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

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School Rankings
Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
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ARCHIVE FOR MARCH 2008

Monday, March 31, 2008

Clear Admit Featured in 2009 U.S. News Rankings

Clear Admit’s own Graham Richmond was featured in the recently released U.S. News and World Report annual ranking of the nation’s top business schools, weighing in on the ethics of admissions consulting.

In a sidebar entitled “Hot Tips for a Graduate Degree in Business,” the U.S. News report touched on a range of business school trends, including the surge of schools offering specialties in real estate and healthcare and the growing acceptance of GRE scores in place of GMAT scores at some schools.

The sidebar also looked at honor codes around the application process, like one at the University of Chicago that requires candidates to pledge that all application materials are their own work. “But admissions consultants, whose services include essay help, aren’t necessarily off limits,” U.S. News wrote.

U.S. News cited Clear Admit as a consultancy that follows strict ethical practices that prohibit advisers from writing essays on behalf of applicants. “Anyone who works with us can say it is their own work,” Clear Admit’s Richmond told U.S. News.

U.S. News directed readers to the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) for a complete list of admissions consultants who have likewise pledged to stick to ethical guidelines that keep the work they do for applicants in line with honor codes at the top schools. Clear Admit helped to co-found AIGAC in 2006 for the express purpose of promoting high ethical standards among graduate admissions consultants.

Of course, if you’re at all familiar with Clear Admit, none of this is news to you. Still, we’re pleased that U.S. News chose to highlight our commitment to good and honorable work and to help clarify that the use of admissions consultants who adhere to the ethical standards put forth by AIGAC is well within the honor codes issued by Chicago and other top schools.

Campus Chronicles: Harvard Business School and Kellogg/Northwestern

As March draws to a close, students are beginning to savor their last weeks of classes before the summer - or graduation!

The Harbus reports that Harvard Business School is celebrating the beginning of spring with green week. The Graduate Green Living Program completed a survey this week to assess the progress of the school’s “Green Living Reps.” These students have been hard at work helping the HBS community implement changes in their daily habits that will have a positive impact on the environment. Results show that students’ daily habits have improved, particularly in the areas of resource conservation and recycling, but that there is still a lot to be done, especially in raising awareness on green issues and promoting more environmentally conscious choices in the cafeteria.

On another note, HBS Business of Sports Club held their second annual New York City Sports Trek. The trip began at the National Football League’s offices in midtown, where students met executives from corporate development, digital media, human resource, and operations. Later that day, a tour of Yankee Stadium and a visit with Lonn Trost, Chief Operating Officer of the Yankees, left many students in awe. The trip’s final stop was the National Basketball Association, where they spoke with Scott O’Neill, who leads the NBA’s Team Marketing and Business Operations group. A highlight of the visit was a conversation with HBS 2004 graduate Dan Reed, who is now President of the NBA Development League, which is building itself into a full minor league farm system for NBA teams.

In Chicago, Kellogg Insights reports on the 21st Annual Black Management Association Conference, a three-day, student-led event. Speakers and panelists spoke on the theme of understanding the power of collaboration to effect change. McDonald’s USA President Don Thompson urged successful African-Americans and future leaders to reach into the community to help pull others up the success ladder. He added, “Making noise about the need for greater progress must be coupled with strategic thinking about how to bring it about.”

Also working to create social change, a team of Kellogg students took home the top prize from the Education Leadership Case Competition held at UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. The winning team’s case concerned strategies for rebuilding New Orleans’ public schools in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Their plan for boosting student achievement in the short term, as well as their long-term strategy for unifying the New Orleans school districts under one system, may contribute to the future success of students in New Orleans.

Last but not least, Kellogg professor Adam Galinsky provided insight into power relationships and stereotypes for today’s leaders. Using a creative metaphor he explained that the relationship between power and leadership is like driving a car. “The agency of power is like pressing the gas. Without that, one stands still. But one also needs a good steering wheel so accidents don’t happen. Perspective-taking without agency is ineffective and agency without perspective-taking is dangerous and irresponsible. Thus effective leadership requires acceleration and steering, power with perspective-taking.” So remember to drive carefully everyone!

Friday, March 28, 2008

U.S. News Releases 2009 MBA Rankings, Harvard and Stanford Tie for First

U.S. News and World Report released its 2009 rankings of the best graduate schools at midnight, including a list of the top business schools in the nation. Harvard and Stanford tied for first place, each scoring a perfect 100 points. Wharton came in third with 95 points. And in another tie, with 93 points each, Sloan, Kellogg and the University of Chicago shared fourth place.

What’s changed since last year, you ask? Not much. Company at the top is consistent year to year since the statistics U.S. News uses to calculate rank aren’t widely variable. Here are the top schools this year and last:

2009
1. Harvard and Stanford (tie)
3. Wharton
4. MIT, Kellogg, Chicago (tie)
7. Dartmouth and Berkeley (tie)
9. Columbia
10. NYU
11. UCLA
12. Michigan
13. Yale
14. Cornell, Duke, UVA (tie)
15. CMU

2008
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Wharton
4. MIT
5. Kellogg and Chicago (tie)
7. Dartmouth
8. Berkeley
9. Columbia
10. NYU
11. Michigan
12. Duke and UVA
14. Cornell and Yale
16. UCLA

Of note, Stanford moved up into a tie with HBS for the top spot, while Wharton held onto the third place position it occupied last year.  Similarly, Kellogg and Chicago jumped into a tie with MIT for the fourth spot, further tightening things at the top (there are now six schools in the ‘top 4′ vs. only four schools last year).  The New York schools (NYU and CBS) held on to their slots at the back end of the top 10, while UCLA and Yale moved past UVA and Duke to inch just a bit closer to top 10 territory.  But overall, at least where the top-tier schools are concerned, things remain relatively stable again this year.

As in years past, we encourage our readers to use these rankings as just one of many tools when evaluating options for business school. Other publications, such as Business Week, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal also offer useful rankings that, used in conjunction with those from U.S. News, help create a fuller picture of the invididual schools. The Clear Admit School Guides, too, can serve as a valuable resource.

Background on the U.S. News Rankings
The rankings, released each spring, are calculated based on a weighted average of several key indicators measuring the schools’ overall quality, successful placement of graduates and degree of selectivity in student admissions. For this year’s rankings, all 425 master’s programs in business accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International were surveyed in fall 2007 and early 2008.

The complete rankings are available on newsstands as well as online. The online rankings include features that allow you to compare individual schools to one another or refine the results to filter out schools by location, programs, cost, size and rank.

Extensive profiles of each school, as well as more in-depth data regarding admissions (average GMAT scores, undergrad GPA, etc.), academics, student body, placement success (average salary, percent of grads with jobs at graduation) and more is available as part of a premium online subscription package.

Fridays From the Frontline

Thanks for joining us for this week’s Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s look at the latest notable news in the MBA blogging community.  With Round 2 decisions aplenty gracing inboxes and mailboxes, applicants were variously elated and dejected, not to mention quite a few who found themselves somewhere in between.  Meanwhile, with spring break upon them, current students pretty uniformly recognized a reason to celebrate.

Despite the ubiquitous advice not to obsessively check your inbox during decision season, the tactic seemed to pay off for Miss Curly Bee, who was greeted with a glowing admit to Kellogg when she logged on at 4 AM.  Sadly, Wannabe was not so lucky, receiving the opposite news from the Chicago GSB and tentatively calling it quits from there.  On the other hand, back-to-back denials from HBS, Kellogg and Tuck didn’t phase Gltnforpnshmnt, who seemed anything but discouraged.  As one commenter suggested, this just makes deciding where to attend a no-brainer – and Michigan’s Ross School of Business is the clear winner in this case!  Agent-C was similarly content with his acceptance at CMU’s Tepper School of Business, although he wasn’t fully ready to push aside the possibility of good news from Chicago.  Changing the pace, Tinydancer directed her thoughts toward the underrepresentation of women in the business world and shared some resources that provide her solace and guidance in her daily dealings with the gender imbalance.

Darden first-year Christof found himself far from helter-skelter this week, taking a time out to celebrate the gusty arrival of Charlottesville’s bountiful springtime.  Similarly ready to enjoy a spring break - actually Chicago GSB’s spring break, to be exact - MaybeMBA looked forward to relaxing in Chicago before embarking on an invigorating course lineup in the upcoming Spring Quarter.  Conversely, five-sixths of the way through his St. Gallen MBA, Stuart took a look back at his first block of courses and played favorites.  Diving into springtime adventuring, Darden’s Anand offered a travel guide-worthy recap of his Barcelona “Strategy as Design” tour, complete with breathtaking pictures and vivid descriptions of the city’s most distinctive sights.

Second-years were also feeling the vernal vigor: globetrotting through his Yale SOM spring vacation, MBA Gladiator checked in with some unexpected observations and striking pictures from his Egypt trip.  Rubeo Boy ventured closer to home on his last Spring break at NYU Stern, roadtripping with friends out to Vegas, the Grand Canyon and down scenic Route 101 in the Golden State.  Similarly sensing the gold rush, Columbia’s John headed out to San Fran with high hopes for meetings with an array of firms.

That’s all for now folks!  Thanks for tuning in to our Friday feature.  Congratulations to those with good news, and consolation to those who need it…  We’ll hope to see you all here next week for a fresh FFF!

PS: For those of you who have been blogging your way through the process but aren’t on FFF’s radar, please drop us a line and let us know, or post your blog’s information to the Clear Admit Wiki.  This will be critical as we begin working on the nominees for the 2007-08 Best of Blogging Awards.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Recent Study Reveals MBA Degree Raises Salaries in IT Sector

A recent study out of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business found that information technology (IT) professionals with a master of business administration degree earn nearly one and a half times their counterparts without an MBA and also more than those with other advanced degrees, according to an article on Examiner.com.

The study, which analyzed data from 50,000 IT professionals, found that those with MBAs earned, on average, 46 percent more than those with just a bachelors degree and 37 percent more than those with other masters degrees.

There are “much larger returns on education than experience,” in the IT sector, Sunil Mithas, Smith assistant professor and lead author of the study, told Examiner.com. Technical skills in this field quickly “become obsolete,” he explained, while the concepts learned in the business school classroom remain relevant. The study results will be published this month in Management Science.

For IT jobs in industries outside the IT sector, though, the value of an MBA may not be as great, according to the Examiner.com story.

 “Companies and the federal government look for years of experience before a degree,” George Newstrom, president and chief operating officer of Fairfax-based Lee Technologies, told Examiner.com. As the former secretary of technology for the commonwealth of Virgina, he was responsible for hiring a large number of IT employees.

Consulting-type enterprises will have a different view, though, Newstrom continued. There, “a higher-level degree is something that is desired,” he told Examiner.com, because a company can charge more for services provided by their employees with advanced degrees.

The article focused in on the Washington metro area, which has the highest percentage of advanced degrees in the nation, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Here, even in the midst of an economic slowdown, the average IT salary jumped 2.3 percent in 2007, from $79,911 in 2006 to $81,750 in 2007, according to a salary survey conducted by online technology job search company Dice.

With the federal government as a customer, the DC metro area “still has a lot of growth” in the IT sector, Newstrom told Examiner.com.

Admissions Tip: Waitlists that Discourage Supplemental Information

We have previously posted some correspondence tips for those applicants who have been waitlisted by schools that welcome supplemental materials and communication. Today, we’d like to provide some advice to those who are in an arguably more difficult position: waitlisted by schools that discourage further contact with the adcom.

This may sound obvious, but if a school indicates that they do not want supplemental materials, then you should respect their guidelines. In other words, do not send along a new recommendation or an essay if the program has clearly indicated that you should not do so. There may be exceptions to this - for example, if a dramatic change has taken place in your candidacy - but in most cases, you should simply follow the rules.

While at first it seems as though this leaves little option for waitlisted applicants other than sitting and waiting for a more definitive decision, one of the best things an individual in this position can do is just the opposite - take action and visit the school. This makes particularly good sense for those who have never been to the campus of their target programs. Very many things can happen when spending time at the school:

1) You may interact with students or professors who can better inform you of opportunities at the school and give you a better sense of the campus culture. If you make a particularly strong impression, you might even inspire someone to intercede with the adcom on your behalf.

2) By visiting a school and gaining a feel for the community and setting, you may actually realize that a given program is really not for you. This will enable you to focus your energy and attention elsewhere, and give up your spot on the waitlist to someone who might be a better fit with the program.

3) A school may take note of your visit (if you sign in with the admissions office) and view it as a potential sign of your interest. All other things being equal, the adcom is generally more likely to admit an applicant if they believe him or her to be likely to accept an offer of admission.

4) You never know when you’ll have that chance meeting with an admissions officer who is willing to give you a little feedback (and who through the process of meeting you face to face might get a better sense of your candidacy). In fact, if planning a visit, there’s no harm in letting the admissions office know in advance - especially if you have a ‘waitlist manager’ or someone on the admissions team who you’ve corresponded with in the past. Just send them a polite email indicating that you will be on campus on date X and would love to stop in and introduce yourself, etc. You’d be surprised at how often an admissions officer ends up being available to speak with you for a few minutes. Having said that, it’s critical not to force such a meeting or make unreasonable demands on the adcom, so be sure to use your best judgment.

Best of luck to those of you playing the waiting game, and feel free to contact us at info@clearadmit.com to learn about our application feedback and waitlist counseling services. Hang in there!

Best of Blogging Awards 2007-2008

March is a month that brings a good deal of (hopefully) exciting news to the MBA applicant crowd: interview invitations, admissions decisions, and the announcement of our annual Best of Blogging Awards! For the uninitiated, each year we make an effort to identify exceptional blogs maintained by MBA applicants and students for two important purposes: to recognize the effort and output of the best applicant and student bloggers, and to identify valuable sources of information for the next round of applicants.

Here’s the timeline for this year’s awards, which will cover the 2007-08 admissions/academic cycle:

Nominees Announced - Friday, April 11th
We’ll begin by considering all blogs listed in the Clear Admit Wiki and featured in Fridays from the Frontline (bloggers are encouraged to email wiki@clearadmit.com about adding a link if their sites are not currently included). Using the criteria of relevance and frequency of posts, as well as overall quality of posting and contribution to the space, we’ll pare the list of nominees down to 25 applicants and 25 current students. Once we’ve determined the blogs to be considered, we’ll be sending BoB ballots out to each of the nominated bloggers.

Ballots Due - Friday, April 25th
Using the nominees’ input and that of a handful of celebrity judges, we’ll compile the list of this year’s very best applicant and student blogs, giving 50% weighting to bloggers’ votes, 25% to Clear Admit staff and 25% to our guest judges. In addition to an overall ranking, we’ll ask voters to share their thoughts on the funniest blog and best single post, and to point us to the blogs that they feel feature the best advice in categories such as GMAT preparation, school selection, application essays, admissions and recruiting interviews, as well as the best representation of academics and student life in business school.

Rankings Revealed - Tuesday, April 29th
Once the votes have been tallied, we’ll publish the category winners as well as the top ten listings in the applicant and student categories. As in previous years, we’ll be handing out six prizes to reward the best of the best for their effort and contribution to the community. The second and third place bloggers in the student-blogger top 10 and applicant-blogger top 10 rankings will receive a one year subscription to Business Week or The Economist (their choice), and the top-ranked student and applicant blogger will each be given the option of an 8GB iPod Touch or a $300 Amazon.com gift certificate.

That’s all for now - check back on Friday, April 11th for an announcement about this year’s BoB nominees! In the meantime, happy blogging…

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Church Leaders, School Principals, Football Players: B-School Welcomes All

Seems it’s not just economics majors heading toward MBA programs these days. In recent posts we’ve talked about the new Harvard 2+2 program, designed by HBS to draw talented college students who might otherwise veer toward law or public policy. On the other end of the spectrum, we’re also spotting the emergence of new executive MBA programs targeting professionals in fields not traditionally associated with business – fields as diverse as professional football, religion and education.

The NFL’s MBA
Forbes.com last month ran an article about football players who are studying business while not on the playing field. Partnering with top business schools, the National Football League started the NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program, designed to help professional football players develop skills that will help ensure financial stability once their playing days are behind them.

Launched three years ago, the NFL program has grown from 66 players at two of the top business schools in the U.S. to 118 players at four. Participating schools offer executive education in their respective areas of expertise.

Harvard’s course offerings include entrepreneurial opportunities and business management; Kellogg, developing and selling a brand and evaluating franchise opportunities; Stanford, evaluating business opportunities in the sports industry; and Wharton, financial analysis, real-estate development, negotiations.

According to Forbes.com, the players undergo a rigorous application process that involves demonstrating their level of education, professional business experience, interest in starting, owning or managing a business and leadership and community involvement.

“We wanted to make sure players selected themselves well and were serious about it,” Chris Henry, director of NFL player development and founder of the program, told Forbes.com. “They have to be prepared to compete with others who have been out in the working world,” he added.

Preaching Management to Religious Leaders
The Duke University Divinity School, in partnership with the Fuqua School of Business, has launched a new program designed to help Christian leaders apply wise business practices to their theological work to meet real-world challenges, according to a recent report in the Graduate Management Admissions Council’s (GMAC) Deans Digest.

A generous $14 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. will help establish the program, which will provide teaching, coaching and other resources for religious leaders. Participants in the program will range from bishops and executive directors of denominations to senior leaders of seminaries and other organizations that serve congregations.

“This new project is an exciting and innovative step for Duke Divinity School and Duke University,” Duke University President Richard Brodhead said in a statement announcing the initiative. “It builds on distinctive strengths at Duke and exemplifies the university’s special interest in not only developing new knowledge but also applying that knowledge broadly in the service of society,” he continued.

The initiative will feature a range of programs that focus on leading and managing Christian institutions; some will be offered on an open-application basis and others will be customized for specific groups.

Rice MBA Program for Principals
In partnership with educational organizations Teach for America and Houston A+ Challenge, the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University recently launched the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Programs, designed to develop leadership and business skills among principals in K-12 schools, GMAC’s Dean Digest reports.

The Rice Educational Entrepreneurship Programs are designed to attract top educational talent from throughout the U.S. to help strengthen Houston-area public schools, according to a Business Wire release. 

“The K-12 school system at large in the Houston community calls for transformational thought leadership in its management ranks that can greatly improve the quality of education for the community for the long term,” William Glick, dean of Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Management, told Business Wire.

The initiative, funded by a $7.2 million grant from the Houston Endowment, includes three new academic tracts designed to develop leadership and business skills among principals in K-12 schools. Among the new programs is a graduate management degree, the Rice MBA for Professionals for Education Entrepreneurs.

The Big Picture
Though specific in their focus and catering to narrowly defined audiences, the emergence of these new management education programs underlines the ways in which a business school education is proving more and more useful across professional fields. Is it any wonder that year-to-date GMAT registration volume – which surpassed 47,000 at the end of February – is higher than comparable figures for any other year studied?

Wiki Wednesdays: ‘March Interview Report Madness’, $10 iTunes Gift Certificates!

Welcome to this week’s edition of Wiki Wednesdays, where we highlight the latest goings on in the Clear Admit Wiki, a repository of applicants’ experiences with the MBA admissions process. Before we take a stroll through some of the newest posts, however, we’d like to note that we will be awarding a $10 iTunes gift certificate to each applicant who submits an interview report for Stanford GSB, INSEAD, Berkeley / Haas, UCLA / Anderson or MIT / Sloan (limit one gift certificate per person). To be eligible, applicants should e-mail their interview reports to wiki@clearadmit.com by March 31st.

For those wondering what sort of details to include in their Wiki entries, we find that the most helpful and informative reports include the following information:

1. Date/Admissions Round
2. Description of visit and/or interview atmosphere
3. Type of interview (alum vs. adcom, blind vs. application-based)
4. List of interview questions
5. Commentary (What did you think of the interview? What surprised you? What didn’t surprise you? What might you conclude about the school based on this experience?)

Some of the latest interviews reported in the Wiki took place with an adcom member of the Ross School of Business, off Kellogg’s campus with an alumn and over the phone with Fuqua. Other applicants also shared their interview experiences with the British MBA programs, Oxford / Said and London Business School.

Beyond such solid interview information, we’d also love to see some more detailed accounts of visits to campus and decisions among programs, especially with the Round 2 notification period heating up. This past week, in addition to interview reports from five different schools, we’ve received some reports on visits to HBS and Duke / Fuqua. One recent Fuqua candidate shared these observations on his experience:

1. “I attended a Macroeconomics class for my class visit and left very impressed again by the level of the students. They really seemed to engage well on the topic and discuss macro issues very effectively. Before class got started, I had a chance to speak with my student host about her experience at Duke and her future internship.”

Back in Boston, a prospective student noted the following about the atmosphere at HBS:

1. “There was plenty of laughter and camaraderie. Everyone I spoke to, including the students on the tour and at the lunch, were very friendly and seemed like relaxed people you’d want to be friends with.”

That concludes our tour of the Wiki this week! As always, we’d like to thank everyone who has contributed content to the Clear Admit Wiki and kept it a robust and informative resource this season. As a reminder, don’t forget to e-mail your interview reports from Stanford GSB, INSEAD, Berkeley / Haas, UCLA / Anderson or MIT / Sloan to wiki@clearadmit.com for a $10 iTunes gift certificate!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Round 2 Notification Period Heats Up at Harvard, Wharton, Chicago

It’s a nail-biting week, with round two results trickling out from many of the top schools. While we can’t make the wait any easier, we can at least give you the latest from some of the schools as we know it. Here goes:

Harvard: In a blog post yesterday, HBS Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold outlined what applicants should expect tomorrow, March 26th – notification day for round two.

The admissions committee will release decisions sometime during business hours. “I hope it will be in the morning (EST) but we need to make sure all the operational pieces are set,” she wrote. Applicants will receive emails directing them to their ApplyYourself account.

No need to sit by the phone, Leopold added. The Admissions Board will make congratulatory phone calls to admitted applicants, but only after online notifications have been released. If you’ve been admitted, you’ll have immediate access to the Prematriculation Website, with detailed information about Admitted Students’ Weekend, financial aid, housing and more.

Wharton: According to the Wharton MBA Admissions Blog, final round 2 decisions will be released by 5 p.m. “Philly time” (Eastern Standard Time) on Thursday, March 27th. Candidates will learn whether they have been admitted, denied or waitlisted.

According to inside sources, alums who conducted interviews are not allowed to provide candidates with any feedback. They can congratulate the applicants who are accepted but have been instructed to tell rejected and waitlisted candidates to follow the instructions at the bottom of their decision letters. Any and all questions must be directed to the admissions office.

Chicago GSB: According to the Chicago GSB admissions website, decisions for round two applicants will be shared on Wednesday, March 26th. They will be released through the online application service, under the “Application Status” section.

According to other sources, though, congratulatory calls have already begun. The BusinessWeek Chicago GSB R2 discussion thread was all aflutter yesterday, with some applicants reporting gleefully to have received “you’re in” calls and others speculating feverishly about the order in which calls were being made (alphabetically? geographically?) and whether they should be despairing or still holding out hope.

There also has been some panic about perceived changes to application status in the online application system. A post from Donna Swinford of GSB Admissions yesterday attempted to clear things up:

“As we stated all along your status will not change again until 9 a.m. on March 26th. Anyone attempting to read into dates contained within a PDF may be confused and cause people to panic unnecessarily…” Swinford wrote. She added that calls would continue today and into Wednesday. “The calls are all random and there isn’t any order based on last name or location,” according to Swinford.

The BW forum also has included words of assurance and advice from applicants to their fellow hopefuls, as in xapollo3’s note to zeuskris: “you need to relax! you won’t know what the final result is until wednesday so sit tight and wait. no point in being negative. stay hopeful and breathe! woosha!”

Those of us here at Clear Admit agree that there’s no point in being negative. That said, we also know how hard it is to wait. Congratulations to lucky applicants who have already gotten the good word. And best of luck to those still holding their breath…

Trivia Tuesday: London Business School’s Shadowing Project

In this week’s Trivia Tuesday column we turn our attention to experiential education across the pond, examining the Shadowing Project at London Business School.

The shadowing project at LBS enables students to gain a firsthand perspective on the daily role of a high ranking manager by “shadowing” that person for up to a week as they perform their job. Students report that they benefit immensely from this exposure, which illuminates skills they need to develop to succeed as managers.

Before entering the workplace of their “shadowees,” as they are called, students examine key studies and concepts in managerial behavior, building a theoretical framework to help them assess the management situations they will witness during the project. After the shadowing period, students synthesize their observations in a graded report that objectively profiles the leadership style of their shadowee.

To set up the Shadowing Project, students are expected to initiate contact with a manager of their choosing, and to arrange mutually acceptable dates for the shadowing to take place. While the task of contacting a high-level manager and pitching the shadowing idea may seem daunting, LBS explains that learning to harness the LBS network and preexisting professional contacts is one of the project’s key takeaways for students. The shadowing project can be completed between January and May in either the first or second year. The actual shadowing need not occur over five consecutive days, so students and their shadowees may decide to schedule the shadowing dates around critical meetings or events that it would be most helpful to witness.

Of the managers LBS students have shadowed over the past few years, about 15% have been CEO’s, 25% Managing Directors, General Managers or Vice Presidents, and 10% have held the highest ranking finance post in their organizations. In addition to the more traditional shadowees at investment banks and pharmaceutical companies, students have shadowed prominent figures in politics, as well as the management of a symphony orchestra. More than one-third of students travel outside the UK for the project.

For more on the projects and experiential learning opportunities at London Business School or other leading MBA programs, be sure to check out the Academics and Special Projects sections of the Clear Admit School Guides!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Tuck Project Maps Rebuilding in New Orleans to Help Drive Recovery, Investment

Led by a senior researcher at the Center for Digital Technology at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, the Gentilly Project is designed to help map recovery efforts in New Orleans’ Gentilly district as it rebuilds in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The results of the project’s third mapping were shared last week with Gentilly residents.

Tuck senior research fellow Quintus Jett developed the project to track recovery in the storm-ravaged neighborhood in an effort to help residents and local business owners more effectively allocate rebuilding resources and to highlight progress in the recovery effort, which could, in turn, spur further investment and development. Gentilly, which consists of approximately 15,000 residences across 22 neighborhoods, was home to 45,000 people prior to the 2005 hurricane.

“This project’s mission is to serve as catalyst, innovator, and prototype for future community disaster reponses and recoveries, involving private citizens, NGOs, and social enterprises,” Jett said in a statement about the project.

Combining organizational science, geography and digital technologies, the mapping project provides a framework designed to facilitate more “open” participation in disaster recovery. It is based on the premise that rebuilding can move fastest when timely, accurate and continuously updated information about progress is made publicly available. Doing so allows researchers, residents, politicians and developers alike can see what’s been done and what still needs doing.

Project teams made up of Dartmouth students, joined by students and volunteers from other universities, walked the streets of Gentilly with special handheld devices, recording reconstruction progress lot by lot. The collected data – which indicates blighted or untouched homes, homes under construction, rebuilt and/or occupied homes and vacant lots – is designed to help residents identify rebuilding progress that can serve as incentive for them to continue reconstruction efforts and for others to return to the community.

“Our mission is really about developing a sustainable process not just about collecting data,” said Jett.
Developers, too, are paying attention, according to the press release announcing the latest mapping results. Specifically, Project Gentilly has drawn the attention of developers looking to make decisions on how and where to invest in the region.
To view the Gentilly Project map, click here. For a podcast of Jett discussing open-source organizing, click here.

Campus Chronicles: Columbia Business School and Chicago GSB

The Ides of March have passed and the end of the month is firmly in sight. Many schools have started or finished spring break, and students have had a brief breath of freedom before hunkering down to finish the semester.

At Columbia Business School, a page 5 article in the Columbia Bottom Line reports on the Social Enterprise Program’s packed event for students who wanted to learn about the Mayor of Newark’s front line experience with social entrepreneurship. Mayor Cory Booker spoke about how Newark is an ideal place to test concepts of social entrepreneurship and social venture capital. The mayor’s results-driven approach seemed to resonate among Columbia’s social enterprise students, many of whom are already involved in socially responsible endeavors addressing sustainability, education and nonprofit management.

On page 10, the Columbia Bottom Line reports on the Investment Banking Club’s event with Mr. Richard L. Folsom, co-founder of the largest buyout firm in Japan, Advantage Partners LLP. The development of modern private equity in Japan is generally considered to have started when Advantage Partners launched its first fund in 1997. Folsom advised the club members that “[To] pursue a PE career in Japan, fluency in Japanese is critical…having said that, I think we look for two major components of expertise. One is for transactional expertise in terms of deal structuring and execution, and the other is the business diligence and post acquisition value creation with management, and that comes with consulting experience.”

Columbia Business School’s Women in Business club has also been busy this month, judging by the story on page 8. Over 650 students, alumni, and other business women attended the recent Women in Business Conference, where participants chose from among 15 panels, with topics ranging from a workshop on managing personal finances to tips for new managers. The keynote address was made by Andrea Jung, CEO of the $8 billion Avon, and one of the most powerful women in business. In her speech, Jung offered career tips and words of wisdom, including the importance of being passionate about a career and a company to commit to a successful long-term career in one place.

Moving to the mid-West, the recent edition of the Chicago GSB Chibus reported on several interesting activities on campus. First, the Christian Business Students Association at GSB hosted a conversation with Steve Reinemund, CEO Emeritus of PepsiCo, who shared his philosophy on values-based leadership. At the core of his message was an invocation for MBA students to develop their own model for authentic leadership, one that is based on their individual values. A sense of responsibility to society is the foundation of Reinemund’s model for values-based leadership, and he put those values into practice at PepsiCo, setting a standard for integrity that permeated the organization, and making a product portfolio and marketing decisions that reflected the corporation’s social responsibility. So, what gives a leader authenticity in the increasingly complex, high stakes game of business? Reinemund offered an interesting framework for MBA students to develop their own model of values-based leadership.

On a lighter note, but still with a flavor of helping a good cause, the GSB Rock Band tournament allowed GSB students to show off their inner rock stars as part of an innovative fund raising event. Sixteen teams signed up to play Rock Band, a music video game for PlayStation,Wii or Xbox. Though no budding rock stars were discovered, the tournament raised money for a local charity that brings gifted inner-city students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds together with young professionals in the Chicago community. Rock on!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

U. Michigan / Ross School of Business Interview Guide Released!

We’re pleased to announce the release of yet another Clear Admit Interview Guide title: the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Like all titles in the Interview Guides catalog, this document includes school-specific strategy and sample questions, a firsthand interview account, background information on the Ross interview process, and detailed information on planning a visit to the school’s Ann Arbor campus.  Visit the Clear Admit Publications page for more information, or proceed directly to the Clear Admit Shop.

Friday, March 21, 2008

INSEAD Dean’s New Book Champions Global Leadership

To succeed in business today, CEOs can no longer hole up in their offices and expect the world to come to them, according to INSEAD Dean Frank Brown, whose most recent book, The Global Business Leader, was released in 2007. In an interview with the Economist earlier this month, Brown discussed the book, sharing practical advice for business leaders operating in an increasingly transcultural marketplace.

Organizations are no longer local, but instead operate across many countries and sell into many different economies, says Brown. “So, if you’re aspiring to leadership, the concept of building a career in one place is pretty much by the board,” he told the Economist. “You’ve really got to not just be aware of the other great places in the world, but be very familiar with them and have a perspective on what it means to operate there.”

As one of only two Americans and the first non-academic to serve as INSEAD dean, Brown broke tradition at the top European school when he was appointed in 2005. Prior to his appointment, he spent more than 25 years in international markets at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he served as global leader for advisory services.

In his role at PWC, Brown learned – and practiced – many of the lessons he shares in his new book. In fact, in an article published by the Business and Advanced Technology Centre (BATC) in 2006, Brown credited his appointment as INSEAD dean to his international experience and international vision.

“I’ve lived in America all my life but I have spent the last 20 years travelling extensively in Europe and Japan doing mergers and acquisition transactions, developing businesses and helping to build a consulting business in China last year. INSEAD was looking for somebody with that kind of worldly perspective,” he told BATC.

According to Brown, the shift toward transcultural leadership has been underway since the 1980s, but several of the world’s most developed cultures have been among the slowest to embrace it. “America and Britain probably still lead the pack in terms of being more narrowly focused on their own environment as opposed to the world beyond,” he told the Economist.

Global leaders, says Brown, are those who view the world – not a single country – as their market. They also understand the value of communicating with cultural sensitivity, surrounding themselves with diverse leadership teams and gaining input from a range of different places when making important decisions, he says.

True to his real-world experience, Brown’s book is filled more with practical advice than academic theory. In his interview with the Economist he stressed above all else the importance of networking and relationship building. “Often I have met someone who is 30 or 35 years old and they ask me, ‘How do I build a network?’ My immediate answer is ‘You should have been doing it for the last 15 years,’” he said.

He hopes that young people, 18 or 20 years old, who read the book start developing their networks right away. “Building relationships is not something you do once you’re 40 and join the country club,” he cautions.

Being an effective communicator is also key to being a good leader, Brown told the Economist. “We all go to conferences and we all listen to speeches. Nine out of ten are absolutely boring – given by people who don’t make eye contact; who don’t modulate their voice; who don’t talk passionately enough; who read you slides,” he says. By being better prepared, knowing your audience and sticking to a timeline, these pitfalls are easy to avoid, he says, but too often, the importance of good communication is overlooked.

In many ways, the material in Brown’s new book seems to echo his vision for INSEAD as a school. In the BATC article published after his INSEAD appointment, he pointed to the school’s international focus – including its integrated campuses in Fontainebleau, France, and Singapore – and the development of a worldly business perspective among its students as its most distinguishing characteristics.

“A lot of students who come to INSEAD don’t apply anywhere else because they’re looking for international experience; they are looking for a place where you have to be multilingual when you walk in the door,” he told the BATC. “I’d also like to make leadership something that’s implicit in the INSEAD brand,” he added. “If you want to develop into a world leader, INSEAD is the place where you can do that with the very best of them.”

Fridays From the Frontline

Welcome back to another issue of Fridays From the Frontline, our periodic table of the MBA elements, not to mention applicants!  With decisions rolling into the b-school blogosphere this week, there was no shortage of post-worthy news; between exams, recruiting and graduation, current students found plenty to write about, as well.  Let’s check it out…

First, we’d like to congratulate long-time blogger Bschool Diva, who after an extended wait, has to wait no longer to find out that she’s made it off the Chicago GSB’s waitlist and into their venerable class of 2010!  Similarly, Gltnforpnshmnt found that he’s in at Ross (and out of work - voluntarily, of course!)… our congrats to him as well!  A bit further along in the process, Achilles began making preparations for the time up to his matriculation at Stern, planning to squeeze in globetrotting, friend-and-relative-visiting and the dreaded clincher – visa stamping.  Mbabound08 is likewise entrenched in her pre-Kellogg plans, giving new meaning to the oft-repeated query “working hard or hardly working?!”  Meanwhile, Max got meta on the MBA, offering some GMAT tips while awaiting an INSEAD decision.

He’s not to be confused with first-year M@, who took a minute out from his Michigan Multidisciplinary Action Project to contemplate the remnants of apartheid that color his host country, South Africa.  Necromonger also ventured beyond appearances, sharing a painful truth about the GMAT: at least for those looking at consulting positions, this test may continue to influence your future prospects.  He also presented an INSEAD consulting recruitment manifesto that might nearly pass as a mid-term at some schools!  Remembering life “on the other side of the bridge,” Iday wrested some time to send well wishes to this year’s crop of R2 Chicago GSB applicants, just a few minutes (well, 39) before his next exam.

With his second year coming to a close, Ash finally hit the (relatively) big screen in a three-minute close-up on what he’s found to be the value of a U.S. education at Stanford GSB.  On the other hand, Fuqua student MJ enjoyed an 8-day refresher back in the Motherland, while in London, Angie got amped up for her summer International Finance course at LBS, as did her professor.  In Barcelona, Jacek graduated from ESADE and felt the pull of Poland, but is waiting to consider the entire eclectic and impressive mix of employment offers he’s attracting before deciding what’s next.  Next door (nationally speaking), Le blog hog weighed in on transformational experiences at INSEAD and their catalysts.

And that’s the news from our eager bloggers this week!  Don’t forget to join us again next Friday for your weekly dose of MBA medicine!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Berkeley’s Haas School of Business to Host April Global MBA Leadership Conference

The 25th annual Graduate Business Conference, drawing student leaders from 40 of the world’s top MBA programs, will take place April 3rd through 5th at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.

The conference, which was founded at Columbia Business School in 1983, is organized by the Graduate Business Forum, an international group for MBA students. It is designed to provide students with valuable networking opportunities while showcasing best practices in student government.

The conference will also expose students to experts in the field of leadership. This year’s keynote speakers are Chip Conley, president and CEO of boutique hotelier Jolie de Vivre Hospitality; best-selling author and management coach Marshall Goldsmith; and Richard Lyons, chief learning office for Goldman Sachs. Lyons also served as the former acting dean of the Haas School and its former Sylvan Coleman Professor of Finance.

In addition to the above keynote addresses, the conference will also feature panel discussions focused on doing business in China and global energy trends.

“Haas, as a top school, should be offering its thoughts on leadership,” says Clifford Dank, MBA ’08. Dank, who is president of the Haas School MBA Association, also serves as the current chairman of the Graduate Business Forum, making him responsible for coordinating the organization’s conference at Haas.
Haas has hosted the conference once before, in 1996.

Click here to learn more about the 2008 Global MBA Leadership Conference or here to register.