions process — whether you are applying this year or in the future.

The panel includes representatives from:
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Northwestern Kellogg School of Management
MIT Sloan School of Management
UPenn, Wharton MBA Admissions

If you have questions, contact:
Career Development
Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges
370 Lancaster Avenue Haverford, PA 19041
www.haverford.edu/cdo

Before our college-senior readers get too excited, we should stress that these leading b-schools are not necessarily looking to admit undergraduates directly into their MBA programs. The truth is that they are trying to introduce the MBA as a viable option for the future - before these highly talented students rush off to law, medical or public policy schools. In essence, the goal of these campus visits is to let students know that it’s ok to work for a couple of years and then pursue a business degree.

All of these marketing efforts in the younger end of the applicant pool should lead to an increasingly competitive field - especially if traditional applicant volume begins to creep upwards due to the improved MBA job market…

Thursday, April 07, 2005

MBA: Point/Counterpoint

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 started to stabilize this year. Furthermore, GMAT test-taker volume and the positive recruiting scene on MBA campuses also suggest that application numbers may be heading north, not south….

In order to keep our readers posted, we’ll continue to gather data from our contacts in the admissions world as well as former Clear Admit clients (many of whom are currently fielding multiple job offers as members of the class of 2005). Stay tuned.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Understanding the GMAT: Free Online Seminar

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 many times can I take the exam? Do the schools look down on applicants who take it more than 2 or 3 times?

Given the importance of these questions, we’d like to alert our readers to a free online workshop which will outline the role of the GMAT in MBA admissions and offer answers to the questions posed above - as well as answer general questions about strategies for the exam. The workshop will take place on Sunday, April 17th from 3 PM - 4 PM (EST) and will be led by Zeke Vanderhoek (founder of Manhattan GMAT). Graham Richmond, co-founder of Clear Admit and a former Wharton admissions counselor, will also be on hand to answer your questions.

Sign up for this online event now:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/EventShow.cfm?EID=3&eventID=357
(Advance sign-up is required - and these events usually fill up quickly - so don’t delay…)

Early bird applicants should be sure to take advantage of this free event and learn more about the role of the test as they approach the admissions process!

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Admissions Tip: Academics

Since many of our readers are just beginning the long journey through the business school application process, we wanted to offer a few introductory thoughts on the role of one’s academic record in the admissions process. [This will be the first in a series of spring postings that are designed to help early bird applicants understand the MBA admissions process.]

Academics
Although many applicants set out to obtain admission to business school with thoughts of the credentials they will hold and the network to which they will gain access upon graduation, it’s important to keep in mind the learning experience in which you will partake in the process of earning an MBA. Because a business school is, after all, an academic institution, it makes sense to begin your consideration of your profile by thinking about your academic aptitude and track record to date.

Why it matters
Your performance in your educational endeavors to date will, naturally, be treated as a predictor of your success in business school. While the importance of your academic history to a graduate school admissions committee might seem obvious, it is vital to consider all of the reasons that an applicant’s academic track record will be important to the adcom. Beyond issues of aptitude or previous achievement, there are a number of other things that your academic profile might say about you. If you have pursued extensive coursework in an area beyond the more traditional disciplines of economics, business administration or engineering, this could indicate some unique interest or perspective that you would bring to the classroom. Further, if you held a part time job or were involved in a number of extracurricular activities, high grades might be taken as a sign of a solid work ethic and strong organizational or time management skills. Finally, because many college students don’t take their studies seriously for some or all of their time at college, consistently strong grades could be taken as a sign of maturity and responsibility at an early age.

As you can see, there are a number of things that the adcom could conclude about an applicant’s general qualities and characteristics simply by looking at his or her transcript. This should encourage you to think about the more abstract ways that your academic record reflects your positive qualities and consider ways that you could convey this information in your application.

A second and perhaps less obvious consideration is the impact that the statistics regarding the average undergraduate GPA and GMAT score of enrolled students have on the school. Because this information is taken into account by various publications that produce annual rankings of MBA programs, and because prospective students take the rank and reputation of a school into account when deciding whether or not to apply, the admissions committee at each school has an incentive to maintain a relatively high standard in terms of numerical measures of academic performance in order to maintain its standing and attract the most qualified applicants possible.

Relevant factors
Before thinking about how you stand relative to the average applicant at the top schools, it’s important to understand all of the factors that will enter into the adcom’s consideration of your academic profile. While it’s true that you can get a rough sense of your competitiveness at a given program by looking at the average GPA and GMAT of enrolled students, the evaluation of a candidate’s academic profile is actually far more nuanced.

We’ll take a look at these factors in future blog postings….

Monday, April 04, 2005

2005 Corporate Recruiters Survey

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 percent perceiving the economy as weak.”

“All the signals are there for the best recruiting year since the irrational exuberance of the dot-com era. MBAs are back,” said David A. Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC. “Recruiter optimism about the economy is translating into more openings, with larger numbers of companies coming back to more campuses than last year.”

“The survey also suggests that internships continue to have a major impact on the hiring of MBAs. Overall, almost a third (31 percent) of the MBA graduates hired in 2004 served as interns at the companies where they landed permanent jobs. This trend was particularly strong in the healthcare, manufacturing, and finance industries.”

The news in the Recruiter Survey shouldn’t be too surprising, given the trends we’ve been seeing on the MBA campus (former Clear Admit clients at the top schools are reporting multiple offers, heavy on-campus recruiting, etc). In addition, it would seem that MBA applicants are beginning to pick up on the improved conditions for b-school graduates, since GMAT test-taker volume is picking up slightly and application volume has begun to stabilize at top programs like Wharton and HBS.

Friday, April 01, 2005

In the News…

HBS to Abandon Case Method?
Cambridge, Massachusetts (AP) — In an unexpected announcement, Dean Kim B. Clark of Harvard Business School (HBS) indicated that the use of case method would be slowly phased out at HBS over the next 2 years. “We realized that the anxiety levels created by the prospect of cold-calls was not creating the sort of laid back, zen atmosphere that our students need as future leaders.” Dean Clark also mentioned that professors were “getting tired of listening to the ridiculous theories that students typically come up with when called on” - citing threats from several professors to leave the university in hopes of finding an environment where they could “get a word in edgewise”.

ApplyYourself Software Vendor Wins National Security Contract
Washington DC (Reuters) — Educational software vendor ApplyYourself is expanding into another domain. The Fairfax, Virginia based firm has been selected by the United States government to build a system that limits identity theft and protects the vital personal records of American citizens. ApplyYourself CEO, Len Metheny, issued the following statement: “Winning this contract has launched an entirely new chapter in our firm.” While many critics have questioned the firm’s ability to move from the education realm to national security while providing the necessary safeguarding of data, Metheny spoke with confidence: “I view this as a logical leap for our firm - sort of a cut and paste from one industry to another.”

Tuck Switches from Admission Rounds to “Survivor-style” Process
Hanover, New Hampshire (AP) — Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business has announced a change in their admissions process for the 2005-2006 application season. Teaming up with CBS Television and the popular “Survivor” program, the admissions office has eliminated their traditional policy of staged admissions and is opting for a methodology that has never before been employed in the MBA admissions world. Kristine Laca, Director of Admissions, explained the new policy in depth: “The concept is to gather all interested applicants and bring them to Hanover in January for a class visit and campus tour. We’ll then provide the group with 1 month’s worth of rations before dropping them off in the wilderness of the nearby Franconia mountain range. The applicants who make it back to campus before March 15th will be offered spots in the class of 2008.” The entire process will be filmed and aired in weekly installments on CBS. When asked is she had any advice for applicants, Laca offered only the following tip: “Dress warmly!”

Kellogg Sick of Being So Team Oriented
Chicago (Knight Ridder) — Citing a recent study entitled “Nice Guys do Finish Last“, the Kellogg School of Business has officially shifted away from its philosophy of teamwork-oriented education. Dean Dipak Jain issued a statement that announced a new, mandatory course for all first year MBA students: “I am very pleased to unveil a new approach in leadership training and would like to introduce our new leadership module, MGMT-468-1: Me and Machiavelli.” Explaining the schools new philosophy in depth, Dean Jain pointed out how terms like “togetherness, collaboration and cooperation” (former buzzwords on the Kellogg campus) would be replaced with terms like “ruthlessness, deception and cruelty”. Dean Jain also pointed out that he hopes this shift will allow the school to “maintain their stranglehold” on the #1 MBA ranking in Business Week.

Business Week to Alter MBA Rankings
New York, NY (AP) — Citing increased pressure from the leading business schools, Business Week magazine has altered the methodology used for their MBA rankings. The publication will now judge the schools exclusively based on an entirely new system - dubbed internally as the ‘ALPHA system’. Business Week’s Jennifer Merritt explained: “We’ll be taking each school and carefully assessing the first letter of the institution’s name, enabling us to come up with an exciting new ranking.” When it was mentioned that this sort of ranking seemed unlikely to change from year to year, Merritt replied: “We reserve the right to make adjustments to our process - using full names, such as the ‘Amos Tuck School of Business Administration’, or more common appellations, such as ‘Tuck’. In addition, my team might opt to refer to a school in Virginia as the University of Virginia or Darden - depending on how we’re feeling at the time of the rankings. Arizona State University and the newly renamed AMIT/Sloan school said they were pleased with Business Week’s decision. The Wharton school could not be reached for comment on the matter.

Happy April Fool’s,

Clear Admit

DISCUSSIONS / BLOGS / WIKI

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