Posted by Clear Admit on August 25, 2008, at 2:46 am
Posted in:  Events , General Make sure to sign up for the MBA programs’ receptions and admissions panels ahead of time (when necessary), as spaces do fill up quickly. You don’t want to miss these valuable opportunities to learn more about your target programs.
Here is a schedule of events for the week of August 25-31. Enjoy!
Monday, August 25
Columbia: Admissions Information Session and Reception; Sao Paulo, Brazil
Harvard: All MBA Admissions Student-led Reception; Los Angeles
MIT: Sloan-on-the-Road; Sao Paulo, Brazil
Tuesday, August 26
Columbia: Admissions Information Session and Reception; Bangalore, India
Columbia: Admissions Information Session and Reception; Mexico City, Mexico
Harvard: HBS Reception; Mexico City, Mexico
Harvard: HBS Reception, San Francisco
Wednesday, August 27
Columbia: Admissions Information Session and Reception; Monterrey, Mexico
Columbia: Admissions Information Session and Reception; Lima, Peru
Thursday, August 28
Columbia: Admissions Information Session and Reception; Mumbai, India
Harvard: HBS Reception; Monterrey, Mexico
Chicago GSB: Student-sponsored Summer Event; Haifa, Israel
Northwestern: Kellogg Information Session; Mexico City, Mexico
Friday, August 29
Columbia: Admissions Information Session and Reception; New Delhi, India
UCLA: Anderson Information Session and Reception; Seoul, South Korea
Saturday, August 30
Babson, Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Northwestern, NYU, UCLA, Wharton, Yale: MBA Fair; Monterrey, Mexico
UCLA: Information Session and Reception; Monterrey, Mexico
Posted by Clear Admit on August 22, 2008, at 3:11 pm
Posted in: Essay Topics , School: London Business School Following the recent announcement of the 2008-2009 application season deadlines, the London Business School essay topics for this year have been released. The topics are as follows:
Question 1 (600 words)
In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal? Why is this the right time for you to pursue an MBA?
Question 2 (200 words)
Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision?
Question 3 (500 words)
Please describe your experience of working in and leading teams, either in your professional or personal life. Include any specific challenges you have faced. Given this experience, what role do you think you will play in your first year study group?
Question 4 (400 words)
Student involvement is an extremely important part of the London Business School MBA experience and this is reflected in the character of students on campus. What type of student club or campus community events will you be involved with and why? How will you contribute?
Question 5 (150 words)
Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these?
Interested applicants should visit the school’s admissions site for additional information.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 22, 2008, at 12:19 pm
Posted in: General , MBA News , School: Columbia First-years students at Columbia Business School (CBS) this fall will take part in a new corporate governance module during orientation, the first of several changes to the school’s core curriculum that will be unveiled over the course of the year. As part of the curriculum redesign, CBS also has streamlined the required components of the core in an effort to give students more flexibility to enroll in electives in their first year.
The introduction of the corporate governance module, a non-credit component that will begin during first-year orientation and conclude with a capstone session in the final term of the MBA program, is designed to shine a spotlight on a topic too often overlooked as a core competency in management education.
“Today, every business leader must understand the potential economic benefit of good governance, as well as the interaction among directors, management, regulatory bodies, investors and other stakeholders,” CBS Dean R. Glenn Hubbard said in a statement about the new core.
Through pre-term readings and class sessions, students will examine the duties and responsibilities they personally will be expected to assume as managers and directors of firms while also considering the larger role corporate governance plays in their careers, the economy and society at laas a whole.
Also part of the curriculum redesign, the CBS core will now be organized into “required” and “flexible” components. Requirements have been pared down to 6.5 core classes deemed to cover essential material that every MBA graduate should study. These core classes include accounting, corporate finance, leadership, marketing, operations, statistics and strategy.
The flexible core, meanwhile, is designed to expand on the required components while complementing their content. As part of the flexible core, students will select one course from each of three broad categories – Organizations, Performance and Markets. These courses will address topics ranging from organizational change and the importance of social networks to risk management to macro- and micro-economics and game theory.
The organization of the new core also allows students to incorporate more electives into their first year, better shaping their study to their personal career objectives. “The innovative transformation of the core curriculum provides students with foundational expertise in preparation for electives, internships and Master Classes.” Dean Hubbard said.
The revised core curriculum is the result of a systematic evaluation of the earlier core by the Foundations Curriculum Committee, a group of tenured faculty from each of the school’s five academic divisions convened by Hubbard in 2006.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 22, 2008, at 7:58 am
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline Hello and welcome to another installment of Fridays From the Frontline. Clear Admit has been vigilant in its perusal of the MBA blogosphere this week and can see that the dwindling summer days have lit a fire under aspirants and current students alike. Though the Olympics continue, many bloggers’ attentions were focused on different matters this week.
The class of ’09 found themselves at the end of their internships and were already looking back at all they managed to fit into the summer. Some of these summer reflections proved to be more, well, squishy than others, to which McDonough ’09 Hairtwirler (still in England) could, unfortunately, testify. Chicago ’09 Iday was particularly introspective, having realized that it had been a year since he arrived in Chicago with big MBA dreams. Ross ’09 M@ was equally appreciative of the last year and had a great time on his Colorado M-TREK. After more than a month without a post HBS ’09 CS surfaced with beautiful pictures around Seattle and shared a few ways that being a second year HBS differed from first year status. Darden ’09 Mandy shared photographs as well, of her throwing a pig skin around with Larry Brown. Fellow Darden classmate Anand provided a serious entry about his thoughts on the west’s reactions to China’s job of hosting the Olympics.
First years continued to arrive and settle into their new digs. INSEAD ’09 Marc arrived safely in France and represented his homeland by wearing an Obama shirt out on the town while wondering when he might find himself back in the States. LBS ’10 N.A.S. was happily in London and shared a few pros and cons about the city. Kellogg ’10 Miss Curly Bee was packed and almost ready to fly halfway across the world to Evanston. Darden ’10 JulyDream has been at the school for a while but the last week, for her, was all about survival…and crutches. Wharton ’10 Tiny Dancer called on all bloggers to participate in Blog Action Day and provided a formula to explain why her body was “rejecting” Wharton.
As is often the case, the MBA hopefuls were quite a vocal bunch over this past week. OMGparishilton discussed MBA guidebooks and sent Clear Admit a “howler” with the promise of eyeball doubling. Ahembeea personified all seven of the INSEAD essays. Omne wondered if he was the only one who preferred invite-only interviews while V2Bschool pondered whether future MBA women dressed as nicely when they weren’t attending admissions events. Soni submitted his first application and started his campaign to win Clear Admit’s Best of Blogging Award. Leonidas was advised to change his essay writing style. Samantha and MissionMBA started reaching out to past and present MBA students in order to learn more about their target schools. TienyChesney’s enthusiasm over Columbia reached new ‘heights’. And, finally, Fishee gave their two cents on GMAT guidebooks and online practice exams.
Another week in the blogosphere is complete. As summer fades and fall looms we hope that that all your MBA hopes and plans have time to bloom! Come back next week to learn more about incoming students’ first impressions of their chosen programs and returning students’ efforts to take advantage of every moment of their summers.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 21, 2008, at 4:43 pm
Posted in: Deadlines , School: London Business School London Business School has posted its deadlines for the 2008-2009 application cycle.
Round One
Application Due: October 14, 2008
Decision Sent: December 18, 2008
Round Two
Application Due: January 6, 2009
Decision Sent: March 31, 2009
Round Three
Application Due: March 3, 2009
Decision Sent: May 22, 2009
Round Four
Application Due: April 30, 2009
Decision Sent: July 8, 2009
All applications are due by 5:00 pm, London time.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 21, 2008, at 2:06 pm
Posted in: General , MBA News , School: Columbia Columbia Business School has announced its newest executives in residence, tapping renowned industry leaders from the healthcare and media sectors to advise and mentor CBS students beginning this fall.
The newest executives to join CBS’s Executives in Residence program are Robert Essner, former chairman and CEO of Wyeth, one of the largest healthcare and pharmaceutical companies in the world, and Richard Zannino, former CEO of Dow Jones & Company.
As executives in residence, both will serve one-year renewable terms, during which time they will be give guest lectures, work with campus clubs, host brown-bag luncheons for students, and work one on one as mentors to students looking to enter their respective fields.
Essner, who was a proponent of research and development at Wyeth and dedicated high levels of funding to biotechnology and Alzheimer’s research, with work closely with CBS’s healthcare program. Completing a 19-year tenure at Wyeth, he retired from his position as chairman and CEO earlier this summer.
Zannino, meanwhile, brings expertise in both the media and retail sectors. He is an active member of the Columbia Business School Media Forum and brings deep media expertise from his time at Dow Jones. He also served as executive vice president of Liz Claiborne, responsible for finance and administration, as well as the company’s retail, fragrance and licensing divisions, and held executive positions at General Signal Corp., Saks Holdings, Pieter Kiewit and Sons, Emery Worldwide and Continental Group.
As part of his residency, Zannino will be available for one-on-one counseling sessions to advise students on career planning and strategy.
CBS’s Executives in Residence Program has been going strong since its founding in 1971, providing students with direct access to retired or semiretired experts in fields ranging from media to investment banking to management.
Past executives in residence have included Wolfgang Bernhard ’88, former CEO of Volkswagen, AG; Leo Hindery, Jr., former CEO of AT&T Broadband and former president of Tele-Communications, Inc.; and Philip Condit, former CEO of The Boeing Company, among others.
“They use a great deal of honesty,” said Donald C. Waite III ’66, director of the Executive in Residence Program, in a statement about the recent appointments. “Their support benefits students who are exploring potential professions and industries,” he continued. In the past five years, the number of participating executives has doubled.
To learn more about the Executives in Residence Program at Columbia Business School, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 21, 2008, at 3:18 am
Posted in: Deadlines Queens School of Business has published its application deadlines for the 2008-2009 application season:
Round 1
Application Deadline: October 28th, 2008
Round 2
Application Deadline: February 2nd, 2009
Round 3
Application Deadline: March 13th, 2009
Posted by Clear Admit on August 20, 2008, at 4:25 pm
Posted in: Essay Topics , School: UNC / Kenan Flagler The UNC/Kenan Flagler essay topics for the 2008-2009 have recently been formally announced, as the school’s application has gone live as of today. The essay questions for this year’s application are as follows:
Essay 1 (required): What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? Do you have other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words)
Essay 2 (required): Briefly describe the career path you intend to pursue immediately after b-school. Explain why this career option appeals to you and why an MBA is appropriate at this time. (500 words)
Essay 3 (required): What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to Kenan-Flagler? (500 words)
Essay 4 (required): What do you expect from your MBA program? How and when will you measure the return on your investment in the MBA? (500 words)
Essay 5 (optional): If your GMAT quantitative score is low, or if you have not had coursework in calculus, microeconomics, statistics and financial accounting, please tell us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative MBA curriculum. (300 words)
Essay 6 (optional): Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you in order to evaluate your candidacy? (300 words)
To view the live application and learn more about the UNC/Kenan Flagler essay topics, interested applicants should view the school’s application site.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 20, 2008, at 3:00 pm
Posted in: MBA News , School: Cambridge Late last month, the Judge Business School at Cambridge University announced the launch of the Centre for International Human Resource Management (CIHRM), a major new initiative designed to bring companies and faculty together to examine the latest research findings and innovative practices affecting today’s HR leaders.
“Our partnership approach will provide a forum for intellectual thought-leaders and practitioners throughout the world to collaborate and shape relevant, rigorous research agendas,” said Dr. Philip Stiles, who will serve as the center’s new director. “With companies operating in increasingly difficult environments, key issues such as managing talent, improving employee performance and developing leadership skills are paramount,” he continued.
CIHRM will build on existing relationships between the Judge School and a range of global companies, including British Telecom, Shell, General Electric, Coca Cola and others. It also will strengthen partnerships with other leading academic institutions, such as Cornell University, Erasmus University and INSEAD.
The new center will offer its corporate partners a range of advanced executive education programs focused on organizational development and change issues. Consulting services, too, will be provided by the center to help companies transition from “concept to action.”
Finally, the center will host regular roundtables providing its members with valuable networking opportunities, as well as an annual global HR symposium featuring world-renowned leaders in the HR field.
“All of the research indicates that people, as capital into which organizations should invest, are key to long term competitive advantage,” Dr. Jonathan Trevor, CIHRM deputy director, said in a statement announcing the center’s launch. “Through CIHRM and its international network we aim to provide our partners with insightful skills and tools to address these issues, leading them and their organizations to improved business efficiency and profitability, in an increasingly global and competitive environment.”
To learn more about the Judge School’s new Centre for International Human Resource Management, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 20, 2008, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Essay Topic Analysis , School: NYU Stern NYU Stern’s 2008-09 essay topics have changed only slightly since the 2007-2008 season. Most of the prompts are the same as last year, with the exception of Essay 2b. Let’s take a closer look at this essay set:
Essay 1 – Professional Aspirations (750 word maximum):
Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Answer the following:
(a) What choices have you made that led you to your current position?
(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
(c) What is your career goal upon graduation from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career goal?
This is your standard career goals/why MBA essay, with a few interesting quirks. First, note that the initial section requests that applicants reflect on and explain the choices they’ve made to date, placing a bit of extra emphasis on the presentation of one’s career as a coherent and directed whole. While it’s always important to explain the reasons you’ve moved from one company to the next, you’ll also want to think about the more subtle decisions you’ve made to further your professional development. Have you actively sought out more responsibility? Requested an assignment with an eye to gaining a certain skill?
This essay is a great place for you to highlight your initiative and foresight in the process of relating your career progression to the adcom. Within the same theme of deliberate decision-making, the second thing to keep in mind is the prominence of the ‘why now’ issue. A thorough and well reasoned answer to this question will be a must for a solid response. Beyond your career path to date and the ‘why now’ issue, Stern will be looking for a detailed explanation of your short and long-term career plans and interest in the MBA as a means to realize these goals.
This is a lot of information to pack into a 750 word essay, but introducing the central elements of one’s candidacy in such a brief essay is definitely achievable, provided that applicants take their time to compose well-crafted and concise responses.
Essay 2 – Fit with Stern (500 words maximum):
The NYU Stern community is one of our strongest assets. Please answer the following questions about community:
(a) What is your personal experience with the Stern community? What actions have you taken to learn more about us?
(b) What is the most difficult piece of constructive feedback you have received, and what did you do as a result of it? How will this experience make you a better member of the Stern community?
Sensitive to the fact that applicants targeting Stern may also be applying to other programs that are strong in finance – especially regional peer Columbia – NYU is essentially asking applicants exactly how much homework they’ve done on the school. Obviously, the more information you can provide about trips to campus, visits to classes and conversations with students and alums, the more sincere your interest in the program will seem. You might consider reading Clear Admit’s NYU/Stern School Guide to help you in this area of the essay.
While the first and second parts of question ‘b’ may seem disjointed, the goal of your response should be to illustrate how well you interact with others. You will want to outline the criticism you received and why it was particularly difficult but you will also, as in the case of a failure essay, want to spend more time discussing what you did as a result of the input.
Though this question will elicit a different sort of story from other schools’ prompts about a failure or setback, the major themes of growth and learning are similar. In addition to recounting the steps you took to address the issue that had been raised (and briefly explaining why it was an issue to begin with), commenting on the way you reacted to this difficult feedback could be a great way to demonstrate maturity and a sincere interest in improvement. That is, the element of communication implicit in “constructive criticism or feedback” provides applicants with an excellent opportunity to show themselves interacting with others, perhaps even under trying circumstances. Applicants should also make sure they are addressing every component of this question.
Not only should candidates provide a description of the feedback and their responses, but they should note that the latter portion of the question provides an opportunity to include examples of challenging projects or classes that candidates may participate in while at Stern and how being open and able to adapt will make them stronger overall team and community members.
Essay 3 – Personal Expression (500 words maximum, if written):
Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use almost any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative.
This essay gives applicants a chance to showcase their creative side by allowing them a broad range of (non-perishable) possible media in which to express themselves. Candidates with an artistic inclination, or those who harbor a passion that could be better conveyed through a method other than prose, might seriously consider submitting a poem, photograph or visual representation of their message.
Of course, it’s crucial to carefully consider just what needs to be communicated in this introduction to your future classmates. You’ll want to think reflectively about your values and personality – as well as strategically about what makes you unique with respect to other applicants. Naturally, you’ll also want to communicate your enthusiasm about meeting and working with your classmates, and perhaps include a comment about how you would engage them that does not cover the same ground as your first two essays. With these concerns in mind, it might not come as a surprise that, over the years, we’ve found that the written word tends to be the most effective format for a high percentage of applicants. There is still a great deal of room in which to be creative; for instance, your essay might be the opening to a chapter in an autobiography, or a snapshot of a typical day.
Chicago adopted a similarly creative ‘essay’ last year involving the use of PowerPoint; while this may help get the creative juices flowing, applicants would be ill advised to fully recycle material between the two essays (e.g. submitting a PowerPoint presentation to Stern), as this would likely be quite conspicuous.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 19, 2008, at 3:23 pm
Posted in: Uncategorized Fulfilling a promise made earlier this summer, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB)announced yesterday that it has established a new guaranteed loan program for international students.
All international students in both the MBA and PhD programs qualify for the program, which covers the full cost of tuition, housing and related expenses. Like Chicago’s past international loan program, no U.S. cosigner is required.
The new program, administered by Citibank, replaces one that ended abruptly in July when former administrator the Illinois Designated Account Purchase Program (IDAPP) was unable to renew its line of credit due to disruptions in the capital markets. Both returning students and new students entering Chicago in September can take advantage of the new Chicago GSB International Loan Program.
In fact, the new loans feature more favorable rates and terms for students than those they replace, according to Rosemaria Martinelli, associate dean for student recruitment and admissions. “In order to obtain the best terms for our students, the school is contributing funding to the new program,” she explained in a statement. The new program also features an online application that will simplify the process for applying for a loan.
Chicago GSB is committed to ensuring that all students, both international and domestic, have access to the funds they need by the start of classes on September 25th, Martinelli pledged. Under the new international loan program, students will be able to borrow up to $150,000 and have 20 years to repay. Students also can defer the start of payments until six months after graduation.
The new international loan arrangement with Citibank is for one year. According to Martinelli, Chicago GSB expects to be able to offer its international students a choice between several loan programs from multiple lenders beginning next year.
Posted by Clear Admit on August 19, 2008, at 12:15 pm
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Posted by Clear Admit on August 19, 2008, at 7:08 am
Posted in: School: Virginia / Darden , Trivia Tuesday It’s time again for another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly consideration of the policies and practices that differentiate the student experience at the leading business schools. This week we turn our attention to the unusual class meeting structure in place at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Darden has a reputation for being a demanding academic program, though the school has chosen to schedule its courses creatively to help students get – and give – as much as possible in the academic arena.
Darden’s class schedule during the week is markedly different from those of its peer institutions. To begin, classes in the first-year program do not follow a rigid meeting schedule. Instead, the number of class sessions each week fluctuates depending on how the material being covered ties into the information presented that week in other core courses. For instance, a class might meet up to four or five times in one week so that students can master a major concept that will be applied in other courses. Once this concept is addressed, the class may meet just one to three times the following week, allowing the focus to shift to other courses.
The second-year schedule also sees some fluctuation. Second-year electives meet on an “early week” or “late week” schedule throughout the semester. Early week classes meet on the first two to three days of the week while late week classes meet on the final two or three days of the week. This schedule is broken up every two weeks with an R-Day for recruiting, reading and rest, which provides students with a short but necessary break from the school’s intense academic schedule.
Darden prides itself on the rigor of the curriculum, especially in the first year, and expects students to make a serious commitment to the academic program. The administration estimates that first-year students should plan to spend 60-80 hours per week on school work and current Darden students report that this estimate is accurate. The typical schedule in the first year is class from 8:00 a.m. to 1:10 p.m., one and a half to three hours of independent prep work in the afternoon, followed by two to four hours of meeting and discussion with a learning team in the evening. In the end, most Darden students spend 10-14 hours on campus each weekday.
For more information on Darden’s first-year curriculum, second-year electives, or campus academic and social cultures, be sure to check out the school’s website or the Clear Admit School Guide to Darden!
Posted by Clear Admit on August 18, 2008, at 4:10 pm
Posted in: General , MBA News , School: Dartmouth / Tuck Classes haven’t started yet, but some members of the Tuck School of Business incoming class of 2010 are already hard at work. Beginning today and continuing through the rest of the week, 25 students will don work boots and coveralls as part of the student-run TuckBuilds program, a community service effort in which MBA students volunteer their time and energy to help local New Hampshire families build and repair their homes.
“Our building program gets an annual burst of energy when TuckBuilds comes to town,” said Don Derrick of Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity in a statement about the initiative. “We’re looking forward to it again this year.”
TuckBuilds is now in its fourth year, and demand for slots in the program increases with each incoming first-year class. This year, Tuck has partnered with two local nonprofits for this week of community service – the area’s Habitat for Humanity branch and the COVER home repair and reuse program. Through Habitat, two teams will help local families build their homes in nearby Norwich and Lebanon, and a third group will work with COVER in Hartford to replace the roof of a mobile home.
“A commitment to community is an integral part of the Tuck education and tradition, and I can think of no better introduction to this place than TuckBuilds,” student organizer Jenn Blazejewski T’09 said in a statement. “It is a uniquely appropriate way to begin one’s Tuck journey.”
After each day of work this week, the TuckBuilds students will regroup for dinner with alumni and faculty and talk about ways in which business knowledge can be used to positively impact communities. Some evenings will feature speakers as well, such as Charlie Crane D’81, T’83, who serves on both the Tuck MBA Advisory Board and the board for Habitat for Humanity in Portland, Maine.
“This experience foreshadows what is to come in the next two years,” says Patricia Palmiotto, director of the Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship, which supports TuckBuilds and other community service projects at the school. “To become successful in business, it is essential that students engage themselves both personally and professionally in the community.”
Building on this concept, the entire first-year class will take part in the Tuck Community Outreach Day in the week following TuckBuilds. As part of this program, teams of students are matched with 25 local nonprofits for a day of collaboration, and students continue to volunteer with these organizations throughout their two year MBA program, helping with labor projects and offering pro bono consulting.
To learn more about the Allwin Initiative and Tuck’s commitment to community service, visit www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/initiative.
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