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# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:00 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Michigan Essay Topic Analysis (2005-2006)

With the first wave of round one deadlines having recently passed, many applicants are turning their attention to schools whose round one deadlines are a bit later in the season. With Michigan’s R1 deadline coming up on the first of November, we wanted to offer our thoughts on the essay questions for that program.

Required Questions
You must answer all parts of the four questions below.
1. We believe one of the keys to effective leadership is the ability to transform ideas into action through people. Please describe a professional leadership accomplishment in which you transformed an idea into action. How did your leadership impact your organization? (500-word maximum)
You’re being asked to discuss a few key things here. The main theme is the transformation of idea into action – and ultimately results (this is where the last part of the question comes in). Be sure to carefully explain the way you arrived at the idea in question, and explain the actions you took to make it a reality, as well as the thought process behind them. The second component here is making your plan an actuality “through people.” With this in mind, it will be important to pick a story that reflects your ability to engage others, win their support for a plan and motivate them to carry it to fruition. Finally, it will also be critical to demonstrate (and perhaps even quantify) the impact that your leadership had on your organization.

2. Describe the initiatives you have taken over the past two years to develop professionally. (500-word maximum)
This question is unique in that it maintains a somewhat broad focus (as opposed to asking for an account of a single situation) within a very specific time frame. In approaching this essay, we’d recommend that applicants take some time to reflect on the ways they have proactively sought out opportunities to learn or lead, as this will be the key to crafting a compelling narrative that demonstrates that the author has been thoughtful and deliberate in cultivating his or her career. While it certainly wouldn’t hurt to comment on the success you’ve had in these roles, the emphasis of this essay should really be on the process and growth you’ve undergone over the past two years.

3. What career goals have you set for yourself and how will a Ross MBA support the achievement of these goals? How will you utilize the opportunities at Ross to co-create an MBA experience that is right for you? How will you enhance the experience of other members of the Ross community? (500-word maximum)
See the general tips we posted in this blog last summer for guidance in tackling this fairly standard career goal essay. Keep in mind that in this instance, much of your recent ‘career progress’ will have been touched upon in essay #2, leaving you more room here to elaborate on the active role you intend to pursue as a student at Ross.

4. Describe a situation where your professional ethics were challenged and how you came to terms with the situation. What did you learn from this? (500-word maximum)
While ethics are always of interest to business school admissions committees, this seems to be a particularly hot topic this year. Our advice on how to approach this sort of essay is covered in our comments on Columbia’s topics for this year.

Optional Questions
You may answer one, both or neither of these questions.
1. Describe a situation in which others with whom you were working on a project disagreed with your ideas. What did you do? In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently? (500-word maximum)
2. Please feel free to elaborate on any other information that you believe is important for the admissions committee to assess your candidacy. (500-word maximum)
Although these essays are technically optional, we do not recommend the same approach that one would take with the usual optional essay question that most schools pose. It’s quite likely that the majority of Michigan applicants will have something more worth saying after responding to the school’s required questions, given their strictly professional focus. This would be a great place to share some information about your outside interests and activities, in order to help the adcom get to know you better and ensure that your application materials present a balanced picture of your candidacy.

As a reminder, Michigan’s deadlines are as follows:

R1: November 1st, 2005
R2: January 7th, 2006
R3: March 1st, 2006

Best of luck to everyone targeting Michigan!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 6:30 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Michigan / Ross

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Admissions Tip: Tuck Interview Questions

As many of you know, it is currently the busy season for interviews at Dartmouth/Tuck. Tuck encourages applicants to set up their own interviews on campus – a policy that differs from peer schools like Wharton, Chicago, HBS or Stanford (where interviews are by invitation only). Interviews in Hanover are conducted by second-year MBA students or full-time members of the admissions team. Tuck employs a ‘blind’ interview process, using only the resume as a basis for the interview.

Based on feedback from our clients, here are some of the more popular questions that one might find in a Tuck interview:

General
1) Walk me through your resume.
2) What are your career goals?
3) Why are you interested in pursuing an MBA?
4) Why are you applying to Tuck?
5) What would you find most difficult about relocating to Hanover, NH?

Teamwork/Strengths and Weaknesses
1) Tell me about a favorable experience where you led a team using teamwork skills.
2) Discuss a recent failure.
3) How would your peers or subordinates describe you?
4) What are your strengths and weaknesses?
5) What do you hope to get out of your study group with respect to personalities, talents, etc.?
6) What might you do if a team member was being unproductive?

Career Path Details
1) How do you like your job?
2) What did you study in college that led you to be interested in your industry?
3) Why do you think that you need an MBA if you have reached a very good position in your work?

Extras/Interest in Contributing
1) What do you like to do outside of work?
2) What can you contribute to Tuck?

As you prepare for your Tuck interview, be sure to take the time to practice these questions and do the proper research into the program. Do not forget how critical it is to demonstrate your fit with Tuck.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:25 am in Admissions Tips, Interview Tips, School: Dartmouth / Tuck

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Admissions Tip: Know Your Audience

As most R1 applicants have come to understand, applying to business school is an incredibly demanding process. In addition to taking the GMAT, assembling academic transcripts and providing recommendation letters, candidates are required to present multiple essays, job descriptions, activities lists and more.

Many applicants assemble these materials without ever asking a fundamental question:

Who will read my application?

While the answer to this question may vary from school to school, one thing is for certain: it is unlikely that the person reading your files will have an intimate level of familiarity with your specific industry or job function. As such, if you use industry-specific jargon or assume prior knowledge of your field on the part of the admissions officer, you undoubtedly will lose the reader.

The solution to this issue is issue is to write about your experiences in a way that the average person will understand. While this is easier said than done, it underlines the importance of sharing your materials with an unbiased advisor (ideally not a work colleague or mom and dad) to make sure that you aren’t off-base with some of your assumptions.

To learn more about who actually reads your essays at the various schools, contact Clear Admit with your CV/resume and sign up for a free initial assessment.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:54 am in Admissions Tips

Monday, October 17, 2005

Another Day, Another Deadline

In case you were hoping for a breather following last week’s deadlines for Harvard, Columbia (ED) and Wharton, we’re afraid things aren’t letting up. Here’s what’s on deck for this week:

Today:
-Tuck (EA)

Wednesday, October 19th:
-Stanford GSB
-Darden/UVA

Friday, October 21st:
-Kellogg/Northwestern
-London Business School

With the arrival of application deadlines comes talk of application volume. Our initial expectations are for stable volume this season, but we’ll be back later in the week with a word on admissions volume in R1. Part of the reason that we’re looking for steady application volume relates to the latest news from GMAC which shows that global GMAT test-taker volume has been up slightly through the first nine months of 2005. International volume is actually up nearly 8% – suggesting that the popularity of the MBA continues to grow abroad.

In closing today’s entry, we’d like to offer our congratulations to Le Optimiste, a fellow blogger who has just been admitted to Columbia Business School! This is wonderful news! Optimiste may be the first applicant-blogger from the class of 2008 to gain admission and we hope that he/she continues to provide readers with information about the rest of the process (financing, relocation, leaving work, etc). Perhaps we’ll see Le Optimiste strolling up the red carpet at this year’s Best of Blogging awards?

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 12:45 pm in Deadlines, General

Friday, October 14, 2005

Fridays From the Frontline

This week’s edition of FFF kicks off with the dozens of applicants who have spent the last few days battling deadlines at Harvard, Columbia (ED) and Wharton. It was clearly not an easy week for this group, but many candidates are relieved to have submitted their first group of applications. We start with Ty Coon, who submitted HBS just in time on Tuesday and describes the merits of last-minute checking your files. Meanwhile, GunnerMBA seemed cool and calm on the eve of Harvard’s deadline, pointing out that his essays were all wrapped up. Turning towards Columbia, Axechick has a celebratory posting about completing her ED application before expressing some post-application blues (”the waiting is the hardest part…“). Finally, having survived server troubles earlier in the week, Vatsa reached the finish line for Wharton (as did Eshon).

Of course, not all applicants have been focused on the first round. In fact, several candidates have been out visiting the programs or attending information sessions as they gear up for R2. Anand Rao offers a wonderful summary of an HBS info session and LaserLikeFocus describes the dangers of visiting 5 schools in 5 days as well as a bit more detail on his Sloan visit. Meanwhile several applicants have checked in with their tips or progress reports for various application deadlines. RedWolf offers an update on his Chicago essays, while RusGirl tackles the subject of writer’s block and how to get around it. Finally TakeTwoBskool offers his rationale for applying in R2, The M offers thoughts on reengineering the recommendations process and Anders explains that the Chinese government has unbanned Blogspot.

Turning towards current MBA students in the class of 2007, we find the majority of them knee-deep in homework as they battle the toughest part of the first semester. FutureGuru blogs about the juggling act that is required at LBS, while JDiddy offers his take on week one at UCLA. Jerry Blank checks in with a report from Yale which characterizes the last two weeks as “rough” and Le Voyageur rants about how busy things are at Chicago. Finally, Death Spiral talks about flattering professors at INSEAD in advance of exams week.

Of course, while some MBA students are incredibly hard at work, others have used their blogs to document their efforts to play. IESE student gives readers the scoop on a bar-crawl after the first week of classes, Wakechick talks about doing everything but studying as she takes advantage of some weekend downtime in Chicago and Jewellsnake is energized by Stern’s location in the heart of Greenwich Village.

That’s the news from the front lines of the MBA blogosphere. Have a great weekend everyone! Don’t forget today’s Chicago GSB chat or the MBA World Tour in Paris this weekend….

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 12:59 pm in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Live Chat with Chicago GSB!

Here are the details on Friday’s Chicago chat:

On Friday, October 14th, 9:30am (central time), Rose Martinelli, the Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and the Admissions Team will be conducting an online chat with prospective students who are interested in learning more about Chicago GSB’s new admissions process.

Please join us by visiting: http://www.chicagogsb.edu/fulltime/chat/

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 6:44 pm in School: Chicago

Clear Admit @ World MBA Tour

Clear Admit will be participating in this Saturday’s World MBA Tour event in Paris, France. For those of you who have never attended one of these events, the Tour is a great opportunity for prospective applicants to pick up materials from leading schools and meet with alumni and admissions officers.

Graham Richmond will be at the Clear Admit stand during the event, so please feel free to stop by and say hello or offer your feedback on this blog. He will also be happy to answer your questions about the MBA admissions process.

Here is a partial list of some of the leading schools who will be present: Babson, CEIBS (China), Columbia, Cornell (Johnson), Cranfield, UVA (Darden), Duke (Fuqua), ESADE, ESCP, ESSEC, Georgetown, Berkeley (Haas), HEC, IESE, IMD, INSEAD, Cambridge (Judge), Kellogg, Manchester, NYU (Stern), Rotterdam, Bocconi, CMU (Tepper), Smurfit, Dartmouth (Tuck), UCLA (Anderson), U. Chicago, U. Michigan (Ross), UNC (Kenan-Flagler), USC (Marshall), Wharton.

Event details:
World MBA Tour
Paris, France
October 15th, 2005
Palais des Congres (16th district, metro: Porte Maillot)
5 EUR (to register in advance)
10 EUR (if paying at the event)

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:28 am in General

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

The Chosen

All this talk about submitting applications inevitably gets one thinking about results…

Last week’s edition of the New Yorker had an article by Malcom Gladwell about the history of the admissions process at the leading Ivy League schools in America. The article, which is essentially a book review of “The Chosen” by Jerome Karabel, primarily focuses on the efforts that Harvard, Yale and Princeton have put forth over the years to protect their status as luxury brands in the world of higher education. Classic debates over race, religion, raw intelligence, charisma and athleticism are all brought out into the open in this stunning piece. While the article hones in on the undergraduate admissions process, much of it is relevant to the rules of MBA admissions. The article is also somewhat related to the current debate in the BW Forums about the pros and cons of being smart.

For those of you who fear that the Ivy League programs may not open their doors for your candidacy, Ronald Alsop has just penned a piece for the Wall Street Journal’s ‘Career Journal’ site in which he highlights the efforts of the top European MBA programs to attract American students. While schools like INSEAD and IMD aren’t simply looking for Americans “with wanderlust,” they are still spending serious dollars on recruiting in the US market.

Finally, as follow up to yesterday’s Wharton news, it looks as though the admissions committee is hoping to have the recommendations module back up and running as soon as today. Stay tuned to their admissions blog for details.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:57 am in General

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Wharton Server Troubles (Part II)

Wharton continues to have issues with their online application. In particular, there seems to be trouble with the online recommendation letters. Here is a copy of an email that the Wharton admissions committee has just sent off to recommenders:

Dear [recommender],

Wharton’s online application has experienced technical difficulties and as result the online recommendation module has been taken offline until Thursday, October 13th. Here is the link to the PDF of the recommendation form: http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/action/pdf/mbarecommend2006.pdf

If you have planned to submit a recommendation for [student name] before the 13th here are alternative ways to submit the recommendation.

1) Email a letter of support which encompasses all of the questions on the attached recommendation form to Betty Ann Delaney at delaneyb@wharton.upenn.edu.

2) Fax the recommendation form to (215) 898-0120

3) Mail the form to the Admissions Office at:
Wharton MBA Admissions and Financial Aid
420 Jon M Huntsman Hall
3730 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 898-3430

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly at the # below. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work through these technical problems.

Bonny Wilson
Manager of Operations
Wharton MBA Admissions
P: 215.898.XXXX

Stay tuned for more information on this developing issue….

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 7:53 pm in School: Penn / Wharton

Wharton Server Troubles

As many of you know, Wharton seems to be having troubles with their online application. Given that we are still a couple of days away from their deadline, this is troubling (as site traffic will no doubt increase over the next 48 hours). It is also highly unusual, since Wharton has traditionally led the way when it comes to using technology in the admissions process.

Here is the official word from the Mae Jennifer Shores (Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Wharton):

As many of you are aware, we (admissions) are experiencing some technical problems with our online application. We are working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

In the meantime:

1) The print feature of the online application is currently disabled and will be functional once our technical problems are resolved. You may still submit your application and print a copy later (through late next spring); and

2) If your recommenders experience problems in submitting their letters, they may send them in the form of a word or text document to Betty Ann Delaney (delaneyb@wharton.upenn.edu).

At this point, we do not plan to extend the Round 1 application deadline. In the event that technical problems persist, we will make any necessary adjustments to the deadline.

We apologize for any inconvenience or stress you have experienced. Thank you for your patience! Mae Jennifer Shores (adcom)

We encourage our clients and readers to stay tuned to the Wharton student2student message boards for the latest update. Our anticipation is that Wharton will extend the deadline if these problems persist. The school does has a track record of being transparent and flexible in these kinds of situations.

Stay tuned.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:26 am in School: Penn / Wharton

Monday, October 10, 2005

Admissions Tip: Harvard Application

As many of you will be submitting your first round HBS applications in the next 24 hours, we thought we’d offer a few final words of advice.

1) Do not go overboard with your descriptions. This first tip comes directly from a recent email that the HBS admissions board sent out to applicants. The email was filled with information about which browsers to use, exact deadline times, etc. While these tips are important, we’d like to focus on one small bit of instruction they offered towards the end of the email:

“–Please be brief in describing your employment, extracurricular, and community activities and abide by the word limits provided.”

As HBS is the school that receives the most applications every year, the HBS admissions board routinely has its hands full. As such, the adcom is not looking for applicants to provide endless descriptions of employment and activities. As you prepare to submit, be sure to read over your listings and ensure that they are as concise and focused as possible.

2) Check for balance across your essay topics. Have six out of the seven essays you drafted discussed your work experience? Have you failed to ensure that all of your unique attributes were showcased across the essays? Have you told the same leadership story in three different essays, suggesting that you don’t have too many achievements to draw upon?

3) Remind your recommenders to watch the word limits. As you may have noted, most of the recommendation questions have fairly restrictive word limits. While we’re certain that every applicant has numerous attributes, we’d encourage recommenders to follow the guidelines put forth by HBS.

4) Do not submit your application within the last few hours leading up to the deadline. There have been instances in recent years where the servers at Harvard (or ApplyYourself) have been a bit overwhelmed around the deadline time. While the systems haven’t typically gone off-line, the trouble usually manifests itself in incredibly slow load times. Submitting a bit earlier in the day will ensure that you avoid this sort of issue.

Best of luck to everyone applying to HBS!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:34 am in Admissions Tips, School: Harvard

Friday, October 07, 2005

Fridays from the Frontline

With the fall season upon us, the buzz in the world of MBA admissions has increased to a dull roar. Discussion forums are a flurry of postings, bloggers are blogging and applicants are applying (or at least talking about applying while procrastinating). Meanwhile, the MBA campuses have settled into one of the more intense parts of the semester, sending first year MBA students off to the library and second year’s to EISs (Employer Information Sessions).

Focusing in the applicant pool, we find Ty Coon discussing the forthcoming HBS deadline as well as his Yale and Kellogg applications. Meanwhile Axechick, who describes the feeling of endless essay writing, has shuffled the deck and opted for Columbia’s ED round – pushing off her HBS application until R2. While some applicants are busy finalizing applications others are navigating obstacles. Mave describes what happens to GMAT test takers in Germany when ETS’ systems go down and GunnerMBA has a scary moment while contemplating the virtual non-existence of Premier League football (soccer) in the United States (if you end up at Wharton, try this, Gunner…). Among the remaining applicant-bloggers, PupStar78 has just fired up the essay writing process as a reapplicant and Resolute offers a review of the Mumbai MBA Tour event and shares his approach to the Wharton deadline.

Hitting the books with MBA student-bloggers, MargaritaLuvr seems to be up to her ears in homework at Columbia, while MBAwana elaborates on the blistering pace at Stanford. Majalo expresses similar sentiments at Kellogg, while George freaks out about the pace at IESE. Despite having Wednesdays off at Stanford, TIY points out that Tuesday is not the new Friday (thanks to a stunning amount of homework).

That’s the news from the MBA blogosphere this week. Have a great (or shall we say productive) weekend!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 12:08 pm in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Where’s Wharton?

Yesterday’s Daily Pennsylvanian (the UPENN student daily) featured an article entitled Where’s Wharton?, describing the school’s absence from the Economist’s 2005 rankings and offering quotes from Harvard and Wharton faculty and staff. While this debate seems to be never-ending, we’re certainly curious as to how it might all end. For example, will the release of an official GMAC classification (with extensive data) give the press access to needed facts and figures for their rankings, making it a moot point that Wharton and HBS do not provide the data directly? Stay tuned.

Speaking of rankings, the Princeton Review has just released their annual MBA guide. While they do not provide a strict ‘best overall’ ranking, they do featuring several categories in which they rank over 200 programs:

Toughest to Get Into: 1. Harvard, 2. Stanford, 3. Wharton…
Best Overall Academic Experience: 1. MIT/Sloan, 2. Tuck, 3. Stern…
Best Career Prospects: 1. Stanford, 2. Harvard, 3. Berkeley…

Other categories include Best Professors, Best Campus Facilities, Greatest Opportunity for Women, Best Administered, etc. Details are available on the Princeton Review’s web site.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:25 am in School: Penn / Wharton

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