Posted by Clear Admit on April 14, 2006, at 4:46 pm
Posted in:  Fridays from the Frontline Another week, another edition of FFF! The talk among applicants this week has been focused on decisions, both their own and those being made by the schools. In several instances, good news from target programs has posed a complication: a Haas admit forces Alex to weigh the pros and cons of Berkeley and INSEAD, some money from UW made Julius Siezure’s choice between Washington and Anderson a bit trickier, and after turning down a spot on the MIT waitlist and committing to Wharton, WheresMyDessert was surprised when Sloan called her bluff with an admit this week. Meanwhile, MJ breaks the news of his Duke matriculation to Darden down easy, I_Will_Make_It continues to weigh her options and Vatsa ponders his fit with Tuck and Chicago, ultimately deciding to visit both schools before making his choice.
Probably a wise move, as it seems that admit weekends are proving very helpful for other student bloggers. Curious George is Berkeley-bound without reservations after Days at Haas and it sounds like NoKeating would be content at Kelley regardless of what Kellogg decides, whereas MBA Spanky’s experience at UNC reinforced his feeling that Kenan-Flagler is not the school for him. Though she was impressed with the academics and students at UT Austin, AynRand2008 ultimately chose Emory and offers some advice to those still weighing their options. Admitted student functions have also reassured and excited applicants who have already made their decisions. Kilgore Trout enjoyed his time at Austin and has moved on from school selection to real estate considerations, Resolute had a great meal with a group of ISB admits, MGalBlue seems very enthusiastic about Ross after attending the Go Blue! Rendezvous, and Marina provides a very detailed account of her complete Columbia open house experience. It sounds as though Redwolf056 had a blast at Days at Kellogg, and MBAJ relates a humorous brisket debacle and considers the program’s academics and extracurriculars.
As for Class of 2009 bloggers, school selection and GMAT preparation are currently the hot topics. Those just gearing up for the admissions process might want to look into the Beat the GMAT discussion forum and prep material scholarship (essay questions now available), and be sure to learn from the experiences of those who’ve gone before. FooBarMe and MBAJ have both written thoughtful posts about things they wish they’d done better.
This week, current students have been writing largely about excitement and/or travel. Noelle is on her way from Barcelona to Romania for spring break, LBS student KV is heading to USC and George is excited to be heading to New York on exchange from IESE, while Dirty Martini is newly enthused about her own ongoing Columbia experience. Indeed, even those who are staying put have a good deal to look forward to, as Le Voyageur is loving econ at Chicago, Nate is already eager to take part in next year’s welcome weekend at Ross, and both rsr.pt and the Divine Miss N sound excited about the next big name speaker at LBS.
Others look to the future with more mixed emotions. Some are feeling the heat as the semester draws to a close (Buckyhoo is under the gun at UNC as he continues the internship search and Death Spiral continues the job hunt at INSEAD), while Marquis is surprisingly relaxed about his last semester course load at Stanford, Mark is reflective as things wind down at HBS, and Future MBA Girl is grateful for the opportunities she’s had at Wharton. While business school is drawing to a close for some, it’s already ended for others; we were glad to read that Bharani had a great time before graduation from ISB, and that Vijay plans to continue blogging beyond his MBA experience.
That does it for this week; here’s wishing everyone a good weekend and a happy holiday!
Posted by Clear Admit on April 13, 2006, at 9:24 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips Today’s posting is for those of you who are just getting started with the process of applying to b-school for the class of 2009. In addition to conducting some preliminary research on MBA programs in which you might be interested, thinking about how you will go about presenting yourself to these schools is another great thing to be doing in the spring. For this reason, working on your resume (or CV) is an excellent starting point for someone embarking on the MBA admissions process. This is true for the following reasons:
1) Nearly every top school requires a resume. This is usually requested as part of the written application. Even if the school does not request a stand-alone resume, they will usually solicit similar information within their application forms (employment history, educational background, etc). In addition, candidates are often required to bring a resume to their admissions interviews as a starting point for conversation.
2) Crafting a resume can often serve as the creative starting point for candidates who are trying to develop their positioning strategy and career goals for the MBA admissions process. Distilling all of your experiences (educational, professional and extracurricular) into a coherent one-page document can often be an eye-opening exercise. Many applicants find that taking this step helps them to gain a better understanding of their key selling points.
3) Since MBA admissions officers are often asking themselves whether or not a candidate seems likely to gain employment upon completion of the MBA program, the resume can be a great barometer of your potential to market your skills and experiences. Obviously, the MBA itself will add to your resume, but the adcom is still curious to see how well you present your experiences prior to earning the degree. Providing the committee with a polished, coherent resume is a great way to demonstrate your potential appeal to campus recruiters.
4) The often daunting process of MBA admissions has to start somewhere! Many applicants spend too much time thinking about essay questions or worrying about recommendations before they’ve actually defined their overall admissions strategy. This is a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. The resume is a nicely defined ‘first step’ that can truly help a candidate make progress down the path towards application.
For those class of 2009 applicants who are beginning to think about the admissions process, the resume is clearly a great place to start. Contact us now to learn more about the Clear Admit Resume Guide and our free initial assessments.
Posted by Clear Admit on April 12, 2006, at 9:36 am
Posted in: General The Wall Street Journal’s ‘College Journal’ site (no subscription required) has published an interesting article on the role of sales in the MBA curriculum. As many have often remarked, sales is typically relegated to a single session of Marketing 101 in business school (with an emphasis on sales management rather than the selling process itself). The WSJ article suggests that there is change in the wind for the sales discipline, citing new sales-focused course offerings at leading programs like Stanford, Harvard and MIT.
The most interesting thing about this subject from an MBA admissions standpoint is the parallel that has traditionally existed between the role of sales/selling in the b-school curriculum (virtually non-existent) and the number of admitted students with pure sales/selling backgrounds (few and far between). In fact, many have said that “sales is a dirty word” in the admissions process, since it connotes an image of the used-car salesman or the solitary, door-to-door variety salesperson. In addition, applicants with pure sales backgrounds are often not viewed in the same light as their peers who’ve pursued banking, consulting, engineering or even “business development” roles with leading firms. The reason for this is that sales jobs are not the preferred path for leading university undergraduates – hence admissions officers view the field with a certain degree of skepticism.
Perhaps the advent of sales and selling courses at leading programs will promote a shift in the admissions offices at these same programs – assuming that b-school professors can successfully pitch the need for former sales employees in the MBA classroom…
In other academic news, the College Journal also recently published an article about the increasing popularity of Game Theory coursework in the MBA curriculum, and it’s somewhat controversial nature.
Posted by Clear Admit on April 11, 2006, at 8:51 am
Posted in: General As promised last week when we announced the nominees for this year’s Best of Blogging awards, ballots are now available for the contenders to weigh in with their top picks. Voters will select their three overall favorite blogs in both the student and applicant lists (this will be used to compile the top ten ranking), as well as the funniest blog and the best single post in each group. In addition, we’ll ask voters to identify the blogs that they feel offer the best GMAT advice, the best school selection advice, the best essay advice and best interview preparation advice among the applicant nominees, as well as which student blogs offer the best advice for applicants, the best job/internship advice, the best representation of student life and the most accurate picture of academics at their schools.
While we’ve distributed ballots to the nominated bloggers with contact info in their blogs, we’d like to encourage those nominated bloggers who have not received ballots to contact us at bestofblogging@clearadmit.com and request their ballots if they haven’t already done so. In addition to identifying valuable sources of information for the next generation of MBA applicants and students, they’ll also be doing their peers a favor; as we mentioned when we first published the timeline for the awards, we’re throwing some prizes into the mix this year. 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.
Stay tuned for more information about the process and this year’s celebrity judges!
Posted by Clear Admit on April 10, 2006, at 9:11 am
Posted in: General While the MBA has faced several challenges in recent years, all signs seem to be pointing to a full recovery. For the uninitiated, the 2001-02 admissions cycle was the high-water mark for applicant volume at most leading full-time programs. Shortly thereafter, admissions volume plummeted some 30% across the top schools, as the programs faced a weakened economy (post-dot.com boom) as well as new challenges for recruiting international students (visas were initially hard to come by in the wake of 9/11). In addition to these challenges, some speculated that business scandals (Enron, Worldcom and the like) tarnished the degree, further diminishing applicant volume.
Despite the gloomy picture, last year’s admissions season (2004-05) was the first in several years to suggest a stabilizing trend – with admissions volume remaining constant at many full-time programs (and even growing slightly at a few). It would now appear that the leading programs have turned a corner by building on last year’s positive signs. Over the last six months, this blog has documented increases in GMAT test-taker volume, higher admissions volume at leading programs like Tuck and Chicago and countless stories in the press about an increasingly robust employment scene for MBA graduates. Along those lines, we’d like to highlight two recent articles of note:
1) The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that graduate admissions volume is up this year – with life sciences and business leading the way. According to the article, Wharton has seen an increase of 12.2% in international applicant volume this year. Interestingly enough, one of the key weaknesses in admissions volume over the last few years has been a decreased number of applications from abroad. If this number is creeping up again, Wharton should expect very healthy admissions volume going forward.
2) CNN has just reported that job prospects are increasingly promising for MBA graduates. According to a recent GMAC survey that is cited in the article, employer sentiment is as high as it has been since 2002. The article goes on to report that 2006 graduates should see continued increases in starting salaries and bonuses. Typically, these types of articles are a leading indicator of increased application volume (since prospective applicants read the articles and decide to take the plunge).
While the verdict will be clearer once the final admissions volume stats are released by the schools this year, it certainly seems that interest in the MBA (on the part of both applicants and employers) is heating up once again.
Posted by Clear Admit on April 7, 2006, at 2:22 pm
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline Welcome to another edition of FFF! Now that we’ve gotten your attention by announcing the Best of Blogging nominees, which cover the thoughts and actions of bloggers over the past year, let’s take a closer look at the past week in the MBA world.
Now that the dust of round two decisions has settled, many applicants are in a contemplative mood. Some are thinking about their school selection with a broad eye to the ‘why MBA‘ issue, and others consider the difficulty of maintaining objectivity in making such an important and personal choice. MJ ponders the “what ifs” of life, while C’est La Vie wonders if her decision to attend Yale would have stood had her other applications worked out differently. Indeed, it varies with the applicant; dings from Harvard and Stanford made Anderson-bound Julius Seizure’s decision an easy one and a waitlisting by Sloan is sending WheresMyDessert off to Stern, whereas MBAJ (as the kids are calling him these days) was heading to Kellogg regardless of Columbia’s decision. Swayed by the school’s team-oriented atmosphere, Redwolf056 has also decided to attend Kellogg after a long Chicago showdown. Meanwhile, climate and cost played a large role in Nick Carraway’s choice of Duke over MIT.
For applicants who are still in the process of deciding where to spend the next two years, visits to campus are playing a big role. Although MBA Spanky wasn’t swayed one way or the other by his time at Duke, both AynRand2008 and Ty Coon were wowed by Emory, mbaformein08 found her fit at Kellogg, and FooBarMe’s deposit check is in the mail after his trip to a Haas EWMBA reception. We hope that MBA Cutie’s weekend leaves her feeling as positive about Ross as this crowd seems to be about their respective school decisions. On that note, we were glad to hear that declining tuition at LBS has Angel Angie even more excited, and that Resolute is feeling good about his destination due to the latest ISB salary and placement stats.
While dings are leaving several applicants with one option and an easy matriculation decision, others are sadly sent back to the drawing boards. We were sorry to read that a Columbia WL ding has left MBA Pundit with little choice but to join Forrest in the realm of the reapps, and that some bad news from Stanford has sent Mave back to the drawing board. Joining them are some first time applicants who are already thinking about their essays and planning for the GMAT. Speaking of which, Eric will be announcing the essay topic for his Beat the GMAT scholarship next week; this constitutes a great chance for the DIY test prep crowd to win some great study materials.
Some student bloggers are similarly settled on their plans for the immediate future (Mark is getting his post-HBS life in Chicago lined up, Sloan student Tom is set with a Google internship and Mbwana will be spending his summer with Microsoft), but many others are still in the midst of the recruiting process. Death Spiral reports that interviews are in full swing at INSEAD, Al Martine likens interviewing to courtship and relates a great first date with a company at LBS while Buckyhoo has a hot prospect at UNC but wonders about the ever-troublesome question of interests vs. goals.
Turning to academics, Noelle offers a great illustrated Wednesday in the life of an IESE student, while Olivier’s week was probably a less typical example of what things are like in INSEAD (seeing as he’s on exchange at Wharton this semester). Meanwhile, Futureguru discusses an interesting class at LBS, Nate braces himself for a rough patch in his MAP project at Ross, and KV gets ready to shadow a Bay Area exec for an LBS project. Thinking more broadly than specific classes and projects, the Divine Miss N offers her general take on LBS academics as well as some great advice for prospective students. Finally, three veteran bloggers (and BoB ’06 nominees) marveled at how close they are to the end of the road; Future MBA Girl resolves to make the most of her last three weeks at Wharton, while Marquis and Mark (hehe) have a bit more time to go but have begun the countdown – 10 more weeks at Stanford and 34 classes at HBS, respectively – nonetheless.
That’s it for this late-breaking edition of FFF. Have a great weekend!
Posted by Clear Admit on April 7, 2006, at 9:01 am
Posted in: General After several weeks of anticipation and careful consideration, we’re pleased to unveil the nominees for this year’s BoB awards. As we mentioned when we announced the ranking last month, the two-fold objective of this exercise is to recognize the best blogs covering the 2005-06 admissions/academic cycle, and to identify valuable sources of information for the next round of MBA applicants and students.
Drawing from FFF-featured blogs and those listed in the Clear Admit Wiki, we narrowed the count down to 25 applicants and 25 students by looking at originality and relevance of content, as well as total number of posts and overall contribution to the space. Some of these bloggers are newer to the scene than others, some applicants more successful and some students more diligent (which is not to say we don’t love those travel and party pictures), but all have shared something unique about themselves and taught us a thing or two about some part of the MBA experience. And so, without further ado, the nominated bloggers:
Applicant Bloggers
Angel Angie – http://angelangie2008.blogspot.com
Ash – http://bschoolorbust.blogspot.com
Axechick – http://axechick.blogspot.com
Azaka Dessalines – http://mbayisyen.blogspot.com
Benny – http://mba-benny.blogspot.com
Brownoski – http://brownoski.blogspot.com
C’est La Vie – http://idreamofgoingbacktobe.blogspot.com
FoobarMe – http://foobarme.blogspot.com
Forrest Gump – http://run-forrest.blogspot.com
Franky4MBA – http://franky4mba.blogspot.com
GunnerMBA – http://gunnermba.blogspot.com
I_Will_Make_It – http://iwillmakeit-mba.blogspot.com
Kilgore Trout – http://southpawtiger.blogspot.com
LaserlikeFocus – http://laserlikefocus.blogspot.com
Marina – http://electrizze.blogspot.com
Mave – http://maverick-nerd.blogspot.com
MBA Jackass – http://mbajackass.blogspot.com
NoKeating – http://nokeating.blogspot.com
Pupstar78 – http://taketwobskool.blogspot.com
Redwolf056 – http://redwolf056.blogspot.com
Resolute – http://captainvpp.blogspot.com
SgHama – http://sghama.blogspot.com
Sorebrek – http://holymba.blogspot.com
Ty Coon – http://nuke2biz.blogspot.com
Vatsa – http://vatsaview.blogspot.com
Current Student Bloggers
Al Martine (LBS) – http://www.abigpond.com/blogger.html
Auris (INSEAD) – http://auris.wordpress.com
Beau (Darden) – http://darden.blogspot.com
Bharani (ISB) – http://way2top.blogsome.com
Bob Dehghan (Michigan) – http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dehghan
Death Spiral (INSEAD) – http://www.insead06clueless.blogspot.com
FutureMBAGirl (Wharton) – http://futurembagirl.blogspot.com
IESE MBA 2007 (IESE) – http://gandaki.blogspot.com
Jerry Blank (Yale) – http://flatpointmba.blogspot.com
KV (LBS) – http://usatolbs.blogspot.com
Le Voyaguer (Chicago) – http://mbaperegrinations.blogspot.com
Mark (HBS) – http://markandjie.blogspot.com
Marquis (Stanford) – http://marquisweblog.blogspot.com
Mbwana (Stanford) – http://mbwana.blogspot.com
Nate (Michigan) – http://www.wheresnate.com
NoellieBellie (IESE) – http://spanishnoelle.blogspot.com
Olivier (INSEAD) – http://oliviermineau.blogspot.com
PowerYogi (Chicago) – http://poweryogi.blogspot.com
rsr.pt (LBS) – http://mbaeurope.blogspot.com
Shivesh (Duke) – http://fuquadays.blogspot.com
The Dirty Canuck (Chicago) – http://the-dirty-canuck.blogspot.com
The Divine Miss N (LBS) – http://thedivinemissn.blogspot.com
Vijay (ISB) – http://itheabsolute.blogspot.com
Wakechick (Chicago) – http://wakechick.blogspot.com
Will Hsu (HBS) – http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=wphsu99
The next step is for the nominated bloggers to cast their votes on the overall ranking and a few more focused categories. Ballots will be available early next week, and will be due on Friday, April 21st. While we’ll be emailing ballots those nominees who list their contact information on their blogs, those who don’t are encouraged to get in touch by sending a note to bestofblogging@clearadmit.com.
Check back a bit later today for Fridays from the Frontline, your regularly scheduled look at this week in MBA blogging.
Posted by Clear Admit on April 6, 2006, at 8:47 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips While we devoted some time earlier this week to advice on addressing a weakness in one’s academic record, today we wanted to explore the other side of the issue: the strengths that lie in your undergraduate record.
Beyond issues of aptitude or previous achievement, there are a number of other things that your academic profile might say about you. For instance, if you have a range of quant-focused classes in your record, this might create the impression that you are well prepared for the sort of coursework you would undertake in business school. Meanwhile, if you have pursued extensive coursework in an area beyond the more traditional disciplines of economics, business administration or engineering, this could indicate some unique interest or perspective that you would bring to the classroom. Further, if you held a part time job or were involved in a number of extracurricular activities, high grades might be taken as a sign of a solid work ethic and strong organizational or time management skills. Finally, because many college students don’t take their studies seriously for some or all of their time at college, consistently strong grades could be taken as a sign of maturity and responsibility at an early age.
As you can see, there are a number of things that the adcom could conclude about an applicant’s general qualities and characteristics simply by looking at his or her transcript. This should encourage you to think about the more abstract ways that your academic record reflects your positive qualities and consider ways that you could convey this information in your application.
Stay tuned for a busy blogging day tomorrow as we publish the MBA applicant and student nominees for the BoBs (Best of Blogging Awards) and publish our usual Fridays From the Frontline column!
Posted by Clear Admit on April 5, 2006, at 9:14 am
Posted in: Wiki Wednesdays With round two decisions out from the top programs, things are winding down for the season in the MBA admissions world. For those still in the midst of the process, though, we have a few new items to highlight in our Yale, Harvard and Stern Interview pages. One report from an HBS applicant confirms the trademark poker faces and tough follow up questions of adcom members:
“Here are some questions [the interviewer] asked:
1. What is your role at work?
2. What project are you working on?
3. Short term and long term career goals?
4. How can an MBA help you to achieve your goals?
5. What would you do if MBA was not an option for you?
6. Tell me a time when you helped someone to succeed?
7. What movies and books do you like?
These are fairly basic questions as you may know. However, she didn’t stop at my first responses. She drilled down to get more details from me. She was really good at follow up questions and in fact follow up questions were even harder than the initial ones. In addition, she didn’t give away too many hints nor feedback at all. It was quite hard to read her.”
While NYU Stern is similar to HBS in that they conduct interviews after having read an applicant’s entire file, it’s generally a more friendly experience. Here are some interesting questions from a recent addition to the wiki:
“She only had my resume in front of her and told me she had read my application. Right away she asked a question about my 3rd essay (the personal one) which was expected b/c I had ended that essay specifically with a question that would be asked if I ever met with Stern. Other q’s:
How did you end up here today?
What are you most excited about coming back to school?
What will your co-workers miss about you when you leave?”
That’s all for now. As mentioned above, it’s been a somewhat slow week for the Clear Admit Wiki as things draw to a close for the 2005-06 admissions cycle. We’d still love to hear from applicants who have completed interviews or are making the choice between schools, so please email us if you’d like to get a username and password and post your experiences. We’d also love to hear from those of you who have used the wiki as a resource and now have stories of your own to add to the mix!
We’ll likely be making Wiki Wednesdays a less frequent feature until things pick up again next fall, but will definitely be highlighting new and noteworthy content from time to time – so stay tuned!
Posted by Clear Admit on April 4, 2006, at 8:56 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips To follow up on last week’s advice about GMAT preparation and timing, we wanted to offer some general comments about the role of academics in the admissions process. Although many applicants set out to obtain admission to business school with thoughts of the credentials they will hold and the network to which they will gain access upon graduation, it’s important to keep in mind the learning experience in which you will partake in the process of earning an MBA. Because a business school is, after all, an academic institution, it makes sense to begin your consideration of your profile by thinking about your academic aptitude and track record to date. Your performance in your educational endeavors up to this point will, naturally, be treated as a predictor of your success in business school.
While this is all well and good for applicants whose undergraduate GPAs and GMAT scores are close to the average of students at their target schools (about 3.5 and 705 for the top programs), things become a bit trickier for candidates who fall below the pack in both or either of these categories. Retaking the GMAT is always an option, but this becomes counterproductive after the first two or three attempts; and obviously there’s nothing to be done to alter one’s college marks after the fact. If the other aspects of your candidacy are strong and you’re only lacking in one of these two academic areas, an often effective strategy is to use an optional essay to acknowledge that one of these numbers is below the school’s average and assure the adcom that the other is the more accurate indication of your academic ability.
Meanwhile, applicants who fall short in both of these measures – as well as anyone who simply wants to strengthen his or her academic profile – should look into putting together an alternative transcript: a track record of As in quantitative coursework (i.e. basic classes in accounting, statistics, calculus and economics). These classes can be taken at any community college or even through an accredited online program. This is a particularly sound strategy for candidates who focused on the social sciences or humanities in college and do not have a record of demonstrated success in quant-heavy disciplines. Applicants can then point to this as a more recent and therefore more accurate reflection of their present abilities in a classroom setting. While one or two classes can suffice, keep in mind that the more classes one takes, the more convincing this argument becomes.
Of course, these are general guidelines about the ways that one might address a shortcoming in a single element of the admissions process. For a more detailed evaluation of your entire candidacy and more comprehensive advice about your applications, send your resume to info@clearadmit.com for a free initial consultation.
Posted by Clear Admit on April 3, 2006, at 5:30 pm
Posted in: General As many of our readers have seen, US News published their MBA rankings for 2007 over the weekend. There weren’t any major surprises, but that’s somewhat par for the course with this ranking, due to the its reliance on statistics like GMAT averages, GPAs, starting salaries and peer assessments. These stats tend to be less fickle than student and recruiter opinion (the dominant metrics in several other prominent rankings).
Despite the relatively unchanged rankings, there are some interesting bits of information. For example, it’s good to see that starting salaries and recruiting metrics are creeping up again.
Without further ado, here are the top tier for 2007:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Wharton
4. MIT and Kellogg (tie)
6. Chicago
7. Berkeley and Columbia (tie)
9. Dartmouth
10. UCLA
11. Duke and Michigan
13. NYU and UVA
15. Yale
16. Cornell and CMU
Out of curiosity, the Clear Admit team spent a few minutes looking at this batch of top 17 schools and how they’ve faired over the last three years in the US News rankings. Our quick calcuations showed a cumulative ranking that looks something like this:
Harvard (1)
Stanford (2)
Wharton (2.67)
MIT (4)
Kellogg (4.33)
Chicago (6.67)
Berkeley (7)
Columbia (7.33)
Dartmouth (8)
Michigan (10.33)
UCLA (11)
Duke (11)
UVA (13)
NYU (13.33)
Yale (14.67)
Cornell (15)
CMU (16.67)
Despite a bit of jockeying for position in the 10-14 range, things are clearly quite stable. It’s also interesting to see the sort of tiering that manifests itself when averaging three years of US News rankings. For example: Havard/Stanford/Wharton, followed by MIT/Kellogg, followed by Chicago/Berkeley/Columbia/Tuck, followed by Michigan/UCLA/Duke, etc.
As usual, we’d like to encourage our readers to be sure to use these rankings alongside other publications and resources. In addition to the popular rankings offered by Business Week, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, etc, check out this ranking of top ‘feeder’ schools that we’ve found quite interesting.
Posted by Clear Admit on April 1, 2006, at 1:39 am
Posted in: General Harvard to Further Alter Grading Policy
Boston, MA (AP) – In early December, Harvard Business School eliminated their grade nondisclosure policy and imposed a more standard grading system despite heated debate from the current student body. Our sources have learned that this was simply a first step towards the full implementation of what’s been dubbed the ‘Hawthorne Grade Disclosure’ policy (HGD). Acting HBS Dean Jay Light issued a brief statement this week to elaborate: “The principle change under the new system will be grading ceremonies at the end of each course, during which students will be asked to wear a scarlet letter signifying the grade received in the course. We view this as the perfect marriage of grade disclosure and New England Puritan tradition.”
Wharton’s New Management Course to Be Taught by Prominent Leaders
Philadelphia, PA (Reuters) – In light of the wave of recent corporate scandals, Wharton has introduced a required new course that takes an innovative approach to ethics in business. Entitled Changing Management, the class will help future managers understand the steps to take in the aftermath of a corporate scandal. Dean Patrick Harker explained the theory behind the offering: “Everyone knows that it’s nearly impossible to graduate from a leading MBA program without an insatiable desire for money and power. The reality is that most top managers will play fast-and-loose with the books at some point, so rather than trying to prevent the inevitable we’re training our students how to navigate the subsequent legal proceedings”. The course, which features lectures on shareholder deception, document shredding, legal team selection and sudden memory loss, will be team-taught by Bernie Ebbers, Martha Stewart and Jeffrey Skilling.
Columbia Business School Introduces New Admissions Policy
New York, NY (AP)- During a Friday press conference at Uris Hall, Columbia Business School unveiled changes to their Early Decision (ED) admissions process. Linda Meehan, the school’s admissions director highlighted the following modifications: “While the MBA applicant community has flocked to our ED admissions round, we’ve historically had problems with admitted ED applicants placing a deposit to hold their spot and then failing to show up for classes at CBS in the fall. With our new ‘secure-ED’ round, we’re confident that this won’t be a problem.” Borrowing the latest technology from America’s federal corrections facilities, Columbia will require all future ED applicants to wear electronic monitoring devices (EMDs). “If candidates mysteriously fail to show up in NYC for classes, we’ll be able to track them down and gently remind them of their commitment to CBS”, Meehan said. EMD tracking hubs have reportedly been installed in Philadelphia, Palo Alto and Boston.
Yale SOM Looks to Grab the Spotlight
New Haven, CT (Knight Ridder) – As the press corps has been reporting on the presence of a former Taliban leader at Yale undergrad, the School of Management (SOM) publicly expressed fears that the university at large is stealing the spotlight and distracting the public from exciting news about the SOM’s new curriculum. In an effort to put the SOM back in the headlines, the admissions team is looking to trump their undergraduate admissions counterparts by admitting an MBA student who catches everyone’s attention. Anne Coyle, the Yale SOM’s Admissions Director elaborated during a phone call from Los Angeles where she’s been interviewing prospective students: “While we’ve been looking at files from Britney and Kevin, I’m hoping that this afternoon’s interview with Paris Hilton results in an offer.”
MIT Sloan Program to Pursue Sabbatical
Cambridge, MA (AP) – Citing the cumulative stress of years of classes and extracurricular activities, the MIT Sloan MBA program has decided to take a year off. A formal statement issued by the program indicated that the school hopes to “travel, catch up on reading, maybe get season’s tickets to the Red Sox, and most of all just relax.” The school also mentioned something about how it would use the time to “find itself.”
Stanford GSB Applicant Still Drafting Essay
Twin Falls, ID (Reuters) – What began as a healthy quest for admission to one of the nation’s leading MBA programs has stripped Idaho’s John Davis of his job, apartment and friends. Mr. Davis has now spent seven years contemplating Stanford’s “What matters most to you, and why?” essay question, drafting 2,635 versions of the response but still not feeling convinced that he’s reached deep enough inside himself. Devon Miles, a psychologist familiar with the case said that “it’s not uncommon for Stanford applicants to fall into a sort of existential stupor while drafting the essay, however Mr. Davis has been unable to shake free.”
Exclusive: How well do you know the admissions staff at your target school?
Most applicants understand the importance of ‘knowing your audience’ when applying to b-school. Despite this fact, many candidates fail to do the appropriate background research on the key decision makers at each school. As a service to our readers, the Clear Admit team has done extensive research into a handful of admissions directors at leading schools. Follow the links below to get the scoop on your favorite MBA personalities:
Rod Garcia, Director, Office of MBA Admissions
MIT Sloan
http://www.mymsnsearch.com/results.aspx?q=ROD++GARCIA&FORM=ijTF6rP6jBk0
Rosemaria Martinelli, Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions
University of Chicago
http://www.mymsnsearch.com/results.aspx?q=Rosemaria+Martinelli&FORM=xTpiVdMBDgv7
Derrick Bolton, MBA Admissions Director
Stanford Graduate School of Business
http://www.mymsnsearch.com/results.aspx?q=Derrick++Bolton&FORM=oSUYEYG8iIc7
Brit Dewey, Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid
Harvard Business School
http://www.mymsnsearch.com/results.aspx?q=Brit++Dewey&FORM=oQF9cp0uSbEi
Thomas Caleel, Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid
The Wharton School
http://www.mymsnsearch.com/results.aspx?q=Thomas++Caleel&FORM=qhIiEA1hSn2a
Happy April Fool’s,
Clear Admit
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