Fridays from the Frontline
Keep abreast of the latest happenings in the business school blogosphere! This weekly column summarizes recent posts from MBA student and applicant blogs.
Fridays From The Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly roundup of business school bloggers. This week, while the blogosphere buzzed with excitement regarding our announcement of the 2012-2013 Best of Blogging nominees, we checked in on bloggers who are preparing to begin their business school careers in the Class of 2015 and gleaned inside perspectives from current students.
HammO chronicled what it took to withstand a 15 month war of attrition with the GMAT. Sassafras reflected on leaving San Francisco and savors being free of the anxiety of the application process. PPandey discussed a new project management tool he created in MS Excel after getting fed up with Microsoft Project, the industry standard project management software. MBAover30 reminds readers to vote for this season’s BoB nominees. Continue reading…
Fridays From The Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly blog posting focused on the ups and downs of the b-school blogging world. While last week was rather quiet on the applicant front and far more busy as far as student postings, this week saw a resurgence of applicants checking in to share their campus visits or their preparations for transitioning to student status. On the heels of our recent BoB nominees announcement, we’re glad to see a few of our nominees in the mix.
HammO expanded on his last post, which focused on financing the MBA. Sassafrass thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with future classmates and getting even more of a sense of what it means to be a Yale SOM student during a weekend visit to New Haven. The Poetic Quant outlined his plans to address concerns the adcom might have about his undergraduate GPA, which included enrolling in summer courses. Unclearadmit discussed the possibility of his MBA being sponsored, had his last day at work, improved his golf swing, and praised the Tuck approach to international loans. PPandey visited the HBS campus and sat in on a class, praised the student who led his campus tour, and valued certain insights he gained from attending an information session.
Continue reading…
Clear Admit’s Best of Blogging 2012-2013 Nominees Announced!
As promised in yesterday’s timeline for this year’s BoBs, today is the day we release the 2012-2013 Best of Blogging nominees! For those of you not familiar with the Clear Admit Best of Blogging competition, the goal of this annual event is two-fold. First, we want to recognize and celebrate the best MBA applicant and student blogs covering the 2012-2013 admissions cycle/academic year. Equally important is Clear Admit’s commitment to identifying valuable sources of information for the next round of MBA applicants and students.
The process to determine BoB nominees started with considering all Fridays From The Frontlines -featured blogs. Looking at originality and relevance of content, as well as total number of posts and overall contribution to the space, we then narrowed the count down to a select group of bloggers. Whether new to the blog scene or seasoned veterans, focused on providing course descriptions or travel tips, straight-laced students or party animals, all members of this group have something unique to share, and provided informative and engaging information about the MBA experience. The next step is for the nominated bloggers and blog readers to cast their votes. Voting can be done by following this link, or by tweeting your top three favorites – along with the hashtag #ClearAdmitBoB – to @clearadmit. Voting will conclude on Friday, May 24th. We will email those nominees with their contact information on their blogs to provide them with ballots. Nominees who don’t receive a ballot are encouraged to get in touch by sending a note to bob@clearadmit.com. For more details on the BoBs (prizes, rules, etc), you can read our original post.
And now, with no further delay, the nominees for the 2012-2013 Best of Blogging Awards:
Ccatcher: http://missionm.wordpress.com/
Cheetarah: http://cheetarah1980.blogspot.com/
Darden Social: http://dardensocial.wordpress.com/
Ellipser: http://money9111.blogspot.com/
HammO: http://hamm0.wordpress.com/
Julianne: http://julianneharty.blogspot.com/
MBA Over 30: http://mbaover30.com/
Sassafrass: http://www.mybreakaway.com/
The Senator: http://thesenator2014.wordpress.com/
UnClearAdmit: http://unclearadmit.tumblr.com/
Congrats to our nominees, and good luck!
Best of Blogging Awards 2012-2013 Timeline Announced
Another application cycle has drawn to a close, and summer is already beginning to show itself through longer days and warmer nights. A good deal of clarity and news has been delivered to the MBA applicant and student blogging crowd: admissions decisions, full-time or summer internship job offers, and, of course, the announcement of our annual Best of Blogging Awards (also known as “the BoBs”)! For those unfamiliar with the awards, each year we make an effort to identify exceptional blogs maintained by MBA applicants and students. We do this for two reasons: to recognize the commitment and quality of the best applicant and student bloggers’ writing, and to identify valuable sources of information for the next round of applicants.
Here’s the timeline for this year’s awards, which will cover the 2012-2013 admissions/academic cycle:
Nominees Announced – Friday, May 10th
This year’s nominees will be announced tomorrow. Each year we begin by considering all featured bloggers from Fridays From The Frontline (bloggers are encouraged to email bob@clearadmit.com about adding a link if their sites are not currently included). Keeping in mind the relevance and frequency of posts, as well as the overall quality of their contributions to the MBA blogosphere, we pare the list of nominees down to a combined ten nominees. Once we determine the blogs to be considered, we will send BoB ballots out to each of the nominated bloggers, as well as let FFF readers know additional ways that they might cast their own vote.
Ballots Due – Friday, May 24th
Votes from the nominated bloggers, Clear Admit staff and our Fridays From The Frontlines readership will be due on Friday, May 24th. When the nominees are announced we will provide you with more information about the potential ways to share your vote with Clear Admit.
Rankings Revealed – Wednesday, May 29th
Once the votes are tallied, we will reveal the top three bloggers for the 2012-2013 season. Clear Admit will present prizes to the select few for their efforts and contributions to the community. Second and third place bloggers will receive $100 and $50 Amazon.com gift certificates respectively, and the top-ranked blogger will be given a $300 Amazon.com gift certificate.
That’s all for now – check back tomorrow for an announcement about this year’s BoB nominees! In the mean time, happy blogging…
Fridays From The Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly dive into the highs and lows of the b-school applicant and student experience. With Round 3 deadlines in our rear view mirrors, the applicant blogger community was rather quiet while current students had more to day about everything from exciting trips to the financial realities of b-school.
HammO delved deep into the question of financing an MBA, which involved a fair amount of research and copious tabs on an Excel spreadsheet.
Tuck ’14 The Senator was the first to admit that he’d been a bit MIA as far as his blog was concerned, but made up for it by sharing the experience of applying for a fellowship at his summer internship employer while also commenting on delays at the airport and the weight of taking on too many leadership positions on campus. MBA Manchester ’14 happily announced that he secured a summer internship at Google’s London and Manchester locations. LBS ’14 Gayathrisai compared the weather of her hometown – Chennai – with London meteorology, with one prevailing lesson: check the weather hourly. Continue reading…
Fridays From The Frontline
Welcome to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s ongoing chronicle of the b-school blogosphere, from those just starting their application process on through second year students enjoying their last months or weeks of school. This week the applicants were a relatively quiet bunch while first and second year students had more to report and reflect upon as the days left of their school year began to dwindle.
HammO visited Ross campus and enjoyed walking around campus, getting a sense of the student body and sitting in on a class. Sanket once again turned his attentions to studying for the GMAT and was loving it.
Chicago Booth ’14 Cheetarah took on a number of common assumptions about the program that she thought were more like myths, including the kind of community vibe the school provides, as well as where the majority of students lived. McCombs ’14 Curtis returned from a week-long trip to Southeast Asia and described some of the career management tools available to students at the Dallas/Fort Worth campus. INSEAD ’13D learned valuable lessons about how to juggle responsibilities and commitments as her second period at INSEAD drew to a close. McCombs ’14 Shelby asked her friends for possible topics for her blog post, but decided that recounting the looming departure of the second years was too sad, choosing instead to elaborate on other more upbeat events and activities.
Continue reading…
Fridays From The Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly blog post that follows the frenzied lives of MBA applicants and student bloggers. This week newly admitted students and those targeting the 2013-2014 cycle elaborated on school choice and studied for the GMAT. Many current students wrote on the topics of travel and recruiting.
MBA Over 30 got a taste of the Wharton community’s sense of humor when he was “roasted” for declaring the CBS Follies performance funnier than Wharton’s own event by current Wharton students. Sassafrass thought it might be worthwhile to reiterate his reasons for choosing to pursue an MBA given his non-profit background. HammO continued to discuss additional schools he plans on targeting for the 2013-2014 application season. The Poetic Quant took advantage of free software and practice tests to begin his GMAT prep, which resulted in a base GMAT of 640 but confidence that with additional study that score would increase.
Continue reading…
Fridays From The Frontlines
Welcome to Fridays From The Frontlines, Clear Admit’s weekly blog feature focused on the b-school applicant and student experience. With the majority of this year’s application deadlines behind us, a few new bloggers joined the applicant ranks targeting the 2013-2014 cycle while students continued to check in on their progress through the change from winter to spring.
Poetic Quant explained why he was glad he waited a year to start his application process and officially revealed his list of schools. HammO also elaborated on his list of business schools and the reasoning behind his choices. Sassafrass pondered whether having a work history that included both ‘big name’ and ‘no name’ nonprofits may have helped or hindered his application at different schools. Future Anderson ’15 Dwight discussed how public transportation could work to the advantage of Anderson students while acknowledging that LA traffic can truly be awful.
INSEAD ’13 Patrick explained how attending INSEAD opened his eyes to all the different ways the school’s diverse student body would further prepare him for a range of cultural business contexts in the future. Said ’14 Srinivas reflected on being halfway through his degree program and outlined the top five experiences that marked his first six months on campus.
Continue reading…
Fridays From The Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly blog feature that peeks into the world of the b-school applicant and student. This week applicants were sharing their thoughts on how to determine a school list or blog handle while many students provided photographic evidence of international journeys.
HammO explained how he expanded and then pared down his list of schools from an initial four to a high of twelve before settling on a list of six. Sassafrass, safely accepted, turned his attentions to the topic of marriage equality in the U.S. Poetic Quant introduced himself and explained the origins of his choice of name as well as his b-school aspirations. After a significant absence Pyrapopat checked in to explain that after receiving a Kellogg acceptance he also was given the opportunity to grow at work … but after having spent another year in the workforce he revealed his intention to attend Kellogg next fall. Continue reading…
Fridays From The Frontline
Welcome to Fridays From The Frontlines, Clear Admit’s weekly perusal of the b-school blogosphere’s student and applicant news. This week recently accepted applicants were welcomed into the fold by R1 accepted aspirants, and two new applicants joined the fray, discussing the earlier stages of their MBA journey.
MBA Over 30 congratulated soon-to-be Wharton classmates from Round 2, and provided some suggestions on how to transition from applicant to official pre-MBA, which involved background checks and Facebook pages. Sassafrass also had a few words of wisdom to those receiving word of acceptance or rejection. HammO turned his attentions to the concept of ’prestige hunting.’ PoeticQuant spoke to a current Kellogg student and described how it helped him get a sense of how his profile compared to the school’s general student body, which helped him tone down his Linked-In stalking.
It wasn’t only the recently accepted like MBA Over 30 and Sassafrass providing advice to R2 applicants; Tuck ’14 The Senator provided a few soothing and calming suggestions for those who have found themselves on a wait list. McCombs ’14 Michael caught up with the blogosphere and recounted his new internship and work creating a panel for an upcoming Healthcare Association symposium. LBS ’14 Gayathrisai expressed enthusiasm for a tough but ultimately fun and educational course that made her a ‘warrior.’ Ross ’14 Ebony shared some of her favorite highlights from her MAP experience in Turkey. Continue reading…
Fridays From The Frontline
Welcome to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly blog post featuring the most recent news and events in the b-school blogosphere. This week found at least one person getting ready for the next application season, while students were generally focused on their studies or on their future careers.
Boots to Suits began his application process with a campus visit to Darden and recommended staying at Darden’s Inn.
Chicago Booth ’14 Cheetarah avoided final exams though had a final project looming, but was most focused on her upcoming Ghana and Ethiopia trek. Ross ’14 Eric shared photos from a variety of section suppers and attended a Habitat for Humanity auction. McCombs ’13 Chirali described the neverending line of new faces she had been meeting in b-school and described the internship search and recruiting process. Kenan-Flagler ’13 Joe explained the potential benefits in taking the school’s Analytical Skills workshop.
LBS ’13 Ira explained some of the actions he took to successfully become a “triple jumper” with a completely new function/job waiting for him upon graduation. Tepper ’13 Julianne was preparing to embark on her last mini ever while feeling some jealousy towards those on international treks or with the bulk of their recruiting behind them.
And that’s a wrap on this week’s installment of Fridays From the Frontline. We hope that all students enjoy their upcoming spring breaks, and that a fresh crop of applicants begin to let us know what they’re up to. Until next week, have a great weekend!
Want to join the Fridays From the Frontline community and see your blog featured regularly in this column? Just follow this link and add the FFF badge to your blog and then email us at bob@clearadmit.com with your URL so we can make sure to add you to our weekly roundups.
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