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APPLICANT RESOURCES
Admissions Director Q&A Clear Admit School Guides Clear Admit Career Guides Clear Admit Strategy Series Clear Admit Interview Guides Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools. Feb 10: INSEAD R3 Mar 1: Michigan / Ross R3 Mar 3: CBS Mar 3: LBS R3 Mar 4: Kellogg R3 Mar 8: Cambridge / Judge R4 Mar 8: CMU / Tepper R3 Mar 9: Duke / Fuqua R3 Mar 9: Penn / Wharton R3 Mar 10: Berkeley / Hass R4 Mar 10: Chicago Booth R3 Mar 10: Yale SOM R3 Mar 15: NYU / Stern R3 Mar 17: UCLA / Anderson R3 Mar 19: UNC / Kenan-Flagler R4 Mar 30: Cornell / Johnson R4 Mar 31: UVA / Darden R3 Mar 31: INSEAD R4 Apr 1: UT-Austin / McCombs Apr 2: Dartmouth / Tuck R3 Apr 2: Oxford / Saїd R3 Apr 7: Stanford GSB R4 Apr 8: Harvard R3 Apr 14: CBS Essay Topic Analysis Use categories to access all that has been written on each of the topics. We have categorized by school and by subject matter.
Interview Reports MBA.com Manhattan GMAT GMAT Club Princeton Review Test Prep New York Kaplan Beat The GMAT Knewton Writing Resources Guide to Grammar and Writing The Internet Grammar of English English Usage, Style and Composition The Economist Style Guide Paradigm Online Writing Assistant School Rankings The following resources should be useful to those who want to research the careers open to them after (or before) earning an MBA. Vault.com Wetfeet
Business School Resources
If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it. Berkeley / Haas Boston College / Carroll Carnegie Mellon / Tepper Chicago Columbia Concordia Cornell / Johnson Dartmouth / Tuck Duke / Fuqua Emory / Goizueta Harvard HEC Montreal Indiana / Kelley Michigan MIT / Sloan Northwestern / Kellogg New York / Stern North Carolina / Kenan Flagler Notre Dame / Mendoza Pennsylvania / Wharton Queens Stanford Syracuse / Whitman Texas / McCombs Thunderbird Toronto USC / Marshall UCLA / Anderson Vanderbilt / Owen Virginia / Darden Washington University in St. Louis / Olin Western Ontario / Ivey Yale MBA Programs: Rest of the World As there is some variety in the length of international MBA programs, we have denoted the length of the program next to its name (1 = one year; 2 = 2 years). If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it. AGSM (Australia) 2 Cambridge / Judge (UK) 1 CIEBS (China) 2 Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (China) 1 Cranfield School of Mgmt (UK) 1 ESADE (Spain) 1 or 2 HEC (France) 2 Hult (UK) 1 IESE (Spain) 2 IMD (Switzerland) 1 INCAE (Costa Rica) 2 INSEAD (France) 1 IPADE (Mexico) ISB (India) 1 London Business School (UK) 2 Manchester Bus. School (UK) 2 Melbourne (Australia) 2 Oxford / Said (UK) 1 Rotterdam (Netherlands) 1 Tsinghua IMBA (China) 2 University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1 Additional Resources Here we link a host of additional resources available across the web. E-mail info@clearadmit.com to have resources added to this list. AACSB International Association of MBAs Beyond Grey Pinstripes EFMD gradschools.com (worldwide) Infozee International Student Loans mba.com (GMAT Scores) MBAInfo mbaleague.blogspot.com MBAzone MBA Jungle TOEFL Top MBA MBA Tipline We encourage admissions officers, students and applicants to alert us of interesting news and developments, please send an email to news@clearadmit.com so we can blog it. Blog Archive
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Get a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card! Contribute your MBA interview reports to the Clear Admit Wiki. Taking the GMAT? Download our free, independent guide to the leading test prep companies - includes coupons for savings at 10 leading test prep firms! ARCHIVE FOR JANUARY 2009 Friday, January 30, 2009 Kellogg School of Management to Lead Fifth Annual Super Bowl Advertising Review As football fans gear up to watch the Steelers battle the Cardinals on Super Bowl Sunday, Kellogg School of Management faculty and MBA students are turning their focus toward the day’s other big competition: the showdown between advertisers. During the 2009 Super Bowl, Kellogg marketing faculty and students will participate in the fifth annual Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review, watching, analyzing and grading each ad that airs during the game. As part of the review, each of the advertisements will be rated according to an innovative criteria developed by Kellogg School faculty, known as ADPLAN, which ranks each ad spot according to Attention, Distinction, Positioning, Linkage, Amplification and Net equity. Results from the review – including the best and worst ads of the game – will be available immediately following the broadcast. Professors Tim Calkins and Derek Rucker of the Kellogg marketing faculty will lead the review, provide analysis of Super Bowl advertising and answer questions before, during and after the game. Specifically, Calkins and Rucker will speak to how ads might differ this year due to the economy and consumer uncertainty, what qualities are essential to a strong Super Bowl ad in a recession and how can marketers leverage interest in social media to generate buzz for their ad beyond game day. For the first time this year, Professors Calkins and Rucker also will blog about Super Bowl advertising, offering comments and insights into this year’s advertising trends. Click here to visit their blog. For more about the Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review, click here.
Fridays From The Frontline Welcome back to another edition of the ever evolving Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s continuing perusal of the thoughts and goings-on of MBA applicants and accepted students. The frantic pace of round one and two applications has abated, leaving aspirants with a little more time to reflect on their experiences. Just as things calmed down for hopefuls, current students returned from their breaks, ready for new classes, job/intern interviews and, in some cases, snow. A bit of a lull was experienced this week for those trying to join the class of 2011. Most decisions left to be made were in the hands of the applicants, not the schools. Samantha wasn’t sweating her Stanford zap and was confident that she made her readers laugh at least once in her essays. Mike, like Samantha, was relatively unfazed by his HBS rejection, focusing instead on preparation for his ‘Day at Kellogg’ (DAK). D.G. was also getting ready for his DAK visit and the transcontinental flight he would take to get there. MBADreamer tried to stay positive after receiving a zap from Haas. Omne got the good news that he was accepted by Wake Forest (with scholarship), and shared his school visit experiences there and at Fuqua. MBAlmighty congratulated ISB for moving up in the FT rankings while MaxWriter wrote his first post of the new year. Earlybird passed the CFA Level 1 examination. TienyChesney went to New York for the Chinese New Year and tried to recruit a colleague into joining CBS with no success, he also saw networking opportunities at every turn. Soni, though accepted, was not feeling the CBS vibe and continued to weigh the relative benefits of Chicago Booth and Kellogg. Current students were getting back into the swing of things this past week. Darden ‘10 Mechanigal had to adjust to the third quarter changes in the group of students with whom she will attend class and study. McCombs ‘10 Paragon2Pieces shared her semester’s opening week and gave her readers an idea of the extra effort a dual degree student must make to survive in two programs. Darden ‘10 Oren wrote about the snow Charlottesville experienced and was, in a way, “rich again”. MBAlmighty wasn’t the only one paying attention to rankings, LBS ‘10 N.A.S. posted a Financial Times article on the subject. ‘09ers were concerned with a wide variety of topics this week. Darden ‘09 Anand wondered if a lesson was being effectively learned as a result of the current U.S. financial crisis. Harvard ‘09 CS shared her winter break travels– from Central Park to Tel Aviv, where she saw a number of HBS students participating in an immersion program. Darden ‘09 Mandy shared a letter she wrote to a friend about herself and b-school. Ross ‘09 M@ knew when to fold them, in regards to recruiting. Darden ‘09 SquareMethod reflected upon a concert he attended, while Chicago Booth ‘09 MaybeMBA shared her thoughts on MBA parenting. Weeks fly by when one is actively pursuing a goal, whether it’s getting into a school or making sure you spend time with your child. While this may be the end of this issue of Fridays From The Frontline, we have no doubt that another week will speed on by and new stories and experiences will be passed around the MBA blogosphere for all to learn from and enjoy! Until then, have a great weekend and new week!
Thursday, January 29, 2009 Fuqua Career Management Dean Addresses MBA Recruiting Concerns In an effort to ease current and prospective MBA students’ concerns and confusion regarding the uncertain recruiting environment, a career management dean at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business recently addressed many of the most commonly asked recruiting questions in a post to the Fuqua website. “As Fuqua alumni around the world have already experienced, no company, industry or geography is immune to the effects of the current economic downturn,” wrote Sheryle Dirks, Fuqua associate dean for career management. “Yet the impact on MBA hiring is neither simple nor universal,” she continued, indicating that company responses vary widely as market conditions change daily. In an effort to provide some clarity to prospective and current students, Dirks shared what she’s been seeing from her career services vantage point. In answer to the question of what MBA recruiting looks like these days, she shared key findings from a survey about the MBA job market completed by 22 of the top U.S. business schools. According to survey results, 85 percent of respondents reported a decline in on-campus interviews for full-time opportunities, with 25 percent reporting a dip of 16 percent or more at that time. Full-time job postings also signaled an early decline, Dirks continued. Sixty percent of respondents reported a downward trend, with 32 percent already seeing their numbers decrease by 16 percent or more. Asked about the greatest challenges of operating in this environment, career center directors cited setting and managing student expectations, helping students absorb messages they don’t want to hear and addressing student responses, including fear, panic and anger. An additional challenge has been to manage companies’ uncertain and changing hiring plans, many of which do not align with the traditional recruiting calendar. Dirks then focused on actual recruitment activity at Fuqua specifically. “One of Fuqua’s greatest assets in a difficult job market is an on-campus recruiting portfolio that is diverse across industries and job functions,” she wrote. While clearly impacted by the economy’s effects, Fuqua has nonetheless benefited from this balance, which provides a buffer against some of the more extreme conditions faced by more finance-heavy schools, she said. The actual numbers reveal that on-campus recruiting is far less robust this year than last, especially for full-time positions. Internship numbers, though, are better, reflecting companies’ continued focus in this arena. Compared to difficult job markets of the past, Fuqua’s current recruiting numbers are better across the board than they were for students seeking positions in 2002-03 and 2003-4, Dirks wrote. Intern recruiting this year is 18 percent and 11 percent higher respectively, and full-time opportunities are 21 percent and 27 percent higher, she added. In response to current job market challenges, the Career Management Center (CMC) at Fuqua is offering a range of new and expanded resources to its students, including contracting with local executive career coaches to meet student and alumni needs during peak periods and bringing in expert interview coaches in the fields of consulting and financial services. Because many companies have reduced the frequency of campus visits or suspended on-campus recruiting entirely, CMC’s staff can focus time and energy that would have been directed toward employers’ events instead toward enhanced student support. This support includes more customized hands-on assistance and off-campus job search support. Meanwhile, another full-time CMC professional is focused on increased employer marketing and business development, and an aggressive marketing campaign has been planned for spring 2009, to include four spring recruiting events in various cities in conjunction with other top regional MBA programs. “Difficult times bring out the best in some, the worst in others, and somewhere in between for most,” Dirks wrote. “My hope for 2009 is that Fuqua’s amazing students, faculty, staff, alumni, and employers; the world-class resources we have at our fingertips; and the supportive, dynamic and unique culture that exists here combine to help us face this adversity together and to come out far better for having weathered the storm,” she concluded. For more on the current recruitment environment at Fuqua, click here.
Campus Chronicles: Wharton’s Journal During this cold time of the year, there is nothing better than bundling up under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and reading the MBA programs’ student newspapers to get the latest news. This week we return to Wharton, taking a close look at The Wharton Journal. In this edition of The Wharton Journal, Akihisa Shiozaki recounts the adventures of the seven-day Antarctica Leadership Venture. This initiative originally developed when Professor Erik Orts, the director of the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) program, offered to participate in this Leadership Venture and added an innovative eco-dimension to the program. In order to offset the carbon footprint of transportation to and from Antarctica, Orts ensured that 142 metric tons of CO2 were purchased. 45 Wharton students participated in the Venture, spending a week on King George Island of the Antarctica Peninsula. Over the course of the week, students joined in environmental discussions with environmental specialists arriving from scientific camps nearby. The Venture not only reminded students of their responsibility for the planet but also encouraged them to develop their teamwork skills as they found themselves in a whole range of sticky situations. As Shiozaki states, “The Antarctica venture… [represented] a powerful example of the enormous potential Wharton and its students could achieve by cherishing further the personal qualities brought to the community by our fellow colleagues.” The program thus allowed students to travel someplace new and learn a great deal about themselves in the process. The Wharton Journal also introduces the new Deputy Vice Dean of Student Life, Kembrel Jones, who describes his position as an “advocate for the student body” and “problem solver for students and student leaders.” Working closely with clubs, conference organizers, and leadership lecture series organizers, Kembrel helps students to navigate any challenges that they encounter, and he serves as an advisor to both the WGA and the Dean’s Graduate Student Advisory Council. Kembrel embraces the objective of building a strong sense of community, loyalty, and pride and indicates that he has already met with over 400 students to move closer to this objective. To address the challenges posed by the large student body, Kembrel is currently developing initiatives – like increasing the number of cluster activities done in pre-term – that will promote a close-knit community. Excited by his role, Kembrel has reminded students that his door is always open. Stay tuned next week for a new edition of Campus Chronicles! Happy reading!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 Andrew Pettigrew Joins Oxford University’s Saïd Business School as Professor of Strategy and Organization Dr. Andrew Pettigrew, one of the United Kingdom’s most revered management scholars, has joined the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford as professor of strategy and organization. Pettigrew, formerly dean of the School of Management at the University of Bath, also has held appointments at Yale University, Harvard Business School, London Business School and Warwick Business School. A fellow of the British Academy, he was the first non-North American recipient of the Distinguished Scholar of the U.S. Academy of Management. He is still the only non-American to have received this honor. “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Pettigrew to this important position within the school,” Colin Mayer, dean of Saïd Business School, said in a statement announcing Pettigrew’s appointment. “The contribution he will make both to our teaching of strategy and organisation, and to our research activity in this field will be considerable.” Pettigrew, too, expressed excitement about his new post. “I am greatly looking forward to engaging with the MBA students and to leading their classes in leadership and change,” he said. He also looks forward to contributing to Saïd’s leadership program for senior executives and to continuing his own research, which is focused on exploring the links between leadership, change and performance in large complex organizations, both public and private. “These issues are now of critical importance in the present economic and business circumstances,” he added. To learn more about Professor Pettigrew’s appointment at Saïd, click here.
Wiki Wednesdays: iTunes Gift Certificates for Wiki Contributors! Welcome to another installment of Wiki Wednesdays, reporting the latest goings on with the Clear Admit Wiki, a repository of MBA applicants’ experiences and observations. We’d like to start this post with a hearty ‘thanks’ to all the applicants who’ve been submitting interview reports this season! As we’ve stressed in this blog, and as anyone who’s used the site to prepare for their interviews will attest, these firsthand accounts of the interview process at a given program can be invaluable in the admissions process. To build this resource and encourage applicants who’ve already interviewed this season to post their interview reports, campus visit accounts and school decisions, we’ll be offering an added incentive over the next few weeks. Between now and February 18th, we’ll be awarding a $10 iTunes gift certificate to every fifth applicant who submits content for the Wiki. In addition, between now and next Tuesday, February 3rd, we’ll be awarding a $10 iTunes gift certificate to the first 15 applicants who contribute interview reports for the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, the Johnson School at Cornell University and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. To be eligible for a prize, simply send your contribution to wiki@clearadmit.com; we’ll post it to the Wiki and notify the winners by e-mail (one gift card limit per person). As for what sort of details to include in interview reports, we find that the most helpful and informative ones include the following information: Beyond interview information, we’d also love to see some more detailed accounts of visits to campus and decisions about where to apply or matriculate. Thanks in advance for your reports! Best of luck to those prepping for Round 2 interviews and don’t forget to check out the Clear Admit Interview Guides for extra interview tips!
Why Are You a Return Visitor?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 Harvard Business School to Extend Round Two Interview Invitations February 9th In a hurried post on her blog yesterday, Harvard Business School (HBS) Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold informed expectant round two applicants what they should expect in terms of interview invitations. Invitations will be sent out on February 9th, Leopold wrote. The invitations will be sent as an email from HBS MBA Admissions. They will contain detailed information about how to sign up for interviews, either on campus or in hub cities. “Please be assured that if we see you haven’t signed up for an interview by the end of the week, we will contact you by phone…thus there’s no reason to be anxious about lost emails, etc,’ Leopold wrote. After the initial interview invitations go out, Leopold will update applicants in a subsequent post on her blog as to how many invitations were issued and how many more her office anticipates extending between February 10th and the April 2nd notification date. For those invited to interview, don’t forget the Clear Admit Wiki, which can be a great place to share your interview experience and learn from those of others. You may also want to check out the Clear Admit HBS Interview Guide, which contains specific strategies for preparing for the HBS interview, analysis of how the Admissions Committee weighs it as part of the overall application process, sample questions consistently asked by HBS, details about planning a visit and more. Good luck to everyone on the 9th!
Trivia Tuesday: MIT Sloan’s First Year Class In this week’s installment of Trivia Tuesday, we turn our focus to MIT Sloan and the structure of its first-year class, examining how the school creates first-year teams and how these teams impact students’ experiences. Each class of first-year students is divided into six smaller groups, called cohorts or “oceans” (Atlantic, Baltic, Caribbean, Indian, Mediterranean and Pacific), which help to give shape to the core curriculum experience. Oceans, comprised of approximately 55-60 students each, take all seven of their core courses together, thereby getting to know each other quite well in the academic environment. As a result of their shared academic experience, students within each cohort tend to spend time together outside of the classroom as well, often forming close-knit social groups. Within each cohort, Sloan assigns all first-years to small groups of 5-6 students each. These groups work together throughout the core semester to complete homework assignments, prepare projects and study for exams. Students report that teammates are usually drawn from across the professional spectrum and from around the world, mirroring the diversity of teams in the global workforce. Sloan says that the process of separating students into cohorts and teams is both an art and a science. An automated process conducts the first division, “mixing and sorting” students into cohorts and teams. The MBA Student Affairs Office then personalizes the process by refining groups with an eye to diversity of race, gender, nationality, professional background and other characteristics. Although students are not obligated to work with their assigned teams once the core semester is complete, they do continue group work throughout their time at Sloan. The school reports that most elective classes involve teamwork, with group selection usually left up to the students. Because students will likely work with different groups in each course, scheduling meeting times can be challenging, but Sloan administrators hope that by working with groups of varying compositions on numerous projects, students will be better prepared for the kind of collaboration required in professional situations. For more information on the first year at MIT Sloan or other leading business schools, be sure to check out the schools’ websites or the Academics section of the Clear Admit School Guides!
Monday, January 26, 2009 London Business School Joins Wharton to Top Financial Times MBA Rankings In the 2009 global MBA rankings released yesterday by the Financial Times, London Business School came in at number one for the first time ever, sharing the spot with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Also of note, three Asian schools were among the top 20, including one, Ceibs in Shanghai, which was in the top 10. This year the FT’s MBA rankings feature some new bells and whistles, including interactive tools that allow readers to chart and compare business schools to one another. Accompanying the rankings is an in-depth special report examining the changing MBA landscape. And a special “Ask the Experts” feature invites readers to pose questions to a panel of experts online, who will respond to them during a live online session on January 28th. In one analysis, the FT’s Della Bradshaw posits that the combined factors of the financial crisis – which include recruiting falloff, endowment devaluation and a negative perception of business and, by extension, business school – may bring about a sea-change in business education. One shift already being observed is a reduction in the number of foreign applicants to U.S. schools. With business schools in Europe and Asia growing in reputation, more non-U.S. students are opting to study there instead, the FT reports. Additionally, the credit crisis’s impact on endowments also has reduced schools’ abilities to provide scholarships, especially to foreign students. According to the FT report, international applications to U.S. schools have fallen by 20 percent this year. But domestic applications remain strong in the United States, the FT continued, noting that the Graduate Management Admissions Council, which adminsters the GMAT exam, recorded its best year ever in 2008 in terms of the number of test takers. Still, a lot will depend on recruiting prospects. Early indicators from Europe show mixed results. At IMD, which graduates a class in December, the news is good, the FT reports. According to IMD’s Director of Admissions and Careers Katty Ooms-Suter, 82 percent of the class of 90 students had a job offer on graduation. At INSEAD, which had 460 MBA graduates in December, the news was not as rosy. According to Jake Cohen, dean of the program, only 65 percent of the class had accepted an offer on graduation. And the near future doesn’t look much better. “I do believe July 2009 will be very bad,” Cohen told the FT. “We’ve never lived in such a market.” Both European programs pointed out that their students are flexible about the regions of the world in which they are willing to work and happy to travel, a view some feel U.S. students would be wise to adopt as well. “If there’s a global market in automobiles there is no reason why there shouldn’t be a global market in talent as well,” Joe Thomas, dean of Cornell’s Johnson School told the FT. To read more of the special report, click here. To access the interactive rankings, click here.
Admissions Tip: The Waitlist What should an applicant do when placed on the waitlist at his or her dream school? While most applicants regard the waitlist in a negative light (we’ve even heard it described as “a sort of purgatory prior to getting dinged”), the best approach is to view the glass as being half-full (especially for R1 waitlisters). In all cases, getting waitlisted is much better than getting denied. Here are a few tips to help you navigate this often difficult and mysterious process: 1) Know your file. Before you can develop a waitlist strategy you need to understand where you may have fallen short in the application process. Read over your file with a critical eye and try to identify any weaknesses. Talk to anyone you know who might be able to give you feedback (MBA students at the target school, former admissions officers, admissions consultants, etc). 2) Familiarize yourself with the school’s waitlist rules. Do you need to ‘opt-in’ in order to be on the list? Are you allowed to submit supplemental materials to bolster your case or inform the committee of changes to your candidacy? Does the school offer a chance for feedback via a phone session or interview with a ‘waitlist manager’? 3) Follow the waitlist rules. CASE A: Schools that accept supplemental materials. If a school hints that you may want to provide a supplemental essay or recommendation letter, then by all means, take this offer seriously and get something together for them. Approach these materials in the same way that you would approach the application process (e.g. do not just send along something that you dash off in a matter of minutes). If you have several items you wish to send, it may make sense to spread them out over the course of a few weeks to demonstrate steady interest. CASE B: Schools that do not accept supplemental materials. 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. [Contact us to learn about other ways to improve your waitlist status with schools that frown on supplemental materials.] 4) Consider a school visit. It may make sense to visit the school, particularly if you have not been before. So many different things can happen on a visit: a) 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) b) 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 c) You may interact with students or professors who can better inform you of opportunities at the school and provide you with helpful ‘content’ for any waitlist materials you go on to submit d) By visiting, you may find out that school X is really not for you, enabling you to move on and remove yourself from the waitlist Just as there are a number of waitlist to-do items, there are also countless things to avoid doing. We’ll devote another post to that at a later date. Please contact the Clear Admit offices for questions about waitlist strategy and our related services (info@clearadmit.com).
Friday, January 23, 2009 Fridays From The Frontline Welcome back to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly collection of MBA blogosphere news. This past week has been momentous for many applying to schools, or living, in the United States. Even more round one results have been released and 2011 hopefuls have a much better sense of their options. For the greater nation, a change of leadership took place on Tuesday, which, regardless of your politics, was quite historical and, for many, emotional. While round one decisions directly impacted the MBA blogosphere far more than a new U.S. president, these two events certainly led to an interesting week for all. Ahembeea continued to struggle with his position on three separate waitlists and spoke briefly of his Tuck and Emory interviews. MBAlmighty wrote about a new 15 month MBA program in Bangalore. After a long trip to Israel and Jordan, MBA Monk was back and preparing his application for Haas’ EWMBA program and studying for his GMAT. Samantha attended a Kellogg reception and appreciated the attitudes of the school’s alumni while noting that Columbia has begun to review applications, hers among them. Mike also attended a Kellogg reception, perhaps even the same one, and expressed his dislike for January and February. D.G. was so impressed by a reader’s question, he dedicated a whole post to discuss the risks and benefits of taking out loans for school while planning on starting a business soon after graduation. Ardent Meerkat saw the value in a particular GMAT prep method. MissionMBA changed his application plans and decided to focus on the applications he already submitted instead of applying to more schools. Omne had quite an ambitious driving and school visiting itinerary, considering the possibility of snow in North Carolina. TienyChesney felt that a $6,000 deposit made him an official Columbia student, but acknowledged how the current economic climate may change his ability to reach his goals. Chandara shared her favorite parts of Barack Obama’s inaugural speech. Darden ‘10 Mechanigal shared the ‘four P’s of an internship search’ and fellow Darden ‘10 JulyDream uploaded a video featuring Darden’s case method. McCombs ‘10 Metal considered his class schedule for the new semester, focused on upcoming internship interviews and knew he wanted to write more about the school’s Plus Program. Dual degree McCombs ‘10 Paragon2Pieces, even with ‘fins’ in the school’s law and MBA programs, felt like a fish out of water while she worked with urban planners on a design competition. Darden ‘09 Mandy thought that, as a result of a recent hair cut, her blog needed a new name. Chicago Booth ‘09 MaybeMBA provided insights into her current courseload and also commended her fellow students for their part in the career services process. Darden ‘09 Anand had a number of helpful hints for those experiencing the internship search recruiting season. And, finally, Mike, another Darden ‘09-er, wrote about his inauguration inspiration. As the United States adjusts to a new leader and moves forward to face the challenges of our current times, many MBA applicants will soon become MBA students-in-waiting. For those finally sure of their next step, Clear Admit congratulates you and hopes the remainder of these cold months (if you’re in the northern hemisphere) will be tempered by the ticking away of the days that stand in between you and your MBA. For those zapped or in waiting, the days may go by more slowly, but remember, as long as you continue moving forward, there is always a next step! Until next week, this has been another rendition of Clear Admit’s Fridays From The Frontline.
Thursday, January 22, 2009 Top Schools Work to Attract More Female Executive MBA Students Several top schools are taking steps to boost female enrollment in their Executive MBA programs, including creating personal networks to recruit women, offering additional scholarship money, and designing more family-friendly program formats, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Currently, women represent less than 20 percent of most EMBA classes, and at a number of top programs that percentage is closer to 5 percent, the Journal reports. This is compared to 30 percent of the class at top full-time MBA programs and more than 40 percent in part-time programs. According to the Journal report, obstacles preventing more women from pursuing an EMBA include formats that interfere with raising a family (many EMBA programs require two years of two long weekends on campus each month), trouble securing company sponsorship for the degree and uncertainty around whether the EMBA will actually help them break through the glass ceiling and advance in their careers. Furthermore, until recently, most schools have aimed their female recruitment efforts toward candidates for their full-time programs. Efforts to address these obstacles and boost female EMBA enrollment range from school to school, the Journal reports. At Columbia Business School, the school and its alumni have started to reach out directly to potential female applicants through personal phone calls and networking events. At the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a faculty member devotes more than half of her time to increasing diversity and female enrollment at Wharton’s San Francisco–based EMBA program. And at London Business School and IESE in Madrid, the administrations have increased scholarship aid to women who meet greater resistance within their companies to fund the executive programs. Still other schools have begun to offer program formats that are more appealing to women, the Journal reports. Emory University in 2002 introduced a new modular EMBA program that meets for nine residency periods over 21 months, as opposed to every other weekend. The program has 33 percent women in its current class, compared with 20 percent in its traditional EMBA program, according to the Journal. “For women with young children, weekends tend to be time they spend at home,” Joan Coonrod, director of admissions, told the Journal. The increased focus on attracting women to EMBA programs has met with praise from organizations that focus on promoting women in business, who argue that greater gender equality will not only benefit women but will make the programs better overall. “The optimal balance for teams to perform strongly is 50 percent women and we have that aspiration,” Linden Selby, a senior admissions manager at London Business School, told the Journal. Selby cited research conducted by London Business School’s Centre for Women to support her assertion that mixed teams are stronger. To read the full Journal article, click here.
Breaking News: New Admissions Director and Other Appointments at the Wharton School Since Thomas Caleel’s somewhat abrupt departure last June, the question of who would be come the new Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at the Wharton School has been the subject of some curiosity. About 10 days ago we blogged that the administration had made its decision, and today we received an official announcement of the appointment of J.J. Cutler, WG ‘97, to the post. With Cutler’s selection, the Wharton school continues its trend of putting its own MBA graduates at the helm of the admissions process. Cutler also earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, and boasts an extensive resume of marketing and leadership experiences in the consumer goods industry. The text of the offical press release is below: ————————————— PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 22, 2009 — Thomas Robertson, dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has announced four senior positions including J.J. Cutler, Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid; Ira Rubien, Executive Director of Communications; Leonard Lodish, Vice Dean of the Program for Social Impact; and Douglas H. Collom, Executive Director of Wharton West. “We are very fortunate to add so much talent at one time to our senior leadership team,” said Dean Robertson. “All of these posts play an important role in the life of the Wharton School and these individuals share an ability to achieve at the highest levels and bring out the best in those around them.” J.J. Cutler is the new Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid. Since 2007, J.J. has been President of Lindi Skin, a start-up offering skin care products specifically designed for people with cancer. In this role, he developed a strategic vision and successfully positioned the Lindi Skin brand, securing national media coverage and expanding the community of healthcare professionals sensitive to the skincare needs of cancer patients. He has served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for ARAMARK Healthcare’s North American group and spent seven years in a variety of roles at Johnson & Johnson. Among other responsibilities, he managed over-the-counter brands; oversaw new market development for a variety of chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases; and helped create Canyon Seven, a wellness business developed in partnership with Canyon Ranch Health Resorts. While at Johnson & Johnson, he won the prestigious “Standards of Leadership” award for his work in building an MBA recruiting strategy for Wharton. J.J. has deep roots in the Penn community. He earned his B.A. in Communications from the College (School of Arts and Sciences) and his MBA in Operations Management and Strategic Management. While at Wharton, he served as a student advisor to the Academic Affairs office and a teaching assistant for the undergraduate Marketing 101 course. Ira Rubien joins Wharton as Executive Director of Communications. Most recently, he was Director of Marketing and Brand Management for the Nursery & Care division of GRACO (Newell Rubbermaid) Children’s Products, where he developed and oversaw the implementation of a new vision for the 50-year-old global brand. Also at GRACO, he served as Director of Marketing for Car Seats, the company’s most visible category. Prior to that, he was Senior Brand Manager at Mattel, where he conceived and launched Matchbox’s 50th anniversary marketing program, which led to a dramatic 600% profit growth and earned him Mattel’s Outstanding Marketing Campaign award. He has been an Internet Brand Director for Addis, a brand strategy and design agency in Berkeley, California, and an Internet Marketing Manager for Headland Digital Media in San Francisco. Ira has an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Information Systems and Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Leonard Lodish will step down after more than seven years as Vice Dean of Wharton West, to take on yet another role as Vice Dean of the Program for Social Impact. In this role, he will work closely with faculty and students to expand Wharton’s initiatives pertaining to social responsibility and social progress. Len is the Samuel R. Harrell Professor of Marketing as well as the leader and co-founder of the Global Consulting Practicum, which partners MBA students with foreign and domestic clients seeking to expand their international marketing efforts. He has been on the Wharton faculty since 1968 and was chair of the Marketing Department from 1984-1988 and 1991-1992. As Vice Dean of Wharton West since 2001, Len’s outstanding work has afforded us the opportunity to develop an even stronger presence on the west coast, requiring the new leadership to be based in San Francisco. Len’s primary research and consulting areas are in entrepreneurial marketing, strategic and tactical marketing resource planning, marketing decision support systems, and applications in firm/marketing strategy, sales force, advertising, and promotion planning. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing and Operations Research from MIT and his A.B. in Mathematics from Kenyon College. Douglas H. Collom will be assuming the new leadership role for Wharton West, as Executive Director of Wharton West. The Executive Director position was created for the purpose of enhancing Wharton’s brand on the west coast, as well as providing a higher degree of coordination among Wharton departments in planning activities and programs for the benefit of students and alumni. Doug will have direct oversight for the MBA for Executives West Program, west coast operations for external affairs, corporate relationships on the west coast, and west coast operations of Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs. He will work with the current staff at Wharton West, as well as the senior administrative staff in Philadelphia. Doug has served as an adjunct professor at Wharton since 2002. He and Professor Raffi Amit have co-taught a course on venture capital and start-up companies, initially at Wharton West and, since 2006, in Philadelphia as well. In addition, Doug has been a corporate partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a preeminent technology law firm based in Palo Alto, California for over 20 years, where he has concentrated in counseling technology companies at all stages of growth. He received his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and his B.A. in U.S. History from Stanford. About the Wharton School
Campus Chronicles: Harvard’s Harbus This week in our weekly edition of Campus Chronicles, we peruse Harvard’s MBA student newspaper, Harbus, to uncover the latest buzz on campus. In this week’s Harbus, John Coleman shares tips on how to be effective at “BS” (business speaking) and wow one’s audience, drawing on his own expertise as the champion of the Public Speaking Club’s fall 2008 “BS Competition.” First of all, Coleman advises, a student must buy his own BS and believe in himself. Thus, once you’ve “started pontificating on the artistry of chocolate mixing, get passionate,” even if that entails pounding the desk with enthusiasm. Coleman’s second tip is to change the subject so as to never answer the question that someone asks. This means that, if asked about proper accounting for Chemailte R&D, you should respond about how the most pressing issue is that chemicals in Chemalite could cause global warning. Third tip: don’t answer – instead interpret. Coleman writes that a student can do this through answering any direct question by reinterpreting it, and metaphors always come in handy. Coleman’s fourth tip is to use a lot of generic terms and “leverage a common, best-practice vocabulary.” To do this, Coleman states that you can “facilitate a heightened dialogue with game-changing, best-of-breed communications that fast-track the conversation to out-of-the-box solutions while integrating a paradigm-shifting disintermediation of distracting, specific language.” The fifth and last tip is to tell a story, as your audience can get wrapped up in a sentimental anecdote and forget what the central issue or topic was in the first place. Sounds like we could all spruce up our BS skills. The Harbus also explores a recent debate over flag raising at HBS. Though all students learn and grow from the cultural, ethnic, and national diversity that marks the various sections, this diversity can give rise to disagreements over values, perspectives, and opinions. Current disagreements surround whether the HBS administration should regulate flag displays in the classrooms – displays that administration in the past have encouraged in order to celebrate the diversity of the student body. These displays can give rise to political issues, as students marry the raising of their flags with political sentiments, and focus of recent attention is on the ROC flag. As students debate these issues, larger questions come to light, such as how students can manage as well as utilize diversity as leaders in a global marketplace through taking the lessons that they learn from MBA program with them. Stay tuned next week for a new edition of Campus Chronicles!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Big Week for Applicants to HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Ross and More As though you need any reminding, the admissions committees at Harvard Business School (HBS) and the Stanford Graduate School of Business this week will release their admissions decisions to hopeful round one applicants. Last week, HBS Admissions Director Dee Leopold devoted a post on her blog to what applicants at that school should expect today as its admissions decisions go out. “Some time on Wednesday – most likely before noon – you will receive an email from HBS MBA Admissions indicating that your decision is available,” she wrote. For more on how the day will unfold for anxious HBS applicants, click here. At Stanford GSB, round one notification day is tomorrow, January 22nd. As of the first week in January, Stanford had extended roughly 400 interview invitations to first round candidates and expected to invite an additional 150 to 200 applicants before notification day. But even if you didn’t receive an invitation to interview, all hope is not lost. Stanford GSB Admissions Director Derrick Bolton says his office may also ask 50 to 100 applicants to join the waitlist tomorrow without having been interviewed and may interview those candidates later. Elsewhere, things are heating up for round two applicants, as the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and others begin to extend invitations to interview. Wharton’s initial round two invitations go out tomorrow, January 22nd. According to a post on the Wharton MBA Admissions blog, the admissions committee will continue to release invitations on a daily basis until 5:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 19th. “Due to the nature and complexity associated with the admissions process there is no particular order in which invitations are released,” the blog explained. February 19th will also be the day that applicants who have been denied admission will be notified. According to a Ross R2 thread on the BusinessWeek forums, round two invitations began going out to applicants to Ross last week and continue. No official word from the Ross Admissions Office has been provided regarding round two. Round one applicants who were waitlisted will have an opportunity to chat online tomorrow, January 22nd, with Admissions Director Soojin Kwon Koh about the waitlist process. Good luck to everyone in the days ahead! And remember to keep us posted on the Clear Admit Wiki. We’re rooting for you!
Wiki Wednesdays: MIT / Sloan, UNC / Kenan-Flagler and the Yale School of Management Interview Reports Welcome to another round of Wiki Wednesdays, where we highlight new and informative reports in the Clear Admit Wiki, an online repository of information learned by applicants throughout the MBA admissions process. With a number of reports rolling in for MIT / Sloan, UNC / Kenan-Flagler and the Yale School of Management, those prepping for Round 2 interviews should have a hefty helping of questions to peruse now that applications have been submitted! Let’s take a closer look at the lists of candidates’ interview questions… A Round 1 candidate for MIT / Sloan addressed the following queries from an adcom member: As for the UNC / Kenan-Flagler report, a Round 2 candidate noted that his interview was “blind” – meaning, the adcom interviewer only had his résumé, not his complete application – before sharing the following questions: A second-year student posed the following questions to a Round 1 Yale SOM candidate: That wraps up Wiki Wednesdays this week! As always, we extend our gratitude to those who have contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki this season. Also, with a number of Round 1 decisions rolling out, we’d like to remind candidates that comparative cases could help fellow applicants at this stage of the admissions cycle. If you would like to share your reasons behind your school choices or interview reports for the benefit of other applicants, simply create an account or send your reports to wiki@clearadmit.com. Congratulations to those who submitted in time for the Round 2 deadlines and best of luck to those waiting for final decisions!
What Hurdle Did You Leap Over? Last week we asked you what you thought the strength of your b-school application was. This week we thought we’d ask you what you thought you had to overcome during your application process.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Kellogg School Professors Offer Inaugural Management Advice to President Barack Obama As the country looks on and history unfolds with today’s swearing in of the first-ever African-American president of the United States, several professors from the Kellogg School of Management have offered insights on what Barack Obama needs to do in order to deliver on his promises of “change you can believe in.” The 44th president faces enormous challenges and will need to move quickly to reestablish trust, communicate his principles and priorities and connect and collaborate with countless groups and constituencies advancing different goals and dreams for the country. Kellogg’s professors consider the management lessons Obama will face and offer the following suggestions: “A major goal on the foreign-policy side should be to restore trust in Brand USA,” said Daniel Diermeier, Kellogg professor of regulation and competitive practice. Citing research on trust, Diermeier underscored the importance of transparency, sustained commitment, competence and a sense of empathy. “All these things are important factors that restore trust,” he said. These same factors will be crucial to winning and maintaining trust domestically, Diermeir continued. But where domestic trust is concerned, Obama also faces the enormous challenge posed by the tremendous expectations that the electorate has for him. “People have a lot of trust in him, but these trust accounts can be emptied very quickly with some ill-considered decisions,” he said. “But if this is carefully managed and there is the continued sense of transparency, accountability, and professionalism that has been displayed during the campaign, the Obama administration will have a lot of capital to work with.” Adam Galinsky, Kellogg professor of ethics and decision in management, urges Obama to focus on articulating broad principles, principles that can then serve to guide specific policy recommendations. He must also set priorities in the first 100 days, Galinsky says. “He wants to make specific priorities when he has the highest political capital,” he continued. “He doesn’t want to squander this time and this opportunity.” Citing Lincoln’s team of rivals, Galinsky advises Obama to staff his executive thoughtfully. “Reaching out across the partisan divide makes for better policy and commitments from more congresspersons,” he says. And Obama must listen as well as lead. “Studies show that when people feel listened to, even when they don’t get their ideal outcome, they are less resentful,” Galinsky said. To learn more about Kellogg’s professors’ recommendations for U.S. President Barack Obama, click here.
Trivia Tuesday: NYU Stern’s Specializations Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, our regular column examining the programs, resources and opportunities that distinguish the leading MBA programs. Today we take a look at the academic specialization option at NYU Stern. Though the Stern MBA is a general management degree, students may use their elective courses to complete up to three specializations of their choosing. Specializations are not required, but are often used to enhance personal knowledge in a specific field or to highlight an area of expertise on one’s résumé. Students declare their specializations through Stern’s Web Information System and may change their specializations at any point until they submit their application to graduate in the final semester of classes. Stern offers more than 20 specializations in fields ranging from Leadership & Change Management to Corporate Finance. In general, each specialization requires nine credits, or 3-5 courses, though some may impose additional course requirements. For instance, students planning to specialize in Entertainment, Media & Technology (EMT) should register for the 1.5 credit Entertainment & Media Industries course early in their Stern careers, since this course provides the foundation for later study in the field. Upon completing this first course, EMT students then take 7.5 additional credits from among the graduate-level courses offered in the specialization. Meanwhile, the Financial Instruments & Markets specialization requires students to complete nine credits from selected Finance department courses, six of which must be upper-level MBA courses. The structure of Stern’s specializations is similar to that of Chicago’s concentrations. In both cases, students are able to choose whether to pursue an area of focus, and each concentration or specialization typically requires just three courses to complete. This is in contrast with Wharton, where all students are required to complete a major, which usually consists of five or more elective courses. For the full list of available specializations and more information on Stern’s academic opportunities, be sure to check out the NYU Stern website or the Academics section of the Clear Admit School Guide to Stern!
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MBA Twitter Index! We've created the MBA Admissions Twitter Index, a directory of applicants, current MBA students and b-schools on Twitter.Wiki MBA Admissions WikiThe Clear Admit Wiki is designed to allow b-school applicants to share their experiences through the application process. You can learn from others' experiences and contribute your own reports to the community. Below are the five most popular pages in the wiki: Wharton Interview Field Reports HBS Interview Field Reports Kellogg Interview Field Reports Chicago Interview Field Reports Columbia Interview Field Reports Discussion Boards BusinessWeek ForumsThe BusinessWeek Discussion Boards are another way to learn about the issues applicants face. Clear Admit hosts the Ask Clear Admit thread, which should help answer your questions. Here is a link to the original interface (for those of you who didn't like the recent upgrade). Also, here are the five most recent discussions taking place in the forum: Clear Admit is a featured expert in the BeatTheGMAT forums, answering questions from applicants across the globe. Feel free to ask us your questions in this forum! Here are the most recent posts: Clear Admit manages the Applying section of the StudyLink MBA discussion boards. Below are the five most recent posts to the GMAT Club message boards.
The student-2-student Discussion Boards are managed by Wharton. Here are the five most recent discussions. School-Hosted Blogs Straight from the source: aggregated posts from students and administration. Below are the seven most recent posts in school-hosted blogs. Individuals' Blogs A selection of the latest updates to MBA blogs compiled by Hella.MBA Applicants Bloggers by School The following are links to bloggers at each of the schools listed.Chicago Columbia Dartmouth / Tuck Duke / Fuqua Harvard Kellogg Michigan MIT / Sloan New York / Stern North Carolina / Chapel Hill Stanford Virginia / Darden Wharton Yale ESADE IESE INSEAD London Business School Community Blogs Bshoolers.comCommunity blog with MBA student and alum contributors. Forté Foundation MBA Diaries Video blog entries posted by women MBA students. Owen Bloggers Independent blog with content by Vanderbilt MBA students. Best of Blogging 2008-2009 Top Ten:
Best of Blogging 2007-2008 Top Ten:
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