APPLICANT RESOURCES

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.

Clear Admit School Guides
Seventeen titles available! Understand how the leading programs compare and learn more about the MBA experience in and beyond the classroom through Clear Admit School Guides. As featured in the Economist.

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics for the 2007-2008 admissions season.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas
Chicago GSB
CMU / Tepper *
Columbia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
IESE *
INSEAD
London Business School
MIT / Sloan
Michigan / Ross
Northwestern / Kellogg
NYU / Stern
Oxford / Said *
Penn / Wharton
Stanford GSB
UCLA / Anderson
UNC / Kenan-Flagler
UT Austin / McCombs *
UVA / Darden
Yale SOM
* denotes last year's commentary

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Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
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ARCHIVE FOR MARCH 2006

Friday, March 31, 2006

Wharton Aiming to Influence New Admits on GND?

The following email went out yesterday to all accepted applicants at Wharton. While it’s merely a restatement of the faculty resolutions about academics at Wharton, it would appear from this note that the administration is working to influence the sentiment of incoming students before they are exposed to the current student body (which has been consistently in favor of keeping grades undisclosed).

Here’s the email:

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Vice Dean’s Office - Graduate Division
Date: Mar 30, 2006 11:54 AM
Subject: A new faculty resolution at Wharton

To: Students Admitted to Wharton’s MBA Class of 2008

Congratulations on your admission to Wharton’s MBA Program! I look forward to welcoming you on campus.

My greetings to you would ordinarily be in person upon your arrival on campus, but I have opted to write this memo now to communicate a resolution recently adopted by faculty to enhance the academic learning environment in Wharton’s MBA Program. For most of you this memo will lack the context of discussion that has preceded it, but we thought it important nonetheless to share the details of the resolution even before your arrival on campus. I hope that in the weeks ahead, especially at Wharton Welcome Weekend, you will have the chance to learn more about its context and implications.

The resolution, approved by faculty on February 14, 2006, has four components: shaping a culture of teaching and learning; reforming the MBA recruiting process to improve its efficiency; a policy on grade disclosure; and a new MBA grading system. We view these measures to be strongly interconnected, and reflective of our commitment to Wharton’s academic mission. The full text of the faculty resolution is available here , and I encourage you to read it.

While it is but one element of the four-point plan, the Wharton policy on grade disclosure, and a subsequent Wharton Graduate Association (WGA) referendum, has attracted some attention among our stakeholders. We are communicating the relevant aspects of the four-point plan to all our stakeholders including alumni and prospective employers. It is important to point out in this context that the statement contained in the four-point plan is the first time Wharton has articulated an institutional policy on grade disclosure *. It is also worth noting that the new WGA policy, while urging nondisclosure, makes the individual student’s compliance with it explicitly voluntary. The voluntary nature of the new WGA policy is in contrast to previous versions that have existed for 10 years.

There has been over the last several years a vigorous and wide-ranging discussion of how we should continually improve the students’ learning experience at Wharton. This discussion has actively engaged faculty and students alike, and even when opinions have diverged on specific ideas, our shared commitment to academic excellence has never been in doubt. The faculty resolution of February 14 is a reaffirmation of the centrality and primacy of the academic program in the two-year Wharton experience, but you may wonder how the changes, especially with respect to the current status of grade nondisclosure, will affect the broader community experience for students. The candid answer is that we don’t know. I am confident, however, that our culture of deep engagement and collaboration will continue unabated, as it has for decades. This culture is rooted in our commitment to collective learning, personal integrity, and mutual respect; and is nourished by the rich educational opportunities we offer for professional development, leadership, and teamwork.

I look forward to welcoming all of you as the newest members of this special community.

Sincerely,

Anjani Jain

Anjani Jain Vice Dean and Director Graduate Division, The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6340
v : 215.898.4663 f: 215.898.0425

* The Wharton Policy on Grade Disclosure states: “Wharton students are free to disclose any aspect of their own academic transcripts to prospective employers or any other interested parties, and are encouraged to do so. Such disclosure is a legal right and it is Wharton policy to protect this right. Prospective employers are free to request from students any aspect of their academic transcripts.”

Fridays from the Frontline

Welcome to another exciting installment of Fridays from the Frontline! It’s been a busy week for the applicant bloggers, as the past two weeks of decision notifications have given many a good deal to think and write about.

Fortunately, much of the talk has been about positive developments; Curious George is in at Haas and Alex had a positive Berkeley interview, Benny and FM received some good news from LBS (and a warm welcome from fellow admits Moe and Angel Angie), GunnerMBA’s gotten his mind around his INSEAD admit, Ty Coon is looking forward to the upcoming welcome weekend at Emory, and Brownoski had a great time at a recent Yale admit reception in SF. Additionally, a number of programs have been letting our accepted applicant friends know just how “money” they are. Nixe received a merit scholarship from INSEAD, some money from UNC adds yet another consideration to MBA Spanky’s school selection, MJ learned of some financial aid from Duke, and MGalBlue is getting a partial tuition waiver from Ross. Finally, though she applied ED and already committed, Axechick’s Columbia fellowship seems to have further boosted her excitement.

Another popular topic this week was the desirable but difficult task of choosing between programs. Kellogg and Chicago go head to head in RedWolf056’s mind, AynRand2008 considers the Texas or Emory question but is keeping an open mind for each school’s welcome weekend, and Haas beats Duke in the fight over FooBarMe while Benny hopes that campus visits will break the Tuck/LBS deadlock. Meanwhile, those future students who know where they’re headed are getting ready. Kilgore Trout is in Austin mode, while Resolute thinks about his relocation for ISB and Patxi shares his pre-LBS agenda.

While there’s a good deal of excitement in the air, there was also a certain amount of disappointment, though MJ seems to have his Stern waitlist decision in perspective and Anand sounds optimistic about his Tepper WL situation. Some applicants are dealing with their dings through diversion (we particularly enjoyed WheresMyDessert’s self portraiture), others are already thinking about their reapplication plans. ChillPill has arrived at a detailed timeline and B-School Diva is focusing on the GMAT for now. First time Class of 2009 applicants are also arriving on the blogging scene, and MaelstromX has a nice post about his school selection and the lessons he’s learned from bloggers who’ve gone before.

The student bloggers, on the other hand, have been much quieter this week. Things wrapped up for ISB students this week, and both Vijay and Bharani reflect on the cost, the experience and the future. Though not yet halfway through his time at Ross, Nate also took some time to ponder the reasons behind his MBA. While things draw to a close in India, IESE students in Barcelona just finished finals last week but are already beginning a new term. Also in academic news, L’Optimiste relates a harrowing cold call experience at INSEAD and Jeff D describes a more pleasant entrepreneurship class at Brandeis.

Outside the classroom, Death Spiral and Auris are enjoying what sounds like an exciting Arab Week at INSEAD (the latter’s opinions on the school’s new dean are decidedly more mixed). Travel was another popular topic, as Wakechick recounts what sounds like a great spring break from Chicago, Olivier looks back on a week in Philly and a weekend in Montreal during his Wharton exchange, and KV thinks about the destination for his LBS international exchange.

That wraps up this week’s look at the latest goings on in the MBA blogosphere. Stay tuned next Friday as we announce the student and applicant nominees for the BoBs (Best of Blogging awards). For details on the rules, prizes, etc, click here. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Admissions Tip: GMAT Timing

For all you “early birds” who are planning to apply to business school this fall, we wanted to offer a few tips on managing your time as it relates to the GMAT exam. Because this is an important element for many applicants in determining at which schools they will be competitive, it’s best to prep intensively and get this out of the way early in the process.

You should ideally be finished with the GMAT by mid-summer. The reason for this is that you will want to reserve the months of August, September and October for essay writing, school visits, managing your recommenders and other miscellaneous application-related tasks. The last thing you want to be doing in September is juggling the demands of GMAT prep alongside your MBA applications, your responsibilities at work, extracurricular involvements, etc.

Of course, putting the GMAT to rest by mid-summer is much easier said than done. Given the strength of the test-taking pool and the importance of earning a high score when targeting a top program, in order to be successful, you should ideally budget time for a GMAT prep-course or 8-12 weeks of solid self-study. You should then consider the fact that you may need to take the exam more than once.

Given these considerations, here is a rough schedule to follow:

April, May: Attend a GMAT prep-class, spending as much as 2 hours each weekday doing problems, use the weekends to take full-length tests (under realistic, timed conditions).
June: Take the GMAT early in the month. If you are unsatisfied with your score, work towards taking the exam again. Leave at least 4 weeks to prep for the second sitting of the exam. Consider hiring a tutor to address your specific needs.
July: Take the GMAT again, hopefully achieving a score that is within the range of the MBA programs on your list. If your score doesn’t improve, it may be time to reevaluate your target schools and expand your roster to ensure that your selection is realistic.

In some cases, it may make sense to parallel your work on the GMAT by simultaneously enrolling in a calculus or statistics class at your local university or community college. While this is especially true for applicants who have a weak track record in quantitative subjects and need to build an alternative transcript, in general these classes can often help applicants get the most out of their GMAT preparation.

Good luck! For more information about how the GMAT fits into the application process and on business schools in general, feel free to email info@clearadmit.com to learn about our early bird planning services or set up an initial consultation.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Wiki Wednesdays

Welcome to another installment of Wiki Wednesdays, your weekly update on new and notable additions to the Clear Admit Admissions Wiki. It’s been another solid seven days; those late-round applicants with interviews on the horizon should note that we’ve received fresh reports from candidates at Wharton, Sloan, Stern, Dartmouth, Darden and IESE! While this is an important and therefore stressful element of the application process, the latest addition to the Chicago interview page contains a nice reminder that adcom members are people too:

“I did my Chicago interview in Bombay with a member of admissions committee. Surprisingly enough, at the beginning of the interview my interviewer admitted that she was nervous about conducting it. I am not sure whether she was really nervous, but that definitely made me more comfortable.”

We were also pleased to receive another contribution to the School Choices page, which invites applicants to reflect on their thought processes and share the reasoning behind their application and matriculation decisions. The latest addition is about choosing between HBS and Wharton/Lauder; while the outcome is a bit predictable, the ultimately Harvard-bound contributor touches on some good considerations.

On the other end of the process, there were some nice additions to the visit and application pages that might be of interest to those just beginning to think about admissions and school selection. Programs covered in this week’s new content include Wharton, Sloan and Darden. Of particular note is a recent contribution to the Darden application page, where the applicant does a very nice job of explaining the importance of making sure that the lessons one learns while visiting campus translate to tailored comments in one’s essays. Here’s an excerpt:

“Case method means a specific type of student. I made sure to link specific personality qualities to how I think case studies would develop my abilities as a manager. Communication is huge. They do not want someone who is incapable of participating in class discussion. Offer a unique perspective given your career background. The essays prioritize ‘program fit’ given the selection of topics.”

That wraps up our summary of new additions to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this resource thus far. We look forward to seeing more great content from all of you in the coming weeks!

Stay tuned for the rest of this week as we break down the forthcoming US News MBA rankings, check in with applicant and student bloggers and offer a special Saturday edition of the Clear Admit blog…

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

MBA News and Notes

There is no shortage of MBA-related news items these days, so we thought we’d use today’s blog entry to highlight a few of the more interesting stories.

The Economist’s ‘News from the schools‘ column offers some interesting tidbits on the leading business schools in India: the Indian School of Business (ISB) and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM). It seems that George Bush recently visited the ISB and offered high praises for the school. The media attention garnered from the visit helped further put the program on the map as a leading international MBA. In the meantime, the IIM may have gotten carried away when it came to celebrating a hot job market and record salaries for its current crop of graduates (by publishing the names and salaries of a couple key students).

Elsewhere in the news, Duke University announced that the dean of the Fuqua School of Business (Douglas T. Breenden) will be stepping down in June of 2007. While this news has been somewhat overshadowed by other events on the Duke campus, there is good coverage of the dean’s departure in the Triangle Business Journal.

The Financial Times reports that the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine are both unveiling new programs that will likely appeal to women who are seeking reentry into the workforce after raising a family. In Tuck’s case, a unique 11-day executive education program taking place in NYC and Hanover will deliver coursework in “business skills, leadership development and career planning and reentry.” Pepperdine’s approach is a full-fledged, 28-month, morning MBA program: “the Morning MBA is ideal for women who have left the workforce to start a family and plan to return, or for business professionals with more accommodating work schedules.”

For those of you interested in the field of marketing, you’ll pleased to read today’s report in eMarketer. It highlights a recent study that shows Fortune 500 companies are gearing up for substantial hiring in their marketing departments. This information, coupled with GMAC data on the job market paints a rosy picture - with one exception: a recent study suggests that marketing departments without MBAs often outperform peer departments at firms who do employ business graduates (as measured by market-share gains for the firms in question). We’re actually a bit skeptical of this last point, in light of the fact that small, high-growth companies often do not have the resources to employ MBAs whereas larger, more stable firms do, but the article is still an interesting read.

Finally, for those of you are interested in new management and leadership techniques, there is an excellent article in Sunday’s New York Times about Rite-Solutions, a Rhode Island-based technology company with a unique way of encouraging innovation among employees. Essentially, all Rite-Solutions team members can put forth ideas for products or services that the firm might explore. The ideas then become internal ’stocks’ which employees can buy and sell. The article actually highlights one idea in particular that has blossomed for the firm - and it came from a member of the firm’s administrative staff!

That’s the news for now. Stay tuned this week for more reporting on events in the MBA admissions world.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Admissions Trend: International Applicants

Last week, the Council of Graduate Schools released the results of a recent survey revealing a rise in volume of applications from international students. Reporting an 11% overall increase in applications from this time last year and a 7% increase in applicants targeting graduate business programs, CGS Director of Research and Policy Director Heath Brown attributes the change to improved efficiency and effort on the institutional level and federal policy changes alleviating visa issues. While the information provided in the report is perhaps not the complete picture - results are reported in percentages rather than exact numbers as only about 150 of the 450 US member schools responded to the survey - the findings certainly correlate with the rise in GMAT volume over last year and the fact that some schools are reporting leaps in application volume as high as 30% this season.

If this trend continues, this will obviously translate to fiercer competition for spots at the top US programs, particularly among applicants from oversubscribed groups. Those prospective students just beginning to think about their applications should note that this factor makes it all the more important to follow our standard advice of applying early in the season and targeting a number of programs in order to maximize your chances.

The New York Times also recapped the CGS findings in an article available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/23/education/23apply.html.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

Welcome to another installment of FFF, your weekly recap of the past seven days in the MBA blogging world. While suspense and the theme of waiting prevailed last week, the focus has shifted to reflection on the application process and the implications of round two decisions. In terms of general thoughts on the nature of admissions, MBA Jackass draws some humorous but unfortunate parallels between his social life and applications, Marina ponders the notion of fit and the factors behind her Columbia admit, and B-School Diva compiles some of her favorite pieces of wisdom on the process. On a more specific level, ChillPill draws on the knowledge he’s gained of the process to diagnose some shortcomings in his Stern application, and MBA Pundit reflects on his HBS essays and, more broadly, the issues of time management that arise when applying to multiple schools in the same round.

Some admitted applicants are facing (or hope to be facing) a tough choice between programs; some money from Duke makes MBA Spanky’s situation a bit sweeter, MJ explains in some detail the factors involved in the Duke/Darden decision, while it’s come down to Tuck and Chicago for Vatsa. MBA Cutie, meanwhile, sounds worry free as she celebrates a refunded Ross application fee. In addition to finances, logistics are another concern, as Moe writes up his pre-LBS to do list, Benny thinks about visa issues and Tuck, and Resolute prepares to relocate to attend ISB. Not bogged down by such details, Axechick makes a mention of housing options but seems more focused on just being excited about Columbia.

All is far from said and done, however, as a number of applicants are still in the thick of the fray. MBAyisyen just learned of an IESE interview - his first of the season - and several others have provided interesting and informative accounts after completing this step of the process. Julius Seizure relates three interesting questions that came up during his interview at UW, while MBA Spanky sounds relieved by the omission of a certain notorious question during his discussion with a Stanford alum. Also on the topic of questions, it sounds as though Vatsa was thrown a curve during his Yale interview. Thankfully, GunnerMBA’s second INSEAD interview sounds much more conventional.

Meanwhile, some applicants are just beginning (Kent is getting in some GMAT practice and targeting 700 while Dharu recounts a recent Columbia visit), and others are getting ready to begin again. Pupstar78 details the seven stages of PTRR (post-traumatic rejection response) and resolves to apply a third time, Forrest sounds a bit winded but plans to continue the marathon and reapply if things don’t work out with the Kellogg waitlist, Mave is thinking about how to strengthen his candidacy most effectively with support from his supervisors, and ChillPill considers the options of attending school this year but opts to reapply after a Chicago ding. For those just setting out or simply approaching the process anew, Axechick’s recent post for future MBA applicants, which contains her personal advice and favorite resources, is recommended reading.

While applicant bloggers are spending their time waiting for results and taking stock of their situations, student bloggers are either in the midst of exams or enjoying a relaxed spring break. KV is California-bound and rsr.pt sounds glad to be home and at the beach during break from LBS, which we’re sure that the Divine Miss N will be pleased to hear given her desire to attend a limited enrollment talk by a special visitor. Meanwhile, Marquis is enjoying his two-week break at Stanford (while first-year students scramble to finish with finals), and found some time to recap his role in organizing a conference and his thoughts on the Admit Weekend. Ben Dehghan is off in India for his Ross MAP project, and Olivier is just finding his footing in Philadelphia (welcome!) on exchange from INSEAD.

It sounds as though Francis Lewis had an exciting birthday in Barcelona while L’optimiste attended an end of term party and Auris celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at INSEAD. Meanwhile George wonders just how much luck his professors actually wish students with exams at IESE. IESE MBA 2007 also hopes to survive finals (while it sounds like others need to focus on surviving his cooking), while it sounds like classmate Noelle is coming down the home stretch. Similarly, Jeff has one more go at Brandeis and Le Voyageur made it through exams at Chicago. On a lower pressure but still academics related note, Noelle’s end of term comments give a nice impression of IESE classes, JB is impressed with the planned curriculum reform at Yale, and Death Spiral reviews this semester’s INSEAD courses.

Student bloggers also spent some time considering topics reaching beyond their coursework. Aditya bid a teary farewell to classmates at SIIB, while Death Spiral notes that consulting recruiters are out in full force and JB considers his internship plan. Looking at the state of affairs at their own schools from the on-the-way-out perspective, Vijay considers attendance incentives for students nearing the end of the ISB education, and Future MBA Girl is enjoying her stress-free present and looks to the future with some comments on the GND at Wharton.

That just about does it for this week. Happy spring to all, and to all a good weekend!

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Admissions Tip: Dealing with a Ding

We would like to hope that today’s topic isn’t apropos for too many of our readers, but with so many of the top programs coming out with admissions decisions this week and next, we wanted to offer some advice to applicants who’ve been rejected from their preferred programs and are planning on reapplying next season. While this news might have just arrived and it’s important to take some time to deal with the disappointment, it’s never too early to begin thinking about the next season, and there are a number of steps you can take at this point in the year to improve your candidacy and move toward a stronger application.

1) Reevaluate. While it’s certainly difficult when things don’t go to plan, this is actually a great chance to take stock of your career and goals, and make sure that an MBA is still a logical and necessary step at this point. It’s this sort of reflection that can lead to refined career goals and a clearer sense of the reasons you need a business education.

2) Revisit Your Applications. Once you’ve gained some distance from the emotional and time-consuming application process, it’s wise to review the materials you submitted to the schools with a critical eye. Having learned much about the process simply by applying, it’s likely that you’ll be able to identify a number of things that you could have done better. Whether you suspect your downfall was something like a strategic misstep in an essay or interview, or a more glaring weakness like a low GMAT or lack of extracurricular involvement, there is plenty of time to address your shortcomings before submitting an application next year.

3) Consider your Data points. Your results this year may reflect some valuable information about your competitiveness at a top program. It’s important that you only apply to schools that you would be happy attending, but if you were unsuccessful at all of the programs to which you applied, it might be time to think about how realistic your list of target schools was and to add a few more to the mix. This is especially true for applicants who only applied to one or two programs this time around; there is an element of randomness and luck in the admissions process and no matter how qualified the applicant, we recommend that a candidate target 5-6 programs to have a strong chance of success.

4) Schedule a Feedback Session, if applicable. While it’s possible that you’ve identified your weaknesses in retrospect or even were aware of them when you went into the process, if you’ve been denied by a school that offers feedback to applicants and are planning on reapplying, you should absolutely take advantage of this opportunity to learn of the adcom’s perspective and demonstrate your commitment to the program. In fact, reapplying without seeking feedback when offered can raise questions in the minds of the adcom concerning how seriously an applicant is taking the process and the school. Of course, some schools do not offer feedback to anyone and others, such as Tuck, selectively offer feedback only to particularly promising candidates. There is naturally high demand for this service at programs that provide slots on a first come, first served basis (these include Wharton, Chicago and Kellogg), so it’s important that you make a point of requesting a feedback session at the earliest possible time.

Of course, the adcom can only be so candid, and it’s important to seek out feedback from other objective and knowledgeable sources. Send an email to info@clearadmit.com for more information about tailored application feedback and reapplicant advice.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Wiki Wednesdays

It’s been another solid week for the Clear Admit wiki, as a number of applicants have taken time to write up their experiences interviewing with or visiting the campuses of several top programs. In terms of the interview process, new reports have come in for Wharton, Yale, Harvard and Columbia. While HBS interviews are notoriously grueling, the winner this week is the latest addition to the IESE Interview page; the intrepid applicant had to navigate the following inquiries during a 90 minute interview:

-Rate yourself on a scale of 1-4 (4 being the highest)

• Motivation
• Collaboration
• Spirit to Succeed
• Confidence
• Leadership
• Organization (I rated a little less here and he asked why?)

-What are your three Strong Points?
-What is your weakness? What are you doing about it?
-Which is your top Priority School? Will you join IESE if offered a seat?

On the other end of the application process, we’ve also received some input from candidates sharing their post-decision experiences. Receiving a ding can be difficult, but the majority of schools are rather friendly toward reapplicants and this situation can present a great opportunity to address one’s weaknesses for an improved candidacy. While it’s ideal to seek feedback from the adcom when offered, this thoughtful contribution to the Stern Application page highlights the lessons one can learn from revisiting one’s own work after gaining some distance and perspective:

“Alright, my essays define my aims, define my achievements, my strengths and expectations, and they also tell what I bring to the school, but then they do not answer precisely how Stern can help me achieve my goals. Yes, location and community and faculty and alumni are mentioned, but that is pretty vague. I admit it myself. It doesn’t really answer why only Stern fits the choice. Regretfully, it comes across as a pretty generalized answer. What I have written is almost what any other school can offer to me. The answer shows no long research and dedication, and may be that is why I lost the game.”

A key lesson learned here is that it’s important to fully articulate one’s fit with a given program and explain the factors that have led to this impression. The latest additions to the Columbia and Sloan Visit pages provide a good idea of the factors to consider when spending time on campus and evaluating a program.

That’s all for this week. Good luck to everyone still in the midst of the process, and keep that wiki content coming!

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

INSEAD and the One Year MBA

In keeping with our effort to highlight news about and admissions tips for some of the top European MBA programs, we wanted to point readers to a recent Business Week video interview with J. Frank Brown, dean-elect of INSEAD (the press release covering his appointment is available here).

While there is undeniably a marketing spin to his comments - Brown espouses the merits of the one-year model and presents return on investment as the key merit - there’s also some valuable information for prospective students who are considering the program or generally weighing their business school options. For instance, the lack of a summer internship is often considered one of the drawbacks of one-year MBA programs, but Brown points out that students who apply for INSEAD’s January intake (the first deadline for which is tomorrow) are able to take advantage of the summer break for this purpose.

The video interview is available here.

Other INSEAD resources
Essay Topic Analysis
Interview Reports
Current Student Blogs

Monday, March 20, 2006

Oxford Essay Topic Analysis (2005-2006)

With a number of applicants receiving R2 decisions from schools this week, many are looking to create or expand their options by turning to schools whose R3 deadlines have not yet passed. Oxford’s third stage deadline coming up this Friday, so we thought we would offer some advice on this schools essays for those applicants just beginning to put something together, as well as those polishing materials they’ve been working on for weeks.

1. Explain why you chose your current job. How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions? (maximum 1000 words)

This is another fairly straightforward career goals essay with a slightly more limited scope, placing particular emphasis on the applicant’s current position and five year plan. You might also note that the phrasing and order of these questions might suggest that Oxford will be looking for a common theme or drive behind the applicant’s present job and future goal.

2. Which recent development, world event or book has most influenced your thinking and why? (maximum 2000 words)

In a way, this is a very personal essay. Given the high word limit and open topic of this essay, it’s easy to become overwhelmed when thinking about how to tackle this question. The key is to remember that one of your main objectives in your essays is to communicate interesting and important information about your candidacy. Another thing to keep in mind that your answer should reinforce your positioning and further your application strategy; your selection of topic should either underscore some theme presented in the first essay, or aim to introduce another facet of your interests.

Once you’ve arrived at the broad theme for the essay (i.e. this development, event or book), a great starting point for this response could be to think about a few key experiences from work and your outside activities that you might incorporate into the narrative about the evolution of your thinking and perspective. This will help ground your narrative in specific stories and examples (one of the best way to make an impression on the reader), and make this 2000 word task seem a bit more manageable. Once this framework is in place, it should be a manageable task to build in the nuances of the way this event or book has shaped your thinking and explain the change that has taken place.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

Another week, another edition of FFF, another look at the goings on in the MBA blogging world. While many here in Philadelphia and elsewhere are gearing up to celebrate a certain holiday today, we’d like to point out some other festivities that are in the works; it looks as though MBA Cutie is organizing a rather exciting NYC blogger meetup. Ty Coon is making travel arrangements, while others are speculating about the possible hijinks - both those of others (see the poll on the right) and their own. We can’t wait to read all about it!

Down to the details of the past week. With decisions from many schools still looming large on the horizon for many applicants, a number of bloggers found themselves pondering ways to pass the time - ranging from celebrating pi day to putting together a last ditch package of supplementary materials (we hope Pupstar78’s nerves held up as well as his sense of humor).

Unfortunately, when Wharton’s decision day arrived yesterday, the school was none too gentle on the Round two bloggers. SgHama is turning to Chicago for some good news and Pupstar78 is holding out for Haas. Meanwhile, Resolute suffered a double ding but sounds glad to done with the waiting and focused on ISB. WheresMyDessert is handling the Wharton ding in a very stoic fashion, while B-school Diva takes rejection a bit more personally. We were also very sorry to learn that things didn’t work out at Ross for Forrest or at Kellogg for 106.42.

Though Sorebrek is dealing with a Wharton rejection, he’s still alive (sort of) at Kellogg, and NoKeating shares a similar fate and stresses the positives. Indeed, there was a great deal of waitlist talk this week as well. MBA Pundit joins the Wharton waitlist and Brownoski remains in Wharton limbo (though the latter will get another look from MIT), a Stern waitlist decision causes MBAyisyen to ponder ways to improve his candidacy, C’est La Vie scores a hat trick of admissions decisions (now with a Ross waitlist to complement two dings and a Yale admit), and Anand just wants closure from Tepper.

Fortunately, we’ve been saving the good news for last (yes, there was some definitively good news this week). On the interview front, MBA Spanky was pleasantly surprised with a Stanford invite late in the round, and Redwolf had an extremely positive experience with his Columbia interview. While the wait for decisions from these programs continues for these two bloggers, it ended positively for others. Ash, after some sleuthing, learned he was admitted to Wharton, and the disappointment of MBA Spanky’s departure from Hawaii was no doubt softened by a UNC admit. Similarly, as rough as Mondays and meetings can be, we can’t imagine that FoobarMe was hurting too badly after being accepted by CMU and Haas in one day. Congrats all around! Admitted applicants can hear what they have to look forward to from Curious George’s description of A-Days at UCLA, Nixe’s browsing of the INSEAD admitted students community, and, depending on their thoughts on shopping, Julius Seizure’s recent Anderson-inspired wardrobe realization.

While the applicant community has been blogging up a storm, the students have been relatively quiet. With the end in sight, many bloggers wax reflective: Mark on grade nondisclosure and the fairness of grading at HBS, Harry on untaken classes at Fuqua, JB on Yale SOM alums met in New York, KV on the evolution of his academic interests at LBS, and Marquis about the transformational Stanford experience.

While some students are relaxed, others are feeling the mid or end of term pressure. Al Martine runs down the final week workload at LBS and Noelle braces herself for two tough weeks at IESE; Le Voyageur gets ready for finals at Chicago (as should the Dirty Canuck, who has blogging on the brain) and Jeff Donovan prepares to be slammed with midterm work at Brandeis. In light of all the hard work being done and stress being felt, it was refreshing to read about Dirty Martini’s exciting spring break and rsr.pt’s planned exchange from LBS to Columbia.

That about wraps it up, but before signing off for the week, we wanted to draw readers’ attention to the Beat the GMAT Scholarship, which offers packages of eight prep books to two winners. This could be a great way to kick off the admissions process for those just beginning to consider (and the essay contest element could be a nice warm-up for applications)!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Notification Dates, Wharton D-Day

While admissions decisions have been trickling out from the top programs over the past few weeks, today’s Wharton notification date marks the beginning of a deluge of decisions for round two applicants that will last through the beginning of April:

Thursday, March 16th - Wharton (R2)
Monday, March 20th - Kellogg (R2), Haas (R2)
Tuesday, March 21st - Cornell (R4)
Wednesday, March 22nd - Chicago (R2)
Friday, March 24th - Darden (R3), INSEAD (R2), UCLA (R2), LBS (R2)
Wednesday, March 29th - HBS (R2)
Thursday, March 30th - Stanford (R2)
Friday, March 31st - Yale (R2)
Saturday, April 1st - NYU (R2)
Monday, April 3rd - MIT (R2)

Each school operates on a different timeline (gradual vs. batch release, and so on), so these dates reflect the latest time applicants will hear of their fate at a given program. Focusing on the matter most immediately at hand, many Wharton decisions will be available as of 9am EST this morning, but the adcom has set a 6pm EST deadline. Based on an announcement made in the MBA Admissions Blog last week, it sounds as though the adcom expects to be making decisions down to the wire (and, given online glitches with previous rounds, might also be creating some leeway for technical issues).

Best of luck to everyone waiting for news!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Wiki Wednesdays

Welcome to this week’s installment of Wiki Wednesdays, a column written to highlight some of the past seven days’ new additions to the Clear Admit wiki. With Columbia interview invites rolling out to Regular Decision applicants, we wanted to point out some sample questions from a recent report on an interview with a somewhat skeptical alum:

- He asked me a few questions about my current job and we discussed a little bit more about the business model of the company I work for. Then he asked me why I was pursuing an MBA because my job sounded pretty decent.

- While I was discussing my long-term goals, he asked me “isn’t this something you can do without an MBA?” which I took as an opportunity to talk about Why MBA? Why Columbia? We then discussed the classes I would look into or what concentrations I would focus on.

- What other schools are you applying to?

This particular contributor also offered some great general interview prep tips that stress the importance of practice and forethought:

“I felt that it went by a lot faster than I expected and I may not have gotten to say all the things I wanted to say. Knowing that, I would recommend people to look for opportunities to fit in your key points and keep your answers flexible because the same question can be asked many ways. Practice saying your answers out loud even to yourself. It helps to have other people point out body language you would not otherwise notice on yourself.”

For those still in the midst of this phase of the admissions process, here are new interview reports for Wharton, Cornell, Haas, Stanford and Sloan. Those in an earlier stage might be interested in the new illustrated(!) HBS visit report or the latest addition to the GMAT prep page. The latter in particular should be useful to prospective students just approaching the process, as it provides a detailed overview of each section of the exam and offers some pointers on score reporting and timing.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

MBA News and Notes

Today we’d like to highlight a few news items covering new developments in the MBA world.

The changes in business school leadership that we covered last week are continuing; Douglas Breeden, dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, plans to step down in order to resume full-time teaching and research in finance at the program. Of course, this won’t be effective until June of 2007, so Fuqua is at least spared the scramble for a successor that’s happening with the Harvard presidency and position of dean at USC Marshall.

The Associated Press put out an article commenting on the ways that business school offerings have evolved to best address the needs of the market and cater to a larger number of potential students since Wharton, the first institution of its kind, was established 125 years ago. This involves the introduction of part-time programs, partnership with European and Asian business schools, and the offering of non-degree earning courses for executives. Issues such as return on investment and the value of school brand are also touched upon - could be an interesting read for those just beginning to consider business education options.

On this note, there are some additional news items about schools reaching out to some particular demographics. NYU Stern’s Langone part-time program will be opening a campus in Westchester to make completing an MBA more convenient for professionals living or working in that area. Applications for the inaugural class at this location are due on May 15th for September 2006 enrollment. More information about this option is available on Stern’s website.

While NYU Stern is reaching out to individuals in the immediate area, Oxford’s Said School of Business is making an effort to foster its relation with Indian institutions and attract students from Southeast Asia. Oxford Chancellor Lord Chris Patton had this to say in a recent interview:

“What I have been saying is that the real purpose we have is to focus more attention on India, and I am particularly keen to establish in our business school a centre for the study of Indian business. Secondly, we do want to promote more collaboration with Indian institutions. We do a huge amount at the moment in the field of health — on cancer, infectious diseases, chemistry — but there’s much more we could and want to do.

I also want us to attract more Indian students.

I have said before, that it is counterintuitive that we have 540 Chinese students and 200 Indian students. When you think that it is more difficult for Chinese students to come to Oxford because they have to learn the language first, we have to ask ourselves why we have been doing much less well with Indians.”

The full text of the interview is available at:
http://us.rediff.com/getahead/2006/mar/13ga-inter.htm?q=tp&file=.htm

Monday, March 13, 2006

IMD Essay Topic Analysis (2005-2006)

To round out our list of essay tips for the top European MBA programs, we wanted to offer some advice on the IMD application. With the round 2 deadline coming up on the first of April (the subsequent ones falling on June 1st, August 1st and September 1st), this program could be a great fit for individuals looking for a very international experience and just beginning to think about an MBA.

The school asks a whopping nine essay questions and limits applicants to a mere 1230 characters per response - a bit more than a fourth of a page single spaced - so brevity will be very important. While topics such as the applicant’s plans for financing his or her education and disabilities that might affect one’s studies are fairly straightforward, we’d like to offer some advice on those that involve an element of strategy:

1. Please describe two situations, business or otherwise, in which you were involved and which were of importance to you. Explain why you view them as such.
Of all of IMD’s essays, you have the most room to work in this one; applicants are allowed 1230 characters per situation. The term “of importance” provides a good deal of flexibility, though our sense is that applicants might be best served by a discussion of their most significant accomplishments or personal/professional turning points. In order to arrive at the examples to discuss here, we recommend a balance of content across different jobs, or drawing one example from work and another from an outside activity. A unifying theme between the two would also be a very nice touch.

2. Please comment on a situation where you failed to reach an objective and what you learned from it.
This essay is very similar to a question on the Wharton application, but with a bit more range (as Wharton focuses on a team experience while IMD’s question is much more open). See that page for more detailed tips, and remember that it’s best to pick an example that’s relevant to your candidacy, and from which you learned a valuable lesson.

3. Describe a situation where you had to demonstrate strong leadership skills. Explain how effective you were and what did you learned?
Topic selection will be critical here, as the answer to this question can be drawn from the professional or personal realms. Keep in mind that you’ll need to summarize the situation in full and provide a clear account of your thoughts and actions, commenting at the end on the outcome of your efforts and lessons learned - a tall order for 1230 characters.

4. How do you imagine your superior would describe your strengths and weaknesses to someone who does not know you?
Designed to gauge both the applicant’s personality and awareness or how he or she is perceived by others, this question is fairly straightforward. One thing to keep in mind is that because this hints at the opinion of a direct supervisor - from whom the applicant will presumably have a recommendation - it would be ideal for the answer to this essay to mirror the qualities named in the letter.

5. What is motivating you to seek an MBA education at IMD?
6. What will you be able to contribute that would make you a unique and valuable addition to the IMD MBA class?
Combined, these present the typical career goals essay. Given IMD’s very restrictive character limits, brevity will be key.

7. If you are not admitted, what alternatives will you consider?
This is a difficult question to navigate. Whatever your response, keep in mind that the adcom wants to hear that you’ll spend the year taking steps toward your goals or addressing some weakness in your candidacy in preparation for reapplying.

8. Please explain how you intend to finance your studies at IMD. What would be your budget?

9. Do you have a disability or illness that could affect your performance at IMD? If so, please explain.

10. Is there any additional information that is critical for the Admissions Committee to know which has not been covered elsewhere in this application?
Judging from the use of the word “critical,” our sense is that this essay would be best used to address a weakness in your file or mitigate some concern that the adcom might have.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

Welcome to this week’s installment of FFF! After something of a dry spell for round two applicants, there’s been a deluge of admissions decisions this week. MBA Jackass received a call from Kellogg, George heard some positive news from Anderson, Nixie received an INSEAD admit and C’est La Vie is in at Yale (and could hear from Ross any day now). If other bloggers’ experiences are any indication, this is likely to be just the beginning of the celebration; MGalBlue has been getting a good deal of post-admit attention from Michigan, and AynRand2008 had a good time at an Emory admit reception in DC. Of course, not all the news has been good. We were sorry to read that MBA Spanky received a Kellogg ding (but were glad that he at least received a Fuqua admit to ease t