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APPLICANT RESOURCES
Admissions Director Q&A Clear Admit School Guides Clear Admit Career Guides Clear Admit Strategy Series Clear Admit Interview Guides Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools. Feb 10: INSEAD R3 Mar 1: Michigan / Ross R3 Mar 3: CBS Mar 3: LBS R3 Mar 4: Kellogg R3 Mar 8: Cambridge / Judge R4 Mar 8: CMU / Tepper R3 Mar 9: Duke / Fuqua R3 Mar 9: Penn / Wharton R3 Mar 10: Berkeley / Hass R4 Mar 10: Chicago Booth R3 Mar 10: Yale SOM R3 Mar 15: NYU / Stern R3 Mar 17: UCLA / Anderson R3 Mar 19: UNC / Kenan-Flagler R4 Mar 30: Cornell / Johnson R4 Mar 31: UVA / Darden R3 Mar 31: INSEAD R4 Apr 1: UT-Austin / McCombs Apr 2: Dartmouth / Tuck R3 Apr 2: Oxford / Saїd R3 Apr 7: Stanford GSB R4 Apr 8: Harvard R3 Apr 14: CBS Essay Topic Analysis Use categories to access all that has been written on each of the topics. We have categorized by school and by subject matter.
Interview Reports MBA.com Manhattan GMAT GMAT Club Princeton Review Test Prep New York Kaplan Beat The GMAT Knewton Writing Resources Guide to Grammar and Writing The Internet Grammar of English English Usage, Style and Composition The Economist Style Guide Paradigm Online Writing Assistant School Rankings The following resources should be useful to those who want to research the careers open to them after (or before) earning an MBA. Vault.com Wetfeet
Business School Resources
If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it. Berkeley / Haas Boston College / Carroll Carnegie Mellon / Tepper Chicago Columbia Concordia Cornell / Johnson Dartmouth / Tuck Duke / Fuqua Emory / Goizueta Harvard HEC Montreal Indiana / Kelley Michigan MIT / Sloan Northwestern / Kellogg New York / Stern North Carolina / Kenan Flagler Notre Dame / Mendoza Pennsylvania / Wharton Queens Stanford Syracuse / Whitman Texas / McCombs Thunderbird Toronto USC / Marshall UCLA / Anderson Vanderbilt / Owen Virginia / Darden Washington University in St. Louis / Olin Western Ontario / Ivey Yale MBA Programs: Rest of the World As there is some variety in the length of international MBA programs, we have denoted the length of the program next to its name (1 = one year; 2 = 2 years). If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it. AGSM (Australia) 2 Cambridge / Judge (UK) 1 CIEBS (China) 2 Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (China) 1 Cranfield School of Mgmt (UK) 1 ESADE (Spain) 1 or 2 HEC (France) 2 Hult (UK) 1 IESE (Spain) 2 IMD (Switzerland) 1 INCAE (Costa Rica) 2 INSEAD (France) 1 IPADE (Mexico) ISB (India) 1 London Business School (UK) 2 Manchester Bus. School (UK) 2 Melbourne (Australia) 2 Oxford / Said (UK) 1 Rotterdam (Netherlands) 1 Tsinghua IMBA (China) 2 University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1 Additional Resources Here we link a host of additional resources available across the web. E-mail info@clearadmit.com to have resources added to this list. AACSB International Association of MBAs Beyond Grey Pinstripes EFMD gradschools.com (worldwide) Infozee International Student Loans mba.com (GMAT Scores) MBAInfo mbaleague.blogspot.com MBAzone MBA Jungle TOEFL Top MBA MBA Tipline We encourage admissions officers, students and applicants to alert us of interesting news and developments, please send an email to news@clearadmit.com so we can blog it. Blog Archive
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Get a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card! Contribute your MBA interview reports to the Clear Admit Wiki. Taking the GMAT? Download our free, independent guide to the leading test prep companies - includes coupons for savings at 10 leading test prep firms! ARCHIVE FOR JANUARY 2010 Saturday, January 30, 2010 GMAT Practice Problem: Rhymes and Divisibility 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 Two different primes may be said to “rhyme” around an integer if they are the same distance from the integer on the number line. For instance, 3 and 7 rhyme around 5. What integer between 1 and 20, inclusive, has the greatest number of distinct rhyming primes around it? (A) 12 Solution First, make sure that you understand the new concept that the problem presents: “rhyming primes,” which are the same distance on the number line from a central number. You are given an example: 3 and 7 rhyme around 5, since both are 2 units away from 5 on the number line. Don’t let the new terminology confuse you. Instead, try to rephrase the concept into something you’re more familiar with. Ideally, you recognize that “rhyming” is just another way to say “average (arithmetic mean)” – saying “3 and 7 rhyme around 5” is the same thing as saying “the average of 3 and 7 is 5.” So, rhyming primes rhyme around their average. Alternatively, we can say that the sum of two rhyming primes (e.g., 3 and 7) is twice the central number (2×5 = 10). Sums are quick operations, so it might be good to rephrase our question in terms of taking sums of two primes. We are asked which integer between 1 and 20, inclusive, has the greatest number of rhyming primes around it. So we should list out the primes up to 40, since the larger number in any pair of rhyming primes that average to 20 would have to be below 40 (primes are restricted to positive integers). Here are the primes less than 40: Rephrasing the question in terms of sums, we can ask: what number between 1 and 20, when multiplied by 2, can be expressed as a sum of two different primes from this list in the greatest number of different ways? We should now start from the answer choices, rather than test all 20 theoretical possibilities. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut; you actually have to check the possibilities. Primes are unevenly distributed, so there’s no way to intuit the answer. We should start by checking the highest number, because we will probably be able to construct more valid pairs around larger numbers than around smaller numbers. Construct the pairs by inspecting your list of primes. Since you know the smaller primes better than larger primes, and since the larger primes are more spread out, put the larger prime first in the potential sum, then look for the smaller prime in the second position. (E) 20×2 = 40 (D) 18×2 = 36 (C) 17×2 = 34 (B) 15×2 = 30 (A) 12×2 = 24 Answer choice (D), 18, is the correct answer. 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 ten different firms!
Friday, January 29, 2010 Fridays From The Frontline Hello and welcome to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s round up of the best news from a battalion of b-school bloggers. This week found applicants getting results and sitting for interviews, while current students were talking internships and networking. Kellogg ‘11 Orlando, having finally gotten to the interview stage of recruiting, shared his thoughts on how to handle the consulting recruiting process. IIMC ‘11 Tauqueer made up a new word: ‘detweetify.’ Wake Forest ‘11 Omne returned to the blog after a lengthy absence, and also started his summer internship interviews. Fuqua ‘11 Choc Heaven attributed her long blog silence to the ‘all engulfing’ nature of business school. Stanford ‘11 Palo Alto for a While delved a bit deeper into what made her first semster difficult, but noted that it was becoming harder to remember the struggle. Haas ‘11 Lauren did not find her second semester to be any easier than the first. Darden ‘10 Mechanigal enjoyed the opportunity to listen to an alumnus share his insights on how best to move forward professionally, and was going to try to ‘think big, and then small.’ LBS ‘10 Out on a Limb shamelessly plugged his school’s recent success in the Financial Times ranking of MBA programs. Darden ‘10 Oren also received some appreciated words of wisdom from Darden alumni, which included the importance of networking and marketing. Marshall ‘10 Andrew reflected on how his perspective on networking had changed over the years. Harvard ‘10 Gabrielle couldn’t believe she was in her final semester and consolidated past course material so it could better fit underneath her bed. Darden ‘10 July Dream received a full-time job offer and, as much as she was enjoying her Swedish exchange experience, realized that Darden students are spoiled. After only a few days, McCombs ‘10 Metal couldn’t believe how busy his semester schedule had become. And that concludes this week’s issue of Fridays From the Frontline. We hope all applicant bloggers continue to keep us updated on their latest acceptance/zap news, and that current students are enjoying their return to academia. Until next week, have a great weekend!
Thursday, January 28, 2010 Director of Cambridge’s Judge Business School Leaves for Singapore Management University Earlier this month, the director of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge announced that he plans to leave his post this summer to become president of Singapore Management University (SMU), the Financial Times reported. Arnoud De Meyer, who has served as Judge’s director for the past four years, will become the fourth president of SMU, which the Singapore government opened just 10 years ago. In accepting the post, he will move from one of the world’s oldest universities to one of its newest, the FT added. Singapore, however, is not new for De Meyer. Before coming to Judge, De Meyer spent 23 years at INSEAD, including helping to set up that school’s Singapore campus and serving as its founding dean. SMU has experienced enormous growth in its first decade, according to the FT report. In addition to its Lee Kong Chian School of Business, it boasts departments of law, accounting, social sciences, economics and information systems. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania was instrumental in SMU’s inception and maintains strong ties with the school, the FT added. Howard Thomas, until recently the dean of England’s Warwick Business School, will join De Meyer in Singapore, serving as the new dean of SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School, the FT reported. Meanwhile, Judge Business School has begun a search for a new dean. To learn more, click here.
Campus Chronicles: The Harbus Welcome back to Campus Chronicles! This week we’ll take a look at HBS’s student newspaper, The Harbus, to see what’s been going on at the Harvard campus. Before leaving for winter break, HBS students had the chance to participate in the Cyberposium 15 conference. With this year’s theme of “Navigating the Digital Storm” the audience of 700 students, professionals, and tech enthusiasts listened to 100 panelists and moderators discuss technology progress, such as cloud computing and cleantech. Keynote speakers included RIM CEO Jim Balsille and YouTube Founder and CEO Chad Hurley, and the most popular panels were “Trends in Digital Media,” “Reinventing eCommerce,” and “Mobile Consumer.” Last week the Harvard Green Living Program implemented its bi-annual HBS Waste Audit, in which representatives from the program collect and analyze trash samples from the HBS campus. This year they found that 23% of the materials put in the trash are actually recyclable, a number higher than the last two years. However, the number of recyclables wrongly put in the trash has declined about 10% since the first audit in 2005, demonstrating the campus’s overall improvement. To further decrease the amount of recyclables thrown away, HBS has implemented a Single Stream recycling program, as well as offered a number of tips to decrease the use of un-recyclable materials and help students determine the recyclability of certain items. HBS students in Section E are celebrating their victory as 2009 RC Intramural Soccer Champions. The undefeated Section E took on Section A in the final gaming, winning 5-3 to ultimately clinch the championship. Brian Vickery from the Section E team joked that his team’s victory is due to their good looks when compared to a Section A, while Josh Solera claimed Section E’s emu mascot helped his team win, due to its superiority over Section A’s panda mascot. In all seriousness, however, Section E thanks its fans for supporting them and helping them win the championship. Congratulations Section E!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 GMAT Tip: How GMAT Reading Differs from Everyday Reading Today’s GMAT tip comes from our friends at Kaplan. In this article, Kaplan GMAT instructor Arthur Ahn offers advice on how to approach the Reading Comprehension section: Let’s first note the two reasons why we read in everyday life: 1) We read because we are required (for real-life purposes) to be knowledgeable about the content we are reading: studying for a history exam, delivering on a business proposal, etc. You may have already known that the GMAT does not use particularly “interesting” topics. Most content of a passage deals with topics such as a biological process, a historical event, or a technological innovation. It would be silly to simply hope that your passages on the GMAT will be about specific topics that interest you. However, you should also not view the passages as a set of details and factoids to be memorized. Any reading passage may have up to 350 words. That would be a lot to memorize, especially for a timed test. From this passage, you may be tested on as little as two different details. This doesn’t seem very efficient. Moreover, once you are done with a passage and its accompanying questions, you will never have to care about that passage and questions again. So why put so much effort to memorize something that you’ll forget about eight minutes later? Instead, you should keep a couple of different approaches in mind. The first is to look for structural patterns. For example, if you see any biographical passage, you’re likely to see a few sentences about the subject’s childhood and what led to that person becoming interested in what she is famous for now, and a few sentences dedicated to how she worked toward that interest. A passage about contrasting theories almost always has one paragraph dedicated on one theory, and another dedicated to the other theory, and then some sort of conclusion — sometimes advocating one over the other. Looking for structure will help streamline your reading. In conjunction, when you start encountering specific details, think in the context of why the author mentions these things, as opposed to what those things actually are. Again, there’s no need to memorize — the passage will remain on the screen as you’re answering the relevant questions. “Why is this detail important?” or “What’s the purpose behind this paragraph?” are the questions you want to ask yourself as you’re reading; by keeping these questions in your mind, you also won’t think “this is boring”, because there’s purpose behind your reading. Reading Comprehension, more than any other question type, tests your critical thinking and time management abilities, which are the real-life skills that business schools are looking for. Mastering these will not only lead to success on the GMAT, but also through b-school. Good luck! For more information on Kaplan, 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 ten different firms!
Submit an MBA Interview Report, Win a $10 Gift Card to Amazon! Welcome to another edition of Wiki Wednesdays, in which we highlight the latest happenings in the Clear Admit Wiki, an online repository for MBA applicants to share their experiences with admissions interviews. We’ve received a number of interview reports this past week – for Berkeley / Haas, Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Dartmouth / Tuck, Georgetown / McDonough, and Northwestern / Kellogg – and we’d like to thank everyone who has been sharing their experiences this season! For the next few weeks, any interview report submitted for an MBA program in the Clear Admit Wiki is eligible for a $10 Amazon gift certificate! In other words, all you have to do is send us your interview field report for inclusion in the Wiki and we’ll send you a $10 Amazon gift certificate. While any contributor can win, you must send your interview report to wiki@clearadmit.com to be eligible; we’ll post it to the Wiki and notify the winners by e-mail (Limit: one iTunes or Amazon gift card per person). The most helpful and informative reports usually include the following information: 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 about admissions interviews. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki and helped fellow applicants prepare for MBA admissions interviews this season!
New Dean Takes Office at NYU Stern Earlier this month, a new dean took the reins at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Peter Blair Henry, an expert in international economics, was named Stern’s new dean in July 2009 and assumed the deanship on January 15th. In a recent letter to the NYU Stern community, Henry outlined his vision for the school. “Let me say, straightaway, that the NYU Stern Deanship is the only one I would have taken,” Henry began. He comes to Stern from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he was a professor of international economics and the associate director of that school’s Center for Global Business and the Economy. Henry went on to say that he feels privileged to assume his role at a time that he calls “an inflection point in the global economy” following the global financial crisis, adding that Stern is in a strong position and poised to “convene, shape, and drive the great conversation between business and society.” National economies are being reshaped, and emerging economies are the future, Henry continued. “And as a macroeconomist who, as a child, emigrated from Jamaica to the U.S. and went on to build a career examining emerging markets and the forces that shape the global economy, I am eager and ready to share my perspective,” he wrote. In addition to his tenure at Stanford, Henry served as leader of the Obama Transition Team’s review of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other lending agencies and as an economic advisor to governments from the Caribbean to Africa. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Henry praised the contribution made by the school’s faculty during the recent global economic crisis, which included real-time analyses and policy recommendations to restore financial stability. “The depth and breadth of our academic excellence, coupled with our location in the global hub of New York City, puts us in an ideal position to grapple with challenging questions, confront theories with facts, and to bring the Stern problem-solving approach into our classrooms as well as into the dialogue with corporate leaders and policy maker,” he wrote. He promised those who choose to join the Stern community a business education that is rigorous and dynamic but also collaborative and that prepares leaders who see the big picture and ask the right questions. “You can expect to continue to work extremely hard, and in teams, because thoughtful leaders working together, finding answers and building consensus to move forward, will chart the course to a prosperous 21st century,” he concluded. To read Dean Henry’s letter in its entirety, click here.
What are you Looking for in a Peer?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 UC Berkeley’s Haas School Launches New Interactive Learning Center A ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this month marked the opening of a new interactive learning center at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. The center is the first renovation completed as part of Haas’s five-year capital campaign and the dean’s strategic plan to transform the campus. Haas Dean Rich Lyons was joined by Koret Foundation CEO Jeff Farber on January 12th to celebrate the opening of the new Koret Interactive Learning Center, a 70-seat, tiered classroom complete with state-of-the-art video conferencing, dual-screen projectors, extensive white boards and a high-tech touch-screen lectern. The center was funded in part by a $1.5 million grant from the Koret Foundation, a private philanthropic organization created by the estates of Joseph and Stephanie Koret, founders of the Koret of California sportswear line. “This is the perfect exemplar of what the next level will feel like,” Lyons said at the event, adding that the interactive center will benefit both the school’s teaching and its commitment to cutting-edge research. In addition to its main classroom, the learning center also includes two break-out rooms that will double as a behavioral lab for Haas faculty. The Koret grant came as part of the silent phase of the Campaign for Haas, a five-year capital campaign. Construction of the Koret Center began at the end of May 2009. Haas’s Evening & Weekend MBA Program began using the Koret classroom earlier this month, and an open house for the entire Haas community has been scheduled for March. To learn more, click here.
Trivia Tuesday: On-Campus Housing at Kellogg and Tuck Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly exploration of the special programs, interesting opportunities and unusual policies that impact the MBA experience at the leading business schools! Today we turn our attention to residential life, an important aspect of student life and campus culture. Although most of the leading business schools offer some on-campus housing options for full-time MBA students, space tends to be limited, and the rooms or apartments tend to be in residence halls shared by other graduate programs at the university. However, two of the leading MBA programs best known for their strong sense of community are also two of the schools that have actively expanded the number of on-campus housing opportunities for MBA students. Let’s take a closer look at housing options offered by Tuck and Kellogg. Tuck’s Whittemore Hall offers private living accommodations, social areas, group study rooms, a business resource center and an exercise facility with locker rooms. Buchanan Hall provides additional housing for first-year students, as well as group study rooms and a lounge area. Students entering Tuck with partners or children often choose to live in Sachem Village, a duplex and townhome community for Dartmouth’s graduate students. Tuck also recently expanded its residential options with two additional residences, Achtmeyer and Pineau-Valencienne Halls. Together, these residences provide 85 single-occupancy rooms, with group kitchens and lounges on each floor. Located just west of Whittemore Hall, these buildings offer a number of places for students to gather. These halls are part of the new living and learning center that officially opened at Tuck in January 2009. At Kellogg, of the 30% of MBA students who choose to live on campus, most settle into the seven-story McManus Living/Learning Center. Both single and married students may choose from single or double studios, and one- or two-bedroom apartments. With study rooms, a computer lab, lounges, a workout room and a game room, McManus is designed to facilitate socializing and out-of-classroom learning. The McManus Living/Learning Center is just a three block walk from the Jacobs Center, making it one of the most convenient housing options for Kellogg students. Students at both Tuck and Kellogg report that the opportunity to live with classmates extends students’ social circles and enhances the sense of a shared campus community. For more information on the housing options at Tuck, Kellogg, or other leading business schools, be sure to check out the Life On Campus sections of the Clear Admit School Guides!
Monday, January 25, 2010 London Business School Tops Financial Times 2010 Rankings London Business School (LBS) ranked number one in this year’s Financial Times global rankings of MBA programs, released today. Sharing the top spot with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School last year, LBS this year claimed the honor all for itself. Wharton came in second this year, followed by Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and INSEAD. To view the full rankings, click here. LBS’s strong showing was due in great part to the broad educational experience it offers, according to the FT. “One of the best decisions of my life was to go to LBS for a full-time MBA,” one alumnus reported. “[It] has enriched my life, from education to career development, to making new friends and gaining new perspectives.” Another added: “You not only learn from the school curriculum but from the deep cultural diversity of the student population. There is no place else that can offer this advantage to the extent that London Business School does.” In a statement announcing its second consecutive top ranking, LBS Dean Sir Andrew Likierman pledged that the school will maintain its international diversity and global reach. LBS is one of only three schools to have held the number one spot since the rankings were launched in 1999, and it is the only non-U.S. school to do so. According to an FT report accompanying the 2010 rankings, the school’s gradual ascent from eighth place 12 years ago to first today indicates as a broader trend the diminishing dominance of U.S.-based schools over the past decade. The number of U.S. schools in the FT rankings’ top 25 has decreased over the years, from 21 in 2001 to 11 this year. The remaining 14 schools in the top 25 for 2010 include 11 from Europe and three from Asia. The FT attributed this shift in great part to the fact that the return on investment for studying toward an MBA – measured in terms of salary increase – has fallen since 2005, and most significantly so in the United States. But in spite of a weaker showing in the top 25, U.S. schools still make up the majority of the top 100 ranked programs, claiming 56 in this most recent ranking. The United Kingdom, with 17 of the top 100, is the second most represented country, and overall schools from 20 different countries appear, the FT added.
Admissions Tip: The Waitlist What should an applicant do when placed on the waitlist at his or her dream school? While most applicants regard the waitlist in a negative light (we’ve even heard it described as “a sort of purgatory prior to getting dinged”), the best approach is to view the glass as being half-full (especially for R1 waitlisters). In all cases, getting waitlisted is much better than getting denied. Here are a few tips to help you navigate this often difficult and mysterious process: 1) Know your file. Before you can develop a waitlist strategy you need to understand where you may have fallen short in the application process. Read over your file with a critical eye and try to identify any weaknesses. Talk to anyone you know who might be able to give you feedback (MBA students at the target school, former admissions officers, admissions consultants, etc). 2) Familiarize yourself with the school’s waitlist rules. Do you need to ‘opt-in’ in order to be on the list? Are you allowed to submit supplemental materials to bolster your case or inform the committee of changes to your candidacy? Does the school offer a chance for feedback via a phone session or interview with a ‘waitlist manager’? 3) Follow the waitlist rules. CASE A: Schools that accept supplemental materials. If a school hints that you may want to provide a supplemental essay or recommendation letter, then by all means, take this offer seriously and get something together for them. Approach these materials in the same way that you would approach the application process (e.g. do not just send along something that you dash off in a matter of minutes). If you have several items you wish to send, it may make sense to spread them out over the course of a few weeks to demonstrate steady interest. CASE B: Schools that do not accept supplemental materials. This may sound obvious, but if a school indicates that they do not want supplemental materials, then you should respect their guidelines. In other words, do not send along a new recommendation or an essay if the program has clearly indicated that you should not do so. There may be exceptions to this – for example, if a dramatic change has taken place in your candidacy – but in most cases, you should simply follow the rules. [Contact us to learn about other ways to improve your waitlist status with schools that frown on supplemental materials.] 4) Consider a school visit. It may make sense to visit the school, particularly if you have not been before. So many different things can happen on a visit: a) You never know when you’ll have that chance meeting with an admissions officer who is willing to give you a little feedback (and who through the process of meeting you face to face might get a better sense of your candidacy) b) A school may take note of your visit (if you sign in with the admissions office) and view it as a potential sign of your interest c) You may interact with students or professors who can better inform you of opportunities at the school and provide you with helpful ‘content’ for any waitlist materials you go on to submit d) By visiting, you may find out that school X is really not for you, enabling you to move on and remove yourself from the waitlist Just as there are a number of waitlist to-do items, there are also countless things to avoid doing. We’ll devote another post to that at a later date. Please contact the Clear Admit offices for questions about waitlist strategy and our related services (info@clearadmit.com). In addition, for valuable guidance about being on the waitlist, check out the Clear Admit Waitlist Guide. This guide will teach you to understand the ground rules of a program’s waitlist policy, formulate a plan to address weaknesses in your candidacy, craft effective communications to the admissions committee and explore every opportunity to boost your chances of acceptance. This 26-page PDF file, which includes school-specific waitlist policies and sample communication materials, is available for immediate download.
Saturday, January 23, 2010 GMAT Practice Problem: Zeropian Shoes 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 consumer price index in Zeropia in 2009 relative to the year 2000 was 1.75, meaning that for every Zeropian dollar spent on consumer goods in 2000, $1.75 on average had to be spent in 2009. In Zeropian dollars, what was the increase in the price of Brand Z running shoes from 2000 to 2009, if these shoes’ price increased precisely according to the consumer price index? (1) The price of Brand Z running shoes was $91 in 2009. (2) The ratio of the dollar increase in the price of Brand Z running shoes to the price of the shoes in 2009 was 3:7. A: Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient. Solution The consumer price index gives us a ratio between prices in 2000 and prices in 2009. We are told that “for every Zeropian dollar spent on consumer goods in 2000, $1.75 on average had to be spent in 2009.” In other words, if something cost X dollars in 2000, it cost 1.75×X dollars in 2009 (as long as the price increased exactly according to the index, which is just an average). In dollar terms, the increase in price would then be 1.75×X – X = 0.75×X dollars. We are asked for this dollar price increase for Brand Z running shoes. Representing the price of these shoes in 2000 as X, as we already have, we can rephrase the question as “What is 0.75×X?” We can further rephrase this question to “What is X?” (1) SUFFICIENT. We are told that the price of the shoes in 2009 is $91. We have represented the 2009 price as 1.75×X dollars, staying consistent with our variable naming throughout the problem (never change variable designations midstream unless you’re starting over completely). So we can write an equation: 1.75×X = 91 We know we can solve for X, so we can answer the question. (Incidentally, if we had to solve for this X on a Problem-Solving problem, one fast way would be to convert 1.75 to a fraction. 1.75 = 7/4, so we can quickly write that X = 91×4/7. Since 91/7 = 13, we get X = 13×4 = 52.) (2) INSUFFICIENT. We are told that the price increase in dollar terms, divided by the price of the shoes in 2009, is 3/7. However, this information is already completely implied by the stem. If the index is 1.75, then any good’s price increase was 75%, or 75 cents for every 2000 dollar. Since the 2009 price is $1.75 for every 2000 dollar, the ratio of the price increase ($0.75) to the 2009 price ($1.75) will always be 0.75/1.75, or 3/7. This holds true no matter what the original 2000 price is, so we cannot determine X through this bit of redundant information. The correct answer is (A): Statement 1 by itself is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 is not sufficient. 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 ten different firms!
Friday, January 22, 2010 Round 2 Interview Information from Harvard Business School Director of Admissions Dee Leopold announced on her blog yesterday that Harvard Business School (HBS) plans to begin sending out interview invitations to round-two candidates on February 12th. Her office will conduct roughly 800 interviews in this round, including interviewing some candidates who were placed on the waitlist as part of the first round, Leopold continued. “Most, but not all, of these invitations will go out on February 12th so that all invitees have equal access to locations and dates,” she wrote. But some may continue to trickle out up to and including on April 6th, the notification deadline for the second round. Invitations will come in the form of an email from HBS MBA Admissions, Leopold wrote. The HBA MBA Admissions office will be closed on Monday, February 15th, for President’s Day, she advised. Following that, on Tuesday, February 16th, the HBS online interview scheduler will go live. Interview invitation emails will contain detailed instructions on how to schedule an interview, she continued. As a reminder, HBS interviews are by invitation only. “We do not accommodate requests for interviews from candidates who are visiting campus,” Leopold wrote. For a full list of available interview locations and planned interview dates, click here.
Fridays From The Frontline It’s Friday, and that must mean it’s time for another Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s titular trek through the tantalizing lives of MBA applicants and student bloggers. As the new year settled, and most round two deadlines passed, applicants were wondering what to do with their spare time just as current students got back into gear for their new set of courses. First years were a quiet bunch on the whole, but a few checked in. INSEAD ‘11 Out of my Jeans attended his first INSEAD party and was overwhelmed by the number of names and faces to remember. Kellogg ‘11 Orlando attended a presentation by Professor Harry Kraemer, and touched upon some of the reasons the man is a dynamic and interesting speaker. Foster ‘11 Helen began her winter quarter and shared the progress of her marathon training team, ‘Run Foster Run.’ McCombs ‘10 Paragon2Pieces celebrated her first day of her last semester. Harvard ‘10 Gabrielle encouraged one and all to attend the school’s 2010 Entertainment and Media conference. Darden ‘10 JulyDream was pleasantly surprised by the international diversity at her Swedish exchange program, and shared questions posed to her by a Darden undergrad about the merits of an MBA. McCombs ‘10 Metal figured out most of his schedule, but was looking for a final course to round up his last semester. Fuqua ‘10 Randy asked what could be better that receiving one statistics book in the mail? And that’s all the news from the b-school blogosphere for this week. We hope that bloggers receiving round one notifications get to smile at the results, and we wish the best of luck to current students getting back into ‘the school groove.’ Until next week, have a great weekend!
Thursday, January 21, 2010 Twitter Thursdays: News from MBA Programs Welcome to another take 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. The Assistant Dean of UCLA Anderson MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, Mae Jennifer Shores, is excited about Media, Entertainment & Sports week at UCLA. Jon Fuller, the Senior Associate Director of Admissions at the Ross School of Business, rolled out Round 1 admissions decisions last week and offered advice to waitlisted applicants. Rich Lyons, the Dean of the Haas School of Business, explained the value of ideas and knowledge in today’s economy. MBA Admissions Coordinator at Judge Business School, James Barker, is sifting for gold through a stack of Round 3 applications. The Johnson School kicked off Entrepreneurship & Private Equity Immersion for MBA students this week. Back in Boston, MIT Sloan plugged the latest business contributions of its students and staff – from research on counterfeit luxury goods to global energy. The Tuck School and The Kellogg School of Management treated their Twitter followers to some of their professors’ blog entries and various interviews. That concludes Twitter Thursdays this week! If you’re on Twitter, let us know; 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!
Chicago Booth Dean Snyder to Assume Deanship of Yale SOM in July 2011 Yale School of Management (SOM) President Richard Levin announced last night that Edward Snyder, former dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has been appointed as Yale SOM’s new dean, effective July 1, 2011. Snyder, who is currently dean and George Shultz Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth, last month announced his decision to step down as dean there effective June 30, 2010. Snyder will take a year’s leave before assuming the deanship at Yale, during which time Sharon Oster will continue as SOM interim dean. “Ted Snyder is widely regarded as the most successful business school dean in the nation,” Levin said in a statement announcing the appointment. “He brings experience, enthusiasm, and vision to the Yale School of Management, and he looks forward to maintaining the school’s tradition of preparing students for leadership in business and society by raising their awareness of the context in which business operates,” he continued. Levin added that Snyder was especially drawn to SOM because of its openness to collaborate across schools and its focus on global experiences and awareness and that he is committed to pushing forward curricular changes begun by the SOM faculty three years ago. Yale SOM seems happy indeed to have snagged Snyder. The release announcing his appointment ticked off the list of achievements Chicago Booth had under his leadership. Indeed, since Snyder became dean in 2001, Chicago Booth has almost doubled its number of endowed professorships, more than tripled its scholarship assistance to students, moved to a new Hyde Park campus, expanded its presence in Singapore, established a new campus in London, successfully completed a capital campaign and more than doubled its endowment. And in 2008, Snyder announced the unprecedented $300 million gift to the school from alumnus David Booth, for which the school was renamed. At the time of his announcement that he would step down as Chicago Booth dean, Snyder intimated that he would be open to being dean of another school. “My guess is, I’ve got one more big leadership job,” he told the Financial Times on December 10th. In his next role, Snyder will have a new set of efforts to lead. In addition to the curricular changes begun three years ago, Yale SOM is planning the construction of a new campus of its own. In his announcement yesterday, President Levin noted that site clearance and final drawings are underway for the new campus, designed by acclaimed architect Norman Foster, and that construction will begin in summer 2010. Buoyed by a $9 million alumnus gift earlier this month, Levin expressed confidence that the school was on track toward having sufficient funds to proceed with construction on schedule. To learn more, click here.
Campus Chronicles: The Darden Cold Call Chronicle Last week we introduced you to two new student newspapers in our Campus Chronicles lineup. This week we’ll take a closer look at the Darden Cold Call Chronicle and see what students arriving for their second semester have to look forward to in the coming months. At the end of January, Darden students will have the chance to attend the first Explore Wine, Beer, and Spirits Industry Day, a new annual event to give students the opportunity to learn about the WBS industry. Participating students will attend panel discussions and network with leading industry companies. The last week of January also offers students to attend the Winter Doldrums Social, the Chili cook-off Cold Call, and the Darden Cup for Dodgeball. February will usher in both the yearly Women’s Leadership Week as well as events from the National Association of Women MBAs (NAWMBA). During Women’s Leadership Week, students can attend a community-wide that honor women in business, while NAWMBA will host “The Wednesday 10,” where current and upcoming business leaders will speak and network with Darden students on the last Wednesday of every month. In mid-January Darden will also host its 20th yearly charity auction, the 2010 Red Carpet Gala. Proceeds will be donated to Charlottesville’s Shelter for Help in Emergency.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 GMAT Tip: Data Sufficiency: Before You Pick C… Today’s GMAT tip comes from our friends at Kaplan. In this article, Kaplan GMAT instructor Ben Leff offers advice on how to tackle Data Sufficiency questions: To succeed on the GMAT, there is a general rule of Algebra that you should know: to solve for all variables in a system of equations, you need as many distinct linear equations as variables. So if you get 2 variables, you need two equations; three variables, three equations, and so on. With that in mind, think about this Data Sufficiency question: What is the value of x? (1) 2x + 3y = 8 We have two variables, and once we get both statements, we’ll have two equations, so we’ll be able to solve for x. The answer is (C), or the third Data Sufficiency answer choice—together the statements are sufficient. If you’ve figured this out, that’s awesome. You’ve discovered how to save a lot of time on Test Day. But I always tell students not to get trigger-happy. Before you pick (C), keep in mind that the GMAT often gives you situations in which we can get sufficiency with just one equation, or when two won’t be enough. Here are three of those situations: The Vanishing Variable What is the value of x? (1) 3x+4y = 2(x +2y)+3 Both equations have two variables, so how could one possibly be sufficient to solve for x? Let’s play with Statement (1) a bit so we can isolate x. Distribute the right side of the equation to get 3x+4y = 2x +4y+3. Then we can subtract 4y from both sides, and poof! We have a single variable equation. We certainly can solve for x. The answer is (A), statement 1 alone is sufficient to answer the question. So before you settle for (C), ask yourself if you can eliminate a variable from one equation. Solving for a Relationship What is the value of 2x – y? (1) 6x + 3y= 15 When the GMAT asks you to solve for a relationship between variables (a sum, difference, product, or quotient), ask yourself, Can I manipulate one of the statements to solve for that relationship? If you can do this, you’ll only need one equation for sufficiency. In this case, no amount of manipulating of Statement 1 can do the trick, but let’s play with Statement 2. Divide both sides by 3, and you get 2x – y = -1. We still don’t know what x or y is, but we do know what 2x – y is. The answer is (B), statement 2 alone is sufficient. The Disguised Twin What is the value of x? (1) 2x+5y = 12 It seems like we have everything we need to pick (C) here. Two equations, two variables, we’re golden. Except dig a little deeper; Statement (2) should cause Déjà vu. Add 10y to both sides of the second equation (4x +10y = 24) and divide everything by 2, and you’ll discover that the two equations are identical—just dressed up a little differently. Since we really have just one equation with two variables, we have a recipe for insufficiency. The answer is (E), there is not enough information within these statements to answer the question, no matter how you use them or combine them. Going forward So you don’t necessarily have to solve these systems of equations when you see them in a DS question, but you will have to do some detective work before you pick (C). As we advise students in our newly revised GMAT courses, ask yourself the following questions when assessing this type of problem: Can you make a variable vanish? Can you solve for the desired relationship by manipulating an equation? Are these equations really different? When you know the anatomy of the test, you score higher. For more information on Kaplan, 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 ten different firms!
Submit an MBA Interview Report, Win a $10 Gift Card to iTunes! Welcome to another edition of Wiki Wednesdays, in which we highlight the latest happenings in the Clear Admit Wiki, an online repository for MBA applicants to share their experiences with admissions interviews. We’ve received a number of interview reports this past week – for Berkeley / Haas, Georgetown / McDonough, MIT / Sloan and Northwestern / Kellogg – and we’d like to thank everyone who has been sharing their experiences this season! For the next few weeks, any interview report submitted for an MBA program in the Clear Admit Wiki is eligible for a $10 iTunes gift certificate! In other words, all you have to do is send us your interview field report for inclusion in the Wiki and we’ll send you a $10 iTunes gift certificate. While any contributor can win, you must send your interview report to wiki@clearadmit.com to be eligible; 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: 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 about admissions interviews. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki and helped fellow applicants prepare for MBA admissions interviews this season!
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MBA Twitter Index! We've created the MBA Admissions Twitter Index, a directory of applicants, current MBA students and b-schools on Twitter.Wiki MBA Admissions WikiThe Clear Admit Wiki is designed to allow b-school applicants to share their experiences through the application process. You can learn from others' experiences and contribute your own reports to the community. Below are the five most popular pages in the wiki: Wharton Interview Field Reports HBS Interview Field Reports Kellogg Interview Field Reports Chicago Interview Field Reports Columbia Interview Field Reports Discussion Boards BusinessWeek ForumsThe BusinessWeek Discussion Boards are another way to learn about the issues applicants face. Clear Admit hosts the Ask Clear Admit thread, which should help answer your questions. Here is a link to the original interface (for those of you who didn't like the recent upgrade). Also, here are the five most recent discussions taking place in the forum: Clear Admit is a featured expert in the BeatTheGMAT forums, answering questions from applicants across the globe. Feel free to ask us your questions in this forum! Here are the most recent posts: Clear Admit manages the Applying section of the StudyLink MBA discussion boards. Below are the five most recent posts to the GMAT Club message boards. Error: Feed has a error or is not valid student 2 studentThe student-2-student Discussion Boards are managed by Wharton. Here are the five most recent discussions. School-Hosted Blogs Straight from the source: aggregated posts from students and administration. Below are the seven most recent posts in school-hosted blogs. Individuals' Blogs A selection of the latest updates to MBA blogs compiled by Hella.MBA Applicants Bloggers by School The following are links to bloggers at each of the schools listed.Chicago Columbia Dartmouth / Tuck Duke / Fuqua Harvard Kellogg Michigan MIT / Sloan New York / Stern North Carolina / Chapel Hill Stanford Virginia / Darden Wharton Yale ESADE IESE INSEAD London Business School Community Blogs Bshoolers.comCommunity blog with MBA student and alum contributors. Forté Foundation MBA Diaries Video blog entries posted by women MBA students. Owen Bloggers Independent blog with content by Vanderbilt MBA students. Best of Blogging 2008-2009 Top Ten:
Best of Blogging 2007-2008 Top Ten:
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