Posted by Clear Admit on July 23, 2007, at 4:27 pm
Posted in:  Essay Topics , School: London Business School The LBS adcom has just published the MBA application essays for this admissions season in the school’s community blog.
Question 1 (500 words): In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal?
Question 2 (200 words): Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision?
Question 3 (500 words): Please describe your experience of working in and leading teams, either in your professional or personal life. Given this experience, what role do you think you will play in your study group, and how do you intend to contribute to it?
Question 4 (400 words): Student involvement is an extremely important part of the London MBA experience and this is reflected in the character of students on campus. What type of student club or campus community event do you envisage yourself leading? How would you set about becoming involved in a leadership position and how would you align and communicate the goals and vision for the club to the wider School community?
Question 5 (150 words): Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these?
Question 6 (300 words) (This question is optional): Is there any other information that you believe would help the MBA Admissions Committee when considering your application?
The school’s online application will not go live until September, but in the meantime, applicants can download an essay template from the school’s site.
Posted by Clear Admit on July 23, 2007, at 10:46 am
Posted in: Essay Topics , School: Columbia Columbia Business School’s online application went live late last week, and the school’s essay questions for the coming year are now available:
Essay 1: What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)
Essay 2: In a recent speech delivered to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, Dean Glenn Hubbard discussed the new, essential elements of the 21st century MBA: http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/admissions/21st_century_MBA.pdf. How will your MBA prepare you for a rapidly changing business environment? (Recommended 500 word limit)
Essay 3: The entrepreneurial mindset is an integral component of the Columbia Business School MBA. Please discuss a time in your own life when you have identified and captured an opportunity (Recommended 500 word limit).
Essay 4: Please tell us about what you feel most passionate in life (Recommended 250 word limit).
Optional: Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.
Reapplicants need only answer a single essay:
How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? Please detail your progress since you last applied and reiterate your short-term and long-term goals. Explain how the tools of the Columbia MBA will help you to meet your goals and how you plan to participate in the Columbia community.
Meanwhile, the essays for January 2008 entry are the same as last year’s questions for the two-year program.
As the summer progresses and applicants begin researching their target schools in more depth, we would like to highlight a valuable research tool: school-hosted blogs. The last few years have seen a significant increase in the number of MBA student blogs hosted by schools’ admissions offices, as well as in admissions offices’ use of blogs to keep applicants informed of deadlines, admissions policies and events. Both types of blogs are useful throughout the admissions cycle; the factual information in the admissions office blogs is helpful in understanding and planning for the application process, while the student blogs offer valuable insights into student life, culture and academics.
Below we’ve provided links to some of the active blogs hosted by the leading MBA programs.
Admissions Office Blogs:
Harvard Business School Director’s Blog
http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog.html
London Business School
http://mbablog.london.edu/mbablog/
UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
http://theberkeleymba.blogspot.com/
Wharton MBA Admissions
http://adcomblog.wharton.upenn.edu/admissions/
School-Hosted Student Blogs
Copenhagan Business School
http://blogs.cbs.dk/mba_diary
London Business School
http://mbablog.london.edu/mbablog/
MIT Sloan Student Journals
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/experience/journals.php
Wharton Student Diaries
http://diaries.wharton.upenn.edu/
Yale SOM Community Blog
http://blogs.som.yale.edu/index.php
Finally, the Dean’s Student Advisory Committee at the Chicago GSB maintains a blog written by students, but offering advice and information on the admissions process at the school.
To help our readers easily access these blogs, we’ve added a new feed to the right-hand column of this page that displays the seven most recent entries from School-Hosted Blogs. Whether you are an applicant looking to learn more about a target school or a news junkie who just can’t get enough of the MBA world, this feed should help you keep on top of all the latest blogging from the schools. Happy reading!
Posted by Clear Admit on July 20, 2007, at 12:33 pm
Posted in: Workbook Wednesdays Here is the answer to this week’s Workbook Wednesdays GMAT question.
Answer
If set S is the set of all prime integers between 0 and 20 then: S = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19}
Let’s start by finding the probability that the product of the three numbers chosen is a number less than 31. To keep the product less than 31, the three numbers must be 2, 3 and 5. So, what is the probability that the three numbers chosen will be some combination of 2, 3, and 5? Here’s the list all possible combinations of 2, 3, and 5:
case A: 2, 3, 5
case B: 2, 5, 3
case C: 3, 2, 5
case D: 3, 5, 2
case E: 5, 2, 3
case F: 5, 3, 2
This makes it easy to see that when 2 is chosen first, there are two possible combinations. The same is true when 3 and 5 are chosen first. The probability of drawing a 2, AND a 3, AND a 5 in case A is calculated as follows (remember, when calculating probabilities, AND means multiply):
case A: (1/8) x (1/7) x (1/6) = 1/336
The same holds for the rest of the cases:
case B: (1/8) x (1/7) x (1/6) = 1/336
case C: (1/8) x (1/7) x (1/6) = 1/336
case D: (1/8) x (1/7) x (1/6) = 1/336
case E: (1/8) x (1/7) x (1/6) = 1/336
case F: (1/8) x (1/7) x (1/6) = 1/336
So, a 2, 3, and 5 could be chosen according to case A, OR case B, OR, case C, etc. The total probability of getting a 2, 3, and 5, in any order, can be calculated as follows (remember, when calculating probabilities, OR means add):
(1/336) + (1/336) + (1/336) + (1/336) + (1/336) + (1/336) = 6/336
Now, let’s calculate the probability that the sum of the three numbers is odd. In order to get an odd sum in this case, 2 must NOT be one of the numbers chosen. Using the rules of odds and evens, we can see that having a 2 would give the following scenario: even + odd + odd = even
So, what is the probability that the three numbers chosen are all odd? We would need an odd AND another odd, AND another odd:
(7/8) x (6/7) x (5/6) = 210/336
The positive difference between the two probabilities is:
(210/336) – (6/336) = (204/336) = 17/28
The correct answer is C.
Posted by Clear Admit on July 20, 2007, at 8:49 am
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline With the weekend right around the corner, its time once again for Fridays from the Frontline, where we bring you the latest from the MBA blogosphere. Many bloggers shared the sense this week that big changes lay ahead. Let’s see what they had to say.
Hopeful members of the Class of 2010 were gearing up for a full assault on their applications this week. Firstly, Bschool Diva burst back on the scene this week with a firm statement that she’ll go through another application season in pursuit of better results. Wannabe continued to work on his list of schools this week, and despite revisions he seems committed to Tuck’s Early Decision Round. At the same time, Chaos was working on his list too, and his notes on each program showed a high level of insight and information. Running Turtle posted a list of a slightly different nature, tallying up the various costs he’ll incur during the application process. On a more fortunate note, Charu was busy weighing the benefits of two exciting opportunities at work, one offering international experience and the other offering a shift in function. We wish him luck with his decision!
This was a momentous week for bloggers from the Class of 2009, who are making final arrangements and packing their belongings in locations all over the world in preparation for the start of the school year. Sight unseen, Iday took the leap and committed to an apartment near Chicago GSB this week. AsianGal arrived in Philadelphia with plenty of time to get situated before starting at Wharton, and her future classmate UniQpath revamped her blog in order to reflect her new status as an MBA student. Hairtwirler worked through Georgetown’s required quant refresher on MBA Math, while Sloan’s Career Survey raised some interesting questions for Bancaku. Just when we thought these required exercises were tough, though, we happened upon Maybe MBA’s post about driving to Chicago with a newborn baby in tow!
Compared to applicant bloggers and those about to start school, current students sounded calm and composed this week. Between paintball, happy hour, and summer courses at Columbia, John found time to post some insights and observations about his recent meeting with a VC. Patxi recommended an anti-spam plugin that fellow bloggers may find useful. Technology was not as kind to Jacek this week, who suffered a setback on his business plan when his files disappeared.
For readers who are more interested in arts and entertainment, check in with Anand for some exhaustive film rankings, and Rubeo Boy for a taste of some of the great music festivals taking place in Europe this summer! That does it for another edition of Fridays from the Frontline. Thanks for checking in, and have a great weekend!
Posted by Clear Admit on July 19, 2007, at 8:34 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips , Deadlines , School: Harvard , School: INSEAD , School: Michigan / Ross , School: MIT / Sloan , School: Oxford , School: Penn / Wharton , School: Stanford , School: UCLA / Anderson , School: Virginia / Darden , School: Yale Anyone who’s familiar with the MBA application process knows that August moves forward at an accelerated pace, and that in September entire weeks seem to disappear. To help this year’s Round One applicants avoid the classic time crunch, today’s blog post offers some basic advice on how to approach the Round One deadlines at a reasonable pace.
Let’s start by taking a quick look at the published Round One deadlines for the top MBA programs:
October 2: Harvard
October 3: INSEAD
October 10: Columbia Early Decision and January Term
October 11: Wharton
October 17: Chicago
October 22: Stanford
October 24: UCLA / Anderson, Yale SOM
October 30: MIT Sloan
November 1: Michigan / Ross, UVA / Darden (Early Action)
November 5: Berkeley / Haas
Though there are still a number schools that have yet to announce their deadlines (Kellogg and Stern, for example), one can still get a general sense of the lineup of R1 deadlines. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating your personal timeline:
1) Plan to be busy in August and September. Sure, it’s tempting to work on your tan instead of your essays. However, many MBA applicants squander the month of August only to wake up in September and realize that they cannot make their target deadlines. If not bogged down by professional obligations in August, this makes for a great opportunity to devote time to working on your MBA applications in the evenings. The last weeks of summer can easily be split between resume drafting, essay writing, recommendation coaching, GMAT prep, school research, visits and more…
2) Think carefully about the timing of the R1 deadlines. Looking at the deadlines above, it becomes clear that some deadlines may be easier to make than others. A candidate applying to, say, Wharton and MIT could have a leisurely October as compared to someone targeting Wharton, Chicago and Stanford. Look at the deadlines, assume about three weeks of research and writing for each school’s application and count backwards to determine a start date for each. It is entirely possible to meet back-to-back deadlines, such as Columbia’s and Wharton’s, but doing so requires a well-planned schedule and consistent progress.
3) Consider taking some time off from work. We realize that many MBA applicants work 70 hours/week and haven’t had a day off in months. For such applicants, a day or two out of the office can really do wonders for focus and organization. Applying to business school is a serious undertaking, and in the long-term you won’t regret having given yourself enough time to prepare strong applications. Many successful candidates take a week off in late September to make the final push. It’s not a glamorous way to spend your vacation time, but an offer to attend a leading MBA program can make the sacrifice well worth it.
4) Get your recommenders on board early. While many of the schools have not yet made their online applications and recommendation forms available, it’s a good idea to engage your recommenders early and inform them about the process and your timeline. Sit down with each recommender in August, perhaps over lunch or coffee. Present them with a rough sketch of the deadlines and the process. It’s then a wise to meet again once the forms are available, and by that time many applicants are in a position to share their background materials (a resume, career goals essay, etc.) to help their recommenders understand – and support – their message.
5) Do not leave the online application forms for last. Again, while many schools’ online application systems are not yet open for the 2007-08 season, we want to make sure that our readers are aware that this is a key component of the application. Some applicants pour weeks of work into their essays, only to scramble to complete face lengthy online data forms at the last minute. Your data forms are often the first thing the adcom will read when reviewing your file, so it’s important to make a strong first impression by following instructions, avoiding typos, and using this opportunity to present information about your candidacy to your best advantage.
Happy planning! For more information on the application process and school selection, feel free to contact us at info@clearadmit.com for a free consultation.
Posted by Clear Admit on July 18, 2007, at 2:47 pm
Posted in: Workbook Wednesdays Welcome to another edition of Workbook Wednesday, where we take a look at some of Manhattan GMAT’s most challenging quantitative questions. These are similar to the type of questions you are likely to see if you are scoring in the 700+ range on the GMAT. Let’s take a look…
Question
Set S is the set of all prime integers between 0 and 20. If three numbers are chosen randomly from set S and each number can be chosen only once, what is the positive difference between the probability that the product of these three numbers is a number less than 31 and the probability that the sum of these three numbers is odd?
(A) 1/336
(B) 1/2
(C) 17/28
(D) 3/4
(E) 301/336
We’ll post the answer and a brief explanation here tomorrow. In the meantime, happy calculating!
Posted by Clear Admit on July 18, 2007, at 9:00 am
Posted in: General Though we’ve begun to feature applicants applying this fall in our weekly Fridays from the Frontline column, we wanted to take a moment today to officially welcome the Class of 2010 to the blogging community! The list of bloggers who have announced their candidacy for this fall’s admissions season is already close to two dozen strong, and likely to grow as the deadlines approach. It’s great to see that there are so many applicants in this group, as these individuals will serve as a great source of information and moral support for each other throughout the application season.
Without further ado, here are the Class of 2010 Bloggers (along with a brief summary of their location and professional industry, when available):
Achilles – (works as a software engineer, lives in California)
http://theachillesworld.blogspot.com/
Agent-C – (lives in the U.S.)
http://cointosscelebration.blogspot.com/
Bluetulip
http://blueytomba.blogspot.com/
Bschool-bound – (works in management consulting)
http://bschool-bound.blogspot.com/
Chaos – (works in engineering, lives in India)
http://chaoticmba.blogspot.com/
Charu – (works in software engineering, lives in India)
http://charuformba.blogspot.com/
Dreamer – (works as a software engineer, lives in India)
http://dreamersmbajourney.blogspot.com/
Dream_er – (works in the technology industry, lives in Southeast Asia)
http://mbatrek.blogspot.com/
Ganja Turtle – (works in marketing, lives in India)
http://qualityganja.blogspot.com/
Glamour Girl – (lives in the U.S.)
http://glamourgirlmba.blogspot.com/
Gltnforpnshmnt
http://gltnforpnshmnt.wordpress.com/
MBA Idealist
http://starsnotenough.blogspot.com/
MBA or bust – (works in high tech marketing, lives in California)
http://mbabound08.wordpress.com/
Miss Curly Bee – (lives in Asia)
http://bschool-bound.blogspot.com/
Penguin – (works in technology, lives in Singapore)
http://thembapenguin.blogspot.com/
Preet Pillai – (works in investment banking, lives in India)
http://preetpillai.blogspot.com/
Running Turtle
http://mbawarcry.blogspot.com/
Seagull – (works in telecommunications, lives in Dallas, Texas)
http://dreamjourneymba.blogspot.com/
TheVenetianJob
http://venetianjob.blogspot.com/
T-Rex – (lives in India)
http://heartuntamed.blogspot.com/
Vectorspace101
http://vectorspace101.blogspot.com/
Wannabe
http://mbaroundtwo.blogspot.com/
Zephyr – (lives in India)
http://mybschoolsaga.blogspot.com/
As might be expected at this time of year, many of the bloggers are focused on prepping for the GMAT and creating an initial list of target schools. However, several are already getting started on their essays and we look forward to following their stories throughout the application season (and into business school)!
Posted by Clear Admit on July 17, 2007, at 11:09 am
Posted in: Deadlines , School: NYU Stern New York University’s Stern School of Business has just released their full-time deadlines for the upcoming admissions season:
Round 1
Application Due: November 15, 2007
Initial Notificiation by: February 15, 2008
Round 2
Application Due: January 15, 2008
Initial Notification by: April 1, 2008
Round 3
Application Due: March 15, 2008
Initial Notification by: June 1, 2008
The “initial notification” will be an interview invitation, notification of placement on the waitlist or denial of admission.
The school’s online application will not be available until mid-August. Online applications must be submitted by midnight EST and all applications submitted by mail must be postmarked by the application due date for that round.
It’s time once again for Trivia Tuesday, our regular column examining the programs and policies that differentiate the leading business schools. With the start of the school year fast approaching, most first-year students have finalized their financial aid packages and now know how they will pay for their tuition, room and board, books, and other expenses. Although MBA students typically finance a large part of their program costs through federal and private loans, a select number earn merit-based scholarships to cover some or all of their costs. Today we will look at a few of the merit-based scholarships available at Chicago, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, Tuck and Wharton.
Chicago’s most prestigious merit scholarship is the the Distinguished Fellows program. Inaugurated in 2002, the program awards four full-tuition scholarships plus $20,000 stipend packages each year. Students selected as Distinguished Fellows take part in the Leadership Practicum hosted by the Roger L. and Rachael M. Goetz Distinguished Service Professor of Creative Management Harry Davis, in which they meet in small groups, with program alumni, or individually with Professor Davis to develop a broad perspective on leadership. In addition to the Distinguished Fellows program, Chicago administers six merit-based scholarships that go to students with particular characteristics or backgrounds (such as students from emerging economies) and that range in size from $25,000 per year to full tuition plus a $15,000 stipend. All students are automatically considered for these merit awards, so no separate scholarship application is required.
At Kellogg, several specialized scholarship programs provide support to minority and international students, with selection based on demonstrated leadership and other donor-specified criteria. In addition, international students are supported through the Donald P. Jacobs International Scholarships that provide $10,000 of annual support to outstanding international students. As at Chicago, no separate scholarship application is required for these awards, since all students are considered during the regular admissions process.
Meanwhile, both MIT Sloan and Tuck offer merit scholarship to support to students who will enhance the diversity of the incoming class. For instance, Sloan offers several fellowships that target niche demographics, such as graduates of Columbia or Barnard, residents of the United Kingdom or graduates of Georgia Tech. Broader-based fellowships include the McKinsey Award, which is sponsored by McKinsey & Company and awards four $15,000 fellowships annually, and the Class of 2004 Diversity Scholarship, which seeks to attract students who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented at Sloan. At Tuck, students who apply for financial aid are considered for a number of merit-based scholarships and fellowships, which range from $3,000 to full tuition. Tuck considers a variety of factors when evaluating students for merit-based awards, including academic and professional performance, leadership and service, and the ability of the student to contribute to the diversity of the Tuck community. Scholarships are automatically renewed in the second year provided that students remain in good academic standing through their first year at Tuck.
Finally, Wharton tends to offer merit-based fellowships (to 25% of the incoming class) and grants (to approximately 20% of students). Wharton students report that the merit-based fellowships typically make awards of $7,500, $15,000 or $30,000 per year. Students must complete a separate fellowship application at the time of admission to Wharton to be considered for one of these awards, which the fellowship committee encourages all students to do. While some awards are open to all, others are targeted to particular groups. For instance, students from emerging economies, citizens of Europe or Mexico, or students of Hispanic or African-American descent may apply for the Emerging Economy, European, Henry Ralph Ringe, or Howard E. Mitchell Fellowships, respectively.
For more information on the costs and financing options at the leading MBA programs, be sure to check out the schools’ financial aid sites or the Financing Your MBA section of the Clear Admit School Guides!
Posted by Clear Admit on July 16, 2007, at 2:13 pm
Posted in: Essay Topics , School: Berkeley / Haas Haas has published a comprehensive list of the short answer and essay questions that will appear in their online application, set to be released in August. As a reminder, Haas published their deadlines at the end of June, and you can stay tuned to the blog for our analysis of the school’s essays!
Short Answer (required):
1. If you could have dinner with one individual in the past, present, or future, who would it be and why? (250 word maximum)
2. Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)
3. At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. Describe an innovative solution you have created to address a specific challenge. (250 word maximum)
4. What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum)
Required Essays:
1. Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
2. What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? Why do you want an MBA from Berkeley at this point in your career? (1000 word maximum)
Optional Essays:
1. (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)
2. (Optional) If you wish to be considered for the Haas Achievement Award (for individuals who have achieved success in spite of significant economic, educational, health-related and/or other obstacles), please use this space to address the obstacles you have overcome. (750 word maximum)
Supplemental Questions:
1. If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain; otherwise, enter N/A.
2. List in order of importance all community & professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, dates of involvement, offices held, & average number of hours spent per month.
3. List full-time and part-time jobs held during undergraduate or graduate studies, indicating the employer, job title, employment dates, location, and the number of hours worked per week for each position held prior to the completion of your degree.
4. Please explain all gaps in your employment since earning your university degree.
5. Please identify the course(s) you have taken or intend to take to demonstrate quantitative proficiency. Provide the course name, date, grade if any, and institution at which the course was or will be taken. If you wish, you may discuss other ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities.
6. If you have ever been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation, suspended or required to withdraw from any college or university, please explain. If not, please enter N/A. (An affirmative response to this question does not automatically disqualify you from admission.)
Posted by Clear Admit on July 16, 2007, at 2:10 am
Posted in: Essay Topic Analysis , School: Chicago To kick off this season’s series of essay topic analyses, we thought we would start with the school that’s really shaking things up this year. Though every few years we’ll see a dramatic shift in the focus or format of some school’s required essay questions, the Chicago GSB is pushing applicants to think beyond the essay format and assemble a four-slide Powerpoint presentation. Let’s take a look at the complete set of questions and think about how this new development might influence one’s approach to the Chicago application:
Essay 1: Why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your career? Describe your personal and professional goals and the role an MBA from the University of Chicago GSB plays in your plans to reach these goals. (1,500 word maximum)
Our general guidelines for the standard career goals essay apply to this document, but the above-average length and the nature of Chicago’s other questions add another strategic consideration. While the second and third essays certainly provide ample opportunity to share information about oneself, there really isn’t much room for narrative. This is a distinct contrast from schools like Stanford and MIT, which ask applicants to recount the details of their actions in several specific kinds of situations across the application essays. With this in mind, Chicago applicants might want to use a portion of their 1500 words in this essay to briefly share the details of some professional achievements and significant experiences.
Essay 2: If you could step into someone else’s shoes for a day, who would it be and why? (500 word maximum)
The most common trap that applicants fall into when answering this question is writing more about the person whose shoes he or she would choose to occupy than about the reasons for this selection and the way it fits into his or her candidacy. While this can be a fun question with an answer that is sure to be telling, it’s important not to lose sight of what should be the main objective of one’s application: sharing impressive information about oneself that is relevant to one’s business school candidacy. Selecting a prominent figure whose work is in line with one’s professional goals or favorite hobby can be a great strategy for producing an interesting essay that allows for detail about the applicant’s background as well.
Essay 3: We have asked for a great deal of information throughout this application. In this portion of the application, we invite you tell us about yourself using a non-traditional application format–a PowerPoint presentation. In four slides or less, please provide readers with content that captures who you are.
This approach isn’t exactly revolutionary – Stern’s usual Essay 3 asks for a personal expression that gives candidates complete freedom with content and medium (except for the exclusion of edible/perishable personal expressions) – but it does speak to Chicago’s interest in a candidate’s interests and personality. While all this “white space” might be daunting to some, an easy way to approach this process is to ask oneself a few simple questions. Are there four personal themes to which you would like to devote a slide each? Would you prefer to use the four frames to create a sense of progression through a day, event or activity? We’re hesitant to provide too much guidance given the free-form nature of the task; the best advice we can offer is to think about who you are (and how this might be of interest to the GSB adcom), consider how you could translate this into words and images, and then try it out. Showing the initial result to someone who knows you well could be a great way to determine how successful this draft is. Good luck, and have fun!
Posted by Clear Admit on July 13, 2007, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline , General Welcome back to another installment of Fridays from the Frontline, our weekly summary of the MBA blogosphere! Bloggers last week reported on everything from the panic of exam day to pure summertime rest and relaxation. Let’s take a look at what they’re up to:
Checking in on the bloggers who are currently getting ready for the upcoming admissions season, first our congratulations go to Wannabe for completing the GMAT! He pulled off a commendable score, despite struggling with practice tests and finding the test center closed on the morning of his scheduled exam. The same test administering company gave Miss Curly Bee so much difficulty that they have just granted her a second sitting free of charge. With the possibility of setbacks like these always lurking, Charu was wise to plot out his deadline schedule early on, and Running Turtle posted an even more detailed outline of his upcoming months of preparation.
In contrast to those above, bloggers who are about to begin their MBA programs this fall were sounding more relaxed. Life was good for Le Blog Hog last week, as he was attending an intensive language course to fulfill INSEAD’s rigorous language requirements. TheLadiesChoice reported an impressive schedule of movie going and shopping, as he seems to be taking his “license to chill” more seriously as his move to Chicago draws near. Juggler is making her way to Wharton via California, and as of her last post seemed most preoccupied with staying awake despite the jetlag. Taking the opposite approach, Ipoel was living it up back in Indonesia, before she returns to L.A. for her first year at Anderson.
Turning our attention to current students, there were several posts from summer interns last week. La Laudiaria broke her blogging hiatus to share her vacation plans for the weeks between her Google internship and her second year at Wharton. MBA Gladiator was also in vacation-mode, as he had a lot more to say about the beach than his United Way internship! Patxi sounded somewhat more focused, not on his LBS classes, but on David Allen’s Getting Things Done. On the other hand, with Columbia’s course bidding process getting started, John turned his sights back towards academics, just as DomoDomo graduated from INSEAD and bid farewell to his blog readers.
Lastly, trendsetters and sportsmen take note: there seems to be a new game taking MBA students by storm, leaving us to wonder if FedEx may be onto something with this TV spot! Have a fantastic weekend, and we’ll see you back here next week for another edition of Fridays from the Frontline!
Posted by Clear Admit on July 12, 2007, at 6:56 pm
Posted in: Essay Topics , School: Penn / Wharton While Wharton’s online application is set to go live in August, their adcom has published both first-time applicant and re-applicant essays in their blog. Check their deadlines here and stay tuned for our upcoming Wharton essay analysis!
First-time Applicant Essays
All first-time applicants are required to complete four essays, with the option of a fifth essay that may be used to address extenuating circumstances. Reapplicants who applied for the Entering Fall 2006 or 2007 Class are to complete the re-applicant essays. All other reapplicants are to complete the first-time applicant essays.
REQUIRED:
1. Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect a Wharton MBA to help you achieve these goals, and why is now the best time for you to join our program? (1,000 words)
2. Describe a failure or setback that you have experienced. What role did you play and what did you learn about yourself? (500 words)
3. Tell us about a situation in which you were an outsider. What did you learn from the experience? (500 words)
4. Please Complete One Of The Following Two Questions:
4.1. Where in your background would we find evidence of your leadership capacity and/or potential? (500 words)
4.2. Is there anything about your background or experience that you feel you have not had the opportunity to share with the Admissions Committee in your application? If yes, please explain. (500 words)
OPTIONAL: 5. If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, TOEFL waiver request, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)
Re-applicant Essays
Reapplicants are required to complete three essays, with the option of a fourth essay that may be used to address extenuating circumstances. (Please note: re-applicants essays are for Fall 2006 or Fall 2007 applicants only. Reapplicants from prior years are to complete the first-time applicant essays).
REQUIRED:
1. Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect a Wharton MBA to help you achieve these goals, and why is now the best time for you to join our program? How has your candidacy improved since the last time you applied? (1,000 words)
2. Tell us about a situation in which you were an outsider. What did you learn from the experience? (500 words)
3. Please Complete One Of The Following Two Questions:
3.1. Where in your background would we find evidence of your leadership capacity and/or potential? (500 words)
3.2. Is there anything about your background or experience that you feel you have not had the opportunity to share with the Admissions Committee in your application? If yes, please explain. (500 words)
OPTIONAL: 4. If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, TOEFL waiver request, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)
|
Comments closed