Despite an abbreviated week in the business world, the MBA blogging community continues to post new content. The Thanksgiving holiday weekend has historically been a busy time for MBA applicants and students (particularly second-year students). This is due to the fact that both of these groups are often in the throes of interviewing; the former for spots in b-school and the latter for their first post-MBA jobs. This week’s edition of FFF tries to keep score as applicants and students report their results and continue to move through the process….

We’ll start off by checking in with several of the R1 applicants who are moving forward in the admissions process. Resolute blogs about setting up his Wharton interview and opting for the ‘hub’ variety. While he recognizes that a great deal of interview prep will be required, he intends to squeeze most of it into the week leading up to the big event. Meanwhile, Ty Coon pressed ‘submit’ on his Columbia application and was surprised to get a status change to “under review” within 48 hours. Although Columbia claims to read their non-ED applications only after January 11th, we suspect that Ty Coon’s file may make its way into the process a bit sooner (if history is any indication).

While some applicants arrange interviews and submit their files, Mave emphasizes how difficult the writing process can be – especially when word limits or questions like Stanford’s “What matters most to you and why?” are involved. Meanwhile, Vatsa offers some good feedback on one of Tuck’s essays and takes a look back at his unsuccessful Wharton application – pointing out how imperative it is to move forward and use Wharton’s relatively early decision to his advantage with other programs. Essays are a clearly a hot topic, but bloggers like Nick continue to worry about the ROI issue and Qzoink debates the fashion sense differences found at Stern vs. Columbia.

Beyond discussing interview and essay strategies, several applicants are spending their time digesting results. For Axechick, Columbia’s acceptance is slowly becoming a reality – helped along by a recent campus visit. Meanwhile, RusGirl takes bad news from both INSEAD and LBS in stride, while explaining that reapplication is clearly in her plans.

Heading over to the b-school student blogger community, we find FutureMBAGirl, a second year student at Wharton, reporting from the midst of the recruiting process and later checking in with fantastic news! On a similar note, Marquis (a Stanford second-year) posted with regards to his interview experience with McKinsey (plus the result) and Andy reports that he’ll be heading from the University of St. Thomas to an associate VP role with First Commercial Bank. Congratulations are clearly in order for these veteran bloggers!

In other on-campus news, several MBA students have offered great ‘slice of life’ posts. We’ll start with INSEAD06 who offers an incredibly detailed breakdown of life on the school’s . . . → Continue Reading

This week’s edition of FFF begins with a look at those applicants muddling though the all-important essay element of the application. Turning to the essays for his second application, LaserLikeFocus worries that his essays lack the freshness of his Kellogg responses, illustrating the importance of taking a break to get some distance or seeking a fresh perspective. In that vein, Pupstar78 comments on his essay progress and writing schedule, and plans to rethink his topic selection after letting his materials sit for a few days. Meanwhile, we certainly understand MBAyisyen‘s disappointment over deciding against applying for September 2006 entry after taking stock of his commitments and the work required to complete a solid application.

On the post-submission side of the application process, Axechick is becoming increasingly excited about her Columbia ED admit (in spite of having to forfeit her vacation plans to foot the $5K deposit). Meanwhile, Ty Coon provides a very comprehensive account of his Yale visit and interview, complete with pictures of campus and a list of the questions he was asked (a must-read for applicants wondering what to expect). We’re naturally sorry to hear about his abysmal experience with US Airways, but it’s great to see that he enjoyed his stay and feels that he made a good impression on his interviewer!

MBA student bloggers have also been busy documenting their experiences. MargaritaLuvr takes a critical look at her first semester courses at Columbia, while second year student FutureMBAGirl misses the relative calm of her previous year at Wharton. On the recruiting front, first-year Stanford student Mbwana reflects on a crazy week and relates the most important lessons from his mock interview experience, Wharton student Hella considers the differences between this year’s and last year’s recruiting processes, and HBS second-year Mark offers some interview tips to applicants based on his own success.

There’s been a good deal of activity at the non-US schools as well. After only a week, Death Spiral weighs professional and meteorological concerns in making choices about his time at INSEAD, whereas INSEAD 06 is more amused than conflicted when it comes to his experience at the Singapore campus. In other interesting events, ISB student Vijay recounts an unusual interview experience (or escapade) with Deutsche Bank. Finally, the past week has found student bloggers at LBS looking forward to guest speakers, preparing for case interviews, tackling a writing assignment, and making the best of a mandatory Saturday assignment.

We hope that you all have a great weekend, and that our blogging friends keep those posts coming (if only for KV’s sake)!