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Application Deadlines
Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools.
Jul 1: HBS 2+2
Jul 22: INSEAD Jan Intake R3
Oct 1: Harvard Business School R1
Oct 1: Penn / Wharton R1
Oct 1: Duke / Fuqua EA
Oct 7: CBS J-Term
Oct 7: CBS ED
Oct 7: Stanford GSB R1
Oct 8: Yale SOM R1
Oct 10: Michigan / Ross R1
Oct 14: Chicago Booth R1
Oct 15: Northwestern / Kellogg R1
Oct 20: Berkeley / Haas R1
Oct 27: MIT / Sloan R1
Nov 15: NYU / Stern R1

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
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
USC / Marshall
UT Austin / McCombs
UVA / Darden
Yale SOM
* denotes '09-'10 commentary

Categories
Use categories to access all that has been written on each of the topics. We have categorized by school and by subject matter.

Interview Reports
A selection of interview field reports from fellow applicants posted to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Add your reports when you are finished with your interviews.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan / Ross
MIT / Sloan
Stanford
UNC / Chapel Hill
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
London Business School

GMAT Resources
MBA.com
Manhattan GMAT
GMAT Club
Princeton Review
Test Prep New York
Kaplan
Beat The GMAT

Writing Resources
Guide to Grammar and Writing
The Internet Grammar of English
English Usage, Style and Composition
The Economist Style Guide
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

School Rankings
Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
Business Week
Economist
Financial Times
Forbes
USNews
Wall Street Journal

Career Guides
The following resources should be useful to those who want to research the careers open to them after (or before) earning an MBA.
Vault.com
Wetfeet

Business School Resources
The following are business resources offered by a variety of leading Business Schools. It's useful to subscribe to these resources, especially for the schools to which you are applying.

MBA Programs: North America
If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
Berkeley / Haas
Boston College / Carroll
Carnegie Mellon / Tepper
Chicago
Columbia
Concordia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Emory / Goizueta
Harvard
HEC Montreal
Indiana / Kelley
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
Northwestern / Kellogg
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Kenan Flagler
Notre Dame / Mendoza
Pennsylvania / Wharton
Queens
Stanford
Syracuse / Whitman
Texas / McCombs
Thunderbird
Toronto
USC / Marshall
UCLA / Anderson
Vanderbilt / Owen
Virginia / Darden
Washington University in St. Louis / Olin
Western Ontario / Ivey
Yale

MBA Programs: Rest of the World
As there is some variety in the length of international MBA programs, we have denoted the length of the program next to its name (1 = one year; 2 = 2 years). If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
AGSM (Australia) 2
Cambridge / Judge (UK) 1
CIEBS (China) 2
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (China) 1
Cranfield School of Mgmt (UK) 1
ESADE (Spain) 1 or 2
HEC (France) 2
Hult (UK) 1
IESE (Spain) 2
IMD (Switzerland) 1
INCAE (Costa Rica) 2
INSEAD (France) 1
IPADE (Mexico)
ISB (India) 1
London Business School (UK) 2
Manchester Bus. School (UK) 2
Melbourne (Australia) 2
Oxford / Said (UK) 1
Rotterdam (Netherlands) 1
Tsinghua IMBA (China) 2
University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1

Additional Resources
Here we link a host of additional resources available across the web. E-mail info@clearadmit.com to have resources added to this list.
AACSB International
Association of MBAs
Beyond Grey Pinstripes
EFMD
gradschools.com (worldwide)
Infozee
International Student Loans
mba.com (GMAT Scores)
MBAInfo
mbaleague.blogspot.com
MBAzone
MBA Jungle
TOEFL
Top MBA

MBA Tipline
We encourage admissions officers, students and applicants to alert us of interesting news and developments, please send an email to news@clearadmit.com so we can blog it.

Blog Archive

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.

# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:00 pm in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Penn / Wharton

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Kellogg
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Virginia / Darden
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Yale
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IESE
INSEAD
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