MBA Planner 2.0
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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

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.

Program 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

B-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.
knowledge@wharton
INSEAD Knowledge
Harvard Working Knowledge
Knowledge @ Emory
Columbia Ideas @ Work
knowledge@ W. P. Carey
Stanford Knowledgebase
Ross Thought in Action

MBA Programs: The 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.

Additional Resources

Archives

University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School Names New Vice Dean for Innovation

In a letter to the Wharton School community last week, Dean Thomas Robertson announced the appointment of a new vice dean for innovation, a position newly created to help ensure that the very best ideas for improving Wharton’s research and teaching are identified and implemented.

Karl Ulrich, a Wharton professor of entrepreneurship and e-commerce, will assume the new role, Robertson announced. “As vice dean, Karl will be a steward for innovation opportunities, providing a vital channel to the Dean’s Office for ideas originating from across all divisions of the school,” he wrote. He added that implementing just two or three additional ideas each year could be transformational for the school.  » Continue reading

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:  » Continue reading

Clear Admit Launches Fall Admissions Director Q&A Series

This week, we will launch our fall Admissions Director Q&A Series, featuring interviews with admissions directors at each of the top MBA programs around the globe. In these question-and-answer exchanges, directors tell us some of the things they are most excited about in the year to come and draw attention to aspects of their programs that not all applicants may know.

We also ask them to delve into the nitty-gritty of the application process itself. What, exactly, happens to your application from the moment you hit “submit” through to the moment you learn – fingers crossed! – you’ve been admitted? Admissions directors have seemed more than happy to walk us through this process, and we’ll share with you what we’ve learned.  » Continue reading

Trivia Tuesday: International Study Trips

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, our weekly exploration of the details, distinctions and developments of the leading MBA programs.

Over the last decade, most business schools have sought ways to provide relevant, hands-on international business exposure within the confines of a two-year degree. The solution that many schools have arrived at is study trips, which allow students to spend a few weeks exploring the business environment of another country over the summer or during a mid-semester break. Depending on the school, these trips may be organized through an elective course, by an administrative office, or through a campus student group.  » Continue reading

Admissions Staff Changes at Many Top MBA Programs

According to a Columbia Business School (CBS) spokesperson, long-time admissions director Linda Meehan is retiring from her post this week. Meehan joined the CBS staff in 1993 and served as director of admissions through fall 2009, when CBS appointed Mary Miller as the school’s new admissions director as part of a move to combine admissions for the MBA and EMBA programs. Meehan stayed on for the past year, focusing more of her attention on alumni affairs, but she has now decided to retire. 

The news comes on the heels of several other changes among the staff at top MBA programs around the country. At the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, veteran Admissions Director Rose Martinelli announced her own departure last month. She left to become assistant vice president of enrollment for the University of Chicago, and Kurt Ahlm from the admissions office has taken over as director of admissions and financial aid.  » Continue reading

2010-2011 Clear Admit MBA School Guides to Darden, INSEAD, Johnson, Kenan-Flagler, London Business School and Tepper Now Available!

We are pleased to announce the release of the 2010-2011 Clear Admit MBA School Guides to Darden, INSEAD, Johnson, Kenan-Flagler, London Business School and Tepper! As previously announced in this space, also available are the updated versions of the Clear Admit MBA School Guides to Chicago Booth, Columbia, Fuqua, Haas, Harvard, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Ross, Stanford, Tuck, UCLA Anderson, Wharton and Yale, which were released earlier this summer.

All twenty of the 2010-2011 Clear Admit MBA School Guide titles feature the most current information from the programs, including the latest admissions guidelines, class demographics and placement statistics, and offer insight into year-over-year trends.

Applauded by admissions officers and applicants alike, the Clear Admit MBA School Guides are informative and detailed profiles of leading business schools that combine the views of faculty, students, alumni and the popular press. They are available electronically (in PDF format) to help you meet your tight time constraints.
 » Continue reading

Clear Admit Featured in MBA Podcaster Video “Navigating the Trilogy”

Do you have your sights set on the upper echelon of MBA programs? Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond shares valuable tips on how to target top schools Harvard, Stanford and Wharton as part of a recent video by MBA Podcaster.

The video, entitled Navigating the Business School Trilogy, aired on August 9th as part of MBA Pod TV, MBA Podcaster’s YouTube video channel. In this most recent episode, Richmond offers a comparison of what many consider to be the top three MBA programs in the country: Harvard Business School (HBS), Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He examines what sets the schools apart and provides insight to prospective applicants on how to approach the application process at each school.  » Continue reading

Trivia Tuesday: Wharton’s Lauder Program

Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, a weekly look at the programs and resources that differentiate the leading business schools. This week we will explore Wharton’s Lauder Program, examining what it is, what completion of the program entails, and what kind of student should consider applying.

Upon completion of 24 months of study, Wharton/Lauder students receive a joint MBA/MA in International Studies. Lauder participants begin classes three months earlier than students in the traditional MBA program, completing one month of intensive language study and a two-month study abroad/in-country immersion program before beginning Wharton classes in September. Once MBA classes begin, Wharton/Lauder students lead an especially busy life, since they must complete Wharton’s full core curriculum and course requirements alongside the Lauder M.A. requirements.
 » Continue reading

Ten Top Business Schools Report Application Volume Declines

According to a recent article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the number of prospective candidates applying to MBA programs at 10 top U.S. business schools is down this year compared with 2009. Indeed, Bloomberg BW is declaring that the recent boom in MBA applications that went hand in hand with the economic crisis “appears to be over.”

Bloomberg BW surveyed 30 of the top U.S. MBA programs about application volume. Of those, 10 reported decreases in volume averaging 6.1 percent. Eleven reported increases averaging 10.2 percent, and nine schools declined to provide information.  » Continue reading

Indian School of Business Begins Construction of New Mohali Campus

Construction work began this week on a new 70-acre campus for the Indian School of Business in Mohali, Punjab, the Financial Times reported.

The campus, the school’s second, will enroll 200 students when completed in spring of 2012. ISB’s first campus was established in Hyderabad in 1999 with the help of top international business schools including the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and London Business School.  » Continue reading

2010-2011 Clear Admit School Guides to Fuqua, Haas, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Tuck, UCLA Anderson and Yale Now Available!

We are pleased to announce the release of the 2010-2011 Clear Admit School Guides to Fuqua, Haas, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Tuck, UCLA Anderson and Yale! As previously announced in this space, also available are the updated versions of the Clear Admit School Guides to Chicago Booth, Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Ross, Stanford and Wharton, which were released earlier this summer. All of the 2010-2011 titles feature the most current . . . → Continue Reading

Registration Now Open for Explore Wharton Diversity Weekend

The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania announced yesterday that registration is now open for Explore Wharton: Diversity in Action, a two-day event for prospective applicants from under represented backgrounds to visit campus and learn more about the admissions process.

The event, which will take place on September 16th and 17th, is hosted by the African American MBA Association (AAMBAA), the Wharton Hispanic American MBA Association (WHAMBAA), Wharton’s Out for Business (Out4Biz) and the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office.

Participating prospective applicants will have an opportunity to tour the Wharton campus, attend classes, ask questions about the admissions process and learn more about specific opportunities for LGBT and under-represented people of color within the Wharton MBA community.

Advance registration is required. To . . . → Continue Reading

Trivia Tuesday: Wharton’s Pre-Term

Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly examination of the programs and policies that help to distinguish the leading business schools. This week we turn our attention to the first experience that matriculating students have on Wharton’s campus: the Wharton pre-term program.

Wharton offers a required, three-week pre-term program before the start of first-year classes. Students choose from among several levels of coursework in financial accounting, microeconomics, statistics and financial analysis, designed to bring all students up to the required level of understanding in these areas before fall classes begin. Placement in the pre-term courses is by self-registration; Wharton provides a CD-Rom with self-assessment tests in early summer so students may gauge the appropriate course levels for which to register. . . . → Continue Reading

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 . . . → Continue Reading

Out Now: 2010-2011 Clear Admit School Guides to Chicago Booth, Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Ross, Stanford and Wharton!

Available for immediate purchase and download are the 2010-2011 versions of the Clear Admit School Guides to Chicago Booth, Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Ross, Stanford and Wharton.  These titles feature the most current information from the programs, including the latest admissions guidelines, class demographics and placement statistics, and offer insight into year-over-year trends.

Applauded by admissions officers and applicants alike, the Clear Admit School Guides are informative and detailed profiles of leading business schools that combine the views of faculty, students, alumni and the popular press. They are available electronically (in PDF . . . → Continue Reading

Trivia Tuesday: International Consulting Opportunities at Stanford GSB and Wharton

As business goes global, more MBA students are looking for ways to gain international experience. A number of leading business schools offer students an opportunity to gain in-country experience while using their knowledge of business to help address pressing social issues. Today we’ll take a closer look at the programs offered by Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the Wharton School at UPenn.

At Stanford, the school’s Global Management Program organizes the Global Management Immersion Experience (GMIX), a month-long internship that takes place at the end of the first summer, usually after a longer traditional internship. Sponsor organizations range from international companies to small startups and non-profits, and they generally seek students to work on a focused project over the course of . . . → Continue Reading

Wharton Essay Topic Analysis 2010-2011

Following the release of Wharton’s 2010-2011 MBA application essay questions, we would like to offer some advice on how to choose compelling anecdotes and craft strong essays.  Although applicants are still required to answer four essays, this year’s essay prompts are significantly different from previous years’, as this year’s questions inquire more about applicants’ ability to be self-reflective, to persevere, and to innovate.  Let’s take a look at this year’s essay topics:

Required Question: What are your professional objectives? (300 words)
A marked departure from Wharton’s standard 1,000-word career goals essay, this year’s applicants have only 300 words to describe their future plans.  While this is a variation of the typical . . . → Continue Reading

Wharton Admissions Committee Announces International Coffee Chat Schedule

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School is gearing up to host casual meet-and-greet events in 50 cities around the globe for prospective applicants hoping to learn more about the MBA program.

In a post to the Wharton Admissions Blog yesterday, the Admissions Committee announced that registration is now open for the first in its series of Coffee Chats. These informal events will be held as MBA students return to their home cities and meet with prospective applicants to share their experiences at Wharton.

So far, events have already taken place in Beirut and Seattle, Washington. Others cities scheduled this week include London, Paris, Dallas, Beijing and New York. To register for any of these events, visit the Wharton Admissions . . . → Continue Reading

UPenn / Wharton Essay Topics 2010-2011

The UPenn / Wharton essay topics for Fall 2010 are currently available on the school’s website.  These essay topics designate the final essay topics that applicants must answer; candidates should note that they are different from the initial essay topics that Wharton posted for the 2010-2011 application.

Required Question:

What are your professional objectives? (300 words)

Respond to 3 of the following 4 questions:

1. Student and alumni engagement has at times led to the creation of innovative classes. For example, through extraordinary efforts, a small group of current students partnered with faculty to create a timely course entitled, “Disaster Response: Haiti and Beyond,” empowering students to leverage the talented Wharton community to improve . . . → Continue Reading

San Francisco MBA Panel Discussion to Feature Harvard, Stanford, Wharton Representatives

On Tuesday, June 29th, the Harvard Alumni Club of the San Francisco Bay Area will host a panel discussion on MBA admissions featuring representatives from Harvard Business School (HBS), Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

The panel, entitled “MBA Admissions: The Experts Speak,” is open to all aspiring MBA candidates interested in the MBA program at any of the three schools. Panel presenters include Wharton alumni interviewer Archana Ravichandran (MBA ’08), Stanford GSB Director of Admissions Kirsten Moss and HBS Admissions Board Member Hilary Caplan Somorjai (HBS ’96). They will discuss a range of topics including curriculum enhancements, job market prospects, global exchanges and admissions trends.

The event will take place at the University . . . → Continue Reading

Graduating MBAs Must Show Patience, Flexibility in Job Search This Year, Economist Reports

Though the job market has improved this year over last, newly minted MBAs should not view the degree as an instant ticket to a new career, a recent article in the Economist warns.

Where firms were once furiously snapping up the most talented students from top schools as fast as they could, even without specific positions in mind, the economy has forced them to return to the basics, hiring MBAs only when a slot becomes open, according to the Economist article. Graduates this year, as a result, find themselves competing fiercely for available positions and needing to consider options their predecessors might not have.

No longer can a fresh MBA graduate count on the “classic triple jump,” a simultaneous change in function, role . . . → Continue Reading

Grads from Top MBA Programs Pull in Higher Salaries, Bloomberg BusinessWeek Research Finds

Graduates from top MBA programs in the United States can expect to earn $2.5 million, on average, in base pay and bonuses over the course of a 20-year career, with graduates from the very top programs earning even more, according to recent research commissioned by Bloomberg Businessweek.

For the second year, Bloomberg BusinessWeek asked PayScale, a salary data collection company, to calculate median cash compensation for graduates from top business school upon graduation and again after 5, 10, 15 and 20 years of work. PayScale, which uses online pay comparison tools to collect individual salary data, has a database of 23,000 MBA grads at the top 45 U.S. business schools.

According to PayScale’s data, Harvard Business School graduates can expect to earn the . . . → Continue Reading