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!

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
Clear Admit School GuidesBecome 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
Clear Admit Career GuidesUnderstand 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
Clear Admit Strategy SeriesCraft 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
Clear Admit Interview GuidesBe 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.

Interviewing with b-schools in R2? Download our school by school Interview Guides or send us your CV to learn more about our mock interview services.

ARCHIVE FOR NOVEMBER 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Business Faculty Survey Informs New GMAT Exam

According to a recent release from the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which owns the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), business faculty from around the world have shared their opinions on what skills should be tested in the 10th generation GMAT exam, currently under development.

GMAC has solicited responses from roughly 750 business faculty at programs from around the world as it embarks upon its next major redesign of the GMAT exam. GMAC expects to roll out the next generation exam by 2013.

GMAC asked business school deans worldwide to nominate faculty members who teach core classes in a range of graduate business programs to participate in its skills survey. Participants were asked to review and rate specific academic skills that future business leaders will need to succeed.

Respondents to the survey represent the full spectrum of business school faculty: 89 percent have doctorates, 40 percent were full professors, 36 percent were associate professors, 17 percent were assistant professors, and 10 percent were deans, according to GMAC. 

“I have been impressed by the efforts of GMAC to listen to the opinions of business school faculty members when it comes to what skills are most important and useful to test on the GMAT,” Peter Klibanoff, associate professor of managerial economics and decision sciences at the Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, said in a statement.

In designing its 10th Generation GMAT, GMAC hopes to harness advances in technology and graduate business education to build on the strengths of the existing exam. According to GMAC, the 10th version will introduce new ways of presenting questions and responding, calling on test takers to generate solutions rather than simply recognize answers. GMAC is also considering new question types, which would undergo pilot testing to gauge operational readiness.

“The survey response from faculty at graduate management programs around the world has been overwhelming,” Ashok Sarathy, GMAC vice president, said in a statement. “This survey helps us refine the measurement of skills on the GMAT and continue to make the exam entirely relevant for business school admissions,” he continued.

To learn more, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:11 pm in GMAT News

Admissions Tip: Avoiding Common Pitfalls, Part I

Today we would like to offer a handful of essay pointers in brief in order to help applicants avoid common pitfalls as they gear up for the Round Two deadlines.  While we should caution that every applicant is unique and that some of these tips may not apply to everyone, we wanted our readers to have an introduction to some of the basic strategies they should be employing.  As always, contact Clear Admit directly for more tailored advice to your candidacy.

1.    Remember your reader. In application essays and resumes, applicants often get caught in the technicalities of their work, losing their reader in jargon.  Keep it simple in order to make your discussion easy for your non-specialist audience to understand.  Such clarity will help the reader to appreciate the nature and significance of your work.

2.    Be specific. Specifics are of the utmost importance in application essays, as the adcom wants to see details of what you’ve accomplished in the past, what you would like to achieve in the future, and how you are a good fit for the particular MBA program.  Explaining the reasons for your interest in the school will also help to differentiate you from the many other applicants arguing their case for a place in the MBA class, as they will show that you not only have clearly articulated goals, but also that you have a deep understanding of the MBA program and how it is uniquely appropriate for you*.  Though applicants sometimes worry about the word limit, it is important to keep in mind that you can replace often vague and generic points with specific ones without adding any length.  For instance, rather than stating that you would make a great and lasting impact on X industry, you can state that you would do A and B.

3.    Focus on fully realized successes. In approaching essays about an accomplishment or achievement, applicants should focus on stories and projects in which a positive outcome has been accomplished or is ensured, as potential successes are not actual ones.   Talking about a project that is ongoing or that is just starting to come together will not be as meaningful as one in which an applicant has already displayed leadership, initiative and creativity in accomplishing a goal.  Though ultimate impact may have not yet been observed (an example being that increased profit has yet to be realized), one’s goals in the project should already have been attained (meaning, for example, that an applicant already built and motivated a team to achieve the desired end).

Check in with us next week for more advice on how to avoid the common pitfalls in applying to MBA programs.  For personalized advice and counseling, send your resume to info@clearadmit.com and set up a free initial chat with one of our admissions counselors.

*Some programs, like Harvard Business School do not explicitly ask applicants to explain their fit with/interest in HBS itself.  As such, when it comes to Harvard our comments about ‘specifics’ apply to the stories the applicant describes, but not to a ‘why HBS’ argument.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:01 am in Admissions Tips

Saturday, November 28, 2009

GMAT Tip: Maximize/Minimize Statistics Problems

Today’s GMAT tip comes from our friends at ManhattanGMAT. In this article, ManhattanGMAT instructor Stacey Koprince offers explanations to sample GMATPrep® max/min questions:

This week, we’re going to tackle two GMATPrep® questions, this time from the quant side of things. My students have been asking (really, complaining!) about maximize / minimize questions lately. A lot of students aren’t sure about the most efficient approach to these kinds of questions. We’ll tackle these two GMATPrep® questions this week in order to learn how to master max/min questions in general.

Let’s start with a sample problem. Set your timer for 2 minutes…. and… GO!

*Three boxes of supplies have an average (arithmetic mean) weight of 7 kilograms and a median weight of 9 kilograms. What is the maximum possible weight, in kilograms, of the lightest box?

(A) 1

(B) 2

(C) 3

(D) 4

(E) 5

The most important thing to notice here is the word “maximum.” This one word is going to be the determining factor in how we set this problem up, right from the very beginning.

Most of the time, when we’re asked to maximize something, we will need to minimize the remaining variables in the problem. Conversely, if the problem asks us to minimize something, we will usually need to maximize the remaining variables. (There are times, though, when we will need to minimize some other variable in order to minimize the desired thing or maximize some other variable in order to maximize the desired thing – so we do need to pay attention.)

This time, they’re asking us to maximize one figure: the lightest box.

If three items have an average weight of 7, then collectively, the three items have a weight of 7×3 = 21. If three items have a median weight of 9, then the middle of the three items is actually 9. This one isn’t a variable; we can’t change this number. The first (or lightest) of the three, therefore, has to be equal to or less than 9 (because it is to the left of the median). Check the answers quickly – in this case, unfortunately, that information doesn’t help us to eliminate any answers.

If the middle box is actually 9, then we can subtract that from 21 to get the combined weight for the other two boxes. 21 – 9 = 12. So the lightest and heaviest boxes have to add up to 12.

Now, do we want to minimize or maximize the weight of the heaviest box?

The heaviest box has to be equal to or greater than 9 (because it is to the right of the median). We want to minimize the weight of this box in order to maximize the weight of the lightest box. So, the smallest possible weight for the heaviest box is 9.

If the heaviest box is minimized to 9, and the heaviest and lightest add up to 12, then the maximum weight for the lightest box is 3. The correct answer is C.

Make sense? If you’re sure you’ve got it, try this harder one. Set your timer for 2 minutes!

*A certain city with a population of 132,000 is to be divided into 11 voting districts, and no district is to have a population that is more than 10 percent greater than the population of any other district. What is the minimum possible population that the least populated district could have?

(A) 10,700

(B) 10,800

(C) 10,900

(D) 11,000

(E) 11,100

In this case, there are 11 voting districts, each with some number of people. We’re asked to find the minimum possible population in the least populated district – or the smallest population that any one district could possibly have.

Let’s say that we’re going to minimize the population in District 1. Because all 11 districts have to add up to 132,000 people, we want to maximize the population in Districts 2 through 10. How can we do that? Now, we need more information from the problem:

“no district is to have a population that is more than 10 percent greater than the population of any other district”

So, if the smallest district has 100 people, then the largest district could have 110 people but can’t have any more than that. If the smallest district has 500 people, then the largest district could have 550 people but can’t have any more than that. How did we calculate those numbers? In each case, we take 10% of the original number and add that figure to the original number to give us our maximum.

In the given problem, we don’t know the number of people in the smallest district, so let’s call that x. If the smallest district is x, then calculate 10% and add that figure to x: x + 0.1x = 1.1x. So the largest district could be 1.1x but can’t be any larger than that.

We want to maximize all of the 10 remaining districts, so we should assume that all 10 districts are equal to 1.1x. As a result, we have (1.1x)(10) = 11x people in the 10 maximized districts (Districts 2 through 10), as well as our original x people in the minimized district (District 1).

The problem told us that all 11 districts add up to 132,000, so write that out mathematically:

11x + x = 132,000

12x = 132,000

x = 11,000

The correct answer is D.

Key Takeaways for Max/Min Problems:

(1) figure out what variables are “in play” (what figures we can manipulate in the problem)

(2) figure out whether each variable needs to be maximized or minimized in order to achieve the desired outcome (the thing the problem asks us to do)

(3) do the work (carefully, as always!)

* GMATPrep® questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.

For more information on ManhattanGMAT, download Clear Admit’s independent guide to the leading test preparation companies here.  This FREE guide includes coupons for discounts on test prep services at nine different firms!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:00 am in GMAT - Quantitative, GMAT News, GMAT Practice Problem, GMAT Test Prep Company Series, GMAT Tips

Friday, November 27, 2009

Fridays From The Frontline

Hello and welcome back to another installment of Clear Admit’s Fridays From The Frontline. Those of us here at Clear Admit hope that  aspirants and current students had the time to enjoy Thanksgiving, we know there were a number of things (other than turkey) on their plates in the days leading up to the holiday.

Steve shared a few of the lessons he learned along his MBA path. XLick linked to Clear Admit’s NYU interview wiki, as a method to prepare for any upcoming invites. Illuminati’s ‘date’ with the GMAT was rapidly approaching. Procrastinator worried over the meaning of Kellogg waiving the interview portion of his application.

Kellogg ‘11 D.G. outlined the productive ways he planned on using his Thanksgiving vacation time, from figuring out how to publish the school paper more regularly to studying for a waiver exam.  Chicago Booth ‘11 Shobhit weighed the pros and cons of cloud computing. Though he certainly had a variety of school commitments, Kellogg ‘11 Orlando managed to find time to play the guitar and relax. Stanford ‘11 Sunny Side Up searched for an internship.

INSEAD ‘09 MBAMRS had less than 10 days remaining in France and found herself struggling with determining the course materials  worth schlepping back to the States. Darden ‘10 Oren celebrated ‘Fakesgiving’ with many of his international Darden friends. McCombs ‘10 Paragon2Pieces brought pecan pie to her Thanksgiving. Harvard ‘10 Gabrielle danced the Bhangra in the school’s annual EKTA cultural showcase. Darden ‘10 JulyDream joined her first year learning team for dinner, and looked towards the future.  McCombs ‘10 Metal was on the lookout for teammates for the school’s upcoming MOOT Corp competition.  Fuqua ‘10 Randy took a moment to consider the ways in which Thanksgiving is ‘pretty weird.’

And that concludes this edition of Fridays From The Frontline. We hope that all readers who celebrate Thanksgiving were properly stuffed and thankful after their meals, and wish all students and applicants a pleasant weekend and great next week!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:08 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Twitter Thursdays: News from MBA Programs

Welcome to another installment of Twitter Thursdays, a weekly column in which we highlight the updates of the top MBA programs on Twitter!  If you’re not following Clear Admit already, be sure to check us out on Twitter for updates, special prizes, admissions tips and breaking news.   We’ve also created a list of MBA programs to ease your daily access to breaking news from the top MBA programs, as reported by admissions committee members themselves.

UCLA / Anderson’s Dean, Judy Olian, balanced news of UCLA’s tuition increasing dramatically with a luncheon for Anderson scholarship donors to meet recipient students. Rich Lyons, the Dean of the Haas School of Business, celebrated some high ranks for Haas in The Economist, among other top publications.  MBA Admissions Coordinator at Judge Business School, James Barker, kicked off Cambridge’s first interview day this week for 2010 MBA candidates.  Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions at Chicago Booth, Rose Martinelli, welcomed over 100 prospective students to campus this week.

Back in Boston, MIT / Sloan hosted a slew of CFOs in its annual CFO Summit this week.  The Kellogg School of Management treated its Twitter followers to some of their professors’ blog entries.  The Tuck School touched on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. credit crisis.  The Wharton School is celebrating Thanksgiving and campus clearly emptied for the U.S. holiday.

That wraps up Twitter Thursdays this week!  If you’re on Twitter, let us know; direct message us on Twitter or e-mail wiki@clearadmit.com with your user name and status as an MBA applicant, student or admissions officer so we can add you to the appropriate Twitter list.  Happy “tweeting” (and Thanksgiving) and we’ll see you next week with some more Twitter updates!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:19 am in Twitter, Twitter Thursdays

Campus Chronicles: Stern Opportunity

In this week’s installment of Campus Chronicles, our review of MBA student newspapers, we’ll take a look at the Stern Opportunity to see what’s been going on at the MBA program at NYU.

Earlier this month Stern students had the chance to attend the 14th annual Graduate Finance Association (GFA) Conference and hear from three speakers as well as participate in seven panel discussions.  The featured speakers were Stern professor Charles Murphy, Jacob Silverman, the CFO of Duff & Phelps, and Ray McGuire, the Head of Global Banking at Citi.  Each of the speakers stressed the importance of self-awareness and confidence in pursuing a successful career, regardless of one’s industry or job function.  Panel discussions allowed students to discuss topical developments in the financial industry, with titles such as “Managing Risk in Capital Markets,” “A Focus on Cross-Border Transactions,” and “The Role of Corporate Finance in the Financial Services Industry.”  At a cocktail reception at the end of the conference, students had a chance to network with industry experts representing JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Thomson Reuters, among other financial industry headliners.

As we reported earlier, Stern has a new club, the Government Business Association (GBA), which recently organized for New York Congressman Anthony Weiner to come to campus and talk about changes in the healthcare system.  Weiner openly supported the public option plan for health insurance, stating that the traditional private market model does not work for health insurance, especially in emergency or chronic situations.  Students engaged in discussion with Weiner and each other regarding the continuing developments in the healthcare issue during a forum after Weiner’s speech.

November also offered Stern students the opportunity to learn about the developments in the luxury retail industry through the first-ever Innovation Forum, a half day conference hosted by Professor Scott Galloway and Stern’s LuxuryLab and the Stern Luxury & Retail Club.  Galloway began the morning by giving a speech in which he noted the increasing use and importance of internet marketing by luxury brands.  John Demsey, the Group President of Estee Lauder Companies and one of the 15 speakers at Innovation Forum, agreed, citing the importance of YouTube in marketing products to ordinary consumers.  Peter Horan, the CEO of Goodmail, agreed, stating that brands need to market to customers on sites where the customers want to go, such as Twitter and Facebook, rather than forcing customers to visit luxury brands on the brand’s own websites.  Students attending were gifted with goody bags at the end of the conference, receiving products from luxury brands including Juara Cosmetics, Lancôme, and Banana Republic.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:28 am in Campus Chronicles, School: NYU Stern

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Clear Admit Publications On Sale Now for a Limited Time!

In honor of Thanksgiving in the U.S., we are featuring a number of on-sale items! From today through Sunday, November 29th, only, we are offering a more than 50% discount on the Clear Admit Career Guide for Consulting – get it now for the discounted price of $19.99! Also on sale this holiday weekend are the Clear Admit School Guides to Columbia, Harvard and Wharton, which you can purchase for $29.99 each!

If you are hoping to land a position with McKinsey, Bain or BCG post-MBA, the Clear Admit Career Guide for Consulting will help you determine which programs would best enable you to reach your consulting career goals. The Clear Admit Career Guide to Consulting is just one of many titles in our line of Career Guides, which also cover investment banking, entrepreneurship, marketing and healthcare.  The Career Guides outline career-specific courses, notable professors, relevant extracurricular activities and the latest recruitment data at the leading MBA programs, and help readers identify the programs that will best support their career goals. These guides also provide comparisons of the leading programs, to give you the full picture of each school’s offerings and opportunities. Whether formulating a list of target schools with strong programs in your chosen career path, looking to enrich your application materials or making an informed decision about where to enroll, these guides will serve as a valuable resource throughout the business school application process.

To check out our full line of publications and purchase any of our guides, visit the Clear Admit shop. Remember, from today through Sunday, November 29th, you can take advantage of our special holiday sale and get the Clear Admit Career Guide for Consulting for just $19.99. While in our shop, you can also fill your cart with other discounted items, like the Clear Admit School Guides to Columbia, Harvard and Wharton, which are currently available for just $29.99 each. All guides are available for immediate purchase and delivery!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 6:00 pm in Career Guides, School Guides, School: Columbia, School: Harvard, School: Penn / Wharton

Wiki Wednesdays: Submit a Report, Win an iTunes Gift Card!

Welcome back to Wiki Wednesdays, our weekly peek at the Clear Admit Wiki – a free source of breaking interview invitation news and extensive information on the interview process at each program. For those who aren’t familiar, the Wiki is a collaborative resource for the MBA applicant community where applicants can (anonymously or otherwise) post reports about their interviews, campus visits and application experiences at the top business schools, and read about those of others.  Over the past week, we’ve received a number of interview reports for the Wharton School, Harvard Business School, Chicago Booth, Michigan / Ross and last, but not least, Northwestern / Kellogg.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki and helped fellow applicants prepare for MBA admissions interviews!  For those interested in adding their experience to the Wiki, we’ll be awarding a $10 iTunes gift certificate to every fifth applicant who contributes an interview report.  To be eligible for the prize, simply send your contribution to wiki@clearadmit.com; we’ll post it to the Wiki and notify the winners by e-mail (Limit: one gift card per person).

The most helpful and informative reports usually include the following information:

  1. Date/Admissions Round
  2. Description of visit and/or interview atmosphere
  3. Type of interview (alum vs. adcom, blind vs. application-based)
  4. List of interview questions
  5. Commentary (What did you think of the interview? What surprised you? What didn’t surprise you? What might you conclude about the school based on this experience?)

Applicants who would like to supplement the information available on the Wiki can check out our Clear Admit Interview Guides, which provide school-specific insight and strategic advice to help applicants with their admissions interviews.

As always, we wish the best of luck to Round 1 applicants who have submitted their materials and are now eagerly awaiting good news from their target schools! Stay tuned to this blog for an array of interview tips in the coming weeks, and keep an eye out for upcoming editions of Wiki Wednesdays, a column highlighting informative contributions to the Clear Admit Wiki.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:08 pm in Interview Guides, Interview Tips, Wiki Wednesdays

$20 Million Alumni Gift for NYU Stern School of Business

New York University’s Stern School of Business received a $20 million gift from alumnus and hedge fund founder John Paulson, the school announced earlier this month. The gift, especially generous in a year when philanthropy has fallen off at most business schools, will help fund facility renovations, scholarships and new faculty chair endowments.

Paulson, founder of New York-based Paulson & Co. and one of the largest alternative asset managers in the field, graduated with a bachelor degree from Stern in 1978. He is also a member of Stern’s board of overseers.

“I am grateful for the education I received at Stern,” Paulson said in a statement announcing the gift. “My hope is that this gift will advance the school’s mission as a global leader in business education and economic research as well as provide scholarships to gifted students with financial needs.”

Stern will use $5 million of the gift to create two new endowed faculty chairs, one in economics and another in finance. The first will be named for Stern alumnus Alan Greenspan (BS ’48, MA ’50, PhD ’77), leading economist and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The second will be named for Paulson. Stern finance professor Lasse Pederson, whose research focuses on how liquidity risk affects security prices and trading, has been appointed the first John Paulson professor.

Another $4 million of the gift will establish scholarships for high-merit, high-need undergraduate business students. Recipients will be known as Paulson Scholars.

The remaining $11 million will help support campus renovation already underway as part of the Concourse Project, a campaign to modernize classrooms and connect Stern’s two primary buildings, the Henry Kaufman Management Center and Tisch Hall. In recognition of Paulson’s generosity, Stern has named the first floor lobby of Tisch Hall and the school auditorium in his honor.

To learn more, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: NYU Stern

What Are You Thankful For?

What Are You Thankful For In Regards To Your Admissions Process?

View Results

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Uncategorized

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Top Chef Serves Up Business Advice to Kellogg Marketing Students

Sometimes experiential learning at Kellogg School of Management takes the form of a five-course meal. That was the case for 125 students in an introductory marketing class earlier this month, who got to chow down on food prepared by a celebrated chef while hearing his point of view on creativity, culinary arts and the restaurant business.

On November 11th, Chef Graham Elliot Bowles hosted Kellogg marketing professor Andrew Razeghi’s “Introduction of New Marketing and Services” class at his eponymous graham elliot restaurant in Chicago. Bowles, the youngest four-star chef in the nation and a recent contestant on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef Masters,” began his career working at renowned Chicago restaurants Charlie Trotter’s and Tru before launching his solo venture in 2008.

As he served each course, Bowles shared a little about his inspiration. “We like to reconstruct dishes,” he said as laid out a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of roasted heritage turkey with chestnut mousse, sage stuffing, creamy casserole and cranberry chutney. “We like to take an idea, knock it down and build it back up. We want to try to elevate everything that people understand,” he continued. 

Another dish, Wisconsin cheddar risotto, was inspired by a road trip to Chicago’s northern neighbor state, Bowles told the Kellogg students. Featuring a blend of artisan bratwurst, green apples, and glazed onions, it was topped with Cheez-it crackers and served with cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

Four-star cuisine doesn’t have to be pretentious or stick to a prescribed set of rules, Bowles told the students. “It’s very much a gray area. It’s all open to personal interpretation,” he said. Another lesson he’s learned is the importance of maintaining a democratic process at his restaurant, which means taking into account the opinions and responsibilities of everyone from dishwasher to sous chef.

Razeghi, who is a close friend of Bowles, pointed out that the chef’s thoughts on business are relevant well outside the culinary field. Great marketing involves communicating a unique vision, he said. “It’s about understanding who your audience is and having a conversation with them that speaks to them. I really admire how [Bowles] does that,” he said.

The students seemed to agree. “I like that he said that everyone here matters – even the guy that sweeps the floor,” said Stephen Windsor ’11. “That idea is very relevant in business. Everyone working in your company isn’t going to be necessarily working on your team, but they still matter.”

For more on this story, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: Northwestern / Kellogg

Trivia Tuesday: Public Management at Stanford

It’s time once again for Trivia Tuesday, our regular exploration of the special programs and opportunities that differentiate the leading business schools. This week we take a peek into the Clear Admit School Guide to Stanford, and share an excerpt on Stanford’s Public Management Program.

“The Public Management Program (PMP) was founded in 1971 by then-dean Arjay Miller to promote communication and collaboration between leaders of government and business. His experience as president of Ford Motor Companies provided the impetus for this initiative; in this role, he witnessed firsthand the misunderstandings between politicians and those in the private sector. The PMP became part of the Center for Social Innovation in 2000, and today has the broader mission of preparing students to address social problems.

The PMP also offers students the option of obtaining a Certificate in Public Management as a sign of their commitment to and preparedness for a career in the sector. To qualify, students take 16 relevant course units, including an approved economics class; with approximately 30 electives to choose from, they can also petition for a relevant Stanford University class to count toward the credential, or design an independent study.

The independent study option provides students with the flexibility to design a program of study that fits their needs. Each independent study may be taken for between one and four credit units, with each credit unit representing an expected 30 hours of work. Furthermore, students may determine whether to dedicate their independent study time to research or to practice. For instance, the independent study may be academic in nature, focusing on an examination of current events or an analysis of a specific sector or organization, or it can involve an internship, consulting engagement or strategy planning role at a sponsor organization. Within the Certificate program, students who are especially focused may pursue an optional specialization in Government, Nonprofit Management or Socially Responsible Business. To qualify for a specialization, the candidate must take 8 of the 16 elective credits for the certificate in that area.

In addition to pursuing their personal academic interests, each class of PMP students selects a topic to explore in depth during their second year through the Public Management Initiative (PMI).”

To continue reading about Stanford’s Public Management Program, and to find out about the details of the PMI, experiential and international opportunities offered within the PMP program, and the financial support available to PMP students at Stanford, take a look at the Clear Admit School Guide to Stanford.  All 18 Clear Admit School Guides are available for immediate purchase and download on the Clear Admit shop.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 7:15 am in School Guides, School: Stanford, Trivia Tuesday

Monday, November 23, 2009

Stanford GSB Campus Visit Registration Begins Nov. 30th

In a post to the Stanford Graduate School of Business Admissions Blog, Admissions Coordinator Brad Lindeberg announced that initial registration will open next week to prospective applicants hoping to schedule winter class visits.

Registration, which opens November 30th, can be completed via an online registration system. Due to high demand for class visit slots, Stanford GSB recommends making a reservation a few weeks in advance and limits class visits to one per quarter. The admissions office also encourages only those who are seriously considering applying to participate. (If you are just at the information-gathering stage, instead consider an on-campus information session, they suggest.)

Once you have registered for a class visit, an admissions coordinator will meet you in the MBA Admissions Office 10 minutes prior to the start of the class, accompany you to the classroom and answer any questions you may have about the school or MBA program en route.

Each class visited is scheduled to run for one hour and 45 minutes, and visitors are required to stay for the entire class. Visitors are asked not to participate in class, but instead to simply observe silently. Due to classroom space constraints, the admissions office can’t accommodate requests for specific classes.

The first opportunity for class visits will be Monday, January 11th. The schedule for class visits during the winter quarter is as follows:

o January to Early February

Mondays and Fridays
8 a.m., 10 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.
Tuesdays
10 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.

o Mid February to Early March 

Mondays
8 a.m., 10 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. 
Tuesdays and Thursdays
10 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.

Campus visits are neither required nor expected, Lindeberg underscored. “Our events offer a chance to experience a day at the GSB, but do not result in preferential treatment in the admission process,” he wrote.

Additional class visit slots may be added in December after actual class enrollment is finalized, he added.

For more details on Stanford GSB class visits, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: Stanford

Admissions Tip: Plan of Attack

With Thanksgiving this week, round two deadlines for a number of programs are just around the corner. As most applicants are targeting multiple schools and still working to narrow down their school selection, we wanted to take some time today to stress the importance of taking a deep breath and a step back and formulating a timeline for the coming weeks. Establishing a set of incremental goals with regard to essay composition and recommender management at this point in the season will help you to avoid feeling overwhelmed and ensure that your aims are realistic.

One of our most important pointers pertains to the process of writing essays. The urge to make progress on multiple fronts leads many applicants to work on essays for several schools in parallel, an approach that can be problematic. One reason for this is that when one spends time immersed in three sets of essays at once, it’s easy to lose sight of the full picture he or she is presenting to any one school. While it’s important to be oneself in the application process, it’s also crucial that an applicant tailor his or her materials to each school, a process that is made harder when constantly going back and forth among responses for various programs. Another issue is that it’s easy to waste time implementing the same edits across documents for multiple schools, or to lose track of what one has changed in which essay. For these reasons, we generally recommend focusing one’s full essay-writing attention on one program at a time.

Of course, your writing and story will improve with practice, and the last application you finish will likely be your strongest: a tricky situation, given that most applicants take care of their top choice school first to ensure that they’re able to submit in the earliest possible round. With this in mind, we recommend that you build space into your timeline to allow yourself to revisit and revise each set of essays before submission.

The order in which you tackle tasks will naturally depend on the deadlines for each school. With this in mind, let’s take a look at this winter’s deadline calendar:

December 2: INSEAD R2
December 10: Haas R2
January 4: Tepper
January 5: Wharton R2; Ross R2
January 6: Stanford R2; Chicago R2; LBS R2; Tuck R2; UCLA R2; Anderson R2; Davis R2
January 7: Darden R2; Duke R2; Yale R2
January 8: UNC R2
January 12: MIT R2; Cornell R3
January 14: Kellogg R2
January 15: NYU R2
January 19: HBS R2

Best of luck to all of our readers who are presently working their way through the lengthy application process! Stay tuned to this blog for additional tips, news and notes as the admissions season unfolds.  For more information about how we can help you prepare for these deadlines with our application editing services, simply contact Clear Admit with your CV/resume and sign up for a free initial assessment or call our offices at 215-568-2590.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:00 am in Admissions Tips, Deadlines

Saturday, November 21, 2009

GMAT Practice Problem: Sum of Squares

Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from our friends at ManhattanGMAT.  To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:

Problem

The sum of the first n positive perfect squares, where n is a positive integer, is given by the formula n3/3 + cn2 + n/6, where c is a constant. What is the sum of the first 15 positive perfect squares?

(A) 1,010
(B) 1,164
(C) 1,240
(D) 1,316
(E) 1,476

Solution

The brute-force way to solve this problem is literally to add up the first 15 positive perfect squares, from 1 to 225, inclusive. This is not necessarily completely out of bounds, given that we only have to sum up 15 numbers, all of which we should know already, and several of which are small. However, we should look for a shortcut using the formula.

Unfortunately, there is an unknown constant in the formula, but by using a small test number, we can solve for this constant. You can certainly pick n = 1, since it is a positive integer:
12 = 13/3 + c12 + 1/6
1 = 1/3 + c + 1/6
1/2 = c

If you feel uncomfortable picking n = 1, you can pick n = 2 and come to the same result almost as quickly.

Now, we plug n = 15 into the formula and solve:

12 + 22 + … + 152 = 153/3 + 152/2 + 15/6
= 15×15×15/3 + 15×15/2 + 15/6
= 15×15×5 + 15×15/2 + 5/2
= 225×5 + 225/2 + 5/2
= 1,125 + 230/2
= 1,125 + 115
= 1,240

The correct answer is (C).

For more information on ManhattanGMAT, download Clear Admit’s independent guide to the leading test preparation companies here.  This FREE guide includes coupons for discounts on test prep services at nine different firms!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:00 am in GMAT - Quantitative, GMAT News, GMAT Practice Problem, GMAT Test Prep Company Series, GMAT Tips, General

Friday, November 20, 2009

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth Launches New Center for Leadership

The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth this week announced the creation of a new leadership center to build upon existing leadership initiatives at the school. Founded by Tuck professor Pino Audia, the innovative center will focus on students themselves rather than using case studies to analyze how others lead.

The new Tuck Center for Leadership will provide a range of leadership development activities for students that expand upon the initiatives of the Cohen Leadership Development Program, which was established in 2003. With the launch of the new center, every Tuck student will now be required to complete leadership training as part of the MBA course, as well as fulfill a new ethics and social responsibility credit requirement.

The center also will support ongoing research in leadership topics and serve as a place where business leaders and scholars can gather to share and promote best practices and research findings.

“The creation of the center shows Tuck’s continuing commitment to provide the best business leadership education in the world,” Audia said in a statement announcing the center’s creation.

Rather than dissecting case studies to understand how others lead, students at the center will take part in a 360-degree feedback diagnostic, working in small groups and giving feedback to one another about their leadership styles, strengths and weaknesses. Professors, second-year students and consultants will serve as coaches, leading first-year students through the leadership exercises.

“The idea is that effective leadership requires not only knowledge about how organizations are run but also knowledge about oneself,” Audia said. “This second type of knowledge is surprisingly difficult to acquire due to biases that render people’s perceptions of themselves inaccurate.”

There also will be collaboration between the new center and Tuck’s Career Development Office. Richard McNulty, executive director of the Career Development Office, has been appointed to serve as the new center’s executive director as well. 

“Our goal on the career planning side is to help students be even more informed about the decisions they make,” McNulty said in a statement. “To choose a path where their strengths are aligned with what it takes to maximize their success.”

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in School: Dartmouth / Tuck

Fridays From The Frontline

Welcome to the latest edition of Clear Admit’s Fridays From The Frontline! Every week we take a tour through the many blogs of those hoping to gain entry into an MBA program, and current students, whose application process is thankfully behind them. This week many MBA hopefuls were taking a collective breath as the last of round one deadlines passed. Students continue to be engaging in all sorts of activity, from watching classmates sing for a marketing competition to accepting  job offers, current MBA bloggers are certainly a busy bunch.

Madalogue shared some of her favorite passages from a recent article by Tim Berry about the value of an MBA to an entrepreneur.  Steve felt strangely empty without applications to work on, but found an MBA-oriented site that he encouraged other applicants to check out. ArdentMeerkat submitted her first application (Cornell) and found that seeing an end in sight helped her focus on her GMAT prep. A Beautiful Mind enjoyed Rotman’s class video, had plans to celebrate a few family birthdays and looked back on his set of applications.  Procrastinator turned in his last round one application (Fuqua) and hoped his recommenders wouldn’t mind four more schools over the coming months. XLick asked his readers for suggestions for round two schools, and expressed his thanks and thoughts on the advice he was given. LBiggs spoke with a few Sloan alumni about how the application process works, and shared their overview with his readers. Rocky Balboa received zap news from Wharton, but felt great about finishing up his Babson application.

Kellogg ‘11 Orlando shared a video of him practicing for the AT Kearney competition and hoped to look back at it in two years’ time and see improvement. Boston ‘11 Felish enjoyed the Net Impact conference she and fellow classmates attended in Ithaca, but continued to be very busy. Kellogg ‘11 Windsor appreciated fellow classmates’ video for the Kellogg Marketing Competition. Chicago Booth ‘11 GlobThink thought that a recent lecture by Professor Sapra was one of the best he ever attended. Kellogg ‘11 Shobhit found that, once in b-school, rankings were not as central to the experience as one might think. Stanford ‘11 Sunnyside Up’s laptop had a scary run-in with 12 ounces of water, which has led to her decision to back up her computer each and every night.   Goizueta ‘11 Ahembeea wished he turn his blog into a photoblog in order to properly explain how much he was enjoying his b-school classes and community. LBS ‘11 Alex wanted to hear his readers’ thoughts on his concept of ‘excitement management.’

Darden ‘10 July Dream didn’t feel that her blog was in any way censored by the school, and explained why. Marshall ‘10 Andrew explained what made his Leadership and Executive Development course one of his favorites. McCombs ‘10 Paragon2Pieces made butternut squash soup and became compulsive about her reading. Harvard ‘10 Inside HBS accepted a full-time position and wrote about Harvard’s recruiting regulations.  McCombs ‘10 Metal played a good tennis match and had his own phrase included in a group project’s slides. Darden ‘10 Sameer wrote about the effort it took to start the Darden South Asia Club.

And that concludes this fresh Fridays From The Frontline. We hope that all applicants are taking a moment to regather their strength before more interview invites and final decisions come out, and that current students are making the most of their MBA experience. Keep blogging and have a great weekend!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:14 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Chinese Students Come to U.S. Universities in Record Numbers

Chinese undergraduates are enrolling at American universities in record numbers and may soon outpace Indian students, who for the past eight years have come to the United States in greater numbers than any others, according to a recent article in the New York Times. Overall, international enrollment at U.S. schools was the highest ever in 2008-9 and showed the largest percentage increase year over year in more than 25 years.

These and other figures were released as part of the annual Open Doors 2009 Report, published by the Institute of International Education with support from the State Department. Citing the report, the Times article revealed that China last year sent 98,510 undergraduates to study at American universities, a 21 percent increase over the year before. India, which sent 103,260 students, saw only a 9 percent increase over the previous year.

“I think we’re going to be seeing 100,000 students from each for years to come, with an increasing share of them being undergraduates,” Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the Institute of International Education, told the Times.

The upward shift is most notable in China, according to the Times. China sent 26,275 undergraduates and 57,451 graduate students to the United States last year, up from 8,034 undergraduates and 50,976 graduate students five years earlier.

Blumenthal told the Times that the increase among undergraduates coming from China promises to alter the face of Chinese students’ presence in the United States more widely.

“It used to be that they were all in the graduate science departments, but now, with the one-child policy, more and more Chinese parents are taking their considerable wealth and investing it in that one child getting an American college education,” she said, adding that a book explaining liberal arts education is receiving considerable attention in China right now.

The book, A True Liberal Arts Education, explains the concept of liberal arts and describes the education available at small liberal arts colleges, both of which were previously unfamiliar to most Chinese. It was written by three Chinese undergraduates from Bowdoin College, Franklin & Marshall College and Bucknell University.

Overall, broken out by field of study, more international students come to the United States to study business and management than any other subject, according to the Open Door 2009 report. In 2008-9, 137,495 international students pursued business and management courses, representing a 25 percent increase over the year before (higher than any other field) and 21 percent of international students overall.

To read the Times article, click here. To access the Open Doors 2009 Report, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in General

Twitter Thursdays: News from MBA Programs

Welcome to another installment of Twitter Thursdays, a weekly column in which we highlight the updates of the top MBA programs on Twitter!  If you’re not following Clear Admit already, be sure to check us out on Twitter for updates, special prizes, admissions tips and breaking news.   We’ve also created a list of MBA programs to ease your daily access to breaking news from the top MBA programs, as reported by admissions committee members themselves.

UCLA / Anderson’s Dean, Judy Olian, recounted her weekend Q & A session with 60 prospective students visiting UCLA’s campus for its Embracing Diversity weekend. Rich Lyons, the Dean of the Haas School of Business, announced the school’s new vision statement: where innovative leaders thrive.  MBA Admissions Coordinator at Judge Business School, James Barker, announced a few Cambridge information sessions in Johannesburg and Zurich.  Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions at Chicago Booth, Rose Martinelli, brought together some first-year students for a live, online chat to share some insight into life at Booth.

Meanwhile, the Haas School is gearing up for its fifth annual entrepreneurship challenge, a competition for new technology business ideas.  Back in Boston, MIT Sloan will be hosting a slew of CFOs in its annual CFO Summit this week.  Duke / Fuqua’s Global Entrepreneurship Network demonstrated that it knows how to live up to its name – at networking Happy Hours in various cities throughout the world.  The Kellogg School of Management welcomed Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn to campus for a lecture on federal policy.

That wraps up Twitter Thursdays this week!  If you’re on Twitter, let us know; direct message us on Twitter or e-mail wiki@clearadmit.com with your user name and status as an MBA applicant, student or admissions officer so we can add you to the appropriate Twitter list.  Happy “tweeting” and we’ll see you next week with some more Twitter updates!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:30 am in Twitter, Twitter Thursdays

Campus Chronicles: The Wharton Journal

We return to this week’s Campus Chronicles with a perusal of Wharton’s student newspaper, The Wharton Journal, to learn about the latest events on Wharton’s campus.  Our hope is that this summary of the latest happenings at Huntsman Hall is helpful for Wharton applicants in the midst of R1 interviews as well as for candidates targeting R2!

With the culmination of the six-week Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative Speaker Series, this fall offered ample opportunities for Wharton students to learn about the fashion and retail business.  Wharton’s campus was visited by three top executives in the field: Millard Drexler, the chief executive of J. Crew, Terry Lundgren, Macy’s CEO, President, Director, and Chairman of the Board, and Martha Stewart.  Students who participated in the Fashion & Luxury Club treks also met with industry executives during their trips to firms including J. Crew, Gilt Group, Li & Fung, and Bonobos.  Executives at these events cited creativity, mixed media, and catering to customers as integral to success, especially due to the recent economic challenges.  Despite these challenges, upcoming Wharton graduates were informed of the broad opportunities for job placements in this industry: Macy’s, for example, is looking to hire 200 MBA students this year.  Wharton treks occurring later this year include a visit to Polo Ralph Lauren as well as a week-long trip to Europe over spring break.

This past weekend Wharton students had the chance to attend the Wharton Africa Business Conference and learn about the business opportunities available throughout the continent.  Panels focused on the traditional topics of capital markets and private equity as well as the growth of African businesses, a topic previous uninvestigated.  Thierry Tanoh, International Finance Corporations’ Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe for the Global Manufacturing Industry Cluster, was the keynote speaker in the morning session.  Citing the 200,000 bank accounts held in Congo despite its 60 million citizens, he emphasized the opportunities available in this country.  During the “Panel on the Brain Gain,” Zemedenen Negatu, an MD at Ernst & Young, and Kunbi Oguneye, the Head of Strategy at Nigeria’s Oceanic Bank, discussed the importance of African countries providing incentives for its citizens to return to Africa and use their education and experience to contribute to the country’s growth.  Others speakers included Louisa Mojela, founder of WIPHOLD, the first all-women’s investment fund in Africa as well as Anna Getaneh, a former model who recently founded her own couture African fashion line.  Both Mojela and Getaneh discussed overcoming the challenges of being a woman in the business world, both in Africa and internationally.

November has been a winning month for Wharton students engaged in business competitions.  Wharton won first place at the Cornell-Fidelity MBA Stock Pitch Competition, thanks to the efforts of first-years Victor Bonilla, Nikhil Gadia, and Joe O’Donnell.  In this 12-team tournament, each team had 12 hours to determine buy, sell, or hold recommendations on three stocks and then present their decisions to a judging panel of investment management experts.  Not only is this year the first time Wharton has won top prize, it comes off last year’s second place win, which was the first time Wharton placed in the competition.  Wharton also took the top prize at the Sixth Annual American Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”) Corporate Restructuring Competition.  Participants in this competition have one week to use their knowledge on bankruptcy topics to solve a real-world restructuring case problem, this year prepared by Houlihan Lokey.  Teams prepared an operational and financial plan to solve the issue, ultimately presenting before a plan of judges acting as management, the board of directors, and bondholders.  Three of the 12 participating teams advanced to the final round, and Wharton’s Amit Gupta (WG ’10), Howard Levine (WG ’10), Colin McGinnis (WG ’11) and Adam Piekarski (WG ’11) ultimately won first place.  McGinnis cites his team’s ability to please the three different groups represented in the judging panel as a substantial reason for his team’s success.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:56 am in Campus Chronicles, School: Penn / Wharton

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