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Clear Admit School Guides
Eighteen titles available! Understand how the leading programs compare and learn more about the MBA experience in and beyond the classroom through Clear Admit School Guides. As featured in the Economist.

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.

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The Career Goals Essay*
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CATEGORY - INTERVIEW GUIDES

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

HBS Sends Out 750 Round One Interview Invitations, 100 More to Come

In a post to her blog, Harvard Business School (HBS) Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold informed anxious Round One applicants that 750 invitations to interview went out yesterday. Her office will extend a total of around 850 invitations by the January 21st notification date for Round One, she continued.

“I can’t predict when this additional 100 invitations will go out nor to whom,” she wrote. Candidates who receive later invitations may not have extensive options to interview in hub cities, she noted, but HBS will do all it can to try to schedule convenient interviews. 

Review of written applications will continue up through the January notification date, and the Admissions Board will continue to discuss cases throughout that period. Leopold anticipates that an additional 100 Round One candidates who have not received invitations to interview will be offered places on the wait list in January. These candidates may be invited to interview as their cases undergo further consideration.

“We are trying to be as transparent as possible about this anxiety-producing process,” Leopold wrote. “I hope I am clear in my continued message that this is a ‘selection’ process designed to bring a talented and diverse mix of students into the classroom,” she continued, adding that HBS receives many more qualified candidates than it can admit.

This year’s approach differs rather dramatically from prior years at HBS. First, the school is being a lot more transparent about the number of invites and overall timing/mechanics of the process. Second, the fact that HBS has released the bulk of the invites on a single day is a departure from its past approach of letting the invites trickle out in smaller batches. From where we sit, both of these developments are extremely positive, since Clear Admit has long been a major advocate of transparency in MBA admissions.

Our congratulations to the lucky 750 applicants who received interview invitations yesterday. Don’t forget that you can share your experiences on the Clear Admit Wiki – and learn from those who have gone before you. You also may want to check out the Clear Admit Interview Guide for Harvard, which provides HBS-specific insight and strategic advice for how to prepare.

For those still waiting to hear, stay positive! Best of luck!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Admissions Tip: Navigating MBA Admissions Interviews

Now that the first of many schools’ deadlines have come and gone, we’ve reached the point in the admissions season at which many applicants’ thoughts turn to interviews.  As a number of our readers enter into the often agonizing invitation wait period, we thought we’d comment on some simple steps to make sure you’re as prepared as possible when the good news comes.

1. Familiarize yourself with the interview process at your target programs. Will you want to get started making contacts at the school to fill a day on campus (and generate some great interview fodder), or do your programs of choice rely on local alumni to conduct their interviews?  Should you be practicing a walk-through of your background for an interviewer with no knowledge of your candidacy, or brainstorming new examples to share with an adcom member who’s already read your essays?  Building your knowledge of each school’s interview type and style will ensure that the time you spend reflecting and preparing is well spent.  The Clear Admit Interview Guides are a great way to answer the above questions and many others, offering an overview of each school’s interview process, a list of questions commonly asked by that program, a sample account, campus visit information (if applicable) and detailed school-specific strategic guidance.   We’ve just added the Darden School of Business at UVA and the Anderson School of Management at UCLA to our catalog of Clear Admit Interview Guides today, for a total of eighteen titles.

2. Polish your resume. No matter where you’ve applied, there’s one thing that you’ll need for your interview at virtually any school: a one-page resume.  The post-submission weeks are the perfect time to revisit your resume and make sure that it presents a representative overview of your candidacy that a ready of any background could easily understand.  Even if you have uploaded your resume as a part of the application, most schools allow applicants to present a revised version at the interview itself (this is particularly true for blind or alumni-based interviews).  For guidance in tailoring your resume to address the unique interests and backgrounds of MBA admissions committees, check out the Clear Admit Resume Guide.  With illustrative examples and detailed explanations, the Resume Guide will teach you how to present your qualifications and experiences to your best advantage, in terms of both content and presentation.

3. Build upon your understanding of each of the schools you’ve targeted. Of course, as is the case with one’s application essays, it’s not enough to wow the adcom with your professional and personal credentials and accomplishments; it’s also necessary to demonstrate deep knowledge of each school’s offerings and strengths to convince the interviewer that your interest in the school is well informed and that  you are poised to make a valuable contribution to the campus community.  Brushing up on the details of your target programs’ curricula, following breaking news from the schools, and thinking through how you would get involved and make a difference inside and outside of the classroom will certainly be fruitful interview preparation.  The Clear Admit School Guides, available for eighteen leading MBA programs, gather all the information you’ll need to understand the ins and outs of each school’s academic program and determine what sets your target program apart from its peers.

All Clear Admit Guides are available for purchase and immediate download from the Clear Admit shop.  Discounts are available for School Guide/Resume Guide combos, and for three or more of one kind of Guide.

We wish the best of luck to everyone waiting for word from their R1 schools … happy interviewing!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Harvard Round 3 Update, 100th Anniversary Celebration

In its continuing effort to be more transparent around the admissions process, the Harvard Business School (HBS) Admissions Committee yesterday shared the following information about Round 3:

“We plan to send out most of the Round 3 interview invitations during business hours today, April 9. There may be a few additional invitations going out until the May 14 notification date — not sure of the exact number, but probably around a dozen. Some Round 3 candidates who are not invited to interview now may be offered a place on the wait list on notification day, May 14.”

We here at Clear Admit hope some of you are celebrating today, having received an invite yesterday. As always, we encourage you to contribute to the Clear Admit Wiki, which is intended to serve as a repository of information learned by applicants as they progress through the MBA process. Specifically, the Wiki features an Interview page where applicants and students share their interview experiences. (It’s also a great idea to check out this page before heading into your own interview! You may also want to check out the Clear Admit Interview Guide for HBS.)

In other HBS news, the esteemed school was doing some celebrating of its own earlier this week. Tuesday, April 8, marked the business school’s 100th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, HBS alumni clubs from Boston to San Diego joined in with celebrations of their own. Celebrity chefs, silent auctions, harbor cruises and more made for festive times across the country.

Centennial celebrations and events will continue throughout the year, including the Conversation, an online dialogue between “conversation leads” (Harvard faculty and staff) and anyone who wants to join in focused on a range of relevant topics, and the Colloquia, a series of 14 multi-session events that “combine theory and practice to shape the art and science of management.” The festivities will culminate in a Business Summit for HBS alumni on campus in October. The Harvard Centennial website, launched in February 2008, can keep you up to date on all related events.

Finally, the Financial Times this week featured an interesting article by Della Bradshaw that uses the HBS Centennial as an occasion to take a closer look at the MBA – how it has evolved in the past 100 years and what needs to be done to ensure that it continues to be relevant for future generations. We think it’s worth a read. Happy Birthday HBS!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

U. Michigan / Ross School of Business Interview Guide Released!

We’re pleased to announce the release of yet another Clear Admit Interview Guide title: the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Like all titles in the Interview Guides catalog, this document includes school-specific strategy and sample questions, a firsthand interview account, background information on the Ross interview process, and detailed information on planning a visit to the school’s Ann Arbor campus.  Visit the Clear Admit Publications page for more information, or proceed directly to the Clear Admit Shop.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Cornell / Johnson Interview Guide Now Available!

Just a quick note to alert out readers that the Johnson School Interview Guide, the latest addition to the expanding list of Clear Admit Publications, is now available for purchase from the Clear Admit shop!

Best of luck to applicants with interviews at Cornell in the coming weeks! Keep an eye on this blog for more Clear Admit Guide announcements as we round out the Interview Guide catalog for the season.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

London Business School Clear Admit School Guide and Interview Guide Released!

After much research and writing, we are pleased to announce the release of the Clear Admit School Guide and Clear Admit Interview Guide to London Business School!

Like all of our School Guide titles, the Clear Admit School Guide to London Business School is packed with information on the school’s academics, student demographics, special programs, campus life, career resources, admissions & financial aid, and much more. Of course, we’ve also put all of this data in context, showing how LBS compares to both its U.S. and European peers. Whether a current applicant preparing for an interview, an R4 applicant beginning essays, or an early bird candidate deciding whether to apply, the Clear Admit School Guide to LBS will give you the in-depth information you need to impress your interviewer, improve your essays, or narrow your list of target schools.

Meanwhile, the Clear Admit Interview Guide to London Business School provides applicants with the school-specific strategy, sample questions, and firsthand interview accounts you need to ace your alumni interview. In addition, the Interview Guide includes an analysis of how the LBS MBA Admissions team weighs the interview and detailed information on planning a visit to the school’s campus.

Be sure to check out the new London Business School publications and the many other Clear Admit School Guides & Clear Admit Interview Guides in our online shop!

Thursday, March 06, 2008

INSEAD Interview Guide Now Available!

For R3 INSEAD applicants who are beginning to think about the next step in the admissions process, we’re pleased to announce that the Clear Admit Interview Guide to INSEAD is now available for purchase from the Clear Admit Shop!

Like all titles in the Interview Guides catalog, this document includes school-specific strategy and sample questions, firsthand interview accounts, analysis of how the INSEAD MBA Admissions team weighs the interview, and detailed information on planning a visit to either of the school’s campuses.

Stay tuned for some more exciting Clear Admit Guides news next week …

Friday, February 29, 2008

Clear Admit Interview Guides Generate Buzz

From the BusinessWeek discussion forums to the Yahoo.com and Forbes.com business wires, Clear Admit Interview Guides have been getting attention in recent weeks as interview season continues at top business schools.

We think the guides are a great resource for prospective applicants who are gearing up to meet with school representatives and make a case for why they are a good fit for a given program. But of course we do – we wrote them.

Now, thanks to increasing buzz about them from more objective sources, you don’t have to simply take our word for it. Read on to see what others have had to say about our guides:

• Amid recent chatter about interviews at the University of Chicago, we spotted this post on the BW discussion thread.

Writes siggy_smalls: “if you’re concerned about the interview at all, i’d definitely recommend buying the clear admit program guide and interview guide for each school you interview with. ~$25 each. i used one for columbia, nyu and chicago and felt all of them were very helpful. no “new” info but did a good job condensing all the stuff from the website and various forums, etc into one place. perfect to print out and take on the plane to review prior to your interview.”

• And then there was this, also on the BW forum, in response to a query by an applicant who’d received an interview invite to an unnamed top school about whether he should get our school and interview guides to prepare for it.

Writes chirpy: “I highly recommend reading the Clear Admit School and Interview guide. You can buy both for a discount on their site. The School guide is good for brushing up on the program, classes, clubs, school strengths, etc, — whereas the interview guide explains their typical interview, with questions other candidates have been asked. I suggest preparing answers in advance to the questions in the guide, that way you won’t be caught off guard by anything your interviewer asks. I think it’s only around $30 or $40 for both guides, which is nothing if you’ve made it this far in the process…

• Finally, Linda Abraham of the admissions consultancy Accepted.com had these words of praise for the guides, which she recommended as a means of expanding on the information provided in her firm’s publications:

Writes Abraham: “Clear Admit has done a thorough job in comparing the schools and highlighting their differences, something the schools themselves and the various media guides don’t do nearly as well, if at all. If you want to learn how to apply effectively and present yourself well; read Accepted.com’s ebooks; if you want to research specific schools, check out these guides.”

The Clear Admit Interview Guides are currently available for Chicago, Columbia, Fuqua, Haas, Harvard, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Stanford, Tuck, Warton and Yale. Each provides school-specific interview insight and strategic advice, detailed analysis of exactly how that school’s admissions committee weighs interviews, first-hand interview accounts, information on planning a campus visit and sample questions consistently posed to interviewees at that school. In addition, the interview guides each include a section devoted to general interview preparation techniques that will be useful throughout the MBA application process.

Interview guides, which sell for $20, can be purchased in the Clear Admit Shop. Receive a $5 discount when you buy both the school and interview guides together for a given school. And if the school you are interviewing at is not listed above, please check back regularly because we intend to add interview guides for additional schools throughout the admissions season. 

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Fuqua Interview Guide Released!

Following up on Monday’s post covering the ongoing development of a new round of Clear Admit Interview Guides, we’re pleased to announce another addition to the roster: the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Visit the Clear Admit Shop to purchase the Fuqua Interview Guide (or any of Clear Admit’s available publications), and stay tuned for more Interview Guides news in the coming days!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Yale SOM Interview Guide Now Available!

We’re pleased to announce a new addition to the Clear Admit Publications catalog: the Yale School of Management Interview Guide is now available for purchase from the Clear Admit Shop!

While R2 applicants are awaiting news from their target programs and, we hope, enjoying a much deserved breather, we’ll be hard at work on another batch of Interview Guides to help them through that important step in the admissions process.  We’ll announce new titles as they become available, so stay tuned to this blog in the coming weeks!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

More Praise for Clear Admit Publications!

While the b-school blogosphere and discussion boards are quite understandably abuzz with talk of recent R1 results and freshly submitted R2 applications, we’ve also spotted a few nice comments about the Clear Admit School Guides and Clear Admit Interview Guides that we wanted to highlight.

First, MBA blogger B-School Bound, who was admitted to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and Kellogg this season, attributes his interview preparedness to the Guides in an acknowledgment-style entry:

ClearAdmit’s school guides prepared me for interviews — specifically, they helped me locate very specific questions about each school that I could ask at the end, so that it was obvious that I had done my research.

We’re happy we could help! Meanwhile, another Clear Admit Guides customer had some great things to say on the BW forum:

I highly recommend reading the Clear Admit School and Interview guide. You can buy both for a discount on their site. The School guide is good for brushing up on the program, classes, clubs, school strengths, etc, — whereas the interview guide explains their typical interview, with questions other candidates have been asked. I suggest preparing answers in advance to the questions in the guide, that way you won’t be caught off guard by anything your interviewer asks.

Thanks to all the School Guide and Interview Guide supporters who are spreading the word! To see what all the fuss is about, visit the Publications section of our site, or browse the list of available titles. Happy reading and researching!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Future Could Hold a Surge in Business School Applications

The fate of business school graduates and applicants – far more so than that of their counterparts in medical school, law school or any number of Ph.D. programs – is inextricably linked to the state of the economy. Given current turbulent economic conditions, business school students are looking with an anxious eye toward job opportunities come graduation time, and prospective applicants are trying to decide whether heading to business school now is a wise choice.

Last week, Darden’s Dean Robert Bruner advised prospective students not to let today’s economic uncertainty dissuade them from pursuing an MBA, saying that he believes that a business school education will benefit prospective job applicants regardless of the ultimate outcome of the current crisis.

In fact, business school application volumes often run counter to economic downturns – surging in times of trouble. According to a recent article in the Financial Times, several factors contribute to this trend. First, many applicants try to time the start of their MBA course with a downturn, hoping to emerge from their program as the pendulum swings up again. Second, as job markets tighten, the advantage of an MBA becomes ever clearer. Finally, for those who lose their jobs or have a hard time finding a job, business school provides a good place to hide out while strengthening future employment opportunities and earning power.

But given the increasingly global market of business education, this simple inverse relationship is growing ever more complex. The FT article cites a study by economists Plutarchos Sakellaris and Antonio Splimbergo that had interesting findings with regard to the relationship between business cycles and demand for higher education.

Specifically, the study – which looked mainly at foreign students heading to U.S. schools – found that the relative wealth of the students’ country of origin had significant bearing on enrollment. Students from wealthier countries upheld the countercyclical trend – with MBA applications surging as economies turned south. But in growing economies, the pursuit of higher education tracked parallel to the state of the market. In times of plenty, students sought out the greater advantages promised by an advanced degree, while in tighter times, the cost of higher education proved prohibitive.

The study, entitled “Business Cycles and Investment in Human Capital: International Evidence on Higher Education,” was conducted in 1999, but its findings could have particular significant in today’s financial climate. According to the FT, business schools could be looking at a “win-win” situation. Applications from students in wealthier nations can be expected to rise even if the dreaded word that begins with an ‘r’ proves unavoidable. But at the same time, applicants from growing economies could also swell. (China’s GDP increased by more than 11 percent in 2007, the fastest rate in 13 years…)

Of course, good news for business schools means more competition for prospective applicants. Top-notch essays and interviews could become even more critical in the months ahead. Don’t miss our Clear Admit School Guides and Interview Guides: great resources to help you stand out from the masses.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Round Two Interview Invites – Have You Heard?

Harvard announced late last week that it will begin sending out interview invitations for its round two applicants this Friday, January 25th. “While we will continue to invite applicants to interview until the Round 2 deadline, the majority of invitations will be out by mid-February,” HBS Dean Dee Leopold wrote on her blog.

Round two interviews will begin on Tuesday, February 5th, and Harvard expects the bulk of them to be complete by mid-March. Members of the Harvard MBA Admissions Board are scheduled to visit Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, Chicago and the Bay Area (both San Francisco and Palo Alto) to conduct interviews. International interview trips are also planned to London, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, mainland China (either Beijing or Shanghai) and Hong Kong.

“It may be helpful to take a moment to think about where you might like to interview should you be invited!” writes Leopold encouragingly. For applicants living abroad in areas where admissions officials are not able to visit, phone and alumni interviews also will be available.

Round Two Sets a Record at UCLA
The round two waiting game is well underway at other schools as well. At UCLA Anderson, no one seems to have received an invite yet. According to a post on the BusinessWeek discussion forum by an applicant who attended a campus information session last week, the Anderson admissions office is reporting that this year’s second round set a record for applicants in a single round – 1,800 – and that overall applications are up 22 percent.

One enterprising applicant has taken it upon himself to compile a spreadsheet of stats for UCLA round two candidates as they have been provided to him through the BW thread. Check it out here.

Meanwhile, at Berkeley’s Haas School, round two applicants are settling in for a comfortable wait, with word that invites don’t start going out until February and will continue to be sent through mid-March.

Moving on to the Midwest, some round two applicants at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business have already interviewed, while others are still waiting to hear. Chatter on the BW discussion forum ranged from a back and forth about a deadline extension (now irrelevant) to what questions those who have already interviewed were asked. To those frantic about not having yet received an invite, discussion board participant michimoby had these calming words: “Guys, guys….seriously, you need to settle down a little bit. It’s only been two weeks since the deadline – they’re going to be interviewing upward of 500-800 people…they can’t do all this in the course of 14 days while reading thousands of applications!”

Still Waiting at Wharton
Turning back to the East Coast again, Wharton reportedly began sending interview invites out late last week. Several applicants report that they received the following information in the mail: “The Admissions Committee will begin to release interview invitations on Thursday, January 17th and will continue to release invitations on a daily basis until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, February 21st.” The communication went on to say that invitations are released in no particular order, and that the committee will also on February 21st share the bad new with all applicants who are no longer being considered for admission. So far, not a peep on either the BW Wharton round two thread or Wharton’s own student2student discussion board about anyone receiving an invite.

Don’t forget: The Clear Admit MBA Admissions Wiki is a great resource for anyone currently awaiting admissions news. In addition to five pages where applicants can post their own information – one for interviews, one for applications, one for visits, one for the experiences of current students, and one for blog links – the Wiki also features a Current State section, updated weekly, reflecting the latest news regarding admissions.

And once you receive those interview invites (fingers crossed!), remember to take advantage of the Clear Admit interview guides, which offer school-specific strategy, first-hand interview accounts and tips for planning a visit. Interview guides are currently available for Chicago, Columbia, Haas, Harvard, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Stanford, Tuck and Wharton, and more will be added throughout the admissions season.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Haas and Stern Interview Guides Available!

With the release of NYU Stern School of Business late last week and the launch of UC Berkeley Haas today, the Clear Admit Interview Guide catalog has 10 available titles:

Chicago Graduate School of Business
Columbia Buisness School
Haas School of Business
Harvard Business School
Kellogg School of Management
MIT Sloan School of Management
NYU Stern School of Business
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Tuck School of Business
Wharton School

For more information, check out our Interview Guide announcement post or visit the Clear Admit shop.   Good luck to all round one applicants who are still in the midst of this process!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Wiki Wednesdays: The HBS Interview

Welcome back to Wiki Wednesdays, where we take a peek at particularly poignant posts to the Clear Admit Wiki! With Harvard in the midst of of conducting Round 1 interviews and releasing additional invitations through January 16th, we thought we’d put the Wiki Wednesday spotlight on that school this week.

Whereas most schools conduct blind interviews, Harvard’s interviewers are very familiar with one’s entire file, and will often have specific questions prepared in light of their review of the essays and other materials.

Let’s set the stage by taking a look at the list of questions that one interviewee described as “straightforward:”

1. 1. Tell me your past, present and future.
2. 2. What’s your career goal? What would you do if it doesn’t work out?
3. 3. What’s the most common misconception about you?
4. 4. What’s the biggest challenge you might be facing at HBS?

The first question is rather expansive, and certainly offers an opportunity to highlight a range of experiences and subjects that might not have made their way into the written application. In the face of such open-ended inquiries, though, it’s important to think strategically. As another Wiki contributor writes of his HBS experience:

1. “…they WILL press you [on] anything you say…so don’t bring up extraneous topics or examples unless you’re willing to go in-depth on them.”

As our opening report also indicates, the concept of one’s career vision is also of interest to the HBS adcom. Other recent HBS interview reports further support this with the inquiries “What industry do you NOT see yourself in?” and “What is your dream job?,” spurring applicants to provide a few possibilities - and exclusions - for the future.

Meanwhile, the request to identify a “common misconception” about oneself illustrates that the adcom carries the themes of self-assessment and self-awareness through the entire application process, complementing the program’s essay questions about a past mistake and a leadership experience that illuminated a weakness. Finally, the question about a pending challenge at HBS looks to the applicant’s preparedness for and fit with the Harvard Business School experience. Additional interviewees reported related questions, such as “How do you want your HBS classmates to remember you?” and “Why do people accept your leadership?,” cueing applicants to discuss their potential impact.

As you can probably see, mental preparation is an important element of a successful HBS interview experience. Visiting the Clear Admit Wiki for further firsthand insight into Harvard’s process is a great starting point! Meanwhile, the Clear Admit Interview Guide to HBS offers detailed analysis and advice for candidates who are preparing for an interview.

As always, we extend our gratitude to those who have already published their reports to the wiki (the latest reports were from Kellogg and HBS). We also encourage additional content contributions from applicants either by creating an account or sending your reports to wiki@clearadmit.com. That wraps up this week’s edition of Wiki Wednesdays. We’ll be back next week with further highlights from the wiki!

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

MIT Sloan Interview Guide Released!

Our Interview Guide catalog keeps expanding! With today’s addition of the MIT Sloan School of Management Interview Guide, we have a total of eight titles available to round one applicants: Chicago, Columbia, HBS, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, Stanford, Tuck and Wharton.

For more information, visit our initial Interview Guide Announcement or check out the Clear Admit Shop!

Friday, November 30, 2007

Stanford Interview Guide Released!

For our readers who applied to Stanford in round one, we would like to announce that the Clear Admit Interview Guide to the Stanford GSB is now available. The series now includes seven schools - Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Stanford, Tuck and Wharton - with each title offering sample questions and firsthand interview insight, in-depth strategic analysis and campus visit information.

Visit the Clear Admit shop to investigate further, and stay tuned for more Interview Guide news next week!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Chicago Interview Guide Released!

Just a quick note to let readers know that the Clear Admit Interview Guide to the Chicago Graduate School of Business is now available!  As with the other Guides in this series, which already includes Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Tuck and Wharton, this document features an introduction the Chicago interview process, frequently asked interview questions, strategic analysis and advice, and detailed campus visit information.  All of the Interview Guides are available in the Clear Admit shop.

Stay tuned to the blog for announcements of more new Interview Guides over the coming weeks!

Wiki Wednesdays: Call for Content

Welcome to another installment of Wiki Wednesdays, reporting the latest goings on with the Clear Admit Wiki. Firstly, we’d like to say thanks to all the applicants who’ve been submitting interview reports lately! In the last two weeks alone, applicants have posted detailed descriptions of their interviews at a number of leading schools, including Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Tuck, and Yale.

As we’ve stressed in this blog, and as anyone who’s used the site to prepare for their interviews will attest, having access to firsthand accounts of the interview process at a given program can be invaluable in understanding what a program is looking for and arriving at a feeling of readiness. With these reports in mind, applicants are in a great position to follow the advice posted by one recent Columbia interviewee:

My advice/tips: Prepare, prepare, prepare. This is an important piece of your application, as important as all the other pieces like GMAT or letters of reference. Do mock-up interviews with a coach, a friend, your wife/husband, whoever — but the more you know the answers to these questions, the more you will be successful on D-Day.

We already have two full seasons’ worth of interview accounts posted on the wiki, but we’re always hoping to build the resource further by encouraging applicants who’ve interviewed in the past few weeks to post their interview reports and campus visit accounts.For those wondering what sort of details to include in their wiki entries, we find that the most helpful and informative reports include the following information:

- Date/Admissions Round
- Description of visit and/or interview atmosphere
- Type of interview (alum vs. adcom, blind vs. application-based)
- List of interview questions
- Commentary (What did you think of the interview? What surprised you? What didn’t surprise you? What might you conclude about the school based on this experience?)

Applicants who would like to supplement the information available on the wiki and dig deeper into interview strategy can check out our Clear Admit Interview Guides, which are hot off the press. Thanks in advance for your interview reports!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Clear Admit Interview Guides!

With Round One interviews in full swing, we wanted to share the details of an exciting new resource for applicants: Clear Admit Interview Guides!

The Clear Admit Interview Guides are designed to provide school-specific insight and strategic advice to help applicants ace their admissions interviews. Based on our years of MBA admissions experience and our work with hundreds of applicants to the leading programs, each Clear Admit Interview Guide contains the information candidates need for a successful interview, including:

- School-specific strategy
- Analysis of how the adcom weighs the interview
- First-hand interview accounts
- Detailed information on planning a campus visit
- Dozens of sample questions consistently asked by that particular program

Plus, every Clear Admit Interview Guide includes our General Interview Preparation Guide, a rich source of advice on how to be successful in the MBA interview process. In the past, only Clear Admit’s clients had access to the institutional knowledge and expert insight contained in the Interview Guides; we are pleased to make this strategic advice available to the wider MBA applicant pool.

Currently Clear Admit Interview Guides are available for Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Tuck and Wharton, with more schools to be added throughout the admissions season. The Interview Guides are a great complement to the detailed information on academic resources, student culture, and social and professional opportunities available in the Clear Admit School Guides - together these Guides help interviewees demonstrate their fit with an MBA program while showcasing the strength of their candidacy. Check out the full list of available Guides here!

DISCUSSIONS / BLOGS / WIKI

• What Does 2009 Have In Store For You?
• Advice for Recently Admitted Students from a Tuck School of Business First-Year
• Trivia Tuesday: Public Management at Stanford
• Recessions Are Good Times to Consider a Return to School, New York Times Says
• Admissions Tip: Essay-Writing Difference Makers

Wiki