Fridays From The Frontline » Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Consultants Blog

APPLICANT RESOURCES

Have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Research schools on the go and keep your applications organized with Clear Admit's new MBA Planner App! Now available in a free 'Lite' version too!

Admissions Director Q&A
Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Dawna Clarke (Tuck)
Rose Martinelli (Chicago)
Judith Hodara (Wharton)
Sara Neher (Darden)
Soojin Kwon Koh (Michigan)
Randall Sawyer (Cornell)
Beth Flye (Kellogg)
David Simpson (LBS)
Liz Riley Hargrove (Duke)
Linda Meehan (Columbia)
Bruce DelMonico (Yale)
Peter Johnson (Berkeley)
Isser Gallogly (NYU)
Mae Jennifer Shores (UCLA)
J.J. Cutler (Wharton)
Jake Cohen (INSEAD)
Rod Garcia (MIT Sloan)
Mary Miller (Columbia)

Clear Admit School Guides
Become an expert on your target schools overnight! Get the program-specific details you need to craft essays that stand out. See how schools compare head-to-head in key areas like recruiting, curricular structure, elective offerings and more. Available for immediate download. As featured in the Economist.

Clear Admit Career Guides
Understand career-specific offerings at leading MBA programs and identify the schools that will best support your career goals with the Clear Admit Career Guides! Available for Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Healthcare.

Clear Admit Strategy Series
Craft a winning application with the Clear Admit Strategy Series! Step-by-Step guidance through the application process. Titles include a Resume Guide, Recommendations Guide, Waitlist Guide and more!

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.

Application Deadlines
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
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas*
Chicago Booth*
CMU / Tepper*
Columbia*
Cornell / Johnson*
Dartmouth / Tuck*
Duke / Fuqua*
Harvard*
Indian School of Business*
INSEAD*
London Business School*
MIT / Sloan*
Michigan / Ross*
Northwestern / Kellogg*
NYU / Stern*
Oxford / Said*
Penn / Wharton*
Stanford GSB*
UCLA / Anderson*
UNC / Kenan-Flagler*
USC / Marshall*
UT Austin / McCombs*
UVA / Darden*
Yale SOM*
* denotes '09-'10 commentary

Categories
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
A selection of interview field reports from fellow applicants posted to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Add your reports when you are finished with your interviews.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan / Ross
MIT / Sloan
Stanford
UNC / Chapel Hill
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
London Business School

GMAT Resources
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
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

Career Guides
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
The following are business resources offered by a variety of leading Business Schools. It's useful to subscribe to these resources, especially for the schools to which you are applying.

MBA Programs: North America
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

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!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Fridays From The Frontline

Welcome back to another installment of Clear Admit’s Fridays From The Frontline! Last week we looked in on the ever burgeoning MBA blogosphere while simultaneously preparing to announce the nominees for this year’s Best of Blogging competition. This week the nominees have been announced and bloggers are abuzz. Nominees have been quick to congratulate their peers and seem to take the competition with the spirit of fun and lightheartedness that we here at Clear Admit intended.

For those concluding their application cycle for the year, their issues went from how to get a good GMAT score and/or write a compelling essay to matters more logistical in nature. Kellogg ‘11 D.G. had a harrying but ultimately successful day at the US Embassy and had the visa to prove it. Helen was experiencing FAFSA confusion. The.Grey.One. reflected on how America’s banking crisis differs from the banking troubles of India. Samantha, much to her surprise, found herself enjoying networking and outlined a number of useful observations on how to be a successful networker. IIMC ‘11 MyNameIsNeo was sure that his first two weeks at the school were relatively easy compared to what was coming. Goizueta ‘11 Ahembeea was pleased to find himself a BoB nominee, though he still had to walk the line between being lean and mean. Columbia ‘11 Maxwriter was also pleasantly surprised to be a nominee in this year’s competition, but still hadn’t received any news from Columbia about issues related to visas and scholarships. Kellogg ‘11 Mike prepared for his move to Evanston and considered how he improved his application this year. Goizueta ‘11 MissionMBA was another with finance concerns, though he was happy about his BoB nomination as well as his role as judge for a b-school photo contest.

Wake Forest ‘11 Omne had a hard week, having attended two funerals, but congratulated his fellow BoB nominees and found a trace of solace in Easter’s deviled eggs and ham. UC Davis ‘12 Chandara decided that Davis was the school for her and thanked Clear Admit for her BoB nomination. Stanford ‘12 PaloAltoForAwhile met a promising venture capital mentor and saw that person’s journey as inspiration for her own business apsirations. Chicago Booth ‘11 Soni officially had a place to lay his head in Chicago and expressed his appreciation for his BoB nomination. Yet another BoB nominee, Lauren, shared her thoughts on her first day at Fuqua’s Blue Devil Weekend. Fuqua ‘11 Choc Heaven may have missed the recent Devil’s Weekend, but she did solidify her intention to attend the school, promised a detailed account of her time in Ghana and expressed gratitude for her own BoB nomination.

First year students, having finally adapted to the b-school lifestyle, looked forward to all they would achieve this summer and in their second and final years. Marshall ‘10 Andrew discussed how being the President of the school’s Net Impact chapter would help him get out the message that “sustainability is good”. Darden ‘10 JulyDream, a repeat BoB nominee, was excited about her summer sublet and internship in Atlanta. HBS ‘10 Rob weighed the pros and cons of hosting a luncheon instead of a presentation and shared photographs from the recent HBS talent show. McCombs ‘10 Paragon2Pieces missed the first round of bidding for the next semester’s classes because she was on a plane, and suffered for it. Paragon2Pieces wasn’t alone in her frustrations, McCombs ‘10 Metal was also stressed by the bidding system. Darden ‘10 Mechanigal saw Thomas Jefferson on campus. Kellogg ‘10 La Coguette gave her official and unofficial takes on the recent Kellogg GIM trip in which she participated, and went to a Kellogg-subsidized Cubs game.

For those in their final years of b-school, travel and goodbyes were the predominant subjects of the week. Darden ‘09 Anand couldn’t believe he was graduating in a month and was immensely excited about his impending train trip through Europe. Chicago Booth ‘09 MaybeMBA said goodbye to the blogosphere but made sure that the whole of her perspective on the MBA experience was accurately summed up. Darden ‘09 Mandy was going without blogging while in the Bahamas.

There certainly has been a lot going on since we last checked in with MBA bloggers, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. We hope that all bloggers, nominated or not, continue to allow us to read about their experiences in the classroom, during the application process or anywhere in between. We can’t wait until next week and encourage those nominated for the BoBs to get their ballots in as soon as they can!

# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:45 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Comments are closed.

ACTIVE CONTENT

Clear Admit's Recent Posts

Facebook

Become a fan of Clear Admit on Facebook and join a vibrant MBA applicant community to engage in discussion, stay on top of deadlines, follow MBA news and win prizes!

Twitter

Follow Clear Admit on Twitter for breaking MBA news before it's blogged, just-posted interview reports in the Wiki and more!

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 Wiki
The 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 Forums
The 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:

Beat The GMAT Forums
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:

StudyLink Forums
Clear Admit manages the Applying section of the StudyLink MBA discussion boards.

GMAT Club Forums
Below are the five most recent posts to the GMAT Club message boards.

student 2 student
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

MBA Students

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.com
Community 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: