Posted by Clear Admit on May 31, 2006, at 11:02 am
Posted in:  Admissions Tips At this time of the year, we like to use the blog to feature admissions tips that can assist prospective applicants as they approach the MBA admissions process. Today’s post focuses on an oft overlooked element of the MBA admissions process: researching the programs. While this sounds simple enough, we strongly recommend that applicants dig deeper than the basic marketing materials, rankings and school web sites to learn about the programs they are considering. This involves talking to current students and alumni, reading blogs and wikis, following the press, browsing discussion forums and looking into the history of the schools. Pursuing in-depth research serves two purposes:
1) It helps applicants learn more about the MBA programs on their wish list. In many cases, this level of research can alter an applicant’s preferences or help him or her to see how one program might be a better fit than another.
2) Conducting research at the outset of the admissions process will result in stronger applications and interviews. Informed candidates draft more compelling essays and come across as knowledgeable and enthusiastic in their interviews. Given the admissions emphasis on “why school X”, it’s vital to understand the unique features of each program.
We’ll use a very simple example to demonstrate why it makes sense to spend time learning about the programs. Take the case of which school can lay claim to offering the first business degree. While it may not be important to know who had the first business school, this exercise shows how facts and figures often merit comparison and further research:
Tuck‘s web site refers to their program as the first graduate school of management. Wharton‘s site refers to their program as the first collegiate school of business. Harvard Business School‘s site refers to their program as the first graduate business school to require a college degree for entrance. Chicago‘s GSB site highlights the fact that their doctoral program in business was the first established in the United States.
While all of these statements are accurate, it’s clear that applicants need to dig deeper to understand the nuances. For example, how could Tuck have offered the first graduate degree in business, while HBS claims to be the first program requiring a college degree? The answer, is that Tuck’s business program initially started out as a 3-2 program with Dartmouth college, so rising seniors at Dartmouth would shift over to Tuck for two years, graduating with both degrees. Hence, technically Tuck students did not have a 4-year college degree when entering, which is why HBS can lay claim to being the first graduate business degree that required a completed college education, etc. The list of interesting questions and answers goes on from there – and each question requires research.
This is why it can be important to look beyond the basic information that’s out there in order to develop a full understanding of each program. The spring and summer months are the best . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 30, 2006, at 11:33 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips The Wall Street Journal’s College Journal portal (a free site) has just published an interesting article entitled How to Answer Any Interview Question. Although the article is mostly aimed at job interviews, there are a handful of key takeaways that should be of use to MBA applicants.
In essence, the article boils down to four key interview prep tips:
1) Do your homework. In the case of a job interview this obviously means gathering extensive information on the company and why you would like to work there. Of course, the same holds true for MBA interviews – since most schools are very interested in understanding not only your background but also your interest in their program.
2) Direct your answers. It can be a huge faux pas to avoid answering the questions posed in favor of talking about a subject of your choosing. Having said that, the Journal article offers some interesting tips about how to structure your answers to help move the discussion in the direction you choose.
3) Prepare your examples. Just as you might think carefully about your accomplishments, leadership examples, and other great stories before drafting an MBA application essay, it’s absolutely critical that you prepare several anecdotes prior to interviewing. The article talks about how to choose flexible stories that fit several broad themes. [We'll actually add a bit of our own advice here and stress the importance of practicing your delivery of these anecdotes. This is why Clear Admit spends so much time quizzing our clients with mock interview questions to help them prepare for their MBA interviews.]
4) Don’t avoid questions about failure or weaknesses. It’s never a good idea to avoid questions about failure or weaknesses – since most interviewers can see right through this sort of thing. Even worse is to present a strength/success disguised as a weakness/failure! The key with these questions is to share a legitimate story that highlights the ways in which your failure might have been a valuable learning experience.
Read the Journal’s article for more details – or simply browse the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Wiki for hundreds of MBA interview reports and tips from the leading schools.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 29, 2006, at 4:41 pm
Posted in: Deadlines , Essay Topics , School: Berkeley / Haas As many of you read in our “fall deadline focus” entry last week, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business recently released their deadlines for the coming application cycle. Along with the dates, the program also published their essay questions, which we’ve provided below for your convenience.
We’ll be back in the coming weeks with a formal breakdown of the questions including our tips on how to approach them. In them meantime, please refer to last year’s analysis – since most of the questions are unchanged.
Fall 2007 Essay Questions Listed below are the short answer questions, required essays, and optional essays that you will need to provide when completing the fall 2007 application.
Short Answer: What is your favorite quote, and why is it meaningful to you? (250 word maximum)
Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)
At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. How have you demonstrated these qualities in your professional or personal life? (250 word maximum)
If you have visited Haas, please let us know what about your visit made the most lasting impression on you. If you have not visited Haas, what steps have you taken to familiarize yourself with our MBA program? (250 word maximum)
Required Essays: Give us an example of a time when you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? Why do you want an MBA from Berkeley at this point in your career? (1000 word maximum)
Optional Essays: (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)
(Optional) If you wish to be considered for the Haas Achievement Award (for individuals who have achieved success in spite of significant economic, educational, health-related and/or other obstacles), please use this space to address the obstacles you have overcome. (750 word maximum)
Fall 2007 Deadlines Round 1: November 6th, 2006 (decision by January 29th, 2007) Round 2: December 11th, 2006 (decision by March 19th, 2007) Round 3: January 31st, 2007 (decision by April 20th, 2007) Round 4: March 12th, 2007 (decision by May 14th, 2007)
Posted by Clear Admit on May 26, 2006, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline Welcome to another edition of FFF! While things are certainly quieter at this time of year, we’re excited about the theme of “new beginnings” that is currently spreading across the blogosphere. MBA applicants for the class of 2008 are touching on various admitted students weekends and planning their moves to new destinations for b-school (often preceded by exotic summer travels). At the same time, MBA applicants to the Class of 2009 are just beginning to tackle the admissions process and MBA students/graduates are embarking on full-time positions, summer internships and elective course selection. Without further ado, let’s kick things off and have a look across the MBA blogosphere…
Starting with the applicant bloggers who are now part of the class of 2008, we find BoB winner Angel Angie who offers a fantastic summary of her time at the LBS admits weekend in London (photos included). Angel also goes on to speculate about her summer travel and language study plans before things kick off at LBS (for the record, we’re voting for surfing in Portugal). For more on the LBS admitted students weekend, check in with current students: KV, DivineMissN and rsr.pt. Also grappling with summer planning and a forthcoming move is Ty Coon, who is closing on his house and eventually heading off to Emory. We’re saddened to hear that Ty is considering an exit from the blogosphere, since in our opinion, it would be wonderful to have a current student documenting life in the Goizueta MBA program.
In other related news, iPaxti checks in with a summary of his friends’ impressions from the LBS admits weekend, Azaka offers thanks to those who congratulated him on admission to IESE, Benny describes the steps taken towards matriculation at Tuck, Melissa welcomes R3 admits to Wharton and Nick outlines some poignant thoughts on the MBA degree and how Fuqua fits with his larger plans.
Staying in the applicant sector of the blogosphere, a number of bloggers are offering great advice to those readers who are heading off to b-school or just beginning to get the application process rolling. FooBarMe, checks in with some tips on getting the most out of Haas’ program, while Mgalblue offers the first in a series of posts that describe her reasons for choosing Michigan. Meanwhile, UniQpath ponders the highly important notion of linking one’s career goals to a specific MBA program and FM offers tips on securing financial aid when you are an Iranian with US residency heading to school in Europe. Finally, a handful of applicants reported news with regards to application submissions and results: Brownowski checks in with a status update on his Wharton waitlist situation, MBA Pundit begins plotting a reapplicant strategy after some disappointing waitlist news and Creative-nits is relieved to have submitted his ISB application.
Dipping in the current student end of the blogging pool, there has been a lot of talk . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 25, 2006, at 8:46 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips , Deadlines As the calendar approaches June, many of our clients and blog readers are beginning to focus on building a schedule around the first round MBA admissions deadlines. This sort of planning can be vital when it comes to having a productive summer of GMAT prep, essay drafting, resume crafting and recommender coaching.
While some programs have released their dates (and even their essay topics), the majority have not yet reported this information. In an effort to help those of you who are getting organized and doing some planning, we’ve listed the published deadlines for several leading schools below. We’ve also included placeholder deadlines for schools that have yet to publish (by using last year’s information).
As always, we’ll continue to post deadlines and essay topics for schools in this blog. We’ll also continue to provide our school-by-school essay analysis throughout the summer months.
Without further ado, here’s the list that’s beginning to shape up for the fall:
-Selected Fall (R1) Deadlines For 2007- Columbia: August 16th – October 11th (early decision round, rolling) Harvard: not yet published [October 11th*] Dartmouth – Tuck: October 12th (early action – tentative date) Wharton: not yet published [October 13th*] Chicago GSB: October 18th INSEAD: October 18th Kellogg: not yet published [October 21st*] LBS: not yet published [October 21st*] Stanford: October 25th Duke: not yet published [October 27th*] Michigan: not yet published [November 1st*] MIT Sloan: not yet published [November 2nd*] UCLA: not yet published [November 3rd*] Berkeley – Haas: November 6th * = last year’s deadline
Posted by Clear Admit on May 24, 2006, at 1:35 pm
Posted in: Which School Wednesdays Welcome to this week’s edition of Which School Wednesdays, a column meant 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. As usual, 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.
We’ll start this week’s column off with a look at some great new content in the Clear Admit wiki. A poster by the name of EU MBA has offered his thoughts on ESADE vs. IESE, arguably the two best known options for management study in Spain. In the end, EU MBA sides with ESADE due to the promising direction he sees the school taking as well as the reputation of their language school. Here’s a bit of the specific debate from his post:
Case Method contra Mixture of Everything While I consider the case method of teaching to be valuable, I do not agree that relying as heavily on it as IESE does is the best way of actually conveying information to the students. As a graduate of Tulane University’s Business school, I can say that we worked with cases, as well as on projects, etc… the cases we did, proved very valuable, but at the same time, I feel that over reliance on them leaves a lot to be desired knowledgably. Additionally, there specializations that ESADE has, especially Policy are exactly what I am looking for in a program.
Beyond the poster’s specific consideration of teaching methods, he also does a great job of summarizing his overall decision:
Conclusion All in all it all depends on personal decision, for me it was with was being in something motile, something moving forward, helping to make it better, and also had a lot to do with the language school. Regardless, each school is great, and in spite of rivalry between the two schools, I’ve already managed to make two friends from the “other” school whom I will have drinks with in BCN. In the end, it’s about what you get out of it, and the network you build, and trust me when I tell you that mine will incorporate both the ESADE class of ’07 & ’08, but also the IESE ones.
Looking outside of the Clear Admit wiki, blogger FooBarMe checks in with an informative post about his decision to attend Berkeley/Haas’ EWMBA over CMU/Tepper’s Flexmode offering. In this blog entry, the author clearly illustrates his concerns about the timing/schedule of Flexmode and the lack of face-to-face interaction that it might afford:
Class Schedule My company officially supports my education endeavors _but_ when crunch time approaches, people quickly forget about others personal commitments. With Haas, I have the choice of attending the class over the weekend. At Tepper, the classes are from 3:00-7:00. Given that I have flex schedule, I am positive I could have managed . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 23, 2006, at 9:55 am
Posted in: General There are a number of recent news items worth noting in today’s blog entry. We’ll kick things off with an interesting article that has appeared on the Wall Street Journal’s free College Journal site. The story covers the importance of pre-MBA work experience – not from an admissions perspective – but from the vantage point of MBA recruiters:
Both quantity and quality of experience are crucial. Recruiters are looking for students who have learned to cope with ambiguity, adversity and conflict in the workplace. Some M.B.A.s believe “simply working two or three years entitles them to a leadership position immediately following graduation,” says Jeff Rynbrandt, who does recruiting for Guidant Corp., a marketer of cardiovascular products. “To me, students need to have demonstrated success in their past job with positions of increasing responsibility and be able to articulate how their actions specifically contributed to those successes.”
The article goes on to strongly underline the fact that recruiters prefer MBA hires who have already made a few mistakes on the job (and learned from them). What is perhaps most interesting about this topic is the range of views exhibited by leading MBA admissions offices with regards to work experience. Where employers seem to universally support MBA hires with a fair amount of ‘seasoning’, leading programs like Harvard Business School have been pushing for younger applicants – often waiving off the importance of full-time work experience if an applicant has demonstrated particular leadership strengths. Other programs, such as the Tuck School at Dartmouth continue to emphasize the importance of work experience – stating that students must have substantial experiences that they can bring to the classroom and share with their peers.
Speaking of admissions criteria, the Economist is currently running an interesting piece on a new member of the HBS class of 2008. Blake Gottesman, who will be joining Harvard this fall, is a 26-year-old college dropout who has served as President Bush’s personal aide for the last four years. He has worked in some capacity for the Bush campaign and administration since 1999. His connection to the Bush family comes via his romantic involvement with Jenna Bush, who he dated in high school. A spokesperson from HBS cited “extraordinary circumstances” with regards to the school’s decision to admit a candidate with no college degree.
In other MBA news, the FT reports that INSEAD is launching a global network of entrepreneurship centers around the world. The first center, which opened in Tel-Aviv, Israel last Friday, will research and publish case studies on Israeli entrepreneurs while also serving as a site for conferences and lectures on entrepreneurship. The school is considering China, India and California’s Silicon Valley as other possible sites for centers. INSEAD professor Phil Anderson offered the following thoughts on the program’s approach:
“Traditionally, entrepreneurship has been examined from a narrow local perspective. INSEAD will bring a fresh global perspective to entrepreneurship research and teaching drawing on examples from all over the world.”
Also in the . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 22, 2006, at 9:34 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips Following up on a post from a couple weeks back describing the importance of signing up for a feedback session when planning to reapply to a program that provides this opportunity, we’d like to offer a few thoughts on feedback session etiquette.
While on one hand a feedback session marks the close of this year’s process, it’s crucial that you realize that the impression you make on the adcom member conducting the session will be added to your file and come to bear on your candidacy next year. Taking heed of the following advice could help to make your feedback session as productive as possible – both in terms of gaining information about your weaknesses that you can address now and fostering a positive relationship with the school that will pay off in the future.
Be pleasant. Though the admissions process is a highly emotional one and to have invested time, effort and money in an application without having an acceptance to show for it is undoubtedly very frustrating, receiving the adcom’s comments in an appreciative – not defensive – manner is of the utmost importance. While it might be tempting to argue with the adcom’s criticisms of your file or counter their comments about your weaknesses with steps you’ve taken to address them, this is simply not going to be productive. You should view this as an exercise in listening and an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to the school. No one ever converted a rejection to an admit by merely arguing their case in a feedback session.
Take what you can get. Because time is so limited, we often encourage clients to approach the adcom member conducting their session with pointed questions about specific elements of their application and ideas for improvement. However, you need to remember that there is some information they are simply not at liberty to divulge. If you’ve waived your right to view your recommendations, for instance, they might not be able to speak on this subject, and they might also hesitate to go into detail about your interview as well (for fear that you’ll track down an alumni or student interviewer to complain about their review). When you meet a roadblock like this, the best strategy is to leave it at that, letting the adcom member share what he or she is comfortable saying rather than pressing or probing for more information.
Follow through. If you take down the name and email address of the person conducting your feedback session, it would be a nice touch to send this person a brief thank you note after your meeting. Further, by keeping in touch with this individual and updating him or her of your progress over the months leading up to your application and decision, you can make that person your advocate by demonstrating that you’ve been following their advice (an email or two between April and November is sufficient).
Of course, the schools are not always able to tell an applicant the . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 19, 2006, at 9:08 am
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline Another Friday has arrived, and with it another edition of FFF! Continuing the trend established last week, many Class of 2009 applicants are chronicling their progress – UniQpath relates visits to the Stanford and Haas campuses while MaelstromX remains determined to draft essays in spite of having made little progress recently – while current and future students offer their advice to those just embarking on the application process. Jacek continues to share his application essays (this time those for IESE, Imperial and Georgetown) for the benefit of others and MBA Jackass offers a recap of his Kellogg essay advice, while mbaxploit provides some pointers on school selection, Andrew Pickett highlights some general web resources for applicants, and INSEAD student L’Optimiste shares some admissions insights he gleaned through his own application experience.
Also on the applicant front, accepted students beginning school this fall continue their preparations, with others still waiting on decisions. Accepted student Ash sat in on a Stanford class and shares his impression with the rest of the blogosphere, Benny describes the contents of an admit package from Tuck, and Hallonman recounts an outing with some future INSEAD classmates. Thinking about financing his Austin MBA, Kilgore Trout considers taking on some part-time consulting with his current company. Law student Lindsey, meanwhile, needs to contend with finals before focusing on her upcoming Kelley studies. On the school decision front, we were happy to read that MBAyisyen is in at IESE and Jacek is excited about entering ESADE. Not everyone’s fate is so certain, though: I_Will_Make_It remains on the Stanford waitlist and LaserLikeFocus was dinged by Tuck but is still holding out for Kellogg. Opting for a more definite path, Anand has withdrawn from the Tepper waitlist in favor of reapplication. Best of luck to all those still waiting on decisions or planning to reapply!
Among current students, there’s been an interesting mix of beginnings, middles and endings this week. L’Optimiste and classmate Olivier are both on INSEAD’s Fontainebleau campus for the start of P5, one having come from the Singapore campus and the other from exchange at Wharton. Also speaking of starts, MarketWizWannabe is looking forward to the start of an internship during his summer break from UW-Madison. In intermediate stages, Noelle is in the thick of exams at IESE and fellow student George endeavors to recount some on-campus happenings in Barcelona, while Sourabh is in the middle of term 3 classes and recruiting at Cranfield and Marquis describes his mid-week struggles and Stanford (followed, at least, by a restful weekend). Finally (in several senses), Buckyhoo’s India trip has come to an end and he’s headed back to UNC, JB is done with his first year at Yale and we were thrilled to read that FutureMBAGirl made it through some post-beach week stress to deliver a speech at Wharton graduation!
That . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 18, 2006, at 8:54 am
Posted in: General It’s a busy time at Clear Admit headquarters, as we’re involved in some exciting industry events this month and next. While a handful of schools have gone on the record as being opposed to admissions consultants, many others are friendly or at least receptive to learning about the role that we play in the space, and have invited us to participate in these activities for the sake of mutual information and ultimate benefit.
Acknowledging the potential of admissions consultants to offer valuable advice to applicants and have a positive impact on the process, Tuck invited a number of admissions consultants to visit campus this week, attend a class, and learn more about the way that particular program’s admissions office works. Wrapping up today, the International Educational Consultants Conference has been tremendously informative, leaving our Admissions Counselors better equipped to speak about Tuck’s program and what the school is looking for in prospective students.
On the other side, Clear Admit’s Graham Richmond will be participating in a panel next month (along with Linda at Accepted.com, Maxx Duffy of Maxx and Associates and Ricardo Betti of MBA Empresarial) at this year’s GMAC conference, an annual forum for admissions officers of business schools all over the globe. The session, titled “Admissions Consultants: Love ‘em, Hate ‘em, Use ‘em,” will aim to clarify the objectives, process and role of reputable consultants in the space, clearing up misconceptions and helping business school admissions staff better understand this growing industry. Kellogg’s Beth Flye (Director of Admissions) will moderate this exciting panel.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 17, 2006, at 8:54 am
Posted in: Which School Wednesdays Welcome back to Which School Wednesdays, a column meant 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.
For many admitted students choosing which offer to accept and even applicants deciding which programs to target, a school’s ability to provide preparation and the necessary networking for success in one’s future goals is the primary consideration. In a recent business week post about choosing between Duke and NYU, one banking-bound applicant lists this as the most important factor and possibly the most significant difference between the two programs:
“Stern has got a better reputation for Finance. Duke scores in the overall reputation and is excellent for marketing. Even from the recruiting stand point, you can see that the top 41 recruiters at Duke offered around 180 full-time offers last year out of which only around 40 were in Finance field and 40 in Technology/Consulting. Rest of the offers were mostly in Marketing.
One of the current Indian students at Stern has informed me that this year, all the Indian students were successfully placed including many engineers who have got into I-banking. Banks are on the campus during pre-term itself. So if you want to get into Finance, Stern is the school for you.
On the other hand, one negative aspect with Stern is that despite the school‘s best efforts, Stern is still known as a Finance school and this may be a problem if you plan to get into Consulting at a later point in time… Mckinsey gave out about 3 to 4 offers and other consulting firms such as Deloitte, Booz Allen gave out totally about 10 offers… Marketing, Technology and Media & Entertainment are the other strengths. Duke on the other hand is a well-rounded school and can open doors in any field you wish to get in.”
As this discussion shows, conducting some research on which firms hire at which schools – and to what extent – can be a very important consideration when thinking about the feasibility of securing a certain type of job out of a particular program. Meanwhile, applicants who are confident that they could achieve their career goals by attending any of their options are in a less black and white predicament. One business week poster, responding to a plea for input on a Michigan vs. Duke dilemma, poses some great questions that, given careful consideration, might point an admitted student toward an answer:
-Which school will YOU want to stand up and sell as a student and alum? What are your main selling points going to be (magazine rankings, # of McK hires, environment, alumni network, etc.)?
-Hopefully you’ve met students and alums from each program by now…which group would you rather have . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 16, 2006, at 8:32 pm
Posted in: Deadlines , Essay Topics , School: INSEAD In addition to the third and final deadline for January 2007 intake, on the horizon on July 5th, deadlines are now available for applicants targeting INSEAD’s September 2007 start date.
Round 1 Application Submitted: October 18, 2006 Interview Decision: November 24, 2006 Final Decision: January 19, 2007
Round 2 Application Submitted: December 6, 2006 Interview Decision: January 26, 2007 Final Decision: March 16, 2007
Round 3 Application Submitted: January 31, 2007 Interview Decision: March 9, 2007 Final Decision: May 4, 2007
Round 4 Application Submitted: March 28, 2007 Interview Decision: April 27, 2007 Final Decision: June 8, 2007
This twice a year intake model lends versatility to INSEAD’s one year program. Applicants who are seeking to move forward along their current career path at an accelerated rate can complete an MBA in just 10 months with the September option. Meanwhile, those students who are aiming to change their industry and/or function – and need a summer internship to do so – can take advantage of the summer break afforded by the January intake while still completing their degree in about a year.
It’s interesting to note that the program’s essays for the coming admissions season are identical to those for the past year. Because a school’s essay questions are often a good barometer of the sort of student it is looking for, this would seem to indicate that in spite of the program’s new leadership, INSEAD is still seeking applicants with the same level of self-awareness and international exposure as always. The essays are as follows:
Job Essays 1. Please give a detailed description of your job, including nature of work, major responsibilities; and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, number of clients/products and results achieved. (250 words)
2. Please give us a full description of your career since graduating from university. If you were to remain with your present employer, what would be your next step in terms of position? (250 words)
Personal Essays 1. Give a candid description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary. (400 words approx.)
2. Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date, explaining why you view them as such. (400 words approx.)
3. Describe a situation taken from school, business, civil or military life, where you did not meet your personal objectives, and discuss briefly the effect. (250 words approx.)
4. Discuss your career goals. What skills do you expect to gain from studying at INSEAD and how will they contribute to your professional career. (500 words approx.)
5. Please choose one of the following two essay topics: a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What did it mean to you? (250 words approx.), or b) What would you say to a foreigner moving to your home country? (250 words approx.)
6. Is there anything that you have not mentioned in the above . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on May 15, 2006, at 3:16 pm
Posted in: Deadlines , School: Chicago Chicago’s Graduate School of Business recently released its deadlines for the 2006-2007 admissions season:
Round One Submission Date: October 18, 2006 Notification Date: January 4, 2007
Round Two Submission Date: January 10, 2007 Notification Date: March 28, 2007
Round Three Submission Date: March 14, 2007 Notification Date: May 16, 2007
Stay tuned to this blog for a full analysis of Chicago’s essay topics once they are announced in early June. In the meantime, we encourage applicants to research the program, speak with students and alumni, and think about the elements of their backgrounds they would most like to discuss in their essays.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 15, 2006, at 9:00 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips With last week’s release of Harvard and Stanford’s decisions for round three applicants and notification from Tuck, Chicago, Wharton, Yale and UCLA coming up in the next few days, the 2005-2006 admissions season is coming to a close for the vast majority of MBA aspirants. We’d like to offer our congratulations to all those who have gained admission to one of more of their target schools, and wish good luck to waitlisted applicants whose fate is presently a bit less certain. For all those who submitted their applications in the final round and received an unfavorable decision, we’d like to share a few tips that we hope will make the process of facing rejection as productive as possible:
1) Understand the odds and consider reapplying in the early rounds next year. If you failed to gain admission to a school in its final application round, you should not give up hope or instantly assume that your profile contains some glaring weakness that will forever bar you from acceptance. Because relatively few spots in the incoming class are available by the time of the Round 3 deadlines, it is always most difficult to get into a school at this point in the year. In many cases, an earlier application is all that you need to find success in the process.
2) Get feedback from the admissions committee. As we commented in a post last week, many of the top programs allow unsuccessful applicants to sign up for a feedback session with an admissions officer (sessions typically take place over the summer). This is a unique chance for you to learn how the committee perceived your application. Keep in mind that your audience with the adcom will be brief – try to approach the meeting with pointed questions about your candidacy in order to ensure that the feedback session is as productive and informative as possible.
3) Get feedback from other sources. Although a number of schools do not offer feedback, there are other ways to learn about where you may have fallen short. For starters, you should read over your file with a critical eye and try to identify and understand your weaknesses. Take a step back from the process and be objective about your shortcomings. You might also share your file with colleagues who have been to business school. While this can be enlightening, you should also be careful about the feedback you collect on these fronts, since not all of it will be accurate (or consistent). Finally, you might seek feedback from an MBA admissions consulting firm. Clear Admit offers complete feedback sessions, including detailed written reports that construct an individualized road-map for reapplication.
4) Plan for a productive summer. Although it’s tempting to simply take a break from the admissions process after receiving a rejection letter, it is imperative that reapplicants use the summer months to address the weaknesses in their profiles. In many cases, reapplicants need to pursue outside coursework, retake a standardized test (GMAT/TOEFL), increase . . . → Continue Reading
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