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The Michigan/Ross deadlines for the 2009-2010 application season have been released! The full-time MBA deadlines are as follows: Round 1 Deadline: October 10, 2009 Notification: January 15, 2010 Round 2 Deadline: January 5, 2010 Notification: March 15, 2010 Round 3 Deadline: March 1, 2010 Notification: May 15, 2010 International applicants are encouraged to apply in Round 1 or Round 2. The 2009-2010 application will be available on August 1.  Posted by Clear Admit on June 23, 2009, at 3:00 am Posted in:  School: Berkeley / Haas , Trivia Tuesday Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly examination of the programs, policies and resources that help to differentiate the leading business schools. This week we turn our attention to an opportunity for hands-on international development work offered by the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. The International Business Development (IBD) course is one of the most popular electives at Haas. Similar to the international consulting electives at Wharton and Tuck, the course sends small teams of students to consult at client sites around the world for three weeks each summer. The program is open only to first-year students, and the application process includes both essays and an interview. Students selected for participation are assigned to project teams in January of the first year and work with their teams in the spring semester to conduct background research and analysis. Following the end of first-year classes in mid-May, each team spends a dedicated three weeks on-site with the client, completing such projects as preparing a business plan, conducting market analysis, developing marketing or entry strategies, or recommending operational changes. In keeping with the course’s focus on international development, the sponsor organizations are largely regional companies or non-profits, including the Wildlife Conservation Society, Grameen Bank, Comaco, and the U.N. Hunger Task Force. Although the IBD project is usually delivered to the clients by the end of the three week period on-site, teams may need to conduct follow-up work in the fall semester. In order to provide students with an opportunity to share their findings with other teams and to discuss their experiences, IBD participants meet for two full Fridays during the fall semester. During these meetings, each team presents its project to the class in case format. Upon successful completion of the spring semester preparation, the in-country project, and the fall semester presentations, students receive three elective credits towards their Haas degrees. To learn more about international study or experiential learning opportunities at Haas and other leading business schools, be sure to check out the schools’ websites or the Clear Admit School Guides! As many applicants are finding out at this time of year, conducting thorough research on MBA programs is an essential step in formulating a list of target schools and crafting convincing essays. Surfing the web and speaking with friends and mentors are great starting points in identifying programs of interest. However, to really get a feel for a school and determine whether it’s a good fit for one’s goals and personality, applicants need to dig deeper and gain some firsthand experience with the program and the people. Visiting the campus is a great way to gather this kind of information, and it can also be advantageous in the application process. Although most formal campus visit programs will not start until the fall (when classes are in session), we’d like to offer a few ‘headstart’ pointers for getting as much mileage as possible out of a trip to your target program. 1) Make yourself known. Putting forth the effort to travel to a school is a signal of interest in the program that the adcom loves to see – but you need to let them know that you’ve made the trip. It is possible to communicate this in your essays and interview, but the simplest route is often to register for a visit through the admissions office. Not only will most schools arrange for you to sit in on a class and have lunch with current students, but many will also make a note of your visit and include it in your file. Be sure to take advantage of all that the admissions office offers in this regard; even if you have friends on campus, it’s wise to speak to as many people as possible. 2) Think it through. Before arriving on campus, you should think carefully about the sort of information you hope to take away from your visit. Whether your inquiries cover something as broad as the night life or as narrow as the syllabus of a particular course, your trip will be much more informative if you come prepared with a sense of the details you hope to glean from information sessions and conversations. Further, it’s a great idea to reach out to members of the community before you arrive; if there’s a club about which you are particularly curious, for instance, you could contact one of its leaders and arrange a conversation over coffee on the day of your visit. 3) Put your best foot forward. Even though your conduct and interactions won’t be on the record in the way that they would be when interviewing on campus, it’s important that you be aware of the impression you’re making. Because spending time on campus is a great way to forge ongoing contacts with students who could become allies for you in the admissions process, you’ll naturally want to put your best foot forward. We hope that these simple tips will set applicants on the path toward a positive and productive stay on campus. For more tailored guidance . . . → Continue Reading Posted by Clear Admit on June 19, 2009, at 1:00 pm Posted in: Financial Aid , MBA News , School: Yale Yale University this week announced that it has entered into an agreement with the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to participate in a supplemental scholarship program to help eligible veterans pay for higher education. Qualified students pursuing their MBA at the Yale School of Management (SOM) are eligible to participate as part of the program. Called the Yellow Ribbon program, the supplemental scholarship provides matching funds from Yale and the VA for qualified veterans. Yale will provide up to $5,000 – to be matched dollar for dollar by the VA for a total maximum scholarship of $10,000 – for as many as 50 veterans or eligible dependents. “We owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces,” Yale Provost Peter Salovey said in a statement announcing the school’s participation. “We are pleased to join the VA in helping to ensure that a Yale education is affordable for veterans from all walks of life.” As part of the Post 9/11 GI Bill enacted in 2008, the VA will cover tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate education for veterans who served 36 months of active duty after September 11, 2001. The Yellow Ribbon Program is designed to provide supplementary aid, through agreements with partner universities for matching funds, that will cover tuition and fees that exceed in-state undergraduate levels, either at private institutions or for more expensive graduate study or both. Prospective applicants to Yale SOM who believe they may be eligible for the benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill are encouraged to contact Yale’s registrar or financial aid officer. Welcome back to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s end of the week treat for those individuals interested in following the highs and lows of those in the MBA blogosphere. More aspirants are coming out of the woodwork and letting us know how the early stages of their application prep are going, while recently admitted students and rising second years are enjoying the summer months. Class of 2012 aspirant Xlick posted a poll to see what the average age of b-school applicants is among his readers. While age was on Xlick’s mind, Hari was focused on his upcoming GMAT exam and feeling much more confident. For incoming Kellogg ’11 The.Grey.One, a few things fell into place: he received on-campus housing, purchased a new laptop and had a full physical. BU ’11 Felish spoke with a friend about b-schools and recommended that he apply in the first round. Kellogg ’11 Orlando provided links to first-hand accounts of the 2009 recruiting process on campus. Goizueta ’11 MissionMBA, after a sweltering wait and nerve-wracking interview, successfully received his visa. Kellogg ’11 Soni checked in after a month-long silence to share his random walk booking and to give a little advice to those planning to apply to the school’s MMM program. Haas ’11 Lauren made delicious whoopie pies while Fuqua ’11 Choc Heaven talked mangoes (and MBA prep). LBS ’10 OutOnALimb found a new band and got through his exams with the help of a well constructed cheat sheet. McCombs ’10 Paragon2Pieces, with all her exams behind her, was still waiting for a grade from the law school. Marshall ’10 Andrew realized that when he did math in his head, he did it in Chinese, and considered theories for the “Asian math gene”. Darden ’10 Mechanigal was excited for her internship-related traveling in rural India though she mentioned in the comments that she wasn’t going to have a lot of time for sightseeing. In spite of her own internship, Harvard ’10 Gabrielle managed to squeeze some tourism, tapas and Thai into her first week in D.C. Darden ’10 JulyDream considered the effectiveness of Darden’s brand and marketing platform. McCombs ’10 Metal shared his perspective on blogging and anonymity and also reflected on his first year of b-school. Another seven days have whizzed by since our last installment and we hope they were packed with activity and progress of every stripe for each one of our readers and writers. Who knows what we will get to read about next week, perhaps more advice will come from those already accepted into schools? Or maybe a new GMAT preparation method will be shared by an aspirant? We won’t know until we know, and . . . → Continue Reading Following the release of Wharton’s 2009-2010 essay questions, we would like to offer some advice on how to choose compelling anecdotes and craft strong essays. Wharton’s essay prompts this year mark a change from those of previous years, as the prompts appear more pointed. This change suggests an explicit interest in the narrower topics of interpersonal skills and self-improvement. Candidates are encouraged to address how they will engage others, how they have learned from their own failures, how they have approached a certain problem and how they have sought to better themselves. Essay 1 – (750-1000 words) As a leader in global business, Wharton is committed to sustaining “a truly global presence through its engagement in the world”. What goals are you committed to and why? How do you envision the Wharton MBA contributing to the attainment of those goals? Wharton has made an interesting adjustment to its career goal prompt this year. The questions about a candidate’s goals and interest in the Wharton MBA plays remains the same, with a new twist focused on global perspective and engagement in the world. The introduction of the “engagement” element broadens the scope of the topic a bit, and suggests a curiosity about the potential impact of a candidate’s goals on the local community and perhaps global business. One might discuss how he or she intends to engage individuals or firms when doing business in the future, and how his or her stated goals might fit into the big picture of Wharton’s “truly global presence.” As before, the thousand-word limit provides applicants with a good deal of room to work with in describing their professional progress and aspirations and their motivation for pursuing an MBA. However, as Wharton has removed the “comment on your career to date” component of the prompt, candidates might need to cut down a bit on this section in order to cover the global engagement element in full. As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Wharton’s program is crucial to an effective response to this question. Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Wharton – will pay dividends here. Essay 2 – (750-1000 words) Tell us about a time when you had to adapt by accepting/understanding the perspective of people different from yourself. This prompt is new to Wharton’s application this year and signals the adcom’s interest in how candidates may thrive not only within the diversity of Wharton’s MBA class but also within increasingly global business interactions. When answering this prompt, candidates should highlight their adaptability, empathy or their open-mindedness. The adcom will want to see how candidates worked with others to find common ground and effectively move forward. The scope of this prompt is such that a wide range of situations might be quite fitting – from an experience . . . → Continue Reading ~ A CLEAR ADMIT EXCLUSIVE ~ Entrance exams remain an application requirement for most top business schools, so as a resource for prospective applicants, Clear Admit is embarking upon a new content series here on our blog that will feature profiles of each of several major test preparation companies. Each week over the next couple of months, we will focus on a different company, providing a snapshot of its services, instructors, pricing, course structure and distinguishing features as well as interviews with company executives. If a business school entrance exam is in your future, you won’t want to miss this new resource. In the first of our profile series, we spotlight Inspirica Tutoring and Test Preparation, which offers completely customized one-on-one tutoring programs to students preparing for a range of exams, including the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) required by many top business schools. A 25-year veteran in the test preparation space, Ispirica was founded by Lisa Jacobson, who began tutoring her friends when she was in the fifth grade and continued doing so through her college years at Stanford. Moving to New York City after graduation, she put out a shingle as a tutor and began to attract students seeking help with math. Soon, satisfied customers and their parents were clamoring for tutoring in other subjects, so Jacobson set out to find and train warm, nurturing tutors with great communication and motivational skills who could truly inspire students to succeed. And so, Inspirica was born. Today, the company has more than 100 tutors in three locations – New York, Philadelphia and Boston – and also flies its instructors all over the world wherever they are needed. In the interview that follows, with Jacobson and Inspirica Master Tutor Donald Viscardi, learn more about its specific offerings for prospective applicants preparing for the GMAT exam. Clear Admit: How many Inspirica tutors focus on GMAT preparation? Who are they? What markets do they serve? Lisa Jacobson: We have about 20 tutors who do GMAT preparation, and they are basically available anywhere they are needed. We have offices in New York City, Philadelphia and Boston, but our tutors also fly all over the world. To tutor for the GMAT, our instructors have to have been here for some time and they have to be very experienced, not just with the material but also as great service providers. I want to know, too, that they have the people skills. Are they going to be inspirational? Did they score well on the exam themselves? I was once on a bus and overheard someone saying that Inspirica is the hardest place to get a job as a tutor, and I was very glad. They come from all walks of life – some are venture capitalists, some are architects, some are business school graduates themselves, though not all are. We’ve found that just because someone went to Harvard Business School doesn’t always mean they are going to be a great GMAT teacher. Donald Viscardi: Yes. We are commited to . . . → Continue Reading NYU/Stern has announced that its Round 1 deadline for the 2009-2010 admissions season is November 15, 2009. The remaining deadlines have yet to be released, and the official application, currently undergoing annual updates, is set to be made available in mid-August. Make sure to check back here for further updates! Posted by Clear Admit on June 17, 2009, at 9:23 am Posted in: Deadlines , School: Northwestern / Kellogg Following up on last week’s announcement of the Northwestern/Kellogg essay topics, the Kellogg deadlines for the 2009-2010 admissions season have also recently been released. The Northwestern/Kellogg deadlines are as follows: Round One Deadline: October 15, 2009 Notification: January 11, 2010 Round Two Deadline: January 14, 2010 Notification: March 29, 2010 Round Three Deadline: March 4, 2010 Notification: May 17, 2010 What Is Your Main Reason For Applying To Business School? I want to develop my understanding of business concepts. I want to make a difference through business. I want to make a career/industry switch. I want to increase my earning potential. I want to start my own business. Loading … A recent conference at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University brought students, practitioners and academics together to examine opportunities for business and innovation in the water sector. Entitled the 2009 Water Enterprise Forum, the student-led event held on May 27th addressed topics ranging from sustainability to innovation to the role of private enterprise while also examining historic and future trends. Of the water that covers more than 70 percent of the Earth, less than 1 percent is available as a fresh, usable supply, making sustainable water management one of the most important challenges facing today’s society. But it is a complex, interdisciplinary challenge with political components, ecosystem linkages and human welfare aspects that requires global engagement with multiple stakeholders and presents no easy solutions. Recognizing the need for a multidisciplinary approach, the forum was organized by students in the School of Geography and the Saïd Business School with the support of the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society (InSIS), Global Water Intelligence and the Social Entrepreneurship and Environment Business Networks. The first cross-disciplinary forum of its kind at Oxford, it provided a unique opportunity for dialogue about the roles and opportunities for business in the water industry. Dr. Ian Goldin, director of the James Martin 21st Century School, delivered the keynote address, which outlined global water scenarios and the huge challenges they present. The rest of the forum consisted of presentations and open discussions of some of the thorniest points of the global water crisis. Other speakers included Steve Rayner, director of the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, and Associate Fellow Eamonn Molloy, as well as speakers from WWF, Global Water Intelligence and Aquafed. To learn more about the 2009 Water Enterprise Forum or to listen to recordings of some of the presentations given that day, click here. It’s time again for our regular Trivia Tuesday column examining the policies, programs, and opportunities available at the leading business schools. Today we’ll take a look at the ways students are involved in the non-profit management programs at the Yale SOM. According to the biennial survey of MBA programs published by Beyond Grey Pinstripes, Yale is among the top 25 full-time programs for incorporating environmental and social issues into their curricula and research. Yale’s high level of attention to these issues is made possible by a number of school-sponsored programs, and borne out in Yale students’ participation in events promoting social entrepreneurship and sustainable business. Yale’s reputation in non-profit and public sector management attracts a high number of students interested in entering these fields, and the campus Net Impact chapter is one of the most active student-run organizations at the school. In addition to sending delegates to the national conference each year, Net Impact works with other campus organizations to present events for the benefit of the student body. These include an annual case competition, the Future of Philanthropy Conference, an internship forum in conjunction with the Career Development Office, and a series of panels on corporate and social responsibility. The SOM community provides further support for students interested in public service careers through the Internship Fund, a student-run organization providing financial support for classmates pursuing careers in government, education or the non-profit sector. Founded in 1979, the fund provides a stipend for students completing summer internships at low-paying public or non-profit organizations; typically about 20% of each class has benefited from this support. To raise money for these stipends, the Internship Fund coordinates fund-raising activities throughout the year, the most popular of which is the annual Internship Fund Auction. Conducted in three stages – an online auction for remotely-located alumni, a silent auction and a live event – the Internship Fund Auction brings the community together to donate and bid on prizes. In 2009, prizes included a hot air balloon ride, tickets to the U.S. Open, a trip to a coffee farm in Guatemala, and guaranteed front row graduation seats for family members. For more information on Yale’s non-profit management program, campus activities, or non-profit career placement figures be sure to check out the school’s website or the Clear Admit School Guide to Yale! Posted by Clear Admit on June 15, 2009, at 11:00 am Posted in: Admissions Director Q&A , School: MIT / Sloan As the conclusion to our Admissions Director Q&A Series, we recently spoke with Rod Garcia, director of admissions at the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). An MIT Sloan veteran, Garcia will celebrate his 21st year at the school this September. Garcia rose through the ranks since joining the MIT Sloan community in 1988, and he has served as admissions director for the past decade. Before that, he worked in admissions at the University of Chicago. In the interview that follows, Garcia shares his thoughts on the role of MIT Sloan’s Dean David Schmittlein, who came from Wharton in 2007. He also offers advice to candidates regarding business school rankings and shares insight about what his team is looking for in response to MIT’s unique essay questions. If you’re considering applying to MIT Sloan, you won’t want to miss this. Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting recent development, change, or event happening at MIT Sloan? Rod Garcia: To me, the most exciting change or development that has happened here recently is the new dean. Two years ago we brought a new dean on board – Dean David Schmittlein. As far as I know, he is the first dean who was not hired from inside. In the past they have always had a dean from within the school, and we never looked outside. But bringing someone new in brought a lot of new ideas and new energies to the school. That has really made this past year very exciting. Dean Schmittlein is someone who understands admissions because he served as deputy dean at the Wharton School for years before he came here. We did not have to spend the first year educating him because he was already educated. This dean did not need that. Instead, he was able to dive right in. For example, this last October I was in a cab in Chicago on the way to a presentation when I learned on my Blackberry that CitiAssist had cancelled our international student loan program. The response by this dean was amazing, which is why we were the first school to have a replacement program in place. It was because of the leadership of this dean’s office. They knew how important this was and immediately started looking for alternatives. It was priority number one. So that’s why I am very excited about this new administration and the new dean. And this is just his second year… CA: What is the one area of your program that you wish applicants knew more about? RG: It’s really not just one area. I think what I would say is I wish MBA candidates would look beyond the rankings and really look at schools from their point of view, not from someone else’s point of view. By doing that I think they will be able to determine whether this place is the right place for them or not as opposed to using an external ranking. Let me just say, rankings are . . . → Continue Reading We wanted to offer some general tips for the Class of 2012 applicants on getting the most mileage out of resumes in the admissions process. As many of our readers know, the resume is not only an important component of your application package, it’s also a great place to start when crafting your overall positioning strategy. This document forces one to distill a candidacy into a single page – focusing on key aspects and themes. With that in mind, here are a few simple tips to get you started: 1) First things first. Because you’re applying to graduate school, it makes sense to lead this document with a section detailing your academic history. This is also the format that many business schools’ career offices instruct students to use when applying for internships or full-time jobs post-graduation. 2) Keep it simple. While you’ll certainly want to describe your professional responsibilities and achievements in some detail, remember that this document needs to fit on a single page (with rare exceptions). Rather than overwhelming the reader with information, try to identify three or four discrete projects or accomplishments to complement a few concise statements about your day to day responsibilities in each position. Remember that it’s also important to be as specific as possible about the impact you’ve had on your organization by quantifying the results of your efforts. 3) Round it out. Don’t discount the importance of your interests and outside activities. Schools like applicants who are well-rounded and demonstrate a track record of involvement outside of work and the classroom, so formal extracurricular activities are a logical category to include. At the same time, information about your less structured information and hobbies is also relevant, as these details can lend some more color to your candidacy and help the adcom get to know you better. Remember to be as specific as possible; many business school applicants are interested in “travel” or “film,” so specifying a region you especially enjoy visiting or your favorite movie genre will be the key to setting yourself apart. We hope that these general guidelines serve as a good starting point for Class of 2012 applicants in translating their experiences and achievements into this brief but important document. For more tailored guidance, contact us to speak with one of our counselors about your background. You can also read the Clear Admit Resume Guide for a complete step-by-step ‘instruction manual’ for crafting your resume (available on download in our publications shop). |
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