Congratulations to everyone whose blog has been recognized here, and thanks for your valuable contribution to the space! We’d also like to thank everyone who participated in the ranking process - we really could not have done this without the help of our expert guest panelists and the blogging community at large. We plan to make this ranking an annual event, and look forward to great things from the Class of 2008 and beyond.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Celebrity Judges!

In addition to our in-house votes and the peer-review ballots collected from the nominated bloggers, two celebrity judges have helped the Clear Admit staff with this year’s Best of Blogging rankings (due out tomorrow).

For those of you keeping score, here’s the biographical information on the two external judges:

Alex Brown
Alex served on the Wharton MBA Admissions Committee for seven years (most recently as the Senior Associate Director of Admissions), introduced the first blog launched by an MBA admissions office, and is known in the MBA and blogging communities for his unwavering dedication to the use of technology in b-school admissions. Alex also helped launch Wharton’s discussion forums (student-2-student) and student diaries, and participates regularly in GMAC training for colleagues in the broader MBA admissions community.

Mica (Schneider) Bevington
After graduating cum laude from George Washington University with a degree in journalism, Mica spent over 7 years working as a journalist and editor for Business Week - focusing her efforts on the MBA rankings, and all things related to business school. Many of our readers know Mica from her role as one of the moderators in the BW Discussion Forums, as well as the host for countless online chats with MBA Admissions Directors over the years. Mica was also instrumental in helping Business Week launch their MBA Insider service and has consistently been keen to embrace new technology in the field of b-school journalism.

Stay tuned for the 2004-05 Best of Blogging results tomorrow! Thanks to everyone who has participated in this process.

Monday, May 16, 2005

Best of Blogging Countdown

Just two days until the release of our Best of Blogging 2004-2005 rankings!

At present, we’re busily reviewing the ballots that have come in from the nominated bloggers. We’ll be combining this peer-rankings data with the ballots from the Clear Admit admissions counselors in order to determine the top 10 MBA applicant blogs as well as a handful of winners in several sub-categories. Results will be published Wednesday morning.

For a list of the nominees and ranking categories, click here:
http://www.clearadmit.com/2005/05/coming-soon-best-of-blogging-2004-05.html

Friday, May 13, 2005

GMAT Strategy Series

On April 17th, Clear Admit’s Graham Richmond was a special guest for one of Manhattan GMAT’s free online seminars. During the seminar, Richmond (a Wharton MBA graduate and former Wharton admissions counselor) answered questions about the overall role of the test in the MBA admissions process. Topics covered included the impact of retaking the exam, the treatment of cancellations, the relationship between one’s GPA and GMAT results and much more.

Transcripts from the seminar are currently available free of charge. Just sign up for the GMATTERS series offered by Manhattan GMAT and you will receive them as a multi-part strategy newsletter.

Sign up here:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/newslettersignup.cfm

In the meantime, here’s a brief excerpt from the transcripts of the seminar:

Manhattan GMAT: Why do business schools require applicants to take the GMAT?

Graham Richmond (Clear Admit): For a variety of reasons. First, they see it as a measure of certain specific math and verbal skills. Second, they see it as a measure of your ability to think under pressure - the exam is timed. Third, it allows them to compare the academic preparation of people from very different backgrounds. A high GPA from one college, for example, may not represent the same level of achievement as a high GPA from another - so the GMAT allows business schools to level the playing field, so to speak. Finally, it is important to remember that business schools are evaluated in several areas for the purposes of accreditation and published MBA rankings. As such, the schools do have an additional incentive to require candidates to take the test (and to ideally accept students who perform well on the exam).

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Columbia Dean to Fed?

Yesterday’s Harvard Crimson published an interesting article on R. Glenn Hubbard, the current dean at Columbia Business School. Hubbard is rumored to be one of three candidates on the short-list to replace Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve Chairman in January of 2006.

This news is no surprise to those familiar with Hubbard’s resume; in addition to holding a Ph.D in economics from Harvard, he served as the Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors from 2001-2003 and has held several other roles in Washington DC.

Of course, it may not be great news for Columbia, given that Hubbard only took on the role of Dean in 2004 and has yet to build the sort of legacy that Meyer Feldberg forged while serving from 1989-2004.

For the full text of the article:
http://www.thecrimson.com/today/article507711.html

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

In the News

There are a number of interesting articles we’d like to highlight with today’s posting.

Business Week has published two stories of note. The first relates to study abroad and international consulting offerings within leading MBA programs. The author stresses the importance of these offerings in an increasingly global economy and highlights several great initiatives, but cautions that in the race to be international, some schools appear to have introduced programs that aren’t linked to academic coursework and feel more like fluff than substance.
Getting Serious About Studying Abroad:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/may2005/bs20050510_0221_bs001.htm

In another article, Francesca Di Meglio discusses the recent dean hirings at Washington University, Yale SOM and American University. The thesis in this article is that schools may be veering back towards the scholarly world in selecting academics for these posts instead of corporate leaders - due to the scandals that have plagued the business world of late.
B-School Deans: Back to Basics:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/may2005/bs2005056_2259_bs001.htm

For more on this topic, check out the Yale discussion in the BW Forums:
http://forums.businessweek.com/bw-bschools/messages?msg=63669.1

Finally, the Wall Street Journal has published the MBA student rankings of favorite employers. While the ranking itself is only of limited interest - the usual banking and consulting suspects dominate - there are some interesting statistics and quotes about male vs. female salaries as well as work/life balance.
MBA Students Rank Top Employers:
http://www.collegejournal.com/mbacenter/mbatrack/20050510-alsop.html?refresh=on

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Marketing 100

The latest issue of the Wharton Alumni Magazine has an excellent article on the history of marketing at Wharton, focusing on how the school’s unique approach to the discipline has revolutionized the way many businesses assess their marketing efforts.

For those of you looking at top marketing programs like Kellogg, Wharton and U. Michigan, this is a must read! Here’s an excerpt:

Marketing 100
By Nancy Moffitt

Frito Lay had a slew of popular munchies, from Doritos to Sun Chips, and lots of clever, award-winning television ads to peddle them. But the company had an all-too-common problem: it didn’t really know when or if the ads were working.

“When I would talk about this problem to marketing experts, they would tell me that advertising was an aesthetic kind of a field, that it was like philosophy or religion or art,” said Dwight R. Riskey, senior vice president of marketing at Pepsico, Frito Lay’s parent company. “They would tell me that you couldn’t apply the tools of science to measure the effect of advertising. And that is a really interesting approach to something we were spending hundreds of millions of dollars on. It was massively frustrating to me.”

All that changed in the mid-1990s, when Riskey met and began working with Wharton marketing professor Leonard Lodish. In a landmark study called “How TV Advertising Works,” Lodish led a consortium of major consumer packaged goods manufacturers, leading advertising agencies, and the major TV networks in the first comprehensive analysis of long-term advertising effects - research that forever changed the way companies like Frito Lay manage their advertising.

Not only did the research reveal that nearly half of Frito Lay’s ads were ineffective, it also debunked long-held nostrums about television advertising, giving Frito Lay the tools to create guiding principles for managing TV advertising and setting priorities for ad campaigns.

“It was really significant for our company because the most common question any person in the field of consumer insights/market research gets is how advertising works,” said Riskey. “And literally up until this time period, I don’t think we had anything close to adequate answers. Let’s say a company like Frito Lay might spend $100 million on advertising a year. If you follow the principles of Len’s work and my work here, theoretically you could reduce waste by 75 percent, 90 percent, at least 50 percent. Even at 50 percent, that’s huge money. That’s pretty exciting.”

The American Marketing Association agreed. In 1996, Lodish’s research, published in the Journal of Marketing Research, won the AMA’s Paul E. Green award for the article most likely to affect marketing practice. In 2000, the same article was awarded the Odell award for the journal article with the most impact after five years, and was also judged the best article after five years by the American Marketing Association’s Advertising Special Interest Group.

For the full text of the article:
http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/alum_mag/issues/spring2005/feature_2.html

Monday, May 09, 2005

Coming Soon: Best of Blogging 2004-05!

On Wednesday, May 18th, this blog will publish our 2004-2005 “Best of Blogging” ranking - an assessment of the blogs authored by MBA applicants who documented the 2004-2005 admissions process. In compiling this ranking, we have the twofold aim of recognizing the cream of this year’s crop and identifying valuable sources of information for the next wave of applicants.

Narrowing the Field
Although we identified nearly 70 blogs that could have been eligible for our rankings process, the entries we’ve opted to consider each met requirements for the relevance and frequency of posts, as well as overall quality of posting and contribution to the space (see the listing of eligible blogs below). We’ll be compiling a ranking of the top ten blogs in the coming week, as well as singling out the very best in a few narrower categories.

Listing of the nominated blogs:
Aregon23 - http://aregon23.blogspot.com/
Atta Girl - http://attagirlmusings.blogspot.com/
Bloghorn8 - http://bloghorn8.blogspot.com/
Brit-Chick - http://brit-chickmba.blogspot.com/
bskewl - http://bskewl.blogspot.com/
Cal Grad - http://calgradmba.blogspot.com/
Classy - http://classynfun.blogspot.com/
Dave - http://daveformba.blogspot.com/
Dirty Canuck - http://the-dirty-canuck.blogspot.com/
Dirty_Martini - http://dirty_martini.blogspot.com/
Divine Miss N - http://thedivinemissn.blogspot.com/
droodoggie - http://droodoggie.blogspot.com/
IceMan07 - http://iceman07.blogspot.com/
iwhoElse - http://driftinglife.blogspot.com/
J.B. - http://flatpointmba.blogspot.com/
JDiddy - http://daysofwhineandneurosis.blogspot.com/
majalo - http://majalo.blogspot.com/
MargaritaLuvr - http://margaritaluvr.blogspot.com/
MarketWizWannabe - http://mktstudent.blogspot.com/
MBA Boy - http://businessboy.blogspot.com/
MBA Europe - http://mbaeurope.blogspot.com/
Metal - http://metalrulz.blogspot.com/
PowerYogi - http://poweryogi.blogspot.com/
Raver LA - http://daraverla.blogspot.com/
Redwolf056 - http://redwolf056.blogspot.com/
Simba - http://www.simba.pagalguy.com/
Swoop - http://lfmcandidate.blogspot.com/
Tiy - http://tiygoddard.blogspot.com/
Vold - http://vold1978.blogspot.com/
WakeChick - http://wakechick.blogspot.com/

Categories:
-Best Written Blog
-Best Links/Layout
-Most Informative Blog
-Funniest Blog
-Best GMAT Preparation Advice
-Best School Selection Advice
-Best Essay Advice
-Best Interview Advice
-Best Single Post

One important factor in making our decisions will be the input of the nominated bloggers themselves. Because we highly value their perspective as members of the online community, all of the eligible bloggers on this list above will be sent a ballot to vote on their peers.

Remember to check back on May 18th for the Best of Blogging results!

Friday, May 06, 2005

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

For many of the successful class of 2007 applicants who have sent in their deposits and finalized their business school destinations, the time has come to decide when and how to resign and deliver news of their departure to co-workers. While exciting for the MBA-bound individual, it’s sometimes hard to predict how others will react to this announcement - handling the situation quietly, graciously and professionally is always the best bet for an amicable parting of ways. To emphasize that you are not alone in this situation, we’d like to highlight a few MBA bloggers who’ve done a very nice job of describing their experience with and thoughts on this process.

IceMan07 provides a thoughtful account of the reactions of his colleagues to the news of his plans to attend Wharton, ranging from genuine excitement to veiled bitterness. Meanwhile, Brit-Chick offers a well-reasoned discussion of the factors behind her decision to work through the summer rather than taking several months off. A common theme that surfaces in both of these disparate entries is the emotionally-charged nature of severing ties and moving on to a new phase in one’s life. Finally, Atta Girl relates a humorous anecdote that cautions readers against the pitfalls of having too much free time on one’s hands.

Good luck to everyone taking this significant and potentially challenging step toward school!

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Undergraduates and Business Education

There’s an interesting article in today’s Daily Northwestern about the reasons that Kellogg does not offer an undergraduate business degree. While the beginning of the discussion focuses on the desire of Northwestern undergraduates to study management and the school’s justification for refusing them this opportunity, it eventually opens up into a broader discussion about the relative importance of an MBA applicant’s academic and professional preparation. Emphasizing the fact that a manager needs to be knowledgable and well-rounded, business school faculty and administrators attest that, far from being a prerequisite for MBA studies, an undergraduate degree in business might not serve a student as well as would a background in the liberal arts. Additionally, current MBA students are quoted as saying that they find themselves drawing more heavily from their work experience than their undergraduate training during their business school studies.

This discussion will be of obvious interest to current undergraduates who are wondering what to study in order to position themselves to apply to business school down the road. Further, it will also be very helpful to those individuals who are applying this year and are curious about the way their academic backgrounds will be interpreted by the adcom.
The full text of the article can be found at:
http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/05/05/4279d15d01413

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Babies and B-School

Business Week’s Jeffrey Gangemi has just authored an interesting article on life in business school for female students with young children. The story highlights several top schools that have made adjustments to better accommodate moms in their programs, but it also scratches the surface of a larger issue that MBA programs face when it comes to attracting women in the first place.

As the article points out, female enrollment at the top b-schools remains in the 30-35% range, while law, medical and undergraduate programs typically post numbers closer to 50%. Many believe that this comes down to the timing of an MBA, which - unlike medical or law school - typically takes place several years post-undergraduate; at the exact time when many people contemplate starting a family. This is also reflected in the number of students, both male and female, who come to business school with young children.

Of course, one thing we’d like for our female readers to keep in mind is that the admissions officers at the top schools are generally pretty understanding of the conflicts that women may face in choosing their timing for b-school. As such, the standard 4-5 years of work experience may not be as critical for this group (especially if one can demonstrate ample leadership experience in a shorter timeframe). In addition, as certain top business schools have recently begun seeking younger applicants, women who plan to have children in their late twenties may want to consider earlier application to b-school.

See the full article for details on handling babies in b-school:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2005/nf2005054_9530_db_083.htm

The article is actually part of an extensive special report about working moms:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/db_special/db_05workingmoms.htm

In other news, the LA Business Journal has published an article about MBA application volume in the state of California. Both UCLA and USC have reported a drop in the number of applicants, despite solid stats on the hiring front at both programs (33% more recruiters have hit the UCLA campus and job offers are up significantly). It would seem that this fall might be the time to apply (before the news of high paying jobs trickles out to the applicant pool and the lag effect kicks in).

For the full text of the article on California b-schools:
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/article.asp?aID=471787.3070645.1138384.8892735.2807689.129&aID2=87559

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Admissions Tip: Managing Your Recommenders

Following up on last week’s posting about recommender selection, here are a few tips on how to manage your supervisors as they embark on the writing process:

Managing your recommenders
Because your recommenders are likely quite busy, you should make the process as easy and painless as possible for them. You should first approach them several months before the deadline to ask if they would be willing to write you a letter of recommendation - this will provide them with the time to write and revise a letter at their leisure.

Following that initial meeting, you should take steps to make sure that you and your recommender are on the same page. In addition to talking to them about the ideal recommendation letter, you should provide your recommenders with a number of materials about your background and candidacy. These materials should include your resume as a summary of your experiences; your career goals essay to give them an idea of your career goals and reasons for seeking an MBA. You should also develop several things specifically for your recommenders, such as a list of strengths and weaknesses they may want to discuss in their letter, a list of projects you have worked on together to work as a memory aid, and a description of your target schools, explaining the qualities for which the schools are known and why you are interested in them. The information included in each of these documents will make the recommender’s job easier - something which they will appreciate and which will allow them to construct a letter that builds upon your other application materials.

You should also monitor your recommenders’ progress after they have agreed to write a recommendation letter for you. While you should certainly be careful not to pester your recommenders, some applicants find that it is productive to establish a timeline with their recommenders to help keep them on task. Your recommender will need to know the order in which they should work on your recommendation letters and the date by which you would like to have submitted them.

Stay tuned to this blog for more tips as the admissions season for the class of 2008 unfolds. Applicants may also contact us with their CV/resume for a free initial assessment of their candidacy. Send CVs/resumes to info@clearadmit.com.

Monday, May 02, 2005

B-school Boon

Yesterday’s New York Post, published an interesting article entitled B-school Boon. The story focused on the state of recruiting for top MBA graduates, citing a great deal of evidence that the class of 2005 was seeing some of the best employment offers in years. Given the paper’s New York City location, there was also a fair amount of commentary on the state of offers for jobs on Wall Street.

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

Newly sprung B-schoolers can expect to earn about $155,000 a year at top investment banks, which includes an average base salary of $80,000 plus bonuses. That’s about $10,000 more than last year’s graduating classes.

Local business schools are seeing a healthy bump as well. At New York University’s Stern School of Business, about 50 companies came to this spring’s job fair, up from 30-some last year. Job postings are also up 40 to 50 percent, said Gary Fraser, associate dean for MBA student affairs.

And those looking for jobs in Manhattan’s financial center should be buoyed by the latest news from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wall Street is thriving, with 3.3 percent job growth from March 2004 to March 2005. That’s the Street’s best overall growth rate since 2001, said Marty Kohli, a regional economist with the bureau, and it’s better than the national average.

For the full text of the article:
http://www.nypost.com/business/45710.htm

In other news, there is an interesting discussion taking place in the Business Week forums about Harvard. The cause of all the debate is an article that was published in Friday’s Wall Street Journal, entitled A Flood of Crimson Ink. The article suggested that Harvard’s top-flight brand (and omnipresence in our media) was no longer an accurate reflection of the school’s relevance in academia, politics, etc.

For the full text of the WSJ article and the subsequent debate:
http://forums.businessweek.com/bw-bschools/messages?msg=63625.1

# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:50 am in General