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The Career Goals Essay
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ARCHIVE FOR DECEMBER 2005

Friday, December 30, 2005

Fridays From the Frontline

Welcome to the final edition of FFF for 2005! While the holidays have slowed traffic in the blogosphere somewhat, the applicant-blogger community has remained fairly active due to the plethora of R2 application deadlines that are looming on the horizon.

We’ll kick things off with a report from FooBarMe, who submitted his Stanford application despite some technical issues and offers readers a bit of a run-down with regards to his approach for CMU/Tepper’s Flex-Mode application. Also checking in with an application update was Pupstar78 who has 95% of his Wharton application complete and 85% of Kellogg, but seemed to be struggling with a blurry computer screen after having his eyes dilated during an appointment with the opthalmologist. In the same vein, SgHama jumped in with a brief celebratory post about the completion of his Wharton and Chicago applications (just in time to celebrate New Year’s). Finally, Ty Coon outlined his strategy for further applications in R2 based on feedback he’d received in R1.

While some applicants were looking at R2 deadlines, others were reporting on their admissions results in R1. Brownoski describes his mixed sentiments about being waitlisted at Wharton, but feels good to have a Yale admit in his back pocket. In contrast, we turn to Resolute, who found the waitlist decision at Wharton to be somewhat comforting after the earlier results he’d received from Chicago, Tuck and Fuqua. On the positive side, Loki reports good news from Wharton and is clearly excited about the prospect of heading to Philly in the fall.

This week also featured a number of postings about interviews and school policies. One the heels of his rejection from Wharton, RedWolf offered an extensive post on the school’s interview process and wondered whether or not his interview was actually considered in the process. Meanwhile, LaserLikeFocus offered a full account of his rather unusual Tuck interview (the interviewer was wearing slippers) and in a second posting critiques Kellogg’s decision-release policy.

In other applicant-blogging news, Azaka has finished with the GMAT and seemed fairly content with the result. RusGirl continues to plot her strategy after a disappointing admissions season, but managed to take the time to blog about the newest Clear Admit resource. Also, we’d like to formally welcome MonkandMonkey to the applicant-blogger fold. M&M will be targeting the class of 2009 and has kick-started his blog with two informative posts after attending a Wharton info session and a Darden reception.

While most MBA student-bloggers were spending time on vacation (catching up on sleep, no doubt), there were a few who checked in with some new posts. Droodoogie offered a complete rundown of the first semester coursework at Columbia and Tom looked forward to the spring semester at MIT/Sloan (including his spring classes). Cliff_Claven posted some advice about getting into Stanford, TheDivineMissN sent her holiday wishes from LBS and Metal summed up the semester at UT Austin. We also enjoyed reading a posting from Jeff, who ran down his results at Brandeis’ International Business School.

Finally, it seems that some MBA-bloggers are breaking down the boundaries that keep us all in cyberspace. Marina, Sorebrek and MBACutie recently got together for a night on the town in San Francisco. If this trend continues, we may need to contemplate an in-person, Best of Blogging 2005-06 awards ceremony….with the red carpet interviews, ridiculous designer clothing, etc.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

School X vs. School Y

As R1 admissions results trickle in from the leading business schools, we are beginning to hear the familiar sounds of ’school debate’ in the various forums and blogs that occupy the time of MBA aspirants. Applicants faced with multiple options are weighing their preferences and contemplating a final destination, often sparking discussion threads like: Cornell vs. Columbia, Michigan vs. Chicago, Stanford vs. Harvard, Wharton vs. Columbia, etc. The debates can get downright nasty (and are often ridiculously uninformed), so we thought we would use today’s posting to offer some advice in this area.

Choosing Between Schools
If you are fortunate enough to have gained acceptance to more than one school on your list, you may find yourself in a bit of a predicament. Here are our tips on making your admissions decision/assessing MBA programs:

a) If you have not visited, go to the school and see what you think of the environment. Be sure to attend classes, talk with students, tour the facilities, etc. A weekend visit during a school’s winter break is not a great idea (since you should go when classess are in session). Even if you have already visited, be sure to attend the school’s ‘admitted students’ event(s) to get a sense of your potential classmates. After all, these are the folks who will be offering their thoughts in class and making up your future network.

b) Try to get a sense for the school’s track record in your target field. For example, if you want to be a strategy consultant, take a look at the placement statistics with the firms that are of interest to you. Talk to the career management office at the school and find out which firms came to campus, how many offers were made, etc. You might also try to contact alumni who work in your target field and see what they have to say about their program’s strength in that area. Finally, it may be a good idea to approach the HR department of a firm you are likely to target and ask them for their opinion of the programs on your list. This is also an excuse to build rapport with a potential future employer.

c) Think about the location, size, teaching method, etc. Are you a city person? Are you looking for more of a close-knit, “we’re all in this together” sort of experience, or are you looking to attend classes and then disappear into a large city with a few classmates or old friends? Do you need the benefits of a large university for the pursuit of specific coursework? Do you crave lengthy discussions with faculty? Do you have family or a significant other that might need to consider location? Are you strong in qualitative areas but looking to gain expertise in quantitative subjects? Is there a teaching method that might better address your weaknesses?

d) Think about regional and global brand. Will you be targeting a certain location for employment post-MBA? Does the school place many students in that region? For example, if you are looking for work in London, does the school have an active alumni club in London? If you dream of working in Los Angeles but are debating between two programs on the East Coast, which one has the sort of West Coast network you are looking for?

These are just a few general tips to get you thinking about how to make your admissions decision. It goes without saying that this is a once in a lifetime decision, so it certainly makes sense to do your homework - and to avoid getting too caught up solely in the rankings. Also, remember that the shoe is finally on the other foot now - and that the schools should be marketing themselves to you. Be sure to take advantage of their offers to provide you with answers to the questions you may have.

Best of luck to those of you choosing between schools!

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

The Early Decision Debate

In light of the recent discussion about Columbia’s ED policy in the BW Forums (Columbia ED, Honor or Intimidation) we wanted to draw our readers’ attention to an updated version of an earlier posting from this blog:

Early Decision vs. Early Action vs. earlier deadlines…(Jan 2004)
Today’s Wall Street Journal Online, has an interesting article about the shift in undergraduate admissions trends. In essence, the article outlines undergraduate policies like ‘early action’, ‘early decision’ and ’single-choice early action’ while offering information on acceptance rates in these early rounds, etc.

The interesting link between this article and the world of MBA admissions relates to the increasing use of early decision/early action rounds or early R1 deadlines at business schools. MBA programs like Cornell/Johnson and Dartmouth/Tuck are pushing early action deadlines (mid-October) and Columbia continues to find takers for their often controversial early decision deadline (mid-October). Other schools, like Wharton, have simply made their R1 deadline earlier in the last couple of years (mid-October) and are offering decisions prior to Christmas (mid-December).

The nice thing about early action deadlines or even an ‘early’ R1 deadline is that it allows an applicant to hang on to an offer of acceptance without being forced to make a decision. For example, Wharton applicants who received letters of acceptance last week have until April of 2006 to send in their check. ‘Early decision’, on the other hand, is typically a binding policy where the admitted student agrees to commit (often via a large deposit) or lose the offer.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Admissions Tip: Background Checks

Now that several schools have issued R1 admissions decisions, many of our readers have been asking about the background checks conducted by leading programs. Here are some quick facts to help explain the process:

1) What are background checks? Background checks involve the verification of information that a candidate has provided in his or her MBA applications. Although the process varies from school to school, it usually includes checking that an applicant attended the school that he or she claims to have attended, received the grades indicated and earned the GMAT score reported. It also involves the verification of the candidate’s employment history, job titles, starting and ending dates and salary/bonus information. Finally, some background checks involve contacting recommenders to verify their support and confirming applicant involvement in community activities.

2) Do all schools conduct background checks? When do they do this? How do they have time? Many of leading MBA programs like to verify the information that has been provided by applicants. This is typically done only for those applicants who are admitted since there is no sense in verifying information for applicants who do not make the cut. Most background checking occurs in the spring - after decisions are out and students begin sending in their deposits. In many cases, the schools outsource this function to a professional risk consulting firm like Kroll.

3) Why bother with background checks? Don’t the schools trust me? The purpose of background checking is to protect all stakeholders of the MBA program (students, faculty, staff, alumni) from those who would seek to falsify their background and pervert the admissions process. It goes without saying that background checks are a good idea.

4) What if my ’start date’ for an old job is one week earlier than the start date that HR reports during the background check? Will my offer of admission be rescinded? The short answer is that most schools report any discrepancies back to the applicant and give them a chance to explain a plausible mistake. Having said that, it makes sense to do your best to verify all of your information before applying to school, so that you can be certain that the data you report is accurate.

5) Won’t the background checking process alert my employer to the fact that I am applying to b-school? Since the process typically takes place long after you’ve been admitted, this ideally should not be an issue. Having said that the schools still try to conduct the checks in an anonymous fashion, consulting with your HR department to verify your dates of employment and salary - but not necessarily revealing that you are heading to business school.

6) How can I ensure a smooth background check? While the obvious answer is to be honest in your applications, it’s also important that you don’t fudge anything out of laziness (a common occurrence). Dig up those old W-2 forms or check with former employers in order to present the committee with the most accurate information you can.

Monday, December 26, 2005

RPI MBA Rankings

A favorite pastime of many MBA applicants is to look at the various rankings that are published in the press. Here is a list of a few of the offerings that most of you are familiar with:

US News and World Report
BusinessWeek
The Financial Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Economist
Forbes ROI Rankings
CEO Rankings

While the above resources vary in their appeal (and credibility), it is nonetheless interesting to read the surveys and see how the schools stack up. This is especially true if applicants remember to use the rankings in tandem with substantial research, school visits and discussion with current students who are following similar career paths.

In this spirit, we wanted to draw your attention to the work of a former MBA applicant who took a novel approach to measuring the quality of students at the leading MBA programs. The applicant in question developed the RPI rankings, which use a popular sports methodology (based on ’strength of schedule’) to help understand the preferences in the MBA marketplace and the caliber of students at each program.

In short, the RPI rankings look at two very basic statistics:

1) Where MBA applicants gain admission
2) Where they end up going

In using this information from a large pool of applicants, the survey attempts to measure student quality at the various schools. For the details of this concept and a full PDF report explaining the results, click here. As a word of warning, the RPI rankings were developed a couple of years ago - hence the data is somewhat out of date. Despite this fact, it’s still a novel approach, and one that is certainly worth considering.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Fridays From the Frontline

This has truly been a whirlwind week in the MBA blogosphere. We’ve seen more suspense and drama than an Oscar-winning motion picture. While most of the excitement has surrounded R1 applicants who’ve recently received results from schools like Yale, Kellogg, Wharton, LBS and Duke, current MBA students were also dealing with their struggles in exams. Add to the mix the realization that we’re only 11 days from Harvard’s R2 deadline and you’ve got quite the edition of Fridays From the Frontline!

Let’s kick things off this week with the good news. After speculating that he may be out of the running at Tuck, LaserLikeFocus reported news of an interview invite from the folks in Hanover, NH (perhaps the Tuck admissions committee reads his blog?)… In other positive developments, FrankyA made the cut at London Business School, with a 10,000 pound scholarship to boot! Back on this side of the Atlantic, Brownoski reports an admit from Yale and Marina summarizes her CBS interview (took place on a Monday), admit (received three days after the interview) and the decision to matriculate. Finally, current Wharton students FutureMBAGirl and Bskewl offered their congratulations to the applicants who made the cut at Wharton in R1.

Beyond the good news, there was also a great deal of nervousness and pessimism in the the blogosphere. Ty Coon worried about not receiving word from Yale as he watched other applicants get pre-Christmas admits. BBirds offered a list of things to do to kill time while awaiting MBA decisions and Anand expressed his concern about juggling applications and his hectic work schedule. Most of this week’s nervousness surrounded the Wharton decisions, which RedWolf discussed as the final day of waiting ticked by.

In addition to pessimism and nervousness, there was some downright bad news handed out this week to a few bloggers. We wanted to take a moment to offer a few words of encouragement to those of you who didn’t get the news you were hoping for this week. We hope that Qzoink (who was denied from Columbia) and RedWolf (from Wharton) are able to promptly pick themselves back up and find success with their remaining applications.

While many applicant-bloggers focused on R1 results there were a number of good postings about forthcoming deadlines. As a starting point, we turn to Axechick who celebrated her first year of blogging by offering some good advice to the applicant community. Mave also returned to the ranks this week with a posting on the R2 application process and an assessment of the caliber of essay questions asked by a few schools. Beyond these posts, we heard from SgHama who seems to be coasting through the application process for R2 and RusGirl who has a new plan in place for her next steps.

Before we leave you for some last minute Christmas shopping, we wanted to highlight several strong posts from the current MBA student population. MargaritaLuvr offers her take on the dress code for finals at CBS, KV describes how he’s spending his break from LBS, IESEMBA2007 offers a review of finals at IESE and INSEAD 06 offers a report on the exams he’s had thus far. In a similar vein, Ben summarizes the classes he’s put behind him at Michigan, Buckyhoo offers a UNC update, MBAwana explains why grade non-disclosure is a good thing at Stanford, Sourabh describes time management at Cranfield, Death Spiral explains the grading system at INSEAD and Tom summarizes the first term at MIT/Sloan.

That’s the news from the MBA blogosphere. The entire Clear Admit team would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday weekend!

Final Call…

As our team begins wrapping up the beta testing on the new MBA resource we’ve developed, we wanted to ask for a few more volunteers to offer their input. We’re looking for MBA applicants and students to spend a few minutes of their time using the web-based resource we’ve created. Please email alexbr@clearadmit.com if you are interested in lending a hand.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Admissions Tip: Wharton R1 Results

First off, we’d like to offer our best wishes to everyone who is awaiting word from Wharton today. It’s been a long road and we recognize than many of you started this process over six months ago.

Since we’re aware that not every applicant will receive an admit, we thought we would offer some tips with regards to handling rejection or waitlist situations. In both cases, it’s important to remember that there are several silver linings here:

1) Timing is everything. The fact that Wharton releases R1 decisions before most of the January (R2) deadlines provides applicants with an early signal of where they might fall in the applicant pool. This feedback can be tremendously important when crafting a backup plan. If you didn’t get the news you were hoping for, it may make sense to consider adding a few schools in R2 (there are dozens of deadlines in January).

2) R1 waitlisters often get admitted in R2. If you were waitlisted, fear not! Historically, we’ve seen a very high percentage of R1 waitlisters gain acceptance to Wharton before the season is over. As such, it is critical to maintain a positive attitude. Of course, it also may make sense to explore other options (see #1 above), but there is no reason not to remain hopeful about your chances at Wharton.

3) Wharton is reapplicant friendly. If your heart is still set on Wharton despite a denial of admission, it may make sense to consider reapplication next year. If this is your plan, you should get started immediately on your strategy by thinking about the areas you could improve. Also, keep in mind that Wharton is one of the few MBA programs that offers applicants a feedback session to explain where the application fell short. These sessions typically take place in the summer months. Check the Wharton web site to learn more about signing up for a feedback session (sign-ups usually take place in April or May).

4) One result does not determine your MBA fate. Although getting a decision from Wharton can serve as a great measure of your chances with other top schools, it is also important to remember that one data point does not define your fate. This is why it is so critical to target several top schools. Even the most impressive candidates rarely get into every school they consider.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Admissions Gossip

Between the frantic push for R2 deadlines and the tense waiting game for R1 decisions, there is no shortage of news in the MBA admissions world. Here’s a quick run down of the latest news and notes we’ve picked up on:

The Yale SOM began offering a handful of admits yesterday to R1 applicants. This is in keeping with the school’s tradition of offering some pre-holiday acceptances. The rest of the pool will have to wait until January. For Yale related discussion, click here. In other news, London Business School also sent out R1 decisions yesterday - with a number of admits reporting in to the BW Forums.

Believe it or not, Stanford continues to offer R1 interview invites - with several applicants reporting that they got their invitations yesterday. The school has often issued invites well into January, so hang in there if you are still waiting! Kellogg has been releasing R1 decisions on a rolling basis and will continue to send out results until December 22nd, when the adcom will take a break until January 2nd.

The Wharton admissions team checked in with an update about tomorrow’s R1 decisions, indicating that word will go out to all interviewed applicants at 9:00 AM (ET). See their blog for details. Of course, with Wharton decisions due out tomorrow, the classic Columbia ED debate seems to be stirring up again.

Finally, there are a couple of news items that we wanted to briefly call to your attention:

1) INSEAD’s new dean is Frank Brown (from PricewaterhouseCoopers). Coverage in the Financial Times. There is precedent for choosing a dean from the business world. See Tom Gerrity and Wharton, for one example.

2) HBS claims that their average graduate from the class of 2005 is earning $174,580/year. This indicates a rather dramatic upswing in starting salaries and suggests that the hiring spree we’ve been documenting in this blog is having an impact on salaries for top MBAs. See the article “Money and morals clash” also in the FT.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Social Responsibility and the MBA

While the past year has seen ethics become a particularly hot topic on the admissions end of the business school experience, it seems that social responsibility is a growing concern on the other end of the process. The Wall Street Journal’s College Journal recently published an interesting article about the growing demand for MBAs with backgrounds in this area - and the increasing ease of finding such candidates in the recruiting process. Meanwhile, individuals looking to work in a traditional business role while promoting corporate citizenship and social responsibility within the ranks of an organization find themselves in an ideal position to effect positive change:

M.B.A. graduates say their degree gives them greater credibility when they try to spread social responsibility throughout a company. Unlike many people who move into the corporate world from nonprofit organizations, M.B.A.s can speak the language of business and relate social responsibility to brand management, corporate strategy and financial analysis.

Aspiring MBAs who are seeking to develop these competencies by making social responsibility a priority in their school search will be interested in the latest edition of Beyond Grey Pinstripes, a survey conducted by the Aspen Institute and World Resources Institute that aims to “spotlight innovative full-time MBA programs and faculty that lead the way in integrating issues of social and environmental stewardship into business school curricula and research.”

The aforementioned WSJ article focuses heavily on Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, which finished at #11 in this year’s ranking. The full text is available here.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Deadline Compression!

This year’s January deadlines for the top schools are compressed into an incredibly short time-frame. Here’s the rundown:

Tuesday, January 3rd: Harvard Business School
Wednesday, January 4th: Chicago, Stanford, Cornell/Johnson
Thursday, January 5th: Wharton, UCLA/Anderson
Friday, January 6th: Kellogg, London Business School
Saturday, January 7th: Michigan/Ross

As you can see, the top 5 MBA programs all have deadlines within a 4-day window. To make matters worse, things don’t really let up the following week:

Tuesday, January 10th: Duke/Fuqua
Wednesday, January 11th: MIT/Sloan, Yale SOM
Thursday, January 12th: UVA/Darden, Dartmouth/Tuck
Sunday, January 15th: NYU/Stern

Throw Columbia’s “rolling” admissions process into the mix, along with Berkeley’s January 20th deadline, and it’s not hard to see that January should be a very busy month for MBA applicants.

This brings us to the point of today’s blog entry, which is that applicants who are aiming for the January deadlines should resist the temptation to put off their applications until after the holidays. This is particularly important for applicants targeting schools with deadlines during the first week of January. We expect a flood of candidates to login and complete their online applications as of January 1st. Given that increased server traffic often results in problems, it makes sense for applicants to target the next two weeks to wrap things up.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Fridays From the Frontline

As the weeks zip by and the holidays approach, the MBA blogging community is faced with numerous challenges. Applicants are attempting to juggle interviews, R2 essay-drafting and pending decisions (for those that applied to schools in R1). First-year MBA students are struggling to the finish line of the infamous “first semester” and second-year students are equally focused on finals and recruiting.

We’ll kick off this week’s edition of FFF with a look at the applicant-blogger community. For those of you who are considering applying to schools in January, we’d like to highlight a post by IWillMakeIt, who describes the frustration associated with missing Cornell’s latest deadline and the need to push things off until January. The reason that this is relevant has to do with the serious deadline compression we’re seeing on the horizon: in a span of 5 days in early January, there are 9 schools with R2 deadlines! We cannot stress enough how important it will be for R2 applicants to make use of the next two weeks in order to avoid a last-minute panic. On a lighter note, applicant-blogger Qzoink offers another fashion commentary - this one after checking out students on the UCLA campus.

While some applicant-bloggers are focused on the upcoming deadlines, others are awaiting R1 results with bated breath. In particular, many applicants are getting jumpy with each seemingly innocuous email that admissions offices send out. Brownoski describes how his heart skipped a beat when he got a recent note from the MIT/Sloan adcom (to alert him to the fact that his file was ‘ready for review’) and Ty Coon describes the feeling of getting an email from Yale only to find that it was in fact just a newsletter.

The beauty of blogs, forums and other tools is that they allow applicants to share information and support each other through the process. LaserLikeFocus used his blog to report that Kellogg will begin releasing some R1 decisions this week (which they have), Ty Coon checks in with the fact that Yale has started to deny some of their R1 applicants and John Galt reports that he has gained an admit from Tuck (congratulations!). On a less positive note, Resolute reports that he received a deny letter from Chicago - hopefully better news awaits on the Wharton front (after a positive interview). Given that so many of you have great information to share, we’d actually like to invite all members of the blogging community to have a look at the tool we discussed earlier in the week.

Beyond the decision jitters, many R1 applicants continue to navigate the MBA interview process. RedWolf checks in with a report from his Wharton alumni interview, ForrestGump describes his U.Michigan/Ross phone interview, BBirds describes the panel interview at the Indian School of Business and SgHama describes how he was invited to schedule a Tuck phone interview.

Turning to the MBA campus, the blogosphere was inundated with reports from final exams in the last week. MargaritaLuvr mentions that finals at CBS are “no joke”, LadyRattler reports on finals and GND at Stanford, FutureMBAGirl celebrates the end of the semester at Wharton (while Hella still has some work to do) and Wakechick wraps up the quarter at Chicago (see LeVoyageur’s Chicago summary too). Keven also checked in with a finals update from Wisconsin, Jerry Blank seems to have created his own mid-term awards at Yale, Buckyhoo describes a marketing final at UNC, Ben reflects on changes at Ross/Michigan and Amit checks in after finishing exams at IIM. Closing out our exams/curriculum segment, we turn to KV, who is trying to finish up the semester at LBS, IESE-MBA-2007, who has learned a lot at IESE and DeathSpiral, who offers a list of things to do instead of studying at INSEAD!

Congratulations to everyone who’s finished up exams this week or received admits to b-school. Our fingers are crossed for LaserLikeFocus and PupStar78 who just submitted at Berkeley/Haas and GunnerMBA who finished his INSEAD application. That’s the news for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

“D” is for Disclosure?

In a not-so-shocking conclusion to the raging debate, Harvard Business School has eliminated its grade non-disclosure policy. Where HBS students had long been forbidden from revealing their marks to recruiters, the HBS Class of 2008 will now be able to do so. Acting dean Jay Light made the announcement yesterday by sending an email out to the HBS community (see below).

This decision raises two very important questions:

1) How will the fact that recruiters have access to GPAs change the level of collaboration among students at Harvard? Will classmates be less likely to assist one another for fear that firms like McKinsey or Goldman Sachs may be relying heavily on individual performance? Will second-year students seek out easier classes to ensure a high GPA?

2) How will the decision at HBS impact the debate that is currently being waged at other top schools with grade non-disclosure (like Wharton, Chicago and Stanford)?

HBS Blogger Mark checked in with his comments on this decision:

Personally, I’m disappointed by this move. I think it is rash to announce a potential change in October, provide scant details until November, and then make the change in December. That doesn’t even begin to address the fact that the decision was made by a temporary Dean who almost certainly won’t be in that position when the Class of 2008 arrives in September. This decision also says very negative things about how the administration values student feedback, and I have very low expectations for these “working groups.”

Here is the official letter from Harvard’s acting dean:

14 December 2005

Dear Students,

I am writing to let you know that, beginning with the Class of 2008, Harvard Business School will no longer prohibit students from disclosing the grades they earn in the MBA program. I recognize that this decision will not be welcome news, for I understand most of you would prefer to continue with our current policy.

In making this decision, I have listened carefully to concerns voiced by current students, and sought the views of faculty, staff, former students, recruiters, and other key constituencies who also care deeply about this issue and its effect upon HBS. I have consulted extensively with Rick Ruback, the MBA Program Chair, and sought advice from the Senior Associate Deans who comprise the faculty leadership. After carefully weighing the arguments on both sides of the issue, and in light of our long-standing mission and reputation, I believe this is the right decision for the School.

Fundamentally, I believe it is inappropriate for HBS to dictate to students what they can and cannot say about their grades during the recruiting process. I believe you and your classmates earn your grades and should be accountable for them, as you will be accountable for your performance in the organizations you will lead in the future. You each should be at liberty to provide recruiters with the fullest possible picture of your accomplishments — including your academic performance while here at the School. In addition, Harvard Business School’s reputation is deeply rooted in the transformational experience we provide in our classrooms, an experience that is vitally dependent upon maintaining high academic standards. The relatively recent policy of prohibiting disclosure is inconsistent with our commitment to these standards.

In individual emails and conversations as well as other larger forums for discussion and the recent Student Association poll, current students have raised a range of concerns related to disclosure, including decreased cooperation and collaboration in the classroom, less willingness to take risks (including course selection during the second year), grading practices, and a potentially less diverse mix of incoming students. I have talked at length with faculty, with staff, and with former students, particularly those who were here before we had prohibitions on disclosure. Based on their extensive experience at the School (including faculty who themselves were students at HBS), most believe the transition back to our original policy can be managed — with careful consideration of the implementation issues many of you have raised — to minimize any such effects. Based on our own experience over many years, Rick and I agree with this view.

I would hope we can use the coming year, working together, to plan the implementation of the change, and to make detailed recommendations on ways to monitor and mitigate any detrimental outcomes. I have asked Rick and the MBA program group to engage student leadership on this implementation, forming student-faculty working groups to develop guidelines we can apply for the Class of 2008. We all want to ensure that HBS remains an outstanding learning environment on every dimension.

I am grateful for the time and energy many of you have taken to share your thoughts and opinions over the last several weeks. Your passion is a clear measure of how much you value your experience here, and how much you wish to strengthen and improve the MBA program. We share that deep commitment to the School and to the very special educational experience that it provides.

Best regards,

Jay Light

Also, see Monday’s article about the debate in the Harbus.

And, just as a reminder, the Clear Admit team is still seeking beta-testers for an online tool we’re developing. Please email alexbr@clearadmit.com to participate. We’d love to have our readers support and input in this process!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Seeking Beta Testers!

The Clear Admit team recently spent time designing a community-based online tool to enable MBA applicants and students to share their respective experiences. We are presently soliciting a small group of beta testers to offer feedback on this tool. If you are interested in helping to test-drive and ultimately shape this project please email alexbr@clearadmit.com. You must be a current MBA applicant or student to participate. Beta-testing is already in progress. Thanks for your help!

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

UNC Kenan-Flagler Essay Topic Analysis (2005-2006)

In response to a request from a follower of our blog, we wanted to take some time today to comment on the essays for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. One thing to note about this school’s required questions is that they are referred to as “Self-Evaluation Essays,” indicating that the adcom is looking for applicants to take stock of their experience and provide a sort of appraisal of their strengths, shortcomings, and experiences to date.

1. Describe your career progression to date, highlighting leadership and management positions and reasons for changing jobs or career paths, if applicable. Tell us how your experience, coupled with an MBA degree from UNC, will lead you to your short-term and long-term career goals. (1200 words maximum)
Another instance of the standard career goals essay, with a few more words to work with than you’ll find at most schools. Note that this program places heavy emphasis on explaining your moves and choices to date, and seems to place a premium on experience supervising or directing the work of others. In addition to an explanation of your interest in your goals, the school is also explicitly asking you to comment on your preparedness at this point in your career. This makes it extra important that you describe the way your existing skills and knowledge will be helpful in the future but can only take you so far, and explain why you’ll need an MBA from UNC to get the rest of the way.

2. Describe the major obstacles or challenges you have faced in pursuit of your goals. Tell us how you addressed these challenges and how they have shaped you. (800 words maximum)
Because the adcom is aware that an applicant’s professional objectives and interests will have evolved over time, you don’t need to limit your discussion to the goals you’ve stated in the previous essay; be sure to think broadly about incremental goals that have brought you to this point in your life and career and the challenges you have overcome along the way. The second half of this essay topic indicates that the school wants to hear about your personal and professional growth: the lessons you’ve learned and skills you’ve gained by tackling difficult situations and obstacles. While it would be appropriate to share a personal triumph as part of the discussion in this essay, remember that you do not want to share any information that might make the reader uncomfortable or create a negative impression (writing about defying one’s parents’ wishes in some personal matter, for instance, could make an applicant seem immature or too dependent on the approval of others).

3. Tell us about one major accomplishment or project you worked on that succeeded because of your leadership. Please use the following format for your response:
-Provide a general statement of what was accomplished (50 words maximum)
-Describe the specific actions you took as a leader to make the project succeed (200 words maximum)
-State the time period during which the accomplishment was carried out
-If you received any honors, citations or recognitions for the accomplishment, list them. Indicate whether these were individual or shared honors.

The word limit for this essay is fairly restrictive, so brevity will be important here. To tailor your response to UNC’s format, it would be ideal to provide the requested information in the above order, taking care to highlight your actions as well as the thought process behind them.

4. (Optional) Tell us about any international experience you have, either living or working abroad. Tell us how it has impacted your global perspective. (400 words maximum)

5. (Optional) Regardless of your major, we strongly recommend that all students enter the program with some background in calculus, microeconomics, statistics and financial accounting. If you have not studied one or more of these subjects in college or university, please tell us how you have developed proficiency in these areas. If you have not been exposed to one or more of these subjects, please tell us how you will prepare yourself prior to entering UNC Kenan-Flagler. (400 words maximum)

If either of the above essay questions is applicable, we would encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to share some more information with the adcom about your international exposure or academic preparedness for the program (keeping within the stated word limits, of course).

Contact Clear Admit to learn more about our counseling services for UNC/Kenan-Flagler and other January MBA deadlines. You can set up a free initial chat with one of our admissions consultants by emailing your CV/resume to info@clearadmit.com.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Interview Field Reports

Many of our readers have been kind enough to send along ‘field reports’ from their admissions interviews with the leading MBA programs. For today’s blog posting, we thought we’d offer a selection of these reports:

FIELD REPORT: Wharton Hub Interview
“This was an interview with a member of the Wharton Admissions Committee. I thought this interview was more formal and professional than my non-invite interviews, even stiff and mechanical if you will. The interviewer started off with a brief introduction and we moved on to the questions. The interview lasted about 35 minutes.”
QUESTIONS:
-Brief introduction and resume walk-through
-Why an MBA?
-Why Wharton?
-Describe a team conflict situation.
-Can you describe a leadership example and then try to explain your leadership style with examples.
-What will your classmates say about you after 2 years at Wharton
-Are there any weaknesses in your application that will concern the admissions committee?
-Is there anything that we haven’t covered that you would like to discuss?
-Do you wish to ask me anything about Wharton and the MBA?

FIELD REPORT: Columbia Alumni Interview
“Hi Clear Admit,
Just had my Columbia interview. The interview was very conversational overall - with the alum informally bouncing back and forth between topics.”
QUESTIONS:
1) He started with questions about my current responsibilities and a lot of details about my company and its focus. He asked me specific details about the project I am working on.
2) He asked me if I would stay with my current employer after the MBA and if not, what my plans were.
3) He asked why I was interested in Columbia and why I wanted an MBA.
4) He asked about my activities outside of work.
5) He asked how I chose my career path.
6) He seemed unfamiliar with my undergraduate institution, so he asked for me to tell him more about it.
7) The interviewer then asked what my father’s occupation was. He also inquired about all of my family members. This part of the interview was very friendly and conversational.
8) We had a bit of an industry discussion (related to my career).
9) We then had a casual discussion about literature and our favorite authors, etc.
10) Turning back towards my candidacy, we had a detailed discussion about my hobbies and volunteer work.
11) We closed the discussion with a focus on my long term goals.

FIELD REPORT: Darden/UVA Hub Interview
“This was an interview with Ms. Kathleen Grant, a member of the Darden Admissions Committee. The interview was very relaxed. She talked a lot about Darden and how they are unique. Then, we moved on to the questions. The interview lasted nearly an hour.”
QUESTIONS:
1. Introduction
2. Resume walk-through
3. Why an MBA?
4. Why Darden?
5. How did you first begin investigating Darden?
6. Describe how you experiences will help make a contribution to the Darden community.
7. Are there any questions about Darden that you wish to ask?

FIELD REPORT: Harvard Interview
“I really enjoyed my interview very much. The woman that interviewed me is part of the adcom at HBS. She is also an alum from the school. She was very friendly and actually made a lot of small talk with me, which made the interview much easier for me to do. I also noticed that she was taking many notes as I was speaking.
QUESTIONS:
She didn’t ask me any behavioral or leadership questions (except for describing a time when one of my projects failed). She was mostly interested in hearing me walk through my resume and talk about my current role at work. She was very interested in hearing my perspectives on my target industry and why I was attracted to it. The one interesting question that I got was what book I was currently reading. I mentioned two books, one contemporary fiction which she wasn’t really interested in and one best seller. I could see that she was taking many notes on my answer, to my surprise.

It almost reminded me of a blind interview, because all she had in her hands was my resume. She never even asked me if I had time to visit the campus. In the end, I asked her a few questions about her experience as an HBS student.”

FIELD REPORT: Kellogg Alumni Interview
“Dear Clear Admit,
I had my Kellogg interview today. We had a detailed discussion and the interviewer seemed pleased that I had done a lot of research about Kellogg and what I could gain from the program. The questions were casual and a lot of informal chat was mixed in. The interviewer had a sheet on which he was making notes in different sections. He also seemed to have a piece of paper with some standard questions. Although the overall tone was friendly, there were a fair number of probing questions in between each answer I gave.”
QUESTIONS:
-Walk me thru your resume.
-What are you long term goals?
-What are your short term goals?
-How will you go about achieving my long term goals?
-What is your most significant accomplishment?
-Major failure?
-Have you dealt with conflicts in team? How have you resolved them?
-How would you motivate a team?
-Have you faced any challenges working in a multinational team?
-What have you done (major accomplishments) outside of work?
-Have you faced any major challenges outside of work?
-Why Kellogg?
-How did you learn about Kellogg?
-How would you contribute to Kellogg?
-Why are you interested in Kellogg from a personal perspective?
-What would Kellogg students say about you after a few months?

Thanks to all of our readers for continuing to supply us with field reports! We’ll be sure to make an effort to share all of your reports in the coming days.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Fridays From the Frontline

Welcome once again to another edition of Fridays From the Frontline (FFF). For the uninitiated, FFF is a weekly column in our blog that explores a selection of the week’s best content from the MBA blogosphere. This column not only helps applicants and students stay abreast of what’s happening in MBA admissions and at b-school, but it also serves as the backdrop for Clear Admit’s Best of Blogging awards.

While things were relatively quiet on the blogging front this week, there are still a number of applicants battling issues ranging from essay writing, interviews and post-acceptance career decisions. Ty Coon offered an excellent summary of the waiting game and how contemplating application volume and reading the BW Forums can combine to make one rather nervous. Meanwhile, SgHama voiced his complaints regarding Chicago essays 3 and 4 and their less traditional topics. Of course, when compared to last year’s topics, these questions seem relatively tame. In fact, here are two questions from last year’s Chicago application (to give readers a sense for how off-the-wall things used to be):

#2) Chicago GSB is seeking a mascot to represent our new facility, The Hyde Park Center, what would your choice be and how will it represent the attributes of Chicago GSB?
#3) If you could step into any celebrity’s shoes for a day, who would it be and why?

Beyond essay writing and deadline planning, we also found a great posting from Axechick, who recently attended a welcome event for Columbia students and is excited to join the CBS community next fall. Finally, BeatTheGMAT reports that his fundraising efforts have begun to pay off, indicating that one Beat The GMAT! Scholarship has been assured for April of 2006.

Heading over to the MBA campuses, we found a host of blog entries that covered recruiting news, classes and various social activities. First-year Jerry Blank reports on his internship search at Yale and jokes that school can sometimes get in the way of the whole recruiting thing. Meanwhile after a great deal of interviewing, Marquis has signed on the dotted line with McKinsey (and offered a ‘review’ of BCG’s HR department). Our congratulations go out to him! With more on the job hunt, Guillaume, a second-year at LBS shares the career-related epiphany he had in the shower (with some interesting thoughts on Google, MSFT and Apple).

Focusing on non-recruiting related campus activity, we find Mark from HBS offering extensive thoughts on the grade disclosure issue that has rocked the Harvard campus (see more on this topic here). If grades are of concern, then so are final exams according to JP at Houston. Finally, The Divine Miss N offers another great summary of social options at LBS (including the fact that some of her fellow students have formed a band), Anders explains his vacation and exams schedule at CEIBS and Vijay comments on “busyness” at the Indian School of Business.

That’s the news for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, December 08, 2005

R1 Admissions Update

There’s been a flurry of admissions news in recent days, so we thought we’d use today’s blog entry to offer a run-down of the latest information.

Application Volume
As we reported here back in October, application volume is up in R1 at several leading MBA programs. In fact, BusinessWeek has just published an article (First-Round Frenzy) which reports that seven leading schools have reported increases in R1 application volume this year. This includes a 39% increase at Tuck. The article also quotes Clear Admit’s Alex Brown:

Alex Brown, a senior admissions counselor for consulting firm Clear Admit, says if a school is experiencing a significant increase in application volume, as Tuck did, then “that’s more than enough incentive to get that application in soon.” …Brown generally advises his clients to avoid round three if possible, because it’s statistically more competitive, and many applicants who wait until the end tend to sacrifice quality.

The report from BusinessWeek seems to confirm the impact of the upward trend we’ve reported in GMAT test-taker volume over the last few months.

Interview
As expected, both MIT and Stanford have begun sending out interview invites to R1 applicants (Stanford got started a couple weeks back, with MIT joining the fold last week). HBS and Columbia continue to offer interview invites while Chicago and Wharton have already finalized their interview selection and are busily meeting with those candidates they liked. Cornell has recently begun asking R2 applicants to interview.

For the latest on interviews, see the Clear Admit interview tip postings (at left) and check in with the various discussion threads at BusinessWeek, Studylink, Student-2-Student and the Chicago forums (MIT, Stanford, HBS, Wharton, CBS, Chicago, Cornell).

Decisions
The activity has also been quite intense in the decisions area. Here’s a quick rundown: Darden, Tuck, Cornell and Columbia have all been accepting early action (EA) and early decision (ED) applicants in recent weeks. Columbia has also denied some ED applicants and ‘bumped’ others into the regular round (for further evaluation). Wharton and Chicago have denied all of their non-interview applicants from R1.

That’s a snapshot of some of the latest news in MBA admissions. Stay tuned to this blog for more information as it becomes available. You can also email the Clear Admit team if you have any admissions news you’d like to share.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

To Disclose or not to Disclose?

The topic of grade nondisclosure has undeniably been the hot topic on the HBS and Wharton campuses this fall (the policy is also under review at Chicago and Stanford). Proponents of the existing policy, which prohibits students from sharing their grades with recruiters and prohibits recruiters from asking about them, argue that it allows students the freedom to expand their horizons and challenge themselves without worrying about the negative repercussions of less than stellar performance in a tough course. Meanwhile, the potential introduction of optional disclosure at HBS and a proposal to recognize the top quartile of each class at Wharton are motivated by concerns of academic performance and recruiting competition (Business Week published an article a few months back that provides a nice summary of the factors involved).

In last month’s edition of The Wharton Journal, several students weighed in with their thoughts on the GND issue. These range from comments on the flaws in the arguments of some disclosure proponents, subtler alternatives that would just as effectively promote academic performance, an argument that grade nondisclosure causes academic performance to take a back seat to extracurriculars, and a discussion of the merits of - and strategies for - doing as little work as possible and still “getting the P.”

The outcry is presently loudest at Harvard, where the vast majority of the student body opposes the policy. An article in the Harvard Crimson provided an overview of