Posted by Clear Admit on March 31, 2010, at 8:00 pm
Posted in:  GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT tip comes from our friends at test prep firm Knewton. This time, they offer some advice on data sufficiency problems:
Rich Zwelling is one of Knewton’s expert GMAT prep teachers, and he loves thinking of ways to crack the Data Sufficiency section.
Data Sufficiency questions are very often difficult to get used to, because they require an adjustment in your approach to math problems. When you went through math classes growing up, the end goal was always “Find the value of x” or “Find the area of this circle.” You were asked to give difficult responses to these questions, and nothing mattered more than finding a definite value.
With Data Sufficiency, answering the question does not matter as much as the ability to answer the question. You are not primarily concerned with the final answer, but rather whether you have enough information to get you to that answer. For example, if you’re asked to find the value of x, and a statement tells you that 300x + 257 = 1345, you know that this statement is sufficient, because you can perform arithmetic on that equation to isolate x. Are you going to perform it? No, because it’s too complicated and you don’t need to! All you’re concerned with is whether you can find the answer.
It might strike you as odd, but because of this principle, you can tackle some supposedly difficult DS questions without writing down a single equation or calculation! Sounds too good to be true, but in actuality, it makes a lot of sense. Remember, in business school you’ll be given data in case studies, and you’ll be expected to determine relatively quickly what information is relevant. DS questions are perfect for testing this ability because you have to look at the information given to you and cut to the heart of what is most important about that information.
As an example, let’s look at this rather wordy DS problem:
Emma bought an armchair and a coffee table at an auction and sold both items at her store. Her gross profit from the purchase and sale of the armchair was what percent greater than her gross profit from the purchase and sale of the coffee table?
(1) Emma paid 10 percent more for the armchair than for the coffee table.
(2) Emma sold the armchair for 20 percent more than she sold the coffee table.
First, let’s approach this algebraically to show how cumbersome it ends up being:
In general, Gross Profit (P) is the Selling Price (S) minus the Buying Price (B):
P = S – B
We want to know what percent greater the profit of the armchair (P_armchair) is than the profit of the coffeetable (P_coffeetable). If we represent the missing percent as x, then the equation would be
P_coffeetable*(1 + x/100) = P_armchair
Rearranging, we would get:
x = 100*(P_armchair / P_coffeetable – 1)
We know that P = S – B, so we . . . → Continue Reading
Welcome back to another installment of Wiki Wednesdays, a weekly column in which we set the spotlight on some of the latest interview reports added to the Clear Admit Wiki. We’ve received a number of great interview reports this past week, namely for: London Business School, MIT / Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB and Wharton. Let’s take a closer look at a couple of the newest reports before covering the contest…
A Round 3 candidate for Northwestern / Kellogg shared the following questions from an interview with an alumnus:
Why do you want to make this particular career transition? What attracts you to the field? (not exact words, but that was the general sense) What five words would your friends use to describe you? Then: If you heard them use these words, what one would make you the proudest? Do you find yourself filling leadership gaps in a group when they exist? What is the one thing in your life that you are the proudest of?
A Round 2 applicant to London Business School recounted the following questions, as posed by an alumnus:
You already have great finance experience to achieve your goals. Why do you need an MBA? Why LBS? How LBS differentiates from the other school you applied to? Do you have any back up plan in case your goals are not achievable? Could you describe your extracurriculars? How will you contribute to the school?
Thank you to everyone who has shared their interview experiences this season and helped fellow applicants! If you’re eager to contribute, we’ll be awarding a $10 Amazon gift certificate to applicants that submit interview reports for Columbia Business School, MIT / Sloan, UCLA / Anderson or Stanford GSB through next Tuesday, April 6th! All you have to do is send us your interview field report for the selected schools for inclusion in the Wiki and we’ll send you a $10 Amazon gift certificate. 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:
Date/Admissions Round Description of visit and/or interview atmosphere Type of interview (alum vs. adcom, blind vs. application-based) List of interview questions 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 about admissions interviews. Best of luck to those wrapping up the admissions season with interviews!
Posted by Clear Admit on March 31, 2010, at 2:33 pm
Posted in: Uncategorized The University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business has joined, for the second time, the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing diversity and inclusion in American business.
Haas originally joined the Consortium in 1992 but was forced to withdraw a decade later as a result of Proposition 209, which prohibits state-funded programs in California from giving preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity or national origin. The Consortium, which at the time awarded fellowships to African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans, has since expanded its mission to include all U.S. citizens and permanent residents, which allows UC Berkeley to once again participate.
“We are thrilled to once again partner with UC Berkeley Haas School of Business,” Peter Aranda, executive director and CEO of the Consortium, said in a statement. “The previous popularity of the program among Consortium applicants indicates that prospective students will be pleased that the school is, once again, part of our network,” he continued.
The Consortium awards merit-based, full-tuition fellowships to promising candidates at each of its member schools. In rejoining the Consortium, Haas joins 15 other top-tier business schools, As a new member of The Consortium, UC – Berkeley joins fifteen other top business schools including Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, Indiana University – Bloomington, University of Michigan, New York University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Rochester, University of Southern California, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Wisconsin – Madison and Yale University.
The Consortium will begin recruiting prospective MBA students for UC Berkeley Haas School of Business in fall 2010, with the first class graduating in spring 2013.
For more information on the Consortium, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on March 31, 2010, at 10:00 am
Posted in: Poll
How Are You Preparing For Your Return to Academia?
I’m brushing up on my accounting skills and dipping my toes into other key areas of study, I want to be ready for anything! I’m keeping my eyes on the prize at work and saving as much as I can, so I’ll be able to fully enjoy myself and relax once in school. I’m finishing out my time at work and planning a really amazing vacation. I’ve decided to move to town ahead of the class in order to get a feel for the place (and have the time for multiple trips to IKEA) without the pressures of orientation. I’ll be moving, so I’m looking for a fellow b-school roommate and constantly scanning craigslist for a great apartment.
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Don’t see an answer that fits your plan above? Then leave a comment below about what you’ll be doing to prepare for your adventure to b-school!
Posted by Clear Admit on March 30, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: MBA News , School: Northwestern / Kellogg , School: NYU Stern Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management has named a new dean, Provost Daniel Linzer announced today. Sally Blount, the dean of the undergraduate college and vice dean of the Stern School of Business at New York University, will assume the deanship at Kellogg beginning in July.
Blount, 48, joined the Stern faculty in 2001 as a professor of management and organizations and became dean of the undergraduate college in 2004. She was appointed by NYU’s president and provost in 2007 as their special advisor for global academic integration. An expert in the fields of negotiation and behavioral decision making, she also was a highly rated member of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business faculty from 1992 to 2001. Before that she worked as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
“Dean Blount brings a remarkable combination of strong academic achievement and proven administrative experience at both the business school and university levels,” Linzer said in a statement. “She is someone who has a demonstrable record as both a scholar and as a leader in the field of global business education,” he added.
In accepting the appointment as dean, Blount returns to her alma mater. She received her Ph.D. in management and organizations from Kellogg in 1992, after completing a joint bachelor’s degree at Princeton.
“It is a great honor to be appointed to lead Kellogg,” Blount said in a statement. “The school has meant so much to me professionally and personally,” she continued, adding that she looks forward to working to keep Kellogg pushing the frontiers of global business education forward.
In her six years as dean of Stern’s undergraduate college, she set fundraising records by securing the school’s first-ever $15 million gift, increased student participation in the global semester study abroad program from 25 to 75 percent and oversaw a complete, donor-funded renovation of the undergraduate campus.
Blount will succeed Sunil Chopra, Kellogg’s IBM Distinguished Professor of Operations Management, who has served as interim dean since Dean Dipak Jain stepped down last September.
To learn more, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on March 30, 2010, at 3:08 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips , Events , School: IESE , School: Stanford , School: Virginia / Darden
On Wednesday, April 7, 2010, the Graduate Management Admissions Council® (GMAC®) is conducting a virtual fair for prospective applicants to graduate management programs.
The GMATCH MBA and Master Virtual Fair (GMATCH) is an online recruitment fair that will give you the opportunity to connect with 24 MBA and Master programs from around the world. Through live chat or webcams, participants will be able to interact with admissions staff and attend sessions run by admissions officers, current students, and GMAT and other industry professionals. Moreover, you can take part in GMATCH wherever you are and at a time that is convenient to your schedule.
Register for this free fair now and get a chance to:
• Talk to representatives from business schools around the world, such as Stanford Graduate School of Business, Darden School of Business, HEC and IESE • Discover what’s needed to get into your program of choice • Meet fellow prospective students • Hear firsthand accounts from current students and alumni and ask them what it’s really like • Take part in group discussions in the student lounge
As part of the GMATCH agenda, Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond will be running an ‘expert session’ on application strategies. His session will take a look at the various aspects of a candidate’s profile that every admissions committee considers, such as academics, professional experience, career goals, outside activities and leadership capacity. Richmond will also discuss how you will be assessed, why admissions committees emphasize certain areas, and how you can best present yourself in the application process.
To register for GMATCH and to find out more details on timing, participating programs and more, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on March 30, 2010, at 3:00 am
Posted in: School Guides , School: Virginia / Darden , Trivia Tuesday It’s time again for another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly consideration of the policies and practices that differentiate the student experience at the leading business schools. This week we turn our attention to the unusual class meeting structure in place at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Darden has a reputation for being a demanding academic program, though the school has chosen to schedule its courses creatively to help students get – and give – as much as possible in the academic arena.
Darden’s class schedule during the week is markedly different from those of its peer institutions. To begin, classes in the first-year program do not follow a rigid meeting schedule. Instead, the number of class sessions each week fluctuates depending on how the material being covered ties into the information presented that week in other core courses. For instance, a class might meet up to four or five times in one week so that students can master a major concept that will be applied in other courses. Once this concept is addressed, the class may meet just one to three times the following week, allowing the focus to shift to other courses.
The second-year schedule also sees some fluctuation. Second-year electives meet on an “early week” or “late week” schedule throughout the semester. Early week classes meet on the first two to three days of the week while late week classes meet on the final two or three days of the week. This schedule is broken up every two weeks with an R-Day for recruiting, reading and rest, which provides students with a short but necessary break from the school’s intense academic schedule.
Darden prides itself on the rigor of the curriculum, especially in the first year, and expects students to make a serious commitment to the academic program. The administration estimates that first-year students should plan to spend 60-80 hours per week on school work and current Darden students report that this estimate is accurate. The typical schedule in the first year is class from 8:00 a.m. to 1:10 p.m., one and a half to three hours of independent prep work in the afternoon, followed by two to four hours of meeting and discussion with a learning team in the evening. In the end, most Darden students spend 10-14 hours on campus each weekday.
For more information on Darden’s first-year curriculum, second-year electives, or campus academic and social cultures, be sure to check out the Clear Admit School Guide to Darden!
Posted by Clear Admit on March 29, 2010, at 1:02 pm
Posted in: MBA News , School: Columbia An expert in carbon finance who formerly headed the world’s largest carbon credit company is the newest addition to the Executives in Residence Program at Columbia Business School (CBS), the school announced late last week.
Bruce Usher, who served as CEO of EcoSecurities Group from 2002 to 2009, will share his expertise in carbon finance with CBS students through guest lectures, collaboration with student groups and brown bag lunches in his new role as executive in residence. EcoSecurities, which was sold to JP Morgan in December 2009, became the world’s largest public carbon credit company under Usher’s leadership, developing more than 400 projects around the world, or approximately 10 percent of all projects approved by the United Nations under the Kyoto Protocol.
Usher has taught carbon finance and sustainability courses at CBS since 2002 as an adjunct professor in the finance and economics division. In his new role as executive in residence, he also will be available to counsel students on career planning, strategy and professional development.
For more on Usher, click here. To learn more about CBS’s Executives in Residence Program, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on March 29, 2010, at 4:05 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips As many of our readers know, a small number of leading MBA programs offer admissions feedback sessions to applicants who did not make the admissions cut in a given season. Though we’ve touched upon this subject before, we’d like to use today’s blog entry to underline the importance of these feedback sessions for those of you who are considering reapplication.
While not all schools offer feedback, a handful of schools issue an open invitation to all unsuccessful applicants. Additionally, some programs occasionally offer feedback ‘by invitation’ to top candidates for whom they just didn’t have room that year. In all cases, if you are given the opportunity to get feedback, you should absolutely take advantage of it. There are several reasons for this:
1) Signal commitment to improvement. Signing up for a feedback session demonstrates that you are motivated to learn more about your application’s weaknesses and are seeking to improve going forward (with the intention of reapplication). Most schools make note of these sessions and keep these notes in your file in the event that you do reapply.
2) Get the inside line. A feedback session gives you a chance to learn something about your candidacy – from the source. Feedback sessions can draw your attention to a perceived weakness you were unaware of or confirm your own thoughts with regards to areas for improvement.
3) Telegraph your interest. In addition to demonstrating your passion to improve and your intent to learn more about your candidacy, signing up for a session suggests a dedication to the MBA program in question. Since not all reapplicants bother to get feedback, the fact that you take this aspect of the process seriously can work in your favor.
4) Make a connection. In many cases, a feedback session can be the beginning of a relationship that is forged with a member of the adcom. If the person gives you feedback, you should email them a ‘thank you’ letter and take advantage of the opportunity to develop an advocate for your candidacy on the committee.
Stay tuned to this blog for some tips on proper feedback session etiquette in the near future. In the meantime, be sure to sign up for feedback sessions if your target school offers them. If your target school does not offer this kind of service, you may want to take advantage of Clear Admit’s feedback service, which includes a strategic review of your prior application(s) and a written report highlighting your strengths and weaknesses as well as specific guidance for reapplication.
Email info@clearadmit.com if you are interested in learning more about this service.
Posted by Clear Admit on March 27, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Quantitative , GMAT Practice Problem , GMAT Tips 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 tens digit of 617 is
(A) 1
(B) 3
(C) 5
(D) 7
(E) 9
Solution
We know that there must be a pattern, since we can’t be expected to expand 617 out to all its digits. In other words, we must be able to spot a repeating cycle of digits.
The only way forward is to compute tens digits for powers of 6, starting with 61, and see what we get. To go up, multiply the previous result by 6 and drop any higher digits than the tens, but we have to keep the units digit (which, as we’ll see, will be 6 every time).
61 = 6 (no tens digit)
62 = 6 × 61 = 36 (tens digit = 3)
63 = 6 × 62 = ..16 (tens digit = 1)
64 = 6 × 63 = ..96 (tens digit = 9)
65 = 6 × 64 = ..76 (tens digit = 7)
66 = 6 × 65 = ..56 (tens digit = 5)
67 = 6 × 66 = ..36 (tens digit = 3)
Whew – the numbers finally started repeating! The cycle is 3, 1, 9, 7, 5 – which is 5 terms long. Every power will have the same tens digit as the 5th larger power, so 62, 67, 612, and most importantly 617 will all have 3 as their tens digit.
Notice that the pattern didn’t start until 62. 61 doesn’t have a tens digit (or has a tens digit of 0, but this digit is never repeated later in the cycle).
The correct answer is (B).
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!
Posted by Clear Admit on March 26, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: General , School: MIT / Sloan MIT Sloan School of Management announced yesterday that it will host an innovative clean energy workshop for senior-level executives in May. The workshop, entitled Clean Energy Ventures: Creating Innovative New Businesses through Entrepreneurial Management, will take place from May 2nd through 6th and will include interactive teaching sessions led by globally recognized experts in the field.
Through a range of sessions – including live current case studies, visits to groundbreaking companies in the field of clean tech and reviews of best practices – participants will learn to spot and support new innovation and clean energy venture opportunities. They will also learn to leverage new technology and innovations for greatest impact.
This new workshop is just one of the most recent examples of MIT Sloan’s commitment to clean energy. In October 2009, the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) recognized the MIT Entrepreneurship Center for its achievements in the area of energy entrepreneurship and education, which include five courses directly related to clean energy innovation. President Barack Obama spoke at the center later that same month, recognizing MIT as central to efforts to solve pressing clean energy issues. MIT was also ranked the number one cleantech university in the United States by the Cleantech Group in January 2010.
For more on the May conference for senior-level executives, click here. For more on clean technology education and entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on March 26, 2010, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline Welcome to Fridays From the Frontlines! Every week the Clear Admit team explores the MBA blogosphere to find and report the newest stories. This week, there were no applicant updates – we hope they are too busy celebrating their acceptances to be updating their blogs! – while current students were busy reflecting on their spring breaks and thinking about the future.
Kellogg ’11 Orlando was gearing up to join his team at the Boston University International Tech Strategy Case Competition. Foster ’11 Helen discussed the highlights of her trip to Kenya with a bunch of classmates, including meeting Kenya Airways’ director of marketing, going on a safari, and kissing a giraffe. BU ’12 Felish discussed how her cohort founded BU Global Services and is excited for the club’s upcoming trip to Guatemala.
Returning from spring break brought various reactions from second-year students, as Harvard ’10 Gabrille gushed about networking and interviewing with various people from Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in Orlando, while McCombs ’10 Metal found it hard to return to class. Meanwhile, many second-years found it difficult to ignore their impending graduations, as Darden ’10 July Dream attended a “mandatory” graduation meeting as well as Darden’s quarterly mustache competition. Fuqua ’10 Randy finished all his core class assignments for Semester 3 and is gearing up to cheer on Duke Men’s and Women’s Basketball. With graduation prompting them to reflect back on their past two years, Darden ’10 MechaniGal discussed founding the Darden South Asia Society and passing the baton to first-years, while fellow Darden student Oren encouraged underclassmen to get involved and become leaders at Darden, as doing so made his two-year journey so wonderful.
And that completes this week’s worth of business from the b-school blogosphere. We hope all round two applicants are receiving good news, and that current students ease back into classes after spring break and can enjoy their remaining time until the end of the school year. Until next week, have a great weekend!
Posted by Clear Admit on March 25, 2010, at 4:08 pm
Posted in: Twitter , Twitter Thursdays Welcome to another installment of Twitter Thursdays, a column in which we pick out a few of the latest updates from the top MBA programs on Twitter! If you want to stay on top of Clear Admit’s updates, special prizes, admissions tips and breaking news, be sure to check us out on Twitter. 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, noted the application faux pas of exaggerating accomplishments as well as plugged a few upcoming UCLA events. Waitlisted applicants at Michigan / Ross hopefully took advantage of Senior Associate Director Jonathan Fuller’s admissions chat on the topic of their status. Rich Lyons, the Dean of the Haas School of Business, headed to NY to take part in an alum event about branding through social media. Across the pond, MBA Admissions Coordinator at Judge Business School, James Barker, took a trip to London for an admissions info session.
Chicago Booth released final decisions for Round 2 candidates. Meanwhile, Stage 2 applicants to London Business School can expect late-night notifications this week. For their Women’s Leadership Conference, Duke / Fuqua announced the opening keynote speaker – Duke Alumna Lori Conkling, who has risen to prominence with A&E TV. The Kelley School of Business celebrated Fortune’s recognition of the school as the top public university program in nation for entrepreneurs. The Tuck School is gearing up for their 10th annual Tuck GIVES auction, which raises money for peers with nonprofit summer internships. Magic Johnson opened the Lauren and Bobby Turner Social Impact Speaker Series at The Wharton School by expanding on the theme of “Doing Well and Doing Good.”
Thanks for tuning into 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 updates!
Posted by Clear Admit on March 25, 2010, at 1:14 pm
Posted in: Events , School: Penn / Wharton The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, together with the Lauder Institute and the Penn Language Center, this week is hosting the 12th annual CIBER Business Language Conference, designed to examine ways to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. business globally.
The conference, which began yesterday and continues through tomorrow, will bring together experts in business education and language to help promote greater understanding of international business cultures as a means of helping U.S. businesses grow more competitive in a global market.
“Scholars, business professionals and students recognize that language training and understanding other cultures are essential in the global workplace,” Kenric Tsethlikai, the director of language and culture programs at the Lauder Institute and conference host, said in a statement. “The conference brings together professionals who prepare future leaders through business language education,” he added.
Topics to be explored during the three-day conference this year range from “When Does Yes Mean No in Chinese Culture?” to “Addressing the Financial Crisis in Business Language Courses.”
The program, funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) grant program, is an example of the ways in which Wharton and the Lauder Institute often collaborate to provide students with internationally focused management education opportunities.
“The conference presenters will demonstrate how business language courses can support and enrich the academic and intellectual mission of college or university education while concurrently providing practical and real-world applications,” Mauro Guillen, professor of international management at Wharton and director of the Lauder Institute, said in a statement. “Language training is no longer a luxury if Americans are to remain competitive in global markets,” he added. For conference details, click here.
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