Fridays from the Frontline » Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Consultants Blog

APPLICANT RESOURCES

Admissions Director Q&A (New!) Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive admissions director Q&A sessions.
Dawna Clarke (Tuck)
Rose Martinelli (Chicago)
Judith Hodara (Wharton)
Sarah Neher (Darden)
Soojin Kwon Koh (Michigan)
Randall Sawyer (Cornell)
Beth Flye (Kellogg)
David Simpson (LBS)

Clear Admit School Guides
Eighteen 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.

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.

Application Deadlines
Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools.
Nov. 17: Cornell / Johnson R2
Nov. 26: INSEAD R2
Dec. 5: UNC Kenan-Flagler R2
Dec. 9: Berkeley / Haas R2
Jan. 2: Michigan / Ross R2
Jan. 6: HBS R2
Jan. 6: LBS R2
Jan. 7: Chicago GSB R2
Jan. 7: UVA / Darden R2
Jan. 7: Dartmouth / Tuck R2
Jan. 7: Duke / Fuqua R2
Jan. 7: Stanford GSB R2
Jan. 7: Yale SOM R2
Jan. 8: UCLA / Anderson R2
Jan. 8: Wharton R2
Jan. 9: UNC Kenan-Flagler R3
Jan. 12: Cornell / Johnson R3
Jan. 12: Kellogg R2
Jan. 13: MIT Sloan R2

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
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*
USC / Marshall*
UT Austin / McCombs*
UVA / Darden*
Yale SOM*
* denotes '08-'09 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
GMAC
Manhattan GMAT
GMAT Club
Princeton Review
Test Prep New York
Kaplan
Beat The GMAT

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
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
Texas / McCombs
Thunderbird
Toronto
UCLA / Anderson
Virginia / Darden
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
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
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

Friday, November 03, 2006

Fridays from the Frontline

Happy November! A new month is upon us, and another round of deadlines sits squarely on the horizon. Though there is much to look forward to in the coming months, it’s that time of the week when we look backwards on the past seven days to sum up the haps in the MBA blogging world.

It’s been a busy week for the applicant crowd. With a handful of round one deadlines running over into this week, the celebration of submitted applications continues. While the Ross application was so enjoyable for Nivedita that she completed it a whole round early, Hobbes found it a bit more difficult but still submitted to Michigan by his target date, and was just slightly behind schedule in finishing up with Fuqua. Coming a bit more down to the wire, UniQpath said so long to Sloan on the day of the deadline. Finally, Rungee582, who completed work on Duke and Michigan last weekend, looked forward to a break.

As the long wait for interview invites begins, bloggers who have already sent their apps in are passing the time in varying ways. Some have found peace of mind - like Flexible Image, who enumerates ways he might spend his post-application free time - but most can’t get their minds off admissions. An anxious Juggler reflects on the drawbacks of Wharton’s transparency, while GuyMBA sings the praises of Columbia’s system and Iday offers a critique of Kellogg’s process. A lucky few have already heard from their target programs; JatWarrior was pleasantly surprised to hear from Yale so soon, and Rungee582 is gearing up for an on-campus discussion at Wharton. Meanwhile, Iday is excited about his upcoming meeting with a Chicago alum, Juggler was similarly cheered up by a GSB invite, and ScareCrow completes the blogger Chicago interview hat trick. We of course wish these and all applicants the best of luck, and hope that they’ll share their experiences (both in their blogs and in the Clear Admit Wiki)! Speaking of which, Hobbes has already interviewed with Columbia and shares a great account of that experience, and Scarecrow seems to feel positively about his Kellogg interview experience.

Complementing the rush to the deadline and ensuing anxiety of the round one bloggers, a number of applicants are making steady progress in targeting later deadlines. Coming to terms with the GMAT, AsianGal laments her lost math skills and formulates an exam preparation plan, and Jason actually sounds excited about resuming his studying regimen. School selection was another popular topic. Itobean is struggling to decide where to apply and wonders where to find the straight facts about certain schools (might we humbly suggest our School Guides?). Others, meanwhile, have formulated a list and are making the rounds: MBA Babe stopped by Columbia and Harvard on a recent east coast trip, and Dharu shares the details of a recent Haas visit. A bit farther along in the process, Rusgirl shares her thoughts on the essay writing process.

Student bloggers have also been occupying their time in a variety of ways. It’s a time of year when thoughts begin to turn to recruiting, so the topics of job searching and career direction have been popular ones this week. Bloggers’ thoughts run the gamut of the usual concerns: BeenThereDoneThat is still struggling to determine how to get the most out of his time at NUS and Noelle finds herself wondering whether it made sense for her to pursue an MBA after all, while Sharran has set his sights on CEB after Owen and LBS student Angel Angie enjoyed a recent glimpse into investment banking. Meanwhile, Auris already has a few post-INSEAD job offers in hand! For those embarking on the recruiting process, ISB alum Vijay offers some helpful resume advice.

Naturally, academics have been another popular topic - of a number of positive comments, no less. Given the Parker Center’s resources, Aregon23 is finding Cornell to be the perfect place to indulge his interests in stocks and investing, while Paxti is deriving tremendous pleasure from Econ class in London. Also happy with their school selection and the opportunities it affords them, Sean is impressed with caliber of the LBS-sponsored speaker series and Ash comments on some prominent visitors to Stanford. Also on the topic of business leaders, it sounds as though James is taking a lot away from a course taught by Jack Welsh at Sloan. Of course, there are - or are about to be - some trials as well. Back from break, DomoDomo offers a rundown of his current INSEAD courseload and From Cali feels the pressure of academics, recruiting and activities, and reflects on the importance of pushing herself to get the most out of her time at Michigan. Meanwhile, Tim (formerly Kilgore Trout) has been keeping very busy with classes and activities at McCombs and is starting to feel worse for the wear, and LL is bracing herself for what Wharton Q2 has in store.

Though business school entails a fair amount of work, this by no means precludes play, and we’d like to end with a look at some bloggers who’ve been enjoying the social opportunities and extracurricular elements of the MBA. Making the most of his U.S. exchange, LBS student rsr.pt made his way to Vegas, baby, Vegas for fall break, Noelle spent a weekend away from IESE in Amsterdam and, having moved to France for his second year at LBS, KV enjoyed simply spending a week in London. It sounds like Anderson’s Halloween party was a success based on UCLADawg’s description, Karlitos writes of his appreciation for the LBS Wine & Cheese Club, and Marina attests that there’s a lot of fun and socialization (and some snow!) going on at Columbia.

That’s the news from the blogging frontline this week. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:53 am in Fridays from the Frontline

DISCUSSIONS / BLOGS / WIKI

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Wiki

MBA Admissions Wiki
The Clear Admit Wiki is designed to allow b-school applicants to share their experiences through the application process. You can learn from others' experiences and contribute your own reports to the community. Below are the five most popular pages in the wiki:
Wharton Interview Field Reports
HBS Interview Field Reports
Kellogg Interview Field Reports
Chicago Interview Field Reports
Columbia Interview Field Reports

Discussion Boards

BusinessWeek Forums
The BusinessWeek Discussion Boards are another way to learn about the issues applicants face. Clear Admit hosts the Ask Clear Admit thread, which should help answer your questions. Here is a link to the original interface (for those of you who didn't like the recent upgrade). Also, here are the five most recent discussions taking place in the forum:

Beat The GMAT Forums
Clear Admit is a featured expert in the BeatTheGMAT forums, answering questions from applicants across the globe. Feel free to ask us your questions in this forum! Here are the most recent posts:

StudyLink Forums
Clear Admit manages the Applying section of the StudyLink MBA discussion boards.

student 2 student
The student-2-student Discussion Boards are managed by Wharton. Here are the five most recent discussions.

Chicago Discussion Forums
The Chicago Discussion Boards are managed by the University of Chicago. Here are the five most recent discussions.

School-Hosted Blogs

Straight from the source: aggregated posts from students and administration. Below are the seven most recent posts in school-hosted blogs.

Individuals' Blogs

A selection of the latest updates to MBA blogs compiled by Hella.
MBA Applicants

MBA Students

Bloggers by School

The following are links to bloggers at each of the schools listed.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Chapel Hill
Stanford
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
Yale
ESADE
IESE
INSEAD
London Business School

Community Blogs

Bshoolers.com
Community blog with MBA student and alum contributors.

Forté Foundation MBA Diaries
Video blog entries posted by women MBA students.

Owen Bloggers
Independent blog with content by Vanderbilt MBA students.

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