General » Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Consultants Blog

APPLICANT RESOURCES

Have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Research schools on the go and keep your applications organized with Clear Admit's new MBA Planner App!

Admissions Director Q&A
Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Dawna Clarke (Tuck)
Rose Martinelli (Chicago)
Judith Hodara (Wharton)
Sara Neher (Darden)
Soojin Kwon Koh (Michigan)
Randall Sawyer (Cornell)
Beth Flye (Kellogg)
David Simpson (LBS)
Liz Riley Hargrove (Duke)
Linda Meehan (Columbia)
Bruce DelMonico (Yale)
Peter Johnson (Berkeley)
Isser Gallogly (NYU)
Mae Jennifer Shores (UCLA)
J.J. Cutler (Wharton)
Jake Cohen (INSEAD)
Rod Garcia (MIT Sloan)
Mary Miller (Columbia)

Clear Admit School Guides
Become an expert on your target schools overnight! Get the program-specific details you need to craft essays that stand out. See how schools compare head-to-head in key areas like recruiting, curricular structure, elective offerings and more. Available for immediate download. As featured in the Economist.

Clear Admit Career Guides
Understand career-specific offerings at leading MBA programs and identify the schools that will best support your career goals with the Clear Admit Career Guides! Available for Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Healthcare.

Clear Admit Strategy Series
Craft a winning application with the Clear Admit Strategy Series! Step-by-Step guidance through the application process. Titles include a Resume Guide, Recommendations Guide, Waitlist Guide and more!

Clear Admit Interview Guides
Be as prepared as possible for your MBA interviews this season with the Clear Admit Interview Guides! School-specific sample questions and in-depth strategy, campus visit details and places to stay.

Application Deadlines
Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools.
Feb 10: INSEAD R3
Mar 1: Michigan / Ross R3
Mar 3: CBS
Mar 3: LBS R3
Mar 4: Kellogg R3
Mar 8: Cambridge / Judge R4
Mar 8: CMU / Tepper R3
Mar 9: Duke / Fuqua R3
Mar 9: Penn / Wharton R3
Mar 10: Berkeley / Hass R4
Mar 10: Chicago Booth R3
Mar 10: Yale SOM R3
Mar 15: NYU / Stern R3
Mar 17: UCLA / Anderson R3
Mar 19: UNC / Kenan-Flagler R4
Mar 30: Cornell / Johnson R4
Mar 31: UVA / Darden R3
Mar 31: INSEAD R4
Apr 1: UT-Austin / McCombs
Apr 2: Dartmouth / Tuck R3
Apr 2: Oxford / Saїd R3
Apr 7: Stanford GSB R4
Apr 8: Harvard R3
Apr 14: CBS

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas*
Chicago Booth*
CMU / Tepper*
Columbia*
Cornell / Johnson*
Dartmouth / Tuck*
Duke / Fuqua*
Harvard*
Indian School of Business*
INSEAD*
London Business School*
MIT / Sloan*
Michigan / Ross*
Northwestern / Kellogg*
NYU / Stern*
Oxford / Said*
Penn / Wharton*
Stanford GSB*
UCLA / Anderson*
UNC / Kenan-Flagler*
USC / Marshall*
UT Austin / McCombs*
UVA / Darden*
Yale SOM*
* denotes '09-'10 commentary

Categories
Use categories to access all that has been written on each of the topics. We have categorized by school and by subject matter.

Interview Reports
A selection of interview field reports from fellow applicants posted to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Add your reports when you are finished with your interviews.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan / Ross
MIT / Sloan
Stanford
UNC / Chapel Hill
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
London Business School

GMAT Resources
MBA.com
Manhattan GMAT
GMAT Club
Princeton Review
Test Prep New York
Kaplan
Beat The GMAT
Knewton

Writing Resources
Guide to Grammar and Writing
The Internet Grammar of English
English Usage, Style and Composition
The Economist Style Guide
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

School Rankings
Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
Business Week
Economist
Financial Times
Forbes
USNews
Wall Street Journal

Career Guides
The following resources should be useful to those who want to research the careers open to them after (or before) earning an MBA.
Vault.com
Wetfeet

Business School Resources
The following are business resources offered by a variety of leading Business Schools. It's useful to subscribe to these resources, especially for the schools to which you are applying.

MBA Programs: North America
If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
Berkeley / Haas
Boston College / Carroll
Carnegie Mellon / Tepper
Chicago
Columbia
Concordia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Emory / Goizueta
Harvard
HEC Montreal
Indiana / Kelley
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
Northwestern / Kellogg
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Kenan Flagler
Notre Dame / Mendoza
Pennsylvania / Wharton
Queens
Stanford
Syracuse / Whitman
Texas / McCombs
Thunderbird
Toronto
USC / Marshall
UCLA / Anderson
Vanderbilt / Owen
Virginia / Darden
Washington University in St. Louis / Olin
Western Ontario / Ivey
Yale

MBA Programs: Rest of the World
As there is some variety in the length of international MBA programs, we have denoted the length of the program next to its name (1 = one year; 2 = 2 years). If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
AGSM (Australia) 2
Cambridge / Judge (UK) 1
CIEBS (China) 2
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (China) 1
Cranfield School of Mgmt (UK) 1
ESADE (Spain) 1 or 2
HEC (France) 2
Hult (UK) 1
IESE (Spain) 2
IMD (Switzerland) 1
INCAE (Costa Rica) 2
INSEAD (France) 1
IPADE (Mexico)
ISB (India) 1
London Business School (UK) 2
Manchester Bus. School (UK) 2
Melbourne (Australia) 2
Oxford / Said (UK) 1
Rotterdam (Netherlands) 1
Tsinghua IMBA (China) 2
University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1

Additional Resources
Here we link a host of additional resources available across the web. E-mail info@clearadmit.com to have resources added to this list.
AACSB International
Association of MBAs
Beyond Grey Pinstripes
EFMD
gradschools.com (worldwide)
Infozee
International Student Loans
mba.com (GMAT Scores)
MBAInfo
mbaleague.blogspot.com
MBAzone
MBA Jungle
TOEFL
Top MBA

MBA Tipline
We encourage admissions officers, students and applicants to alert us of interesting news and developments, please send an email to news@clearadmit.com so we can blog it.

Blog Archive

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CATEGORY - GENERAL

Monday, March 08, 2010

Admissions Tip: Extracurricular Activities

Because it’s the time of year when applicants aiming for Fall 2010 intake are just beginning to think about the admissions process, we wanted to focus today on one element of the application that candidates often underestimate: extracurricular activities.

In order to understand why this category is important, candidates should keep in mind that the adcom is responsible for crafting a dynamic class each year. The aim is to admit individuals who will support a vibrant campus community and step into leadership positions. In other words, as admissions officers consider each applicant, they ask themselves “what’s in it for our school?” An applicant who has previously demonstrated a talent for writing, for example, by contributing to a non-profit’s newsletter, will really catch the adcom’s attention if she also expresses her intent to contribute to a specific publication on campus.

Volunteering is of course a great way to expand one’s extracurricular involvement. However, many applicants participate in the occasional fundraising walk or an annual corporate outreach day; those who demonstrate ongoing involvement in one cause or organization will be of special interest to the admissions committee, especially if it is related to their current or future career. A candidate who has contributed over a longer period is likely to have developed his or her responsibilities beyond ladling soup or stuffing envelopes. What’s more, this can be a particularly important opportunity for applicants who are currently living and working outside of their home countries; for example, an Indian applicant who works and volunteers in Africa will stand out as being particularly engaged and well-adapted to his or her foreign environment.

Candidates who are older or younger than the average applicant should recognize that their extracurricular involvement is particularly important. A younger applicant who lacks leadership responsibilities at work might demonstrate his talent for motivating others outside of the office. Meanwhile, older applicants can use their extracurricular involvement to reassure the adcom that, despite family responsibilities or distance in age from one’s classmates, the broader life of the community remains important to them.

Lastly, applicants will have a much easier time writing their application essays if they have a variety of experiences from which to draw. While applicants can certainly respond to most essay prompts by reflecting on their professional experiences, relying exclusively on one’s work is a mistake. With each essay, the applicant should aim to share a different side of him or herself – submitting five essays about electrical engineering or investment banking is not the most effective way to do this.

We hope that this sheds some light on the opportunities and value that activities outside of work provide with respect to one’s b-school candidacy and applications. Should you find that area of your application lacking upon reflection, the good news is that there’s still plenty of time to address this before the deadlines. Whether that means volunteering your professional services to a local non-profit, joining a community mentoring organization or brushing up on your competitive square dancing, Class of 2012 aspirants should aim to make this an especially active and productive spring and summer!

Interested in a free assessment of your candidacy? Feel free to send your CV or resume to info@clearadmit.com.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Admissions Tips, General

Friday, March 05, 2010

MBA Oath Initiative Grows as Global Organizations Lend Support

Support for a professional oath of honor for business graduates grew even more Monday when the Oath Project announced a new alliance with the United Nations Global Compact and the Principles for Responsible Management Education in support of the cause.

The initiative to establish an MBA oath similar to the Hippocratic oath doctors take before practicing medicine has been gaining steam over the past few years. Thunderbird School of Global Management adopted an oath in 2005, a group of Harvard Business School students launched a grassroots effort, MBAOath.org, in 2008, and the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders put forth a Global Business Oath at the recent annual Davos forum in January.

To coordinate these various efforts into one voice, Thunderbird President Ángel Cabrera and Harvard business professors Rakesh Khurana, Rob Kaplan and Nitin Nohria established the Oath Project. Earlier this week, the UN Global Compact, a leadership initiative founded in 2000 for companies committed to sustainability and responsible business practices, and the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Management Education, a platform promoting responsible management education supported by almost 300 business schools, announced that they have joined the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, the MBA Oath, the Aspen Institute and the Association of Professionals in Business Management as founding partners of the Oath Project.

“The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative endorses the Oath because it could become a fitting tool to place at the core of management education the values of sustainability and good corporate citizenship,” Manuel Escudero, head of the PRME Secretariat, said in a statement. He added that both the PRME and the Oath reflect an urgent global need for leaders who commit to serving society in their roles as business managers.

Georg Kell, executive director of the UN Global Compact, pledged his support as well. “The Oath Project represents a critical effort to embed management education and training in a broader context of business ethics,” he said.

Thunderbird’s Cabrera, one of the first vocal proponents for an MBA Oath, pointed to the global financial crisis as an indicator of the responsibility business leaders hold in society at large. “Managers are entrusted with incredible power to create or destroy value, and in so doing, affect the lives of thousands if not millions of people,” he said. “This is a power that should not be taken lightly and, as with medical or legal professionals, requires professional standards and ethics that govern its use,” he continued.

The Oath Project, with its growing roster of founding partners, hopes to serve as a hub to support the work of the individuals and organizations that have already been working to promote the concept of an MBA oath. The leaders of the Oath Project believe that for the project to succeed, the management education community needs to come to consensus around a single oath for all to share.

For more on the Oath Project, click here.

0 Comments »

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

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

MBA Applicant Reviews Clear Admit Career Guides

MBA applicant blogger ‘A Beautiful Mind’ dedicated a recent post to sharing advice on how to compile a list of target schools, and, in tandem, offered his thoughts on how the Clear Admit Career Guide to Consulting helped him.

When it comes to determining the schools that best suit your interests, A Beautiful Mind stresses the importance of first identifying which field you plan to enter post-MBA, and of then pinpointing schools that align with these goals. To help you narrow your list in this way, A Beautiful Mind suggests a particular tool: “A good resource for identifying relevant schools is a Clear Admit Career Guide to your target field.”

A Beautiful Mind continues on to outline his experience with the Clear Admit Career Guide to Consulting, saying that it is, “helpful in identifying the best schools for consulting.” He also makes note of the specificity of this guide, and explains that, “It is not a full fledge guide for developing a career in consulting. It’s purely a guide to b schools for consulting.” In other words, this line of publications is specifically tailored to MBA applicants who need a helping hand when it comes to deciding what schools would best support their professional ambitions.

According to A Beautiful Mind, the Clear Admit Career Guide to Consulting has a number of merits. He particularly cites the thorough nature of the guide as being beneficial: “The main pros of this guide [are] the details on each school. It has details on the curriculum structure, core and elective courses relevant to consulting (more specifically Management Consulting, but also has more), list of prominent faculty members at each school and more.” A Beautiful Mind doesn’t stop there; he goes on to draw attention to what other valuable information the guide offers its readers:

“You can gain an understanding of what exactly the school is known for in the market, the most recent class composition, placement statistics, consulting companies that visit the school and whether the most sought after companies visit the school or not. It also has the details of relevant courses, organization of these courses (like when exactly can a student, during his/her two years, take these) and the level of flexibility offered by the school. Some details on the relevant student clubs and events sponsored by the school are also mentioned in the guide.”

In the end, A Beautiful Mind summarizes his feelings towards the Clear Admit Career Guide to Consulting, asserting that, “All in all, it is a good source of information for identifying the correct school for your target field. . . a good source to begin with.”

Our publications team would like to thank A Beautiful Mind for sharing his feedback! For more information on all of our publications, click here. Our full range of publications is available for immediate purchase and download on the Clear Admit online shop.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 pm in Career Guides, General

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Aspen Center for Business Education Launches the Oath Project

Together with three other partner organizations, the Aspen Center for Business Education (CBE) has launched the Oath Project, an initiative to support the individuals and organizations that have been working to promote the concept of a business professional oath similar to the Hippocratic oath that doctors take swearing to practice medicine ethically.

Aspen CBE is a division of the Aspen Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering value-based leadership. Its partners in the Oath Project are the Association for Professional Business Managers, MBA Oath and the World Economic Forum for Young Global Leaders. Together, these four organizations have launched a website, TheOathProject.org, to communicate the initiative’s objectives and milestones.

The release from Aspen CBE announcing the new project’s launch noted that the idea of creating a business oath is not a new one. The creation of MBA programs in the United States grew in part out of a desire to “professionalize” the practice of management, and several schools have instituted their own oaths at various times.

Amid the recent economic crisis, management education has come under fire from some critics, and the idea of a global MBA oath has gained new life. Two Harvard professors suggested a draft oath in a November 2008 article in the Harvard Business Review, and World Economic Forum Executive Director Klaus Schwab devoted a special session during the January 2009 forum to begin the process of creating a global business oath.

Then, in May 2009, a grassroots movement led by students at Harvard Business School created the MBA Oath, which was signed by more than half of the HBS graduating class of 2009. According to the Aspen CBE release, 1,000 other business school students from MBA programs around the world also opted to take the oath last spring, and as many as a dozen other groups and individuals took their own modified or translated oath.

The Oath Project is rooted in the idea that for the project to succeed, MBA programs worldwide must come to consensus around a single oath for all to share. “We are currently at the ‘final draft’ stage of this oath, and are seeking feedback before we finalize the oath for 2010,” the Aspen CBE release stated.

To learn more about the Oath Project, click here.

What do you think? Should all MBA students take a common oath pledging to practice business ethically upon graduation? Share your comments here.

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

Monday, February 01, 2010

AACSB International, Net Impact Partner to Encourage Donations to Haitian Relief Efforts

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International has joined with Net Impact to encourage business school communities around the globe to contribute to relief efforts in Haiti following the devastating earthquake that took place there earlier this year.

AACSB is the main accrediting agency for business schools worldwide, and Net Impact is a global organization of MBA students and graduates committed to using business to improve the world. AACSB includes 1,200 educational institutions, businesses and other organizations, and Net Impact has chapters on more than 150 MBA and graduate school campuses.

Together, the two organizations are encouraging their members to join together and donate to relief efforts in Haiti.

“As educators and corporate citizens, we have the unique opportunity on a daily basis to mold the minds, actions and benevolent spirit of the next generation of leaders,” AACSB President Jose Fernandez and Net Impact Executive Director Liz Maw said in a letter to members. “During a time of such crisis and as socially responsible concerns, it is now that we must encourage our communities to join in the universal relief efforts and answer the call with fundraising and volunteer efforts,” they continued.

As further encouragement, AACSB and Net Impact plan in the coming weeks to feature business schools and corporations that have demonstrated a spirit of generosity and social responsibility toward the situation in Haiti. Schools and businesses are invited to submit accounts of their fundraising and volunteer efforts to amyp@aacsb.edu.

For more on this initiative, click here.

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

Monday, January 18, 2010

Yale SOM Dean Shares Alumni Connection to Organization Providing Aid to Haiti

In a blog post late last week, Yale School of Management (SOM) Dean Sharon Oster spoke to the tragic situation in Haiti, which was struck by a major earthquake on Tuesday. Acknowledging that many members of the SOM community have expressed a desire to help, she shared details about an aid organization led by a Yale SOM alumnus and advisory board member.

“Many organizations are currently rushing to provide relief and assistance to people in Haiti, but one has a particular SOM connection,” Oster wrote. The organization, Mercy Corps, has significant experience responding to humanitarian crises around the globe and had last week already deployed an emergency team to Port-au-Prince, Oster continued. Mercy Corps is led by CEO Neal Keny-Guyer, who graduated from Yale SOM in 1982 and today is a member of the SOM Board of Advisors and the Yale Corporation.

Oster directed members of the Yale SOM community to the Mercy Corps website for details on how to offer support, adding that a special Yale SOM Haiti Fundraiser Response page has been created there to allow members of the SOM community to join together in making a financial donation toward relief efforts. Oster committed $1,000 to start the SOM fundraising drive and, as of this writing, a total of $7,208 has been raised.

“I know I speak for the entire SOM community in sending condolences and sympathy to those affected by this tragedy,” she concluded.

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

Monday, January 11, 2010

Admissions Tip: Understanding Background Checks

With a slew of schools releasing the last of their R1 notifications in the coming weeks, we know that many of our readers will be asking about the background checks conducted by leading programs. Here are some quick facts to help explain the process:

1) What are background checks? Background checks involve the verification of information that a candidate has provided in his or her MBA applications. Although the process varies from school to school, it usually includes checking that an applicant attended the undergraduate (or graduate) school(s) that he or she claims to have attended, received the grades indicated and earned the GMAT score reported. It also involves the verification of the candidate’s employment history, job titles, starting and ending dates and salary/bonus information. Finally, some background checks involve contacting recommenders to verify their support and confirming applicant involvement in community activities.

2) Do all schools conduct background checks? When do they do this? How do they have time? Many of the leading MBA programs like to verify the information that has been provided by applicants. This is typically done only for those applicants who are admitted, since there is no sense in expending resources to verify information for applicants who do not make the cut. Most background checks occur in the spring – after decisions for most rounds have been released and students begin sending in their deposits. In many cases, the schools outsource this function to a professional risk consulting firm like Kroll.

3) Why bother with background checks? Don’t the schools trust me? The purpose of background checking is to protect all stakeholders of the MBA program (students, faculty, staff, alumni) from those who would falsify their backgrounds to gain an unfair advantage in the admissions process. Some schools opt to investigate the backgrounds of a relatively small sample of randomly selected admits, hoping that the mere possibility of a check will give applicants incentive to be as honest as possible. In a way, this measure therefore serves to increase the adcom’s trust in its applicants.

4) What about very minor discrepancies? It’s natural for admitted applicants to get anxious at this point in the process, wondering whether their offer of admission might be rescinded if, for instance, the “start date” for an old job is one week earlier than the start date that HR reports during the background check. The good news is that most schools report any discrepancies back to the applicant and give them a chance to explain a plausible mistake. Having said that, it of course makes sense to do your best to verify all of your information before applying to school, so that you can be certain that the data you report is accurate. Should any potential issues come to mind after submitting, you might consider preemptively contacting the adcom if the error is serious enough.

5) Won’t the background checking process alert my employer to the fact that I am applying to b-school? Since the process typically takes place long after you’ve been admitted, this ideally won’t be an issue, as most applicants give their employers ample notice and take some time off before school. Having said that, the schools still try to conduct the checks in a discrete fashion, consulting with your HR department to verify your dates of employment and salary – but not necessarily revealing that you are heading to business school.

6) How can I ensure a smooth background check? While the obvious answer is to be honest in your applications, it’s also important that you don’t fudge anything out of laziness (a common occurrence). Dig up those old W-2 forms or check with former employers in order to present the committee with the most accurate information you can.

Good luck to everyone anxiously awaiting word from their R1 schools and, of course, those targeting R2 as well!

1 Comment »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 5:38 am in Admissions Tips, General

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

NYU’s Stern School of Business to Help Standard & Poor’s Develop In-House Credit Analyst Certification Program

The U.S. ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is taking a number of steps to strengthen its ratings process in the wake of the global credit crunch and resulting stock market turmoil, including working with New York University’s Stern School of Business to develop an in-house certification program for its credit analysts, the Financial Times reported.

The new week-long program, which Stern will offer to S&P analysts in New York and London, will focus on skills such as financial statement analysis, advanced statistical analysis, valuation, derivative basics and credit scoring models, according to the FT report. It is one of 27 steps S&P is taking to strengthen its ratings process and rebuild its reputation after its methods were criticized by investors and regulators for leading to positive assessments of investments associated with risky subprime U.S. home loans.

“The overarching thing for us is that we’re working hard to restore confidence, but all of these are good business practices,” Pat Milano, chief operating officer at S&P, told the FT. Other measures include establishing an independent risk assessment oversight committee.

All S&P analysts will now be required to take the Stern course and pass an exam in order to act as a primary credit analyst. This is in addition to existing requirements that new primary credit analysts in the United States hold an MBA, a masters degree in finance or the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, the FT reported.

According to Stern finance professor Rangarajan Sundaram, the material in the course draws heavily from the lessons of this most recent economic crisis but is applicable to any economic circumstance.

Jaki Sitterle, managing director of executive programs at Stern, adds that many companies have begun to turn to business schools in the wake of the economic crisis to devise customized programs to help their employees learn from the meltdown.

“This is a big opportunity for executive education, because there is an increased need for financial literacy and . . . for employees to understand complex financial instruments,” she told the FT.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in General, Part-Time/Executive MBA, School: NYU Stern

Friday, January 01, 2010

Happy New Year!

We would like to extend our best wishes for 2010 to all of our readers.

May the next 12 months be filled with success – be it in the admissions process, workplace, community or beyond!

We look forward to providing you with continued b-school news and admissions advice in 2010.

-The Clear Admit Team

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:12 am in General

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

INSEAD Professors Release CEO Rankings

Earlier this month, professors at INSEAD released a new ranking of the world’s best-performing CEOs, with the surprising finding that many star CEOs don’t live up to their reputations. Ultimately the study raises questions about just what constitutes effective long-term leadership and whether and why the business community might place higher emphasis on reputation than performance.

To conduct the survey, INSEAD professors Morten Hansen, Herminia Ibarra and Urs Peyer created a benchmark to measure how CEOs have built value over the long term, examining CEO performance at the world’s largest companies over the executives’ entire time in office.

“The real test of a CEO’s leadership should be how the company performs over his or her tenure,’” Morten Hansen, professor of entrepreneurship and management at INSEAD, said in a statement about the study. “As the current economic crisis has taught us, it’s no longer enough to look at short-term gains in regards to executive performance. It is essential to examine the bigger picture.”

Compiling a list of 2,000 CEOs worldwide, the professors then set to work measuring their actual performance based on hard metrics such as shareholder returns and changes in market value. They whittled the list down to the 200 top-performing CEOs and found some surprises along the way. Of particular note was the fact that the top 200 included a large number of relatively unknown and “unsung” CEOs, while a number of high-profile “celebrity” CEOs didn’t make the cut.

All in all, the leading CEOs truly delivered. On average, the top 50 performing delivered a total shareholder return of 997 percent, with the top-spot CEO delivering an astounding 3,226 percent return (30 percent annually).

Of particular interest to the MBA world, the survey revealed that having an MBA was linked to better CEO performance. CEOs with an MBA degree ranked, on average, 40 places better than the CEOs without an MBA.

The survey also revealed that no single country or industry had a lock on performance. The list of the top 50 performing CEOs includes companies based in the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Germany, China, the United States, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Finland, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland.

The study and a list of the top 50 performing CEOs will appear in the January 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review. For a full list of the top 200 performing CEOs in the world and for more information on the survey, click here.

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

Thursday, December 10, 2009

New Oxford University Master’s Degree to Combine Law and Finance

The Saïd Business School and the University of Oxford’s Law Faculty today announced the launch of a new specialty master’s degree program in law and finance. Coming immediately on the heels of a Wall Street Journal article about the rise of specialty master’s degrees programs at top business schools, Oxford’s new degree provides a case in point of sorts. Though geared more toward those with a bakground in law looking to develop a specialty in finance, the trend toward shorter, more focused master’s degree programs is the same.

Called the “Oxford Master’s in Law and Finance,” the new program will begin in October 2010. A full-time nine-month course, the program is designed for students with a background in law who would like to develop an advanced understanding of financial transactions and stay current in the swiftly evolving economic and regulatory landscape.

‘The Oxford Master’s in Law and Finance will act as a launch-pad for a successful career in law, regulation or academic finance,’ Armour explained in a statement. Given the explosive growth in the financial services sector in recent decades, and the ensuing regulation and transactions, understanding corporate finance has become vital to the success of lawyers in the field, he added.

Legal practitioners, financial experts, economists and academics will all take part in the new program, as both students and teachers. Partners in industry will help develop practical case studies for use as part of the course.

“This is a course whose time has arrived,” Professor Tim Jenkinson, head of the finance faculty at Saïd, said in a statement. “The financial crisis showed that understanding of financial products, decisions and their associated risks is required throughout organizations. Those who can combine legal and financial skills will be particularly valuable to businesses, professional practices and regulatory bodies.”

There are 30 places available for the program’s start next October. Admission is open to both new and experienced lawyers as well as to undergraduate and graduate students in related fields. To learn more, click here.

0 Comments »

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

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

GMAT Tip: Unofficial Guide to the Official Guide – Part 1

Today’s GMAT tip comes from the folks at Kaplan. In this article, Kaplan teacher Brian Fruchey shares advice on best practices for using the GMAC Official Guide:

The GMAC Official Guide is a fantastic book. (So fantastic, that when students enroll in a Kaplan GMAT course, we buy a copy for them!) While the book is stuffed full of good questions, make sure that you use it appropriately. Case in point: the GMAC does not indicate the relative “toughness” of a particular question. Realize that, if you are looking to score 600 + on Test Day, you will have to supplement your studying with additional material. The following outlines strategies on how to use the Official Guide for the following sections:

1 – Background of the GMAT (Sections 1,2, and 3)

The GMAT is a different kind of test than you have probably ever taken before. The first three sections of the OG (lingo for the Official Guide) provide the background a new test taker needs. We suggest to really memorize sections 1 and 2. Knowing what the GMAC says about the test will help put the rest of the content and strategies into a framework.

Section 3 is a diagnostic test. This is a really great way to jump into the content of the GMAT. I would advise you to not focus on the timing considerations at this point. Set a couple hours aside and work through each of the question sets. The diagnostic test is divided by question type (Problem Solving vs. Data Sufficiency) – don’t let this trick you. The real GMAT is not clearly subdivided.

Finally, make sure you go over the explanations after the section. Knowing why a question is wrong is a lot better than just knowing that a question is wrong – working through your right and wrong answers is really the beginning of your GMAT preparation.

2 – Math Review (Section 4)

Ok. So you just finished a diagnostic test. You have reviewed your questions and have learned about the test. Hopefully, the quantitative section wasn’t awful. However, no matter who you are, you probably found at least a couple of the concepts difficult.

Section 4 of the OG outlines the math that you will need to know for the GMAT. While the OG does not go into extreme detail, it is very important for test takers to know what is being tested on Test Day. I would advise testers to review this material and make sure they are comfortable with each of these concepts. However, also realize that the test focuses on a couple of the concepts far more than other concepts. Your study program needs to distinguish where you should focus your energies – the OG basically introduces the concepts.

3 – Content Structure (Sections 5 – 9)

Sections 5 through 9 are the heavy content sections. The GMAT views the test through a prism of question types. I view the test differently – through a prism of competencies, since a competency can be tested through several different question types. This makes learning the GMAT that much easier when you can see there are only a few things test takers truly must know. Since the OG is a GMAC book and not a strategy-based program, you will be looking at the questions by individual question type.

Each of these content areas contains a great deal of questions as well as instructions on answering the questions. Use these questions to refine and develop your test taking ability. At the very least, before you take the real GMAT, make sure you have cleaned out all of these questions and reviewed the explanations.

4 – Analytical Writing Assessment (Section 10)

Finally, the last section of the book deals with the Analytical Writing Assessment (or AWA). Please read this section in detail to understand explicitly what the GMAT wants you to write. They are pretty clear about the structure. If you are concerned about the AWA section (the score is looked at!), make sure you practice with the sample prompts in the book. Additionally, the book outlines some suggested scores for sample essays. Before reading the samples, set a timer for 30 minutes and try to write the sample yourself. Comparing your essay to the sample ones in the book will give you a decent idea of how your score might stack up.

The OG is a great resource. It’s an essential piece of any GMAT preparation program. In a later post, I’ll talk more about how the OG differs from other resources and how you can study specific question types from past actual GMATs.

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 nine different firms!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:00 pm in GMAT News, GMAT Test Prep Company Series, GMAT Tips, General

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Marketing 2.0 for MBA Admissions: Embracing Social Media

Clear Admit alumnus Alex Brown has recently authored a new white paper on “engagement marketing,” or how admission officers at top MBA programs can harness social media to connect with prospective applicants. Brown, an internet marketing and social media consultant, served on the Clear Admit admissions consulting staff for several years after his tenure as an admissions officer at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He continues to serve as a regular advisor to Clear Admit.

Brown’s new white paper, “Engagement Marketing Revisited,” builds on the framework he presented in a 2006 white paper for how to develop marketing programs using audience-generated content in concert with traditional marketer-generated content. In this most recent paper, Brown examines newer social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, which have become more widely embraced in the past three years and are changing the rules by which admissions officers must communicate with prospective applicants.

Using the MBA applicant marketplace as his case study, Brown examines what he calls the three circles of marketing, comprised of an inner circle of traditional marketing, an outer circle he calls “free marketing” and a middle circle he refers to as “engagement marketing.”

Traditional marketing, controlled by the marketer, includes marketer-created content, such as school admissions websites and promotional brochures. Free marketing, meanwhile, is made up of content about a school generated by students and others outside the control of the marketer, according to Brown. And engagement marketing lies at the intersection of the two, representing “opportunities for marketers to engage the outer circle and participate in and develop conversations,” he writes.

Brown goes on to unpack each of these ideas and to explore how MBA admissions offices can use the changing landscape of social media for their own marketing purposes. In a step-by-step analysis, he examines each of the newest social media platforms and offers concrete suggestions for how schools can establish a voice and take part in the evolving conversation with prospective MBA applicants.

Clear Admit’s own use of social media factors prominently into Brown’s case study. Through our Clear Admit Wiki, which hosts interview reports from prospective applicants, and our listing of active MBA bloggers and tweeters, Clear Admit has become a main hub for conversation among prospective applicants and current students about top MBA programs.

Whether you are an MBA admissions officer looking for ways to expand your marketing capabilities or a prospective marketing student curious about social media’s role, you’ll likely find Brown’s paper of significant interest. To view it in its entirety, click here.

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

Saturday, November 21, 2009

GMAT Practice Problem: Sum of Squares

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

Problem

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

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

Solution

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

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

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

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

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

The correct answer is (C).

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

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

Thursday, November 19, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Save Hundreds of Dollars on GMAT Test Prep! Coupons Now Included with free Clear Admit Guide.

We are pleased to report that The Clear Admit Guide to GMAT Preparation Companies, our free publication, now includes coupons on services from the firms outlined in the guide. The discounts offered in this guide are worth several hundred dollars and have been made exclusively for those who download the publication!

The Clear Admit Guide to GMAT Preparation Companies is a free, comprehensive guide that provides unbiased, in-depth profiles of all the major GMAT prep companies in the United States and abroad. Among the information included in each firm’s profile is its history, service offerings, costs, refund policies, instructor qualifications, course schedules, teaching approach and more.

To obtain your free copy and to see what discounts the test prep centers have made available to you, simply visit the Clear Admit shop. Click on the corresponding link to be guided through a brief ordering process, after which you will receive an email with a password that lets you download, save, print or read your own copy of The Clear Admit Guide to GMAT Preparation Companies.

If you are considering GMAT preparations or tutoring, download our FREE guide now and take advantage of substantial savings!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:00 am in GMAT News, GMAT Tips, General, Strategy Series

Saturday, November 14, 2009

GMAT Practice Question: The 300

Today’s sample problem comes from our friends at ManhattanGMAT. To help prepare for the exam, see if you can solve the problem first, then read on for the correct answer and explanation.

Problem

An integer between 1 and 300, inclusive, is chosen at random. What is the probability that the integer so chosen equals an integer raised to an exponent that is an integer greater than 1?

(A) 17/300
(B) 1/15
(C) 1/12
(D) 1/10
(E) 3/25

Solution

First, make sure that you grasp the question. To find the desired probability, we need to count the integers between 1 and 300 that fit the given constraint. (We will then divide this count by 300, to determine the final answer.)

The constraint is worded in a confusing way, so we should attempt to reword it. If necessary, put in sample numbers to make the conditions make sense. We need an “integer raised to an exponent that is an integer greater than 1.” In other words, we need an integer raised to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. power. In even other words, we need perfect squares, perfect cubes, etc. that are between 1 and 300, inclusive.

Now we need to count these perfect squares, etc. in an efficient way. Let’s start with the squares. What’s the biggest perfect square less than 300? Test numbers if necessary. 162 = 256 and 172 = 289, but 182 = 324. Thus, we have 12 through 172, for 17 perfect squares.

Now, let’s count the cubes. Leave out 13, since we’ve already counted 1 as 12. 53 = 125 and 63 = 216, but 73 = 343. Thus, we have 5 more integer powers (23 through 63, inclusive), for a cumulative total of 22.

What about the fourth powers – 24, 34, etc.? We’ve already counted any of these that matter, because they are also perfect squares: 24 = 42, 34 = 92, etc. We can leave out any higher even powers for the same reason (26 = 82, 28 = 162, etc.).

However, we must consider additional odd powers, continuing to leave out 1 raised to any power. 25 = 32, 35 = 243, but 45 = something greater than 300, as we can see by considering that 45 = 44 × 4 = 162 × 4 = 256 × 4. So we have two more integer powers (25 and 35), for a cumulative total of 24.

Seventh powers: 27 = 128, but 37 = something much greater than 300 (since 37 = 35 × 32 = 243 × 9). Be sure to stop calculating when you see that the result is outside the bounds of the problem. We have 1 more power, for a cumulative total of 25.

Ninth powers: 29 = 128 × 4 = greater than 300. So we can stop here.

Finally, we compute 25/300 = 1/12.

The correct answer is (C).

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

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

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

GMAT Tip: Solving Rate Problems

Today’s GMAT tip comes from the folks at test prep firm Manhattan Review, who have some advice on how to handle rate problems on the GMAT:

Rate problems are very prevalent on the Quantitative section of the GMAT, particularly in Problem Solving, but to a lesser extent, Data Sufficiency as well. The majority of rate problems require solid proficiency in ratio concepts and knowledge of the two primary rate formulae:

Speed Formula: time x speed = distance

Productive Work Formula: time x rate = units produced

Which formula you use has everything to do with the question, and you will need to adjust the formula accordingly. Rate problems are, by definition, word problems, so being able to translate the information in the question into mathematical form is essential.

Let’s try a practice question:

Two buses, A and B, started simultaneously from opposite ends of the same 50-mile bus route and traveled toward each other, making their regular trips. Bus A, traveling at a constant rate, completed the 50-mile trip in 2 hours; Bus B, traveling at a constant rate, completed the 50-mile trip in 1 hour. How many miles had Bus A traveled when it met Bus B?

From this information, we can determine the speed of the two buses easily:

Bus A – 50 miles/2 hrs = 25 miles/hr

Bus B – 50 miles/1 hr = 50 miles/hr

The ratio of the Bus A to Bus B is 2:1.

Now, adjust the rate formula so that “time” is the amount of time passed when the buses meet. Bus A will have traveled 25(time) and Bus B will have traveled 50(time). Logically, something may occur to you right away – the entire length of the route has been covered, by either Bus A or Bus B. That means, together, at their time of meeting, the combined distance of the two buses is 50 miles. Now, set up your equation again.

25(time) + 50(time) = 50 miles

Combine like terms: 75(time) = 50 miles

time = 2/3 hour (or 40 minutes, but do not change units halfway through a question!)

Now, to figure out the distance covered by Bus A, plug the time and speed into our formula again:

2/3 hour x 25 miles/hr = 16 2/3 miles.

The exceptional flexibility of this formula is what makes it so useful, but also what can make a rate problem much trickier than the word problems you may remember from your pre-college days. This question requires you to know that you can use combined rates without changing the formula’s format.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:00 pm in GMAT - Quantitative, GMAT News, GMAT Test Prep Company Series, GMAT Tips, General

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Clear Admit Tops Google Reader List of Best MBA Feeds

Google Reader, a service from Google that allows you to track RSS feeds, has created “bundles” of recommended feeds under different subject areas for users to select from as they set up their own personalized feed readers. We’re proud to report that the Clear Admit blog tops the list under recommended feeds for MBA content.

The Google Reader bundle for MBA content includes 10 recommended feeds. BusinessWeek’s B-School Web channel is listed second, followed by the websites and blogs of several top MBA programs, among others. Included in the top-ranking school blogs and websites are Harvard Business School, London Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Google Reader is available to anyone with a Google account. To access it, log into your account and click on “Reader” in the upper left-hand corner. To access the pre-packaged bundles arranged by subject matter within Google Reader, click on “Browse for stuff” from the left-hand column and then click on “View all 449” under “Bundles from Google.” This brings you to an alphabetical directory by subject.

Thanks to Google for recognizing Clear Admit as a top source for timely, relevant MBA news!

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

Monday, November 09, 2009

Admissions Tip: The Comparison Trap

We wanted to take some time today to discuss a frequently-made mistake in the application process. In their desire to make their case to their target MBA programs, many applicants devote sentences and even paragraphs to explaining why the school in question is their “first choice” and arguing its superiority over other schools.

Though certainly understandable, this is actually not a very productive exercise. Let’s consider a few reasons why, from the schools’ point of view:

Tell me something I don’t know. A popular strategy – and not always bad one – for applicants seeking to demonstrate their fit with one school above any other is to study its website to understand the program’s self-determined selling points, and then profess an interest in those. The thing that essay writers don’t always consider is that while a school’s distinguishing characteristics might be the factors that set it apart from others, this is not necessarily what the admissions committee wants to read about in an applicant’s essays. The very admissions officer reading your file spends months every year pushing this marketing message out to prospective students. Members of Harvard’s and Darden’s admissions staff know all about the merits of the case method, Kellogg and Duke’s admissions committees are already up to their ears in team-orientation, and Stanford and Yale could not be more aware of the benefits of a small class size. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t touch briefly on these key points (the schools highlight these for a reason), only to suggest that to put together a really compelling application, it’s important to push beyond high-level differentiators and immediate association and demonstrate that you’ve learned about the program on a deeper level. In making room for this level of detail within a restrictive word limit, cutting other schools out of the picture is a great starting point.

Enough about us, let’s talk about you. It’s not uncommon for applicants to become so engrossed in explaining how their target program differs from other business schools that they neglect to really articulate how their own interests, personality and preferences fit into the picture. Very nearly every school requires that prospective students compose an essay explaining how the MBA program will help them accomplish their goals, but there’s not a single one that adds “better than any other MBA program.” Though several schools do explicitly inquire about other target programs if an applicant advances to an interview, at this early point the adcom is much more interested in hearing about the candidate and his or her fit with the school. It’s a bit premature to assure a school that it’s your number one pick when the adcom hasn’t even decided whether they’re interested. It’s better to use all the space at your disposal in the essays to cover your experiences and accomplishments, share your aspirations and showcase your research on the MBA program.

I bet you say that to all the girls. Seriously, though, if an applicant goes out of his way to profess that Chicago Booth is the best school for him, is his first choice, etc., Booth really has no assurance that this applicant hasn’t written an equally passionate love letter to regional rival Kellogg. If a strategy seems likely to work in one place, might as well use it everyplace, right? Yes, it’s generally true that schools prefer to admit students who are excited about their program and seem likely to attend, but actions speak louder than words. The details of campus visits and conversations with students and alumni are far better topics to cover in your essays. To invoke a classic essay-writing maxim, “show, don’t tell” the adcom that you care. Further, the best way to convince the adcom that you “only have eyes for their school” is to not mention any other school at all.

We hope that this offers a number of helpful “do”s to offset this big essay “don’t.” It is very important to get an in-depth understanding of your target MBA programs and engage members of the community. Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversations with members of the community or reading the Clear Admit School Guides – will pay dividends here. Happy writing and researching!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:23 am in Admissions Tips, General

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