Posted by Clear Admit on May 6, 2005, at 2:48 pm
Posted in:  General 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!
Posted by Clear Admit on May 5, 2005, at 10:25 am
Posted in: General 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
Posted by Clear Admit on May 4, 2005, at 9:14 am
Posted in: General 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
Posted by Clear Admit on May 3, 2005, at 9:10 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips 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.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 2, 2005, at 9:50 am
Posted in: General 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
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