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We just wanted to remind our readers that Eric over at Beat the GMAT! is offering two test prep material scholarships, and that the deadline to apply is this Sunday. For those applicants just beginning to tackle the test, this is a great chance to score some great study guides and practice tests. Details are available here: http://beatthegmat.blogspot.com/2006/04/just-3-days-left.html  Another Friday, another exciting addition of FFF! Let’s begin this week’s look at the MBA blogging world by taking a look at what the students have been up to now that spring is in full swing. While the internship search has wound down for most, excitement is running high: MargaritaLuvr can’t wait to get started (but first needs to tackle finals at Chicago), Yale student JB was assigned to his top choice project, and GSB blogger Mandar is looking forward to spending the summer in San Francisco. Of course, before the fun over the break can commence, students need to make it through the rest of the semester. The entries about academics over the past few days have really run the gamut of excitement, from Noelle’s account of a typical Thursday at IESE to Buckyhoo’s thoughts on his upcoming trip to India for a class at UNC. In between, L’Optimiste comments on his classes this period at INSEAD, Jeff D plans out the last few weeks at Brandeis, Dirty Martini considers the relationship between masochism and procrastination with respect to Chicago finals and Harry evaluates his situation during the final week of class at Fuqua. In addition to academics and summer plans, there’s been a fair amount of buzz about the on-campus goings on. Yale’s welcome weekend helped JB shift his perspective from studying to students at the SOM, while Mark pondered the implications of the new dean for the future of HBS. While an incoming class and administrative changes point to long term changes, other students focused on the impact of one time events, as rsr.pt enjoyed Richard Branson’s talk at LBS, Sam seems to have gotten a lot out of listening to a recent speaker at MIT, and Buckyhoo writes of looking forward to a performance by Kenan-Flagler’s Follies (while Chicago’s group of the same name earned a mention in the WSJ). While the semester and even school in general are drawing to an end for the students, many applicant bloggers are focused on new beginnings. For some this means sorting out the logistics of relocation, saying “so long” to the work place with mixed emotions (or to mixed reactions) or refining (and even rethinking) career goals, but the most popular topic of conversation has been admit weekends and the programs themselves. Brownoski spent the week weighing the pros and cons of Wharton, MIT and Yale (and shares some great pictures from his visits), and MBA Spanky continues to deliberate between Duke and UCLA after recounting his trip to Anderson in extensive detail. Most others were a bit more sold on their programs following their campus visits: C’est La Vie was impressed with Yale’s faculty and students, WheresMyDessert has made her decision after visiting both Sloan and Stern (we know where she’s headed, but at her request, you’ll have to . . . → Continue Reading For early bird applicants who are trying to get a sense of next year’s application timeline and happen to have Columbia on their list, the school has already released its deadlines for the 2006-2007 admissions season: January 2007 Accelerated Program Application Review Began: April 24, 2006 Decision Period: Within 8 weeks of submission Application Deadline: October 11, 2006 September 2007 Early Decision Application Review Begins: August 16, 2006 Decision Period: Within 10 weeks of submission Application Deadline: October 11, 2006 September 2007 Regular Decision Application Review Begins: January 10, 2007 Decision Period: Within 12 weeks of submission Application Deadline: March 1 (international applicants) or April 18 (US-based applicants) While the rolling nature of the school’s process gives applicants a fair amount of leeway and makes this school an easy one to fit in among programs with more rigid application deadlines, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s always best to apply as early as possible in one’s target round, both to show the school that you are making it a priority and to get your application in the hands of the adcom before they’ve given away too many seats in the incoming class. For those targeting the J-term, it looks as though the essays are identical to this those from the past season. There will also be an essay asking why the applicant has elected to apply for the accelerated program. The key to this response is to convince the adcom that a summer internship would not be necessary to achieve one’s career goals (this particular option tends to work better for those who are seeking to move more quickly along their current career path than for those aiming to switch industry and/or function), and to explain why the accelerated timeframe makes the most sense. Welcome back to Which School Wednesdays, a column we recently introduced to highlight content from blogs, our wiki and various discussion boards in which applicants, students and even alums are sharing their reasons for applying to or attending various MBA programs. Our objective is to identify valuable sources of school-specific information and help prospective students better understand the factors they should consider in making their decisions. Particularly noteworthy is a new addition to the School Choices page of the Clear Admit Wiki in which an applicant details the way Wharton won her over when the program was initially not even on her radar screen. Preparing to apply after taking an advisor’s advice to investigate the program, she learned that one can learn a good deal about the prevailing attitude and pressing issues at a school by sitting back and taking in the candid opinions of current students: “While researching the school, I became engrossed in the student diaries on the site, and in particular, I was intrigued by the grade nondisclosure debate. The many arguments in favor of grade nondisclosure convinced me that Wharton students really do value a cooperative culture, and the school’s willingness to host public debate convinced me that Wharton has the confidence in itself and its students to let the world witness its family squabble. By the time I finished my application, I still wasn’t sure that Wharton was the school for me, but I’d developed a respect for the open and straightforward culture of the school.” Another recent contributor to the wiki explains the many factors that led him to settle on Darden, and applicant blogger FM has written a post detailing the factors that led him to target LBS as his first choice. He makes one especially interesting comment on the benefit of attending a program with a highly diverse group of peers as opposed to counting on connections with far-flung alumni: “Becoming friends with people from all over the world (70% non US/UK) will ensure a life long network of places to visit, jobs to access, and cultures to experience. This shouldn’t be mistaken for looking up alumni – these will be people you personally know and have shared amazing experiences with.” The value of connections with peers and classmates aside, alumni ties are a very significant consideration for many applicants. Though many focus on the number of living alumni, one Stanford aspirant on the BW boards made a nice point about this topic a few weeks ago: “Strength of alumni network does not correlate to size. University of Phoenix would otherwise win this one hands down. You sacrifice alumni network responsiveness as you increase the size of the network. (By the way, HBS class size is almost 900, not 800). My brother graduated from HBS in ’03 and he can tell you that the responsiveness of the HBS alumni network — while not bad — is not as good as he expected. He also mentioned that the huge . . . → Continue Reading Earlier this week, it was announced that Jay Light, who has been the acting dean of Harvard Business School since Kim Clark’s departure last August, has been appointed to the post on a permanent basis. It sounds as though Light is eminently qualified for the position and has the support of the school’s faculty, but this move comes as a bit of a surprise, as one would not expect the University’s president to be making appointments when he is himself on the way out. The Harvard Crimson reports that Summers had this to say on the timing: “The judgment that we reached collectively was that, since I had been extensively engaged in a search process and had a large number of conversations with members of the Business School community, that it would be best for me to complete the search.” It’s reported that Light worked closely with Clark while the latter was at Harvard, and that he expects his tenure to be “more similar than different” in terms of direction and priorities for the program. Further information on the new HBS dean’s background and future plans can be found in the press: Boston Globe – Fact sheet on Jay Light Boston Globe – Harvard names dean of business school Harvard Crimson – Acting Dean Promoted to Lead B-School Financial Times – New HBS Dean to focus on globalisation Putting an end to weeks of anticipation, the votes have been tallied and we are pleased to announce the results of our second annual Best of Blogging Awards! For anyone just tuning in, the twofold aim of this ranking is to highlight the best MBA applicant and student blogs documenting the 2005-2006 admissions season and school year, and identify valuable sources of information for the next wave of applicants. We arrived at the ranking for both the applicant and student categories after careful evaluation of the eligible blogs by Clear Admit staff and consideration of input from the nominated bloggers and celebrity judges Rose Martinelli, Dave (of blogging fame) and Brad Garrison (a.k.a. Hella). Below are the listing of the top ten applicant and top ten student blogs overall that we’ve compiled based on this feedback, as well as the winners in a handful of more specific categories. And the BoB goes to … Top 10 Applicant Blogs 1. MBA Jackass – http://mbajackass.blogspot.com 2. Marina – http://electrizze.blogspot.com 3. Forrest Gump – http://run-forrest.blogspot.com 4. Pupstar78 – http://taketwobskool.blogspot.com 5. Axechick – http://axechick.blogspot.com 6. Sorebrek – http://holymba.blogspot.com 7. Angel Angie – http://angelangie2008.blogspot.com 7. I_Will_Make_It – http://iwillmakeit-mba.blogspot.com 9. Redwolf056 – http://redwolf056.blogspot.com 10. Vatsa – http://vatsaview.blogspot.com Funniest Applicant Blog Sorebrek Best GMAT Preparation Advice Axechick Best School Selection Advice Vatsa Best Essay Advice Axechick Best Interview Preparation Advice MBA Jackass Best Single Post by an Applicant Sorebrek – “Love and Other Maladies,” March 7, 2006 Top 10 Student Blogs 1. Marquis (Stanford) – http://marquisweblog.blogspot.com 2. Poweryogi (Chicago) – http://poweryogi.blogspot.com 3. KV (LBS) – http://usatolbs.blogspot.com 4. FutureMBAGirl (Wharton) – http://futurembagirl.blogspot.com 4. The Divine Miss N (LBS) – http://thedivinemissn.blogspot.com 6. Vijay (ISB) – http://itheabsolute.blogspot.com 7. Wakechick (Chicago) – http://wakechick.blogspot.com 8. NoellieBellie (IESE) – http://spanishnoelle.blogspot.com 9. Jerry Blank (Yale) – http://flatpointmba.blogspot.com 10. Olivier (INSEAD) – http://oliviermineau.blogspot.com Funniest Student Blog Poweryogi Best Resource for Applicants The Divine Miss N Best Job/Internship Advice Marquis Best Representation of Academics Marquis Best Representation of Student Life KV Best Single Post by a Current Student Poweryogi – “GND = Gracias, Non-Disclosure?” November 11, 2005 We’d like to convey our congratulations to everyone whose blog has been recognized, and express our gratitude for your valuable contribution to the space! We’ll be getting in touch via email with the top three bloggers in each overall list today or tomorrow to work out the logistics of selecting and collecting their prizes. Top-ranked bloggers MBA Jackass and Marquis will have their pick of an iPod Nano or a $250 Amazon.com gift certificate, and Marina, Forrest Gump, Poweryogi and KV can opt for a subscription to either Business Week or The Economist: our way of saying thank you for keeping us and their peers enlightened and entertained over the past months. Thanks also go out to everyone who participated in the ranking process and made this year’s BoB . . . → Continue Reading A few weeks ago, we published an entry to inform Class of 2009 applicants about the merits of beginning work on one’s resume early in the season. To follow up on those comments, we wanted to offer some general tips on getting the most mileage out of this document in the admissions process. 1) First things first. Because you’re applying to graduate school and because the adcom will be seeking an understanding of your experiences since finishing college, it makes sense to lead this document with a section detailing your academic history. This is also the format that many business schools’ career offices instruct students to use when applying for internships or full-time post-graduation jobs. 2) Keep it simple. While you’ll certainly want to describe your professional responsibilities and achievements in some detail, remember that this document needs to fit on a single page (with only rare exceptions). Rather than overwhelming the reader with information, try to identify three or four discrete projects or accomplishments to complement a few concise statements about your more general day to day responsibilities in each position. Remember that it’s also important to be as specific as possible about the impact you’ve had on your organization by quantifying the results of your efforts. 3) Round it out. Don’t discount the importance of your interests and outside activities. Schools like applicants who are well-rounded and demonstrate a track record of involvement outside of work and the classroom, so formal extracurricular activities are a logical category to include. At the same time, information about your less structured information and hobbies is also relevant, as these details can lend some more color to your candidacy and help the adcom get to know you better. Remember to be as specific as possible; many business school applicants are interested in “travel” or “film,” so specifying a region you especially enjoy visiting or your favorite movie genre will be the key to setting yourself apart. We hope that these general guidelines serve as a good starting point for ‘Class of 2009′ applicants in translating their experiences and achievements into this important but brief document. For more tailored guidance, contact us now to learn more about the Clear Admit Resume Guide and our free initial assessments. Following up on today’s edition of Fridays From the Frontline, a popular topic in the MBA blogosphere these past few weeks has been our upcoming Best of Blogging Awards (the BoBs). Whether it’s been announcements of their own nominations or reflections on their favorite peers, we’ve been thrilled to read the BoB buzz and see applicants and students getting excited. To keep the momentum going, we wanted to take some time to profile the Celebrity Judges for this year’s competition: Dave: A veteran applicant blogger and fourth place finisher in last year’s BoBs, Dave has transformed his site from an account of his personal experiences into one of the web’s more comprehensive resources on all things MBA. Having played a significant role in the applicant community for two years now, he’s in a great position to weigh in on the top writers and resources among this year’s nominees. Brad Garrison (a.k.a. Hella): A second year student at Wharton, Brad has not only blogged his way through business school, but also hosts aggregated lists of the latest posts by MBA applicant, student and alum bloggers on his site. He’s also spent the past year as a Graduate Assistant in the Wharton admissions office, giving him an up to date perspective on the applicant experience to complement his student viewpoint. Rose Martinelli: Currently the Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Admissions at the Chicago Graduate School of Business, Rose spent five years as the Director of Admissions at Wharton before making the move to Hyde Park last year. It was during her tenure that Wharton introduced the Admissions Blog and student diaries, creating the transparency in the admissions process that’s been lauded and appreciated by prospective students for years. In her short time at Chicago, the school has embraced student bloggers and launched discussion forums as well. We’re looking forward to reviewing the input from these three guest participants, as well as the votes from the nominated bloggers. Be sure to check back next Tuesday, April 25th, for this year’s Best of Blogging results! Spring has most definitely sprung here in Philadelphia! In this season of new beginnings, this week’s edition of FFF opens with a look at a few reapplicant bloggers who are taking a fresh perspective and different approach to the application process. For several, this means going back to the drawing board with the GMAT; it’s great to hear that B-School Diva is having a very positive experience with test prep and that ChillPill is staying focused while he finds his stride. Not everyone is planning to retake, though, and it sounds as though MBA Pundit is on the right track with his plan to focus on the extracurricular element of his candidacy for the time being and begin the application process in earnest come June. First time applicants and reapps alike will want to keep an eye out for the great advice being offered by those who’ve already been through the process. LBS-bound Moe offers some high level advice for applicants, Ash shares the approach he took to his ultimately successful Stanford Essay A, Poweryogi relates an effective waitlist strategy that scored him a Chicago admit (and which might be applicable to Anand’s Tepper WL situation), and Hella draws from a season of conducting interviews at Wharton to provide future applicants with some general tips. While aspiring Class of 2009 bloggers are deciding on their application strategy, many accepted Class of 2008 bloggers are busy determining which school to attend. Alex continues to wrestle with the INSEAD/Haas dilemma and a full ride from UNC has made MBA Spanky’s decision process more interesting, while SgHama emerges from a hiatus of working and admissions agonizing to announce that Tuck won out over Chicago. Others who have made their choice reflect on the reasons, as FM explains the appeal of LBS, AynRand2008 lists her Emory likes, and Chicago student Le Voyageur recounts the factors that led him to choose the GSB (last year). Admitted student events continue to play a role in applicants’ thinking, as Resolute enjoyed interacting with alums at ISB orientation, Axechick emerged from the CBS Open House with increased excitement about her school and classmates, and TheSharkB8 enjoyed his taste of the Wharton community (Melissa is more focused on the cheesesteaks) at the Welcome Weekend. Speaking of community, in addition to considering their feelings about their ultimate destinations (Kellogg and Columbia, respectively), MBAJ and Marina each offer their take on a recent blogger meetup in NYC – sounds like a great time! On the student blogger front there’s also some fun being had – JB describes the annual Yale SOM talent show, Noelle recaps what sounds like an exciting trip to Romania on break from IESE and IESE MBA 2007 shares some pictures from an adventure in Spain – but for the most part, it’s back to business as usual. Death Spiral comments that recruiters are showing . . . → Continue Reading We just wanted to remind those applicant and student bloggers who are in the running for this year’s Best of Blogging awards that their ballots are due by the end of the day tomorrow (Friday, April 21st). While a good portion of the nominees have sent in their ballots, we’d like to have the input from as many members of the blogging community as possible, so we hope that those of you who have not yet sent in your votes will find the time to weigh in. Completed ballots and last minute ballot requests from nominees can be sent to bestofblogging@clearadmit.com. Early next week, we’ll be tabulating the votes from nominated bloggers (50% weighting), Clear Admit staff and our panel of celebrity judges (25% weighting for each group), and announcing the overall ranking and six prize winners on April 25th. The second and third place bloggers in the student-blogger top 10 and applicant-blogger top 10 rankings will receive a one year subscription to Business Week or The Economist (their choice), and the two top-ranked bloggers (one student, one applicant) will be given the option of an iPod Nano or a $250 Amazon.com gift certificate. We’ll be announcing the celebrity judges in tomorrow’s edition of Fridays from the Frontline, so stay tuned as the details of the contest continue to unfold! It’s become clear over the past few months that job opportunities and salaries are on the rise for recent business school graduates. While all signs would seem to indicate that now is a great time to pursue an MBA, it’s also important to think about what recruiters are looking for and consider whether there are steps one could take before attending business school to increase their job prospects after completing the program. A recent article in Fortune highlights some important hiring trends, focusing primarily on the reality of globalization and the increasing importance of international experience to future business success: “It’s really a marked difference from just a few years ago. Now, the big U.S. tech companies, investment banks, consulting firms, and consumer-goods companies are trying to find people who can function globally. An MBA with overseas work experience, or familiarity with one or more foreign markets, has a real advantage. That person can probably choose among several great job opportunities. And of course, if you’re going to move up, as most MBAs expect to, global experience is a must. If I had a college-age or graduate-school-age child right now, I’d try to encourage him or her to spend a year or a semester in China, or in India.” This Q&A with a post MBA career expert also touches on what sort of firms hire at which schools, and what skills are in highest demand. The full text is available at: http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/17/news/economy/annie/fortune_mba_work/index.htm Hello and welcome to the very first edition of “Which School Wednesdays,” a new weekly column in which we’ll be highlighting new and noteworthy web content relating to applicants’ thinking and decisions about which MBA programs they’ll apply to or attend. Closely related to the School Choices section of the Clear Admit Wiki, this new feature is being introduced with the hope that reading about others’ rationale will help applicants learn from the experiences of people who have been in their position, and perhaps lead them to consider elements they had not yet taken into account as they determine which schools to target and which admissions offer to accept. A few weeks ago, blogger Nick Carraway posted an excellent entry about the factors that led him to choose to attend Fuqua over Sloan. While the allure of the MIT brand and network are undeniable, it’s also true that more immediate elements like geography and family ties are legitimate concerns as well. This post does an excellent job of explaining the way some “intangible” and relatively minor considerations that one might argue should not form the basis of such a major decision actually amount to a very significant advantage for Duke: “Little factors, like North Carolina’s amazing weather, make a big difference on your overall quality of life. Also, my family is within driving distance of Durham, so my child might actually know her grandparents. Plus, Fuqua has amazing facilities and the most supportive partners program at any top B-school. They say ‘Don’t make your decision based on the facilities… Or the weather… Or the housing… Or the location.’ Sage advice indeed, but at what point do all of those things add up to one very important factor? Duke just seems to have them all.” Similarly, blogger AynRand2008 goes beyond the “normal” considerations to get to the heart of the quality of life question in choosing between Emory and Texas. Geography was less of an issue for MJ in making the call concerning Duke and Darden, as this blogger focused more closely on more basic issues of teaching method and preparedness for his goals. This excerpt is a great example of one person’s ability to assess his fit with a program based on self-knowledge and practical considerations: “While I absolutely loved the case method class at Darden, I have to bear in mind that I was a silent participant which is very different from being in that class. Having never had any form of education based solely on the case method, I can’t be sure how I would react to it (Darden is 100% case based). Will I be able to put my inhibitions (such as thinking something is too silly to bring up or thinking something is too obvious or becoming self conscious) behind me and be able to be an active participant in class every single day? Class participation is a major part of the grades at Darden. One of the things I hope . . . → Continue Reading In keeping with our recent string of posts written with the aim of setting class of 2009 applicants on the right path, we wanted to offer some tips on engaging the community of one’s target programs. Communicating with b-school insiders can be beneficial for a number of reasons; in addition to learning about a given school and your potential fit, you’ll also generate material for your essays, demonstrate your interest in the program, and perhaps even make an ally or two. In launching your communication campaign, there are a few key groups to whom you should reach out: Current Students – People who are currently enrolled in a given program can obviously provide the clearest picture of the current state of the school and community and help you to understand the overall culture, as well as the academic and extracurricular options available to students. In addition to reaching out to friends and acquaintances who are studying at a given school, it’s also wise to get in touch with the leaders of clubs and programs in which you are interested (their contact information is generally available through the website). This will help you to understand the impact you could make while on campus and provide a sounding board for various ideas you might have for a certain student group or organization. Alumni – While students offer a great view of the program itself, a school’s alumni can often provide the best perspective on just how far an MBA from a given program can get you in a certain field. By meeting with alums who are working in your target post-MBA industry (tracking them down either through your own network or school-sponsored events), you should be able to get a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of your target schools in terms of setting you on a course to achieve your career objectives. You might also gain some valuable insight that will help you to refine your career goals and better understand what short-term position would best prepare you for your long-term plan. Faculty – The professors at business school tend to be a bit less accessible than students and alums, but if you’ve identified someone whose research interests you or sat in on a class that you found particularly interesting, there’s no harm in sending a note to let the faculty member know that you find his or her work appealing and would like to speak if possible. These individuals responsible for designing and teaching the curriculum can offer great insight into the specific skills and lessons you would learn from one class to the next, and help you to refine your understanding of the ways that an MBA would bridge the gap between your current skills and those you will need to achieve your goals. Hopefully, this has given Class of 2009 aspirants a sense of the people to contact and the sort of questions to ask as they go about determining which MBA programs would be the best fit . . . → Continue Reading The Yale Daily News is reporting that the Yale School of Management (SOM) saw an 11% increase in application volume this season (2,272 applications vs. last year’s total of 2,032). In addition to this fact, the admissions office aimed to decrease the number of students in next year’s class by 20% in order to keep things manageable as the SOM rolls out their new curriculum for the incoming class. These stats clearly led to tougher admissions odds for Yale applicants who applied this past season. Given the increase in application volume that seems to be taking hold across many of the top MBA programs, we expect things to remain competitive going forward. In a related story (also from the Yale Daily News), there were a total of 21,099 applicants to Yale University (undergraduate) this year. With only 1,823 gaining admission, Yale recorded their lowest acceptance rate in history (8.6%) and the lowest across the Ivy League (Harvard undergrad admitted 9.3%). The interesting link between undergraduate admissions and MBA admissions is how the explosion of undergraduate application volume over the last few years will ultimately trickle out into the MBA pool. The ‘baby boomer’ children are clearly beginning to filter into the MBA pipeline, and this influx – coupled with a solid hiring market for MBA grads – is likely to fuel further increases in MBA application volume going forward. For more information on admissions trends and the demographics that seem to be dictating the rising numbers, see the following articles: College Applications on the Rise, and So Are Rejections (ABC News) “Educators cite several reasons for the record number of applications, including more aggressive outreach by admissions offices, demographic changes that put more 18-year-olds in the college pipeline, and the increased competition at all levels of education.” What Selectivity Means for You (CollegeBoard.com) “The increase comes from a surge in births during the 1980s. Children of the baby boomers are coming of age. Experts predict applications will continue to rise faster than openings at most colleges through about 2010.” |
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