APPLICANT RESOURCES

Have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Research schools on the go and keep your applications organized with Clear Admit's new MBA Planner App!

Admissions Director Q&A
Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Dawna Clarke (Tuck)
Rose Martinelli (Chicago)
Judith Hodara (Wharton)
Sara Neher (Darden)
Soojin Kwon Koh (Michigan)
Randall Sawyer (Cornell)
Beth Flye (Kellogg)
David Simpson (LBS)
Liz Riley Hargrove (Duke)
Linda Meehan (Columbia)
Bruce DelMonico (Yale)
Peter Johnson (Berkeley)
Isser Gallogly (NYU)
Mae Jennifer Shores (UCLA)
J.J. Cutler (Wharton)
Jake Cohen (INSEAD)
Rod Garcia (MIT Sloan)
Mary Miller (Columbia)

Clear Admit School Guides
Clear Admit School GuidesBecome an expert on your target schools overnight! Get the program-specific details you need to craft essays that stand out. See how schools compare head-to-head in key areas like recruiting, curricular structure, elective offerings and more. Available for immediate download. As featured in the Economist.

Clear Admit Career Guides
Clear Admit Career GuidesUnderstand career-specific offerings at leading MBA programs and identify the schools that will best support your career goals with the Clear Admit Career Guides! Available for Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Healthcare.

Clear Admit Strategy Series
Clear Admit Strategy SeriesCraft a winning application with the Clear Admit Strategy Series! Step-by-Step guidance through the application process. Titles include a Resume Guide, Recommendations Guide, Waitlist Guide and more!

Clear Admit Interview Guides
Clear Admit Interview GuidesBe 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.

Application Deadlines
Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools.
Feb 10: INSEAD R3
Mar 1: Michigan / Ross R3
Mar 3: CBS
Mar 3: LBS R3
Mar 4: Kellogg R3
Mar 8: Cambridge / Judge R4
Mar 8: CMU / Tepper R3
Mar 9: Duke / Fuqua R3
Mar 9: Penn / Wharton R3
Mar 10: Berkeley / Hass R4
Mar 10: Chicago Booth R3
Mar 10: Yale SOM R3
Mar 15: NYU / Stern R3
Mar 17: UCLA / Anderson R3
Mar 19: UNC / Kenan-Flagler R4
Mar 30: Cornell / Johnson R4
Mar 31: UVA / Darden R3
Mar 31: INSEAD R4
Apr 1: UT-Austin / McCombs
Apr 2: Dartmouth / Tuck R3
Apr 2: Oxford / Saїd R3
Apr 7: Stanford GSB R4
Apr 8: Harvard R3
Apr 14: CBS

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas*
Chicago Booth*
CMU / Tepper*
Columbia*
Cornell / Johnson*
Dartmouth / Tuck*
Duke / Fuqua*
Harvard*
Indian School of Business*
INSEAD*
London Business School*
MIT / Sloan*
Michigan / Ross*
Northwestern / Kellogg*
NYU / Stern*
Oxford / Said*
Penn / Wharton*
Stanford GSB*
UCLA / Anderson*
UNC / Kenan-Flagler*
USC / Marshall*
UT Austin / McCombs*
UVA / Darden*
Yale SOM*
* denotes '09-'10 commentary

Categories
Use categories to access all that has been written on each of the topics. We have categorized by school and by subject matter.

Interview Reports
A selection of interview field reports from fellow applicants posted to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Add your reports when you are finished with your interviews.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan / Ross
MIT / Sloan
Stanford
UNC / Chapel Hill
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
London Business School

GMAT Resources
MBA.com
Manhattan GMAT
GMAT Club
Princeton Review
Test Prep New York
Kaplan
Beat The GMAT
Knewton

Writing Resources
Guide to Grammar and Writing
The Internet Grammar of English
English Usage, Style and Composition
The Economist Style Guide
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

School Rankings
Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
Business Week
Economist
Financial Times
Forbes
USNews
Wall Street Journal

Career Guides
The following resources should be useful to those who want to research the careers open to them after (or before) earning an MBA.
Vault.com
Wetfeet

Business School Resources
The following are business resources offered by a variety of leading Business Schools. It's useful to subscribe to these resources, especially for the schools to which you are applying.

MBA Programs: North America
If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
Berkeley / Haas
Boston College / Carroll
Carnegie Mellon / Tepper
Chicago
Columbia
Concordia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Emory / Goizueta
Harvard
HEC Montreal
Indiana / Kelley
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
Northwestern / Kellogg
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Kenan Flagler
Notre Dame / Mendoza
Pennsylvania / Wharton
Queens
Stanford
Syracuse / Whitman
Texas / McCombs
Thunderbird
Toronto
USC / Marshall
UCLA / Anderson
Vanderbilt / Owen
Virginia / Darden
Washington University in St. Louis / Olin
Western Ontario / Ivey
Yale

MBA Programs: 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.
AGSM (Australia) 2
Cambridge / Judge (UK) 1
CIEBS (China) 2
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (China) 1
Cranfield School of Mgmt (UK) 1
ESADE (Spain) 1 or 2
HEC (France) 2
Hult (UK) 1
IESE (Spain) 2
IMD (Switzerland) 1
INCAE (Costa Rica) 2
INSEAD (France) 1
IPADE (Mexico)
ISB (India) 1
London Business School (UK) 2
Manchester Bus. School (UK) 2
Melbourne (Australia) 2
Oxford / Said (UK) 1
Rotterdam (Netherlands) 1
Tsinghua IMBA (China) 2
University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1

Additional Resources
Here we link a host of additional resources available across the web. E-mail info@clearadmit.com to have resources added to this list.
AACSB International
Association of MBAs
Beyond Grey Pinstripes
EFMD
gradschools.com (worldwide)
Infozee
International Student Loans
mba.com (GMAT Scores)
MBAInfo
mbaleague.blogspot.com
MBAzone
MBA Jungle
TOEFL
Top MBA


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.

Blog Archive

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ARCHIVE FOR NOVEMBER 2006

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Admissions Tip: Interviewing the Interviewer

We’ve been offering a good deal of advice lately on how to conduct oneself and prepare responses to MBA interview questions; today, we’d like to highlight the importance of thinking about what you might ask. Virtually all business school interviewers conclude their discussion by offering the applicant a chance to ask some questions about the program. While it might be tempting to claim that you’ve already learned all you need to know about the school, this is actually a great opportunity to gain additional insight, show your enthusiasm about a specific element of the curriculum or community, and demonstrate that you appreciate the opportunity to learn from your interviewer’s experiences.

Here are a few simple guidelines to keep in mind while thinking about what you might ask:

1. Focus on the positive. Now is not the time to conduct due diligence or express skepticism about a school’s academic program or career resources. You’re still marketing yourself to the adcom at this stage of the process, so you’ll want to project enthusiasm and demonstrate a desire to become more familiar with a program’s merits and your potential fit.

2. Avoid the obvious and the obscure. Because this is an opportunity to tap the interviewer’s unique knowledge and point of view (and he or she will assume that you did your basic research before applying), it’s best to avoid asking questions that could be answered by perusing the school’s website or speaking with anyone you might happen to encounter on campus. On the other hand, you don’t want to ask something so obscure or specific that your interviewer might not have an answer. Seeking the interviewer’s opinion on or impression of some element of the program often makes for a discussion that both parties will find interesting and enjoyable.

3. Mind your audience. Remember that students, alumni and admissions staff will all have a different perspective on and level of familiarity with the program, and that it’s wise to pose inquiries tailored to his or her experience with the school. For instance, alumni interviewers generally feel strongly about their schools but might not have the most current information on the academic programs and campus culture, so a good question might focus on the classes they have found most useful in their post-graduation career.

We hope that these guidelines are helpful in thinking about how you might approach the end of your discussion, and wish everyone interviewing at business schools in the coming weeks the best of luck!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:47 am in Admissions Tips, Interview Tips

Wiki Wednesdays

Welcome to Wiki Wednesdays, a column in which we highlight new and noteworthy content in the Clear Admit Wiki, an applicant-driven resource on the MBA admissions process. Just a week after launching our new interface and issuing a call for content, we’ve received a number of great interview accounts!

The theme of this week’s installment is the importance – and perils – of preparation. Starting us off, an applicant to Duke’s MBA program posted an account that helps illustrate how knowledge of a school’s priorities and culture might help a candidate predict the focus of interview questions. Given the focus on team culture at Fuqua, it’s not surprising that this applicant was asked the following:

5 Characteristics of a good team.
What role would you play on this team.
A time when I had a difficult person on my team and what did i do.
A difficult choice I had to make and what did I learn from it.

In addition to being prepared to simply field the questions asked, it’s also a good strategy to have a clear idea of the information that you feel is most essential to your candidacy and actively incorporate these points into your responses. A recent contribution to the Chicago interview page shares a list of the questions asked and ends with this commentary:

Even though the questions were not too many, I did my best to weave the above mentioned points into my answers making sure I got all my points across. This is important – do not rely on your interviewer to ask you all the questions you want to be asked. Make sure you know ahead of time what you want to communicate and weave them into your answers for other questions. I also sent my interviewer a thank you email reiterating all the above mentioned points.

Of course, it’s important to be flexible as well. Our final excerpt, taken from a very detailed account of a Wharton interview, shares a humorous example of the potential downside of pointed preparation:

One question that caught me off guard was “What would you do if all of a sudden you had a free week”. Ironically, I had prepared for the 1 free day and 1 free month questions, but not this one. After taking more than a few seconds (10 sec maybe), I think I came up with a solid answer.

That wraps up our summary of new additions to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this resource thus far. We look forward to seeing more great content from all of you in the coming weeks!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:31 am in Interview Tips, School: Chicago, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Penn / Wharton, Wiki Wednesdays

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Trivia Tuesday: Studying Abroad (but not for long)

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, our weekly exploration of the details, distinctions and developments of the leading MBA programs.

Over the last decade most business schools have sought ways to provide relevant, hands-on international business exposure within the confines of a two-year degree. The solution that many schools have arrived at is “study trips,” which allow students to spend 1-2 weeks exploring the business environment of another country over the summer or during a mid-semester break. Depending on the school, these trips may be organized through an elective course, by an administrative office, or through a campus student group.

For instance, the Chazen Institute at Columbia works with individual students and clubs to organize study trips to countries or regions of interest, while Chicago’s International Programs Office coordinates short-term summer exchanges to Austria, Brazil, France and Germany. Several other business schools offer students academic credit for their travel abroad. At HBS students are able to earn 1.5 credits for their work abroad over the summer between the first and second year, provided they keep a weekly journal and submit a final paper. At Wharton and Tuck, however, study trips are often closely integrated into full-semester elective courses, with students participating in hands-on consulting projects with firms, and sometimes other teams of MBA students, from outside the U.S.

As knowledge of other cultures and business practices becomes more important to the daily life of business it will become ever more important for students to gain exposure to international business during the MBA program. Since study trips range from informal and self-directed to formal consulting engagements for academic credit, applicants may want to consider the type of study trip that would best complement their prior international experience and keep this in mind as they research MBA programs. For more information on the details of schools’ study trip offerings be sure to check out the schools’ websites or consult the Clear Admit School Guides!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:10 am in School Guides, School: Chicago, School: Columbia, School: Dartmouth / Tuck, School: Harvard, School: Penn / Wharton, Trivia Tuesday

Monday, November 27, 2006

MBA News: B-School Buzz

Welcome back from the weekend! This week we’re getting started with a round-up of MBA and business education news from the U.S. and around the world.

First up, Harvard Business School has announced a new dual degree program in conjunction with the University’s Kennedy School of Government. The degree will prepare students with skills in public policy and management, with the goal of training leaders for the public and “quasi-public” sectors. The program, still in its planning stages, would likely take students three years to complete and is tentatively slated to begin in Fall of 2008. The new program is part of HBS Dean Light’s goal of creating more “intellectual bridges” between HBS and the rest of Harvard University, and follows in the footsteps of dual degree programs with Harvard Medical School and Harvard Law. Dean Light imagines students in the program working on projects such as using business to revitalize urban neighborhoods and sees great potential to make a positive impact on public management. For more on the new degree program, check out this week’s Financial Times article.

For those students who are considering pursuing an MBA in Canada, a recent article in Canadian Business Online offers a thoughtful comparison of Canadian and American MBA programs, highlighting the changing shape of the MBA landscape in Canada and the benefits and drawbacks of both Canadian and American programs. In other news, Dartmouth-Tuck’s Dean Paul Danos offered a strong defense of MBA education at this year’s Association of MBAs’ Student of the Year award ceremony. The awards honor MBA graduates who demonstrate academic excellence, a commitment to their institution and to furthering internationalism, as well as the promise of enhancing the value of the MBA degree in the marketplace. Dean Danos took the opportunity to highlight the value of the MBA to students, pointing out that at Tuck, the MBA is changing people’s lives, tripling the average student’s salary and creating a five-fold increase in international students’ salaries. For more on the AMBA Student of the Year Awards and Dean Danos’s remarks, read the full article in today’s The Independent.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:22 am in MBA News, School: Dartmouth / Tuck, School: Harvard

Friday, November 24, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

Welcome to this week’s installment of FFF, bringing you the latest happenings in the MBA blogging world.  Let’s take a look at what’s going on with those in various stages of the b-school experience:

It’s been a quiet week for applicant bloggers but some, primarily those having something for which to be thankful, have posted updates with their latest news. Though a bit discouraged by an ISB waitlisting, righty had a positive Notre Dame interview – with the Director of Admissions, no less – and it sounds like inblue’s Chicago interview with an alumnus in Mumbai was a comfortable experience, while TJ is grateful that the Chicago interview went more smoothly than Kellogg. Iday’s interviewer is playing hard to get (a hold of) and Suser McLoser is playing some music to celebrate after finishing her second interview. In other good news, rungee582 was invited to interview at LBS, Harvard finally came through for MBAbabe, and an admit from Cornell means that ScareCrow is definitely going to school next year. Congratulations!

Though busy with their studies and recruiting concerns, many student bloggers also have a fitting amount of gratitude in their attitudes. With the release of term one grades at IESE, for instance, Ashwyn is glad to simply have survived. Also in the getting by category, Russian student Genie is having some trouble adapting to life in London, but finds some bright patches in acting class and birthday festivities. Even meeting facilities can also be cause for thanks, as Allen shares some shots of his favorite study spots in Barcelona. Also in the grateful category, several students are celebrating job search success this week; though returning to risk management was not the Dirty Canuck’s original plan, she’s excited about having a more balanced lifestyle in Chicago now that recruiting is over. Meanwhile, classmate Wakechick has been traveling to NYC for interviews and is enjoying her New York explorations, and Auris is set to start at Bain once he finishes with INSEAD. Though he hasn’t gotten his career plans quite as settled, Chicago student Le Voyageur is happy to be thinking more clearly about the future, which includes a term on exchange in Tel Aviv.

Of course, a fair number are thankful just to have a brief break coming up! Jacek describes his very busy semester at ESADE, Al Martine is putting a great deal into a marketing paper at LBS, FromCali has plans for a productive but class-free week at Michigan, and LL is looking forward to her trip home in the midst of Q2 madness at Wharton.  Finally, LBS student the Divine Miss N is really making the most of her exchange in New York by getting an up close look at Thanksgiving in the U.S. as a Macy’s Parade volunteer!

We, in conclusion, want to thank all our blogger friends for sharing their experiences with us and with their peers.  We hope that everyone has a wonderful and productive weekend!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:08 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving!

We would like to wish our readers a very happy Thanksgiving holiday!

While it will be important to spend time with family and friends today, the long weekend is a great time to make progress on MBA applications for the upcoming December deadlines (or the looming January rush). Here’s a short list of some of the key deadlines in the next week or two…..

November 30th: Dartmouth/Tuck
December 1st: NYU/Stern, UNC/Kenan-Flagler
December 5th: Virginia/Darden
December 6th: INSEAD
December 11th: Berkeley/Haas

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:34 am in General

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

[The Return of] Wiki Wednesdays

Today, we’re pleased to announce the launch of the new and improved Clear Admit Wiki!  You’ll find the same great content as before, but with a sleeker interface (with which Wikipedia users will be familiar) and improved ease of editing.  The account creation process is now automated, so users can sign up and post (anonymously, if desired) in a more immediate way. 

For the uninitiated, our wiki is designed to be an admissions resource for applicants, by applicants – a place for you to share your experiences visiting campus, interviewing with alumni or admissions staff and completing the applications for your target programs, all for the benefit of present and future candidates.  Here’s an excerpt from a Columbia Early Decision interview report that demonstrates the sort of information that can help others prepare by expanding their expectations and bracing themselves for unusual inquiries:

I had no trouble contacting one of the three alumni about an interview. The alum asked me to email my resume beforehand. The day of the interview, I met with him in his offices. He was friendly yet professional.

There was no “take me through your resume” question…

Right off the bat, he asked why business school – but then limited my answer by saying “but i don’t want to hear its because you need to learn about finance and accounting to start your own business, because you can always hire someone else to do that ” (I plan to be an entrepreneur)

We hope that our readers will continue to add interview and visit reports, along with links to blogs and helpful resources to help keep the Wiki as robust and relevant as ever!  Stay tuned for future Wiki Wednesdays, in which we’ll highlight some of the most interesting and insightful comments added each week.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:00 am in School: Columbia, Wiki Wednesdays

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Trivia Tuesday: Cross-checking cross-registration

It’s Tuesday, and that means it’s time once again for tantalizing trivia on the trends, tendencies and traditions of the nation’s leading MBA programs. Our goal is to highlight the differences between some of the leading business schools in order to help applicants develop a more nuanced view of the opportunites, resources, and student experiences at each school.

Today we turn our attention to cross-registration, an oft-overlooked indicator of academic opportunities. In an age of increasingly interdependent business operations, cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary study is becoming an ever-more important aspect of students’ academic preparation. In addition, the growing popularity of joint and dual degree programs in law, medicine, languages and other fields shows students’ widespread interest in studying beyond the traditional boundaries of the MBA. Given that many of the leading business schools make their homes at the U.S.’s top research universities, cross-registration with other schools or departments on campus can provide MBA students with extraordinary access to the leading minds in academia.

Wharton and the University of Chicago GSB have each embraced cross-registration, allowing MBA students to take up to 4 and 6 courses, respectively, outside the MBA program. Wharton students often use these courses to pursue intensive language study, perhaps in preparation for a career in international business, or to pursue more in-depth knowledge of a niche field, such as taking a biotechnical engineering course to prepare for a career in the biotech industry. At Chicago, MBA students are permitted to take more than half of their electives outside of the GSB. One popular option for cross-registration is the University’s certificate in Health Administration Studies, a program composed entirely of cross-registered students pulled from the University’s graduate schools.

Harvard is on the other end of the spectrum from Chicago, allowing students to take just two courses outside of the business school, likely due to the administration’s strong belief in the value of the case method of instruction. However, Harvard students who do chose to cross-register have unique access to course options, including classes offered by any of Harvard University’s graduate schools, plus graduate level courses at MIT Sloan and at Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Given the differences in school’s cross-registration policies, applicants with interdisciplinary or in-depth interests may want to consider the opportunities for cross-registration available at their top choice schools. For more information on cross-registration and other academic offerings, be sure to check out the schools’ websites or the Academics section of the Clear Admit School Guides. Happy researching!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:35 am in School Guides, School: Chicago, School: Harvard, School: Penn / Wharton, Trivia Tuesday

Monday, November 20, 2006

MBA News: Wharton and MIT Sloan to collaborate on innovative new book

The research conducted by business school professors helps identify or create corporate best practices and helps business leaders stay on top of rapidly changing environments. Today we are highlighting one example of the innovative research conducted by b-schools – a proejct unprecedented – even among the top business schools – for its size and scope.

Wharton and MIT Sloan announced last week that they will be the lead collaboraters on a groundbreaking new book on the contributions of Web 2.0 technologies to business practices. The book, tentatively title “We Are Smarter Than Me,” is due to be published in Fall 2007 and will be one of the the first major book projects to be collectively written and edited. Business school students, professors and alumni, as well as working professionals and others are invited to contribute material to the book.

The book will focus on technologies such as blogs, online social networks, and wikis that allow for large-scale collaboration. Contributers are asked to provide real examples of companies tapping in to online communities, after which collaborators will analyze the success or failure of these various approaches and seek to identify best practices for making use of collaborative techonology to grow and enhance businesses. The book will also examine how new collaborative technologies are changing the way once separate companies, industries or experts do business. Based on the idea presented in James Surowiecki’s 2005 book The Wisdom of the Crowd, that large groups of people can sometimes be better at innovating, solving problems, or even predicting the future, the “We Are Smarter” project is an experiment in decentralized decision making, community building, and creation of knowledge through collective wisdom – as well as a foray into a new kind of writing and publishing process.

Like Wikipedia, registered collaborators will have the ability to add, edit, and delete content from the online draft of the book. Wharton and MIT Sloan report that more than 1,000 collaborators have already registered on the book’s site, getting the project off to an early start. An initial draft of the book is scheduled to be presented in March 2007 at the Community 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas. For more information on the “We Are Smarter Than Me” project or to register as a collaborator, visited www.wearesmarter.org. To learn more about the MIT Sloan and Wharton research centers sponsoring the project, visit the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence and the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:17 am in MBA News, School: MIT / Sloan, School: Penn / Wharton

Friday, November 17, 2006

Regrouping After Wharton

As many applicants know all too well, Wharton released the last of its interview invitations yesterday. We want to offer our congratulations to those who are moving on to the next stage of the admissions process, and extend our sympathy to those who received less favorable news.

Though a ding is a difficult blow to be dealt this early in the year, there are actually a number of benefits to Wharton’s timing. The first is simply the peace of mind that comes with a definitive answer, as many candidates say that waiting for word from their target schools is the most trying part of the application process. Beyond this, having a mid-November decision provides a data point in determining the strength of one’s application at a top program. This might prompt applicants who were denied without an interview to seek out feedback on their Wharton applications from friends or other knowledgeable sources to identify areas for improvement, or to expand his or her list of target schools to include a few less selective programs – all with plenty of time to regroup and address weaknesses before the round two deadlines.

Best of luck to everyone moving forward on their b-school journeys; have a happy and productive weekend!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:18 pm in Admissions Tips, School: Penn / Wharton

Fridays from the Frontline

The passing of another week marks the arrival of yet another edition of FFF, your regular review of the latest in the MBA blogging world.

Let’s begin by taking a look at what’s happening on the student side; bloggers’ experiences have really run the gamut of MBA life this week!  In terms of general overviews, MJ’s detailed account of a packed week involving a case competition at Duke is a prime example of the juggling act that the MBA can be, and Chicago second-year The Dirty Canuck checks in with a broad comment about conference and recruiting season at the GSB. Feeling the job pressure on a more individual level, Sean writes about his efforts to balance school with his internship search at LBS, and Zanat0s seems a bit overwhelmed by his ever-expanding to do list at INSEAD.  Other students are more focused on academics, presenting both the positive and negative elements of their experiences.  Though Hallonman was cold-called yet again (is that two weeks in a row??) and John Galt is finding that his Wharton expectations aren’t quite being met, most bloggers sound quite enthusiastic about their classroom experiences.  Yale student brownoski has some favorable things to say about the new SOM curriculum and the Divine Miss N, in New York on exchange from LBS, shares a very detailed description of “Advertising Management,” her favorite class at Stern.  We were also glad to hear that FromCali has been pleasantly surprised by the current team-focused term at Michigan, and that the lessons learned at Owen are falling into place for Sharran.

While recruiting and classwork are undeniably core components of the business school experience, there’s been a good deal going on the social side as well!  With midterms finished at IESE, Ashwyn and classmates partied quite heartily last weekend while Karlitos took a break from b-school to spend time with family in London, Auris traveled to Bali with INSEAD classmates and Angel Angie took a trip to Cambridge to visit a friend and scope out Judge Business School.  In other on-campus events, Jacek is looking forward to the Student Association-sponsored Holiday party at ESADE (and shares the poster he designed for the event), Noelle recaps the inaugural meeting of IESE’s Cigar and Whiskey Club, and classmate IESE MBA 2007 provides an illustrated summary of the past few weeks in Barcelona.  He also shares the details of his planned impact as part of the Responsible Business Club’s Environmental group and, also looking toward the future, LL shares some interesting but secretive comments about the Wharton Follies writing team retreat.  Also extracurricularly, Tim takes a time out from his work at McCombs and looks back to his application experience, offering some great advice for applicants.

Applicant concerns, meanwhile, have again focused primarily on interviews this week; after weeks of waiting many Round 1 applicants are finally hearing back from the schools.  The news is, as it tends to be, mixed, as some happy applicants received interview invitations or completed their on-campus and alumni interviews this week, while others dealt with the beginning of the Round 1 dings.  Wharton applicants in particular had a lot to say, since the school notified applicants at noon yesterday whether they would be interviewed or were dinged.  Forrest and Iday both received deny without interview decisions from Wharton this week, but are glad the wait is over  and are turning their focus to their Chicago applications.  In happier news, several of our applicant bloggers are celebrating recent interview invitations from Wharton.  UniQPath is debating whether to interview with an alumnus vs. on campus, Hobbes received interview invitations at Wharton, Darden and Ross after breaking the obsessive email and s2s message board checking habit, Nivedita also pulled an invite hat trick with Wharton, Tepper and Duke, and Juggler is opting for Wharton’s Hub interviews in Mumbai over the hassle of an alumni interview.  Meanwhile, a few lucky Wharton applicants who received interview invitations early on have already completed their interviews and reported back this week on how things went.  Opting for an alumni interview, Scarecrow feels pretty confident about the experience and has some good details to share about the style and focus of the interview. Rungee582’s interview on campus with a second-year Wharton student also seems to have gone well – she shares some of the questions posed by her interviewer, as well as the exciting news of interview invites to HBS and Ross.  Finally, AsiangalMBA’s entry offers a good reminder that not everyone is focused on the interview decisions as she reports on the upcoming local Wharton Info Session and ponders what she might do to continue learning about Wharton.

Despite this Wharton-mania, applicants have focused on other schools as well; at least, we think so, as Suser McLoser describes her interview for her top choice (and apparently top secret) school.  Celebrating a Chicago invitation, Jatwarrior wonders whether to make the trip to Hyde Park – and might want to take a look at Juggler’s very positive account of her interview with a GSB alum before making his decision.  Columbia was also covered, but unfortunately not as happily; Hobbes found himself reeling from a ding, while GuyMBA is eagerly awaiting a status change on his CBS online application.  After a false alarm from MIT, Stress Tensor reviews the interview invitation timing for his other target schools.  Meanwhile, righty is fretting over ISB and Nivedita is expecting the worst from Cornell.

Best of luck to those about to interview, waiting for word, or engaged in other elements of the application process (like GMAT prep, essay writing and recommender management)!  We hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend, and that we have some more great news to report in our next installment!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:26 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Admissions Tip: The Long Essay

Essay content you’ve polished for one school often serves as a great starting point for the next application, but as we’ve often said, customizing this text for the school in question is key.  One particular challenge we see applicants struggle with each year is effectively expanding a short essay they’ve written for one program (such as Harvard’s 400 word “career vision” document or Kellogg’s two-page, double-spaced essay about one’s career to date, goals and interest in their MBA) in responding to a question on the same topic but with a longer limit (like Stanford’s topics and Chicago’s 1500 word goals/why MBA essay).  With this in mind, we’d like to offer some pointers on converting condensed comments to more extensive remarks.

1) Expand in proportion.  When taking an existing response as a starting point for crafting a longer document, one good rule of thumb is to build upon each subject to more or less the same extent.  While elaborating on your work to date might involve less time and work than the more research-intensive ‘why School X’ discussion, it’s generally prudent to maintain balance among subjects and provide all of the major pieces information a school requests in equal measure.

2) Maintain focus.  One frequent issue with long essays is that they sometimes lack a clear sense of direction.  To ensure that the reader is able to understand the relevance of your remarks and follow the connections among the various ideas, it’s a good idea to include transition sentences at the beginning of each paragraph that tie the subsequent remarks and examples to the topic of the essay and clearly state how certain statements relate to the question.  This exercise also serves as a check for the applicant in making sure that all of the details in the essay are related to the subject.

3) Finish when you’re finished.  While it’s important to take advantage of the opportunity that each essay presents to share information about your candidacy, you shouldn’t feel obligated to reach the upper end of a suggested page limit if you feel that you’ve already addresed the question and presented a full picture of your interests and background.

Good luck to everyone composing essays with an eye to R2 submission!  For more tailored guidance on essays in particular or the application process in general, feel free to contact us at info@clearadmit.com.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:15 am in Admissions Tips

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Campus Chronicles: Stanford, Ross, Stern

It’s time once again for Campus Chronicles, where we round up the latest student news stories from some of the leading MBA programs. Campus newspapers are a great way to get a feel for student culture and on-campus events, so whether you’re deciding where to apply, prepping your Round 2 applications or preparing for an interview, it’s worth taking the time to read the news.

This week we’re happy to welcome Stanford’s Reporter to Campus Chronicles. The Reporter just published its first issue of the year and there was a lot to catch up on. The lead story is an update on the architect selection process for the planned Knight Management Center, a 340,000 square foot expansion of Stanford’s facilities, made possible by Philip Knight’s historic $105 million gift to the school. Other news stories include an interview with second-year student Juan Pardo, whose conversation with Infosys founder Narayana Murthy on last year’s India Study Trip turned into an opportunity to show Mr. Murthy around Pardo’s home country of Colombia. The interview is a great example of how one student took advantage of the opportunities available at business school. Turning to recruiting, the Director of Stanford’s Career Management Center writes on five big career myths and how to avoid letting them sidetrack your job search (a useful article for both applicants and students). Applicants looking for a close-up view of Stanford’s social scene may want to check out the “Dear Savage” advice column – rife with inside jokes and campus references, it’s an interesting window into the non-academic side of Stanford’s community.

The Monroe Street Journal at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business is another new addition to the Campus Chronicles ranks. This week’s articles are packed with answers to all of business schools students’ burning questions. Wondering what exactly consultants do? Dreaming of a career in fashion? If so, be sure to check out the brief consultation on consulting, the secrets on breaking into the fashion industry, and of course, the recruiting update from the Office of Career Development. For those readers who simply can’t get enough of gossip – even when they don’t know any of the people involved – the Ross Goss gossip column should be sure to entertain.

Turning to New York, The Stern Opportunity offers news on some of the campus’s club activities, plus “advice” on intrablock dating, and a rundown on the city’s live music scene. In club news, the Luxury and Retail Club (LuxRet) has had a busy few weeks, introducing the start of the LuxRet Consulting Corps, in which teams of students will partner with fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo to conduct extensive marketing research, and announcing their first LuxRet alumni mixer, which will be the first ever gathering of Stern alumni working in the luxury and retail industries. It was also a busy week for community service at Stern, with the Stern Community Service team taking part in New York Cares, Block 1 volunteering at the Food Bank for New York, and Block 4’s first year students participating in the Alzheimer Association’s Walk to Remember. In off-campus activities, The Perfect Beat recommends taking advantage of being more than half-way through the semester to see some great live shows – after all, it’s New York City. Finally, in keeping with the theme of in jokes and campus gossip this week, the humor section presents a fun piece on one (fictional) student’s struggle over whether to ask out a member of his block.

That’s the student news for this week! Check back next week for more on campus happenings, student humor, and the rest of the business school experience.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:21 am in Campus Chronicles, School: Michigan / Ross, School: NYU Stern, School: Stanford

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Trivia Tuesday: Tuck’s First Year Project

It’s Tuesday again and that means it’s time for some trivia! As our regular readers know, each Tuesday we take the opportunity to highlight some of the programs, policies or predilections of the leading business schools. Our goal is to help applicants learn more about the most popular schools while also discovering some of the important differences between them.

Today we’re turning our attention to Tuck, where the fall leaves are in full glory, to discuss a Tuck tradition, the First Year Project.

Part of Tuck’s required core curriculum, the First Year Project is one of three core courses students take in the spring quarter of their first year. In keeping with Tuck’s emphasis on teamwork and interest in experiential learning, the First Year Project is designed as a team consulting exercise. Students choose their own teams and are encouraged to develop and propose their own projects, although they are also welcome to work on a project suggested by a partner business or nonprofit. The project’s focus should either be developing a new business or developing a new product, service or market for an existing business. Since the goal is to have students apply the business theory studied throughout the first year, the projects should ideally require a nuanced analysis of strategic and competitive issues.

First-year teams are supported throughout the project by a professor and a second-year advisor and also have access to additional professors for support on specialized areas such as marketing and communication.

Although Tuck’s First Year Project is similar in design to experiential learning courses offered at other institutions, the difference at Tuck is that all students participate in the course, with the project serving as a capstone to the first year experience. In this sense, while all of the leading programs offer students opportunities to apply their classroom theory to real world experiences, Tuck shows one of the strongest commitments to integrating these opportunities into every student’s MBA experience.

To learn more about Tuck’s First Year Project or the experiential learning opportunities at other MBA programs, visit the schools’ websites or check out the Electives and Special Programs sections of the Clear Admit School Guides.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:37 am in School Guides, School: Dartmouth / Tuck, Trivia Tuesday

Monday, November 13, 2006

NYU / Stern Essay Topic Analysis 2006-2007

With the first deadline for New York University’s Stern School of Business coming up in a few weeks’ time, we wanted to take some time today to offer a few thoughts on the essays for that particular application.

Essay 1: Professional Aspirations (500 words maximum)
Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Describe the following:
(a) What choices have you made that led you to your current position?
(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
(c) What is your career goal upon graduation from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career goal?

This is your standard career goals/why MBA essay, with a few interesting quirks. First, note that the initial section requests that applicants reflect on and explain the choices they’ve made to date, placing a bit of extra emphasis on the presentation of one’s career as a coherent and directed whole. While it’s always important to explain the reasons you’ve moved from one company to the next, you’ll also want to think about the less obvious decisions you’ve made. Have you actively sought out more responsibility? Requested an assignment with an eye to gaining a certain skill? This essay is a great place for you to highlight your initiative and foresight in the process of relating your career progression to the adcom.

Within the same theme of deliberate decision-making, the second thing to keep in mind is the prominence of the ‘why now’ issue. A thorough and well reasoned answer to this question will be a must for a solid response. Beyond your career path to date and the ‘why now’ issue, Stern will be looking for a detailed explanation of your short and long-term career plans and interest in the MBA as a means to realize these goals.

Essay 2: Fit with Stern (500 words maximum)
The NYU Stern community is one of our strongest assets. Please answer the following questions about community:
(a) What is your personal experience with the Stern community? What actions have you taken to learn more about us?
(b) How would you contribute to our community as a student?
(c) How will you benefit personally and professionally from the Stern community?

Sensitive to the fact that applicants targeting Stern may also applying to other programs that are strong in finance, especially regional peer Columbia, Stern is essentially asking applicants exactly how much homework they’ve done on the school. Obviously, the more information you can provide about trips to campus, visits to classes and conversations with students and alums, the more sincere your interest in the program will seem. The second portion of this question is similar to Kellogg’s second essay in that the adcom wants to see that applicants have really thought through the ways they could make an impact on the community.

Essay 3: Personal Expression (500 words, if written)
Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative.

This essay gives applicants a chance to showcase their creative sides by allowing them a broad range of (non-perishable) possible media in which to express themselves.  Candidates with an artistic inclination or who harbor a passion that could be better conveyed through a method other than prose might seriously consider submitting a poem, photograph or visual representation of their message.

Of course, it’s crucial to carefully consider just want needs to be communicated in this introduction to your future classmates.  You’ll want to think reflectively about your values and personality – as well as strategically about what makes you unique with respect to other applicants. Naturally, you’ll also want to communicate your enthusiasm about meeting and working with your classmates, and perhaps include a comment about how you would engage them that does not cover the same ground as your first two essays.  With these concerns in mind, it might not come as a surprise that, over the years, we’ve found that the written word tends to be the most effective format for 90% of applicants. There is still a great deal of room in which to be creative; for instance, your essay might be the opening to a chapter in an autobiography, or a snapshot of a typical day.

Contact Clear Admit to learn more about our counseling services for Stern and other December/January MBA deadlines. You can set up a free initial chat with one of our admissions consultants by emailing your CV/resume to info@clearadmit.com.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: NYU Stern

Friday, November 10, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

Welcome to another edition of FFF, your weekly recap of the happenings in the MBA blogosphere. Let’s start of this week’s round up with a look at the student crowd.

While Angel Angie echoed the LBS adcom in briefly announcing the appointment of the new London dean, she also offers a detailed account of her impressions of her 6 LBS core classes. Indeed, the vast majority of student bloggers have been posting about their personal experiences in and outside of the classroom. Back from fall break, Benny summarizes what the coming term at Tuck will hold. Meanwhile, LL is in the thick of Q2 at Wharton, London student Al Martine celebrates a Spanish grade and Rubeo Boy is relieved by the end of midterms at Stern (but, unfortunately, less than thrilled with his grades). It’s clear that coursework and grades are on the minds of many, but the talk of academic matters has extended beyond tests and the classroom. George, on exchange from IESE, shares some thoughts on the Columbia faculty, FooBarMe relates an insight into the value of the framework of business education at Haas, and Tim K. recounts a rather entertaining “experiential learning” story from an operations assignment at McCombs.

Valuable experiences were had outside of the academic setting as well. With 12.5% of his MBA complete, MBA Gladiator is back from a trip to Chicago, and provides a great recap of the Yale trip to a Kellogg-hosted NetImpact Conference. DomoDomo took a jog and found himself reflecting on important topics like his objectives for his year at INSEAD, and other experiences in Fontainebleau ranged from Hallonman’s forward-looking recruiting prep to Michael’s Halloween fun.

UW student Sarah learned about her classmates at an MBA Women in Business retreat, while Noelle’s personality assessment for a certain second year class at IESE shed some light on her own traits. Other student bloggers continue to learn about their schools as well as about business: Hallonman learned – the hard way – about the cold call at INSEAD, Edmundo reflects on what he loves about Owen, Ash shares some realizations about the benefits of GND at Stanford, and God only knows whether UCLADawg would have seen Brian Wilson in concert if he hadn’t taken advantage of the larger university opportunities Anderson affords.

Turning to the applicant bloggers, the usual topics have been popping up – Kent rejoices that he’s finished with R1 applications, AsianGal updates readers on her GMAT prep progress, -TVU plans some campus visits and Itobean approached a potential recommender – but the vast majority of talk has been of waiting to be invited to interview, being invited to interview, and interviews. The time difference in India is working to Wanna Be Dictator’s advantage as he waits to hear from Wharton (he only has to check his email at 3am rather than every 5 minutes), and Hobbes is similarly anxious and occupying his time with friends. Having already interviewed at Northwestern, MBABabe was relieved to see her Kellogg application status change to “complete,” and is now in store for some waiting of her own. Our congratulations go out to all those who have already received some positive news: Scarecrow is deciding whether to travel to Philadelphia for the Wharton interview, Inblue was thrilled to get a Chicago invitation and TJ also earned an interview invitation from the GSB.

We’re also thrilled to see some bloggers sharing their interview experiences, as this is a great way to help others learn about the process. It sounds as though Scarecrow had a productive discussion with a Chicago alum, and it’s great that JatWarrior feels good about his Yale interview and was able to infuse some tailored comments about the new curriculum based on some insights from a fellow blogger. Though MBABabe was a bit hard on herself in her humorous recap of her Kellogg interview performance, it sounds like she ultimately did well, and Juggler provides a detailed account of the questions and characteristic attitude of her interviewer for that program.

Though the focus of late has been on interviewing and round one submission, we wanted to point those readers who are still working on essays to UniQpath’s recent post about her post-application lessons, as she shares some great remarks on time management and school-specific research.

Good luck to everyone in the midst of the application process and midterm studying, and have a great weekend!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:00 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, November 09, 2006

MBA News: B-School Buzz

Today we’re bringing you a few of the news stories, interviews, and chats from this week in the MBA world.

First, as some of our readers know, London Business School recently announced the appointment of their new Dean, Robin Buchanan, an American consultant who is currently a senior managing partner at Bain and Co. operations in the UK. The outgoing Dean, Laura Tyson, will depart at the end of this year to return to UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business as a professor of business administration and economics. Buchanan will be LBS’s seventh dean and should step into the post by the end of the current school year. For more on Mr. Buchanan’s appointment (and speculation on IMD’s ongoing dean search) check out the this story in the Financial Times, or read the full text of LBS’s press release.

In MBA admissions news, BusinessWeek reporter Kerry Miller recently sat down with INSEAD director of admissions Caroline Diarte Edwards to discuss the INSEAD experience and the admissions process at the school. While the full text of the article is only available to subscribers, the available Q&A should provide some interesting points to ponder for applicants considering INSEAD’s Fontainebleau or Singapore campuses.

Finally, any applicants interested in the University of Chicago GSB are invited to a live chat with Rosemaria Martinelli, associate dean of Admissions at the Chicago GSB, and Chicago MBA students Penny Petropoulos and Jorge Gallardo. The chat, hosted by BusinessWeek, will take place tonight at 9 p.m. EST. To access the chat, go to http://www.businessweek.com/bschools approximately 10 minutes before the chat’s start time and click on the chat promo. Registration is required, but the event is free and open to all. Be sure to bring your questions about BW’s top-ranked b-school!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:28 am in MBA News, School: Berkeley / Haas, School: Chicago, School: IMD, School: INSEAD, School: London Business School

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Admissions Tip: Interview Processes

We’ve been hearing from a number of anxious applicants this week as they wait for word from their target programs, and wanted to dispel misconceptions by sharing some information about the interview processes at a handful of the most frequently asked about schools.   

Because it’s important to set hopes and expectations with an eye to the facts, let’s first look at some of the interview-related statistics (from last year) for three schools that interview by invitation only:

Columbia
Percentage of Applicants Interviewed: 49%
Percentage of Admitted Applicants Interviewed: 84%
Percentage of Applicants Admitted: 17%
Invitation/Decision Timing: within 10 weeks for ED and 12 weeks for RD

Wharton
Percentage of Applicants Interviewed: 56%
Percentage of Admitted Applicants Interviewed: 100%
Percentage of Applicants Admitted: 21%
Invitation/Decision Timing: R1 Interview or Rejection notification by November 16th, final notification (for those who interviewed) on December 21st

Harvard
Percentage of Applicants Interviewed: ~23%
Percentage of Admitted Applicants Interviewed: 100%
Percentage of Applicants Admitted: 15%
Invitation/Decision Timing: HBS issues invitations up to the notification date, January 17th for R1
These figures tell us a number of things:

1) Timing of Invitations.  Because Wharton operates on a relatively tight round-by-round timeline and Columbia’s admissions process is rolling, interview invitations begin to flow out very shortly after the submission date.  Meanwhile, Harvard has historically issued its first invitations weeks after the deadline; this makes sense because their policy reserves the right to issue invitations all the way up to the mid-January decision notification date.  Further, because they interview a relatively small proportion of applicants, more time is spent reviewing applications and identifying the very top candidates.  This brings us to the next item:

2) Strength of Signal.  An interview invitation is almost always a positive sign about the school’s interest in an applicant and the strength of one’s candidacy, but it’s important to look at the percentage of applicants interviewed to get a sense of just how strong this signal is.  For instance, both Columbia and Wharton interview close to half of the applicant pool each year, and ultimately admit roughly one third of this group.  Meanwhile, Harvard invites just 20-25% of applicants to interview each year and admits the majority of this group.  In a sense, interviewed applicants at HBS have been pre-screened for admission and need only pass this final test, whereas the interview for many other programs serves as just one more data point in evaluating the entire application.  Of course, this information about the likelihood of receiving an invitation also has implications for what one can expect as a result.  Just as it doesn’t make sense to say that you thought you would “at least get an interview at HBS,” it’s not prudent to assume that you’re “in the door at Wharton” solely on the basis of an invitation.

3) Necessity of Interview. While an invitation to interview at Columbia is a very positive sign, those who have not heard toward the end of their 10-12 weeks should not despair; the school admits 16% of its incoming class without interviewing them.  They have also been known to bump a fair number of ED applicants into the regular admissions round (for further review).  Meanwhile, Wharton and Harvard do not admit students they have not met, so an approaching notification date is cause for slightly greater concern for applicants not yet invited to interview by these programs.

We hope that these details have addressed some concerns, and helped applicants understand what statistics to consider when setting interview expectations for other schools.  It is always important to follow the facts, as the creative theories and discussions in the online discussion forums can often be misleading.  Stay-tuned to this blog for some school-specific tips and sample questions in the coming weeks, and feel free to contact us at info@clearadmit.com for mock interview information.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:00 am in Admissions Tips, Interview Tips, School: Columbia, School: Harvard, School: Penn / Wharton

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Trivia Tuesday: MBA Majors and Concentrations

Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, where we highlight nuances of the leading MBA programs in order to showcase the schools’ importance differences.

To major or not to major? This is a question that many MBA students face. While most of the leading programs do not require majors for graduation, most do offer students some form of a major or concentration. Since majors may allow students to distinguish themselves in recruiting or pursue areas of interest in depth, the availability and choice of majors can be important. Today we’ll provide an overview of the major offerings at several of the leading business schools.

Wharton is one of the few leading programs to require students to complete a major. Majors at Wharton typically require a minimum of 5 credits, which means they make up a fair proportion of the 20 or so credits students need to graduate. However, with 19 pre-existing majors, the option to design an individualized major, and the high number of cross-listed courses, it turns out that many students at Wharton actually chose to complete multiple majors.

On the other end of the spectrum is Columbia, which offers students twelve possible concentrations, but does not require completion of a concentration for graduation. The concentration at Columbia is an informal designation; faculty provide interested students with a list of courses in their area of interest, but the concentration is not officially recorded. Perhaps because of the informality of the system, students and administrators report that few Columbia students usually choose to pursue a concentration.

The University of Chicago falls somewhere in the middle of this crowd, offering 13 optional concentrations, successful completion of which is recorded on students’ transcripts (successful completion requires maintaining a C average or higher in all major courses). The administration encourages students to pursue one or two of these concentrations, which usually consist of 3-4 courses each, although a few specialized concentrations, such as Analytic Finance and General Management, require 6 or more courses.

Majors and concentrations can provide an easy way to pursue in-depth study of an academic area and to distinguish oneself in the recruitment process. For this reason, applicants with specific areas of academic or professional interest would do well to look into the available majors or concentrations at their schools of interest and to think about how these differences might impact their MBA experience. Candidates researching these topics may want to check out the Clear Admit School Guides, which provide a detailed discussion of these (and many other!) subjects.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:54 am in School: Chicago, School: Columbia, School: Penn / Wharton, Trivia Tuesday

Monday, November 06, 2006

MBA News

It’s been a busy week in the MBA world!

In global business education news, several leading organizations announced that they will work with the United Nations global compact to draft principles for responsible business education. Institutions involved in the drafting process include the leading global accrediting bodies, as well as Harvard University’s Social Enterprise Knowledge Network and the MBA student organization Net Impact. The results of the committee’s work will be released at the Global Compact Leaders Summit to be held in Geneva in summer 2007. For more information on the United Nations global compact and its goals for developing responsible corporate citizenship, click here.

Also in world news, Wharton’s popular online research publication, Knowledge@Wharton, recently announced the launch of India Knowledge@Wharton. Published in English, the journal will focus on the growing importance of India to the world economy. Alongside this launch, Knowledge@Wharton also introduced its first mobile phone platform, which it hopes will help readers around the world keep up-to-date on the journal’s latest articles and numerous podcasts (which are available in four languages).

London Business School also launched an exciting new program recently. The Insitute of Technology, which will be based at the school, is a joint venture between LBS and University College London’s Centre for Enterprise and the Management of Innovation. The Insitute’s mission is to generate and disseminate research on the management of new technologies. Their first research report is due out in January 2007 and will focus on stem cell research and the ways in which law and policy impact research productivity across countries.

Finally, in African business education news, Nick Binedell, chair of the newly formed Association of African Business Schools, recently sat down with BusinessWeek to discuss the future of business education on the African continent. Topics include the continent’s management needs, the impact of sustainable businesses, and the steps African business schools are taking to improve the quality of their education (including partnerships with faculty from schools like Harvard and INSEAD). Mr. Binedell also talked about the growing number of U.S. MBA students who are traveling to Africa to experience its distinctive business environment and of his association’s efforts to re-involve African professionals who no longer live on the continent in projects in their home countries. The full text of the BusinessWeek interview can be read here.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 5:59 am in MBA News, School: Harvard, School: INSEAD, School: London Business School, School: Penn / Wharton

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