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Clear Admit Interview Guides
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
Chicago GSB
CMU / Tepper *
Columbia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
IESE *
INSEAD
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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Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
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ARCHIVE FOR JULY 2005

Friday, July 29, 2005

Fridays from the Frontline

In a continuation of last Friday’s blog entry, we continue with news from around the MBA applicant/MBA student blogosphere:

For anyone looking for a little inspiration as they struggle through preparation for the GMAT, you need look no further than here. A blogger by the name of ‘Beat the GMAT‘ offers a blow-by-blow, day-by-day summary of his attack on everyone’s favorite standardized test. The blogger in question also seems to have a good sense of humor about the whole process.

Mave, another MBA applicant, offers a thorough description of a recent visit to the LBS campus. Despite not being able to attend a class during the visit, Mave managed to book some time with a current LBS student (by emailing the admissions committee in advance). While the entry clearly highlights the importance of visiting schools, this sort of blogging can really be of use to our readers who will not be able to make it to London for a visit.

While our first two bloggers are contemplating the GMAT and investigating schools, this next entry from SgHama covers the important subject of developing a schedule and planning application rounds. We covered this topic in an earlier admissions tip, but it is always good to see how an individual makes decisions and plots a course.

Shifting gears towards the incoming MBA student community, Jewellsnake, a Bay-area resident headed for NYU/Stern, offers some details about the packing process and her pending relocation from California to the Big Apple. In a similar vein, Brit-chick overs an account of her transatlantic voyage from the UK to Philadelphia, USA for pre-term at Wharton.

And finally, Beau, a current MBA student at Darden/UVA ponders his upcoming exchange with the business school at HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology).

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Upcoming Events: Live Business Week Chat; Seminars

The Clear Admit team has a busy month of August ahead! We’re reaching out to applicants through participation in a number of exciting free online and in-person events. The in-person events will take place in New York and Philadelphia.

Here’s a schedule to help our readers stay on top of the various offerings:

Thursday, August 4th. 12:00 - 1:00 PM (EST) [online]
Admissions Advice Live Chat
Business Week has invited Clear Admit to participate in a live online chat. Clear Admit’s Alex Brown and Graham Richmond will be taking your questions about the MBA admissions process. This is a free event! Visit the following link for details.

Sunday, August 7th. 1:00 - 2:00 PM (EST) [online]
Virtual GMAT Preview and MBA Admissions Strategy Session
Our friends at Manhattan GMAT will be offering a free online workshop that reviews GMAT test basics and preparation essentials. Attendees will learn four practical strategies to use on the test! Clear Admit’s Graham Richmond will join the workshop to offer strategic advice on the role of the exam in the admissions process, covering answers to key questions like: How many times can I take the exam? How do admissions officers view multiple scores? How can one compensate for a low GMAT score?, and more! Register for the event here.

Sunday, August 7th. 3:00 - 4:30 PM (EST) [138 West 25th St., NYC]
Clear Admit MBA Admissions Strategy Seminar
This 90-minute session will offer a crash course in MBA admissions, teaching attendees several key strategies to employ when applying to the top programs. We’ll break down the various elements of an MBA admissions file and offer an inside look into the selection process. Former MBA admissions officers Alex Brown and Graham Richmond will be your instructors. There is no charge to attend the seminar, but registration is required and space is limited. Sign up here.

Tuesday, August 16th. 7:00 - 9:30 PM (EST) [3600 Sansom St., Philadelphia]
GMAT and Business School Admissions Seminar
This event will offer prospective MBA applicants a sneak peek into the GMAT while also providing information on the admissions process in general. Test prep experts from the Princeton Review, former admissions officers and MBA graduates will be on hand for the seminar and panel discussion. Clear Admit’s Alex Brown will be joining the panel to offer his views on the MBA admissions process. To sign up, follow this link, select “GMAT” and include a Philadelphia-area zip code.

We look forward to seeing all of you at the events in New York City, Philadelphia and online!

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Admissions Tip: Recommendations

There is some good discussion currently taking place in the blogosphere with regards to the recommendations process for MBA applications. In light of this, we thought we’d offer a few thoughts to help guide those of you who are beginning to move forward with this aspect of the process.

Today’s entry focuses specifically on the theme of managing your recommenders. One of our prior entries (from April) covers the rules for selecting your recommenders.

Recommendations
One way to think about the role of recommendation letters is as providing a happy customer testimonial. Just as television advertisements often include the glowing statements of people who have used the product being promoted, recommendation letters provide an outside perspective to back up (or undermine) the claims you have made in your essays. Your role in this situation is to choose the best recommenders and provide them with the resources and preparation necessary to produce the most effective testimonial they can.

In many ways, recommendation letters are a test of your management abilities: the adcom will assume that the quality of the letters roughly reflects your ability to manage your superiors and the wisdom of your choice of recommenders. In many ways, this perception is accurate: producing quality recommendation letters may take significantly more time and energy that you would originally expect given that you (probably) will not be the one actually writing them. It is therefore important that you approach the process of choosing and managing your recommenders proactively and well before the application deadline.

Managing your recommenders
As we mentioned above, most applicants are surprised by how time-consuming the process of managing recommenders can be. 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 high quality letter, despite their packed schedules.

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, and your career goals essay to give them an idea of your career goals and reasons for seeking an MBA. You should also develop several documents 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 serve 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 well 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 certainly should not 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.

Special: Contact Clear Admit this week to learn about a discount offer for our consulting services that ends this Sunday.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Admissions Tip: Low GPA

The Studylink MBA forum we moderate can be a great resource for MBA applicants. Here’s an interesting posting we recently responded to about a low GPA, school rankings and more:

ORIGINAL POSTING
Hi,
-I am a 28 year-old Canadian male.
-top engineering school in Canada, GPA is 2.65 (last two years 2.88) with overseas experience. -well rounded (i.e. professional and extracurricular)
1- I need to apply this year for top 5 schools. Aside from the fact that I should aim for 700+ GMAT, how to best address the GPA given I am an engineering graduate? Does it make sense to take some undergraduate level quantitative courses or should I take a graduate MBA course to prove my academic abilities?
2- Another question: What are the top 5 US schools and what are the top 10 schools? I have seen the ranking but how would this forum rank the top 5 and rest of the top 10.
3- Given my profile can I apply for round 2 with similar odds of applying for round 1?

OUR REPLY
Thank you for reading this forum and posting your questions. You raise several interesting points, so let’s tackle them one at a time.

GPA
First, your GPA of 2.65 falls well below the averages at top MBA programs (typically around 3.4-3.6). Having said that, most people know that the grading system in Canada is quite different from the one in the USA (A’s are given out less frequently, etc). As such, you may want to look into your class rank or any other metrics (honors, dean’s list) that might paint a brighter picture. If you went to a top school - and performed well relative to your peers - that should be the focus (as opposed to your GPA).

GMAT/EXTRA COURSEWORK
If your class ranking or other metrics don’t help much, you’ll need to look to other ways to address the low GPA. As far as the GMAT is concerned, your instincts are correct: you will need a high score. In fact, the best way to counter a low GPA is to simply hit a homerun on the GMAT and then indicate to the adcom that your GMAT score is the most accurate, most recent measure of your academic ability. Of course, if you are looking at the top 5 MBA programs, you should remember that their average GMAT scores tend to be around the 700-720 mark. This means that hitting a homerun would require something upwards of 720 (ideally a 730+).

Taking outside classes and building an alternative transcript is another way to address a low GPA. Of course, the best way to do this is to take several courses (2-3) in order to show the committee that you are comfortable in the classroom. It is critical to maintain a 4.0 GPA in these courses. They need not be MBA-level courses, since the idea is to prepare for the MBA (using foundation courses like math, statistics, economics) rather than to actually pursue MBA coursework. A final area to explore with regards to a low GPA is ‘extenuating circumstances’. Did you work 40 hours/week while paying your way through school? Did you suffer some sort of personal setback that took your focus away from studying? These kinds of circumstances can sometimes be used to address poor performance in school.

SCHOOL RANKINGS
I am curious as to why you are just applying to the top 5 MBA programs - given how different they are in terms of size, teaching methods, strengths, etc. What are your career goals? Which top schools are best suited to helping you reach those goals? You mention an interest in Kellogg - so perhaps you enjoy a close-knit, team-oriented community? Perhaps you are interested in studying marketing? If that’s the case, there may be other programs outside of the top 5 that are well suited to your needs, etc. As to your question, the “top 5″ is commonly regarded as: Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Kellogg and Chicago. Some might argue that the fifth spot belongs to a school like MIT - which may be the case - but let’s just assume this list is more or less accurate. The other top 10 schools would include MIT, Dartmouth/Tuck, Columbia, Duke and Michigan. Of course, these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, since each school is different and each program has unique strengths (in various academic disciplines).

ROUND 1 vs. ROUND 2
I don’t really have enough information on your profile to give you concrete feedback, but if your GPA is as much of an issue as it seems, you should ABSOLUTELY apply in the first round. The schools tend to make fewer exceptions with key metrics (GPA/GMAT) as the admissions cycle goes along. Feel free to contact us directly via email if you would like to set up a free assessment via phone.

Best of luck,

Graham Richmond
Clear Admit

Monday, July 25, 2005

From the Clear Admit Mailbag

A couple of our clients from last season have recently emailed us to say goodbye as they head off to school. They’ve also included some feedback on Clear Admit in the form of client testimonials. Since many of our readers are still learning about Clear Admit and attempting to sort through the various services available, we thought these testimonials would be of interest:

“Clear Admit has been the key to my success in applying to business school this year. From my first conversation with Eliot Ingram, I was able to recognize Clear Admit’s unique and unparalleled experience in understanding what top business schools are looking for and what applicants can do to effectively position themselves for success in this competitive application process. Clear Admit was able to carefully access my profile and give me adequate advice to succeed in writing essays and resumes, and cracking the ever-so-intimidating interviews. I was admitted to Stanford (the school that best matched my interests, career goals, and profile), Wharton, and Columbia. Clear Admit is highly reliable and the team provides quality assistance. I received personalized advice that allowed me to feel confident during the process and to efficiently finish applications under tight deadlines. I will be eternally grateful for the advice I received from Clear Admit team.”

“Clear Admit (CA) was great! I used them for both the schools I applied to - Kellogg and HBS - and I was admitted to both. CA helped me understand the proper approach to business school essays - which is quite different from the essays I wrote for college applications. I was impressed by the professional demeanor, counselor accessibility and quick essay editing turnover time. Also, the mock interview for Harvard was a great help as I was asked many of the questions that I had discussed with my CA counselor! I would like to thank CA for all its help in assisting me with my applications!”

Stay tuned this week for admissions tips, further details on our upcoming NYC seminar and other news from the world of MBA admissions. As always, candidates may email us their CV/resume for a free initial assessment.

Friday, July 22, 2005

Notes from the Front Lines

The community of MBA-student bloggers can be a powerful resource for MBA applicants. Whether you are trying to choose which schools to target or simply curious about life in b-school, there is a lot of valuable information out there in the blogosphere. In today’s posting, we’ve highlighted a handful of recent postings that should be of interest to the MBA-applicant community.

Flatpoint MBA includes an entry about receiving the first tuition bill from Yale SOM. Plus - uncovering the mysteries of ‘tuition insurance’ and university charge accounts. http://flatpointmba.blogspot.com/2005/07/feeling-official.html

Majolo, who is heading to Kellogg, writes about making the transition from applicant to student - even suggesting some pangs of nostalgia when encountering applicants who are just beginning the process! http://majalo.blogspot.com/2005/07/being-applicant.html

Mark, a rising 2nd year at HBS, offers an excellent run-down of the first half of his summer - covering the internship, course selection for year #2 and a few reflections on the new Harry Potter book (MBAs apparently read HP too). http://markandjie.blogspot.com/2005/07/back-in-boston.html

Philip Carey offers a full run down on his student visa approval, selling personal belongings, lining up a 40K loan and generally making plans to join the class at NYU/Stern (including some brief thoughts on required inoculations). http://philipcarey.blogspot.com/2005/07/waiting-to-get-to-nyc.html

KV gives readers a peek into the play-by-play of quitting his job in Seattle. This blogger is heading to London Business School in the fall. Some recent postings cover laptop purchasing, cobra plans for health care and more. http://usatolbs.blogspot.com/2005/07/i-quit.html

Bharanidharan, a blogger from the Indian School of Business talks about exams (with class by class summaries)! Yes, not all business school students are presently on summer break. The nice thing about this blog is that it has dozens of links to other ISB bloggers who are documenting their journey through the program. A must for those of you considering ISB. http://way2top.blogsome.com/2005/07/19/recount-on-subjects/

MBAwana offers more news along the road to Stanford, covering essentials like passport renewal, visas, shopping lists, etc. There is also a bit of discussion about the packed schedule being offered at Stanford’s pre-term. http://mbwana.blogspot.com/2005/07/time-to-get-move-on.html

And finally, Brit-chick continues to demonstrate why she made the Best of Blogging list. Planning her departure from the UK for business school at Wharton, she begins to wonder if it wouldn’t have been easier to stay in the UK and attend a program close to home. She has also documented the whole process of packing up one’s life, etc. http://brit-chickmba.blogspot.com/2005/07/why-didnt-i-just-go-to-cambridge.html

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Free Admissions Strategy Seminar in NYC!

The Clear Admit admissions strategy seminar in NYC is filling up quickly. For those of you who are interested, we recommend that you sign up sooner rather than later. This is a FREE event, but space is limited.

Here are the relevant details:
When: Sunday, August 7th. 3:00 - 4:30 PM
Where: 138 West 25th Street, 9th floor
Why: To understand how admissions officers evaluate b-school applications. To learn how to market your candidacy to the top MBA programs.
Instructors: Alex Brown and Graham Richmond

To sign up, please send an email to this address and include the following information:
1) Your full name
2) A list of the MBA programs that you are currently considering
3) An indication of when you intend to apply to business school

For those of you who cannot make the seminar in NYC, we encourage you to tune into the live chat we’re doing with Business Week Online. See the link below for information: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jul2005/bs20050712_2517.htm

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Duke (Fuqua) Essays 2005-06

As some you may have seen, Duke has recently released their MBA essay topics for this year. There are several notable changes this time out, so without further ado, here are the instructions and questions (along with some analysis from the Clear Admit team):

Essays
You are required to compose three essays. The Admissions Committee considers your responses to the following questions important in the selection process. Please respond fully and concisely to each question. Candidates who applied to Fuqua between September 2004 and April 2005 are considered reapplicants. Reapplicants are asked to complete the three Reapplicant Essays in place of the Applicant Essays. All applicants have the opportunity to submit an optional fourth essay to explain any extenuating circumstances of which the admissions committee should be aware.

There is no restriction on the length of your response. Applicants typically use 1,000 words or less for essay number one and between 500 and 750 words for essays two and three.

1. Please discuss your career path, your short and long-term goals and the role the MBA will play in those plans. Why are you interested in The Duke MBA Program? If you are interested in the Health Sector Management concentration or a joint degree program, please address in this essay.
Last year, Duke actually had this essay broken into two shorter essays (one to cover a description of your career to date and the other to talk about future plans and the need for an MBA, etc). This year, they’ve merged the two essays and doubled the suggested word length (from 500 to 1,000 words).

In some respects, the key to this essay is to carefully follow the instructions and address each of the issues in turn. You might spend anywhere from 30-40% of the essay discussing your career to date and linking your various experiences together. Once this aspect of the question is addressed, a concise description of your short and long term goals will be vital. In particular it will be important to demonstrate to the admissions committee that you have a logical plan post-MBA. How do your goals follow from your experiences to date?

The final section of this essay will explain to the reader why it is that you need a Duke/Fuqua MBA to reach your goals. There could be any number of reasons here, but most effective essays balance the discussion across academic needs, interaction with a talented student body/exposure to new ideas and cultures, extracurricular pursuits that appeal to the applicant and a general ‘fit’ with regards to the Fuqua community (this is why it’s ideal to visit the school). Most applicants fall short in this last section, so pay close attention to the ‘why Fuqua’ aspect.

2. How has your personal history and family background influenced your intellectual and personal development? What unique personal qualities or life experiences might distinguish you from other applicants? How will your background, values and non work-related activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add to the diverse culture we strive for at Fuqua? Note: The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have accomplished.
This is a new question for this year, but it is related to last year’s essay #3 (an essay about ‘Team Fuqua'’). The best part of this essay is that it should give the applicant a chance to share their unique personal background (something that can be harder to squeeze into a career goals essay). One approach here is to start by making a list of several personal milestones or experiences that have helped shape your personality and viewpoint. You can then select the most interesting items and share them in the essay. Of course the key here is to not only share the experiences that have made you unique - but to link them to contributions you will make as a Fuqua student. Think specifically about how you will spend your time on campus. What clubs, programs, courses or other activities will benefit from your experiences?

3. Please state your personal definition of leadership and provide the admissions committee with an example of this definition in action.
This question is also new for this year. Although it may appear intimidating, there are many ways to tackle it. One approach is to simply work backwards. Start by thinking about the leadership experiences you’ve had over the course of your life (either as a leader or as a team member). Select the most compelling example and share it with the committee, using the example to pinpoint your definition of leadership. In other words, rather than getting stuck on developing the ultimate definition of leadership (and then spending hours searching for the right example), focus more on a great example from your personal experience and let the example drive the definition you present.

Reapplicant Essays
There is no restriction on the length of your response. Reapplicants typically use between 500 and 750 words for each essay.

1. Write an essay describing how you are a stronger candidate for admission compared to the previous year’s application. Reapplicants should contact us to learn more about the best approach to this question.

2. and 3. (same questions as above)

Link to the essays and instructions on Duke’s site:
http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/admin/daymba/admissions/appdown.html#ess

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Admissions Tip: Deadline Planning

As July moves quickly towards August, it’s critical for applicants to finalize school selection and develop a personal schedule based on published application deadlines.

Let’s take a quick look at the Round 1 deadlines for the “top 15″ MBA programs:

Harvard: 10/11/05
Columbia: 10/12/06 (ED*), 04/20/06 (rolling)
Wharton/U. Penn: 10/13/05
Cornell/Johnson: 10/15/05 (EA), 11/15/05 (R1)
Stanford: 10/19/05
Darden/UVA: 10/19/05
Kellogg/Northwestern: 10/21/05
Chicago: 10/26/05
Duke/Fuqua: 10/27/05
MIT/Sloan: 11/02/06
Berkeley/Haas: 11/04/05
Tuck/Dartmouth: (not yet published, was Oct. 18th for ‘early action’ last year)
Yale SOM: (not yet published, was Oct. 27th last year)
Michigan/Ross: (not yet published, was Nov. 1st last year)
UCLA/Anderson: (not yet published, was Nov. 13th last year)
NYU/Stern: (not yet published, was Dec. 1st last year)
* binding decision

When looking at the deadlines above, most applicants begin thinking along these lines:
“Yikes! In order to apply to all of the schools on my list in the first round, I’ll need to have a very productive August/September…”

This realization typically leads to another thought:
“In a worse-case scenario, perhaps I can apply to a batch of schools in round 1 and the rest in round 2″.

While this reasoning can make good sense, we’d like to call your attention to an important nuance in looking at certain programs in R1 and others in R2. In order to explain this nuance, let’s compare the deadlines and decision dates for two schools: Wharton and Chicago.

Wharton R1 applicants apply on October 13th and then learn of the school’s final decision by December 22nd. Chicago R1 applicants apply on October 26th and get the final decision on January 11th. This information may seem somewhat meaningless on its own, but it is important to remember that most R2 deadlines for the top schools fall within the first few days of January. In other words, a Wharton applicant who is rejected in R1 will have learned of the bad news long before Chicago’s R2 deadline (Jan. 4th), whereas a Chicago applicant who hears their R1 decision on January 11th, will not have this information before Wharton’s R2 deadline (Jan. 5th).

We’ll delve more into the art of scheduling in a future posting, but the key points we wanted to cover today are as follows:

1) Plan to be busy in August and September so that you have time to apply in the first round. Don’t forget that your time may be split between resume drafting, essay writing, recommendation coaching, GMAT prep, school research, visits and more…

2) If you cannot apply to all of your schools in R1, think carefully about which schools should be in which rounds. Don’t forget about the advantages of knowing some R1 results before you apply in R2.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Take the Business Quiz…

The Katz School of Business (University of Pittsburgh) has a great online quiz for those of you who wish to test your knowledge of the business world. The 6-question quiz is published every Monday on the Katz homepage under the title: America’s Weekly Business Quiz.

We’ve called your attention to this for two reasons:

1) The quiz may be an enjoyable (and educational) way to ease into your Monday morning at work.

2) If you look closely, you will see that the school has several options on the quiz page that encourage visitors to learn more about the Katz MBA program. The quiz is an excellent example of creative online marketing. In recent years we’ve seen the leading MBA programs use all sorts of technology to attract prospective students. There have been blogs, newsletters, forums, chats, student diaries….and now online business trivia!

Take the quiz:
http://www.katz.pitt.edu/

Friday, July 15, 2005

CEO MBA Rankings

Since the MBA applicant community loves to hear about rankings, we’d like to call your attention to the latest ranking that’s been released by Chief Executive Magazine. As one might expect, this ranking focuses on the opinion of leading CEOs in America. Without further ado, here are the top 10, along with some information from the article that accompanied the ranking:

1. Harvard University (MA)
2. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
3. Stanford University (CA)
4. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
5. University of Chicago
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
7. University of Michigan Ann Arbor (Ross)
8. Columbia University (NY)
9. Duke University (Fuqua) (NC)
10. Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH)

“Chief Executive conducted supplementary polling this month to discover how education, training, and America’s top business schools fit into the CEO equation. CEOs were asked to rank America’s top business schools. Among the reasons they cited for their choices were the ability to teach “hands on,” to manage people creatively and not just solve problems, and to instill an “entrepreneurial mindset,” not the stereotypical “Nobel Prizes and published papers” that many schools like to advertise.

Additionally, CEOs were asked whether they use business schools to educate themselves and their management. According to their responses, approximately 56% of the CEO community actively seek business schools to enhance the skills of the top management of their companies. “CEOs in this country fully appreciate the investment of education,” said Edward M. Kopko, CEO of Chief Executive Group. “Over half of CEOs seek the help of business schools to stay competitive, and we should be proud that our executives value education the way they do.”

For the full PDF report:
http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ceoindex/0605/jun05.pdf
(Out thanks to the BW poster who called our attention to this!)

In other news, Heather Densmore, a current student at UT Austin/McCombs, has just published a diary entry for Business Week Online. This is a good read for anyone considering McCombs, as it offers a nice slice of life in the first year. For the diary entry, follow this link:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/mbajournal/04densmore/6.htm

Finally, the Wall Street Journal’s College Journal site (a free offering) has an interesting article about how real estate has become the new fad for b-school students. The article’s author, highlights the fact that MBA courses on real estate that were under-enrolled back in the late 90’s are now highly demanded - whereas some of those e-commerce classes that sprouted up in the dot-com boom may be less sought after.
For the full text of the article:
http://www.collegejournal.com/mbacenter/mbatrack/20050712-alsop.html

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Ready for b-school?

While many MBA applicants are currently thinking about GMAT prep, school selection and essays, we thought we’d check in with a few helpful notes from incoming first-year MBA students in the blogosphere.

It’s always interesting to read about the challenges involved in relocating to start school, and these blog entries will shed some light on the process for those of you who hope to be heading off to b-school next year. You might also find that reading blogs authored by current students is a great way to learn more about schools on your wish list.

Our first two entries come from MBAwana, who will be joining the Stanford GSB class of 2007 this fall. In entry #1, MBAwana discusses the search for a balanced summer (part vacation, part unpaid work) with some wonderful tips on landing a rewarding internship. In entry #2, MBAwana offers great background information on Stanford’s Leadership Development Platform - a program that applicants should get to know.
#1. http://mbwana.blogspot.com/2005/07/leadership-development-platform-i-want.html
#2. http://mbwana.blogspot.com/2005/07/some-work-experience-organised-capital.html

Sticking with our Stanford theme, we check in with Farm Boy (GSB07) who contemplates the importance of getting ready for the academic challenges in b-school by reading relevant text books (e.g. brushing up on math skills, basic economics, etc). While tackling this issue, Farm Boy uncovers the secrets of purchasing academic text books on the cheap. Reading this blog entry may ultimately save you hundreds of dollars…
http://gsb2007.blogspot.com/2005/07/in-praise-of-markets.html

Moving eastward, we encounter Keven, a British citizen beginning his journey through business school at Wisconsin. Keven has just received his cohort assignment and fall classes schedule - which looks to be heavy on marketing, accounting/finance and data analysis. Keven’s blog may be of interest to those of you investigating Wisconsin (one of the top schools in the US for Applied Securities Analysis - churning out top-flight money managers). This blog also may be of interest to those of you traveling to b-school with a family, since Keven is married with two young daughters.
http://popscene7.blogspot.com/2005/07/schedule.html

Our final set of postings take us to the United Kingdom, where two incoming London Business School students blog about the process of getting ready for classes. The Divine Miss N offers comments all of the program information LBS has sent her (while questioning whether it’s important to know that her first mid-term is at 5:15 PM on November 9th). Meanwhile, mbaeurope blogs about financial aid to cover LBS tuition as well as the challenges of finding a cheap flat in London.
http://thedivinemissn.blogspot.com/2005/07/i-cant-decide.html
http://mbaeurope.blogspot.com/2005/07/so-many-things.html

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Live Chat with Business Week

We are pleased to announce that Clear Admit has been invited to participate in a live chat on the Business Week Online web site. The chat is scheduled for Thursday, August 4th at 12 PM (EDT).

Here’s the description from the BW web site:

Admissions Advice
Want to snag a seat at a top MBA program? Then, you don’t want to miss this event. In a live chat on Thursday, Aug. 4, from noon to 1 p.m. (EDT), you’ll be able to get the scoop from two insiders: Graham Richmond, Co-founder and CEO, and Alex Brown, senior admissions counselor at Clear Admit, an educational consulting and counseling firm based in Philadelphia that was founded in 2001 by MBA graduates with extensive admissions experience.

Richmond and Brown will take your questions and offer advice on everything from GMAT scores to interviews.

For all the details, please visit:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jul2005/bs20050712_2517.htm

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

MBA Admissions Strategy Seminar (Free)

Clear Admit is offering a free MBA admissions seminar for prospective business school applicants to the top MBA programs. The 90 minute seminar will take place on Sunday, August 7th, 2005 from 3:00 - 4:30 PM. It will be held in New York City at the offices of Manhattan GMAT (138 West 25th street).

Space is limited and advance registration is required (see instructions below).

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
The interactive seminar will cover the key aspects of MBA admissions, allowing attendees to actively develop their positioning strategy via individual exercises and interaction with the Clear Admit instructors. The seminar will also offer students a peek into the MBA admissions office, enabling applicants to gain a better understanding of who is reading their file and how the admissions process really works at the top schools.

INSTRUCTORS
Clear Admit team members Alex Brown and Graham Richmond will lead the seminar. Here’s a bit of background on your instructors:

-Alex Brown has spent over twelve years in the field of MBA admissions. He began his career as an Admissions Director for the MBA Program at the University of Delaware before moving on to the Admissions office at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he most recently served as Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions before joining Clear Admit. During his seven-year tenure at Wharton’s MBA admissions office, Brown played a decisive role in selecting candidates for the MBA program.

-Graham Richmond has spent over ten years in the field of MBA admissions. He is the co-founder of Clear Admit and holds an MBA from the Wharton School. Richmond also served as a member of the Wharton Admissions Committee - both as a student admissions reader and in a full-time capacity following his graduation from the MBA program. As co-founder of Clear Admit, Richmond has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education and Business Week.

SIGN UP
To sign up, please send an email to this address and include the following information:

1) Your full name
2) A list of the MBA programs that you are currently considering
3) An indication of when you intend to apply to business school

Space is limited, so please sign up as soon as possible. For continuing updates on the seminar, please refer to www.clearadmit.com/seminar.html.

Monday, July 11, 2005

GMAT Volume Rising

The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) have just released GMAT testing volume figures through May 31st of 2005, citing what appears to be a slight increase in test taking volume this year. While volume is merely stable within the United States, test-taking activity has increased by 3.75% internationally. Countries like Korea, Taiwan, China, India, Canada and Greece seem to be driving this increase.

Although volume has been up and down this year (ahead of the pace in February, slightly behind in April), one thing seems to be clear: the significant declines in volume that were seen over the last few seasons are looking less and less probable for this season. It is worth noting that at this time last year, GMAC was reporting an overall decline in test-taking volume of more than 8%.

For the full text of GMAC’s report:
http://www.gmac.org/gmac/ResearchandTrends/GMATStatistics/CurrentGMATVolume.htm

This news about increasing GMAT volume isn’t terribly surprising, given the positive MBA recruiting news that has been widely publicized of late.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Wharton Essay Topic Analysis

As promised, today’s blog entry offers a quick breakdown of the Wharton essay topics for 2005-06. These tips were compiled by members of the Clear Admit admissions counseling team (a team that includes Alex Brown - former Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Wharton).

1. Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals and why now? (1,000 words)
As is the case with the main essay of most schools, this is fairly straightforward. At the same time, your response to this question will ultimately become a critical component of the admissions file, so it’s important to get it right. Focused goals and a good deal of school-specific detail are important. As your discussion evolves, keep in mind that you are being asked to discuss three main points (i.e. your career path to date, future plans, and reasons for seeking a Wharton MBA) and that you’ll want to devote roughly equal portions of the essay to each. Many applicants make the mistake of devoting 80% of the essay to a discussion of their career progress to date, leaving only limited time to cover their goals, interest in the MBA and passion for Wharton.

2. Describe an impact you’ve had on an individual, group or organization. How has this experience been valuable to you or others? (500 words)
Many applicants lead off the shorter essays with a recent professional accomplishment, but if you have done something that has significantly benefited one person or an organization in which you are involved outside of work, these are viable options as well. This question is really driving at the results of your actions, but remember that the process is just as important. You’ll want to pick a specific instance in which you’ve made an especially significant impact, discussing the steps you took to bring about the positive results and their lasting consequences. A comment on your development as a leader as a result of this example would be a nice way to address the second part of the question here.

3. Please complete two of the following three questions (500 words each):
- Describe when you were part of a team where the group process and/or intended outcome failed. What did you learn?
This is a tricky question to navigate, as you’re being asked to volunteer information about a negative aspect of your background. The key with this response is to select a failure for which the blame is shared among a team rather than an instance in which something went wrong as a result of your actions or oversight. You should then summarize the failure and the reasons behind it as briefly as possible, spending the bulk of the essay discussing the lessons you learned - and providing another more recent example that illustrates that you have successfully used them since. Keep in mind that part of the reason Wharton is asking this question is due to the program’s reliance on Learning Teams during the first year.
- Describe a situation where your values, ethics, or morals were challenged. How did you handle the situation?
This is very similar to the ethical dilemma question posed by many schools. See our comments on Columbia’s questions [http://www.clearadmit.com/2005/06/admissions-tip-columbia-essays.html] for our advice on approaching this essay.
Beyond the ethics framework, you might also note that the “values” element of the question could provide a great platform to discuss a challenging cross-cultural experience, a great way to showcase international work experience or extensive time spent abroad.
- Describe a personal characteristic or something in your background that will help the Admissions Committee to know you better.
This is a great opportunity to introduce an interesting element of your candidacy that you have not had a chance to mention in your other essays. You have a chance here to set yourself apart from other applicants by commenting on what drives you or by sharing a unique hobby or interest. Of course, it would also be ideal to share a story that illustrates your leadership ability or is linked to some contribution you could make to the business school community.

Optional: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application).
Remember that in responding to an optional question, you are creating more work for the person reviewing your file. This question should be used only to address serious weaknesses or issues in your profile, and you should cover these topics as briefly and in as straightforward a manner as possible.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Wharton Essays 2005-06

Wharton has released their essay topics for the coming admissions season. Despite the change in leadership on the admissions side, the questions have remained the same. We’ll post some in-depth analysis of the topics in our next blog entry, but without further ado, here are the essay questions:

1. Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals and why now? (1,000 words)

2. Describe an impact you’ve had on an individual, group or organization. How has this experience been valuable to you or others? (500 words)

3. Please complete two of the following three questions (500 words each):
- Describe when you were part of a team where the group process and/or intended outcome failed. What did you learn?
- Describe a situation where your values, ethics, or morals were challenged. How did you handle the situation?
- Describe a personal characteristic or something in your background that will help the Admissions Committee to know you better.

Optional: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application).

For full instructions, as well as reapplicant information, see the Wharton adcom blog: http://adcomblog.wharton.upenn.edu/admissions/2005/07/begin_your_fall.html

Stay tuned for our analysis on the topics. In the meantime, for some relevant tips on getting to know Wharton:
http://www.clearadmit.com/2004/05/admissions-tip-getting-to-know-wharton.html

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Chicago GSB Essays 2005-06

Chicago’s essay questions are now available for the 2005-06 season. As many of our readers know, the Chicago GSB has traditionally been famous for having quirky essay questions (about elevator rides with the dean, mascots for the school’s facilities, childhood heroes, etc). This year, there are substantial changes of note - suggesting that the days of quirky essay questions are now gone. As you will see from our brief analysis below, our guess is that this may relate to Rose Martinelli’s influence as the new director of admissions. Without further ado, here are the questions:

Essay 1: To complete, we require that you answer all parts of A, B, and C below. (1500 words maximum total):
A. Explain the path that has led you to pursue an MBA as the next step in your professional/ personal development. What steps did you take and how did you reach your decision?
B. What or who has influenced your choice of schools? What criteria will you use to decide where you will attend? What is it specifically about Chicago GSB that is going to help you succeed?
C. Describe your short and long term post-MBA career goals. What steps will you be taking in order to achieve your goals?

This is basically an expanded ‘career goals/why MBA’ essay, requiring applicants to cover their career path to date, interest in the MBA, specific interest in the GSB and the details surrounding their short and long-term post-MBA career goals. In fact, essay #1 is fairly similar to what has traditionally been Wharton’s essay #1…

Essay 2: Choose one of the following two questions to answer (500 word maximum for this essay)
A. Describe the most challenging team environment in which you have been involved. What role did you play? What impact did you have? What did you learn from this challenge?
B. Describe a time when you exhibited leadership skills even though you were not the designated leader. What was the situation? What skills did you utilize?

Both options for this essay focus on teamwork and the applicant’s ability to work with peers and make an impact/move things forward, etc. Options A and B are actually comparable to Wharton’s essays 2 and 3a from last season.

Essays 3 & 4: Choose two of the following five questions to answer (500 word maximum for each).
A. How have you used your personal characteristics and resources to improve the lives of others?
B. Describe a time when you felt a strong sense of purpose in your life. What motivated you? What changes did you make personally and professionally to achieve that purpose?
C. What would you consider the biggest failure or disappointment in your life? How did you adapt your plans or move past that failure or disappointment?
D. If you can spend one day as someone else, who would it be? Why? What would your day look like?
E. To be successful in life, you must be able to distinguish between a fleeting trend and a permanent development. Tell us of a time when you had to make such as a distinction. What, if anything, would you have done differently?
 
These topics obviously cover a great deal of ground, but they are essentially designed to get at the applicant’s passions, personality and outside interests. In order to properly select and address these questions, applicants will need to analyze their responses to Essays #1 and #2 and make choices that allow them to ensure that the essays all work together in presenting a balanced portrait of their candidacy. In fact, balancing the subject matter across a set of essays is a critical aspect of the MBA application process in general. Far too often, we see candidates who fail to use these kinds of short essays to add breadth to their candidacy - instead opting to draft yet another essay about their accomplishments in the work place.

Link to questions on the school’s site: http://www.chicagogsb.edu/fulltime/admissions/essay.aspx

Thanks to fellow blogger Sghama for calling our attention to the official publication of the new topics on Chicago’s site!

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

HBS Essay Topics Analysis (2005-06)

As promised yesterday, here are some thoughts on how you might approach each of Harvard’s essay questions for the coming admissions season:

1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (new question for this year) This question seems focused purely on the applicant’s educational experience while in college as opposed to part time work or extracurricular involvements (although if you excelled in the class room in spite of having numerous other commitments, this could be worth mentioning). This is your chance to go into some detail about why you chose your school and major and tell the admissions committee about your academic interests and educational milestones. A great essay will underscore an applicant’s intelligence and work ethic, as well as incorporate some element of leadership angle in the event that he or she had a significant impact on the department or school as a whole. If you pursued a course of study that is in line with your work experience and/or career goals, this essay could also be a great intro to the rest of your file.

2. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? This question isn’t anything new. When selecting topics, keep in mind that the HBS adcom has a very results-oriented attitude, and that you’ll want to select some examples that involve a lasting, positive impact you made on a project or organization. We would recommend that you lead with a recent professional accomplishment, and include a balanced sampling of examples from various jobs and outside activities.

3. Discuss a defining experience in your development as a leader. (slightly new question for this year) Remember that it’s best to use detailed examples whenever possible in your essays in order to make a strong impression on the reader. While one could concievable discuss his or her tenure in a certain role or position over time, the best response to this question will cover one specific event or instance. Make sure that you take care to set the scene and then fully describe your actions, as well as their results. Note that because this is a defining experience, something needs to change between the beginning and end of the story - your leadership skills. This being the case, it’s likely that this essay will cover a very valuable lesson you have learned or a significant challenge you overcame. It would also be ideal to comment on the way this experience altered your perspective and has influenced your thought and actions since this time.

4. In your career, you will have to deal with many ethical issues. What are likely to be the most challenging and what is your plan for developing the competencies you will need to handle these issues effectively? (new question for this year) In devising an answer to this question, stay focused on the importance to keep your discussion grounded in your experiences and objectives as opposed to writing generally and waxing philosophical. Unlike most ethics-oriented essay questions that focus on a dilemma you have already tackled, this one calls on applicants to be forward-looking and anticipate ones that they will encounter down the line. It seems like this could be a platform to expand upon one’s career goals and comment on issues that are specific to a given function or industry. In explaining the compentencies that will equip you to handle these situations, it’s possible for you to draw from past experiences dealing with such issues and comment that Harvard’s specific curricular offerings and the diverse student body would be instrumental in solidifying and reinforcing your already sound principles.

5. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a leader? (slightly new question for this year) This question is similar to last year’s, except that it now focuses on the applicant’s strong points and shortcomings within the context of leadership. A strong essay will introduce two or three positive qualities and provide a brief example illustrating each, and name a weakness that the applicant has taken steps to address along with an anecdote that confirms this improvement.

6. What are your career aspirations and how can an MBA help you to reach them? Why now? This is a fairly standard career goals essay, with the added difficulty of a very restrictive word limit. You will need to summarize your career to date in a very concise manner (think just a few sentences) before moving on to a detailed discussion of your short and long-term goals and the reasons that you are applying to business school at this point in time. There’s no room here for a generic discussion of the merits of a business degree in general - all of your comments should be centered on Harvard’s program and the way specific classes and clubs would prepare you for your goals.

7. What do you wish the MBA Admissions Board had asked you? This essay is another great opportunity to share some new and interesting information about your candidacy that you have not had a chance to include in response to the other questions. This is not the place to discuss your choice of recommender or that bad semester as an undergrad - save this sort of detail for the “Additional Information” section. Rather, this is your chance to go into detail about that unique hobby, detail the ways that you would contribute to the HBS community or, for reapplicants, highlight the improvements in your candidacy since your last application.

Please note: The general advice we offer here is designed to help HBS applicants think broadly about the questions. For more tailored counseling and advice, we encourage applicants to contact us directly and learn about our consulting services.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Harvard Deadlines and Essays

HBS has just released its application deadlines and essay questions for the class entering in 2006:

Deadline/Decision Schedule

Round One
Deadline: October 11, 2005
Decision: January 18, 2006

Round Two
Deadline: January 3, 2006
Decision: March 29, 2006

Round Three
Deadline: March 7, 2006
Decision: May 10, 2006

Essay Questions

1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400-word limit)

2. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)

3. Discuss a defining experience in your development as a leader. (400-word limit)

4. In your career, you will have to deal with many ethical issues. What are likely to be the most challenging and what is your plan for developing the competencies you will need to handle these issues effectively? (400-word limit)

5. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a leader? (400-word limit)

6. What are your career aspirations and how can an MBA help you to reach them? Why now? (400-word limit)

7. What do you wish the MBA Admissions Board had asked you? (400-word limit)

Harvard has added a question, meaning this year’s application will be a bit more work than previously. The good news is that another essay means another opportunity to share interesting information about your candidacy. Be sure to check back tomorrow for some comments and tips on how to handle each of these questions.