APPLICANT RESOURCES

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.

Clear Admit School Guides
Seventeen 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.

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics for the 2007-2008 admissions season.
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
UT Austin / McCombs *
UVA / Darden
Yale SOM
* denotes last year's commentary

• Admissions Tips
• Campus Chronicles
• Deadlines
• Essay Topic Analysis
• Essay Topics
• Events
• Fridays from the Frontline
• General
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• GMAT Tips
• Interview Guides
• Interview Tips
• MBA News
• Part-Time MBA
• Part-Time/Executive MBA
• Pre-Matriculation Tips
• Rankings
• School Guides
• School: Berkeley / Haas
• School: Cambridge
• School: Chicago
• School: CMU / Tepper
• School: Columbia
• School: Cornell / Johnson
• School: Dartmouth / Tuck
• School: Duke / Fuqua
• School: Emory / Goizueta
• School: ESADE
• School: Georgetown
• School: Harvard
• School: IE
• School: IESE
• School: IMD
• School: INSEAD
• School: ISB
• School: London Business School
• School: Michigan / Ross
• School: MIT / Sloan
• School: Northwestern / Kellogg
• School: NYU Stern
• School: Oxford
• School: Penn / Wharton
• School: Stanford
• School: UCLA / Anderson
• School: UNC / Kenan Flagler
• School: UT Austin / McCombs
• School: Virginia / Darden
• School: Yale
• Trivia Tuesday
• Uncategorized
• Waitlist Advice
• Which School Wednesdays
• Wiki Wednesdays
• Workbook Wednesdays

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

• knowledge@wharton
• INSEAD Knowledge
• Harvard Working Knowledge
• Knowledge @ Emory
• Columbia Ideas @ Work
• knowledge@ W. P. Carey

Blog Archive

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ARCHIVE FOR JANUARY 2008

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Surveying the Executive MBA Landscape

Applications are up but acceptances are down among executive MBA programs surveyed by the Executive MBA Council, which also found that individuals and organizations alike are getting a faster return on investments made in higher education than in previous years.

The nonprofit organization, whose membership includes 300-plus executive MBA programs in more than 25 countries, this month released data gathered from two distinct surveys designed to chart the current executive business education landscape: one of its member programs and another of recent executive MBA graduates.

The first study, the Executive MBA Council 2007 Membership Program Survey, found that the average number of applicants per program jumped 25 percent from 2005 to 2007 but that program and class sizes dropped slightly during the same time period.

On average, programs accepted 63 percent of applicants in 2007, down from 67 percent in 2005. In response to increased application volume, more than half of the programs surveyed (57 percent) are considering increasing capacity or opening additional programs in new locations.

Even as application volume is rising – or perhaps contributing to the surge – 36 percent of executive MBA member programs are expanding their outreach efforts in an effort to diversify class makeup. Of special outreach programs in place, 59 percent target women; others focus on drawing more applicants from ethnic minority, entrepreneur, nonprofit and public sector audiences. The member program survey also found that average total program costs rose slightly, from $54,295 in 2005 to $57,954 last year.

The council’s second survey, the Student Exit Benchmarking Survey, is designed to gauge the perceptions and opinions of executive MBA students upon graduation. This year’s respondents report that the time it takes for their organizations to get a return on the investment made in their executive MBA pursuits has shortened from 28 months in 2006 to just 23 months in 2007. Students who fund their own education are also experiencing a faster return on investment: 45 months in 2007, down from 52 months in 2006.

Recent graduates also report a jump in salaries upon completion of their programs, as well as more promotions than expected. According to the survey, executive MBA graduates reported an average salary increase of 21 percent upon completion of their programs, with average salaries rising from $107,097 to $130,056. Thirty-seven percent of students surveyed said they expected a promotion upon graduation; 43 percent received one.

The Executive MBA Council is a strategic partner of the Graduate Managaement Admissions Council, which owns the GMAT exam.

More Praise for Clear Admit Publications!

While the b-school blogosphere and discussion boards are quite understandably abuzz with talk of recent R1 results and freshly submitted R2 applications, we’ve also spotted a few nice comments about the Clear Admit School Guides and Clear Admit Interview Guides that we wanted to highlight.

First, MBA blogger B-School Bound, who was admitted to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and Kellogg this season, attributes his interview preparedness to the Guides in an acknowledgment-style entry:

ClearAdmit’s school guides prepared me for interviews — specifically, they helped me locate very specific questions about each school that I could ask at the end, so that it was obvious that I had done my research.

We’re happy we could help! Meanwhile, another Clear Admit Guides customer had some great things to say on the BW forum:

I highly recommend reading the Clear Admit School and Interview guide. You can buy both for a discount on their site. The School guide is good for brushing up on the program, classes, clubs, school strengths, etc, — whereas the interview guide explains their typical interview, with questions other candidates have been asked. I suggest preparing answers in advance to the questions in the guide, that way you won’t be caught off guard by anything your interviewer asks.

Thanks to all the School Guide and Interview Guide supporters who are spreading the word! To see what all the fuss is about, visit the Publications section of our site, or browse the list of available titles. Happy reading and researching!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Future Could Hold a Surge in Business School Applications

The fate of business school graduates and applicants – far more so than that of their counterparts in medical school, law school or any number of Ph.D. programs – is inextricably linked to the state of the economy. Given current turbulent economic conditions, business school students are looking with an anxious eye toward job opportunities come graduation time, and prospective applicants are trying to decide whether heading to business school now is a wise choice.

Last week, Darden’s Dean Robert Bruner advised prospective students not to let today’s economic uncertainty dissuade them from pursuing an MBA, saying that he believes that a business school education will benefit prospective job applicants regardless of the ultimate outcome of the current crisis.

In fact, business school application volumes often run counter to economic downturns – surging in times of trouble. According to a recent article in the Financial Times, several factors contribute to this trend. First, many applicants try to time the start of their MBA course with a downturn, hoping to emerge from their program as the pendulum swings up again. Second, as job markets tighten, the advantage of an MBA becomes ever clearer. Finally, for those who lose their jobs or have a hard time finding a job, business school provides a good place to hide out while strengthening future employment opportunities and earning power.

But given the increasingly global market of business education, this simple inverse relationship is growing ever more complex. The FT article cites a study by economists Plutarchos Sakellaris and Antonio Splimbergo that had interesting findings with regard to the relationship between business cycles and demand for higher education.

Specifically, the study – which looked mainly at foreign students heading to U.S. schools – found that the relative wealth of the students’ country of origin had significant bearing on enrollment. Students from wealthier countries upheld the countercyclical trend – with MBA applications surging as economies turned south. But in growing economies, the pursuit of higher education tracked parallel to the state of the market. In times of plenty, students sought out the greater advantages promised by an advanced degree, while in tighter times, the cost of higher education proved prohibitive.

The study, entitled “Business Cycles and Investment in Human Capital: International Evidence on Higher Education,” was conducted in 1999, but its findings could have particular significant in today’s financial climate. According to the FT, business schools could be looking at a “win-win” situation. Applications from students in wealthier nations can be expected to rise even if the dreaded word that begins with an ‘r’ proves unavoidable. But at the same time, applicants from growing economies could also swell. (China’s GDP increased by more than 11 percent in 2007, the fastest rate in 13 years…)

Of course, good news for business schools means more competition for prospective applicants. Top-notch essays and interviews could become even more critical in the months ahead. Don’t miss our Clear Admit School Guides and Interview Guides: great resources to help you stand out from the masses.

Wiki Wednesdays: CMU Tepper and Berkeley Haas Part-Time MBAs

Welcome to another edition of Wiki Wednesdays, where we highlight informative, applicant-generated content on the MBA admissions process from the Clear Admit Wiki. With a slew of part-time MBA program deadlines left in the 2007-2008 admissions season, we’re taking a closer look at a few part-time MBA interview reports – specifically, the Berkeley Haas Evening and Weekend MBA interview as well as Carnegie Mellon Tepper Flex-Time Program interview.

The Haas admissions committee conducts on-campus interviews by invitation; these interviews are “blind,” with the interviewer having no prior knowledge of the candidate’s submitted application. Meanwhile, Tepper began their admissions season with applicant-initiated interviews, but transitioned into invitation mode in early December. Tepper’s part-time interviews can be conducted on- or off-campus as well as by telephone. Unlike Haas, Tepper’s interviewers have thorough knowledge of a candidate’s application materials.

According to one Haas Evening and Weekend MBA applicant who posted in the Clear Admit Wiki, “[the interviewer] asked me to walk her through my resume…I explained all the transitions and why I made those choices.” As the Haas program emphasizes “leading through innovation,” applicants might take this opportunity to reflect on how they have developed fresh ideas and seized new opportunities through the course of their career. In addition to other standard questions about career goals and MBA objectives, the Haas applicant reported,

1. “[The interviewer] also asked about what my boss would think of me and then what…my colleagues would think of me.”

This focus on the impact one has had on peers and superiors suggests an interest in an applicant’s collaborative skills and approach to engaging others in the program. Given the school’s emphasis on innovation and collaboration, it might also make sense to highlight how one has fostered innovation in a team setting.

While the Haas part-time MBA interview consisted of some standard questions, one in particular seemed to be missing – “why Haas?” According to a recent Tepper Flex-Time MBA applicant, this was not the case with CMU - as the interview kicked off with the question, “Why did you choose Tepper Flex-Time?” With a clear understanding of what Tepper has to offer, candidates can set the tone for the interview by prioritizing some main themes, such as Tepper’s part-time flexibility, small class size or focus on diversity. Of course, the interviewer’s familiarity with a candidate’s background makes the nature and order of questions somewhat unpredictable; the Tepper wiki contributor notes, “there was no formal structure to the interview.” While the Tepper interview reportedly progressed on the topics “of desires, career goals, current employment and even extracurricular activities,” the candidate advises, “know the Tepper program inside and out.” Among many other ways to get to know Tepper, the school suggests contacting current Tepper students and exploring their website.

As always, we would like to thank those who have posted to the Clear Admit Wiki this season, most recently a new Darden interview and an applicant’s choice between Kellogg and Wharton. If you would like to add your experience to the Clear Admit Wiki, simply create an account or send your reports to wiki@clearadmit.com. Best of luck to those preparing for interviews this season! For further tips and advice, be sure to check out Clear Admit Interview Guides.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Reminder: Sign up now for the Clear Admit/ManhattanGMAT Information Session and Networking Event!

Clear Admit and ManhattanGMAT are partnering to offer an information session and networking mixer for Philadelphia area young professionals considering applying to top MBA programs. The event will take place on February 6, 2008 from 7:00-9:00PM at Clear Admit’s Philadelphia headquarters.

Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond, a Wharton MBA graduate, will answer questions about the complex MBA admissions process, and ManhattanGMAT instructor Brian Lange will help attendees demystify the GMAT. In addition, participants could win one of several prizes to help jump start their MBA applications: a free 9-session ManhattanGMAT course ($1390 value), a complete set of ManhattanGMAT course books ($270 value), a set of five Clear Admit School Guides ($175 value), or a set of five Clear Admit Interview Guides ($100 value).

The event is free, but registration is required and space is limited. Reserve your space today by visiting: http://www.manhattangmat.com/Cart.cfm?itemID=1967&ItemType=0&act=Add

The Next Decade in Business School Education

In releasing its 10th annual MBA rankings yesterday, the Financial Times looked at more than just the performance of business schools over the past year. It also took the opportunity to issue forecasts for the decade to come. Innovation will alter the landscape of business management education, carbon-free campuses will grow more prevalent worldwide and the current economic crisis may spur a surge in applications even as it threatens to make employment opportunities upon graduation more uncertain.

Innovation to Continue
Innovation, considered a hallmark of the past decade by many deans, will be even more pronounced in the years to come, according to the FT analysis. Two major factors are expected to contribute. The first is the sharp rise in the number of world-class Asian business schools. As an increase in European programs reshaped the landscape in the past decade – leading to the development of the one-year program and diversifying student bodies – so, too, will the growing emergence of Asian schools onto the scene.

In Asia, where economies are fast moving and infrastructure is limited, innovation may be even more marked. “People have to be extremely creative in managing when infrastructure is under-developed,” Arnoud De Meyer, director of the Judge School of Business at Cambridge, told the FT. European schools, too, will move beyond emulating U.S. schools and continue to make important contributions of their own, according to De Meyer. “I think in the next 10 years we will want to differentiate ourselves and build on our own strengths,” he said.

Widespread adoption of advanced technology will be the second major driver of innovation, according to the FT. As entering MBA classes are increasingly made up of students born into the digital age, business schools will be forced to adapt. “The workspace, living space and learning space will all be linked together,” predicts Nigel Banister, chief executive of Manchester Business School Worldwide. “There will be personalised learning spaces,” he told the FT. “Traditional teaching methods will go.” Faculty members, not students, have resisted the change up until now, according to Banister, but they will no longer have a choice.

Campuses Go Green
The FT report also called attention to a growing trend among business schools with regard to environmental responsibility. Increasingly, business schools – often led by student initiatives – are paying closer attention to their carbon footprint and taking concrete steps to reduce it.

The FT highlighted an effort at Switzerland’s IMD to use water from nearby Lake Geneva to cool the school’s buildings. Meanwhile, at MIT Sloan, environmental issues are driving both the architecture and the curriculum. The school is currently constructing a new green building. At the same time, it’s offering an elective through its Laboratory for Sustainability (S-Lab) designed to encourage students to complete team projects focused on sustainability issues.

Other schools are following suit. New York University’s Stern School of Business last fall launched its own campus greening initiative, spearheaded by a second-year MBA student. A cross-disciplinary taskforce called the Stern Campus Greening Initiative (SCGI) was founded to establish and implement sustainability protocols throughout the university at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

In fact, campus greening is one of the most prominent initiatives of Net Impact, an international non-profit organization geared toward creating leaders who use business to make a positive impact on the world. As a resource to schools considering starting a sustainability initiative at their own schools, Net Impact’s website provides case studies from almost a dozen MBA programs that have already begun to take action.

Economy Downturn, Application Uptick?
Of course, given the current state of the economy, long-term outlooks are clouded for many by more short-term concerns. What will the climate be like for this year’s graduates seeking jobs, and will the number of applicants to business schools rise or fall as a result of widespread economic uncertainty? A closer look at those questions in tomorrow’s post.

Trivia Tuesday: Tuck’s First Year Project

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

Today we’re turning our attention to snowy New Hampshire to discuss a Tuck tradition, the First Year Project.

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

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

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

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

Monday, January 28, 2008

Financial Times Releases 2008 Global MBA Rankings

The Financial Times released its 2008 Global MBA rankings today, with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business claiming the number one spot for the fourth year in a row. Wharton’s company at the top remained relatively unchanged – Columbia, Stanford, Harvard and the London Business School (LBS) again comprised the top five ranked programs. Notably, LBS shot up from fifth to second this year – assuming the highest rank ever for a European business school – due in great part to the growth of London as a world economic center.

“As London has grown as a world financial centre, so has the popularity of British business schools, with students eager to work in the U.K. on graduation,” reported the FT in its analysis of this year’s ranking. Indeed, as we reported last week, LBS students overwhelmingly choose to remain in London upon graduation. Of last year’s graduating class, almost 70 percent took their first job in London last year, even though fewer than 10 percent of the students were British.

The rankings help make clear the ways in which the success of business schools is closely linked to the current business environment, according to the FT analysis. In addition to a rise in popularity of British schools, this year’s rankings also bear out the recent surge of world-class business schools in Asia, particularly China.

“The rise in volume and quality of Asian business schools is also economically linked,” Arnoud De Meyer, director of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, told the FT. “This is for a very simple reason: the demand for business schools is correlated with [the size of] GDP,” he continued.

U.S. schools, meanwhile, are being impacted by the weak dollar – though the impact is felt in different ways by different students. For non-U.S. students, the weak dollar means that jobs in the U.S. no longer carry an expected salary premium. But at the same time, tuition to U.S. programs is now also effectively cheaper.

U.S. schools continue to best their European counterparts where funding is concerned as well, the FT reports. Healthy endowments at U.S. schools help attract both faculty and students. Lisa Giannangeli, director of marketing for MBA admissions at Stanford, told the FT that 72 percent of students in this year’s class received some form of financial aid. “We paid over $7 million in grants and research assistantships,” she said.

Attention to academic research output and alumni satisfaction also differentiates U.S. schools from their European counterparts, according to the FT report. “We haven’t gone nearly as far as many U.S. schools,” says Michael Luger, director of Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom and a former academic at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School. European school will continue to increase their focus on alumni, he predicts.

But as European schools seem to be attempting to emulate U.S. schools in these areas, U.S. schools meanwhile are looking to European programs for guidance on curriculum development and teaching methods, the FT continued. Specifically, several top schools – including Yale, Stanford and Columbia – have reshaped their programs to include more teamwork and overseas projects.

Interestingly, the FT analysis points to U.S. schools’ accepting greater numbers of recent undergraduates into MBA programs as another major point differentiating them from their European counterparts. In another post last week, we took a look at this relatively recent trend in the U.S. According to the FT, the ability to enter an MBA program in the U.S. without prior related work experience could prove particularly attractive in the future to European career changers.

For as much as current economic conditions may affect European and U.S. schools differently, there are also ways in which the overall economic climate may impact business schools more universally. More on that in tomorrow’s post…

Part-time and Executive MBA Programs

Part-time MBA programs offer sound alternatives to full-time options in terms of time and tuition. Usually lasting two to three years, part-time MBA programs allow students to keep their jobs while attending classes in the evenings or on weekends. This schedule allows students to minimize debt by maintaining their income and/or obtaining tuition reimbursements from their employer with the added benefit of immediately applying classroom lessons to their own careers.

Applicants with extensive work experience (a minimum of five years) and company sponsorship may find an Executive MBA program to be the best fit. These programs provide a solid framework in general management and prepare candidates for long-term senior level growth. EMBA classes usually take place on weekends, though some programs may require students to take 1-2 weeks of time off from work each year to attend intensive class sessions.

For those unable to attend a full-time MBA program, but seeking new skills to push their careers forward, be sure to take a look at the part-time and EMBA program deadlines below and to check out the schools’ websites for further details.

PART-TIME MBA PROGRAM DEADLINES:

Babson College / Olin
Evening MBA: May 1st, 2008, July 1st, 2008, or rolling admissions until August 15th
Fast-Track MBA: May 1st, 2008, July 1st, 2008, or rolling admissions until August 15th

Berkeley / Haas
Evening & Weekend: February 29th, 2008

UCLA Anderson
FEMBA: April 2nd, 2008

Carnegie Melon University / Tepper
Flex-Time MBA: March 10th, 2008, April 28th, 2008, April 28th, 2008 then rolling
Flex-Mode MBA: March 10th, 2008, April 28th, 2008, April 28th, 2008 then rolling

Chicago GSB
Weekend Program: June 6th, 2008
Evening Program: April 18th, 2008 (summer entry), July 11th, 2008 (fall entry)

DePaul University / Kellstadt
Weekend MBA: July 1st, 2008 then rolling (September entry)
Evening MBA Program: February 1st, 2008 (spring entry), April 1st, 2008 (summer entry), July 1st, 2008 (autumn entry), October 1st, 2008 (winter entry)

NYU / Stern
Langone Part-Time: May 15th, 2008

Northwestern / Kellogg
Evening Part-Time MBA: April 18th, 2008 (summer quarter), July 18th, 2008 (fall quarter)

University of Minnesota / Carlson
Part-Time MBA: May 1st, 2008 (fall semester), October 1st, 2008 (spring semester)

University of Southern California / Marshall
MBA.PM: Rolling until May 1st, 2008

EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAM DEADLINES:

Berkeley / Haas
Executive MBA (Berkeley-Columbia): February 11th, 2008

UCLA Anderson
Executive MBA: April 1st, 2008, then rolling

Chicago GSB
Executive MBA: February 1st, 2008 or April 1st, 2008

Columbia Business School
NY-EMBA (September entry): June 1st, 2008
NY-EMBA (January entry): October 15th (early deadline) and December 3rd (deadline)
EMBA-Global: February 11th, 2008 (May 2008 entry)
Berkeley-Columbia: February 11th, 2008 (May 2008 entry)

Duke / Fuqua
Global Executive: February 18th, 2008 or March 17th, 2008 (May 2007 entry)
Cross Continent: March 17th, 2008 or April 14th, 2008 (July 2008 entry)
Weekend Executive: Not yet announced (first deadline last year was May 14th for March entry)

University of Michigan / Ross
EMBA (August entry): February 1st, 2008 March 15th, 2008, or May 1st, 2008
EMBA (January 2009 entry): June 1st, July 15th, September 1st, October 1st, November 1st or December 1st, 2008

NYU / Stern
EMBA: April 15, 2008 or June 15, 2008

UNC / Kenan-Flagler
EMBA Evening: January 21, 2008, March 17, 2008, May 5, 2008 (August entry)
EMBA Weekend: April 7, 2008, July 14, 2008, or October 1, 2008 (Jan. 2009 entry)
OneMBA Program: January 29, 2008, April 1, 2008, or June 10, 2008 (Sept. entry)

Northwestern / Kellogg
Executive MBA: February 1, 2008, April 1, 2008, June 1, 2008 (September start)

Wharton
WEMBA: February 1, 2008 (for Philadelphia or San Francisco location)

Campus Chronicles: Wharton, Harvard

As the second semester picks up steam, let’s take a look at what’s happening on the campuses of Wharton and HBS, as reported in the school’s MBA students papers.

The most recent Wharton Journal showcases the school’s international offerings, with articles on the New Year’s Eve Leadership Ventures trek to Antarctica, the 2008 Caribbean MBA Conference, and the challenges of marketing in Asia. In addition to these opportunities for cross-cultural learning, Wharton students recently had the chance to hear Deloitte Consulting CEO Doug Lattner speak as part of the Leadership Lecture series. Mr. Lattner discussed his impressions of the Deloitte culture while also sharing his mantra for leadership with the gathered crowd of Wharton students: “Know yourself, consistently excel, and select mentors to learn from.” Elsewhere in the issue, a Wharton first-year student ponders the infamous consulting case interview and considers how he might fare in the process, while two second-years face off over how well they know Wharton’s Huntsman Hall.

At Harvard, the big news in the Harbus was the launch of MapEcos.org, an online tool that maps industrial pollution and environmental protection activities across the U.S. The tool is the result of a joint effort by professors at Harvard, Fuqua and Tuck to offer a “balanced view” of the environmental performance of U.S. facilities. In less groundbreaking but equally exciting news, the Harbus offers a summary of the Wine and Cuisine Society’s Holiday Party, and reports that the 2008 Caribbean MBA Conference (co-hosted with Wharton) was even mentioned in the national paper of Trinidad. As for campus life, one student offers some of the wisdom for the ages that she’s gleaned while at HBS, while another offers tips on surviving the New England winters (oddly, ice cream seems to be the key). And finally, to encourage HBS students to explore the best of what Boston has to offer, the Harbus has rerun some of its classic restaurant reviews, including those for Noir, Taiwan Cafe, and Tealuxe. If you’re planning a trip to Boston, be sure to check out these suggestions!

Friday, January 25, 2008

London Business School Releases 2007 MBA Employment Report

Yes, right now you’re focused on getting into business school. But soon enough you’ll be every bit as obsessed with what to do once you get out. What will your job prospects be? How much money will you make? What industry should you enter?

The London Business School (LBS) this week released its annual MBA employment report, which provides a glimpse of the career choices open to its 2007 graduates, as well as the summer plans of its 2008 MBA class. Good food for thought for prospective applicants, whether LBS is among your target schools or not.

The U.K. school proudly announced that a full 97 percent of its 2007 MBA class had accepted job offers within three months of graduation. Of these, 46 percent chose to enter the investment banking field, 31 percent were drawn to global industry and 23 percent opted for management consultancy positions. Of note, the 2007 class also proved to be LBS’s most entrepreneurial in recent years, with 5 percent of graduates starting their own venture after graduation.

Last year’s first-year students weren’t slackers either, according to the report. Every member of the 2008 MBA class secured a summer internship, and 11 percent took on more than one (up from 6 percent the year before). Of the 2008 MBA class, 57 percent chose internships in the financial services, 27 percent in global industry and 17 percent in management consultancy.

Major recruiters for both graduates and interns included the Barclays Group, which hired 17 graduates and 19 interns, and Lehman Brothers, which hired 11 graduates and 15 interns. Among management consultant firms, Booz Allen Hamilton was the top recruiter, hiring 15 graduates and 11 interns.

Interestingly, despite an undeniably international student body – LBS’s students hail from 130 different countries – the vast majority of students chose to stay put after graduation. “It was apparent that London continues to be the hotspot for financial roles as demonstrated by close to 70 percent of the class choosing to work in London,” said Diane Morgan, director of career services, about the 2007 graduates.

LBS’s Career Services Department works hard to connect its students with job opportunities upon graduation. In the past year, the department has devoted particular focus toward diversifying recruitment among financial services firms. It also introduced a new service in June 2007 called Career Central, an online recruitment system that provides a one-stop shop for students who need to create CVs, search job postings and schedule presentations and interviews.

In addition to specific employment information, the LBS report also provides general demographic information about the 2007 and 2008 MBA classes. According to these statistics, the number of female students is on the rise. Of the 2008 MBA students, 28 percent are female, a 6 percent increase over the 2007 class. To view the complete report, click here.

Fridays From the Frontline

Welcome to this week’s installation of Friday’s From the Frontline, our regular report on notable happenings in the MBA blogosphere.  Applicants pulled into various closing stages of the application saga this week, from finishing off interviews to deciding between schools.  Conversely, current students were just getting ready to take on a new set of challenges – among these, several transcontinental journeys and a new decade.  Let’s take a closer look…

Vidiviciveni celebrated an officially complete Wharton application, which fortuitously made it into the Round 2 pile despite submission half an hour after the deadline.  Meanwhile, after attending Haas’ Super Saturday, Kellogg superseded Haas in Mbabound08’s lineup.  Despite stumbling over the marketing – IT divide, gltnforpnshmnt managed a solid Michigan interview and a stellar thank you email, while Dreamer also went the extra interview mile (actually more like a thousand miles!) to snag an in-person Darden alumni interview in Mumbai.

On the first-year front, Asiangal’s getting ready to take a dip – er DIP – Wharton’s Dedicated Interview Period, that is: a two week break from classes that allows students to devote themselves fully to summer internship recruitment.  Necromonger, too, is in knee deep, taking stock of the big picture and learning how money makes the world go round in his INSEAD Macroeconomics class.  Speaking of the world going round, or rather, going around the world, our congratulations go out to M@, who was selected for his top choice Ross Multidisciplinary Action Project; he’ll soon be joining Microsoft in Johannesburg, South Africa!  Staying a bit more grounded at Georgetown, HairTwirler prepared for her first internship interview, which will be for a social justice nonprofit, reflecting on her b-school interviews and common applicant interview pitfalls along the way.

Arriving on INSEAD’s Singapore campus, Le blog hog finds that a change of scenery provides an apt way to meet his more reclusive classmates from Fontainbleu.  To the northeast, Rubeo Boy chronicles his short but intense Shanghai tour, complete with a run-in with Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson at a riverside nightclub.  Back in the US of A, La Laudiaria prepared to celebrate her “Super Sweet Doble Quincenera” (the big 3-0) at Wharton, while dedicating the big 5-0 hours a week to preparing the upcoming Wharton Follies show!  On New York’s Upper West side, John plugged two CBS classmates’ newly launched venture, Intrabid, a community-based online marketplace .

That’s all for now, folks!  Enjoy a warm and safe weekend and see you next Friday for another whirlwind tour of the MBA blogging community.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Generous Alumni Gift Supports Socially Responsible Investing at Haas

The Haas Socially Responsible Investment (HSRI) Fund, launched this past September, will soon start trading thanks to a $1 million donation made earlier this month by Haas alumnus Al Johnson (BS 62 and MBA 69) and his wife, Marguerite.

Having now met the $500,000 minimum required before investing could begin, the student team that manages the fund is finalizing an investment strategy and consulting with investment and faculty advisory committees in preparation for launching the fund.

The fund is the first student-run investment fund at Haas and the first fund devoted to socially responsible investment at a leading business school. Its members include four Berkeley MBA students and two Master’s in Finance Education (MFE) students. The students are required as part of participation in the fund’s management to enroll in Haas’s socially responsible investment techniques class, an elective offered for the first time this past fall.

“The Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund struck me as a very interesting approach to investing because it’s not just about the bottom line,” says Johnson, a general partner with WTI Ventures in Menlo Park, California. “The fund also looks at companies’ social responsibility in addition to financial characteristics. In many respects, the fund combines Marguerite’s passion for social welfare and my passion of business.”

The Johnson’s donation augments an initial $250,000 gift, which established the fund, made by alumnus Charlie Michaels (BS 78) and his wife, Doris.

The fund’s goal is to achieve long-term, positive absolute returns through investments that adhere to social and environmental responsibility guidelines, according to Michael Pearce, MBA 08, one of the fund’s student managers. “Investment decisions will be made based on both traditional financial and business evaluation criteria as well as detailed socially responsible investment criteria,” he says.

“It is my fervent desire to invest in companies that improve the lives of the world’s poor, the so-called bottom-of-the-pyramid,” says Lance Durham, MFE 08, another fund manager. “Through the Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund, I can investigate and invest in firms that serve these people. I am extraordinarily enthusiastic about it,” he continued.

Admissions Tip: Choosing Between Schools

With Stanford decisions due out today, most schools have released their Round One decisions; stragglers include MIT and Haas early next week, and Stern with its mid-February notification date.  This means that many successful applicants are now facing the enviable - but often agonizing - decision of choosing between programs. Though we know that those of you in this position are already juggling an overwhelming amount of information about the schools on your short lists, we wanted to offer a few pointers to consider as you identify and evaluate the most important facts and factors in making this decision.

1) Immerse yourself. If you have not yet visited campus, go to the school and see what you think of the environment. Be sure to attend classes, talk with students, tour the facilities, and so on. Even if you have already made the trip, it’s a good idea to attend the school’s events for admitted students to meet your potential classmates. After all, these are the folks whose thoughts you will be hearing in class for two years, and who will making up your future network.

2) Consider your immediate priorities. Think about the location, size, teaching method, etc. Are you looking for a close-knit, “we’re all in this together” sort of experience, or would you prefer to attend classes and then disappear into a large city with a few classmates or old friends? Do you need the benefits of a large university to pursue coursework in a specific field? Do you crave lengthy discussions with faculty? Do you have family or a significant other who might need to consider location? Are you strong in qualitative areas but looking to refine your skills in quantitative subjects? Is there a teaching method that might better address your weaknesses or best suit your learning style? Reflecting on the relative importance of each of these questions might help you to organize your thoughts about and the information on each program.

3) Look farther forward. In addition to the experience you would have as a student, try to get a sense for the school’s track record in your target field. For example, if you hope to become a strategy consultant after school, take a look at each program’s placement statistics with the firms that are of interest to you. Talk to the career management office and find out which firms came to campus and how many offers were made. You might also try to contact alumni who work in your target field and see what they have to say about their alma mater’s strength in that area. A final option is to approach the HR departments of the firm you are likely to target and ask for their opinion of the programs on your list. This is also a nice excuse to build rapport with a potential future employer.

4) Think big. Beyond the job you hope to secure immediately after school, consider the program’s regional and global brand. For example, if you are looking for work in London, you might investigate whether the school in question has an active alumni club in that city. Meanwhile, if you dream of working in Los Angeles but are debating between two programs on the East Coast, it might be important to determine which has the greater West Coast presence.

These are just a few general tips to get you thinking about how to make your b-school decision. It goes without saying that this is a once in a lifetime decision, so it certainly makes sense to do your homework and fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of each of your options. Rankings are a good starting point for a school search, but should not be the deciding factor. Another thing to remember that the shoe is finally on the other foot, and that the schools are now the ones marketing themselves to you. Be sure to take advantage of their offers to answer any questions you may have.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Business Schools Accept More Undergrads Straight Out of College

According to a report this week in the Chronicle of Higher Education, business schools – including some of the very best – are beginning to rethink whether requiring several years of prior work experience on the part of applicants should be de rigueur. While corporate experience is certainly still valued, some schools are opening up admissions to a younger set as well in an effort to reel in promising students early before they get sidetracked by careers or head off to other professional schools.

Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and the University of Texas at Austin have all started programs geared toward students who are coming straight from undergraduate programs or are just a year or two out. Doing so, the schools hope, will also help to diversify their student body with more women and minority students.

Having younger students in the classroom brings a fresh perspective to discussions, according to some admissions officials. “Students who come in without a lot of experience are asking the questions that illuminate class discussions for everyone, and they’re questioning the assumptions that many others have taken as a given,” Derrick Bolton, director of MBA admissions at Stanford Graduate School of Business told the Chronicle. About 5 percent of Stanford’s MBA students come straight from college, up from 1 to 2 percent a few years ago.

But the decision by Stanford and other schools to admit younger students with less experience has been met by criticism by some schools and alumni. “Experienced students have more war stories to share and can often enrich classroom conversations,” Beth Flye, director of admissions at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management told the Chronicle. “A big part of what students learn comes from what they absorb and take away from their classmates,” she said. According to Flye, Kellogg still prefers applicants with significant work experience – an average of five years.

Despite the criticism, Stanford stands behind its decision to admit younger students in increasing numbers. According to Bolton, younger students make up a disproportionate number of the school’s top students and leaders. Deferred

Admissions Programs Catching On
Other schools have followed suit. In September, Harvard launched a deferred admissions program aimed at high-performing college graduates. The program guarantees these students a spot in the Harvard MBA class once they’ve gotten two years of approved work experience. The goal is to catch promising students in engineering, science and the arts who might be considering other graduate study.

“We’re trying to reach out and attract undergraduates who may be majoring in fields that are not typically viewed as feeder majors into business schools, but who see themselves as future potential leaders,” W. Carl Kester, deputy dean for academic affairs at Harvard, told the Chronicle.

The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business runs a similar deferred-admissions program, and Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business has a five-year combined undergraduate and MBA program that targets mainly engineering students.

By opening admissions to younger students, business schools also hope to attract more women. In contrast to the traditional business school timetable, earlier admissions could prove more palatable to female students who want to spend their later 20s and 30s starting families. At the country’s most competitive law and medical schools, which allow students to enter straight out of college, women represent about half of the entering class, compared to less than 30 percent of the students in the 30 top business schools, the Chronicle reports.

Statistics from the Graduate Management Admissions Council, which owns the GMAT examination required for admission at many business schools, bear out this growing trend. The number of students under 24 taking the exam jumped by 71 percent from 2005 to 2007, from 34,334 to 58,687. Overall test registrations grew only 9 percent in the same time period. The under-24 category now represents more than a quarter of all test-takers, up from 17 percent two years ago.

Wiki Wednesdays: MIT Sloan and NYU Stern

Welcome to another installment of Wiki Wednesdays, where we take a peek at the latest posts to the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Wiki! While last week we took a look at how an applicant’s résumé forms the foundation for the Yale School of Management interview, this time around we’re looking at what one might expect from interviewers that have intimate knowledge of one’s entire application before conducting the interviews. Interviewers at MIT Sloan School of Management and NYU Stern School of Business, the programs we’ll focus on this week, ask questions with full awareness of candidates’ background, goals, essays and other information shared in the application.

Both MIT Sloan and NYU Stern offer interviews by invitation only. Sloan interviews take place at MIT or other global locations, but can sometimes be conducted by phone. Meanwhile, candidates invited to interview by Stern should plan on traveling to New York City, as only a limited number of off-site interviews are conducted in China, India and the United Kingdom, usually in March. Alumni and phone interviews are extremely rare.

As one can see in Sloan’s PDF on their interview process, the adcom believes that past behavior is a reliable predictor of future performance. One Sloan candidate recounts in the Wiki:

1. [The interviewer’s] first question was about a story I used in one of my essays. She basically asked me about the challenges in managing this project and specific difficulties.

1. I have an office overseas which I manage remotely; [the interviewer] spent a lot of the interview asking specific questions about the challenges in managing the offshore staff. She wanted specific examples of issues I’ve faced and how I handled them.

While many MBA admissions interviews kick off with a stroll through a résumé, it is worth noting that this Sloan interviewer stepped into the essays first; applicants should be prepared to start their discussion from any point and poised to field an in-depth opening question. As can also be seen in the questions above, applicants should be prepared to go beyond quantified results and into descriptions of personal reactions given MIT’s deep interest in past behavior. It’s also worth noting what the Sloan adcom didn’t ask. As the Sloan candidate noted,

1. [The interviewer] didn’t ask my Why Sloan? - Why an MBA? - Goals? or any of the other standard interview questions.

The possible omission of such questions from the interview only leaves the Cover Letter to discuss one’s goals and motivation for pursuing an MBA at Sloan. This, again, drives home Sloan’s interest in the hard facts of an applicant’s past behavior and experiences. Of course, MIT interviewers usually ask if a candidate has any questions, so applicants can seize this opportunity to showcase their passion for the program by inquiring about specific features of MIT Sloan.

As for NYU, Stern’s interviewers also possess background information on its candidates, but tend to pose more standard queries, covering topics such as career goals and “why Stern?” In addition to these typical questions, a recently interviewed Stern candidate reported being asked the following:

1. If you get into all the schools you applied to, which will you choose?
2. Compare Stern’s culture to your company’s culture?
3. How would your current colleagues describe you? How do you want your classmates to describe you when you graduate?

There are certain nuances to these questions that candidates should be prepared to address. Interested in current fit and how an applicant hopes to grow in the context of the Stern environment, the adcom asks how others currently perceive the candidate and inquires about future contribution to the school. While applicants could cover a range of topics, this question seems geared toward personal characteristics. Furthermore, a query such as this provides a chance to demonstrate one’s knowledge of the Stern program, as applicants could identify specific clubs through which they hope to interact with their potential classmates and, consequently, make an impression. To prepare such school-specific comments, applicants can check out the school’s website or Clear Admit’s School Guides. The Clear Admit Interview Guides also offer extensive tips on both MIT Sloan’s and NYU Stern’s interviews.

As always, we’d like to thank everyone who has posted their interview reports to the Clear Admit Wiki – most recently to Tepper and HBS. If you have an experience you would like to share for the benefit of other applicants, you can add it to the Clear Admit Wiki either by creating an account or sending your reports to wiki@clearadmit.com. Best of luck to those still preparing for upcoming MBA interviews!