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.

Before getting into contest details, let’s take look at a couple of the newest reports.  An accepted applicant to INSEAD shared the following questions from an alumnus:

1. Why entrepreneurship?  Do you think INSEAD will make an entrepreneur out of you?
2. Is [your] wife ready to move from US to France?
3. Why did [you] join [your] current company? Why US, Singapore and India?
4. [Describe your] proposed venture – its business model, how to raise capital, its market segment, how much energy, what kind of source for energy.
5. Why INSEAD? Why not some other school, like MIT or Kennedy School if [you] want to work in alternate energy?

A Round 2 applicant to London Business School shared the following questions, as posed by an alumnus:

1. Imagine the world without an MBA. What would you do?
2. If you can achieve your goals without an MBA why do you want to get an MBA?
3. How would you contribute to your study group at LBS from a professional point of view?
4. What will be your personal development after arriving at LBS?
5. Imagine that some people in your study group are not contributing enough and your talk to them didn’t help. What would you do next? How would you handle it? How would you feel?

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, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, NYU / Stern or Wharton through next Tuesday, March 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 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.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki and helped fellow applicants prepare for MBA admissions interviews this season!

Students recently went on the India Global Immersion Program (GIP), visiting various companies including the Bharti group, and speaking with business and government leaders, such as the Chairman of the Goa Port.   In doing so, Wharton students had the unique opportunity to learn about the business environment firsthand.  The India GIP also offered students the opportunity to learn about India’s cultural offerings, as the trip including visits to several cities, including Bombay, Bangalore and Delhi.

Wharton students also recently embarked on the 8th annual Caribbean conference and trek.  Organized by the Caribbean Business Clubs at Wharton and Harvard, students and graduates from NYU Stern, Chicago, Duke, and Howard traveled to Jamaica, where they first learned from local professionals about the foreign MBA experience.  After attending a welcome cocktails event, which including a speech from Jamaica’s Prime Minster, students spend the next day and a half attending panels about localized entrepreneurship, the financial crises, and regional integration.  Students also had the chance to relax and enjoy their surroundings, playing beach soccer, jet skiing, cliff diving, and laying out on the beach.

The Secretary General of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, Carlos Roberto Osorio, recently spoke at Wharton, discussing the process of Rio de Janeiro’s successful bid for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games.  Osorio discussed how Brazil won out over Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo, which were perceived as “further developed,” as his country campaigned aggressively for the 2016 games, after losing the bid for 2004 and 2012.  Osorio noted that the Olympics have never been held in South America, making this an unprecedented opportunity for growth in the city, country, and continent.

Do the India GIP or Caribbean trek interest you?  What Wharton-sponsored trips would you want to take?  Feel free to comment below!

Some applicants have had questions about the various types of interviews that can be scheduled. At Wharton, you can choose to schedule an on-campus interview, a hub interview or an alumni interview. All interviews are weighted equally, and applicants are encouraged to choose based on whatever is most convenient for them.

As to the difference between hub and alumni interviews, hub interviews take place at a fixed time in any of a number of hub locations, whereas alumni interviews can be scheduled for whatever time and place is mutually convenient for interviewee and interviewer. Hub interviews are generally conducted by members of the admissions committee, but in times of high demand, alumni may well conduct these interviews as well.

Of course, if you haven’t scheduled your interview yet, many slots will already be taken and you’ll need to settle for whatever’s still available. But again, if you are having trouble scheduling an interview for any reason, contact the MBA Admissions Office right away and a member of the admissions team can help you set one up.

If you’ve scheduled your interview and want to know how best to prepare for it, don’t miss the Clear Admit Wharton School Interview Guide, which includes Wharton-specific interview strategies, first-hand accounts from prior applicants and dozens of sample questions that are regularly asked as part of the Wharton interview. 

Already had your interview? Don’t forget that you can share your experience and read about other applicants’ on the Clear Admit Wiki. Best of luck to everyone!

Before getting into contest details, let’s take look at a couple of the latest contributions.  A candidate for Columbia interviewed with a second-year student, who asked the following questions:

1. Give me an example of a time when you worked in a team or as a leader.
2. Discuss an ethical dilemma you have experienced.
3. Talk about a time when you’ve faced adversity.
4. What will you do if you can’t attend business school this year?

A Round 2 applicant to Wharton  shared the following questions, as posed by an alumnus:

1. What are you most proud of?
2. If you had 1 million dollars, what would you do with it?
3. If you were an alumni interviewer, what would be your two most important questions to the applicant?  ([The interviewer] then asked me to answer these questions.)
4. Give me two strengths and two weaknesses and provide actual examples.
5. How do you imagine yourself 20 years from now?

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 MIT / Sloan, Stanford GSB, Wharton or UCLA / Anderson through next Tuesday, March 2nd!  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.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki and helped fellow applicants prepare for MBA admissions interviews this season!

Professor Kartik Hosanagar, who teaches “Enabling Technologies,” a class focused on technologies that help enable businesses in a networked economy, will deliver his first-ever live video-lecture, entitled “Innovation in Tech Firms: Analysis of Google, Apple, Pixar.”

The video-lecture will take place from 3 to 4:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, February 23rd. The lecture is free and open to prospective applicants, according to a recent post on the Wharton MBA Admissions blog.

Billed as the “first integrated social media blog/Twitter/Facebook course concept for a leading business school,” Wharton’s “Enabling Technologies” course calls on students to implement the very lessons they are learning in class regarding social media and new technologies through the class blog, Twitter feed and Facebook page.

To learn more, visit the EnableTech blog, EnableTech@Twitter or EnableTech@Facebook.

Let’s take a look at a few of the options for students seeking a Master’s degree in conjunction with their MBA, as well as the admissions requirements governing these degrees.

Like most leading MBA programs, Columbia Business School offers dual degree programs through which students earn another degree concurrently with their MBA (e.g., Master’s in International and Public Affairs, Master’s in Social Services). Applicants are required to apply to and receive admission to both programs and may apply to both programs simultaneously or to the second program if they are less than halfway through their studies at the first school.

Students in a dual degree program at Columbia register at one school per term and may take courses in either program in each term, as long as they meet each school’s course, residence, and sequencing requirements. CBS recommends that candidates complete the first two terms of the MBA program consecutively to maintain the integrity and full benefits of the cluster system.

Similar systems are in place at Chicago, which offers two joint MBA/MA programs, at HBS, which offers concurrent degrees with the Kennedy School of Government, and at Stanford, where there are joint MBA/MA options. A few business schools offer slightly different options for students interested in joint degree study. For instance, Kellogg does not offer a set list of MBA/MA programs, instead opting to allow students to create their own joint program through application to their two programs of interest. Meanwhile, although Tuck and Wharton offer dual degrees on their own campuses, each also teams up with other universities (including Tufts, the Kennedy School, and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies) to offer a more extensive list of dual degree programs.

While dual degree students make up a relatively small percentage of the overall MBA population, some admissions officers report that combination degrees are becoming increasingly popular as students seek to customize their educations and take advantage of the opportunity to earn two degrees in less time, and for less money, than if they pursued separate programs. For MBA applicants interested in applying their business education to fields such as public policy, education, social work, the environment, public health, international policy or another specialized field, a joint degree program can offer both the area expertise and business knowledge needed for a successful career.

To learn more about MBA/MA dual degree options, be sure to check out the Dual Degrees section of the Clear Admit School Guides!

Thomas Gilligan, dean of UT’s McCombs School of Business, shared some promising news in a post to the school’s blog earlier this week. As of that writing, 84 companies had registered for the school’s Career Expo, which took place on Wednesday, up from 74 last spring, and the career services director was expecting more to register in the final days before the event. Meanwhile the school’s SuperWeek for investment banking and consulting, held in mid-January, attracted 20 companies seeking MBAs. Finally, MBA Director of Career Services Stacey Rudnick reports that postings for MBA internships are also up this year over last.

“I’m not a Pollyanna, our students still face a tough career environment and it concerns me,” Gilligan wrote. “I’m just pleased we’re aggressively pursuing opportunities, and our recruiting numbers are holding steady with the best of our peer schools,” he added.

Halfway across the country, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School is also seeing improved job prospects for its students. According to a Bloomberg News report Thursday, the school has more off-campus job postings this year than last. And more second-year MBA students appear to have accepted full-time job offers than last year, Director of MBA Career Management Michelle Antonio told Bloomberg.

This week Wharton hosted a celebratory open house for the newly renovated building that now houses both the Wharton Leadership Program and Center for Leadership and Change Management.  Jeff Klein, the Director of the Wharton Graduate Leadership Program, states that with both programs located in the same place, there will be increased opportunities for collaboration in programming, staff communication, and teamwork.  The center includes open cubicles, designated group work spaces, and break rooms, all of which are designed to increase the social and academic experience of students and staff.  Students, staff, faculty, and university partners attended the open house and heard speeches from various Wharton leaders, including Mike Useem, who heads the Center for Leadership and Change Management.  With the new facilities, Wharton Dean Thomas S. Robertson stated he is confident in the school’s ability to help students become leaders, not just managers, in both the public and private sectors.

The Wharton Partners Clubs, the organization of Wharton students’ significant others, has renamed itself as “Cohort P” – though obviously not an official “cohort” of the school, this organization offers support to partners of Wharton students who are interested in becoming more integrated into and involved in the Philadelphia social, academic, work, and volunteer scene.  With 167 members, this organization is an important resource for both Wharton partners and Wharton students themselves, and hosts movie nights, happy hours, cooking classes, a monthly book club, and trips around Philadelphia.

Wharton students are also getting ready to submit their photos to the Wharton Yearbook, a tradition almost 20 years old.  Every year the Wharton Yearbook chronicles the student experience, such as cohort and social activities, trips and treks, and other University events.   Students are able to reserve copies so they ensure that they get their hands on this book full of memories and potential future networking material.

For those who did meet Wharton’s deadline, the staff is busy processing applications, ensuring each piece is present.  The admissions committee also noted that applicants have until March 1 to take or retake the GMAT.  Plus, interview slots are filling quickly, so contact them as soon as possible to secure a spot; West Coast applicants have until March 10th to complete interviews and East Coast applicants have until March 17. San Francisco program admissions decisions will be made by March 26 and Philadelphia decisions no later than April 9.

If you’re interested in applying to an Executive MBA program, send your CV to Clear Admit at info@clearadmit.com to discuss our consulting and counseling services.