Posted by Clear Admit on May 12, 2006, at 9:05 am
Posted in:  Fridays from the Frontline Welcome to this week’s edition of FFF, bringing you news of the latest happenings in the MBA blogosphere. It’s been a relatively quiet week, as class of 2009 applicants are just getting warmed up. Reapplicant Chillpill is eager to be through with the GMAT (though he thinks it’s the easiest part of the process), while median2k9 has thought better of retaking and is instead focusing on designing a systematic school selection process. Thinking about the coming year in a context broader than the admissions process, LaserLikeFocus is waiting on Tuck and Kellogg while taking steps to advance his career just in case things don’t work out with the waitlist, and brownoski considers the pros and cons of working for another year when offered the opportunity to defer his Yale entry due to over-enrollment.
While this is an interesting and unexpected option, most recent admits are moving forward without hesitation. Some are spending time on campus – Alex reports back on Days at Haas and Angel Angie in on her way to London’s admit weekend – but most are tying up loose ends. Ty Coon has given notice and plans to get his move to Emory underway and Columbia-bound Axechick is finally getting her mind around her upcoming move to New York, Nagendra’s deposit is in at Oxford, Wheels is elated to have received sufficient funds to attend LBS and I_Will_Make_It has even composed a Chicago-inspired poem out of enthusiasm for the program. It’s great to see that those applicants who are looking back are generally doing so with an eye to helping future applicants: MBAJ provided some great general tips and information on his personal approach to his successful Kellogg essays, admitted applicant Jacek comments on his strategy with ESADE’s essays and relates a hard-learned lesson from his IESE interview, and Berkeley-bound FooBarMe continues to chronicle his work on a colleague’s INSEAD recommendation.
Though Noelle is in the thick of midterms at IESE, Al Martine is busy with third term and extracurriculars at LBS and Death Spiral is just beginning P5 at INSEAD, things are winding down for most student bloggers. Jeff has one more class until he’s finished his first year at Brandeis, Phantom reflects on a completed project as things wrap up at Rice, MarketWizWannabe celebrates the end of his final Wisconsin exam of the year while classmate Keven reflects on the end of an especially enjoyable class. Similarly, Tom looks back on a favorite class at Sloan and H. Caulfield describes the way his favorite program highlights Anderson’s entrepreneurial focus. Finally, second year student Harry Potter shares his feelings about and plans after graduation from Duke and Hella comments on Wharton’s grading system (we were glad to see that he ended up on the “pass” side of all of his classes) and provides a list of his favorite Philadelphia destinations.
That does it for this week. We hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend (and stops by to vote on Beat the GMAT’s scholarship finalists in the process)!
Posted by Clear Admit on May 11, 2006, at 9:00 am
Posted in: General In the same vein as last week’s post about the business education options available to undergraduates, we wanted to comment today on a new offering available to individuals on the other end of the career spectrum. Yesterday’s edition of the Wall Street Journal included an interesting article about top schools that are beginning to offer executive education programs to individuals who have taken a break from their careers for personal reasons and are aiming to return to the workforce. These new offerings are presently geared toward professionals who have already obtained a certain level of career success and even an MBA, but who need to come up to speed on the latest industry developments or gain additional training in one specific area in order to make their desired transition.
At this point, most of the participants in these new courses are women who have taken time off from work in order to focus on their families. Based on a Center for Work-Life Policy study cited by the article that found that only 74% of the 93% of highly-qualified women who desire to resume their careers after taking such a break are able to do so, it seems that there is a definite demand for this sort of program. However, there are presently restrictions of eligibility and cost:
“The programs are open to a range of professionals. Dartmouth accepts women and men who have obtained M.B.A.s or have M.B.A.-equivalent experience in a ‘high-potential career.’ While it has received inquiries from men, most participants will likely be women who stopped working for personal reasons, including raising children. Harvard’s pilot, which had 18 participants, was open only to female graduates of Harvard Business School, though there are plans to expand access.
One concern school administrators face is whether women who aren’t working can pay thousands of dollars for a course that will take them away from their families for an extended period of time. In traditional executive-education programs, an employer is usually paying the way.
Executive-education tuition at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School ranges from $7,000 to $10,000 a week, says Monica McGrath, a management professor who is looking into developing such a program at Wharton. ‘Are there enough women that will be able to afford this?’ she asks.”
Though this training is currently available only to a select group of qualified individuals, it’s great to see business schools taking steps to meet this need and foster alumni relations. Given the above mention of Wharton’s developing such a program, it sounds as though a number of other top schools will follow suit in expanding their offerings to reach a wider range of individuals in various circumstances.
The full text of the article is available here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114722288644848460.html
Program Sites:
HBS – A New Path: Setting New Professional Directions
Tuck – Back in Business: Invest in Your Return
Posted by Clear Admit on May 10, 2006, at 9:22 am
Posted in: Which School Wednesdays Welcome to another installment of Which School Wednesdays, your weekly window into the facts and factors behind the deliberations and decisions of applicants and admits. Put more simply, our aim is to highlight insightful and relevant web content in which aspiring or existing members of the business school community share their considerations and thought process as they decide which schools to target or attend, thereby helping prospective students better understand the factors they should consider in making their decisions.
We’ve had a great addition to the School Selection section of the Clear Admit wiki this week from an applicant deciding between Tuck and Chicago. Keeping in mind the important factor of the way a school’s setting can influence the strength of relationships with classmates and former students (one that we highlighted in a recent blog post about campus-specific considerations), this individual has decided that Tuck is tops in the close-knit community category:
Tuck alums seem to be unanimously positive about the alumni network. Finally, Tuck wins hands down for location and fit for me. This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to live in such a rural environment. The “fishbowl” environment ensures that I will have deeper relationships with my classmates compared to at a huge city like Chicago, and building lifelong friendships is something I really want to get out of bschool because 5-10 years down the road, that’s all that’s really left.
While it’s true that relationships with fellow graduates will be immensely important down the road, many applicants’ consider academic preparation for their short-term career goal to be of the utmost importance when initially determining which schools to target. Taking a look at a given program’s curricular offerings is often a great start, and we’d like to highlight one particularly insightful comment from a Chicago vs. Columbia thread on the business week forums. This poster does a nice job of articulating the depth of research that is necessary to really understand one’s options and make informed comparisons among programs:
First, when you are comparing the two schools’ classes, be aware that not all equivalent classes at the two schools will be categorized the same way. Some finance classes at one school may be categorized as economics classes or accounting classes at the other. Figure out what you want to learn and carefully read the course descriptions if you want to make a true comparison. Also, while some GSB classes are theoretical, others are entirely practical. A classic example is Financial Instruments vs. Futures, Forwards, Options, and Swaps. Both classes cover derivatives, but teach them in very different ways. My point is, looking at the names is a good starting point, but additional digging is required if you want to really understand what your choices are.
We hope that this great advice will help to jump start the school-specific research of early bird applicants. As always, those applicants looking for personal advice on where to apply or enroll based on their priorities and goals are welcome to contact us directly or post an inquiry in our Business Week thread or the Studylink forum. Meanwhile, those of you who have made up your mind are encouraged to contribute insights and thoughts to the School Choices section of the Wiki.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 9, 2006, at 10:18 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips As many of our readers know, several of the leading MBA programs offer admissions feedback sessions to applicants who did not make the cut. We’d like to use today’s blog entry to underline the importance of these feedback sessions for those of you who are considering reapplication.
While not all schools offer feedback, a handful of them do (e.g. Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago, etc). Additionally, some programs occasionally offer feedback ‘by invitation’ to top candidates who may have just missed the cut (e.g. Tuck, MIT/Sloan, etc). In all cases, if you are given the opportunity to get feedback you should take advantage of it. There are several reasons for this:
1) Signing up for a feedback session demonstrates that you are motivated to learn more about your application’s weaknesses and are seeking to improve going forward (with the intention of reapplication). Most schools make note of these sessions and keep these notes in your file in the event that you do reapply.
2) A feedback session gives you a chance to learn something about your candidacy – from the source. Feedback sessions can draw your attention to a perceived weakness you were unaware of or confirm your own thoughts with regards to areas for improvement.
3) In addition to demonstrating your passion to improve and your intent to learn more about your candidacy, signing up for a session suggests a dedication to the MBA program in question. Since not all reapplicants bother to get feedback, the fact that you take this aspect of the process seriously can work in your favor.
4) In many cases, a feedback session can be the beginning of a relationship that is forged with a member of the adcom. If the person gives you feedback, you should email them a ‘thank you’ letter and take advantage of the opportunity to develop an advocate for your candidacy on the committee.
Stay tuned to this blog for some tips on proper feedback session etiquette in the near future. In the meantime, be sure to sign up for feedback sessions if your target school offers them. Here are the details on a few:
Wharton Feedback
Instructions: http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/admissions/reapply/
Forums Discussion: http://s2s.wharton.upenn.edu/wh-wharton/messages?msg=14185.1
Note: yesterday was the first day that reapplicants could sign up for feedback and the office had some minor issues with call volume (as discussed in the forums).
Kellogg Feedback
Instructions: Email the admissions committee using the title “Request for Feedback”. You will then be contacted to schedule an appointment.
Forums Discussion: Forum Discussions
Chicago
Instructions: http://www.chicagogsb.edu/fulltime/admissions/decisions.aspx
Forums Discussion: Forum Discussions
Posted by Clear Admit on May 8, 2006, at 2:38 pm
Posted in: Deadlines , School: Stanford As some of you may have read, Stanford has released their admissions deadlines for the upcoming 2006-2007 application cycle. The deadlines are as follows:
Round 1
October 25th, 2006 (decision date: January 18th, 2007)
Round 2
January 10th, 2007 (decision date: April 5th, 2007)
Round 3
March 14th, 2007 (decision date: May 10th, 2007)
The good news about this year’s deadlines is that both the R1 and R2 dates have been pushed back roughly one week. For those of you applying, this means an extra week of time to work on Stanford’s challenging application. It also likely means that Stanford’s R1 deadline will be further distanced from Harvard’s and Wharton’s R1 deadlines (historically in the second week of October). As for R2, the one-week delay also means less of a conflict for applicants who are juggling family obligations around the holidays (last year’s deadline was January 4th).
Stay tuned to this blog for a full analysis of Stanford’s essay topics once they are announced in August. See our tips on last year’s essay questions to get a headstart. In the meantime, we encourage Stanford applicants to conduct research into the program and to begin thinking about potential content for essays.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 5, 2006, at 8:58 am
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline Welcome to yet another edition of FFF, your weekly update on the latest happenings in the MBA blogging world. We’ll kick things off this week with a look at the latest developments on the applicant end.
While a handful of applicants still have applications pending (Alex, for instance, just received word of a Columbia interview), the majority are getting things in order in preparation to begin school in the fall. For some, like AynRand2008, this involves giving notice and planning some time to relax before school, while others like HokiDoki are doing some pre-program networking with future classmates. Angel Angie devoted her weekend to completing a scholarship application and Benny interviewed for some additional funding for his time at Tuck. Meanwhile, FM has been doing some thinking about his ideal post-LBS job and fellow admit Wheels engaged in a different sort of preparation for London. While many applicants have finalized their school selections and are wrapping up loose ends like tuition deposits (I_Will_Make_It has her money in at Chicago and Melissa has secured her spot at Wharton) and background checks, a number are still visiting schools and weighing their options. Nixe considered the pros and cons of INSEAD and Brownoski evaluated east coast cities, Julius Seizure shared his impression of UCLA’s admit weekend and Benny recaps his time at the Tuck ASW. Finally, Alex checked in with a report of Days at Haas, Day 0; we can’t wait to see what he has to say once the activities actually start! We were also glad to see that MBA Spanky is excited about Anderson after weeks of deliberation, and appreciate SgHama’s sharing his reasons for choosing Tuck.
On the other side of the process, there was also a fair amount of activity among those who are beginning (or re-beginning) the application process with an eye to 2007 entry. New blogger median2k9 outlined his school selection strategy and GMAT situation, while Kent prepares for the exam (and is feeling good about his progress) while reapplicant B-School Diva experiences a bit of deja vu. It’s also wonderful to see a number of Class of 2008-ers offering their advice and help to the next wave of applicants: MBA Jackass thinks about his failed HBS application and highlights some considerations that will help others in the process, while FooBarMe, in the process of writing a recommendation for a rushed and disorganized colleague, offers a list of rec letter don’ts. BoB winner Forrest Gump, meanwhile, reflects on his secrets to success and shares some, and Stanford admit Ash graciously offers some essay assistance to applicants who intend to document their application process for the benefit of others. Lastly, Patxi shares a link to a helpful LBS admissions chat transcript, as well as his own thoughts on the waitlist.
Some current MBA students are still in the thick of things – The Divine Miss N learned that her group won a simulation project at LBS, Marquis has been busy helping to organize an inter-school Challenge 4 Charity event at Stanford, and Noelle is about to start a new class at IESE – but the prevailing theme of the week seems to be endings. Olivier recounts the details of his last days on exchange at Wharton (and shares some photos from Philly), Jeff takes an inventory of what he learned thus far at Brandeis and JP recaps the past semester at Houston. Others have taken a broader perspective: Dirty Martini reflects more generally on the past year at Columbia, Tom discusses the way time has flown at Sloan and JB comments on the bittersweet end of his first year at Yale SOM. Finally, Mark considers the future of his blog and the end of his HBS academic career.
Congratulations to everyone who’s finishing up with the semester or school selection process, and best of luck with the next step! Have a great weekend!
Posted by Clear Admit on May 4, 2006, at 8:49 am
Posted in: General Because we periodically receive calls and inquiries from high school students and parents who are wondering what the next step should be for a business or MBA-bound senior, we wanted to point out that Business Week has just published its first ever ranking of undergraduate business programs. Predictably, seven of the top ten schools in the listing also boast top-ranked MBA programs, speaking to the strength of the faculty and curricula. In addition to the table containing the results of their evaluation, the ranking is accompanied by a number of articles that give an overview of the findings and implications and touch on a few more specific topics.
Of course, as a recent entry in the Wharton Adcom Blog attests, there is no ideal academic background for MBA applicants. One important thing we’d like to highlight here is that while these excellent undergraduate programs might be a natural choice for high school students who know that they want to pursue a career in business after graduating from college, they are not necessarily be the best option for students if an MBA is part of their long-term plans.
There are a few reasons for this. The first is that because so many applicants to the top MBA programs have pursued majors in business administration or economics, such students often fail to stand out from the competition or present their interests as diverse and well-rounded. All other things being equal, the adcom might be more inclined to accept an applicant who majored in literature but demonstrated quantitative proficiency on the GMAT and a handful of college classes than to admit an individual who focused primarily on core business subjects. The reason is that the former might be more likely to approach problems from a novel angle, and might bring a rarer skill set to a learning team.
A second consideration is that students should not sacrifice the opportunity to explore their intellectual interests just for the sake of learning the nuts and bolts of finance and management. As is highlighted in the Business Week coverage, this is one reason that a number of the undergraduate programs limit the course of study to two intense years rather than spreading it out over four. A few great quotes that we featured in yesterday’s Which School Wednesdays column do a wonderful job of emphasizing the importance of attending a school where one feels that he or she fits and pursuing studies in the discipline that is most interesting and fulfilling. This sort of approach is going to lead to the highest possible level of performance and engagement with the community – two of the factors that matter most to MBA adcoms.
For many of our readers, though, undergraduate academics are said and done. There’s still some work to be done, though; for more information on addressing weaknesses in one’s file, considering what your transcript might say about you and understanding how this element fits into your application as a whole, feel free to contact us.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 3, 2006, at 9:14 am
Posted in: Which School Wednesdays Welcome to this week’s installment of 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.
Following up on yesterday’s post about campus-specific considerations, a recent contribution to the School Choices section of the wiki by blogger MBA Spanky highlights the way that issues of location can help to break a tie between two great schools. In debating between UCLA over Duke, he considers his own preferences and past:
“I’ve been living in Durham for the past 6 years, so it kind of has a been-there-done-that feel. Even though I grew up 2 hours north of LA, I didn’t spend much time down there, nor have I really spent any significant amount of time back in California since I shipped off to Cambridge, MA, for college when I was 18. In addition to the newness factor, LA provides easy access to tons of companies that I think I want to work for. Even though it would be easier to stay in Durham and head to Duke, when have I ever done anything the easy way? Also, this change of scenery provides an even greater opportunity to have a truly “transformational” experience at business school.”
While narrowing the choice down to just one or two key factors undoubtedly makes for an easier decision, the truth is that school selection is a complex issue and that all things beside location are not so equal for most applicants. Meanwhile, one poster in a Business Week thread that was started by an applicant deciding between Stern and Chicago raises an interesting point about the decision process and the importance of keeping factors like brand and network in perspective when considering what really influences what a student will get out of the experience:
“The best advice I have heard about choosing schools is to choose whatever school you will be most involved in. Your level of involvement will determine how well you make use of the opportunities available to you, whether they be classes/trips/experiential learning/alum network/etc…
While one school might offer better opportunities than another in a particular area, if you don’t take advantage of them, its wasted. MBA brand name (I’ll be honest, I never heard of this idea before the BW boards, and I work in firm with MBAs from Harvard through U. of Phoenix), available classes, alum network, level of interaction w/peer group, should all be individual aspects of your decision (like GMAT score is one aspect of your application). Each will weigh more or less depending on your career goals and previous experience.”
It sounds as though blogger Where’s My Dessert has taken just this approach in making her decision between Stern and Sloan, carefully considering the factors that will have an impact on her experience (the people, the curriculum and the job prospects in her target field), eliminating those that would not (money and location, as both schools are urban) and ultimately selecting the one that makes the most sense for her (even if it means going against the grain):
“I know that Sloan is generally considered a “better” school (rankings, reputation, etc.). This factor is what kept me wavering for several days. Am I giving up the opportunity to attend a better school? Perhaps. Will I regret it later? I doubt it. Despite the intense focus by some people on rankings and the like, I realize that I ultimately should choose the business school that is best not for the general public, but the best for ME. And that school would be Stern.”
That content and confident note ends this week’s edition of Which School Wednesdays. As always, those applicants looking for personal advice on where to apply or enroll based on their priorities and goals are welcome to contact us directly or post an inquiry in our Business Week thread or the Studylink forum. Meanwhile, those of you who have made up your mind are encouraged to contribute insights and thoughts to the School Choices section of the Wiki.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 2, 2006, at 8:43 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips Continuing our series of admissions tips geared towards those individuals who are just beginning to think about their MBA applications, we wanted to offer some advice on factors to consider with respect to a school’s facilities and location. Whether speaking with current students or touring the campus for oneself, it’s helpful to approach these information-gathering experiences with as clear a sense of what matters to you as possible. Here are a few broad categories to consider:
1) Facilities – Are state of the art classrooms and impressive new architecture a priority for you? Would you prefer a school that is headquarted in a single building to one spread over a larger campus? What about wireless access and use of technology in teaching? If any of these factors are of significant importance and could tip the balance between schools on your list of target programs, you’ll want to do this sort of research up front. If visiting yourself, we’d recommend that you take pictures (note the contrast between a Wharton lecture hall and an MIT auditorium, photos courtesy of blogger brownoski) or write up your thoughts after the fact while your impression is still fresh in your mind.
2) Surroundings – In addition to the campus itself, you’ll want to allow yourself some time to ask about and explore the larger city, town or rural location. Where do students live, eat and socialize? What is the cost of living? How do they get from place to place (parking or public transit may be an issue)? Are you interested in an active night life, or a wholesome place to raise a family? While considerations of academics and post-graduation career prospects generally take priority, you will be spending two years of your live in business school and these more subtle factors can often tip the balance in favor of a certain program when all other elements are more or less equal.
3) Atmosphere – Along with the campus and its location comes a certain culture or climate. Are students generally competitive or collaborative? Do students tend to socialize before or after class, or do they go their separate ways? How closely knit are learning teams, sections, clusters and cohorts, and what are the relationships among them? How strong are the bonds among classmates, and the ties between past and present students? This questions point to the often elusive issue of “fit.” The pervasive atmosphere that informs interactions among your peers will undoubtedly make a significant impact on your business school experience, so it’s important to get a sense of this by speaking with current students and/or visiting the school.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 1, 2006, at 8:45 am
Posted in: General Following up on our coverage of the appointment of a new HBS dean last week, we thought our readers might be interested in an article from last week’s Economist that discusses the changing role and responsibilities of MBA program deans. Beyond the demands of managing faculty and students, b-school deans are expected to raise funds from alumni, manage the conception and construction of new facilities, and safeguard their programs position in published rankings and evaluations. These factors help to explain why turnover for the position has risen dramatically over the past years, and also shed light on the reason Harvard’s faculty and administration were so eager to install Jay Light in this post on a permanent basis:
“Although Mr Light, a low-key 64-year-old, was originally a temporary appointment who was meant to keep things ticking over, he had performed well on all three of these tests. HBS ended an all-time record $600m fund-raising campaign, retained its place at (or near) the very top of the league tables, and completed a $25m restoration of its revered Baker Library during his short spell at the helm.”
The full text of the article, which also touches upon the increasingly important element of international perspective, is available at:
http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=6861901
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