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 . . . → Continue Reading]]> 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.

Through his work at Clear Admit, Richmond has worked with candidates who have applied to and been accepted at all three of these top programs, and he provides valuable advice to prospective applicants who likewise are considering targeting the trilogy. For starters, don’t think you can get away with cutting and pasting from one application to the next, he warns. Each of these top schools is going to require individual attention and work.

Richmond also brings school-specific expertise, having himself spent several years working in the admissions office at Wharton. Though they share top rankings, the MBA programs at HBS, Stanford and Wharton are actually quite distinct from one another, and many applicants may find that it doesn’t actually make sense to apply to all three, Richmond says.

Whether you are considering applying to one or all of the “trilogy,” you won’t want to miss this valuable free video.

Rice will serve as co-director of the GSB’s Center for Global Business and the Economy, Dean Garth Saloner tweeted on Monday. The Global Center houses the Global Management Program, which provides academic and experiential learning opportunities designed to help MBA students develop a global mindset and manage effectively in a global economy. Details about just what Rice will do in this new role have yet to be released.

Though this will be her first position at the GSB, Rice is no stranger to Stanford. She joined the Stanford University faculty as a . . . → Continue Reading]]> Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will join the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) faculty in September, the school’s dean announced on his Twitter feed earlier this week.

Rice will serve as co-director of the GSB’s Center for Global Business and the Economy, Dean Garth Saloner tweeted on Monday. The Global Center houses the Global Management Program, which provides academic and experiential learning opportunities designed to help MBA students develop a global mindset and manage effectively in a global economy. Details about just what Rice will do in this new role have yet to be released.

Though this will be her first position at the GSB, Rice is no stranger to Stanford. She joined the Stanford University faculty as a professor of political science in 1981 and served as provost from 1993 to 1999. She also was a fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institute from 1991 to 1993 and then again after serving as provost. She left the Hoover Institute for the White House in 2001, where she served as assistant to the president for national security affairs from 2001 to 2005 and as secretary of state from 2005 to 2009.

Since leaving the White House, Rice also has shown her stripes as a classically trained pianist, performing last month alongside legendary singer Aretha Franklin at a charity event in Philadelphia to raise money for urban children and awareness of the arts.

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]]> 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 format) to help you meet your tight time constraints.

The Clear Admit School Guides will help you to:

-Become an expert on your target schools overnight
-Use your newfound expertise to craft essays that stand out in the admissions process
-Compare schools head-to-head using objective data that goes beyond published rankings
-Get beyond the marketing pitch that schools push in their viewbooks and on their websites
-Prepare for your admissions interviews by knowing your target schools inside and out

Updated versions of the remaining School Guide titles are slated for release later this summer, so stay tuned for more details!

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]]> 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 a few weeks. Following the international experience itself, students have the option to complete a research project and compose a paper on a topic related to their internship, earning two units of credit.

At Wharton, the school’s International Volunteer Program (IVP), a non-profit, student-run organization, has helped small teams of student volunteers arrange consulting engagements with charitable institutions in developing countries for more than 20 years. These summer trips usually last two to four weeks. During the summer of 2009, students traveled to such countries as Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Kenya, Zambia, Bolivia and Mexico. The club’s annual Winter Ball fundraiser is one of the most heavily attended student-run events at Wharton, and raises money to cover most of the travel and organizational costs of the program. In addition to the standard IVP trips, the Healthcare Alumni Association also organizes several International Volunteer Projects open to both students and alumni. Recent projects included collaborating with the WHO Healthy Environment for Children Alliance in Tanzania to create a business plan for volunteer doctors delivering care to orphans, and designing a health incentives plan for children in El Salvador with the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children.

For more information on the international consulting opportunities at the leading schools, be sure to check out the International Focus and Special Programs sections of the Clear Admit School Guides!

“There’s been a flurry of activity in the past few weeks,” Robert Weiler, director of career services for UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, told the FT, as many companies hire graduates just in time to fill sudden manpower demands.

After last year – one of the most dismal hiring years for MBAs in recent history – the change is a welcome one that allows graduates to be more discriminating in their job searches. “The students have learned to expect . . . → Continue Reading]]> Thanks to an acceleration of “just-in-time” hiring by companies across a range of business sectors, some recent MBA graduates are once again finding they can be choosy when it comes to accepting a job offer, according to a recent report by the Financial Times.

“There’s been a flurry of activity in the past few weeks,” Robert Weiler, director of career services for UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, told the FT, as many companies hire graduates just in time to fill sudden manpower demands.

After last year – one of the most dismal hiring years for MBAs in recent history – the change is a welcome one that allows graduates to be more discriminating in their job searches. “The students have learned to expect the worst after all they’ve gone through, but from what I’ve seen most are ploughing ahead and are optimistic that they will get what they want,” Weiler told the FT. “There’s not a ton of people settling.”

Indeed, thanks to the recent ramp up in “just-in-time” hiring, business schools across the United States are reporting that employment figures have risen significantly from last year’s levels. At Stanford Graduate School of Business, for example, second-year job postings are up 67 per cent from last year and job postings for alumni are up 35 per cent, according to Pulin Sanghvi, director of the school’s career management center.

At New York University’s Stern School of Business, Assistant Dean of Career Services Pamela Mittman told the FT that she expects numbers to be better than last year, when 80 per cent of students had secured a job within months of graduation. And at UCLA Anderson, Weiler expects the number of MBAs with jobs upon graduation this year to be much closer to the usual placement figure of 85 percent, “significantly ahead” of last year’s 51 percent figure.

The encouraging employment statistics reflect not only economic recovery, but also redoubled efforts by business school career service officers to help their students land jobs, the FT reports. Like last year, career services officers have been cold calling recruiters and putting on more networking events and career fairs. This year, though, they have gone to even greater lengths at some schools – increasing technological capabilities to connect recruiters with students virtually, calling on recent alumni to serve as career coaches and working more with international students for whom tighter visa limitations have created challenges. 

For the full FT story, click here.

Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why?

Essay 2: What are your career aspirations? What do you need to learn at Stanford to achieve them?

Essay 3: Answer two of the four questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years.

Option A: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations. Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization. Option . . . → Continue Reading]]> Stanford GSB has released its essay topics for the Class of 2013. The three required essay questions for the 2010-2011 admissions season are below:

Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why?

Essay 2: What are your career aspirations? What do you need to learn at Stanford to achieve them?

Essay 3: Answer two of the four questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years.

Option A: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations.
Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization.
Option C: Tell us about a time when you generated support from others for an idea or initiative.
Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected.

Applicants should note that, in total, the three essays cannot exceed 1,800 words. The Stanford admissions committee recommends 750 words for Essay 1, 450 words for Essay 2 and 300 words for each response to Essay 3. For more information on the Stanford GSB essay topics, including the content the Stanford admissions committee hopes to see in these essays, make sure to visit the program’s website.