Posted by Clear Admit on February 28, 2007, at 12:40 pm
Posted in:  MBA News , Rankings , School: UNC / Kenan Flagler The Fortune/CNNMoney.com 2007 MBA ranking has been the subject of some controversy since its release last week, when it became apparent that UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School had been omitted from the list of “Top 50 Business Schools for Getting Hired.” After outcry from students and administrators, who argued that the statistics and methodology should have put their program twelfth on this list, the CNNMoney site has pulled its listing and issued a correction.
This incident underscores the fact that while rankings can be a useful tool in identifying potential programs of interest and understanding how schools might compare on various levels, there is really no substitute for in-depth research on a school and evaluation of one’s own personal criteria.
Posted by Clear Admit on February 28, 2007, at 9:33 am
Posted in: General , Interview Tips , School: Chicago , School: Columbia , School: Duke / Fuqua , School: Harvard , School: Michigan / Ross , School: Northwestern / Kellogg , School: Penn / Wharton , Wiki Wednesdays Welcome back to another edition of Wiki Wednesdays, our roundup of the latest on Clear Admit’s Wiki. With interview season in full swing we had a handful of great contributions this week from applicants who recently interviewed with Chicago, Kellogg and Wharton. We also received a few reports on Ross’s telephone interviews, postings describing interviews with Fuqua and Columbia, and a typically tough interview with HBS. Below are a few particularly noteworthy points in these entries.
In addition to the usual questions about the details of an applicant’s goals, it’s not uncommon for interviewers to ask what will happen if all doesn’t go to plan. For example, interviewers sometimes ask applicants what they’ll do if they don’t get into any of the programs to which they applied this year. Another version of this type of question came up in a recent Chicago interview:
“Then he threw the zinger at me – ‘what’s your Plan B if you don’t get the job profile you want to?’ I wasn’t really prepared for this one and hadn’t thought about it myself, so I said I didn’t have a plan B except for starting something up on my own…. He said the cost of this education is really very high and an alternative plan is important for the many graduates who have loans to pay off.”
This is a good question to think about prior to an interview, as it could afford the chance to demonstrate your maturity and knowledge of your target industry. It might be worthwhile to give some thought to an alternative short-term goal that is feasible yet ambitious, and that will lead to the same long-term goal you have stated elsewhere.
Meanwhile, blogger Juggler contributed a post offering interview advice and suggesting that applicants should give careful thought to which anecdotes they might use during the interview:
“If you have important stuff that you could not mention in the essays due to lack of space, the interview is a good place to bring it up. An advantage of having examples different from the essays is that they will supplement what you have already mentioned and give a fuller picture of you to the adcom. Promotions, salary hikes and other recognition which came by after you submitted your application can also be stated during the interview.”
This comment is also related to the tip that concrete examples are the best way to make your point during an interview. When the interviewer asks you to discuss a strength or weakness, it’s ideal to give both a “high level” answer and also provide a detailed story to back it up. In other words, a thorough answer to a question about, say, your leadership style would include a subjective statement (i.e. “The most effective leadership tactic I’ve learned is to listen carefully to my team members.”). Then . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on February 27, 2007, at 8:58 am
Posted in: School: MIT / Sloan , Trivia Tuesday Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday! This week we’ll take a look at a special program offered at MIT Sloan that may be of interest to many of our entrepreneurial minded readers.
Sloan’s newest entrepreneurial offering, the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program, or E&I, began as a pilot for the Class of 2008 and is now a regular feature of the Sloan curriculum. Students who successfully complete the E&I requirements receive a Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Innovation in addition to their MBA degree, indicating that they have pursued an extensive course of studies and activities covering the breadth of managerial skills and other knowledge necessary to start a successful company.
The requirements of the E&I program include a weekly dinner seminar in the first semester, which provides students with an opportunity to meet other E&I participants, cultivate relationships with professors and entrepreneurs in residence, and to begin building their base of knowledge. During the January break, the first-year E&I class takes a one-week networking trip to Silicon Valley, meeting with venture capitalists and leaders of successful start-ups, with a special focus on enterprises in the fields of advanced materials, life sciences, medical technology, new energy, software and information technology (highlighting the “innovation” aspect of the E&I certificate).
In the three following semesters, E&I students dedicate many of their elective credits to fulfilling the course requirements of the certificate program. Through these requirements, the program seeks to develop a strong network of graduates capable of leading emerging technology companies. Applicants interested in participating in the E&I program may apply by checking the appropriate box on the Sloan MBA application and responding to an additional essay question.
Students interested in Sloan’s E&I Certificate Program should check out the program’s website as well as the “Entrepreneurship” section of the Clear Admit School Guide to Sloan!
Posted by Clear Admit on February 26, 2007, at 3:01 pm
Posted in: Campus Chronicles , School: Chicago We’d like to take a moment today to highlight a special issue of the Chibus, the Chicago GSB’s student newspaper. This is the first issue produced by the new editorial staff and it came out just in time for Chicago’s Admit Weekend. Although many of the articles are specifically geared towards the admitted students visiting campus, the issue is jam-packed with articles on all aspects of the GSB, including financial aid for international students, club profiles, studying abroad, the experience of being a partner at Chicago, how the admissions process works, the school’s “random walks” and many, many other topics. Whether you are a future applicant considering schools, an R2 applicant preparing for an interview, or an R1 admit deciding whether to attend, this is an issue of the Chibus that you don’t want to miss!
Posted by Clear Admit on February 26, 2007, at 9:29 am
Posted in: MBA News , School: Berkeley / Haas , School: Chicago , School: Penn / Wharton Welcome to the new week! Let’s check in on the latest in MBA news, which this week includes several interesting video shorts.
First, the Haas School at UC-Berkeley is the subject of a video clip now up on YouTube. The piece is an overview of Haas and was filmed as part of an introduction to the PBS CEO Exchange earlier this year. The PBS special featured a discussion between Intel CEO Paul Otellini, a Berkeley MBA alumnus, and two fellow technology CEOs. The piece on Haas is hosted by a current student, so be sure to check out the video to get a sense of some of the highlights of Haas’s program.
In other multimedia news, Wharton Follies videos are now up on the web, making it possible for anyone who didn’t get a chance to see the sold out shows to join in on the fun. Highlights include sketches reminiscent of the Mac/PC commercials, in which a first-year student and a second-year student discuss grade non-disclosure, learning teams, and social life. Viewers can find other sketches by searching for Wharton Follies 2007.
Finally, and on a different note, the Chicago GSB Dean’s Student Committee blog recently posted a great entry on balancing motherhood and the MBA. Although some of the information is specific to the Chicago GSB community, the post is a great read for any parent considering applying to business school. The entry presents current students’ views on issues of child care, student activities involvement, recruiting, and whether the return to school is a good step for both parent and child – obviously issues of significant concern to both mothers and fathers thinking about pursuing an MBA.
Be sure to check back throughout the week for more news and stories from the MBA world!
Posted by Clear Admit on February 23, 2007, at 12:30 pm
Posted in: General As R2 applicants continue to prepare for interviews, we would like to remind our readers that March 1st is the last chance to win a $15 iTunes gift certificate for submitting content to the Clear Admit Wiki.
If you’ve already completed your admissions interview, took a trip to campus, or made a difficult decision between offers of admission, please consider sharing your experience with other readers. These first-hand accounts of the admissions process are invaluable in helping applicants get to know programs, feel prepared for interviews, and decide where to enroll.
Help us continue to enrich the wiki by emailing your submission to wiki@clearadmit.com. As an added incentive, every fifth entry emailed between now and March 1 will receive a $15 iTunes gift certificate. We’ll post the submissions to the wiki and notify the winners by email.
Thanks in advance for your entries!
Posted by Clear Admit on February 23, 2007, at 2:00 am
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline Welcome to another edition of FFF! Let’s take a look at the latest news from the MBA blogosphere.
Checking in with the MBA applicant crowd, we find Peter eagerly anticipating his Columbia interview and his trip to New York, while HairTwirler celebrates her Fellowship offer from Maryland. Those preparing for interviews should be sure to read Juggler‘s analysis of the Wharton interview and AGirlsMBA report on no less than five interviews. Also helpful would be Asiangal’s post, which shares the lessons she’s learned from interviewing job applicants at her company over the years. Aside from posts about interviewing, mba_salsera ponders the transitional months before school starts, and Bschool Diva wonders aloud if she’ll be going to school this year at all. Necromonger decries the poor English on web forums, while Inblue takes a more reflective look back at her epic application process.
On the MBA-student end of the spectrum, there are lots of great posts from folks at LBS this week. FM describes the study group experience there and Angie describes the extra-curricular activities that are keeping her busy. Meanwhile, Karlitos celebrates one internship offer and Ed Starr compares his two offers as well.
Numerous MBA students posted travel-themed entries this week. Continuing with our LBS theme, first-year student Patxi has posted a great analysis of the Ryan Air customer experience. In other travels, ESADE student Jacek deliberates between the many options for his MBA exchange, though South Africa, Brazil, and China seem to be his front runners. Wrapping up his time in Israel, Chicago student Le Voyageur posts a nice reflection on his experience there.
Back in the States, Benny reports on snow and sustainability at Tuck. There is also a description of Ross’s Management Accounting course posted by Fromcali and another of Columbia’s Strategy Formulation course provided by J-Term Johnny. Last but not least, Tom describes a visit from Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel, to the Practicing Management class at Sloan.
That does it for this week’s FFF. Have a great weekend everybody!
Posted by Clear Admit on February 22, 2007, at 4:13 pm
Posted in: MBA News , Rankings , School: Berkeley / Haas , School: Chicago , School: CMU / Tepper , School: Columbia , School: Cornell / Johnson , School: Dartmouth / Tuck , School: Duke / Fuqua , School: Harvard , School: Michigan / Ross , School: MIT / Sloan , School: Northwestern / Kellogg , School: NYU Stern , School: Penn / Wharton , School: Stanford , School: UCLA / Anderson , School: UT Austin / McCombs , School: Virginia / Darden , School: Yale CNNMoney.com recently published Fortune magazine’s ranking of the “50 Best Business Schools for Getting Hired.” The list was compiled based on schools’ reputations with polled recruiters and career placement track records. To arrive at the job placement score, Fortune examined the percentage of students who secure jobs within 3 months of graduation (20% weighting), the average number of job offers per student (also weighted 20%) and average salary in a student’s first post-MBA position (accounting for the remaining 60%). In this way, Fortune’s methodology resembles a blend of the Wall Street Journal’s approach of surveying corporate recruiters and Forbes’s focus on post-graduation salary as a measure of return on investment.
The full list is available on the website; here are the top 20 (with an interesting four-way tie for 12th):
1. Wharton 2. Harvard Business School 3. MIT Sloan 4. Stanford GSB 5. Kellogg 6. Columbia Business School 7. Chicago GSB 8. Duke/Fuqua 9. Dartmouth/Tuck 10. NYU/Stern 11. Michigan/Ross 12. Berkeley/Haas 12. Cornell/Johnson 12. UVA/Darden 12. Yale SOM 16. Georgetown/McDonough 17. UCLA/Anderson 17. Thunderbird School of Global Management 19. UT Austin/McCombs 20. CMU/Tepper
Those interested can also peruse school-by-school information and profiles on the site.
NOTE: Since the time we posted this news, the data and methodology used in this ranking have been questioned, and CNNMoney.com has removed the entire feature from its site and issued an official apology.
Posted by Clear Admit on February 22, 2007, at 2:00 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips In addition to the immediate concerns of admissions interview and deciding which program to attend, now is an important time of year for applicants and admitted students to think about how they’ll finance their MBAs. While loans are by far the most common route, many students receive scholarship funding to cover all or part of tuition. These awards are often conferred by the schools, but there are also a number of outside organizations that allocate funds to distribute to business school students whose goals or backgrounds are aligned with their missions.
Eligibility is usually determined by work experience, GPA, and in some cases, community involvement and organization membership. Most scholarship applications require a professional or academic recommendation as well as a personal essay about qualifications or career plans. While some scholarships are offered before entering business school, many are also granted during the first year of attendance.
The Committee of 200 (C200) presents Scholar Awards to outstanding women MBA students. Candidates are chosen from the MBA programs participating in C200′s Outreach Seminars, such as HBS, Duke, Columbia, Ross, Stanford and Wharton. Female applicants may also consider the Possible Woman Foundation International, an organization dedicated to providing women with personal and professional advancement opportunities. For minority students planning a career in financial services, the Toigo Foundation offers a merit award of $5,000 to those entering accredited, 2-year full-time MBA programs or pursuing a joint degree with direct ties to the field of finance. Second-year minority students are also eligible for the Toigo Fellowship. Other organizations offer scholarships based on students’ areas of study, such as the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF), which features the Richard Metzler Scholarship for a dedicated interest in management consulting.
Check out the links below (sorted by application deadline) for more information on the scholarship application processes and qualifications:
February 23: Possible Woman Foundation International March 15: Hispanic College Fund March 15 (priority consideration): National Society of Hispanic MBA Scholarship Program April 1: American Institute for CPAs Scholarship Program April 2 (first-year students): Robert Toigo Foundation April 16: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) April 23 (second-year students): Robert Toigo Foundation April 30 (final deadline): National Society of Hispanic MBA Scholarship Program April 30: National Black MBA Association Graduate Scholarship Program June 30: AMCF Richard Metzler Scholarship
Many business schools offer scholarships based on merit or through organizations like the Consortium or the Forte Foundation, so admitted applicants can also contact their particular school’s financial aid office for scholarship and fellowship information. These scholarship options are often heavily advertised, so don’t hesitate to contact the financial aid office – and the sooner the better, as these are often doled out on a first come, first served basis. Finally, scholarship seekers might also consider fastweb.com, a search engine with detailed criteria to . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on February 21, 2007, at 12:24 pm
Posted in: School: Virginia / Darden While a combination of hard work and careful planning is a good recipe for business school success, a recent news item shows that there’s also something to be said for a little bit of luck. When an anonymous donor endowed a scholarship worth one semester’s tuition at the Darden School of Business as a “random act of kindness,” the program took measures to select a recipient as randomly as possible. After making it through a series of pure-chance elimination rounds, one first year student emerged and will try her luck at the prize tomorrow in a “deal or no deal” style finale.
Those who are as curious as we are can watch the event live tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, stay tuned to this blog tomorrow for some information on scholarships for the less lucky but still deserving MBA applicants and students.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Wiki Wednesdays, our roundup of recent activity on the Clear Admit Wiki. This week we’ve received new contributions from applicants to Cornell, Kellogg, and a nicely detailed account of an INSEAD interview, and were especially pleased to receive four new Wharton interview reports! Because the last of the school’s Round 2 interview invitations went out last week and a number of applicants are still preparing for the big event, we thought it would be a good time to take a closer look at the Wharton interview experience.
At this point, applicants who have been invited to interview have committed to either an on-campus, off-campus or hub interview. Those whose interviews are scheduled at Wharton will most likely be meeting with a second-year student, though occasionally admissions representatives conduct on-campus interviews. Applicants who can’t make the trip to Wharton can meet with an admissions representative at a handful of cities around the world or schedule an interview with a Wharton alum closer to home.
All Wharton interviews are blind and resume-based, with the interviewer having no knowledge of the applicant’s profile and application. Though the majority of discussions are fairly straightforward, there is still some room for variability, especially where alumni are concerned. These questions from one account that was added to the wiki this week really illustrate this point:
“If you were to build a mall, how would you design it? If you had to build this mall on 2 floors what stores would you put on the first vs second floor? Why?
What do you think of the airline industry? Do you think it is profitable? (Again very strange….I don’t have a business background and only know a little bit about the airline industry’s business model) He then proceeded to explain that airline business is a loss-making one. Can you tell me three things that cause these losses?”
While Wharton interview questions vary depending on the interviewer, the purpose is ultimately to gauge the applicant’s personal qualities and professional trajectory. These items from two of this week’s other additions feature more traditional questions and illustrate the importance of thoughtful and tailored responses that showcase your and build on the ideas already in your essays:
“Whenever, I told [my interviewer] about some experience whether community or professional, he asked about how xyz behaved or tell me about one person I really liked in that community engagement. I think he was trying to gauge the depth and honesty of the experiences.”
“Why do you think Wharton is the ideal place to help you realize your long-term goals. I mentioned about several programs at Wharton which would help me and the diverse student body, alumni etc. So he said I know these programs are good but why do you think Wharton is the right place. I mentioned several other points. We then moved to another questions.”
Thanks again to all who posted to the Clear Admit . . . → Continue Reading
Posted by Clear Admit on February 20, 2007, at 2:24 pm
Posted in: School: Stanford The Stanford students behind the iinnovate podcast recently sat down with Dr. Ed Catmull, co-founder and President of Pixar Animation, to discuss “managing creative talent and maintaining an innovative edge.” Dr. Catmull was visiting the Stanford GSB as the keynote speaker for the 2007 Entrepreneurship Conference when he spoke with iinnovate.
This interview is a great example of the kinds of connections and conversations available on business school campuses, and of the opportunities made possible through student-organized conferences. Be sure to check out the full video interview with Ed Catmull, available here.
Posted by Clear Admit on February 20, 2007, at 3:03 am
Posted in: School: Stanford , Trivia Tuesday It’s time again for another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly examination of the programs and opportunities that differentiate the leading business schools. A few weeks ago we discussed some of the financial support available for internships and careers in the public and non-profit sectors. This week let’s take a look at an academic program that prepares students to enter these fields.
Stanford’s Public Management Program (PMP) was founded in 1971 to promote communication and collaboration between leaders of government and business and to address misunderstandings between politicians and those in the private sector. The program became part of the Center for Social Innovation in 2000, and today has the broader mission of preparing students to address social problems.
The PMP offers students the option of obtaining a Certificate in Public Management as a sign of their commitment to and preparedness for a career in the sector. About 15% of each GSB class obtains this certificate, the first and only of its kind. To qualify, students take 16 relevant course units drawn from approximately 30 electives, including an independent study option. This independent study can be academic, analyzing a specific sector or organization, or can be an internship, consulting engagement or strategy planning role at a sponsor organization.
Within the Certificate program, students who are especially focused can pursue an optional specialization in Government, Nonprofit Management or Socially Responsible Business.
This program is a great way for students interested in public management or socially responsible business careers to develop an understanding of issues in these fields and to differentiate themselves in the recruitment process.
For more on Stanford’s public management program or other options for tailoring your studies, visit the school’s website or check out the Special Programs section of the Clear Admit School Guide to Stanford!
Posted by Clear Admit on February 19, 2007, at 1:49 pm
Posted in: MBA News , School: Dartmouth / Tuck The Tuck School of Business announced last week that it will be adding a societal leadership program to its MBA curriculum, beginning in the 2007-2008 academic year. Complementing the school’s Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship and the Cohen Leadership Development Program, the year-long elective course will focus on a specific business issue with social relevance; the emphasis for the pilot year will be the implications of microfinance for alleviating global poverty. With classroom work in the fall and early winter and project-based learning in the late winter and spring, Tuck explains that the program will give students a chance to approach the topic from various angles and in multiple contexts, and will also promote interaction between the business school and undergraduate students.
For more information, see the school’s recent press release on the new program.
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