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
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• 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
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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.
Business Week
Economist
Financial Times
Forbes
USNews
Wall Street Journal

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

Blog Archive

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ARCHIVE FOR MAY 2008

Friday, May 16, 2008

Top Bush Education Official Leaves to Lead Business School Consortium

According to a report yesterday in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Education Department’s assistant secretary for postsecondary education plans to leave her post, just one year after her appointment by President Bush, to lead the Washington Campus, a consortium of university business schools.

Diane Auer Jones was appointed the nation’s top higher-education official by Bush in May 2007, replacing Sally Stroup, who stepped down. According to the Chronicle report, Jones had hoped to remain at the Department of Education through the end of the Bush administration in January 2009 but couldn’t pass up the chance to replace the Washington Campus’s president, who is retiring. It was a case of “the perfect job coming at not the perfect time,” she told the Chronicle.

The Washington Campus is a consortium of 16 major university business schools founded in 1978 to help educate business school students and corporate executives on the process of U.S. policy making. Among its member universities are the University of California at Berkeley’s Hass School of Business, UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and Michigan’s Ross School of Business. 

Founded on the principle that “understanding government is indispensable knowledge for all business leaders,” the Washington Campus provided customized executive education programs for corporations and associations, open-enrollment programs for business executives and graduate-level courses for MBA students within the consortium.

According to the Chronicle, Jones feels she is leaving the Education Department at an appropriate time in its calendar even though the Bush administration still has eight months remaining. Several critical regulatory processes have been finished, and all of the department’s major grant competitions have been completed.

Fridays From the Frontline

Welcome back to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly peek through the MBA looking glass.  There was quite a sight to behold this week as applicants and students battled addled brains made mad by tough decisions that could determine their futures, some temporarily while others with permanence.  Let’s check out a few in each camp…

Mbarunnergirl recently returned from a breathtaking journey ‘down under’, which helped her realize, among other things, that the travel-heavy consulting lifestyle’s just not for her.  Now, with the summer stretching out ahead of her, she has to figure out what is, at least for the next several months until she joins Columbia.  Her dilemma surely resonates with JulyDream, who’s also looking to gainfully employ her time before she heads off to Darden, although right now she’s been stymied by a sudden onset of nostalgia about her current gainful employer.  On the other hand, My MBA Dream’s sights are focused ahead – all the way to next application season, in fact – unless the Darden waitlist pans out for this fall.  Speaking of restarting the whole nerve wracking process, Miss Curly Bee spoke out in defense of one its most anxiety inducing elements – gasp – the BusinessWeek forums!  What’s wrong with a little b-school drama now and then? she implores would-be censors of this MBA circus.

First-year HairTwirler wasn’t in the mood for any funny business from the MBA community this week, however: she took a decisively hard line stance on which applicants should be doing community service and why.  So what makes her an authority?  An outstanding grade in Ethics at Georgetown, for starters.  M@ also cut to the chase, frankly speaking about his unsatisfying Ross Multidisciplinary Action Project grade, which couldn’t have been further disconnected from the success he felt his team achieved in South Africa.  The week was easier on Necromonger, who’s finding INSEAD’s P5 surprisingly manageable.  He took the opportunity this afforded him to capture INSEAD’s Fontainebleau campus from a variety of perspectives.  UniQpath also entertained a change of perspectives, reflecting on how her career aspirations have shifted over her first year at Wharton, landing her at a Bay area startup for the summer instead of a big consulting firm.

Back at INSEAD after a Wharton exchange, MillionDollarSpatula’s getting ready to make a big career decision, too – will it be a gritty general management job at a down-to-earth firm or a posh, supporting role at Fortune 500 company?  Meanwhile, job in hand, Angie found time to sing the praises of LBS again, this time with the heady assertion that the school “rules European sports,” as evidenced by London Business School’s triumph in the European MBA Tournament (for the third year in a row!).  And last but not least, Mbagladiator took a break from his full-time post as a social butterfly to share his accomplishments over the past few weeks – from knocking out papers and finals to narrowly defeating the Yale SOM’s Dean Podolny in bowling.

That just about wraps up the MBA blogging news for this week!  Hope to have you back with us next Friday for the latest synopsis of business school blogging activity.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Harvard Business School Deadlines and Essays Topics 2008-2009

As promised, HBS released its deadlines and essay questions for the 2008-2009 admissions cycle today. Though much remains the same, there are two notable differences over last year’s deadlines and essay topics. First, the Round 1 deadline is almost two weeks later this year, taking place in mid-October instead of early October, and the 2008-2009 application will require just four essays - down from five in 2007-2008 and six in earlier years. This should be good news for applicants, who will have more time to work on fewer essays.

Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 15, 2008
Round 2: January 6, 2009
Round 3: March 11, 2009

Note: All deadlines are 5 p.m. EST.

Notification Dates
Round 1: January 21, 2009
Round 2: April 2, 2009
Round 3: May 13, 2009

Essay Questions
1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
2. What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)

Please respond to two of the following (400-word limit each):
1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?
2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.
3. What area of the world are you most curious about and why?
4. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

Tuck School of Business Auction Supplements Nonprofit, Public Sector Summer Internship Salaries

It’s internship time for many business school students just wrapping up their first year of study. For those headed to investment banks and consulting firms, summer internships can mean regular paychecks offering a preview of what to expect after graduation. But for students who instead have opted for nonprofit, service-based positions, a summer of eating Ramen noodles and little else may be more the norm.

Not so at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Last week, Tuck held its eighth annual Tuck GIVES (Grants to Interns and Volunteers for the Environment and Society) auction, a student-run event that gives the entire school community a chance to help support students heading into nonprofit and public-sector internships.

Combining silent and live auctions, calendar and raffle sales and a poker tournament, this year’s event brought in $67,400.
“I feel fortunate to go to a school where my classmates devote so much of their time and money to helping their peers engage in nonprofit and public-sector work,” Rachel Roth T’09, an event organizer, said in a statement. Other members of the Tuck GIVES leadership team included Brooke Szostak T’08, Jamie Greenthal T’08 and Chelsey Hood T’08.

Students supported their peers not only by bidding on auction items, but also by offering up their skills and services to serve as auction items themselves. Distinctive items auctioned off this year included flying lessons, a traditional New Orleans-style crawfish bowl with Tuck Dean Paul Danos and a traditional fiesta dinner prepared by seven Tuck students from Mexico.

The proceeds from last year’s auction funded seven student internship positions at organizations in industries ranging from healthcare to public education. This year’s proceeds, too, will supplement the salaries of Tuck students pursuing internships in the nonprofit and public sectors. 

“Tuck GIVES demonstrates how Tuck puts its values to work,” said Patricia Palmiotto, director of the Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship, in a statement about the event. The Allwin Initiative helps to sponsor the auction each year. a sponsor of the event. “We believe in using business skills to make a positive difference in the world,” Palmiotto continued.

To learn more about Tuck GIVES, contact the Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship.

Admissions Tip: Round 3 Results

With the release of most Round 3 notifications in the past three weeks, the 2007-2008 admissions season is coming to a close for the vast majority of MBA aspirants. We’d like to offer our congratulations to all those who have gained admission to one of more of their target schools, and wish good luck to waitlisted applicants whose fate is presently a bit less certain. For all those who submitted their applications in the final round and received an unfavorable decision, we’d like to share a few tips that we hope will make the process of facing rejection as productive as possible:

1) Understand the odds and consider reapplying in the early rounds next year. If you failed to gain admission to a school in its final application round, you should not give up hope or instantly assume that your profile contains some glaring weakness that will forever bar you from acceptance. Because relatively few spots in the incoming class are available by the time of the Round 3 deadlines, it is always most difficult to get into a school at this point in the year. In many cases, an earlier application is all that you need to find success in the process.

2) Get feedback from the admissions committee. As we commented in a recent post, some of the top programs allow unsuccessful applicants to sign up for a feedback session with an admissions officer (sessions typically take place over the summer). This is a unique chance for you to learn how the committee perceived your application. Keep in mind that your audience with the adcom will be brief - try to approach the meeting with pointed questions about your candidacy in order to ensure that the feedback session is as productive and informative as possible.

3) Get feedback from other sources. Although a number of schools do not offer feedback, there are other ways to learn about where you may have fallen short. To start, you should read over your file with a critical eye and try to identify and understand your weaknesses. Take a step back from the process and be objective about your shortcomings. You might also share your file with colleagues who have been to business school. While this can be enlightening, you should also be careful about the feedback you collect on these fronts, since not all of it will be accurate (or consistent). Finally, you might seek feedback from an MBA admissions consulting firm. Clear Admit offers complete feedback sessions, including detailed written reports that provide an individualized road-map for reapplication.

4) Plan for a productive summer. Although it’s tempting to simply take a break from the admissions process after receiving a rejection letter, it is imperative that reapplicants use the summer months to address the weaknesses in their profiles. In many cases, reapplicants need to pursue outside coursework, retake a standardized test (GMAT/TOEFL), increase involvement with outside activities or take on new responsibilities at work. All of these tasks take time and cannot be addressed in the fall when application forms and essays should be the priority. By being proactive about improving your candidacy now, you will put yourself in a much better position to apply next year.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Clear Admit, ManhattanGMAT to Co-Host Free Info Session for MBA Applicants in Chicago

On June 19th, ManhattanGMAT, the nation’s largest GMAT-exclusive test-prep company, will open its Chicago Center to prospective MBA applicants for a free information session explaining the ins and outs of the admissions process. Clear Admit’s own Graham Richmond will lead the session, sharing admissions expertise gained in the seven years since he co-founded Clear Admit with fellow Wharton graduate Eliot Ingram. (Prior to co-founding Clear Admit, Richmond also served on the admissions committee at Wharton, evaluating candidates for admission and representing the school at events across the globe.)

The event will also feature ManhattanGMAT instructor Keith Blume, who will speak to the GMAT specifically, helping prospective applicants understand how it works, what it tests, how business schools interpret scores and the benefits and limits of using short-cuts and tricks.

As if that alone weren’t reason to stop by, attendees also will receive a range of gifts and special promotions, including:

• A free access pass to one of ManhattanGMAT’s computer adaptive practice exams
• A chance to win a free ManhattanGMAT 9-session course (a $1390 value) or a complete set of ManhattanGMAT course books (a $270 value)
• A chance to win a set of five Clear Admit School Guides (a $175 value) or a set of five Clear Admit Interview Guides (a $100 value)
• $100 off any 9-session ManhattanGMAT preparation course
• A free hour of Clear Admit consulting time with the purchase of 10 hours of consulting time (a $200 value) 

The information session will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and drinks and appetizers will be available. This exclusive event is free to interested applicants, but advance registration is required. To register online, click here. (Note: This link will take you to the manhattangmat.com website. If it is your first visit to the site, you will be asked to first complete a free student profile.)

Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email with the address of the event and other details. For questions about this event, contact ManhattanGMAT at 800-576-4628 or email studentservices@manhattangmat.com.

We hope to see you there!

Wiki Wednesdays: GMAT Prep

Welcome to another edition of Wiki Wednesdays, where we highlight fresh and informative content from the Clear Admit Wiki! This week, we’re zeroing in on the GMAT page as many applicants are in the midst of preparation - and perhaps a little perspiration - for the test. Let’s take a look at what blogger AlchemistMBA shared in the Clear Admit Wiki about his GMAT experience…

After summarizing his take on a number of GMAT prep materials, the applicant noted, “I used a small diary to keep track of some grammar quirks, the more challenging Quant problems and the weird sentence correction sentences I came across.” While study habits and preferences will undoubtedly vary, candidates could consider keeping separate notes for ease of reference when tackling such problems again and again and again.

Despite thorough preparation, however, the test taker wasn’t quite ready for everything! As he recounted, “you have to use an erasable clipboard that you write on with a sketchpen for scratch work. I didn’t know this before hand and I had a VERY difficult time. On the page, I couldn’t tell the difference between my 7’s and 4’s while doing my calculations.” Applicants may want to crumple up that scratch paper and trade in their yellow legal pads for a dry-erase board in order to more closely simulate the test-taking situation. To find out AlchemistMBA’s final score, be sure to check out the Clear Admit Wiki!

As always, we encourage the MBA applicant community to share their thoughts on and experiences with the GMAT, a sometimes challenging, but necessary, part of the admissions process. 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. Thanks to all those who have contributed this season! Best of luck to those still sharpening their pencils!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Harvard Business School Application Essay Questions Imminent for Class of 2011

Some of us here at Clear Admit received an RSS feed update dated May 12th from Harvard Business School Admissions Director Dee Leopold announcing that new essay questions for the 2011 are now available to prospective applicants.

“Well, I suppose this is the official launch of the Class of 2011 application season!” Leopold wrote. “The new essay questions are now posted along with the application calendar. Our application will be available online in mid-June.”

So we immediately set out to find the new questions so we could share them with our readers. Alas, they don’t seem to have gone live yet to the HBS site. But given Leopold’s post, we’re sure they aren’t long in coming, and we will carefully monitor the site and alert you when they are up.

Leopold’s note yesterday also indicated that she will be in New York City on May 27th for the first of several upcoming outreach events. More events – most in August and September – will be added as they are scheduled, she continued. College visits, meanwhile, will take place in late September, October and November.

Prospective applicants are more than welcome to visit HBS over the summer, during which time members of the Admissions Board will be hosting information sessions, Leopold continued. And though class visits don’t resume until early October, the HBS website features a video called Inside the Case Method, which Leopold recommends viewing in the meantime. “I think it gives a very clear picture of what happens in the MBA classroom and offers both student and faculty perspectives,” she wrote.

Finally, Leopold shared that she’s hoping to be a more active blogger now that the HBS Class of 2010 is set and that she will be re-writing the FAQ section of the HBS website to make it more comprehensive and colorful.

Once again, we will keep you posted about the new essay questions – as soon as they are up we will share them with you here.

Trivia Tuesday: On-Campus Housing at Kellogg and Tuck

Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly exploration of the special programs, interesting opportunities and unusual policies that impact the MBA experience at the leading business schools! Today we turn our attention to residential life, an important aspect of student life and campus culture. Although most of the leading business schools offer some on-campus housing options for full-time MBA students, space tends to be limited, and the rooms or apartments tend to be in residence halls shared by other graduate programs at the university.

However, two of the leading MBA programs best known for their strong sense of community are also two of the schools that have actively expanded the number on-campus housing opportunities for MBA students. At Tuck, nearly half of each first-year class lives in the school’s on-campus housing facilities, while at Kellogg approximately 30% of students live in that school’s residence halls. Let’s take a closer look at housing options offered by Tuck and Kellogg.

Whittemore Hall, considered the center of Tuck’s on-campus residential life, offers private living accommodations, social areas, group study rooms, a business resource center and an exercise facility with locker rooms. Nearby Buchanan Hall provides additional housing for first-year students, as well as group study rooms and a lounge area. Although Whittemore and Buchanan are very attractive options for single students seeking on-campus housing, those students entering Tuck with partners or children often choose to live in Sachem Village, a duplex and townhome community for Dartmouth’s graduate students.

Tuck is continuing to expand its residential options, with a additional residences for first-year students scheduled to open in December 2008 upon the completion of Tuck’s new living and learning center. The new center is located just west of Whittemore Hall and will provide living spaces for nearly 100 students, as well as additional study rooms, lounge areas, and classroom facilities.

At Kellogg, of the 30% of MBA students who choose to live on campus, most settle into the seven-story McManus Living/Learning Center. Both single and married students may choose from single or double studios, and one- or two-bedroom apartments. With study rooms, a computer lab, lounges, a workout room and a game room, McManus is designed to facilitate socializing and out-of-classroom learning. The McManus Living/Learning Center is just a three block walk from the Jacobs Center, making it one of the most convenient housing options for Kellogg students.

Students at both Tuck and Kellogg report that the opportunity to live with classmates extends students’ social circles and enhances the sense of a shared campus community. For more information on the housing options at Tuck, Kellogg, or other leading business schools, be sure to check out the schools’ websites or the Life On Campus sections of the Clear Admit School Guides!

Monday, May 12, 2008

NYU Stern Awards $150K to Winning Entrepreneurs in Annual Business Plan Competition

The New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business last week announced the winners of its 9th Annual Business Plan Competition. Top honors – and more than $150,000 in seed money and in-kind support – went to plans in each the traditional and social enterprise tracks focused on leveraging social networking sites to create new products and providing an innovative model for combating poverty and limited healthcare access respectively.

The founders of Socialbomb Inc., Stern alumnus Mihir Dange (BS ‘01) and Michael Dory, Adam Simon and Scott Varland of Tisch’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, won first place in this year’s traditional track. Their plan provides entertainment services (and related advertising opportunities) built upon existing social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Basically, Socialbomb serves up clever games that users can play on mobile devices in which they are rewarded or penalized for everyday life events such as how they dress, whether or not they remember friends’ birthdays and more.

Socialbomb’s founders were awarded the Ira Rennert Entrepreneurial Prize of $50,000, which will help them turn their business plan into reality. But as important as the prize money was the coaching and guidance the team received over the course of the eight-month business plan competition, say its members.

“Socialbomb entered the competition having completed some R&D and with a vague notion of how it might be turned into a business, and we left with a strategic plan of action,” said team member Adam Simon. “Guidance from advisors and the Berkley Center staff played a huge part in shaping our young company’s development,” he continued. “The market research and financial planning we completed throughout the year helped shape how we think about our products and the market, allowing us to emerge from the competition ready to open our doors.”

Focusing on the Double Bottom Line of Profitability and Social Impact
Two winning teams, meanwhile, shared top honors in the social entrepreneurship track for their business plans focused on creating positive social impact while still turning a profit. Splitting the $100,000 Stewart Satter Family Prize were Naya Jeevan for Kids (NJFK), which was awarded $75,000 for its innovative plan to provide quality healthcare access to social disadvantaged families in developing countries, and Madécasse, which won $25,000 to further develop its plan to support local production and manufacturing of fair trade products in Madagascar for export to the United States.

The NJFK team, led by Asher Hasan MD (MBA ‘07), Saad Tabani (MBA ‘08), Farhan Musharrif and Irum Musharraf, has focused its initial efforts in India and Pakistan, where it will act as a catalytic intermediary between insurance companies and corporations to give naya jeevan, or “new life” as it translates from Urdu and Hindi, to two underserved communities in South Asia. The two communities it will target are low-income corporate employees and their children, as well as domestic staff members of corporate employees and their children.

“One of the most valuable experiences the NJFK team gained from its participation in the business plan competition was having unprecedented exposure to venture capitalists and social entrepreneurs,” said NJFK team member Hasan. Getting to repeatedly pressure-test business concepts and receive continuous feedback was also a major benefit, he added.

The other winning team in the Social Entrepreneurship track, Madécasse, won with its plan to help bridge the gap between poverty and potential in emerging markets using Equitrade. Equitrade, similar to the Fair Trade concept, requires both the farming and the manufacturing of products to be completed within the country of origin using ethical and sustainable methods.

“Before the competition, our business plan for Madécasse was relatively small in scale,” said Madécasse co-founder Tim McCollum. “This process opened our eyes to how much more we could potentially do with the business, and transformed our vision from that of a small business to an industry leading company that can achieve $10+ million in revenue per year,” he continued. Other team members include recent Stern graduate Brian McCollum (MBA ’07) and Brett Beach.

Stern’s Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, is open to the greater NYU community. It drew 155 teams this year, up 20 percent over last year. In addition to valuable seed money and continual guidance throughout the competition itself, the winning teams will have a virtual “pod” in the Stern Incubator, where they will benefit from $10,000 in pro-bono legal and consulting support, an extensive mentor network, ongoing technical assistance, educational programs and other university resources.

Campus Chronicles: Harvard’s Harbus and Wharton’s Journal

This week, Campus Chronicles checks in with Harvard and Wharton’s student newspapers to help our readers peer inside student life at each program.  With the academic year winding down, many first year MBA students are excitedly looking ahead to next year’s activities, while second year students who are closer to entering the real world are exhibiting more nostalgic feelings.

At the Wharton Journal , a reporter said that a Graduation, like a bar mitzvah or growing a moustache, is a rite of passage. And as with any other rite of passage, this gives people the inalienable right to pause pensively mid-conversation before saying things like, “You know what? It’s bittersweet.”

Some of the pre-graduation memories will be of recent success out on the field. Forty-two Wildebeests, Wharton women’s rugby team, stampeded through Duke for the annual World MBA Rugby Championships. According to participants, they braved thunderstorms, stinky pitches, clueless refs, catty egos, malt liquor, questionable bathroom breaks and excessive beer chugging to take the tournament by storm and win a second place spot, losing to Columbia Business School’s A team.

The Wharthogs, the Wharton men’s rugby team, also had a spectacular 2007-2008 regular season during which the team won 17 games and lost only 1. Along with the Wildebeests, they descended upon Durham, North Carolina this past weekend, determined to become the first North American team in recent memory to be crowned MBA Rugby World Champion. They were competing against an impressive field of 22 teams including perennial international power houses London Business School (LBS) and University College-Dublin (Smurfit) as well as their American rivals Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford. Over the course of two dramatic days of monsoon like weather and hard fought rugby, the Wharton A side finished 3rd out of the field of 22, narrowly losing in a physical semi-final battle against LBS.

After several showers to remove the mud from their battered bodies, Hog members joined their Beest counterparts for a rollicking feast of Mexican food, margaritas and festive rugby tunes before all returned to Philadelphia heads held high, albeit it with eyes a little bloodshot.

For those Wharton students who missed the sports experience at Duke, but who wish to create a few more fond memories, there is the annual Spring Gala. This year’s theme is “The Prom You Never Had.” For those unfamiliar with the occasion, prom is the biggest high school dance of the year and is usually reserved for junior and senior students. This event is sponsored by the Wharton Government Association and the MBA Office. It is highly encouraged that cocktail dresses or formal wear be worn by the ladies and tuxedos or suits by the gentlemen. For those looking to relive their prom years in style, there will be awards given to those with “aggressive” tuxedo combinations for gentlemen and we hope that the ladies will dust off those old prom dresses and restore their luster.

The Harbus reports that memories are certainly made at Harvard each year by the Bert King Foundation,who honors several members of African American Student Union (AASU) for their dedication to service and history of academic, professional, and leadership accomplishments. Named in honor of Class of 1970 alumnus, the Bert King Award seeks to identify AASU members who have the potential, determination, and self-awareness to make significant contributions to society and rewards them with significant financial assistance. This year a peer-nomination process and extensive interviews by the selection committee resulted in the announcement of four winners.

In counterpoint to several other sentimental articles looking back on the time spent at HBS, another reporter provided a slightly tongue-in-cheek look at the fifty things about HBS that look infinitely preferable to the big, cold, scary world out there. In order to provide an overview of what makes life great for an HBS student, we provide the highlights for you here:

-Ninety people clap when you make a particularly funny comment;

-In the real world people don’t have to put up their hand before they interrupt you;

-Trying to figure out whether the sushi line or the pasta line is longer is often the hardest decision you’ll have to make all day;

-You can turn up in sweatpants and a hoodie, a suit and tie, or anything in between, and no-one really cares either way;

-Your living room has four fireplaces, huge leather couches and is almost always full of interesting, smart people;

-HBS Treks: some of the best vacations one can possibly have, and pretty much all you have to do is turn up and get on the right bus;

-You can usually find out where you are supposed to be and what you are supposed to be doing just by logging in to the Course Platform;

-The average intelligence and attractiveness of your potential hookups is pretty high, even if actual hookups remain elusive;

-You’re rarely stuck not knowing people’s names, because they have a six-inch-high namecard right in front of them; and

-You can relive college life, only with more money, less parental interference and a better cafeteria.

No wonder the feelings about graduation are bittersweet!  Tune in next week for another edition of Campus Chronicles…. 

Friday, May 09, 2008

Clear Admit’s Best of Blogging Awards Featured in the Times

Earlier this week, the Times’ Carly Chynoweth devoted an entry on her careers blog, Snakes & Ladders, to last week’s release of the Clear Admit Best of Blogging (BoB) Awards. Chynoweth, who graciously agreed to be one of the celebrity judges for this year’s contest, praised the BoB Awards for helping interested readers quickly find their way to the best blogs by current MBA students and applicants.

A Google search for MBA blogs serves up 272,000 hits, wrote Chynoweth, but thanks to the BoB Awards, there’s “no need to read them all.” In her blog post, Chynoweth gave a special shout out to July Dream, who took first place for best applicant blog; VidiViciVeni, who won the title of most entertaining applicant blog; and m@, who pulled off a clean sweep of three categories: top student blog, most entertaining student blog and best single post by a student (in a tie with Maybe MBA).

Perhaps not surprisingly, BoB winners themselves called attention to their victories in posts on their own blogs, thanking Clear Admit, their readers, their parents, fellow bloggers, the judges, the Academy and others for recognizing their contributions.

“THANK YOU TO ALL!!!” wrote July Dream. “I can’t explain what a great community this has been to not only lend me a hand when I’m overwhelmed, but also to share our experiences, our lives and a bit of ourselves,” she continued.

VidiViciVeni, too, expressed overwhelming gratitude for his award, poking fun at himself for sounding like he was accepting an Oscar. Always the entertainer, he quipped, “Shouldn’t the “Most Entertaining Blog” win the entertainment device?” We’ll take that under advisement. (The top applicant and student bloggers this year got to choose between an iPod Touch or an Amazon.com gift certificate, while the runners up got their pick of a subscription to either the Economist or BusinessWeek.)

In case you missed the awards, you can view them all here. Thanks again to all the participants, as well as to Chynoweth and the other celebrity judges, for making this year’s competition a success!

Fridays From the Frontline

Welcome back to Fridays from the Frontline, our weekly recap of the whirlwind of activity in the MBA blogosphere. With the school year coming to a close and the application season finally winding down, both students and applicants are reflecting on their journeys so far. Let’s check in and see what they have to say…

Current student La Laudiaria returned with a flurry of activity this week chronicling the bittersweet end of her Wharton career. After struggling to the finish line, she got us all up to speed, sharing accounts of Wharton’s prom and how she and her fellow Follies writers were ambushed into playing what is, perhaps, the most electrifying drinking game ever. MBAGladiator is also preparing to wrap up his tenure at Yale SOM by planning trips up and down the eastern seaboard for the coming weekends and squeezing in a paper and an exam before it’s all said and done. John is also planning to travel prior to his graduation from Columbia; his plans carry him south of the border to Puerto Rico with fellow CBS students for the last time. John, like Rubeo Boy from NYU’s Stern school, is struggling with finding a job before graduation, but each are sure that their elite educations will provide them with ample opportunity! Finally, also traveling this week was Wim De Bruyne, en route from Singapore, where she had a unique opportunity to enjoy the jewels of southeast Asia, back to Fontainebleau to finish her last session of INSEAD before graduation. Best of luck to you, Wim!

Anand took some time out this week to help correct a few misconceptions about the rigors of Darden’s schedule. While he confirmed that the first two terms at Darden are remarkably strenuous, with class and associated preparation consuming 36% of his time - more than he dedicated to sleep - in the fourth quarter, that dropped to a more reasonable 19%, allowing ample time to party. HairTwirler wrapped up her first year at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business at the beginning of May and hasn’t looked back since. She has a busy summer ahead leading into a challenging second year schedule. ChennaitoChicago clues us in on life at Kellogg, running through the many great opportunities provided through Kellogg’s alumni network. He helped with the MBC Conference, which featured a keynote address by Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, and he took a class in which industry executives gave students an unparalleled educational experience! m@ posted from Jamaica where his work with the Blue Mountain Project brought him into direct contact with the people he was trying to help, and really helped bring his Ross School of Business experience full circle. He also put out a post-BoB invitation to submit blog topic requests, so start sending those emails! CS@HBS was surprised to get a look at her blog visitor demographics, in spite of Harvard Business School’s international appeal. Meanwhile, MaybeMBA bemoans her clustered midterms at Chicago GSB, with three of four held over two days, and revisits her list of 22 MBA pros and cons one year later. Also in Chicago, GSBSutras shares the top four reasons to look forward to taking a class on the third floor of the Chicago GSB’s Gleacher Center.

Turning our attention to applicant-bloggers, this week, Agent-C celebrates the completion of the hangar of which he oversaw construction and reflects on the the business school application process. He warns people not to get too swept up in school rankings and to focus on what schools best fit your wants and needs, which can only be done by knowing oneself. He also gives his impressions of campus visits to six top schools and shares his thoughts on the GMAT. Meanwhile, TinyDancer is having a yard sale to prepare to move and, unfortunately, the modest profit won’t go far to financing her Wharton MBA; Eight Schools is really feeling some sticker shock in calculating what it will cost to complete the Tuck MBA and cope with the price of living in Hanvoer. In closing, we would like to extend our condolences to Dreamer, whose GMAT journey ended in disappointment, but who excelled on the CATs and plans to start at the Indian Institute of Management. Best of luck!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  Tune in next week for another action-packed edition of Fridays From the Frontline…. 

Thursday, May 08, 2008

HEC Paris School of Management, Sciences-Po Launch New Corporate and Public Management Dual Degree

The HEC Paris School of Management has launched a new dual degree program with the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, better known as “Sciences-Po,” according to a recent report in the Economist. Students who complete the program, which will begin in September, will earn a dual degree in management science and public administration, the equivalent of a master’s degree from each school.

The program is built on the view held by both HEC and Sciences-Po that private sector management and public policy are growing increasingly intertwined. The first half of the three-year program will be taught in French, and the second half will be taught in English. Students will be required to complete two internships, one in each the public and private sector.

As with HEC’s other dual degree programs, graduates benefit from the alumni networks from each school. Admissions are managed independently, and students must be admitted by both programs in order to qualify.

In addition to this new dual degree with Sciences-Po, HEC also offers cross-disciplinary joint degrees (MBA + master’s) with the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the London School of Economics. HEC also offers dual degrees (HEC MBA + other MBA) with the Stern School of Business at New York University, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) in Mexico, Universidad Torcuato di Tella (UTDT) Buenos Aires, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and SEM - Tsinghua University Beijing.

To learn more about the new HEC/Sciences-Po dual master’s program in public and corporate management, click here. To learn more about HEC’s other dual degree programs, click here.

Admissions Tip: Considering the Campus

Continuing our series of admissions tips geared towards those individuals who are just beginning to think about their MBA applications, we wanted to offer some advice on factors to consider with respect to a school’s facilities and location. Whether speaking with current students or touring the campus for oneself, it’s helpful to approach these information-gathering experiences with as clear a sense of what matters to you as possible. Here are a few broad categories to consider:

1) Facilities - Are state of the art classrooms and impressive new architecture a priority for you? Would you prefer a school that is headquartered in a single building to one spread over a larger campus? What about wireless access and use of technology in teaching? If any of these factors are of significant importance and could tip the balance between schools on your list of target programs, you’ll want to do this sort of research up front. If visiting yourself, we’d recommend that you take pictures (note the contrast between a Wharton lecture hall and an MIT auditorium, photos courtesy of blogger brownoski) or write up your thoughts after the fact while your impression is still fresh in your mind.

2) Surroundings - In addition to the campus itself, you’ll want to allow yourself some time to ask about and explore the larger city, town or rural location. Where do students live, eat and socialize? What is the cost of living? How do they get from place to place (parking or public transit may be an issue)? Are you interested in an active night life, or a wholesome place to raise a family? While considerations of academics and post-graduation career prospects generally take priority, you will be spending two years of your life in business school and these more subtle factors can often tip the balance in favor of a certain program when all other elements are more or less equal.

3) Atmosphere - Along with the campus and its location comes a certain culture or climate. Are students generally competitive or collaborative? Do students tend to socialize before or after class, or do they go their separate ways? How closely knit are learning teams, sections, clusters and cohorts, and what are the relationships among them? How strong are the bonds among classmates, and the ties between past and present students? This questions point to the often elusive issue of “fit.” The pervasive atmosphere that informs interactions among your peers will undoubtedly make a significant impact on your business school experience, so it’s important to get a sense of this by speaking with current students and/or visiting the school.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

UVA’s Darden School of Business Makes Sustainability Push

In a blog post yesterday we described a new business incubator at UNC Kenan-Flagler committed to promoting environmental and socially sustainable entrepreneurship. Of course, Kenan-Flagler is not alone in addressing issues of sustainability. In his own blog post yesterday evening, Dean Robert Bruner of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia mapped out the ways in which he hopes to lead his school toward greater environmental responsibility.

“Our initiative has two goals: By 2020, the Darden Enterprise will achieve carbon and waste neutrality; and by 2013,
Darden will rank among the b-school thought leaders on sustainability,” Bruner wrote.

Ambitious goals, yes. “But our assessment of the urgency and the opportunity to serve the business profession compels us to set these targets,” Bruner continued.

As part of its new sustainability initiative, Darden has integrated the subject into the curriculum and is writing new cases, bringing expert speakers to the school and working to make the campus green.

In an address last week as part of the closing event of Darden’s Net Impact Week, Bruner shared news of two recent hires, also part of the school’s commitment to sustainability. Erika Herz will serve as manager of sustainability programs, and Mike Lenox will be the new executive director of the Batten Institute, Darden’s center for entrepreneurship and innovation. Both bring considerable experience in the field.

Bruner doesn’t accept the beliefs that business executives are indifferent to environmental issues, that consumers won’t pay for better environmental practices and that investors won’t accept a lower rate of return for less intrusive technologies and practices. “We should find means of harnessing the dynamism of capitalism and free markets in the service of environmental sustainability,” he wrote.

Business schools have their own part to play, he continued. “The role for business schools should be to identify best practices of invention and implementation of new products and practices,” he wrote.

Already, some Darden students are taking action. This week, a team led by Darden students Manoj Sinha and Chip Ransler won first prize in the University of Texas at Austin RGK Center Social Innovation Competition for their company Husk Power Systems, which provides power to rural Indians by converting rice husks into electricity. 

The new sustainability initiative is aimed at fostering even more of this type of innovation among students and faculty alike.

To learn more about sustainability at Darden, click here. 

Which School Wednesdays: YouTube Offers New Perspective on MBA Programs

Welcome to this season’s first edition of Which School Wednesdays, a column meant to highlight online content that may help candidates weigh their tough decisions in selecting MBA programs. With looming deposit deadlines, MBA candidates admitted to more than one school are running out of time to settle on their premier program. While most applicants have already considered qualities such as size, location, teaching methods, etc., the Clear Admit team has decided to take an unconventional look at potentially overlooked characteristics of the leading programs via a selection of student-produced videos.  With the help of YouTube, applicants across the globe can peer into student life at any number of leading programs….

Our journey through “MBAs’ Funniest Home Videos” starts in Chicago.  When choosing between offers, it may help to understand the admissions process from the other side of the acceptance letters, e.g. the admissions committee. For insight into admissions decisions and financial aid, ‘Sandy G’ (who bears a striking resemblance to Ali G) sat down with Chicago GSB’s Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Admissions, Rose Martinelli, and Financial Aid Director, Priscilla Parker.  Here is the resulting video.

Visiting a school may also help candidates to tip the scales. While admit weekends provide previews of business school life, however, many applicants may be left wondering about campus culture once the bridge from ‘prospect’ to ’student’ is finally crossed. For a better sense of campus life, be sure to check the following videos:

1. 1. CBS 911! - From Uris Hall to Watson Library, this video offers a ’secure’ tour of Columbia Business School.
2. 2. Vanday Partay - Covering fashion sense and family ties, Duke/Fuqua students sing their love of Tennessee rivals, Vanderbilt/Owen MBAs.
3. 3. Wharton First Year / Second Year Learning Team - For those wondering what a team setting has in store, a few Wharton students share their firsthand experiences.

Though spring offers warm weather, there may still be some ice to break over one’s admit weekends. For pointers on approaching your fellow admits, check out a few Stanford students’ take on these events. Although interview season is winding down, some tips offered in this mock interview can still apply when sharing one’s background with future classmates. When all else fails, the common MBA topic of career goals may save a stale conversation and prospects can take a crooning cue from Columbia Business School’s Dean Hubbard.

That wraps up this week’s installment of Which School Wednesdays! As always, we encourage those who have made up their mind to contribute to the School Choices section of the Wiki - simply create an account or send your thoughts to wiki@clearadmit.com. Best of luck and happy deliberating!

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Sustainable Business Incubator Debuts at UNC Kenan-Flagler

The Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill last week launched a business accelerator geared toward speeding the growth of firms pledged toward meeting environmental and social objectives. The business incubator is believed to be the first of its kind.

The UNC Business Accelerator for Sustainable Entrepreneurship (BASE), created by Kenan-Flagler’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise (CSE), is designed to help bring entrepreneurs together with resources – ranging from industry experts to capital – that are focused on sustainability and can help turn their ideas into viable businesses. 

“BASE will benefit entrepreneurs, UNC and the wider community alike,” Katie Kross, CSE executive director, said in a statement announcing the incubator’s launch.

The incubator will help minimize costs and inject expertise in the startup phase, increasing entrepreneurs’ chances of long-term success, according to Kross. UNC students, meanwhile, will benefit from interdisciplinary experiential learning focused on integrating environmental and social considerations into all aspects of business. In these and other ways, BASE will raise the visibility of sustainable issues, benefiting society as a whole, she continued.

Currently in its pilot phase, BASE is working with seven early-stage sustainable businesses based in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle. They include

• CaraGreen, a distributor of environmentally sustainable building materials
• Counter Culture Coffee, a fair trade micro-roasting coffee company
• North Carolina Choices, a provider of sustainably and locally produced meat and poultry
• PVee, a provider of large-scale turnkey solar energy solutions
• Trinity Design/Build, a provider of sustainable architectural design, building and preservation services
• WaterPLUS, a developer of a water purification device for use in the developing world
• Zebra Crossings, an online fair trade wedding boutique

The entrepreneurs involved in these businesses will have BASE advisory board members as their mentors. They also will participate in networking events, training and workshops; join a network of other sustainable entrepreneurs; and gain access to funding opportunities and other resources. 

The pilot phase will run through September 2008, at which point BASE will enter its full-scale phase. This phase will include a physical incubator with room for 10 businesses.

“BASE is the right idea at the right time,” said advisory board member John Hardin, deputy director and chief policy analyst for the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Office of Science and Technology, in a statement. “By drawing on the expertise of its advisory board and aggregating and connecting key resources, BASE gives businesses the support they need to address the triple bottom line” of financial profitability, social equity and environmental sustainability, he continued.

To learn more about BASE, click here.

INSEAD Deadlines for 2008-2009 - September and January Intakes

While INSEAD still has a few deadlines on the horizon for January 2009 intake, deadlines are now available for applicants targeting INSEAD’s September 2009, as well as January 2010, intake.

Deadlines for September 2009 Intake
Round One
Application Deadline: October 1st, 2008
Interview Notification By: November 7th, 2008
Final Decision: December 19th, 2008

Round Two
Application Deadline: Nove