Posted by Clear Admit on May 24, 2010, at 2:00 pm
Posted in:  Essay Topic Analysis , School: Harvard For the 2010-2011 admissions season, HBS applicants will need to respond to a total of four essay questions. Candidates are required respond to the two initial questions on the list and may then choose two of four additional questions – one less than last year – to round out the set. Applicants must be clear and concise to fit their essays within each of the essay’s 600- or 400-word limits. Let’s take a look at the essay questions for this year:
1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
This essay question has been a hallmark of the HBS application for many years. Due to its top billing, this question could be the first element of your file that the adcom reads, making this response a great opportunity to present the reader with three strong stories that introduce the major themes of your candidacy. Each accomplishment can be presented as a stand-alone section here, so you needn’t be overly concerned about composing a seamless narrative.
HBS has traditionally been very impact-oriented in evaluating applicants’ credentials, so one way to determine which three accomplishments to describe in this essay is to think about the end results. Experiences in which you made a lasting and quantifiable impact can lend themselves to concise, factual narratives, and considering that each accomplishment must be described in approximately 200 words, this can be an important consideration. However, this isn’t to say that the process followed, skills gained, and lessons learned along the way aren’t important, too; these factors could be a great way to address the second half of the question: why you view these accomplishments as your most significant to date.
A final point is that it’s also important to select stories with an eye to balance. An applicant who describes two professional successes and one extra-curricular accomplishment, or perhaps one each from the professional, academic and activities realms, can show that he or she excels in any environment.
2. What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)
This question makes an appearance for a fourth consecutive year. The subject of failure or setback is a popular one for business school essays in general, and there are a few important elements to consider in addressing this and similar prompts. First, professional maturity, self-reflection and insight are key qualities to communicate. Towards that end, successful essays will describe the mistake in straightforward, step-by-step detail, and will also own the misstep rather than making excuses.
Another important element to touch on is that you’ve experienced some growth or development since the initial mistake. While applicants should not ‘gloss over’ their mistakes, it is important to emphasize positive growth and the learning experience that can come from missing the mark. An effective essay will present this growth in terms of thoughts and feelings, while balancing comments about internal reflections with descriptions of more external actions and changes in behavior.
Please respond to two of the following (400-word limit each):
1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?
While MBA applicants often draw upon their extracurricular experiences during college as topics for essays, it’s rare that they get a chance to talk about their more intellectual interests and achievements. This is your chance to go into some detail about why you chose your school and major and tell the admissions committee about your academic interests and educational milestones. A great essay will underscore an applicant’s intelligence and work ethic, as well as incorporate some element of leadership (especially if the applicant had a significant impact on the department or school as a whole).
2. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?
Always unique among b-schools, HBS not only frames its essay about the applicant’s professional future in terms of a broad vision rather than concrete goals, but also makes it optional.
Harvard’s adcom tries to identify future business leaders, so applicants presenting a directed vision will make a positive impression. Because this essay is about your career vision, you might summarize your past experiences in a very concise manner (i.e. just a few sentences) before moving on to a detailed discussion of your future plans and the reasons that these plans are meaningful to you. Whereas many schools request a clear description of candidates’ immediate post-MBA career plan, this particular question lends itself to a long-term, big picture outlook. Although HBS is not asking “why our program” like many other schools do, it might be helpful (space permitting) to touch on the ways in which HBS will help you achieve your vision. Think about how Harvard’s program (specific classes, classmates and clubs) would prepare you for your future.
3. Tell us about a time in your professional experience when you were frustrated or disappointed.
New to the HBS application, this prompt opens a wide range of topics for discussion and thus skills and qualities that an applicant can highlight. Some examples of relevant topics include disagreements with one’s team or superiors, receiving negative feedback, making unpopular decisions, responding to a co-worker’s or employee’s mistake, or being faced with an ethical challenge. As with Question 2, it’s important to concisely outline the situation by clarifying what caused you to feel frustrated or disappointed, as well as refrain from playing the “blame game.” This essay gives applicants the opportunity to highlight their problem-solving skills, so applicants should focus on the steps they took to improve the situation or resolve the problem. In demonstrating your leadership abilities, communication skills, creativity, and overall growth from the experience, you will show the adcom how you persevere through frustrating and disappointing circumstances – something that points to your ability to succeed through future trials at HBS and in your career.
4. When you join the HBS Class of 2013, how will you introduce yourself to your new classmates?
Also new to the HBS application, this question is somewhat similar to NYU Stern’s personal expression essay, as both require applicants to introduce themselves to their classmates, and in doing so allow the candidates to showcase their unique personalities. In thinking about this prompt, applicants should consider what matters most to them as well as the impact they hope to have at HBS. While your professional background may make up a portion of your introduction to your classmates, this essay does offer you the unique opportunity to discuss other aspects of who you are. It’s therefore important that instead of repeating material you’ve discussed in other essays, you take this opportunity to showcase aspects of your profile that might not lend themselves to other essay topics. In addition, because HBS is a school that likes natural leaders, it would behoove you in this essay to demonstrate your ability to engage people in your interests.
To further demonstrate your leadership abilities, this essay is a perfect opportunity for you to show how you turn your interests into action. Therefore as you introduce yourself, it may be appropriate to think how your profile is relevant to the HBS community. You therefore may want to discuss what you could share with the HBS community, based on your interests and background.
Conclusion
While each of these topics require a careful approach, one of the more challenging aspects of the HBS application is assembling the right mix of anecdotes across essays so as to provide the committee with the most complete (and strategic) view of your candidacy. This is compounded by the fact that HBS allows for several choices in the final two essay topics. As such, we recommend that our readers be sure to take a step back and consider their essays holistically as they move through the process of topic selection and writing. In addition, feel free to contact us for a free consultation, in which we can help you think through the elements of your profile and determine how to best spread them across this set of essays.
In addition, as is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of HBS’s program is crucial to an effective approach to the essays. Taking the time to learn about the school’s unique curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Harvard – will pay dividends here.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 24, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: MBA News , School: Chicago , School: CMU / Tepper , School: Columbia , School: Duke / Fuqua , School: Georgetown , School: Michigan / Ross , School: MIT / Sloan , School: Northwestern / Kellogg , School: Penn / Wharton , School: Stanford The William G. McGowan Charitable Fund will partner with 10 top MBA programs across the United States as part of a new fellowship program designed to support promising students who demonstrate academic excellence and social leadership during their first year of MBA studies.
The fellowships, which will be presented to one student from each of the ten partner schools, will cover the full cost of tuition for the second year of MBA studies. Partner schools include Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, Columbia University Graduate School of Business, Duke University Fuqua School of Business, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, MIT Sloan School of Business, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, University of Michigan Ross School of Management and University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
“This unprecedented program seeks to support future leaders who can influence their companies to advance a financially viable environmental and societal agenda,” McGowan Fund Executive Director Diana Spencer said in a statement announcing the new fellowships.
As part of the program, the fellows will present a case study in business to the McGowan Fund Board of Directors at a conference each fall. The McGowan Fund hopes that the conference, which will be open to alumni of the fellowship program in future years, will help build a network honoring William McGowan, who was a successful entrepreneur and founder of MCI Communications.
The initial class of McGowan Fellows will be announced in July 2010.
To learn more, click here.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 24, 2010, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Admissions Tips , Reapplicants At the end of March, we discussed the importance of signing up for a feedback session when one is planning to reapply to a program that provides this opportunity. Today we’d like to follow up on that post by offering a few thoughts on feedback session etiquette.
While on one hand a feedback session marks the close of this year’s process, it’s crucial that you realize that the impression you make on the adcom member conducting the session may be added to your file and come to bear on your candidacy next year. Taking heed of the following advice could help to make your feedback session as productive as possible – both in terms of gaining information about your weaknesses that you can address now and fostering a positive relationship with the school that will pay off in the future.
Be pleasant. Though the admissions process is a highly emotional one and to have invested time, effort and money in an application without having an acceptance to show for it is undoubtedly very frustrating, receiving the adcom’s comments in an appreciative – not defensive – manner is of the utmost importance. While it might be tempting to argue with the adcom’s criticisms of your file or counter their comments about your weaknesses with steps you’ve taken to address them, this is simply not going to be productive. You should view this as an exercise in listening and an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to the school. No one ever converted a rejection to an admit by merely arguing their case in a feedback session.
Take what you can get. Because time is so limited, we often encourage applicants to approach the adcom member conducting their session with pointed questions about specific elements of their application and ideas for improvement. However, you need to remember that there is some information they are simply not at liberty to divulge. If you’ve waived your right to view your recommendations, for instance, they might not be able to speak on this subject, and they might also hesitate to go into detail about your interview as well (for fear that you’ll track down an alumni or student interviewer to complain about their review). When you meet a roadblock like this, the best strategy is to leave it at that, letting the adcom member share what he or she is comfortable saying rather than pressing or probing for more information.
Follow through. If you take down the name and email address of the person conducting your feedback session, it would be a nice touch to send this person a brief thank you note after your meeting. Further, by keeping in touch with this individual and updating him or her of your progress over the months leading up to your application and decision, you can make that person your advocate by demonstrating that you’ve been following their advice (an email or two between April and November is sufficient).
Of course, the schools are not always able to tell an applicant the whole story; for instance, it’s difficult to tell an applicant who comes from an oversubscribed group and had fine numbers and essays that the class simply didn’t need another banker by the time he applied in round three. For this reason, it’s important to seek feedback from other sources, such as current students or colleagues. If you’d like an objective and informed assessment of your candidacy and previous application, feel free to contact us for information about our comprehensive feedback reports.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 22, 2010, at 9:00 am
Posted in: GMAT - Verbal , GMAT Tips Today’s GMAT tip comes from our friends at Veritas Prep. In today’s article, they present another installment of their “Think Like the Testmaker Series”:
Brian Galvin is the Director of Academic Programs at Veritas Prep, where he oversees all of the company’s GMAT prep courses.
The authors of the GMAT have two primary goals when they write any GMAT question – they want you to have the potential to get the question incorrect, and they also want to give you the chance to waste time as you arrive at your answer (so that you have the potential to get future questions wrong). Shrewdly, they have designed a style of Critical Reasoning question that is suited to serve both ends – the “Mimic the Reasoning” question.
In these “Mimic the Reasoning” questions, you are prompted to read an argument, and then select from five different arguments the one that best parallels the reasoning in the given stimulus. A sample question stem would read: Which of the following arguments is most similar, in its logical structure, to the argument above? What sounds like an innocent enough question type – like a game of card matching or Travel Guess Who – can contain quite a few pitfalls for you as the authors of the GMAT seek out their mission:
Waste Your Time
Mimic the Reasoning questions are unique in that you need to read six different arguments, or a total of 12-18 sentences. Most Critical Reasoning questions are shorter – 3-4 sentence stimulus with five, one-sentence answer choices. If nothing else, these Mimic questions will require a bit more reading time, and take a little extra focus.
Your response?
Be meticulous in determining up front what the flow of the logic of the initial argument is, because your job is to match it identically. If you know, for example, that the initial argument flows as X leads to Y, and Y leads to Z, so X leads to Z, you can more quickly go through the answer choices and eliminate them as soon as there is a deviation from the required logic. Because your only job is to find a match, as soon as you can determine that an answer choice isn’t a match, it’s no longer useful to you, and you don’t have to read any farther.
Elicit an Incorrect Answer
The authors of the GMAT can use the way that you think against you. This may best be shown with an example:
Fish have dorsal fins and tails. Dolphins have dorsal fins and tails, so dolphins must be a type of fish.
Which of the following is most similar, in its logical structure, to the argument above?
A) Fruits are edible and have seeds. Apples are fruits, so apples must have seeds.
B) This blog must be a novel, because novels have multiple typewritten paragraphs, and this blog has multiple typewritten paragraphs.
C) Fish breathe through gills. Salmon are fish, so salmon must breathe through gills.
To elicit incorrect answers from you, Mimic questions tend to take the natural ways that you process information and use them against you. A few common ways that the authors do this are:
• Provide a stimulus with a flawed conclusion, and an incorrect answer that has a valid conclusion. Look at answer choice A. Its conclusion is valid – if a condition of fruits is that they have seeds, then an apple, which is a fruit, will then have seeds. The conclusion works. In the stimulus, however, the logic is flipped and incorrect; fish have dorsal fins and tails, so we would know that any subset of the category “fish” should have fins and tails, but we don’t know that fish are the only animals with fins and tails. This is a flawed conclusion, so the correct answer must also have a flaw.
You will tend to gravitate to answer choices like A because they are true – as you read it, and it makes logical sense, your mind will accept it as “good” because it’s true, and you’ll be likely to consider it correct. But the correct answer has to match the logic – flaw and all – so you need to think in terms of logical parallelism, not logical correctness.
• Give you matching logical structure, but different sentence structure. Choice B is correct, but it may not seem that way at first. The logical structure is parallel – the premises flip the logic in the same way as the original (X has Y characteristic. A has Y characteristic, so A must be X.), but the sentence structure is different. The stimulus reads: Premise, Premise, therefore Flawed Conclusion; Choice B reads Flawed Conclusion, because of Premise, Premise. Because of this, B might not seem to fit exactly, but the logical structure is all that matters. The authors know that they can change the sentence structure to make it seem different, but you’re only responsible (as the question stem states) for the logical structure, so make sure that you keep that as your focus.
• Provide an incorrect answer with similar topic matter. Choice C seems very similar to the stimulus because the topic matter – characteristics of fish – is nearly identical. Its logical structure actually parallels incorrect choice A, however – it’s valid. If fish have gills, and salmon are a type of fish, then salmon should have the characteristics of a fish, and therefore have gills. Because the logic is valid, and your job is to match an answer with incorrect logic, C is incorrect – even though it is very similar in sentence structure and subject matter.
The authors of the GMAT know the way that your mind works – you see similarities and differences most obviously with subject matter and sentence structure, and your mind processes “correctness of logic” as “the correct answer”. Your job on Mimic the Reasoning questions is, as the questions ask, to mimic the reasoning, so beware of these traps to get you to mimic anything other than the reasoning, and these types of questions can become much more manageable.
For more information on Veritas Prep, 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 May 21, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: EMBA , School: Yale Mother and daughter will both wear caps and gowns later this week at Yale University’s 2010 Commencement. As daughter Charlotte Goins graduates from Yale’s Davenport College, her mom, Dr. Catherine Everett, will graduate from the Yale School of Management (SOM) with an executive MBA.
Everett, a radiologist and managing partner of Coastal Radiology Associates in the family’s native North Carolina, learned about SOM’s Leadership in Healthcare program – an MBA program for professionals in the healthcare industry – because her daughter was studying at Yale. “I was going through the Yale website and I saw it,” she said. “I didn’t come here because she was here, but it certainly was nice.”
For the past two years, Everett has flown from hometown New Bern, NC, to New Haven every other weekend to attend classes for SOM’s MBA for Executives program while continuing to work at her practice during the week. The weekend trips also afforded her the opportunity to attend Charlotte’s field hockey games.
Everett, who decided to wait until Charlotte and her four siblings had all finished high school before returning to get her MBA, saw pursuing the degree as a way to keep pace with the evolving medical field.
“Medicine has changed tremendously since I’ve been in practice,” she says. “It used to be that you go practice medicine, you get your money, and you go home. Now it’s really a business and a lot of the decisions you make have to be in a business framework,” she continued.
Everett explains that the experience has already helped her in her work. “We’ve done several things in the practice in the last six to eight months that we never would have gotten to if I hadn’t come here,” she says.
The additional credential also will allow her to work in the national arena of radiology with the American College of Radiology, where she hopes to focus on the operations side of radiology. Of particular interest is helping to expand efforts to introduce more structured reporting and a universal system and nomenclature for radiologists, surgeons and pathologists to use around the world, she says.
Goins, for her part, will graduate from Yale University’s Davenport College with a degree in American Studies. In her studies, she has focused on American film, and she hopes upon graduation to pursue a career in screenwriting.
As to what it was like to share Yale’s campus with her mom, Goins says she was excited to do so. And it was great to get to see her mom at Yale, she added. “She got to go to an Ivy, which she couldn’t before because she wasn’t allowed.”
When Everett graduated from high school in 1968, Yale hadn’t started accepting women. They started the year after she graduated. “It was fun to be able to do this,” Everett says.
Are you a mom thinking of heading back for your MBA? Click here to learn more about Yale SOM’s executive MBA programs.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 21, 2010, at 10:11 am
Posted in: Essay Topics , School: Duke / Fuqua The Duke / Fuqua essay topics for the 2010-2011 admissions season have been announced. All candidates must respond to three required essays. The essay topics are as follows:
1. Describe your vision for your career and your inspiration for pursuing this career path.
2. How will your background, values, and non-work activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to Fuqua’s diverse culture?
3. Why Duke? (If you are interested in a specific concentration, joint degree, clubs or activities, please discuss how you would contribute to these in this essay.)
All essays should be no longer than two pages in length, and are expected to be written with 1.5 line spacing. Font sizes should be no smaller than 10 point.
In addition to the required essays, applicants can also submit an optional essay. All reapplicants are asked to complete the Re-applicant Essay, in which candidates should describe how they are now a stronger candidate for admission compared to the application you submitted the previous year. Re-applicant Essays should be no more than two pages in length.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 21, 2010, at 10:04 am
Posted in: Deadlines , School: Stanford The Stanford GSB deadlines for the Class of 2013 are now available online. The three rounds are as follows:
Round 1
Deadline: October 6, 2010
Notification: December 15, 2010
Round 2
Deadline: January 6, 2011
Notification: March 30, 2011
Round 3
Deadline: April 6, 2011
Notification: May 18, 2011
Applicants should note that all applications are due by 5:00 p.m. PST.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 21, 2010, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Fridays from the Frontline Welcome back to Fridays From the Frontline! For the most part members of the Class of 2010 have graduated and said goodbye to their respective peers and campuses. But never fear! A whole new application season is beginning, with plenty of bloggers willing to fill the footsteps of the recently departed (figuratively of course).
Biz Wiz finally knew for certain that he wasn’t going to be taken off of Kellogg’s wait list but had a positive outlook for the future. Nistha couldn’t contain her excitement about an upcoming NYU Stern event. Braveheart looked at his essay drafting process. Miles to MBA compared drafting b-school essays to lying to your parents. Rocky posted the second part of his series for Indian students and their visa questions. Howie celebrated his wife’s recent architecture degree and spoke to an IMD alumnus to gain a better pespective of what to expect in the fall. The Journey recounted his INSEAD interviews, and recommended learning a little about your interviewer before the main event. Ellipser summarized the troubles he had getting a recommender, but finally “bagged one.” MBAYogi found GMAT inspiration in a book. A. thought that he could share two main points with readers interested in the Reliance Fellowship.
Kellogg ’11 Windsor attended a San Francisco Kellogg Impact Series event and pondered what it would be like to come to such an event as an alumnus. Kellogg ’11 Orlando felt the flood of work rise and pinpointed two reasons group projects can be difficult. Stanford ’11 Palo Alto for a While checked things off her list, like securing an internship and alienating her academic advisor. Fuqua ’11 Choc Heaven celebrated the completion of her first year and chose her internship search as the subject of her newest post. Rady ’11 Classy Career Gal juggled away. McDonough ’11 Part-Timer began his summer course on Business and Public Policy. Darden ’11 Julie learned a few lessons on her first internship day at a start-up, such as ‘wear flats.’ Kellogg ’12 Jeremy replied to a reader’s question about the best undergraduate degree path if one’s ultimate goal is to become a CEO.
Darden ’10 Mechanigal participated in a “Charlottesville Goodbye Tour.” McCombs ’10 Metal secured a job that he was actually excited to have. Melbourne ’10 Ron Jon finally starting using the first person but planned on taking down his blog entirely on the first of June. Fuqua ’10 Ian Commando created a completely unofficial Fuqua guide to Shanghai.
And that completes this week’s corralling of MBA compatriots. Good luck to all recent grads! Until next week, have a great weekend!
Posted by Clear Admit on May 20, 2010, at 3:44 pm
Posted in: Twitter Thursdays Welcome to another installment of Twitter Thursdays, in which we pick up some of the latest updates from the top MBA programs on Twitter! If you want your Twitter feed filled with Clear Admit’s updates, special prizes, admissions tips and breaking news, be sure to follow us on Twitter. We’ve also compiled 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’s MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, Mae Jennifer Shores, started making Round 3 admit calls this week with plans to announce additional admits next week. The Dean of the Haas School of Business, Rich Lyons, discussed Berkeley’s new Innovative Leadership Development curriculum, as well as the Berkeley-Haas culture. Jim Dean, the Dean of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, shared a new blog from Kenan-Flagler on leadership. The Dean of Darden School of Business, Bob Bruner, touched on how fraud in the academic market is driving the depth of business school applications. Though there are more details to come, MBA Admissions Coordinator at Judge Business School, James Barker, announced that admissions for 2011 will open August 1st.
MIT / Sloan shared the final results from the school’s 100k Business Plan Competition. London Business School hosted an information session for prospective students and suggested the priority first-year students should give finding a summer internship. From President Obama’s picks for the Federal Reserve to addressing the state pension crisis, The Kellogg School plugged its professors’ latest research and insight on a range of topics. Wharton School linked to a ton of photos from Wharton’s graduation ceremonies. Congratulations every Class of 2010!
Thanks for tuning into Twitter Thursdays this week! If you’re on Twitter or want to suggest someone else to follow, 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 May 20, 2010, at 1:00 pm
Posted in: School: MIT / Sloan , Uncategorized Rusnano, the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies, has asked the MIT Sloan School of Management to develop a customized executive education program to help it generate entrepreneurial businesses in Russia, the Financial Times reports. Rusano combines an economic development body with a venture capital firm.
Sloan’s reputation for helping launch entrepreneurial ventures in the United States is part of what drew Rusnano to the Massachusetts school for its project, according to the FT. The program Sloan has developed for Rusano will feature sessions on leadership, organizational change, innovation, strategy entrepreneurship and how to commercialize innovation.
Specifically, Rusnano needs to learn how innovations get matched with market opportunities, according to Noubar Afeyan, a senior lecturer at MIT and one of the instructors in the program. “The country has no prior examples of this kind of innovation,” he told the FT. “They’re learning on the fly and there are significant government and legal constraints. It’s easy to be skeptical but it’s not productive. The most they can do is learn, adapt and experiment.”
According to the FT report, Rusnano has up to $10 billion in government funds to co-invest in areas such as solar energy, composite materials, nano-biotechnology and mechanical engineering. Rusnano requires all companies that win funding to operate in Russia, the FT added.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 20, 2010, at 12:00 pm
Posted in: Uncategorized On Thursday, June 3, 2010, MBA Wired APAC will host a virtual fair for prospective MBA applicants. Though geared toward prospective candidates currently residing in Asia, all are welcome to register for the free event. The event will begin at 5 p.m. HKT, and will run until 10 p.m.
The virtual fair is a great opportunity for all individuals in the beginning stages of the MBA application process. During the event, MBA programs from around the world will host their own virtual booths, and will invite individuals interested in the school to stop by in order to ask questions and download information. Attendees will be able to meet with representatives – such as admissions offers, teachers and students – from the schools in attendance. The representatives will host virtual presentations and will engage in Q&A’s, group discussions and one-on-one chats. MBA programs joining the event include:
-Cambridge’s Judge School of Business
-Singapore Management University
-Hong Kong University
-IE Business School
-Thunderbird School of Global Management
-European Business School
In addition to meeting with representatives from the participating MBA programs, individuals who register for the virtual fair can attend live webinars focused on admissions strategy, including “Finding the Best Business School for Your “ and “GMAT Strategy.”Attendees will also be able to chat with other prospective students in order to network, solicit advice and offer tips.
As part of the event’s agenda, Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond will be conducting a seminar 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.
Additionally, Clear Admit admissions counselors will be available in the Virtual Networking Lounge to answer questions about the MBA admissions process during the event. In order to learn more about the event and to see a complete list of participating programs, make sure to visit the MBA Wired website.
The virtual fair is ideal for time and cash-strapped prospective MBA students, as attendees can participate from the comfort of their own homes or offices and, best of all, the event is free. To register for the virtual fair and stay informed of the event’s schedule, click here. Individuals who register will receive an email shortly before the event begins on June 3rd directing them to the log-in page.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 20, 2010, at 3:00 am
Posted in: Campus Chronicles , School: Virginia / Darden Welcome back to Campus Chronicles, our weekly review of MBA student newspapers! Today we’ll travel to sunny Charlottesville, skim through The Cold Call Chronicle, and let you know what’s been going on for MBA students at Darden.
Following their previous initiative with the Building Goodness Foundation (BGF), Darden students recently worked with a Virginia resident on cleaning out and fixing up her home. Thirty volunteers worked together to ensure that the house was both habitable and aesthetically pleasing. This project was part of Building Goodness in April, a subcommittee of BGF.
Participants of the Darden Cup, a series of athletic events, recently took on the dodgeball tournament event. Over 100 students, friends, and family joined in, both playing and rooting for their teams. With Sections B and E advancing through the semi-finals to the finals, each team boasted a self-proclaimed “secret weapon”: for Section B it was one student’s mother, and for Section E it was Professor Bob Landel. Ultimately Section B won, and team members had high hopes of winning the Cup itself. The final event is a 5K run.
The Darden Student Association recently hosted the annual Spring Social. Music was provided by The Stemms, a student band led by Ben Noland ’11, and Blues Jams, a faculty band. Attending students enjoyed the night, commenting that the faculty band was a special treat and one of the reasons they think Darden is unique among business schools.
Posted by Clear Admit on May 19, 2010, at 8:00 pm
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
For which of the following functions f(x) is the relation f(f(x)) = f(f(f(f(x)))) NOT true for at least some values of x not equal to zero?
(A) f(x) = -|x|
(B) f(x) = 2 – x
(C) f(x) = 3x
(D) f(x) = 4/x
(E) f(x) = 5
Solution
We are asked which function does NOT obey the rule f(f(x)) = f(f(f(f(x)))). This rule looks intimidating, but all it means on the left side is that we put some number x into the function, get the output, and then put that output back into the function and see what we get out. We do the same thing (feeding the function its own output) two more times on the right side, then compare the two sides.
Now let’s look at the functions.
(A) f(x) = -|x|
This function takes the absolute value of x, then puts a negative sign on. For instance, if x = 7, then f(x) = -|7| = -7. Likewise, if x = -8, then f(x) = -|-8| = -8. In words, f(x) turns any number negative (it’s the “negative absolute value.”) Applying this process twice gives you the same number as applying it 4 times. INCORRECT.
(B) f(x) = 2 – x
Let’s see what happens when we try to calculate f(f(x)). Work your way from the inside out:
f(f(x)) = f(2 – x) = 2 – (2 – x) = 2 – 2 + x = x. In other words, f(f(x)) just gives us x back. Therefore, applying two MORE f‘s to get f(f(f(f(x)))) will give us x again as well. INCORRECT.
(C) f(x) = 3x
If f(x) = 3x, then f(f(x)) = f(3x) = 3(3x) = 9x. Applying two MORE f‘s to get f(f(f(f(x)))) will give us 3(3(9x) = 81x. 9x does NOT equal 81x for any nonzero x, in fact. CORRECT.
(D) f(x) = 4/x
We should finish out the list, just to make sure.
f(f(x)) = f(4/x) = 4/(4/x) = x. As with the function in (B), this function brings us back to x if we apply it twice. Thus, if we apply it 4 times, we also get back to x. INCORRECT.
(E) f(x) = 5
f(f(x)) = f(5) = 5. This function may seem tricky, but it’s actually very simple: it gives you back a 5 no matter what you feed into it. If you give it a 5, in particular, you still get a 5 back, no matter how many times you go through that cycle. INCORRECT.
The correct answer is C.
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Posted by Clear Admit on May 19, 2010, at 2:32 pm
Posted in: School: Dartmouth / Tuck A team of students from the Tuck School of Business recently traveled to South Africa to learn firsthand about the country’s business environment, social entrepreneurship opportunities and the role business plays in addressing social challenges such as poverty, inequality and HIV/AIDS.
The trip was part of a series of learning expeditions offered through the Tuck Center for International Business. Twenty students participated in the South African expedition, which was led by Professor Phil Stocken, a South African native.
The team visited companies in Johannesburg, Cape Town and beyond and learned about the current economic environment and how it has changed since the time of apartheid. Students got to see a wide range of businesses – from a gold mine to the largest commercial bank to small social entrepreneurs.
Lisa Miller of the Center for International Business sees the learning expeditions as a nice complement to what Tuck students learn in the classroom. “Overall I think the greatest benefit of these programs is getting students in country and challenging preconceived notions and opening up their thinking about the country in question,” she said.
Several participants shared that they have a whole new understanding of Africa as a result of participating in the learning expedition.
“I think the most important thing about going has been the demystification of the entire continent for me,” Jeff Wang T’11, said. “Being able to go and see the dynamism on the ground and the entrepreneurship and the optimism that actually exists there really was pretty eye-opening for me.”
Stocken, for his part, said it was quite a treat to return with students to South Africa. The trip was the first time he’d been back professionally in 20 years. He hopes students left with a richer understanding of the cultural diversity of South Africa and a deeper appreciation for business opportunities and possible jobs they might be interested in there.
“I would say that it had a huge influence on the way that I think about Africa as a place to invest or to do business,” said participant Elizabeth Roth T’10. “It’s different to actually see it on the ground,” she continued.
For more on this story, click here.
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