Fridays from the Frontline » Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Consultants Blog

APPLICANT RESOURCES

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Admissions Director Q&A
Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Dawna Clarke (Tuck)
Rose Martinelli (Chicago)
Judith Hodara (Wharton)
Sara Neher (Darden)
Soojin Kwon Koh (Michigan)
Randall Sawyer (Cornell)
Beth Flye (Kellogg)
David Simpson (LBS)
Liz Riley Hargrove (Duke)
Linda Meehan (Columbia)
Bruce DelMonico (Yale)
Peter Johnson (Berkeley)
Isser Gallogly (NYU)
Mae Jennifer Shores (UCLA)
J.J. Cutler (Wharton)
Jake Cohen (INSEAD)
Rod Garcia (MIT Sloan)
Mary Miller (Columbia)

Clear Admit School Guides
Become an expert on your target schools overnight! Get the program-specific details you need to craft essays that stand out. See how schools compare head-to-head in key areas like recruiting, curricular structure, elective offerings and more. Available for immediate download. As featured in the Economist.

Clear Admit Career Guides
Understand career-specific offerings at leading MBA programs and identify the schools that will best support your career goals with the Clear Admit Career Guides! Available for Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Healthcare.

Clear Admit Strategy Series
Craft a winning application with the Clear Admit Strategy Series! Step-by-Step guidance through the application process. Titles include a Resume Guide, Recommendations Guide, Waitlist Guide and more!

Clear Admit Interview Guides
Be as prepared as possible for your MBA interviews this season with the Clear Admit Interview Guides! School-specific sample questions and in-depth strategy, campus visit details and places to stay.

Application Deadlines
Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools.
Feb 10: INSEAD R3
Mar 1: Michigan / Ross R3
Mar 3: CBS
Mar 3: LBS R3
Mar 4: Kellogg R3
Mar 8: Cambridge / Judge R4
Mar 8: CMU / Tepper R3
Mar 9: Duke / Fuqua R3
Mar 9: Penn / Wharton R3
Mar 10: Berkeley / Hass R4
Mar 10: Chicago Booth R3
Mar 10: Yale SOM R3
Mar 15: NYU / Stern R3
Mar 17: UCLA / Anderson R3
Mar 19: UNC / Kenan-Flagler R4
Mar 30: Cornell / Johnson R4
Mar 31: UVA / Darden R3
Mar 31: INSEAD R4
Apr 1: UT-Austin / McCombs
Apr 2: Dartmouth / Tuck R3
Apr 2: Oxford / Saїd R3
Apr 7: Stanford GSB R4
Apr 8: Harvard R3
Apr 14: CBS

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas*
Chicago Booth*
CMU / Tepper*
Columbia*
Cornell / Johnson*
Dartmouth / Tuck*
Duke / Fuqua*
Harvard*
Indian School of Business*
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
Knewton

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

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Friday, January 13, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

As admissions decisions continue to roll out, we’d like to open this edition of FFF by extending congratulations to our blogging friends who’ve received good news over the past few days, as well as our condolences to those who received word that wasn’t as positive. Resolute is glad to have a definitive yes from ISB, and Bbirds shares news of his ISB admit with financial support (offering some words of encouragement to fellow applicants who didn’t quite make the cut). We were pleased to read about RedWolf’s Chicago admit as well as Angel Angie’s positive news from LBS and MBA Cutie’s acceptance to Michigan. A waitlist decision from Chicago solidifies Moe’s decision to enroll at LBS, while Nagendra accepts an imminent rejection and Anand comes to terms with a ding. While we were sorry to read that things didn’t work out this season, we’re glad to hear that RusGirl is excited about her new job and considering reapplying.

While some applicants can at least rest easy with an answer, many more are still waiting on decisions, and the past week found many bloggers jumping every time the phone rings, checking email for interview invites, analyzing interviews, catching typos in essays, and trying to stay motivated. Some school’s models seem to cause more stress than others, as MBA Cutie comments on the acute agony inflicted by Kellogg’s practice of gradually releasing decisions and Ty Coon considers how application timing factors into Columbia’s rolling review process. FooBarMe also continues to prepare for a Berkeley interview (which hopefully he’ll report in the wiki) and wait for an answer – albeit not from the program he applied to!

Meanwhile, Kilgore Trout explores another element of application-induced anxiety as he wonders how to break his b-school plans to his boss (and might want to investigate Brownoski’s comments on his lame duck status as he prepares). Of course, the decision date doesn’t always bring the painful uncertainty to an end, as Ty attests in relation to his Yale waitlist situation.

There does, however, seem to be rest for at least some of the weary. Finished with the work on their end, Moe and Nick offer their perspective to fellow applications with a suggestion on a fitting and thoughtful gift idea for recommenders and some retrospective tips on the application process (respectively). Others are simply grateful to have some time to relax: Pupstar78 plans an evening off after lining up his Kellogg interview, Sorebrek breathes a sigh of post-application relief and LaserLikeFocus decides to take a break from thinking about b-school altogether.

Last week’s FFF was light on content from current students, but they’re back in force now that winter break is drawing to a close (and Future MBA Girl is already feeling the effects of senioritis!). Even though class is just starting up, the simple recollection of students in the same place after scattering from break can make for memories and blog fodder, as IESE blogger George demonstrates with an illustrated account of his last hurrah before the start of the semester.

While there’s been some talk of getting back in gear academically (Hella is bracing himself for a heavy courseload and busy few months at Wharton and The Divine Miss N is already swimming in finance homework at LBS, while Noelle has been able to ease back into things at IESE more gradually), the hot topic in the student blogosphere has undeniably been recruiting. Preparation methods vary; from Ben at Ross’ sorting through various metaphors for the process to Mbwana looking into the statistics behind his prospects (and outlining a course to help maximize his chances). While anyone who’s applied for a job or school knows the stress involved in the process, droodoggie makes an interesting comment on the pressure that comes from being placed in such direct competition with classmates and friends. On a humorous note, Miss N learns that the job prospects aren’t the only thing worth getting excited about. More seriously, a few veterans offer up some tips to first year students looking for consulting positions – be sure to check out Marquis‘ thoughts, if this applies to you.

The start of a new semester also means a new setting for students taking advantage of exchange programs. While different cities and schools come with different factors to consider – from Death Spiral’s first impression of the well-organized city and modern conveniences of INSEAD’s Singapore campus to LBS blogger Guillaume’s account of earthquake preparedness orientation at Anderson – the keyword this week seems to be “adjustment.” There’s understandably not much to report at this point and most student-bloggers are just checking in to let readers know they’ve landed, but we look forward to hearing more as the semester goes on.

Finally, we’d like to welcome Harvard_Dream and Angel Angie into the blogging fold! The former is a first year student at HBS who has just kicked off a blog that looks like it will be an excellent resource on life at Harvard Business School. The latter is an LBS admit, who will be joining the class of 2008 and reporting on life in London. These blogs have been added to the HBS Blogs and LBS Blogs pages in the MBA Admissions Wiki. We encourage our readers to add their blogs to the wiki if we’ve missed them.

Congratulations to those of you who know where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing next, and good luck to those still navigating the admissions and recruiting processes! Have a great weekend…

# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:00 am in Fridays from the Frontline

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MBA Admissions Wiki
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Wharton Interview Field Reports
HBS Interview Field Reports
Kellogg Interview Field Reports
Chicago Interview Field Reports
Columbia Interview Field Reports

Discussion Boards

BusinessWeek Forums
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Beat The GMAT Forums
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StudyLink Forums
Clear Admit manages the Applying section of the StudyLink MBA discussion boards.

GMAT Club Forums
Below are the five most recent posts to the GMAT Club message boards.

student 2 student
The student-2-student Discussion Boards are managed by Wharton. Here are the five most recent discussions.

School-Hosted Blogs

Straight from the source: aggregated posts from students and administration. Below are the seven most recent posts in school-hosted blogs.

Individuals' Blogs

A selection of the latest updates to MBA blogs compiled by Hella.
MBA Applicants

MBA Students

Bloggers by School

The following are links to bloggers at each of the schools listed.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Chapel Hill
Stanford
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
Yale
ESADE
IESE
INSEAD
London Business School

Community Blogs

Bshoolers.com
Community blog with MBA student and alum contributors.

Forté Foundation MBA Diaries
Video blog entries posted by women MBA students.

Owen Bloggers
Independent blog with content by Vanderbilt MBA students.

Best of Blogging

2008-2009 Top Ten: