Admissions Director Q&A Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Application Deadlines Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to the leading MBA programs.
Essay Topic Analysis Below are links to our comments on some of the leading programs' essay topics.
MBA Tipline We encourage admissions officers, students and applicants to alert us of interesting news and developments, please send an email to news@clearadmit.com so we can blog it. MBA Programs: North America If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
MBA Programs: The Rest of the World As there is some variety in the length of international MBA programs, we have denoted the length of the program next to its name (1 = one year; 2 = 2 years). If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
|
Posted by Clear Admit on June 30, 2006, at 11:40 am
Welcome to this week’s edition of FFF! As usual, there is a lot going on in the world of MBA blogging. In fact, one of the most interesting things about tracking the MBA blogosphere at this time of year is that bloggers are in so many different stages of the b-school life cycle. There are new applicants who have just started the process of MBA application, reapplicants who are mapping out new strategies, admitted students who are leaving jobs and preparing for b-school orientation, first-year MBAs juggling internships and second-year MBAs reflecting on career moves and graduation. With that said, let’s take a look at the key news from these various corners of the blogosphere.
Kicking things off with the new applicants, . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 29, 2006, at 3:18 pm
As our longtime readers may recall, we posted a blog entry a little over a year ago on the controversial Harvard Business Review article by USC professors Warren Bennis and James O’Toole. The HBR article, entitled ‘How Business Schools Lost Their Way‘ caused quite a stir, resulting in subsequent commentary from a couple of prominent publications:
Business Week: A Rank Offense to B-Schools?
Boston Globe: Reality B-School
While most of the response was immediate, Bennis and O’Toole’s article continues to provoke discussion in the MBA community. The most recent example of this comes in the form of an Op-Ed piece in today’s Financial Times, where Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School offers his defense of the degree ( . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 29, 2006, at 10:47 am
When applying to the top schools, it is important to avoid “red flags” in your application. For the uninitiated, red flags are negative items that stand out in your file and may result in rejection from business school. While most applicants understand the basic red flags, like a 2.4 GPA or a recommendation letter that raises serious concerns about the candidate’s maturity, there are many less obvious triggers.
Some time ago, an Admissions Director Symposium organized by the Graduate Management Admissions Council produced an interesting publication on the subject of admissions policy and red flags. Here is an excerpt from their report:
Identifying ‘Red Flags’ in the Application Process
The Directors Symposium participants found that many of the markers of less successful students can . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 28, 2006, at 6:21 pm
Special Offer: Clear Admit Summer Discount
We are currently offering a special discount to all MBA applicants who sign up with Clear Admit for the coming admissions season. Clients who sign up before July 1st, 2006 may purchase as many consulting hours as they like at a reduced rate. These hours can be used throughout the 2006-2007 MBA admissions cycle (until June 1st, 2007).
To learn more about this offer see this page or email your resume/cv to info@clearadmit.com and set up an initial consultation with one of our . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 28, 2006, at 1:28 pm
As promised last week when we posted the deadlines and topics, here are some thoughts on how applicants might approach each of Harvard Business School’s essay questions for the coming admissions season:
1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400 words) This question seems focused purely on the applicant’s educational experience while in college as opposed to part time work or extracurricular involvements (although if you excelled in the class room in spite of having numerous other commitments, this could be worth mentioning). This is your chance to go into some detail about why you chose your school and major and tell the admissions committee about your academic interests and educational milestones. . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 27, 2006, at 7:06 pm
Clear Admit‘s Graham Richmond has just been featured in an article on admissions consulting that was penned by BusinessWeek‘s Kerry Miller. The piece offers a comprehensive look at the industry, highlighting the presence of admissions consultants at the recent GMAC forum in San Francisco and suggesting that relations between admissions officers and consultants are taking a turn for the positive. Here are a few key takeaways from the piece:
1) Admissions officers from Tuck, U. Chicago and Darden go on record to say that reputable consultants do valuable work to help applicants target the right schools and put their best foot forward in the admissions process.
2) The lines of communication between admissions officers at the leading programs and admissions consultants at firms . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 27, 2006, at 9:33 am
When discussing international MBA programs, our focus has tended to be on European programs, but today we wanted to focus on our neighbors to the north. For applicants in the early stages of school selection and thinking about what they want from an MBA, here are four strong Canadian programs that might be worth investigating:
Queen’s University
Full-time program duration: one year (12 months)
Options: Queen’s offers a full-time MBA for Science and Technology, a part-time program for students with an undergraduate degree in business, and several executive options – one of which allows students to earn MBAs from both Queen’s and Cornell’s Johnson School of Management over the course of 17 months.
Business school site: http://business.queensu.ca/
University of Western Ontario / Ivey School of . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 26, 2006, at 4:47 pm
BusinessWeek is reporting that the Stanford GSB will now allow some MBA applicants to submit GRE scores in lieu of GMAT results. While there is no mention of this policy change on the Stanford website (which still indicates that the GMAT is required for admission), the article cites an effort on Stanford’s part to lower some of the financial barriers to the admissions process by accepting the less costly GRE exam. The test, which runs anywhere from $130-$175 (depending on location) is cheaper than the GMAT ($250 worldwide). The article claims that Stanford is hoping to address issues of inequity in the applicant pool by making the process more affordable. The cost of application to Stanford is $235.
Also, as . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 26, 2006, at 8:50 am
Last February, GMAC issued a report touting a 3.6% rise in GMAT volume for the 2005 calendar year (as compared to 2004), corroborating many schools’ reports that they were having banner years in terms of number of applications and suggesting that demand for the MBA was back on the rise. However, the data they’ve recently released comparing the number of tests taken during the first five months of this year to the numbers from the past three suggest that testing volume in 2006 might not keep pace with – let alone outstrip – the figures from last year. At the end of last month, 80, 492 tests had been taken worldwide, down from 85,379 that time last year. Whereas . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 24, 2006, at 3:42 pm
Harvard Business School has just announced their deadlines and essay topics for the coming admissions cycle. This is great news for applicants looking to get started on their quest for admission to HBS. Without further ado, here are the deadlines and questions:
Deadlines
Round 1: October 11, 2006 (decision: Jan. 17th, 2007)
Round 2: January 3, 2007 (decision: Mar. 28, 2007)
Round 3: March 7, 2007 (decision: May 9, 2007)
Note: all applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. EST
Essay Questions for the Class entering 2007
1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400-word limit)
2. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
3. Discuss a defining experience in your . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 23, 2006, at 8:52 am
Another Friday has arrived, and with it another edition of FFF! After a flurry of activity last week, it’s been a quiet seven days in the MBA blogosphere. This is probably due in part to the fact that the remaining students on the scene – a number that’s dwindling now that Marquis has graduated from Stanford, Jeremy is finished with Chicago and Le MBA is done at HEC – are busy with academics and settling summer plans. It sounds as though Auris is extremely busy finishing up with INSEAD P3 (though he found some time to post Summer Ball pictures), and classmate L’Optimiste attests that things have been hectic outside of the classroom . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 22, 2006, at 8:46 am
As we indicated earlier this month, two members of the Clear Admit team addressed admissions officers from some of the leading business schools in the country at last weekend’s annual GMAC conference, and we wanted to take some time today to report back on the presentations and ensuing discussions. Graham Richmond presented as part of a panel on the admissions consulting industry and the ways that schools might better understand the field and foster mutually beneficial relationships with reputable firms in the space. The two sessions, held this past Friday and Saturday, were attended by representatives from Chicago, Columbia, MIT, Stanford, Wharton, Harvard, Berkeley, Kellogg, INSEAD, UCLA, Cornell, Darden, NYU and several other programs. For those curious in the . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 21, 2006, at 9:21 am
For applicants who are interested in entrepeneurship and spending the summer months researching MBA programs that might meet their needs, we thought we would mention a new program that Rod Garcia of MIT Sloan recently brought to our attention. The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, about to be launched this year, is available not only to future applicants, but also to accepted students starting this fall, who have until mid-July to apply for consideration.
Designed for those planning to launch companies focused on emerging technologies, the program seems unique in that it also aims to set students up for collaboration with classmates, alumni and future students of the program. For interested applicants, detailed information about the curriculum is available . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 20, 2006, at 9:11 am
While only a handful of schools have released their essay questions for the coming year, it’s still possible for those applicants who are done with the GMAT and ready to proceed with the next step to get a jump on another element of their applications. Though the questions that each school asks tend to vary year to year, the two things that every prospective student can count on being asked are “What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals?” and “How will Business School X help you achieve these goals?”
This ‘career goals’ essay question can serve as an excellent starting point for those of you who are getting a head start on your Fall 2006 application essays. Not only will you . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 19, 2006, at 11:30 am
The Clear Admit Admissions Blog turned three years old this past Saturday! In celebration of this milestone, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the highlights from the past few years.
Breaking News
One of the biggest news items in the MBA admissions space was the Apply Yourself fiasco of 2005, and Clear Admit was there with running commentary. This incident, in which 119 HBS applicants modified the URL in the browser window while logged in to their online applications and were able to see their admissions decisions early, raised a number of issues about ethics and the application process. To learn more and form your own opinion on the actions of the individuals in question and HBS’ response, check . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 16, 2006, at 12:45 pm
Welcome to another edition of FFF, our weekly recap of the latest goings on in the MBA blogosphere. Though last week was relatively quiet, we’ve seen a resurgence of activity on all fronts as current students ease into internships or new jobs, admitted students plan their transition to school, and the next crop of applicants get started on their way. Let’s begin by taking a look at what the aspiring Class of 2009 bloggers are up to:
For those just beginning the application process, the GMAT is, somewhat predictably, at the fore of discussion. We were glad to hear that Army Commo Guy earned a very solid score when he took the exam last week and that Kent Torokvei is . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 15, 2006, at 9:15 am
With several of the top schools having already released their essay questions for this admissions season, we’re sure that quite a number of early birds are eager to get a jump on the process in order to complete as many applications as possible by round one. At this time of year when applicants find themselves brainstorming for essay topics, we wanted to offer up a few tips on presenting yourself and your experiences as advantageously as possible.
1) Take time to reflect. Before diving in and beginning work on a draft of any one essay, it’s often fruitful for an applicant to think carefully about all of the stories and accomplishments that he or she has at his or her disposal. This . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 14, 2006, at 8:52 am
UNC Kenan-Flagler has released its deadlines for the coming admissions season, with essay questions and full application due out in the coming months:
Early Action/Round 1
Application Submitted: October 27, 2006
Decision Mailed: December 11, 2006
Round 2
Application Submitted: December 1, 2006
Decision Mailed: February 5, 2007
Round 3
Application Submitted: January 5, 2007
Decision Mailed: March 12, 2007
Round 4
Application Submitted: March 2, 2007
Decision Mailed: April 27, 2007
The school’s dates line up very closely with last year’s timeline, with each of the deadline dates being just one day before those from the previous season. As you’ll note, UNC is the second school whose deadlines we’ve posted this week that has an “early action” round. While this term generally means that applicants will receive their admissions decision relatively shortly after . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 13, 2006, at 11:58 am
Time came out with an interesting article yesterday covering the controversial case of Blake Gottesman, the aide to President Bush who was admitted to Harvard Business School even though he does not hold a college degree. The press has tended to focus on the 26 year-old’s less glamorous responsibilities such as hand sanitizer toting, and it’s good to see that this latest article provides a more balanced view of his skills and role in the White House. It also reveals another very interesting detail: Gottesman was admitted to the Stanford GSB as well.
The text of the article is available . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 13, 2006, at 9:09 am
Though most schools won’t be releasing their essay questions until later this summer, we wanted to begin posting our essay analyses for those schools that have in order to assist diligent applicants who are already working on this element of the application. Today we’ll be taking a look at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business application.
This program’s format doubles as an opportunity and a challenge, as the various short answer inquiries allow applicants to discuss a variety of topics, but all within a tight word limit. Because the career goals essay – the real centerpiece of your application – comes last here (as opposed to first as with many schools), it will be important to provide a good deal of context about . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 12, 2006, at 3:57 pm
Though we reported the program’s early action deadline a few weeks ago in a posting about upcoming fall deadlines, we want to report that Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business has just officially released its complete list of admissions deadlines for the coming application season:
Early Action Round
Application Materials Submitted: October 12, 2006
Applicant-Initiated Interview Complete: October 12, 2006
Admissions Decision Released: December 15, 2006
November Round
Application Materials Submitted: November 30 , 2006
Applicant-Initiated Interview Complete: November 30, 2006
Admissions Decision Released: February 2, 2007
January Round
Application Materials Submitted: January 11, 2007
Applicant-Initiated Interview Complete: January 11, 2007
Admissions Decision Released: March 23, 2007
April Round
Application Materials Submitted: April 5, 2007
Applicant-Initiated Interview Complete: April 5, 2007
Admissions Decision Released: May 14, 2007
Stay tuned to this blog for in-depth essay tips once . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on June 12, 2006, at 8:29 am
We wanted to take a moment today to announce an exciting addition to the Clear Admit team and extend a warm welcome to Deena Maerowitz!
Deena was formerly an Associate Director of Admissions at Columbia University. In addition to reviewing applications, conducting interviews and participating in admissions decisions, she played an important role in fostering alumni relations and facilitating applicant outreach. She started the “Ask Columbia Business School Admissions” thread on the BW forum, through which hundreds of MBA applicants have obtained answers to their questions about the school’s offerings and application process. Deena also oversaw the website of Hermes, the admissions office’s student arm. Both of these channels for outreach to applicants provide information to individuals interested in the program . . . → Continue Reading
|
Clear Admit’s Most Recent Posts
MBA Admissions Wiki In the Clear Admit Wiki, you can share your experiences through the application process and learn from those of others. Below are the five most popular pages in the wiki:
BW Business SchoolsThe BusinessWeek Discussion Boards are another way to learn about the issues applicants face. Clear Admit hosts the Ask Clear Admit thread, which should help answer your questions. Here are the five most recent discussions taking place in the forum:
Beat the GMATClear Admit is a featured expert in the BeatTheGMAT forums, answering questions from applicants across the globe. Feel free to ask us your questions in this forum! Here are the most recent posts:
GMAT ClubGMAT Club
Below are the five most recent posts to the GMAT Club message boards.
Wharton Student2StudentStudent2Student
The student-2-student Discussion Boards are managed by Wharton. Here are the five most recent discussions.
Studylink ForumsClear Admit manages the Applying section of the StudyLink MBA discussion boards.
School-Hosted BlogsStraight from the source: aggregated posts from students and administration. Below are the seven most recent posts in school-hosted blogs.
Individuals’ BlogsA selection of the latest updates to MBA blogs compiled by Hella.
MBA Applicants
MBA Students
|
