Posted by Clear Admit on November 13, 2006, at 3:00 am
Posted in:  Essay Topic Analysis , School: NYU Stern 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.
Posted by Clear Admit on November 10, 2006, at 4:00 am
Posted in: 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!
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!
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.
Posted by Clear Admit on November 7, 2006, at 3:54 am
Posted in: School: Chicago , School: Columbia , School: Penn / Wharton , Trivia Tuesday 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.
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.
Posted by Clear Admit on November 3, 2006, at 2:53 am
Posted in: 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 on November 2, 2006, at 4:15 am
Posted in: Events , General As we mentioned earlier this week, Clear Admit’s Graham Richmond recently participated in an Online MBA Fair and admissions Q&A session at Economist.com. Though the event has passed – with hundreds of applicants turning out to listen – those who couldn’t tune in on Monday can still listen to a recording of the interview on the Economist website.
In addition to a substantial discussion of the process of creating a high quality application, registered applicants can also listen to nearly 45 minutes of Q&A from the live event covering topics as basic as the steps involved in the admissions process and essay word limits, and as nuanced as school selection strategies and potential perceptions of various academic backgrounds. This is a great source of information for candidates who are in the midst of the application process, as well as those just beginning to consider an MBA.
Access is free, simply register at http://mba.unisfair.com/index.jsp.
Posted by Clear Admit on November 1, 2006, at 9:07 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips , Interview Tips With interview invitations from a number of programs already on their way out to Round One applicants, we wanted to offer some more advice on this element of the admissions process. Last week we posted some very basic etiquette information that will help candidates ensure that everything is in order on the big day. Today, we turn our attention to some steps one can take to prepare for the interview itself.
1) Know what to expect. This might go without saying, but interview types and duration vary across programs. For instance, nearly all invited Stanford applicants interview with alumni, while on-campus Wharton interviews are conducted by second-year students (and in rare cases admissions staff). Candidates for Columbia admission participate in an informative resume-based chat, while HBS and MIT interviewers have in-depth knowledge of the applicant’s entire file. Thinking carefully about the format of the interview and the person conducting it will influence the sort of questions you might come prepared to ask and help you arrive at a mindset conducive to success.
2) Review your materials. Because it’s important that you reinforce your positioning during the interview, reading over your essays and reflecting on the themes presented in your application is a great first step in preparing to speak about your ideas and objectives.
3) Tell them something they don’t know. In addition to reinforcing your existing message (a critical component of most interviews), the interview is also a great time to expand or add new information to your file via the interviewer’s notes. Have there been any major developments in your candidacy that you should share? Visited the campus or spoken with students since submitting your written materials? Made any strides toward your goals? Even if just an example from work or an activity that relates to the interview question but didn’t fit into your essays, it’s a great idea to approach the interview with the goal of enhancing the admissions committee’s knowledge of your candidacy.
4) Anticipate and practice. Though it’s impossible to predict the exact questions you will be asked, the type of interview and historical data will provide some great clues as to the sort of information the interviewer will be seeking. The Clear Admit Wiki could serve as a great starting point, as it features detailed firsthand interview accounts from applicants to the top MBA programs. After arriving at a list of possible inquiries, it’s a good idea to not only reflect on what you might say in response, but to actually practice articulating your responses, explaining your goals and recounting some significant professional and extracurricular experiences.
Best of luck to all those who are eagerly awaiting invitations and preparing for interviews! For more information about Clear Admit’s school-specific interview guides and mock interview service, feel free to send an email to info@clearadmit.com.
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