APPLICANT RESOURCES

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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
Clear Admit School GuidesBecome 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
Clear Admit Career GuidesUnderstand 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
Clear Admit Strategy SeriesCraft 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
Clear Admit Interview GuidesBe 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.
Jul 28: INSEAD Jan. Intake R3
Sep 29: INSEAD R2
Sep 30: Duke / Fuqua EA
Oct 1: HBS R1
Oct 4: Cambridge / Judge R1
Oct 4: UPenn / Wharton R1
Oct 6: CBS EA
Oct 6: Stanford GSB R1
Oct 7: Yale SOM R1
Oct 8: Oxford / Saїd R1
Oct 11: Michigan / Ross R1
Oct 13: Berkeley / Haas R1
Oct 13: Chicago / Booth R1
Oct 13: Dartmouth / Tuck EA
Oct 14: Northwestern / Kellogg R1
Oct 20: UCLA / Anderson R1
Oct 22: UNC / Kenan-Flagler EA
Oct 26: MIT / Sloan R1

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 '10-'11 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
GMAT Pill

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 - SCHOOL: DUKE / FUQUA

Monday, July 19, 2010

Five Leading Business Schools Form New Alliance for Healthcare Management

Last month, five leading U.S. business schools joined together to form the Business School Alliance for Healthcare Management (BSAHCM), an organization focused on fostering management education in the healthcare sector as part of an effort to improve healthcare overall.

Charter members of BSAHCM include Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Harvard Business School, the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

“The Alliance aims to help the public understand the capacity of our institutions to bring about solutions to many of the management and leadership issues arising in the health sector on a global basis,” Fuqua’s Health Sector Management Director Kevin Schulman said in a statement announcing the organization’s establishment. To be successful, management education must help create leaders who design healthcare solutions built around business fundamentals, he continued.

Fuqua’s Schulman was appointed an initial member of the BSAHCM Board of Directors at the alliance’s inaugural meeting. Other initial board members, each nominated and approved for two-year terms, include David Dranove, Kellogg; Lawton R. Burns, Wharton; Richard Hamermesh, Harvard; and Kristiana Raube, Haas.

Alliance institutions are approaching their work with a sense of urgency, according to Schulman. “The recent healthcare reform legislation in the US largely revolved around the critical issue of access to care for the uninsured,” he said. “But other crises loom even larger for most Americans: the chronic over-utilization of tests and specialist services; misaligned incentives; staggeringly high costs; and variable or poor quality of care,” he noted.  

Other BSAHCM member schools so far include Yale University, Arizona State University, Vanderbilt University, Boston University and the University of Colorado at Denver. Membership in the Alliance is open to healthcare management programs at top business schools that have shown a commitment to research, teaching and service in the health sector.

To learn more, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: Berkeley / Haas, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Harvard, School: Northwestern / Kellogg, School: Penn / Wharton, School: Yale

Friday, July 02, 2010

Duke / Fuqua Deadlines 2010-2011

After releasing their essay topics in May, Duke / Fuqua have released their upcoming admissions season deadlines. While applicants can request an interview during the school’s Open Interview season (September 16 – October 16, 2010), the dates below cover the invitation-only process for Fuqua’s admissions cycle.

Early Action
Deadline: September 30, 2010
Interview Invitation: October 25, 2010
Interview Dates: November 6-7, 2010
Decision Notification: December 3, 2010

Round 1
Deadline: November 1, 2010
Interview Invitation: December 17, 2010
Interview Dates: January 8-9, 2011
Decision Notification: January 31, 2011

Round 2
Deadline: January 4, 2011
Interview Invitation: February 4, 2011
Interview Dates: February 19-20 and 26-27, 2011
Decision Notification: March 25, 2011

Round 3
Deadline: March 8, 2011
Interview Invitation: April 1, 2011
Interview Dates: April 8-24, 2011
Decision Notification: May 8, 2011

For more information, be sure to visit the school’s website.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:25 pm in Deadlines, School: Duke / Fuqua

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Duke / Fuqua Essay Topic Analysis 2010-2011

The Duke / Fuqua essay topics have changed slightly since last year’s admissions season, with a greater focus on applicants’ interest in and potential contribution to Duke.  Although there is no specified word limit, Duke does require that all essays be no more than two pages in length, written with 1.5 line spacing and a minimum 10 point font size.  Let’s take a closer look at each essay as well as the broad instructions/preamble that Fuqua provides:

Today, companies must navigate through complex and interdependent issues. They must deal with health and security matters, environmental impact questions, and diversity and cultural concerns. Leaders need adaptability, imagination, emotional intelligence, and business acumen. Thus, Duke is in the midst of an ambitious global venture that will embed and connect us around the world, and we are seeking future leaders of consequence, who value diversity and collaborative leadership, and who aspire to impact the companies and communities of which they are a part in a lasting and positive way.

In an effort to identify, engage, and foster the development of future leaders of consequence, the Admissions Committee would like to get to know our applicants in a more holistic manner. We would like to know who you are, what has shaped you into the person you are today, and how you hope to impact both Duke and the communities of which you will be a part in the future. The essays are your opportunity to convey that to us. Please be open, genuine, and passionate. Share with us what makes you a dynamic, multi-dimensional person.

Identical to the preface to last year’s application questions, this statement should indicate to applicants that Duke is interested in students who are both natural leaders and collaborators, able to work with diverse teams of people.  In addition, while discussing their career vision, Duke applicants should emphasize the lasting impact of these future plans.  Based on the second paragraph, Duke values students who can express themselves in a personable manner through their essays, so applicants should also strive to infuse their writing with personality and passion.

Essay 1: Describe your vision for your career and your inspiration for pursuing this career path.
This is a variation of the standard career goals essay.  However, because Duke is asking about applicants’ career vision, this particular question lends itself to a long-term, big picture outlook in addition to describing immediate post-MBA career goals.  Responding to the second part of this prompt provides candidates with the perfect opportunity to outline their career history.  Applicants should also feel free to include information about any academic or extracurricular experiences that have motivated them to pursue their intended career.  With two pages to respond to this prompt, applicants should have ample space to describe both their career vision as well as what has inspired this plan.

It’s important to note that in this year’s career vision question, Duke does not ask applicants how Fuqua would factor into achieving their professional goals.  Therefore all discussion of applicants’ academic and professional interest in Duke should be reserved for the response to the third prompt.

Essay 2:  How will your background, values, and non-work activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to Fuqua’s diverse culture?
This essay returns to Fuqua’s application after it was last used in the 2007-2008 application season, indicating Duke’s continued interest in students contributing to the diversity of the school’s community. The prompt is fairly broad, covering just about every dimension of one’s candidacy, experience and perspective, and subsequently issues a general invitation for the applicant to imagine how his or her unique characteristics might map onto involvement in Team Fuqua.  This response is a great place to showcase specific knowledge of the culture at Duke, as well as introduce information that will help you stand out from the applicant pool.

Essay 3:  Why Duke? (If you are interested in a specific concentration, joint degree, clubs or activities, please discuss how you would contribute to these in this essay.)
Asking applicants about their interest in the school to which they are applying is a standard question MBA programs ask, and Duke’s parenthetical comments provide applicants with a clue as to the topics they should cover in responding to this essay.  The important thing to note is that Fuqua asks how applicants would contribute to the school, so in addition to explaining what academic and extracurricular programs you want to become involved in, it’s important to show how this involvement would benefit the Duke community.

One thing to be aware of is that your answer to this question is not merely a reiteration of the points made in your second essay, as both prompts ask applicants to explain how they would contribute to the school. One way in which you can approach this challenge is by using Essay 2 to focus on who you are and how you are unique: with this as your foundation, you can then use specific examples of planned participation to explain what you would bring to Fuqua and how you hope to contribute to the class.  Meanwhile, in responding to Essay 3, you can focus on what you hope to get out of Fuqua and why you want to be there.  In explaining how you are a cultural fit with the program and how the school would help you achieve your career goals, you should support your argument with specific examples of how you would contribute to, as well as benefit from, specific courses, clubs, and events.

Conclusion
As you prepare to responds to these prompts, remember to do careful research on Duke’s program offerings and integrate your findings.  Candidates should consult the Clear Admit School Guide to Fuqua for an in-depth review of the program’s unique features, character, and curriculum.  In addition, feel free to contact us for a free consultation, during which one of our Clear Admit Admissions Consultants will help you consider the elements of your profile and determine how to best spread them across these three essays.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:00 pm in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Duke / Fuqua

Trivia Tuesday: Pre-Term Programs at Duke’s Fuqua School

It’s time for another look at the programs, resources and opportunities that help differentiate the leading business schools. Today we will examine the options available to help incoming Fuqua students start the school year on the right foot.

All Fuqua first-year students participate in the three-week Global Institute pre-term program. The Institute, held in August before the start of classes, consists of two core courses designed to help students gain a more nuanced understanding of the global business environment and enhance their collaborative leadership skills.

In addition to the mandatory Global Institute, Fuqua offers a Summer Math Review Course and a Language Institute in the weeks before New Student Orientation to help students build targeted skills before the start of classes. Although all students are generally invited to participate in these courses, the Admissions Office recommends or requires enrollment for particular students with weaker math or English skills. Because the programs meet during the same time period, it is impossible to complete both, but the administration reports that few, if any, entering students need extra preparation in both subjects.

The Language Institute, or LI, begins in July and is designed to help international students build English speaking, writing and listening skills, orient to the academic environment at Fuqua, and begin creating friendships with other students. The LI, which costs $3,525 in the 2010-2011 academic year, is divided into four phases of teaching and support. In the optional first phase, students who would like to complete individual preparatory work with a tutor are encouraged to arrive in early July for tutorial sessions. The intensive two-week Language Institute makes up phase two of the program, and during this time students complete English diagnostic assessments, language tutorials, experiential learning projects and case study analyses. Classes during phase two meet from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, with mandatory social events and team meetings often scheduled for the evenings. Phase three begins once LI participants start the Global Institute course. The LI faculty use the “live” academic setting of the Global Institute to give LI participants detailed feedback and suggestions for improvement before the first term of classes begins. Finally, entering students who participate in the LI are eligible to receive continued language support through individual counseling or small group work throughout their time at Fuqua.

For more information on pre-term and international orientation programs at Fuqua or other leading business schools, be sure to check out the Academics section of the Clear Admit School Guides!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in School Guides, School: Duke / Fuqua, Trivia Tuesday

Monday, May 24, 2010

Fund Partners with 10 Top MBA Programs for New Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders

The William G. McGowan Charitable Fund will partner with 10 top MBA programs across the United States as part of a new fellowship program designed to support promising students who demonstrate academic excellence and social leadership during their first year of MBA studies.

The fellowships, which will be presented to one student from each of the ten partner schools, will cover the full cost of tuition for the second year of MBA studies. Partner schools include Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, Columbia University Graduate School of Business, Duke University Fuqua School of Business, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, MIT Sloan School of Business, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, University of Michigan Ross School of Management and University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

“This unprecedented program seeks to support future leaders who can influence their companies to advance a financially viable environmental and societal agenda,” McGowan Fund Executive Director Diana Spencer said in a statement announcing the new fellowships.

As part of the program, the fellows will present a case study in business to the McGowan Fund Board of Directors at a conference each fall. The McGowan Fund hopes that the conference, which will be open to alumni of the fellowship program in future years, will help build a network honoring William McGowan, who was a successful entrepreneur and founder of MCI Communications.

The initial class of McGowan Fellows will be announced in July 2010.

To learn more, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: CMU / Tepper, School: Chicago, School: Columbia, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Georgetown, School: MIT / Sloan, School: Michigan / Ross, School: Northwestern / Kellogg, School: Penn / Wharton, School: Stanford

Friday, May 21, 2010

Duke / Fuqua Essay Topics 2010-2011

The Duke / Fuqua essay topics for the 2010-2011 admissions season have been announced. All candidates must respond to three required essays. The essay topics are as follows:

1. Describe your vision for your career and your inspiration for pursuing this career path.

2. How will your background, values, and non-work activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to Fuqua’s diverse culture?

3. Why Duke? (If you are interested in a specific concentration, joint degree, clubs or activities, please discuss how you would contribute to these in this essay.)

All essays should be no longer than two pages in length, and are expected to be written with 1.5 line spacing. Font sizes should be no smaller than 10 point.

In addition to the required essays, applicants can also submit an optional essay. All reapplicants are asked to complete the Re-applicant Essay, in which candidates should describe how they are now a stronger candidate for admission compared to the application you submitted the previous year. Re-applicant Essays should be no more than two pages in length.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:11 am in Essay Topics, School: Duke / Fuqua

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Trivia Tuesday: Health Sector Management at Fuqua

It’s time once again for Trivia Tuesday, our regular exploration of the special programs and opportunities that differentiate the leading business schools. This week we take a peek into the Clear Admit School Guide to Fuqua, and share an excerpt on Fuqua’s Health Sector Management program.

“Duke University began offering healthcare education in 1930 alongside the opening of the Duke Hospital. In the more than three-quarters of a century since then, the Health Sector Management program (HSM) has evolved into one of the preeminent healthcare management education programs in the nation, alongside Wharton’s Health Care Systems major.  After moving first-year HSM courses to the business school in 1986, the HSM program became fully integrated into Fuqua in 1991. Today, the HSM program enrolls as much as one-fifth of each Daytime MBA class, making it the largest healthcare program affiliated with a leading business school.

Fuqua’s affiliation with Duke University and its location in the North Carolina Research Triangle area are major contributors to the strength of the HSM program. The Duke University Medical Center and Health System is a leader in biomedical research, education, and healthcare delivery, while the Research Triangle is home to approximately three dozen leading biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations, including well-known names such as GlaxoKlineSmith, Biogen, Novartis, Paradigm Genetics and Eli Lilly. The HSM program’s relationships with these and other area companies helps to keep students and faculty strongly connected to the rapidly changing healthcare industry while providing companies with inside access to a significant talent pool.

Students enter the HSM program from a variety of backgrounds, though most tend to have experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, research and development, provider systems or consulting. Though the program does not require prior health sector experience, it does look for a strong commitment to the healthcare field among all student participants.”

To continue reading about Fuqua’s Health Sector Management program, and to find out about the HSM application process, the HSM-specific curriculum, experiential opportunities offered within this program, and the course map HSM students follow, take a look at the Clear Admit School Guide to Fuqua.

For those who are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare and want to learn more about the different programs and opportunities available at each school, check out the Clear Admit Career Guide: Healthcare.

All Clear Admit publications are available for immediate purchase and download on the Clear Admit shop.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Career Guides, School Guides, School: Duke / Fuqua, Trivia Tuesday

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A Closer Look at U.S. News & World Report’s 2011 MBA Rankings

Harvard Business School (HBS) and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) have once again tied for first in the 2011 U.S. News & World Report MBA rankings, released late yesterday. While the major players in the top 15 remain largely unchanged from previous years, there were some notable shifts up and down the ranks.

Stanford, for its part, showed a slight rebound. After a slip to number two last year, the Palo Alto school this year once again forced HBS to share the number one spot, as it had in 2009. MIT’s Sloan School of Management also gained some ground to come in at number three, advancing from the number five spot.

MIT Sloan displaced the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, which dropped to number five this year, tied with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business stayed steady in fourth place.

Rounding out the top 10 were Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and Berkeley’s Haas School, which shared the number seven spot, and Columbia Business School and New York University’s Stern School of Business, which shared the ninth spot. Yale School of Management dropped to 11th, down from 10th last year, and Ross, Darden, Fuqua and UCLA Anderson made up the remaining top 15.

To compile its rankings, U.S. News surveyed all 426 master’s programs in business accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International in fall 2009. Data provided by the schools was used to calculate rankings based on a weighted average of a range of indicators, including program quality as assessed by the deans and directors of peer schools as well as recruiters, graduate placement success and student selectivity.

This year, the U.S. News ranking features several interactive features designed to make it a more useful tool to prospective applicants. A search function lets users narrow the list of ranked schools by location, tuition, school size and test scores.

The U.S. News rankings also feature specialty rankings, a compilation of the top 10 programs in each of 10 specialty fields as determined by nominations by business school deans and directors. Tops in this year’s specialty rankings were as follow:

–Accounting: McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin
–Entrepreneurship: F.W. Olin School of Business at Babson College
–Executive MBA: University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
–Finance: University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
–Information Systems: MIT’s Sloan School of Management
–International: Thunderbird School of Global Management
–Management: Harvard Business School
–Marketing: Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management
–Nonprofit: Yale School of Management
–Part-time MBA: Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management
–Production/Operations: MIT’s Sloan School of Management
–Supply Chain/Logistics: MIT’s Sloan School of Management

As always, we encourage prospective applicants to use these and other rankings as just one of many data points as you work to determine which business school program will best fit your individual needs and goals. As U.S. News itself put it, “It’s important that you use the rankings to supplement—not replace—careful thought and your own inquiries.”

To view the entire U.S. News & World Report rankings, click here.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, Rankings, School: Babson, School: Berkeley / Haas, School: Chicago, School: Columbia, School: Dartmouth / Tuck, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Harvard, School: MIT / Sloan, School: Michigan / Ross, School: NYU Stern, School: Northwestern / Kellogg, School: Penn / Wharton, School: Stanford, School: UCLA / Anderson, School: UT Austin / McCombs, School: Virginia / Darden, School: Yale

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Trivia Tuesday: Healthcare Management Studies at Wharton, Duke/Fuqua, Columbia, Harvard and Kellogg

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, our regular examination of the offerings and opportunities at the leading business schools.

Today we turn our attention to options for studying healthcare in business school, with a particular emphasis on Wharton’s Health Care Management Major and Duke’s Health Sector Management Program, the two oldest and best known healthcare programs among U.S. business schools.

Wharton’s major draws its faculty from the business, medical and nursing schools, as well as from practicing healthcare professionals, ensuring an interdisciplinary approach to the issues in the field. The Health Care Management major differs from other majors at Wharton in that students must choose the major in their initial application to the school instead of in their second year. Health Care Management further differs in that it aggressively integrates professional development and field work into the major.

For instance, all Health Care majors are required to complete a Field Application Project (FAP). In the FAP, teams of students spend a semester working with an industry partner to solve real world problems in the healthcare field. Given the amount of time these projects can take, students must work carefully to balance classes around the demands of their projects.

At Fuqua, students enter the HSM program from a variety of backgrounds; though the program does not require prior health sector experience, it does look for a strong commitment to the healthcare field among all participants. As with Wharton’s Health Care Management major, application to Fuqua’s HSM program is through the MBA admissions process, with HSM applicants asked to indicate their interest in pursuing the HSM Certificate in a special section of the application.

Once enrolled, Duke HSM students spend the first year completing the standard core curriculum before beginning the coursework that leads to the HSM Certificate. To earn the Certificate, HSM students take three HSM core courses and three healthcare electives. All six HSM courses count as elective credits towards the MBA degree requirements. This is a slightly heavier courseload than required by Wharton’s healthcare program, which asks students to complete two foundations courses and three healthcare electives.

Despite the prominence of the Wharton and Duke programs, they are far from the only option for MBA applicants seeking a career in healthcare. For instance, Columbia now offers the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Management program, Kellogg offers a major in Health Industry Management, and HBS hosts the Healthcare Initiative. Those business schools that do not offer formal healthcare concentrations tend to have a student club and/or a student-organized conference dedicated to supporting interest in the field, so regardless of the program, healthcare minded applicants should find plenty of resources.

For more on healthcare options, majors, student clubs or conferences, be sure to check out the Clear Admit School Guides.

For those who are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare and want to learn more about the different programs and opportunities available at each school, check out the Clear Admit Career Guide: Healthcare.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:00 am in Career Guides, School Guides, School: Columbia, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Harvard, School: Northwestern / Kellogg, School: Penn / Wharton, Trivia Tuesday

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

MBA Students Are Finding More Banking Jobs, Internships This Year, NYT Reports

Business school students with their sights set on investment banking careers are landing internships and jobs in greater numbers as banks climb out of the recession, according to a recent article in the New York Times.

Drawing on interviews with dozens of students and administrators at business schools across the country, as well as a December survey by the MBA Career Services Council, the Times on Sunday reported that the job market in the banking sector is stabilizing.

“The banks this year kept saying, ‘It’s a good year,’ ‘We just approved a lot of hiring,’ ‘The market is clearing up,’ ” Kwame Yankson, a second-year MBA student at the University of Virginia’s Darden School, told the Times. Yankson, who was turned down for summer internships by 15 banks last year, received a full-time offer from Wells Fargo when he conducted his job search this year. “It was a completely different experience,” he said.

Indeed, Darden told the Times that the number of banks interviewing on campus increased 20 percent this year over last, and job offers are up 33 percent so far.

At Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, the reports were also encouraging. According to that school’s career office, twice as many students had lined up investment banking internships last month than the year before, and four new banks came to interview.

Student interest in banking is likewise rebounding at Fuqua, the Times reported. The number of students submitting resumes to banks was up 37 percent, and the number of students participating in the school’s Week on Wall Street was up to 90 this year, from 60 last year.

“There’s reason for students to be optimistic,” Tracy Handler, a spokeswoman for the M.B.A. Career Services Council, told the Times. The council, an association of business school career advisers, conducted a survey of its members in December to gauge students’ internship prospects. The findings: 39 percent of business schools expected internship opportunities to increase this summer, while 26 percent expected them to decrease.

“Any signs of recovery are modest,” Handler told the Times. “But business schools are looking ahead and seeing a light at the end of what is now a pretty short tunnel.

For the full story, click here.

Are you considering a career in investment banking? Check out Clear Admit’s Investment Banking Career Guide for comprehensive profiles about investment banking programs at each of the leading business schools.

4 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Virginia / Darden, Uncategorized

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Trivia Tuesday: Lifelong Learning at Chicago Booth, Tuck, Duke/Fuqua and NYU Stern

It’s Tuesday, so that means it’s time for a look at the programs and policies that help to differentiate the leading business schools. Today we’ll examine the opportunities available for MBA graduates at Chicago, Dartmouth/Tuck, Duke/Fuqua and NYU Stern to continue their business training through alumni education programs.

For instance, Chicago Booth permits alumni to enroll in up to three courses free of tuition at any time after they graduate. Most graduates use the courses to hone or sharpen their skills in a particular area, and the grades received in these courses become part of their official Chicago Booth transcript.

In contrast to Chicago’s formal alumni education program, Tuck offers a much more informal continuing education program. In addition to life-long access to the Career Development Office, Tuck alumni may enroll in programs through the Osman Tuck Alumni Lifelong Learning (TALL) Program. TALL’s classes are presented by Tuck faculty in the U.S. and abroad and help keep alumni up-to-date on the newest thinking and trends in business.

At Fuqua, alumni seeking formal continuing education are invited to enroll in the Health Sector Management Alumni Certificate program. Designed for alumni currently working in healthcare or seeking a career move into the field, the HSM Alumni Certificate program teaches students ways to approach the business of healthcare. Participants enroll in either Weekend or Global Executive MBA classes, in person or remotely.

Finally, all Stern alumni are eligible to continue their business education through Stern’s Alumni Students program. Although many leading business schools allow graduates to pursue additional coursework, Stern has one of the most flexible policies, allowing alumni to enroll in three credits per semester with no cap on the number of post-graduate credits they may earn. All Alumni Student participants must pay applicable tuition and fees, and all course grades are recorded on the participant’s official Stern transcript.

It’s important to remember that earning an MBA is about more than just the time spent on campus. Business schools want their graduates to do well not just in their first jobs, but throughout their professional lives, and the leading schools therefore devote significant resources to personal and professional support for alumni.

For more information on the career support, academic opportunities, mentoring programs and other resources available to MBA alumni, be sure to check out the Alumni Network sections of the Clear Admit School Guides!

2 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:42 am in School Guides, School: Chicago, School: Dartmouth / Tuck, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: NYU Stern, Trivia Tuesday

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Submit an MBA Interview Report for Columbia Business School, Duke / Fuqua, London Business School or NYU / Stern, Win a $10 Gift Card to Amazon!

Welcome to Wiki Wednesdays, in which we set our sights on the latest submissions to the Clear Admit Wiki, an online repository for MBA applicants to share their experiences with admissions interviews.  We’ve received a whopping 10 new interview reports this past week! If you’re knee-deep in interview season, be sure to check out the latest posts for: Berkeley / Haas, Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Chicago Booth, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, USC / Marshall, UT / McCombs and Yale School of Management. We’d like to thank everyone for continuing to build the Clear Admit Wiki!

Before getting into contest details, let’s take look at a couple of the latest contributions.  A Round 2 candidate for Duke / Fuqua faced the following questions in a blind interview with an alumnus:

  1. Tell [me] something about your family background.
  2. How will you contribute at Fuqua?
  3. What does leadership mean to you?
  4. What is one thing you are proud of?
  5. What other schools have you applied to? Prioritize them, give reasons.
  6. How will you explain your job to a 6-year-old?

An accepted IESE applicant shared the following questions, as posed by an adcom member:

  1. Can you tell me about one memorable event from your childhood?
  2. Tell me about your parents – Where do they live and what do they do?
  3. Why did you quit your previous job?
  4. Tell me one instance when you disagreed with your boss and how did you handle the situation?
  5. Tell me once instance when you had to work with a team member with whom you could not get along.  How did you handle this?
  6. What other schools have you applied to and why?

For more reports, be sure to check out the Clear Admit Wiki! Thank you to everyone who has shared their interview experiences this season and helped fellow applicants!  If you’re eager to contribute, we’ll be awarding a $10 Amazon gift certificate to applicants that submit interview reports for Columbia Business School, Duke / Fuqua, London Business School or NYU / Stern through next Tuesday, February 23rd!  In other words, all you have to do is send us your interview field report for the selected schools for inclusion in the Wiki and we’ll send you a $10 Amazon gift certificate.   You must send your interview report to wiki@clearadmit.com to be eligible; we’ll post it to the Wiki and notify the winners by e-mail (Limit: one iTunes or Amazon gift card per person).

Have you had to explain your school choice in your MBA admissions interviews?  Leave a comment below to explain how you handled it!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:21 pm in School: Columbia, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: London Business School, School: NYU Stern, Wiki Wednesdays

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Submit an Interview Report for Columbia Business School, Duke / Fuqua, Stanford GSB, UVA / Darden or Yale SOM, Win a $10 Gift Card to Amazon!

Welcome to another edition of Wiki Wednesdays, in which we take a peek at the latest submissions to the Clear Admit Wiki, an online repository for MBA applicants’ admissions interviews.  We’ve received a number of interview reports this past week – for Columbia Business School, Dartmouth / Tuck, Michigan / Ross and Northwestern / Kellogg – and we’d like to thank everyone who has been posting their experiences this season! 

Before getting into contest details, let’s focus on a few snippets from some of the latest contributions!  A Round 2 applicant to Northwestern / Kellogg shared the following questions, as posed by an alumna:

  1. What makes a good leader/a bad leader? 
  2. Tell me about a time you’ve been on a team that has failed.
  3. Tell me about a time you have been humbled.

Talk at Tuck mainly revolved around teamwork, as a Round 2 applicant reported in the Clear Admit Wiki.  An  adcom member asked the following questions:

  1. Tell about a time you worked on a team.
  2. What are the qualities that make you successful on a team?
  3. Tell me about a time you experienced conflict on a team, and how you handled it?

Thank you to everyone who has helped fellow applicants by sharing your interview experience!  If you’re eager to contribute, we’ll be awarding a $10 Amazon gift certificate to applicants that submit interview reports for Columbia Business School, Duke / Fuqua, Stanford GSB, UVA / Darden or Yale SOM through next Tuesday, February 16th!  In other words, all you have to do is send us your interview field report for the selected schools for inclusion in the Wiki and we’ll send you a $10 Amazon gift certificate.   You must send your interview report to wiki@clearadmit.com to be eligible; we’ll post it to the Wiki and notify the winners by e-mail (Limit: one iTunes or Amazon gift card per person).

The most helpful and informative reports usually include the following information:

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

Applicants who would like to supplement the information available on the Wiki can check out our Clear Admit Interview Guides, which provide school-specific insight about admissions interviews.  Best of luck to those undergoing Round 2 interviews!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:00 pm in School: Columbia, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Stanford, School: Virginia / Darden, School: Yale, Wiki Wednesdays

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Trivia Tuesday: Honor Codes at Tuck, Yale SOM and Duke/Fuqua

Business ethics have been front page news for much of this decade. One way that business schools build ethical standards into their programs is through adopting school-wide honor codes that provide guidelines for student behavior. Although many schools have such codes, today we’ll examine the approaches taken by Tuck, Yale SOM, and Duke/Fuqua.

At Tuck, all students agree to abide by an Academic Honor Principle that emphasizes honesty and integrity both inside and outside the classroom. Closed-book mid-term and final exams are often unproctored or given as take-home tests, and students are trusted to comply with any restrictions on time or resources. The honor code is governed by a student judicial board; faculty and administrators intervene only when students are unable to resolve a matter of academic integrity.

Meanwhile, the Yale SOM upholds a formal honor code that guides the conduct of students, faculty and staff. While its implications extend into the social realm, it is most explicit about students’ conduct in academics and recruiting. In the academic realm, professors are expected to provide clear guidelines regarding assignment requirements and appropriate collaboration, and in turn, students must work fairly within groups and seek clarification from their professor if in doubt about the instructions. With respect to recruiting, students must adhere to the Career Development Office’s standards when attending interviews and responding to offers, as well as uphold a high level of professional behavior in all recruiting activities.

Yale students report that the Honor Code is heavily emphasized during pre-term, and that it permeates campus life thereafter. In routine academic life, students check themselves, both when working individually and in groups, to ensure that they are following the Honor Code, and many report that they enjoy having a high community standard to live up to and uphold. The administration takes the rare occurrences of academic or professional violations very seriously; alleged offenders must answer to a faculty and student committee that decides whether to excuse the accused party or recommend probation, suspension or even expulsion.

At Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, students operate under both Duke University’s expectation of high standards of scholarship and conduct and the Honor Code of the Fuqua School of Business. Violations of the Honor Code include lying, cheating, stealing, or failing to report one of the previously mentioned offenses, and disciplinary action may include suspension or expulsion. The Fuqua Honor Code became front-page news at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year when over 30 first-year students were found guilty of violating the Honor Code by improperly collaborating on a take-home test and nine of these students were recommended for expulsion. Although the story generated a great deal of public commentary on the questionable ethics of business school students, Fuqua’s administration and many of its students see the case as a sign of the school’s commitment to upholding high ethical standards within the community, regardless of the publicity generated.

For more information on schools’ honor codes, be sure to check out the Academics section of the Clear Admit School Guides!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:50 am in School Guides, School: Dartmouth / Tuck, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Yale, Trivia Tuesday

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Wiki Wednesdays: Submit an Interview Report for Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, INSEAD or Michigan / Ross and Win a $10 Gift Card to iTunes!

Welcome back to Wiki Wednesdays, our weekly post about the Clear Admit Wiki – a free source of breaking interview invitation news and extensive information on the interview process at each program.  Over the past week, we’ve received a number of interview reports for Chicago Booth, London Business School and Stanford GSB.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki and helped fellow applicants prepare for MBA admissions interviews!

For those interested in adding their experience to the Wiki, we’ll be awarding a $10 iTunes gift certificate to every fifth applicant who contributes an interview report.  Plus, between now and next Tuesday, December 8th, the first 15 candidates that submit interview reports for Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, INSEAD or Michigan / Ross will receive a $10 gift certificate to iTunes!  To be eligible for the prize, simply send your contribution to wiki@clearadmit.com; we’ll post it to the Wiki and notify the winners by e-mail (Limit: one gift card per person).

The most helpful and informative reports usually include the following information:

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

Applicants who would like to supplement the information available on the Wiki can check out our Clear Admit Interview Guides, which provide school-specific insight and strategic advice to help applicants with their admissions interviews.

As always, we wish the best of luck to Round 1 applicants undergoing the interview phase of the admissions process! Stay tuned to this blog for an array of interview tips in the coming weeks, and be sure to check out the Clear Admit Wiki for firsthand interview accounts.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:14 pm in School: Dartmouth / Tuck, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: INSEAD, School: Michigan / Ross, Wiki Wednesdays

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Working Toward a Career in Healthcare? Clear Admit’s New Guide Will Help You Choose an MBA Program!

Interested in a future career in healthcare? Choose the best MBA program for you with the help of Clear Admit’s Career Guide to Healthcare, a great resource from our brand new line of career-focused guides! This guide is directed toward prospective applicants hoping to work for companies like Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Medco Health Solutions or Pacific Healthcare; or who are thinking about healthcare-focused positions in industries like venture capital, consulting, or investment banking. Applicants looking to pursue careers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices will also benefit from this guide, as they typically participate in MBA healthcare programs as well.

With 44 pages of detailed information on the top MBA programs with a focus on healthcare, this guide makes it easy for prospective students to:

-    Compare academic and extracurricular offerings at each school in order to narrow down where to apply
-    Write meaningful essays and prepare for interviews based on the guide’s specialized information about each program
-    Make an informed decision about which school to attend based on academics, career placement, and other deciding factors

Prospective students can also use the Clear Admit Guide to Healthcare to learn about student-run healthcare clubs at each school, recruiting for internships and jobs, and the academic offerings at the top MBA programs. Although many leading business schools do not offer a formal course of study in healthcare:

“Of those that do, Fuqua’s Certificate in Healthcare Management and Wharton’s Health Care Management Major are generally the best known. . .  The Health Management Certificate at Haas and the Health Enterprise Management Major at Kellogg are two of the other formal academic healthcare programs with strong track records of helping students secure employment in the industry.”

The guide contains sixteen school profiles with exclusive insight into academics, extracurriculars, and career services. For example, several school profiles offer a “course spotlight” describing a highlighted class, like the Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology course at University of California Berkeley’s Haas Business School:

“Associated with the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, this course is designed for both future entrepreneurs and those students interested in working for a biotechnology or medical devices startup. The course explores the challenges in starting a life sciences company, provides an overview of the industry, and teaches students to recognize the opportunities for funding. Students gain insights into working with venture capitalists, bringing ideas to the clinic, and tackling business development and strategic partnering. Students have the opportunity to work on their own entrepreneurial endeavors and meet with life-science entrepreneurs during the course.”

To find out more about the top healthcare-focused MBA programs, get the Clear Admit Guide to Healthcare, available for immediate purchase and download from the Clear Admit shop!

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Career Guides, School: Berkeley / Haas, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: MIT / Sloan, School: Northwestern / Kellogg, School: Penn / Wharton

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Duke / Fuqua Essay Topic Analysis 2009-2010

The Duke / Fuqua essay topics have changed slightly since last year’s admission’s season.  Like last year, applicants must respond to three essays, however, this year’s essays can be twice the length of last year’s, with the limit increasing from one to two pages.

Although there is no specified word limit, Duke does require that all essays be no more than two pages long with 1.5 line spacing and in a font not smaller than 10-point.

As you prepare to answer these questions, remember to do careful research on Duke’s program offerings and integrate your findings in each response.  Candidates should consult the Clear Admit School Guide to Fuqua for an in-depth review of the program’s unique features, character and curriculum.  Let’s take a closer look at each essay as well as the broad instructions/preamble that Fuqua provides:

Today, companies must navigate through complex and interdependent issues. They must deal with health and security matters, environmental impact questions, and diversity and cultural concerns. Leaders need adaptability, imagination, emotional intelligence, as well as business acumen. Thus, Duke is in the midst of an ambitious global venture that will embed and connect us around the world, and we are seeking future leaders of consequence, those who value diversity and collaborative leadership, and who aspire to impact the companies and communities of which they are a part in a lasting and positive way.

In an effort to identify, engage, and foster the development of future leaders of consequence, the Admissions Committee would like to get to know our applicants in a more holistic manner. We would like to know who you are, what has shaped you into the person you are today, and how you hope to impact both Duke and the communities of which you will be a part in the future. The essays are your opportunity to convey that to us. Please be open, genuine, and passionate. Share with us what makes you a dynamic, multi-dimensional person.

Based on this statement, applicants should keep in mind that Duke is interested in students who are both natural leaders and collaborators, able to work with diverse teams of people.  In addition, while discussing their career goals and aspirations, Duke candidates should emphasize their plans to make a lasting impact.  Based on the second paragraph, Duke values students who can express themselves in a personable manner through their essays, so applicants should obviously strive to infuse their writing with personality and passion.

Essay 1: Required
Describe your vision for your career, your inspiration for pursuing this career path, and the role of The Duke MBA in achieving your goals. If you are interested in a specific concentration or joint degree program, please discuss in this essay.

This is your standard career goals essay, and applicants should have ample space to effectively answer each component of the question.  As you clearly articulate your goals, the reasons behind your goals, and the role that Fuqua could play in realizing these goals, be sure to include the specific information and important details about your future vision that will make your essay stand out.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Duke’s program is crucial to an effective response to this question.  Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs, and extracurricular activities—whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading our guide—will pay dividends here.

Essay 2: Required
Discuss a person, event, or experience that has significantly shaped your life and explain why.

This question is essentially the same as last year’s third essay, although it omits an additional bit of instruction that the admissions team had included (in the 2008-2009 admissions season Duke attached the following note along with this essay question: “The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally”).  This change suggests that although Duke is still interested in using this question as a way to get to know candidates better, the school is open to professional anecdotes and comfortable leaving the topic selection fully in the hands of the applicant.

The best approach to this response will therefore be to share an anecdote (professional, personal or otherwise); from there you should draw attention to the priorities and qualities at play in the story, commenting on how you derived these from your development over the years.  Because Duke’s first question focuses primarily on future goals, you have the opportunity in this question to address some of your past experiences.  While the experiences you choose to showcase may range from personal to professional, this essay does offer an opportunity to support the reasons motivating the career goals that you discussed in your first essay.

As you select the anecdote to use and themese to convey, do not forget that you should ideally use this open-ended question to highlight the most important and interesting aspects of your background.  Ideally the Duke admissions reader will gain a sense of who you are and how you are different from others in the pool.

Essay 3: Required
Individuals choose a business school for many different reasons. Through your research, what attributes or characteristics of The Duke MBA program have most resonated with you and why? How do you plan to contribute to the strengthening and enhancement of those attributes and characteristics during your time at Duke and beyond?

This question, new to Duke’s application, requires that applicants demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the unique attributes and characteristics of Fuqua.  It also demands that applicants highlight their fit with the program and detail how they will promote the school’s values while at Duke and afterwards.  It may be helpful to look at this question as a combination between the standard questions “what would you contribute” and “why this school,” as in this essay Duke requires both research on the school and self-reflection.

It’s important that your answer to this question is not merely a reiteration of the points made in your first essay regarding how Duke will help you reach your future goals. One way in which you can approach this challenge is by discussing concrete aspects of the program that will help you on your career path (i.e. specific courses, clubs, professors) in the first essay, and using more conceptual characteristics about Duke that resonate with you in this essay.  For example, in this essay you could choose to discuss Duke’s spirit of collaboration, citing why this appeals to you, how you would promote this while at Duke, and how you see yourself carrying this spirit forward (i.e. founding or joining a company that promotes collaborative work habits).

Another way you can approach this is by considering Essay 3 as somewhat of a continuation of Essay 1.  By pinpointing specific things about Duke that interest and fit with you in the first essay, you will now have a chance to discuss how you will contribute to these offerings as well as the overall culture of Duke’s MBA program.  For example, an applicant who resonates with Duke’s emphasis on leadership may cite a club of interest in the first essay, and then use this third essay to discuss how they would like to play a leadership role in organizing a certain conference or speaker series for this club.  By being clear about how you would contribute, you will make it easier for the adcom to picture you as an active and valued member of the Duke community.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Duke / Fuqua

Monday, August 31, 2009

Admissions Tip: Off-Campus Information Sessions

For all those applicants who have recently opened a calendar to plot out the next few months only to realize they can’t possibly fit in campus visits on top of full time jobs and essay writing, never fear!  It’s true that traveling to a school’s campus is the ideal way to learn about their MBA program, but visiting is often not a viable option for applicants who are located remotely or unsure of their level of interest in a given school.  The good news is that business schools might very well come to them.  Many b-schools are getting ready to hit the road and embark on worldwide tours to dispense information and recruit qualified applicants.  Such events offer a great opportunity for interested students to meet with admissions staff (and sometimes with current students and/or alumni), learn about the program and ask specific questions.

Some of the top schools are already on the road, so we recommend looking into the travel schedules for programs of interest and planning accordingly. Keeping in mind that these schedules are updated and amended throughout the fall, here are some of the top programs’ itineraries for the months ahead:

Berkeley / Haas:
https://ssl.haas.berkeley.edu/Admissions/Events/index.cfm

Chicago Booth:
http://www.chicagobooth.edu/fulltime/admissions/events/

Columbia:
http://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/events

Duke / Fuqua:
https://www.fuquaworld.duke.edu/www/public/infosess_all_view.jsp

HBS:
http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/events.html

Northwestern / Kellogg:
http://bit.ly/Zrg7b

Michigan / Ross:
http://www.bus.umich.edu/Admissions/Mba/forumsreceptions/RossReceptions.htm

MIT / Sloan:
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/academic/events.php

Stanford GSB:
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/outreach/info_sessions.html

NYU / Stern:
http://w4.stern.nyu.edu/admissions/cgibin/sched_events.cgi

Dartmouth / Tuck:
http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/admissions/events.html

UCLA / Anderson:
http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x5525.xml

UNC / Kenan Flagler:
http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/News/Events/embambainfo.cfm

UVA / Darden:
https://apply.darden.virginia.edu/admissions/events/EventsSchedule.tap?sp=103

U Penn / Wharton:
http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/admissions/admission-events.cfm

Yale SOM:
http://mba.yale.edu/MBA/admissions/events.shtml

IESE:
http://www.iese.edu/aplicaciones/emba/events/events_emba.asp?lang=en

IMD:
http://www.imd.ch/programs/mba/infosessions/index.cfm

INSEAD:
http://www.insead.edu/mba/offevents/index.cfm?fuseaction=offcampus

LBS:
http://www.london.edu/programmes/infoevents/do?progSelect=MBA&locationSelect=

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:48 am in Admissions Tips, School: Berkeley / Haas, School: Chicago, School: Columbia, School: Dartmouth / Tuck, School: Duke / Fuqua, School: Harvard, School: IESE, School: IMD, School: INSEAD, School: London Business School, School: MIT / Sloan, School: Michigan / Ross, School: NYU Stern, School: Northwestern / Kellogg, School: Penn / Wharton, School: Stanford, School: UCLA / Anderson, School: UNC / Kenan Flagler, School: Virginia / Darden, School: Yale

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Trivia Tuesday: Health Sector Management at Fuqua

It’s time once again for Trivia Tuesday, our regular exploration of the special programs and opportunities that differentiate the leading business schools. This week we take a peek into the Clear Admit School Guide to Fuqua, and share an excerpt on Fuqua’s Health Sector Management program.

“Duke University began offering healthcare education in 1930 alongside the opening of the Duke Hospital. In the more than three-quarters of a century since then, the Health Sector Management program (HSM) has evolved into one of the preeminent healthcare management education programs in the nation, alongside Wharton’s Health Care Systems major.  After moving first-year HSM courses to the business school in 1986, the HSM program became fully integrated into Fuqua in 1991. Today, the HSM program enrolls as much as one-fifth of each Daytime MBA class, making it the largest healthcare program affiliated with a leading business school.

Fuqua’s affiliation with Duke University and its location in the North Carolina Research Triangle area are major contributors to the strength of the HSM program. The Duke University Medical Center and Health System is a leader in biomedical research, education, and healthcare delivery, while the Research Triangle is home to approximately three dozen leading biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations, including well-known names such as GlaxoKlineSmith, Biogen, Novartis, Paradigm Genetics and Eli Lilly. The HSM program’s relationships with these and other area companies helps to keep students and faculty strongly connected to the rapidly changing healthcare industry while providing companies with inside access to a significant talent pool.

Students enter the HSM program from a variety of backgrounds, though most tend to have experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, research and development, provider systems or consulting. Though the program does not require prior health sector experience, it does look for a strong commitment to the healthcare field among all student participants.”

To continue reading about Fuqua’s Health Sector Management program, and to find out about the HSM application process, the HSM-specific curriculum, experiential opportunities offered within this program, and the course map HSM students follow, take a look at the Clear Admit School Guide to Fuqua.  All 18 Clear Admit School Guides are available for immediate purchase and download on the Clear Admit School shop.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in School Guides, School: Duke / Fuqua, Trivia Tuesday

Friday, August 07, 2009

Duke / Fuqua Essay Topics 2009-2010

Duke / Fuqua has slightly altered its essay questions heading in to a new admissions season.  The 2009-2010 application features three required prompts.  Please find the 2009-2010 topics below:

Today, companies must navigate through complex and interdependent issues. They must deal with health and security matters, environmental impact questions, and diversity and cultural concerns. Leaders need adaptability, imagination, emotional intelligence, as well as business acumen. Thus, Duke is in the midst of an ambitious global venture that will embed and connect us around the world, and we are seeking future leaders of consequence, those who value diversity and collaborative leadership, and who aspire to impact the companies and communities of which they are a part in a lasting and positive way.

In an effort to identify, engage, and foster the development of future leaders of consequence, the Admissions Committee would like to get to know our applicants in a more holistic manner. We would like to know who you are, what has shaped you into the person you are today, and how you hope to impact both Duke and the communities of which you will be a part in the future. The essays are your opportunity to convey that to us. Please be open, genuine, and passionate. Share with us what makes you a dynamic, multi-dimensional person.

1.  Describe your vision for your career, your inspiration for pursuing this career path, and the role of The Duke MBA in achieving your goals. If you are interested in a specific concentration or joint degree program, please discuss in this essay.

2. Discuss a person, event, or experience that has significantly shaped your life and explain why.

3. Individuals choose a business school for many different reasons. Through your research, what attributes or characteristics of The Duke MBA program have most resonated with you and why? How do you plan to contribute to the strengthening and enhancement of those attributes and characteristics during your time at Duke and beyond?

For all questions, Fuqua asks for 1.5 line spacing, and indicates that each essay should be no more than two pages in length, using a font not smaller than 10-point.

Additionally, Fuqua offers an optional essay, which asks applicants to explain any extenuating circumstances regarding their candidacy, and a re-applicant essay, which calls for re-applicants to describe how candidacy has changed compared to a previous year.  The re-applicant essay is required for those who applied to Fuqua between September 2008 and April 2009.

The Duke / Fuqua 2009-2010 deadlines are listed here.

0 Comments »

# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:55 am in Essay Topics, School: Duke / Fuqua

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GMAT Club Forums
Below are the five most recent posts to the GMAT Club message boards. student 2 student
The student-2-student Discussion Boards are managed by Wharton. Here are the five most recent discussions.

School-Hosted Blogs

Straight from the source: aggregated posts from students and administration. Below are the seven most recent posts in school-hosted blogs.

Individuals' Blogs

A selection of the latest updates to MBA blogs compiled by Hella.
MBA Applicants
MBA Students

Bloggers by School

The following are links to bloggers at each of the schools listed.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Chapel Hill
Stanford
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
Yale
ESADE
IESE
INSEAD
London Business School

Community Blogs

Bshoolers.com
Community blog with MBA student and alum contributors.


Forté Foundation MBA Diaries
Video blog entries posted by women MBA students.


Owen Bloggers
Independent blog with content by Vanderbilt MBA students.

Best of Blogging

2009-2010 Top Ten:
    Clear Admit Best of Blogging 2009-2010

Best of Blogging

2008-2009 Top Ten:
    Clear Admit Best of Blogging 2008-2009
  • Top 10 Students:
  • MaybeMBA(Chicago Booth)
  • JulyDream (Darden)
  • Paragon2Pieces (McCombs)
  • HairTwirler (McDonough)
  • Iday (Chicago Booth)
  • TinyDancer (Wharton)
  • CS (Harvard)
  • Andrew (Marshall)
  • Mandy (Darden)
  • M@ (Ross)
  • Best of Blogging

    2007-2008 Top Ten:
      Best of Blogging
    2006-2007 Top Ten:
      Best of Blogging
    2005-2006 Top Ten:
      Best of Blogging
    2004-2005 Top Ten:
      Best of Blogging
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