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CATEGORY - SCHOOL: LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Admissions Director Q&A: London Business School’s David Simpson

Were you working feverishly to complete your application to the London Business School (LBS) in time for last week’s round one deadline? If so, you’re probably wondering just what happened after you hit the submit button. In the interview that follows, David Simpson, LBS associate director for marketing and admissions, takes the mystery out of the process, walking us through each and every step.

As the most recent participant in our continuing Admissions Director Q&A Series, Simpson shares information about a new one-year management masters program at LBS geared toward people without work experience in the business world. In discussing the school’s full-time MBA program, he highlights the remarkable diversity of the LBS class. And in closing, he provides some concrete pointers on how to write strong application essays, as well as how to prepare for the admissions interview.

So whether your application is already in or you’re preparing to submit in a later round, you won’t want to miss what Simpson has to say.

Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change, or event happening at LBS this coming year?

David Simpson: In August 2009, London Business School will be launching a new Masters in Management program. The new 11-month, full-time program is designed for people without work experience who want to lay the foundations for a successful career in business.

This launch is an exciting move for the school. It builds upon our reputation as a dynamic and entrepreneurial organization, adept at taking advantage of emerging opportunities. (Click here to read more about the launch.)

We will continue to focus on recruiting talented experienced individuals for our full-time MBA program. We want people from all walks of life, who can bring a wealth of personal and professional experience to the class. Work experience is necessary for our full-time MBA, as we expect high levels of contributions and collaboration from individuals during this life-changing program. In the class of MBA 2010, the average length of work experience is 5.6 years, with the range being between two and 12 years.

CA: What is the one area of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?

DS: We strive to highlight exactly how much the international and professional diversity of our MBA class adds to our participants’ learning experience. It is easy for any business school to talk about ‘being global,’ but making diversity work and maximizing value for students is less straightforward. At London Business School, an MBA class can represent over 60 nationalities with students bringing diverse professional backgrounds. We create a collaborative learning environment that includes study groups, classroom discussion and practical projects and provides a unique and challenging experience. The first-year study groups, for example, offer a challenging and yet supportive learning environment due to the outstanding caliber of each participant and the depth of personal and professional and experience each brings (an average of 5.5 years work experience).

For example, one of our current study groups includes the following members, who will work together on every core course for the first year of the MBA, before each of the students personalize their second year MBA studies through the flexible nature of our 15-21 MBA curriculum:

A management consultant from the United States; a Canadian project manager in the construction sector; a Polish financial analyst with the World Bank; an Indian strategic research manager in the confectionary industry; an Israeli entrepreneur with experience in the healthcare/tech sectors and a German professional with private equity and banking experience.

Many student groups go one step further to include individuals from even more diverse backgrounds. This year we have a concert pianist and a plastic surgeon. As with every year, we also have many other doctors, lawyers, military personnel and people from other ‘non-business backgrounds.’ Often our many incoming students from corporate business backgrounds will underestimate how much they will learn from their more ‘non-traditional’ peers…and then the MBA starts and they find out exactly why each individual was recruited.

We work hard to ensure that every single student will have something special to offer to his or her classmates. Our thorough and competitive admissions process helps us to recruit such talented individuals.

CA: Walk us through the life of an application in your office from an operational standpoint. What happens between the time an applicant clicks ‘submit’ and the time the committee offers a final decision (e.g. how many “reads” does it get, how long is each “read,” who reads it, does the committee convene to discuss it as a group, etc.). 

DS: Like many schools we have a stage admissions process, but we run ours over a fairly long season. Our first deadline is in October, with offers made in December. Our final deadline is at the end of April, with offers made in July. Although we expect applicants to carry out a lot of research, which takes time and effort (often including a campus visit at some point in the process), we are aware that candidates’ personal and professional circumstances can change rapidly, affecting their application submission.

Online applications are downloaded after the admission deadline, printed out and additional documentation added. Admissions team members will then read the application and decide if the candidate is to be granted an interview or not. Nobody joins the London Business School MBA without having been through a face-to-face alumni interview. We find that alumni interviews offer us a consistently high standard of detailed feedback from the perspective of someone who has gone through the program themselves. Interviews offer candidates we considered to be ‘borderline’ for some reason a chance to shine. After all, when it comes to gaining post-MBA employment it is the all-round package of knowledge, experience, intellect, personality and charisma that will get you a job. Because interviews are carried out in locations all around the world, usually wherever candidates are based, they add the benefit of local market/cultural knowledge.

Senior admissions staff may follow up with a secondary interview in certain cases where we require further information in order to make a final decision.

Once the alumni interview results are added to an application, our Admissions Committee makes its final decision. The committee makes decisions on applications from each of our four admissions stages, managing a waitlist throughout. This enables us to select the highest caliber individuals to create the best possible culturally and professionally diverse class. It is a very long and involved process and we utilize all stages of the admissions schedule to add individuals from different backgrounds and craft the best all-round ‘perfect class.’

CA: How does your team approach the essay portion of the application specifically? What are you looking for as you read the essays? Are there common mistakes that applicants should try to avoid? One key thing they should keep in mind as they sit down to write them?

DS: We read everything we ask for very carefully. Essays are an applicant’s chance to tell their story, describing why they wish to study for an MBA at this stage of their career. Essays add color and depth to the basic core facts and timelines given in a resume and application. Candidates should make sure they research each school they apply to in detail, using all the resources offered by schools and organizations like Clear Admit before sitting down to write their essays. Each school has its own identity and personality, and candidates need to exhibit an understanding of that. Remember that the full application, including the essays, is passed on to the alumni interviewer, who will focus in on certain areas. So be prepared to talk in depth on any topic you wrote about. When submitting any business school application – be honest, be thorough, be self-aware and be excited about your chosen school.

That’s all the detail I am prepared to give you on how to answer our essays…it is for you to interpret what you think London Business School Admissions Committee wants to read in your essays. Good luck!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Generous Gift to London Business School Will Fund Private Equity Research

Earlier this month, London Business School (LBS) announced that it has received a multi-million pound donation to help establish the world’s premier institute for private equity education and research. The donation comes from the family foundation of Jeremy Coller, who heads Coller Capital, one of the United Kingdom’s largest private equity firms.

The new center, called the Coller Institute of Private Equity, will expand LBS’s current private equity program into one of the most advanced in the world through the addition of MBA electives and executive education courses. It also will provide a platform for cutting-edge research and a forum for debate and knowledge exchange within the private equity and venture capital ecosystem. 

“London Business School is the obvious home for the Coller Institute – it is Europe’s leading business school, has a truly global perspective and is situated in a worldwide hub for private equity,” Coller said in a statement announcing the new center. 

In an article in the Financial Times, Coller expressed confidence that the private equity industry is here to stay despite the recent credit crunch. “It is foolish to say this is the beginning of the end. We are right at the beginning of private equity,” he told the FT.

Coller’s £3m-£8m ($5m-$14m, €4m-€10m) donation is designed to secure LBS’s spot as the pre-eminent place to study and research private equity. “To make a more sophisticated market, there needs to be more academic research,” he told the FT. “We want to learn more about ourselves in the industry and to have more case studies,” he continued.

Private equity – the use of long-term capital from investors and loans from banks to buy companies with the aim of selling them a few years later for a higher price – has suffered from a poor public image, something Coller believes would shift if only the industry were better understood, according to the FT article.

In fact, Coller says, private equity is “democratizing wealth,” allowing retirees and savers to invest their pension funds and replace the church and aristocracy as the biggest owners of private assets.
“[It’s] moving from ownership by the few to ownership by the many,” he told the FT. “What the man in the street needs to realize is that they can take ownership of their pension fund.”

Even before Coller’s recent generous donation, LBS’s private equity program was one of the biggest in the field, with 340 students signed up to join the course this year. According to Professor Eli Talmor, who will serve as the first chairman of the Coller Institute, 16 per cent of students applying to LBS want to join private equity, and the private equity club, with 2,000 members, is the school’s largest professional club.

“We have been working on a shoestring and this money will give us the stability and ensure we are around forever,” Talmor told the FT. “This will allow us to do more ground-breaking research and to organize further events around private equity.”

To learn more about the new Coller Institute of Private Equity at LBS, click here.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Women Take Center Stage at Tuck School of Business, London Business School

Amid an American election cycle in which women have played a more central role across both parties than ever before, business schools, too, are turning the spotlight on women. The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth just hosted its annual Women in Business Conference and the London Business School announced today its annual Sloan Fellowship Women’s Scholarship.

Tuck’s annual Women in Business Conference, which took place on October 3rd and 4th, this year celebrated 40 years of women at Tuck. Organized by second-year Tuck students, the conference was designed to bring current students, alumni and prospective students together for a range of educational panels and social activities around topics of particular relevance to current businesswomen.

Panel discussions focused on issues ranging from work-life balance to the glass ceiling to cross-gender communication. Carla Harris, managing director in global capital markets at Morgan Stanley, delivered the keynote address. Other speakers included Tuck alumnae Christina Morrison T’93, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Wyeth, and Noreen Doyle T’74, former chief operating officer at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Conference co-chairs Jill Cohen T’09 and Erin Breslin T’09 said they were thrilled with both the speaker lineup and the conference theme.”The conference theme, Celebrating 40 Years of Women at Tuck, will not only help us connect prospective, current and graduated Tuck women but will also facilitate lively discussion about key issues facing women in the modern business environment,” they said in a statement announcing the event. 

LBS Names 2008-2009 Sloan Fellow
Meanwhile, the London Business School this week announced its annual Sloan Fellowship Women’s Scholarship award, designed to encourage women to pursue management careers in business.

This year’s Sloan Fellowship was awarded to Vanessa Ginn, an experienced manager in the oil industry who has held leadership positions at BP and Mobil. The award, co-sponsored by Saatchi & Saatchi and Spencer Stuart, will fund Vanessa’s place in the year-long Sloan Fellowship MSc as well as career mentoring with Spencer Stuart.

Ginn, who developing BP’s downstream emerging markets business in China and India, is the fourth recipient of the Sloan Fellowship MSc. As part of the 11-month full-time program – considered one of the premier programs designed expressly for experienced senior managers – Ginn will explore the latest management thinking with LBS’s world-class faculty while gaining valuable experience in all areas of general management and leadership.

“I am proud and very grateful to be the winner of the Sloan Fellowship Women’s Scholarship, both on a personal level, and for what it represents from a wider perspective,” Ginn said in accepting the prize at an awards dinner last night. “I’m a passionate believer in the power of diversity in business, particularly of women in business,” she continued.

The award will give her an opportunity to take time out to reflect on her career direction, develop enhanced leadership skills, expand her network and encourage other women to embrace leadership in business, Ginn added.

To learn more about London Business School’s Sloan Fellowship Women’s Scholarship, click here. To learn more about the Tuck School of Business Women’s Leadership Conference, click here.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Clear Admit Guides Provide Critical Competitive Edge amid Brewing “Perfect Storm” for MBA Applicants

PHILADELPHIA (Business Wire/EON) — MBA applications are on track to reach record levels this admissions season due to a collision of demographic and economic factors. As a result, b-school hopefuls are facing a more competitive landscape than ever, especially those seeking admission to the top schools.

To help applicants navigate this “perfect storm” and prepare the strongest applications possible, Clear Admit has just released the Clear Admit Resume Guide. This 17-page document – filled with step-by-step instructions, illustrative examples and two full resume templates – teaches applicants how to create a masterful resume that provides an effective overview of their candidacy, distilling major accomplishments to a single page while providing a full and compelling picture of their strengths and background.

“The resume is a key component of any business school application, yet many applicants fail to tailor this document to the admissions process. Our guide has been forged from Clear Admit’s wealth of experience advising MBA applicants and our team members’ direct experience in admissions roles at programs like Wharton, Tuck and Columbia,” says Graham Richmond, Clear Admit’s Co-founder and CEO.

The Resume Guide is just the latest addition to Clear Admit’s growing arsenal of resources for the well-prepared MBA applicant. Also fresh off the presses are the 2008-09 Clear Admit School Guides. Updated each year, the acclaimed School Guides provide applicants with an in-depth understanding of each school’s culture and offerings, crucial in identifying a good fit and producing polished essays.

Admissions directors at the schools themselves offer praise for the Guides: “Clear Admit does an excellent job in helping prospective applicants learn about individual schools through the School Guides, providing great information about specific programs in the context of how they compare to other schools on similar metrics,” says Rosemaria Martinelli, Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business.

David Simpson, Associate Director of MBA Marketing & Admissions at London Business School adds: “By bringing together student opinion, official statistics and original research, the LBS School Guide offers an authentic snapshot of life in our program. The cross-school analysis presented in the guide is invaluable for candidates who are looking to go beyond rankings and understand the nuances of leading programs.”

Available Clear Admit School Guides include Harvard Business School, Chicago GSB, Stanford GSB, Kellogg, London Business School, Wharton and eleven other leading programs. All titles can be purchased and downloaded from the company’s online shop, at www.clearadmit.com/guides.

View this release at Forbes.com

Friday, August 22, 2008

London Business School Essay Topics 2008-2009

Following the recent announcement of the 2008-2009 application season deadlines, the London Business School essay topics for this year have been released.  The topics are as follows:

Question 1 (600 words)
In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal? Why is this the right time for you to pursue an MBA?

Question 2 (200 words)
Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision?

Question 3 (500 words)
Please describe your experience of working in and leading teams, either in your professional or personal life. Include any specific challenges you have faced. Given this experience, what role do you think you will play in your first year study group?

Question 4 (400 words)
Student involvement is an extremely important part of the London Business School MBA experience and this is reflected in the character of students on campus. What type of student club or campus community events will you be involved with and why? How will you contribute?

Question 5 (150 words)
Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these?

Interested applicants should visit the school’s admissions site for additional information.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

London Business School Deadlines 2008-2009

London Business School has posted its deadlines for the 2008-2009 application cycle.

Round One
Application Due: October 14, 2008
Decision Sent: December 18, 2008

Round Two
Application Due: January 6, 2009
Decision Sent: March 31, 2009

Round Three
Application Due: March 3, 2009
Decision Sent: May 22, 2009

Round Four
Application Due: April 30, 2009
Decision Sent: July 8, 2009

All applications are due by 5:00 pm, London time.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

London Business School and Columbia Business School Launch New Global Asia EMBA

Building on their existing partnership, London Business School (LBS) and Columbia Business School (CBS) have announced a new addition to their top-ranked EMBA-Global program. With the launch of EMBA-Global Asia, the two schools will partner with the University of Hong Kong to create the first program offering business education and networking opportunities that link the global financial hubs of Hong Kong, London and New York.

As a portal to mainland China, Hong Kong seemed a natural place for expansion of the EMBA-Global program. And the University of Hong Kong, too, seemed the perfect partner, given its respected international reputation, strong academic programs and state-of-the-art facilities.

The ideal candidates for this new EMBA-Global Asia program are high-potential, globally-focused executives and managers, primarily based in Asia, who are passionate about the opportunities offered by Asia’s rapid economic development.

The 20-month course will include intensive MBA classes taught in New York, London, Hong Kong and Shanghai, as well as additional study in other international regions. Teaching will be divided equally among faculty from each of the three partner schools.

Students who complete the program will receive a joint MBA degree awarded by Columbia University, London Business School, and the University of Hong Kong – complete with access to the alumni networks of all three schools.

The inaugural class, made up of approximately 50 students, will begin in May 2009.

For more information, visit www.emba-global.com.

Friday, June 13, 2008

London Business School Recruiters’ Forum Draws Record Numbers

Hosting its Annual Recruiters’ Forum earlier this month, the London Business School (LBS) drew more than 100 representatives from 75 leading global companies to campus to learn more about the ways in which LBS graduates can meet their hiring needs.

This year’s forum drew top-name companies from a range of sectors. Representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lehman Brothers, Google, Johnson & Johnson, the Boston Consulting Group, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, McKinsey & Co and Pepsico all were in attendance. Many new companies also took part in the forum for the first time this year, including an increased number of recruiters from Industry.

LBS places significant emphasis on developing relationships with recruiting partners, an effort that seems to have paid off.
Last year alone, the companies represented at the recruiter’s forum hired 328 MBA and MiF students as either interns or employees.

This year’s forum, in addition to helping students secure positions for the coming year, also gave last year’s hires an opportunity to thank returning recruiters and further strengthen their relationships.

Due to these and other recruiting efforts, employment figures out of LBS continue to be strong. This year, 97 percent of the graduating class received job offers within three months of graduation, and 99 percent of the first-year class secured internships, according to Diane Morgan, director of LBS Career Services. Masters in Finance graduates were similarly successful, with 96 percent receiving job offers within three months of graduation, Morgan continued.

To download a copy of the program from the 2008 Annual Recruiters’ Forum, including profiles of each of the day’s speakers, a calendar of important upcoming recruiting events and a complete list of all participating companies, click here.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Trivia Tuesday: Hands-on Learning at Michigan/Ross and London Business School

In today’s Trivia Tuesday we turn our attention to the signature experiential learning opportunities available at Michigan’s Ross School of Business and the London School of Business.

The Multidisciplinary Action Project at Ross is the centerpiece of the first-year curriculum. In the course, student teams are paired with companies in the U.S. and abroad to complete a significant consulting assignment. The teams work for Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs and non-profits on projects related to business plan development, human resource planning, marketing, process improvement, growth strategies and more. MAP is designed to provide a capstone experience to the first year, demanding that students draw on the lessons learned across the general management core classes. The faculty and administration believe that the process of working with a team and client to define a project, assemble and analyze needed information, and recommend an action plan is an important experience that builds the leadership skills necessary to identify and solve future problems.

Past MAP projects include creating a strategic plan for the Disaster Response Group of Thailand’s Habitat for Humanity, conducting an in-depth competitive analysis for JP Morgan Chase, launching a new product for a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and developing an expansion and growth strategy for Infosys Technologies. Past locations have included local projects in Ann Arbor and Dearborn, Michigan, domestic projects in Denver, Phoenix and Connecticut, and international projects in Ireland, Mexico, Hong Kong and India.

At London Business School, second-year students undertake a paid consulting engagement to solve a company’s critical business problem. Teams of two or three students work with a company’s management to determine the project’s scope, deliverables and remuneration.

London students have worked with a wide range of companies on the second year project, including NGOs, charities, and the regional offices of multinational corporations like IBM and Nike. Projects have also been wide-ranging, although each involves research and analysis of a concrete business problem. Interim deliverables vary based on the arrangement with the company, but all teams are required to produce a final written report summarizing their findings and suggesting solutions. Students typically negotiate payment from £100 to £300 per workday, although those without relevant industry experience are often willing to accept lower compensation, as are students who work for startups or charities. Most projects extend from two to four months, with students devoting 25-30 working days to the undertaking - all while completing other coursework.

For more on the opportunities for hands-on learning at Ross or LBS, or to explore the experiential learning offerings at other leading business schools, be sure to check out the schools’ websites or Academics and Special Programs sections of the Clear Admit School Guides!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Business Schools, Students Stay Upbeat Despite Economic Downturn

According to a recent article in the Economist, business schools and MBA students are notably upbeat despite an economic downturn impacting organizations that are often their prime recruiters – namely those in the financial services and banking industries.

According to the Economist report, several factors fuel this unusually hopeful outlook: No one knows for sure just how bad the economic situation is (or isn’t), MBA students themselves seem more realistic and pragmatic than in downturns of the past, and though top job offers are down, MBAs have not yet faced having their internship or job offers withdrawn (save the particular case of Bear Stearns).

News from the schools and elsewhere echo the Economist report. Berkeley’s Hass School of Business Career Center reports that job opportunities for Berkeley MBA students during the 2007-2008 recruiting season actually increased by 5 percent over the year before and that salaries are holding steady.

“It is a tighter employment market, but we have seen MBA hiring continuing,” said Abby Scott, executive director of MBA Career Services. “Some of the firms who are laying off are continuing to hire fresh talent.” Summer internship hiring has also increased over last year, according to Scott.

London Business School also reported high job placement rates among its students this recruiting season. “We are thrilled to that 2007 has been another strong year for our hugely talented MBA class with an impressive 97 percent receiving an offer of employment within three months of graduation,” Diane Morgan, director of LBS career services, said in a January statement.

Findings from the annual Corporate Recruiters Survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council reflect the same optimism.

That said, there could still be hard times ahead. According to Haas’s Business Career Center, online job postings have dropped, suggesting that companies are resorting to “just-in-time hiring” as a result of weakening economic conditions. “As we look forward to next year, we’re anticipating a little bit of a downturn as we experienced during the last cycle,” said Haas’s Scott.

What impact does this have on MBA admissions? Often, business school admissions run counter-cyclical to the economy – spiking during downturns as some look to MBA programs as a place to ride out the storm. Sometimes, though, those with jobs choose to hang onto them.

Application rates so far have shown no sign of decrease. In fact, almost 60,000 students took the GMAT in the first three months of 2008, a 12 percent increase over the same period a year before.

Generally speaking, the perceived value of an MBA doesn’t usually fall even if job prospects for current MBA grads do begin to falter. In fact, the MBA degree can under those conditions be the factor that helps secure a job for candidates in an increasingly competitive market.

The Economist report praised students and schools for their level-headedness. “Overall, business schools and their students seem to be displaying a laudable maturity, refusing to panic—at least for now—and stressing that the MBA degree has long-since stopped being a golden passport to a well-paid and secure job,” read the report. “Many are well aware of the economic downturns of the past, notably the global recession of the early 1990s and the dotcom crash a decade later. Neither did much to dent the long-term attractions of the MBA.”

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Wiki Wednesdays: School Choices

Welcome to another edition of Wiki Wednesdays, where we highlight some particularly poignant posts from the Clear Admit Wiki, a repository of MBA applicants’ experiences with the admissions process. While spring is in full swing, some candidates are still undergoing interviews (as can be seen in the recent UCLA / Anderson and INSEAD reports added to the Wiki) while prospective applicants are giving the GMAT a go.

During the fall and winter, however, many applicants dread answering the question “why this school instead of that one?” in their essays and interviews. Now that admissions notifications are out, the question is resurfacing once again. Some admitted applicants are choosing between multiple offers, while others are considering attending a school that they researched only briefly in the fall. And of course, many applicants are now debating the pros and cons of relocating with their significant others.

One applicant, as shared on the School Choices page of the Clear Admit Wiki, approached this debate based on criteria such as geographic location, weather, class size and international opportunities, among several other points.

Another candidate broke down her choice among eight schools according to the individual programs, which can lead to a much more detailed and nuanced argument, not to mention a potentially dizzying list of preferences! This candidate, however, approached the debate head-on with a succinct list of perks and pitfalls. For example, when identifying the pros and cons of a few programs, she wrote:

1. “IESE: I was really excited about the possibility of studying in a dual language MBA program. The IESE program is a two year U.S. style MBA program top ranked globally but with a smaller class size compared with similar U.S. schools.
2. + : international experience, foothold into European job market, Barcelona, case study method, very American friendly program.
3. - : name recognition in US not very strong though increasing, exchange rate makes it a “very expensive language class” to quote one of my bosses.

1. UCLA: I applied to UCLA to give myself a west coast option and to throw in a wild card to see how my profile would be accepted at a slightly larger program with a less specialized program. I was attracted to the international focus and exchange opportunities afforded to students.
2. + : west coast school, international focus
3. - : state school, comparatively limited resources”

For this candidate’s observations on the six other programs, be sure to check out the School Choices page. No matter the approach to trimming one’s short or long list of choices, it can always help to organize one’s thoughts, priorities and data points in writing. The School Choices page can be a great forum for breaking down one’s decisions, so we encourage candidates to share their debates by creating an account or sending their thoughts to wiki@clearadmit.com.

As a final reminder for those still interviewing or interested in sharing interviews from this season, it’s the last day to win a $10 iTunes gift certificate for an interview report for the following schools: Berkeley / Haas, Cornell / Johnson, MIT / Sloan, Stanford GSB, Dartmouth / Tuck, UCLA / Anderson, Yale SOM, INSEAD and LBS (limit one gift card per applicant). To be eligible for the prize, simply e-mail your interview report to wiki@clearadmit.com.

We’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki this season! We look forward to awarding some last minute iTunes gift cards as well as reading some dynamic debates about programs. Happy deliberating!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Aspen Institute Survey Finds MBA Students Increasingly Focused on Corporate Social Responsibility, Less So on the Environment

The results of a survey of MBA students at top business schools released today reveals that a business’s commitment to positively impacting society is rising as a top concern for students seeking employment upon graduation, especially among women. That said, a full 83 percent expect that their values will sometimes conflict with what they are asked to do in business, and of those, only 45 percent see themselves speaking up to express their objections.

The survey, conducted in 2007 by the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education, included interviews with 1,943 students at 15 top business schools around the world on a variety of issues, ranging from business ethics to business school coursework to the corporate recruiting process. Survey results help identify changing attitudes among MBAs since the survey was last conducted in 2002.

“In a broader sense, the most important finding is that students seem to be taking a more holistic view of the role of business in society,” Nancy McGaw, deputy director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program, said in a statement announcing the report’s release. “But the findings also suggest that while students may have these values, many of them sense those beliefs are not valued by employers or linked to career opportunities.”

Here McGraw refers to findings that only 50 percent of students surveyed felt that recruiters placed a high value on personal integrity, and only 7 percent think recruiters value their understanding of sociopolitical issues.

Though students at all the schools surveyed – from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania to the London School of Business to Berkeley’s Haas School, to name a few – expressed stronger interest in a job that will positively impact society in this year’s survey than five years ago, this priority decreases in importance for men as they move through their MBA program.

According to the survey findings, only 29 percent of men place high importance on this issue by the time they graduate, down from 43 percent in their first year. Women’s commitment to positive social impact was higher to start and remained relatively constant, according to survey results, with 52 percent of women naming it as a top priority in their first year and 50 percent holding the same view as they near graduation.

Interestingly, while values, ethics and corporate reputation are increasingly important to MBAs, environmental issues are not yet considered as important to a majority of students.

“We would have expected a large percentage of students to say that a company’s environmental practices are very important to them when choosing an employer,” McGaw said, especially given the emphasis that companies themselves are placing on green initiatives. But not according to the survey. “At this point, only one-third of students say so,” she said.

To view an executive summary of the survey, entitled “Where Will They Lead?
MBA Student Attitudes About Business & Society (2008),” click here.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Wiki Wednesdays: School Choices

Welcome back to Wiki Wednesdays, our weekly look at informative entries in the Clear Admit Wiki! We’ve received a number of great interview reports for Berkeley / Haas, Stanford GSB, UVA / Darden and MIT / Sloan, even though interview season is winding down. At this point, most applicants have received their long-awaited decision notifications, and those who have been accepted at more than one program will likely spend the next few weeks drafting (and redrafting) their lists of pros and cons before ultimately deciding on one school over another. In addition to individual blogs and the BusinessWeek discussion forums, the Clear Admit Wiki’s School Choices page provides a sound place to weigh one’s options.

As one candidate wrote in the Clear Admit Wiki about NYU / Stern vs. UCLA / Anderson,

1. “Both are reputable finance schools, but if you wanna work for IB/on wall street, go to NYU! NYU has the unshakable advantage regarding jobs on wall street, proved by [the fact] that 60% of the students go into financial services sector after graduation. On the other hand, [people] say UCLA has an advantage in PE/VC in Silicon Valley, but you need to compete with Stanford and Haas guys for this handful of job openings.”

It takes quite a bit of effort to make highly-nuanced distinctions like this applicant’s (for more points of her lengthy debate, check out the School Choices page). For this reason, it’s a great idea to take advantage of every resource available when making this difficult decision. Talking to alumni in your target industry and attending events for admitted students, whether a full weekend at the school itself or a dinner hosted in your own city, are great starting points for collecting valuable information.

In the meantime, we encourage our readers to share their thoughts - whether you’re looking for others’ opinions on individual schools or just searching for a good method of breaking down this complicated decision, the School Choices page can be a great help. Simply create an account or send your debates to wiki@clearadmit.com to contribute!

For those still interviewing or interested in sharing interviews from this season, we will be awarding a $10 iTunes gift certificate to each applicant who submits an interview report for the following schools: Berkeley / Haas, Cornell / Johnson, MIT / Sloan, Stanford GSB, Dartmouth / Tuck, UCLA / Anderson, Yale SOM, INSEAD and LBS between now and April 30th (limit one gift card per applicant). To be eligible for the prize, simply e-mail your interview report to wiki@clearadmit.com.

Thanks to all of those who have added their experiences to the Clear Admit Wiki and we look forward to reading more comparative cases on candidates’ school choices! In the meantime, here’s to due diligence and calm consideration!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Trivia Tuesday: London Business School’s Shadowing Project

In this week’s Trivia Tuesday column we turn our attention to experiential education across the pond, examining the Shadowing Project at London Business School.

The shadowing project at LBS enables students to gain a firsthand perspective on the daily role of a high ranking manager by “shadowing” that person for up to a week as they perform their job. Students report that they benefit immensely from this exposure, which illuminates skills they need to develop to succeed as managers.

Before entering the workplace of their “shadowees,” as they are called, students examine key studies and concepts in managerial behavior, building a theoretical framework to help them assess the management situations they will witness during the project. After the shadowing period, students synthesize their observations in a graded report that objectively profiles the leadership style of their shadowee.

To set up the Shadowing Project, students are expected to initiate contact with a manager of their choosing, and to arrange mutually acceptable dates for the shadowing to take place. While the task of contacting a high-level manager and pitching the shadowing idea may seem daunting, LBS explains that learning to harness the LBS network and preexisting professional contacts is one of the project’s key takeaways for students. The shadowing project can be completed between January and May in either the first or second year. The actual shadowing need not occur over five consecutive days, so students and their shadowees may decide to schedule the shadowing dates around critical meetings or events that it would be most helpful to witness.

Of the managers LBS students have shadowed over the past few years, about 15% have been CEO’s, 25% Managing Directors, General Managers or Vice Presidents, and 10% have held the highest ranking finance post in their organizations. In addition to the more traditional shadowees at investment banks and pharmaceutical companies, students have shadowed prominent figures in politics, as well as the management of a symphony orchestra. More than one-third of students travel outside the UK for the project.

For more on the projects and experiential learning opportunities at London Business School or other leading MBA programs, be sure to check out the Academics and Special Projects sections of the Clear Admit School Guides!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

London Business School, Goldman Sachs Announce New MBA Scholarship

The London Business School, in partnership with global investment firm Goldman Sachs, last week announced a new scholarship for full-time MBA students.

Established as part of an effort to highlight Goldman Sachs’ commitment to diversity, the first Goldman Sachs International Scholarship, in the amount of £20,000, will be award to a deserving international student starting the MBA program in autumn 2008. Scholarships will be awarded based on an assessment of candidates’ financial need and academic merit.

“Goldman Sachs is delighted to be working with London Business School to launch a new scholarship award,” said a Goldman spokesperson in a statement about the new award. “We hope the Goldman Sachs Scholarship will strengthen our global reach and continue to demonstrate our commitment to diversity.”

Candidates do not necessarily have to demonstrate a particular interest in Goldman Sachs or the financial services industry to be eligible for the award, although recipients may benefit from mentoring opportunities within the investment firm.
Details on how to apply for this new scholarship will be made available to candidates once they have received an offer of a place in the MBA program.

For more information about this and other scholarships available to London Business School students, click here.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wiki Wednesdays: Submit an Interview Report for INSEAD, LBS or Haas and win a $10 iTunes Gift Card!

Welcome to another installment of Wiki Wednesdays, where we highlight new and informative posts to the Clear Admit Wiki. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen great interview ‘field reports’ roll in for numerous schools! We’d like to thank all the applicants who have contributed their interview experiences from Chicago GSB, Columbia, and Darden, as well as NYU/Stern, UCLA Anderson, UNC Kenan Flagler, Duke/Fuqua and Wharton.

These reports have been invaluable in sharing what a program is looking for and helping other applicants arrive at a feeling of readiness, which is why we’re continuing to offer some incentives over the next two weeks…

Between now and this Friday, March 14th, we’ll be