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Clear Admit Interview Guides
Be as prepared as possible for your MBA interviews this season with the Clear Admit Interview Guides! School-specific sample questions and in-depth strategy, campus visit details and places to stay.

Clear Admit School Guides
Seventeen titles available! Understand how the leading programs compare and learn more about the MBA experience in and beyond the classroom through Clear Admit School Guides. As featured in the Economist.

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics for the 2007-2008 admissions season.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas
Chicago GSB
CMU / Tepper *
Columbia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
IESE *
INSEAD
London Business School
MIT / Sloan
Michigan / Ross
Northwestern / Kellogg
NYU / Stern
Oxford / Said *
Penn / Wharton
Stanford GSB
UCLA / Anderson
UNC / Kenan-Flagler
UT Austin / McCombs *
UVA / Darden
Yale SOM
* denotes last year's commentary

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Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
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ARCHIVE FOR OCTOBER 2006

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Trivia Tuesday: Pre-Term Programs

Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday! Each week we highlight aspects of life at business schools around the country to get applicants thinking about the nuances of - and differences between - the leading MBA programs.

This week we’re looking at pre-terms, which are a period of academic or leadership instruction before the official start of first-year classes. Most leading business schools offer some version of pre-term for their entering students, but the activities vary considerably from school to school.

For instance, Tuck’s optional pre-term program lasts 1-2 weeks, during which students may spend a week on a local Habitat for Humanity worksite and/or participate in an extended outdoors leadership program with a group of new classmates. At the University of Chicago, on the other hand, all first-year students attend a mandatory pre-term period in which they begin LEAD, a leadership and team-building course required for graduation. Meanwhile, Wharton offers one of the most extensive pre-term periods of any MBA program, providing 4-5 weeks of business review courses, plus optional non-business courses on topics such as history, foreign languages, public speaking, and art appreciation. With so many pre-term choices, Wharton students actually use the school’s online bidding system to register for their preferred pre-term activities.

Because a school’s pre-term activities often reflect the character and priorities of the institution, learning about an MBA program’s pre-term offerings can provide an interesting perspective on the rest of the school’s program. For more details on pre-term opportunities, visit the individual program websites, speak with current students and admissions officers, or get the in-depth scoop from the Pre-Term section of the Clear Admit School Guides.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Economist Online MBA Fair Today Featuring Clear Admit’s Graham Richmond

Applicants looking to learn a little bit more about MBA programs and the MBA application process should be sure to visit today’s online MBA fair hosted by The Economist. The last of the Autumn 2006 online fair dates, today’s fair features the opportunity to chat live or email with admissions officers, as well as listen to informative lectures and webcasts by business school professors and admissions directors.

At 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, virtual attendees can listen to Clear Admit’s own Graham Richmond speak about applying to business school and preparing a quality application. Afterwards, Graham will be online to take attendees’ questions. Be sure to tune in and to bring your questions!

The event is free and interested applicants can register at http://mba.unisfair.com/index.jsp.

Campus Chronicles: Harvard, Fuqua

With most MBA students immersed in mid-terms or off on fall break, it’s been a relatively quiet week for business school newspapers. Thankfully a few hardy journalists have braved mid-terms, vacations, (and really good parties) to bring us the latest news from their campuses.

This week’s Harbus features a lead story on thinking and speaking well on the spot, with tips courtesy of Professor Dale Deletis, the first speaker of the year in the Public Speaking Club’s “Outstanding Speaker Series.” Professor Deletis shares strategies for improving the quality and frequency of classroom comments - topics on the mind of most MBA students. Meanwhile HBS student Jonathan Kelly takes on another topic of utmost importance to MBA students - the benefits, drawbacks, and pressures of campus recruiting. His column, comparing MBA campuses to aquariums and recruiting to algae, will either get you thinking or make you scratch your head. In student activity news, the Men’s Rugby team broke a three year losing streak against the Rugby alumni, beating the “Old Boys” 34-17 in a friendly, but hard-fought match. Finally, it seems the annual “Onyx Party” hosted by the African-American Student Union (AASU) was a huge success, attracting more than 450 students from across Harvard’s graduate schools and helping to build excitement for the wildly popular “Brown Sugar” party AASU co-hosts each fall.

Fuqua students - and The Fuqua Times - are back from their fall break, but one first year feels that while it may have been a vacation, it certainly wasn’t a break. With 10 days of heavily scheduled time with moms, boyfriends, best friends, and recruiters, she recommends renaming fall break the “Fall Mix and Mingle” so that everyone has realistic expectations from the week (moms, boyfriends, and best friends take note - she loved every minute she spent with you). Meanwhile, second year David Hirsch, not to be outdone by “upstart” first-year columnists, responds to what he sees as recent negative columns with his own NC-X (”extreme negative content”) column, although there seem to be a lot of positives hidden under the sarcasm. On the job search front, almost 120 Fuqua students spent fall break in New York City participating in the school’s Week on Wall Street program. One participant offers his wrap-up of the week’s events using the metaphor of a first date - while not every “date” went well during the week, it certainly sounds like it was a fun and productive way to spend the break!

That’s all from the campuses for this week! Be sure to check back next week for more on post-fall break life at business schools around the country.

Friday, October 27, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

Another week has passed and it’s time to check in on the happenings in the MBA blogosphere.

As more Round 1 deadlines pass, our applicant bloggers have been happily announcing the completion of their applications. SuserMcLoser has submitted two of her three applications, including one to her “unreachable dream school,” Nivedita clicked submit four times in the last two weeks, RusGirl is feeling good about submitting her LBS application, and Anand submitted Tuck but is juggling several other applications. In other applicant news, MBA babe is off to visit Columbia and Harvard after submitting her Kellogg application, while Inblue writes to celebrate finally feeling healthy and being finished with applications (for now). Several applicants pressed submit on their Stanford applications this week, including StressTensor, who had some fun tracking down parental graduation years, and Iday S, who is now dealing with the boredom of being done (what a great problem to have!). A few Round 1 hopefuls checked in to report on their applications’ status at the schools. Uniqpath’s Wharton application is now listed as complete, as is Juggler’s application to Wharton, while GUYMBA wrote with news that his Columbia application is now under review. A few applicants are even starting to hear on interviews from schools with early Round 1 deadlines. TJ just got an interview assignment from Kellogg and ScareCrow has already completed an interview with Cornell! Good luck to all the applicants finishing up Round 1 and waiting to hear back from the schools!

First year students have also been busy this week as mid-terms approach at many schools. The fact that no one is feeling good about the FMV exam at INSEAD makes Hallonman feel very good, since it raises the odds of a good curve. With only 3.5 hours left until the last final of the period at Yale, Brownowski is looking forward to the reward of pizza and beer, while MBA Gladiator finished his first Yale exam and is hoping he’s not the sucker at the table. Down at McCombs Kilgore Trout is working hard to balance a busy exam schedule with several friends’ wedding receptions, while Ash checks in from Stanford to assure us that with mid-terms approaching, “this place is not a country club.” Now that Wharton Q1 finals are finished LL is breaking them down for us before heading out on fall break to party like it’s 2000. Of course there’s more going on than just mid-terms - there’s also the preparation for recruiting! Hoping that consulting firms will find his ability to multitask admirable, UCLADawg is attending case interview workshops, studying for mid-terms, and most importantly, trying to figure out what to wear to Anderson’s Halloween party. With P1 wrapping up at INSEAD, DomoDomo wrote to share the discussion from a memorable last class session, while in Singapore, Zanat0s is letting off steam after three days of exams. Meanwhile, Marina is finding her Columbia mid-terms surprisingly easy and her work as the social rep for her cluster surprisingly time consuming, while Jacek is sounding pretty pleased about his choice of ESADE and about the choices still to come in the job search.

In second year news, j$ is feeling relieved to have a full-time job already, thereby avoiding the “scurrying” of recruiting season at Haas. Jerri Blank, meanwhile, is home in California enjoying Yale’s fall break and feeling decidedly un-guilty about the fact that first-years are still on campus studying for exams. Checking in from Barcelona, NoellieBellie has some great pictures of both first- and second- year IESE students at the school’s recent bar crawl.

That’s all for this week. Good luck to everyone still finishing up applications and exams!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Admissions Tip: Interview Etiquette

With interview invites trickling out to Wharton Round 1 applicants and Columbia Early Decision candidates, we wanted to turn our attention to this important step in the admissions process and share a few very basic pointers on interview etiquette. Though the content of your application materials and comments during the interview are of paramount importance, it’s also crucial to put one’s best foot forward and make a positive initial impression. Here are a few guidelines for interviewing applicants to keep in mind:

1) Dress the part. Unless meeting with an alum who explicitly specifies a more casual dress code, assume that business attire is appropriate. We recommend that applicants dress conservatively, opting for a dark suit (pants or skirt are both fine for women) and a blue or white shirt. Steer clear of flashy brand gear and loud ties, and go easy on makeup and fragrances; you want to be remembered for what you say and who you are, not what you wore.

2) Be pleasant. This likely goes without saying, but we wanted to state for the record that in addition to fostering a friendly discussion with your interviewer, it’s also important to be polite to administrative staff and anyone else you might encounter while on campus or in your alumni interviewer’s office. Flippant comments to the administrative assistant at the front desk often find their way back to the source.

3) Be aware of body language. In addition to your comments about your experiences, interests and reasons for seeking an MBA, your interviewer will also be taking note of the way you present yourself. You’ll also want to avoid taking notes or reading from your resume; it can be fine to have the latter in front of you as a reference, but remember that you should be familiar enough with its content to focus on maintaining eye contact and establishing a rapport.

4) Follow up. Make sure that you get your interviewer’s card and take his or her contact information in order to send a “thank you” email within 24 hours of the interview. This is not only common courtesy, but could also serve as the first step in forging a lasting correspondence while underlining the key aspects of your candidacy.

While these steps should help readers in one element of their interview presentation, we’ll offer some more content and strategy focused advice next week. Meanwhile, applicants who are curious about what to expect might want to check out the Clear Admit Wiki, which features first-hand accounts of interviews at all of the top programs.

Good luck to everyone hoping for an interview invite! For personalized interview coaching and school-specific advice, feel free to contact Clear Admit at info@clearadmit.com.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

MBA News: B-School Buzz

New Harvard Business School Dean Jay Light recently sat down with Harvard’s Working Knowledge for his first interview since becoming Dean. Their wide-ranging conversation covers his thoughts on leading HBS so far, as well as his priorities for the future. Among those priorities are increasing HBS students’ direct exposure to international experiences (supplementing the experiences offered through the current selection of interational case studies and the diversity of the student body) and recruiting, retaining, and nurturing outstanding young faculty members. In addition, Light discusses the planned expansion of other Harvard University programs and facilities to the HBS side of the river. With an interdisciplinary life-sciences center beginning construction across the street from HBS next year, Dean Light envisions HBS becoming not only a leader in business and healthcare education, but also the eventual center of an expanded Harvard University campus. For more on Dean Light’s vision for HBS, read the full article here.

The Aspen Institute recently named six MBA professors as “faculty pioneers” for their work to integrate social and environmental issues into research, academic programs, and business practices. Harvard Business School professor (and founder and former director of Kellogg’s Environmental Research Center) Dr. Max Bazerman won the Lifetime Achievement Award for his research on bettering decision making in organizations and societies. Meanwhile Columbia Business School professor Ray Fisman won the Rising Star Award for his “extraordinary contributions,” including his recent work as the Research Director of Columbia’s Social Enterprise Program.

Business and golf are closely linked in U.S. popular culture, and at least one organization is playing off of that connection by offering golf lessons to aspiring business students. The Associated Press recently reported on the class “Golf: For Business and Life” run by the Professional Golf Association at as many as 69 universities across the nation, which is an introduction to the basic skills - and etiquette - of the game. Several MBA students and Wall Street professionals are quoted discussing the importance of the game as an “avenue for social networking” and say that the 3 to 4 hour rounds of golf are a great way to make sure you stay in the “social loop” with important colleagues.

Finally, the recent Business Week features an interview with Columbia management professor Michael Morris, who is also the leader of the school’s new Program on Social Intelligence, or PSI. Professor Morris explains the concepts behind PSI, which begins during Orientation and runs throughout the first year, featuring regular self-assessments, peer feedback, and mentoring from second-year students, professors, and even professional executive coaches. To find out more about this innovative program and the impact it is having on the first year experience at Columbia, read the full Business Week interview here.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

UT Austin / McCombs Essay Topic Analysis 2006-2007

With the recommended early application submission date for the rolling MBA admission process at UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business coming up on November 1st, we wanted to offer a few comments on that program’s essay topics for this season. Though the school gives applicants 2000 total words to work with, the range of possible subjects is fairly narrow, making this an application that will require some forethought if one is to present a full picture of his or her candidacy.

Essay 1: Discuss your intermediate and long-term career goals, as well as a current vision of your desired employment upon graduation. Your explanation should include, but is not necessarily limited to the following: how you will leverage your professional and personal experiences in pursuit of these goals; why an MBA is necessary to achieve them; and why McCombs is the right MBA program for your career path (1000 words).
This question is very close to the typical career goals/why MBA essay, with one interesting difference: whereas the vast majority of programs ask applicants to share their “short- and long-term career goals,” Austin explicitly asks for a three step plan, requesting that the candidate share his or her target position immediately after graduating as well as an intermediate step from that position toward his or her long-term goal. Another important thing to note is that the remaining short essays in this application don’t really lend themselves to discussion of a professional success, so it might be wise to incorporate some comments about one’s professional progression and most notable successes into this essay’s narrative.

Essay 2: Please choose one of the following (500 words):
A. What non-professional accomplishment are you most proud of and why?
B. What special contributions do you feel you would bring to the McCombs Community? Please include contributions beyond your professional skills and talents.
Whether covering a past achievement or future contribution, both of these questions explicitly request for information about the applicant’s interests and involvements outside of the professional realm. This indicates a strong interest in the way candidates choose to allocate their time outside of work and the ways this might translate to a positive impact on the McCombs community (or has translated to some achievement already), so it would make sense to reflect on those hobbies and involvements that could lend some additional color to your candidacy and help the adcom better understand your priorities outside of the professional sphere.

3. Please choose one of the following (500 words):
A. Discuss a time when you were faced with a professional disappointment. How did you handle the disappointment and what did you learn from the situation?
B. Are there any aspects of your application which you feel require further clarification that are not addressed here?
Though this could possibly be the place to share a story from the workplace or community, the wording of the question in Part B seems to indicate that the inquiry is geared toward discussions of extenuating circumstances or explanation of potential issues in one’s application. This leaves those applicants with no liabilities to address with the topic of professional disappointment. Just as the above question covers past and present extracurricular involvement, it seems that this one focuses on past or current weaknesses. If answering question B, then, applicants will want to present evidence from their background to mitigate any concerns that the adcom might have about their backgrounds, while those addressing the first question will want to highlight their learning and growth (see our discussion of Wharton’s similar question for further strategic advice).

Monday, October 23, 2006

Campus Chronicles: Fuqua, Haas, Columbia

Welcome to another edition of Campus Chronicles, where we check in on the latest news from MBA student papers across the country, providing a glimpse into campus life and the full range of the MBA student experience.

The most recent edition of Duke’s Fuqua Times has an interesting cover article on the kick-off of this year’s Leadership Development Initiative, featuring second year Major Eric Jamison’s interactive lecture based on his experience in Iraq, as well as an examination of Fuqua’s newly introduced concentrations. In social news, it sounds like the International Business Club’s International Festival and “Sights and Sounds” Cultural Show was quite a hit - there’s a fun photo montage in the center of the issue as well as a colorful review of the evening’s festivities. Readers interested in learning more about the first year experience at Fuqua may want to check out the “FY Blog,” a regular series following the life and times of five first year students.

Across the country at UC-Berkeley/Haas, the Haas Week features a funny article on the pranks and events of Spirit Week - including hoax pajama days, fake bake sales, and references to Patrick Dempsey and Orlando Bloom. The paper seems to be keeping it light this week, continuing with a photo spread entitled “From Pirates to Little Girls,” a wrap-up of the intramural sports standings, and a list of the “Top 33 38 Things to do @ Haas.”

This week’s Bottom Line at Columbia spans the globe - and the stars. A 2005 visiting student from New Orleans writes a thank you note to the Columbia community for helping him continue his studies after last year’s hurricanes. The front page also features an interview with the student organizer of the upcoming Chazen Study Trip to Rwanda, who discusses the reasons for choosing Rwanda as a destination and the cultural and academic goals of the trip (which sounds fascinating!). However, students aren’t the only ones being interviewed this week; Professor Hugh Patrick, the Director of the Center of Japanese Economy and Business, sits down with the Bottom Line to talk about the history and direction of the center as it begins its expansion into regional issues, including the relationship between China and Japan. For readers looking for insight into their own lives, be sure to check out the Bottom Line’s reading of the stars - this week’s horoscopes can be found on page 12!

Friday, October 20, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

Welcome to another addition of FFF! Let’s take a look at the new and noteworthy developments in the MBA blogging world:

While several applicants wrote about the usual concerns - AsianGal wrote about her GMAT prep plan, Itobean is loving an accounting class she’s taking to bolster her academic profile, and Suser McLoser remains hard at work on her application essays - the majority were focused on announcing and celebrating completed applications, as well as contemplating next steps.  Flexible Image has submitted to Chicago and to Kellogg (and addresses a school selection question), aDreamMerchant is done with Tuck and Chicago and explains the addition of Stern to the mix, Rohit has submitted 3 applications so far and has at least one more planned after a visit to the World MBA Tour, Median2K9 finished with Columbia, Rungee visited Duke and submitted to Wharton and HBS, and Jatwarrior also submitted to CBS and cut it close with Chicago.  In addition to simply announcing their submission success, many are thinking and writing about what comes next.  Hobbes, done with Darden, has received a Columbia interview (congrats!), Iday updates the blogosphere on his app status and braces himself for things to come, while Scarecrow submitted Kellog part 2 and is getting ready to interview.  Attitudes and the amount of work ahead certainly vary: Wang4MBA finished with Columbia but is already thinking about HBS essays, whereas inblue is stoic post-submission, UniqPath is relieved about avoiding last year’s mistakes with Wharton, and Juggler is getting ready for a much deserved vacation after submitting to Stanford.

Meanwhile, it’s been a very active week on the student front.  The BW B-School rankings created quite a buzz; Chicago student mandar is understandably pleased about the GSB’s #1 placing and j$ comments on Haas’s strong finish, while Kilgore Trout comments more generally on the role of rankings in school selection and Jerry Blank questions the credibility of these individual lists.

Beyond the ranking issue, student bloggers this week have been reflecting nearly the full spectrum of the MBA experience.  Amit has just arrived at Cambridge and Nagendra describes matriculation at Oxford, while Invisible Ink shares the details of his pre-INSEAD farewell party at work.  Further demonstrating the range of feelings and experience, Ashwyn is feeling a bit overwhelmed at IESE while second-year Noelle seems to have it down, and Ash is just beginning to explore the extracurricular experience at Stanford while Mbwana is full of love for the whole GSB experience (even the exhaustion it entails).

FoobarMe, with 10% of his Haas MBA complete, takes an inventory of his progress, like many students are also focused on their academics.  Karlitos relates an exceptionally busy day at LBS, LL professes a perverse eagerness for exams at Wharton, MBA Gladiator is bracing himself for finals at Yale while classmate brownoski takes a moment to enjoy the fall foliage, Rubeo Boy isn’t looking forward to exams at Stern, and FromCali is limping her way through statistics and accounting at Michigan.  Feeling the demands on his time, Le Voyageur is beginning to feel the isolating effects of MBA studies, UCLA Dawg wonders how students find the time to blog considering his schedule at Anderson, Sarah shares her signs on MBA b-school overload, bskewl pledges to watch out for signs of overwork at Wharton, and DomoDomo shares photographic evidence that students need a break at INSEAD.

Some students are finding some time for fun and reflection, though.  It sounds like INSEAD student Zanat0s enjoyed an evening with classmates in Singapore, while IESE student George recounts an eventful few days with Italian students at Columbia and the Divine Miss N relates a Chicago trip to see fellow LSB students studying in the states.  Finally, Vanderbilt students had a lot to say this week; Tony comments on the start of Mod 2 at Owen, Heather shares some lessons about the MBA experience that she learned during Mod 1, and Sharran expresses simple gratitude for the campus courtyard.

That does it for this week.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Admissions Tip: Word Limits

With applicants for the remaining round one deadlines putting the finishing touches on their applications and round two applicants just getting started on the essay-writing process, the question of how strictly applicants need to adhere to word limits is perhaps more popular than ever. MBA Candidates naturally have a good deal of information they want - and need - to convey in their materials, and getting the important ideas down under restrictive word counts is a difficult task. While it might be tempting to run a bit beyond the guidelines to slip in that one extra thought, it’s important to keep the reasons for word limits in mind.

In addition to being a forum for explaining your goals and sharing your story, the essays also serve as a test of the applicant’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely, not to mention follow directions and answer a question. Because business schools and post-MBA employers place a premium on all of these elements, adhering to word counts ultimately works to the candidate’s advantage.

The other consideration is the reader’s time. Because of high application volume and the need to give every applicant fair and thorough consideration, schools are forced to limit the amount of information in each file. If you consistently extend your answers beyond the suggested limits, you are essentially asking the reader to give you more time than they are devoting to the other applicants. In other words, if you were to ignore the word limits and overshoot by 20% throughout, this might imply that you consider yourself to be 20% more interesting than everyone else who applied.

That being said, there is some leeway. For the vast majority of programs, it’s generally acceptable to exceed the word limit by 10%. There are, of course, a few exceptions:

Caveat #1: If a school gives you a range (e.g. 250-750 words), you should stay within that range.
Caveat #2: If a school gives you a page limit (e.g. 2 pages), you should stay within that limit - without excessive margin manipulation.

In terms of the other end of the length issue, it is likely unwise to consistently fall more than 10% below the word limits, as this is valuable room in which to share further information about your candidacy (and might signal a lack of effort).

Best of luck to all those working on their application essays! For further guidance on this and other elements of the process, feel free to send your CV to info@clearadmit.com to set up a free consultation.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

MBA News: Recruiting Update

As the MBA recruiting season gets underway at business schools across the nation, several recent articles offer insight into this year’s emerging trends.

The most recent edition of Business Week features an article on the prevalence of independent job searches among MBA graduates. Crediting a stronger economy for creating more confident job seekers, the article reports that students are increasingly looking beyond on-campus recruiting opportunities to find that perfect post-MBA position. Campus career centers appear to be responding; the article also discusses the ways in which career offices are supporting these independent searches.

In other recruiting news, the New York Times reported this week on the renewed use of “ticking bonuses” in this year’s second-year recruitment process. A number of summer intern employers offer these signing bonuses as a way of urging students to accept full-time positions early in the recruitment season, thereby minimizing the time, expense and uncertainty of companies’ fall recruiting efforts. In most cases, the longer students wait, the more the bonus declines, providing a strong incentive for making an early commitment. The article also reports a perceived shift from a “second-year market to a first-year market,” as more summer interns are offered - and accept - jobs with their summer employers. As one career services officer put it, “it’s a good time to be looking for a job as an MBA.”

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Clear Admit School Guides profiled in The Economist!

This month’s just-released News from the Schools column includes a profile of the Clear Admit School Guides. Realizing that “few applicants have time to compile statistics and information in depth on each of the schools they are considering,” the piece offers a summary of the kinds of information included in the School Guides and points out the benefit of including detailed information in application essays. For more information on the School Guides, read the full Economist profile or visit the Clear Admit School Guides website.

Trivia Tuesday: Chicago’s Campuses

Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, where we bring you school-specific details about the leading MBA programs in order to highlight important differences between the top schools. Our goal is to get applicants thinking about the many factors that shape the business school experience. This week’s entry focuses on the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center.

While Chicago’s flexible core curriculum is well known, less well-known is the flexibility they offer in scheduling individual courses - or in making up missed classes. The Chicago GSB operates the Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago, approximately seven miles from the GSB’s main campus. The home of the evening, weekend, and executive MBA programs, the Gleacher Center shares the same professors and course offerings as the main campus. However, because the Center caters to working professionals, most courses are taught in the evening and on weekends, while weekday courses are the norm at the main campus. The fact that the same courses - by the same professors - are taught multiple times each week on the two campuses gives Chicago GSB students a unique “back-up” option for making up missed classes. Although professors are not required to let full-time MBA students attend the Gleacher Center section of a class if they’ve missed their session on the main campus, most professors do not have a problem with the practice. This has the benefit of allowing Chicago students to balance their academic, recruiting and extracurricular commitments with greater ease, though may also result in less-cohesive course sections, since in any given week there may be students who choose to attend an alternative class meeting.

For more information on the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center and academic scheduling, check out Chicago’s website or the Clear Admit School Guide to the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Campus Chronicles: Wharton, Harvard, Columbia

With the school year well under way, the business school student newspapers are getting started too, bringing news of campus speakers, student clubs and fun events. Here’s a quick overview of the top stories in several MBA student papers this week:

The Wharton Journal brings news of a busy week on campus as the guest speaker schedule starts to heat up. This week, Ian Davis, Managing Director at McKinsey, kicked off the Wharton Leadership Lecture series with a talk on the five biggest issues facing CEOs today. Meanwhile, the Sales & Trading Club and the Media & Entertainment Club both began their speakers series last week. Mike De Asia, Wharton ’99 grad and a Director and Mortgage Trader at Merrill Lynch, shared his experiences from seven years on Wall Street with the Sales & Trading Club while Andrew Heyward, former president of CBS News and winner of 12 Emmy awards, spoke to the Media & Entertainment Club about the impact of technology on journalism.

Heading north to Harvard, the topics in this week’s edition of the Harbus range widely, from smart phones to the alumni achievement awards. In between is news of victories for the HBS men’s rugby team and the Energy Club. The HBS squad solidly defeated opponent Mt. Washington Valley 64-0 in last week’s game, while the Energy Club returned from the National Energy Finance Challenge in Texas with a strong second place finish in a field of 16 teams from top U.S. business schools.

The Bottom Line at Columbia also had several victories to report this week, as the Sailing Club took first place in an MBA regatta in a field of over 20 other business schools from around the world and the Columbia women’s rugby team came home victorious from “Hogfest,” the annual MBA rugby tournament hosted by Wharton. The issue also features great wrap-ups of recent intramural contests, a preview of this year’s Cluster Cup events (it looks like it’s going to be fun!), and an interview with Doug Lattner, CEO of Deloitte Consulting.

Student papers are a great way of getting to know more about student life and campus clubs, so be sure to check them out as you prepare your application essays!

Friday, October 13, 2006

Economist Intelligence Unit Full-Time MBA Ranking 2006

It’s a big day for releasing rankings, as the Economist Intelligence Unit has also come out with its annual ranking of MBA programs this morning.  The ranking methodology for this list considers four factors - new career opportunities, personal development/educational experience, increase in salary and networking potential - as evaluated based on data from the schools and surveys from students and recent alumni. Readers can visit the EIU site for a great interactive MBA ranking chart to see how the schools stack up in a number of different criteria, and the overall top 20 is just below:

1. IESE, University of Navarra
2. Dartmouth / Tuck
3. Stanford GSB
4. Chicago GSB
5. IMD
6. Northwestern / Kellogg
7. Harvard Business School
8. NYU / Stern
9. Michigan / Ross
10. Berkeley / Haas
11. Cambridge / Judge
12. Columbia Business School
13. UVA / Darden
14. Henley Management College
15. UCLA / Anderson
16. Instituto de Empresa
17. UPenn / Wharton
18. MIT / Sloan
19. Cranfield School of Management
20. London Business School

Though U.S. schools still dominate the list due to their sizeable endowments (which translate into more opportunities for students) and expansive networks, Barcelona-based IESE tops the ranking for the second consecutive year.  The Economist rankings have historically shaken up the generally held notions about how schools stack up (evidenced by Stern’s #8 status as compared to Wharton’s finish at #17), highlighting the importance of careful research and consideration of what one is looking for from an MBA program.

Business Week Full-Time MBA Ranking 2006

Business Week has just published its much anticipated 2006 ranking of full-time MBA programs. The list, compiled biannually, is intended to help applicants identify viable target schools and is assembled based on surveys of students at the programs and the recruiters hiring their graduates. Extensive information about the ranking methodology and commentary on the list-topping schools are available on the BW site; but for now, let’s take a look at the results:

1. Chicago GSB
2. UPenn / Wharton
3. Northwestern / Kellogg
4. Harvard
5. Michigan / Ross
6. Stanford
7. MIT / Sloan
8. Berkeley / Haas
9. Duke / Fuqua
10. Columbia
11. Dartmouth / Tuck
12. UCLA / Anderson
13. Cornell / Johnson
14. NYU / Stern
15. UVA / Darden
16. CMU / Tepper
17. UNC / Kenan-Flagler
18. Indiana / Kelley
19. Yale SOM
20. UT Austin / McCombs

Chicago has topped the BW list for the first time in the school’s history - a development that spells great things for the program - based on students’ satisfaction with the facilities and flexible curriculum. Dethroned from the top spot, Kellogg comes in at #3 this year and Wharton, having fallen to #3 in the 2004 rankings after enjoying several consecutive years in the top slot, is back up to #2; this seems to suggest that both schools are holding their own in terms of career services and student contentment. Michigan is looking good at #5 (especially when considered in conjunction with it’s stellar showing on the WSJ list) and Duke has inched its way into the top 10, but the biggest mover is Berkeley, leaping from #17 to #8 on this year’s list.

Rankings are a great starting point for school selection, but we of course want to remind readers that there is simply no substitute for firsthand visits to the program and in-depth information when deciding on issues of fit. Best of luck to everyone entering this phase of the application process!

Fridays from the Frontline

Another week - and what a week, with deadlines for Wharton, Harvard, Columbia, Tuck and others - has passed, and here we are at Friday, ready, as always, with a new edition of FFF for those looking to catch up on the goings on in the world of MBA blogging.

First, we want to extend our congratulations to those bloggers who pressed “submit” this week! Righty finished up with his ISB application materials and Flexible Image’s materials are in at HBS. In light of yesterday’s data form advice, we were glad to read that Scarecrow carefully proofread his Harvard application found relief upon completing Wharton. It’s better to wait than to rush, though, a principle that RusGirl - now a Round 2 applicant - understands. She’ll be joined by B-school Diva, who’s just announced her return from reapp retirement and intent to apply to a handful of schools this winter. In other applicant news, Dharu is still narrowing down his school selection, and recounts his Haas visit and reflects on the merits of experiencing a school firsthand. Also in application advice, LBS student Karlitos took some time to reflect on what he was going through this time last year and shares some words of wisdom for applicants.

Just as applicants have been busy working toward pressing that “sumbit” button, business school students have occupied with a number of issues, but seem to be enjoying themselves on the whole. Kilgore Trout is glad for the opportunity to think about his ideal career due to an Econ prof’s unique approach at McCombs, while Le MBA has made definite plans to pursue his actual dream job after HEC and j$ has decided to accept his full time offer and enjoy his second year at Haas. Over in Palo Alto, Ash offers a comprehensive rundown of pre-term at Stanford and, to really give you the full circle picture, alumnus Marquis shares his experience returning to campus for McKinsey recruiting. On the academic side, Martha runs readers through a week of classes at LBS, while MJ is sweating statistics at Duke and BeenThereDoneThat is worried about broader performance issues and the NUS bell curve. LL updates the blogosphere on Wharton Cohort H’s week, much of which was spent studying, and bskewl weighs in on the demise of GND and suggests that the first-year students might be too focused on their studies, citing as evidence Wharton’s being shown up by INSEAD students in a recent interactive game.

If the INSEAD bloggers are representative of the school at large, then there does seem to be a good deal going on in the social department. DomoDomo shares some party pictures and describes his classmates’ networking skills, while Hallonman highlights the international element, relating some popular weekend destinations and getting excited about Aussie-Kiwi Week. IESE students are also out and about, as Noelle shares some photos from a recent trip to the Pyrenees. Finally, lone representative of American leisure brownoski has been enjoying the fall weather and Yale’s golf course.

That’s all for this week. We hope that our superstitious readers make it through Friday the 13th unscathed, and that everyone has a wonderful weekend!