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CATEGORY - SCHOOL: UT AUSTIN / MCCOMBS

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

UT Austin / McCombs Essay Topic Analysis 2008-2009

We wanted to take some time today to comment on UT Austin’s essay questions for the coming admissions season.  Reflecting an emphasis on applicants who  have contributed to their workplace and the community and who will continue this level of engagement in an MBA program, UT Austin’s questions focus on how candidates might enrich their environments and embody the school’s “pillars of leadership”.

Essay 1: Please define your short- and long-term goals and objectives, your career progression to date, and how an MBA fits in at this time.  What makes the Texas MBA the perfect fit for you? (900 word limit)
McCombs has revised this question for this season; formerly asking about intermediate and long-term goals, McCombs now asks applicants to share their “short- and long-term” career paths: a more standard MBA career goals essay.  In approaching this essay, think about starting off with a statement about your overall goals then moving on to a discussion of your career progress.  As you write about your career and need for an MBA, you will be able to tie the discussion back to your greater professional objectives, indicating how your professional path will help you realize your goals.  Discussing how the Texas MBA fits into the picture will be key, and you can touch on how the McCombs program will provide you with the skill set necessary to begin reaching your objectives.  Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities - whether through a visit to campus or conversations with members of the community will pay dividends here.

Essay 2:  The Texas MBA is built around four key pillars of leadership.  Describe an experience that you have had that clearly demonstrates your leadership as it relates to one of our four pillars: 1) Responsibility/Integrity; 2) Knowledge/Understanding; 3) Collaborative/Communication; or 4) Worldview of Business and Society. (650 word limit)
A new question this year, this essay topic requires an understanding of the school’s values and a sound argument that you fit with the program in light of prior experiences.  Within this framework, though, applicants have a considerable amount of leeway in what they can discuss; examples can come from the educational, professional or extracurricular realms - so long as they relate to one of the school’s stated pillars.  Demonstrating some sort of contribution to the workplace or community will be helpful in showing how you fit into the larger picture and positively impact those around you.  Regardless of what sort of story you decide to highlight, make sure that the discussion revolves around your style of leadership and how you effectively led and motivated others.  A closing comment on the UT Austin’s program and culture would be a nice touch that ties your values and personality traits to the program’s foundation and offerings.

Essay 3: At the McCombs School of Business, you will be part of an active and diverse community.  How will you use your personal strengths and unique experiences to enrich the McCombs community during your two years in the program? (500 word limit)
Formerly one of several essay options, this prompt now stands on its own as a required question, signaling the value that McCombs places on student contribution and involvement on campus.  A strong essay would be one that touches on several qualities and involvements, illustrating a range of skills and their applicability to the MBA program.  That said, though this prompt invites a rather broad discussion, anecdotal evidence of your positive traits in action will also be important.  For that reason, it will likely make sense to hone in on 3 or 4 examples, linking each to some similar activity or contribution you could make to the classroom or an on-campus club.  Indicating what clubs, organizations, or programs you hope to participate in and how you will take on a leading role will go far in demonstrating your enthusiasm for and commitment to the program.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

UT Austin / McCombs Deadlines 2008-2009

Although its application is not yet available, the UT Austin/McCombs deadlines for the 2008-2009 season have been announced. The deadlines are as follows:

First Deadline:
November 1, 2008

Second Deadline for Domestic Applicants/Final Deadline for International Applicants:
February 1, 2009

Final Deadline for Domestic Deadlines:
April 1, 2009

Interested applicants should check back with UT Austin/McComb’s admissions site in early August for the completed application.

Monday, July 14, 2008

McCombs School of Business Appoints New Dean

The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business last week named Dr. Thomas Gilligan to serve as its next dean, concluding a nationwide search to find a successor for Dr. George Gau, who has served as McCombs’ dean for the past six years and concludes his appointment in August.

Gilligan, whose McCombs appointment begins on September 1st, has been the E. Morgan Stanley Chair in Business Administration and professor of finance and business economics at the University of Southern California (USC)’s Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles. He also served as the Marshall School’s interim dean from February 2006 to April 2007. 

McCombs’ search for a new dean was conducted by an 18-member committee led by Professor Michael Granof. According to Granof, the members of the committee were unanimous in their selection of Gilligan, with all agreeing that he possesses the scholarly credentials, administrative experience and charisma they would like to see in the dean of their business school. 
 
“There is no question that the McCombs School of Business has the potential to be one of the truly top business schools in the world and Thomas Gilligan has the ability and skills to take us in that direction,” Granof said in a statement.

In addition to the positions he has held at USC, Gilligan also has been a visiting professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. His areas of interest are microeconomics, applied price theory, industrial organization, antitrust economics and public choice.

Prior to his academic appointments, Gilligan served as a Russian linguist in the United States Air Force for four years and was a staff economist on President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1982-1983.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Forte Foundation New, Returning Board Members Include Administrators from NYU Stern, MIT Sloan, CMU Tepper, UT-Austin McCombs, Kellogg and UVA Darden

The Forté Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping women assume leadership roles in business and enabling corporations to more effectively reach and retain top female talent, announced the election of new and returning board members this month.

This year’s roster includes administrators from several of the nation’s top business schools, as well as representatives from some of the world’s leading multinational corporations.

Forté, a consortium of 27 leading multinational corporations, 37 top business schools in the U.S. and abroad and the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), provides a national infrastructure for women at all stages of their careers to access the  information, scholarship support and networking connections they need to succeed in business.

Joining Forte’s board this year from the academic side is Anika Davis-Pratt, assistant dean of MBA admissions and financial aid for New York University’ Stern School of Business. Davis-Pratt joins several representatives from other top-tier business schools who are returning this year as board officers. They include

• Cindy Benton, director of student services at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business;
• Colleen McMullen Smith, director of diversity strategies and programs atCarnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business;
• Julie Strong, senior associate director of MBA admissions at MIT’s Sloan School of Management;
• Roxanne Hori, assistant dean and director of career management, Kellogg School of Management;
• Stacy Poindexter Owen, director of admissions, Wake Forest University, and
• Wendy Huber, assistant director, admissions, University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

From the corporate side, representatives from Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and Avon joined the board as newly elected officers this year. Returning corporate officers this year include representatives from Deloitte and Touche, Citi, the Ernst & Young Foundation and Eli Lilly and Company.

To learn more about the Forté Foundation, visit www.fortefoundation.org. 

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Admissions Tip: Late Round Considerations

Nearing the end of a relatively sleepy February, March is just around the corner, bringing an extensive list of application deadlines and decision notification dates. Let’s take a look at the numerous Round 3 (or 4) deadlines spread over the next several months:

February 28: Wharton R3, UVA/Darden R3
February 29: LBS R3
March 1: Michigan/Ross R3
March 3: Duke/Fuqua R3, Columbia (international students)
March 7: Kellogg R3, UNC/Kenan-Flagler R4
March 10: CMU-Tepper R3
March 12: Berkeley/Haas R4, Chicago R3, HBS R3, Yale SOM R3
March 15: NYU Stern R3
March 19: Cornell/Johnson R4
March 21: Stanford GSB R3
April 1: UT Austin/McCombs (final)
April 2: Tuck April Round
April 3: INSEAD R4
April 4: Oxford/Said R3
April 16: Columbia (U.S. applicants)
April 23: UCLA/Anderson R4
April 25: Georgetown/McDonough Final Round
April 28: CMU-Tepper R4
May 2: LBS R4, Cambridge/Judge (final)
June 6: Oxford/Said R4

While it’s always best to apply as early as possible, the difference between applying in round one and applying in round two is, for most applicants, a marginal one. However, the later rounds are a very different game. Because most of the seats in the incoming class will have been given away by the time round two decisions are released, the acceptance rate in the third round is dramatically lower than that for the first two deadlines of the season.

To maximize your chances of a later round acceptance, demonstrating your interest in the school and submitting thoughtful and error-free written materials will be crucial. Just as applying in round one is generally taken as a sign of interest in a given program, applicants submitting their materials in a later round need to work extra hard to convince the adcom that they are genuinely interested in the school and are not simply applying as an afterthought because interview invitations didn’t come through in round two. Demonstrating that you would make a valuable contribution to the community and providing evidence that you have taken steps to engage current students and alumni will work to your advantage.

As always, we’d like to recommend the in-depth Clear Admit School Guides to those applicants who are targeting the later deadlines and just beginning to investigate certain programs, and to encourage those who’ve visited the campus and interviewed to share their experiences in the Clear Admit Wiki. Potential R3 or R4 applicants are also welcome to contact Clear Admit directly to discuss the strength of their later round candidacies and learn more about our one-on-one counseling services.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Business Schools Accept More Undergrads Straight Out of College

According to a report this week in the Chronicle of Higher Education, business schools – including some of the very best – are beginning to rethink whether requiring several years of prior work experience on the part of applicants should be de rigueur. While corporate experience is certainly still valued, some schools are opening up admissions to a younger set as well in an effort to reel in promising students early before they get sidetracked by careers or head off to other professional schools.

Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and the University of Texas at Austin have all started programs geared toward students who are coming straight from undergraduate programs or are just a year or two out. Doing so, the schools hope, will also help to diversify their student body with more women and minority students.

Having younger students in the classroom brings a fresh perspective to discussions, according to some admissions officials. “Students who come in without a lot of experience are asking the questions that illuminate class discussions for everyone, and they’re questioning the assumptions that many others have taken as a given,” Derrick Bolton, director of MBA admissions at Stanford Graduate School of Business told the Chronicle. About 5 percent of Stanford’s MBA students come straight from college, up from 1 to 2 percent a few years ago.

But the decision by Stanford and other schools to admit younger students with less experience has been met by criticism by some schools and alumni. “Experienced students have more war stories to share and can often enrich classroom conversations,” Beth Flye, director of admissions at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management told the Chronicle. “A big part of what students learn comes from what they absorb and take away from their classmates,” she said. According to Flye, Kellogg still prefers applicants with significant work experience – an average of five years.

Despite the criticism, Stanford stands behind its decision to admit younger students in increasing numbers. According to Bolton, younger students make up a disproportionate number of the school’s top students and leaders. Deferred

Admissions Programs Catching On
Other schools have followed suit. In September, Harvard launched a deferred admissions program aimed at high-performing college graduates. The program guarantees these students a spot in the Harvard MBA class once they’ve gotten two years of approved work experience. The goal is to catch promising students in engineering, science and the arts who might be considering other graduate study.

“We’re trying to reach out and attract undergraduates who may be majoring in fields that are not typically viewed as feeder majors into business schools, but who see themselves as future potential leaders,” W. Carl Kester, deputy dean for academic affairs at Harvard, told the Chronicle.

The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business runs a similar deferred-admissions program, and Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business has a five-year combined undergraduate and MBA program that targets mainly engineering students.

By opening admissions to younger students, business schools also hope to attract more women. In contrast to the traditional business school timetable, earlier admissions could prove more palatable to female students who want to spend their later 20s and 30s starting families. At the country’s most competitive law and medical schools, which allow students to enter straight out of college, women represent about half of the entering class, compared to less than 30 percent of the students in the 30 top business schools, the Chronicle reports.

Statistics from the Graduate Management Admissions Council, which owns the GMAT examination required for admission at many business schools, bear out this growing trend. The number of students under 24 taking the exam jumped by 71 percent from 2005 to 2007, from 34,334 to 58,687. Overall test registrations grew only 9 percent in the same time period. The under-24 category now represents more than a quarter of all test-takers, up from 17 percent two years ago.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Admissions Tip: Round Two Reality

As we prepare to flip over another page of the calendar this weekend, we wanted to take a look at the upcoming December and January deadlines, just in case there are any Round Two applicants out there who aren’t already all too aware of the persistent passage of time.

While the Round One deadlines for the top MBA programs were mercifully spread out over the month of October, the outlook for the next wave of deadlines isn’t quite as rosy; most of the Round Two deadlines are closely clustered over a ten-day period in early January. For those applicants who are targeting two or more of those schools, careful time management during December will be of the utmost importance. Let’s take a closer look at the deadlines on the horizon:

Dec. 5: INSEAD R2
Dec. 11: Haas R2

Jan. 2: UCLA R2
Jan. 3: Darden R2, HBS R2, Ross R2, Wharton R2
Jan. 4: LBS R2, UNC R3
Jan. 7: CMU R2, Stanford R2
Jan. 9: Chicago R2, Cornell R3, Tuck R3, Yale R2
Jan. 11: Kellogg R2
Jan. 15: MIT R2, NYU R2
Jan. 31: Haas R3

As though that weren’t enough, add to the mix Columbia, whose rolling review of Regular Decision applications begins on the already-packed 9th of January.

We know that this very compressed schedule might be a difficult reality to confront for those working on applications for several of these programs, but we hope that this list helps to put the coming weeks into perspective. It’s not too late to take a careful inventory of the work required for each school and devise a realistic plan of attack. Because the end of December can be as hectic a time as it is festive, we suggest frequently checking in with your recommenders over the coming weeks and, if possible, completing at least one school’s essays before the holidays kick into high gear.

Best of luck!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

UT Austin / McCombs Essay Topic Analysis 2007-2008

McCombs is one of the few high ranking MBA programs with a rolling admissions process, and as such applicants may be tempted to put these essays off until more pressing deadlines have passed. It’s nice to have some leeway, but applicants who are very interested in the program should keep in mind that McCombs’s adcom calls November 1 the “suggested” date for early submissions. To help get the writing process started, today we’ll take a closer look at the McCombs Essay Questions.

As was the case with UT Austin’s essays last season, there are three required responses totaling roughly 2000 words, but the questions themselves are rather different in tone and focus.

Essay 1: Please define your short- and long-term goals and objectives, your career progression to date, and how an MBA fits in at this time. What makes the Texas MBA the perfect fit for you? (900 word limit)
This is a fairly straightforward career goals essay. One thing to note is that this particular question explicitly brings up the question of timing, so essay writers would be wise to consider how their profiles are stronger now than they would have been last year, or will be in the future. Given the second component of the prompt, it will also be important for candidates to demonstrate that they have done a thorough job of researching McCombs program; in particular, the use of the word “perfect” is a strong hint that the adcom is looking for a well-reasoned and tailored discussion of the ways that the Texas MBA will position the applicant for success in his or her stated goals.

Essay 2: The Texas MBA is built around four key pillars of leadership. Describe an experience that you have had that clearly demonstrates your leadership as it relates to one of our four pillars: 1) Responsibility/Integrity; 2) Knowledge/Understanding; 3) Collaborative/Communication; or 4) Worldview of Business and Society. (650 word limit)
This question has a specific focus, requesting a single experience in which an applicant demonstrates a certain sort of leadership, but at the same time offers a fair amount of leeway. This experience could come from the professional or personal realm, and the various pillars offer opportunities to talk about anything from employing interpersonal and organizational skills in guiding a group to achieve goal to exhibiting intellectual innovation in changing the direction or focus of a process or organization. Take note that the adcom mentions caring about all four of these qualities but asks the applicant to select just one, so think carefully about which of these constitutes your competitive advantage over other applicants, so to speak. Of course, a truly great response to this question will emphasize one of these pillars while hinting that the applicant also possesses the other three leadership capabilities.

Essay 3: At the McCombs School of Business, you will be part of an active and diverse community. Referencing your personal strengths and unique experience, how will you enrich the McCombs community during your two years in the program? (500 word limit)
While all schools are interested in how an applicant might make a unique contribution to its campus life, McCombs joins Tuck and Kellogg on the list of schools that explicitly ask prospective students to argue their case on this subject. This is a great opportunity for applicants to show that they have reflected on and are aware of what they could bring to the community and how their experiences and strengths might complement those of their classmates. In addition, this question provides applicants with a valuable opportunity to show that they are familiar with specific initiatives, clubs and opportunities in McCombs’s MBA program, and that they are enthusiastic about contributing to them in new and valuable ways.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

UT Austin / McCombs Deadlines and Essays 2007-2008

Below are this year’s deadlines and essay questions for UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business. The school employs a rolling admissions process, meaning that applications are reviewed as they are received and decisions are made chronologically.

McCombs Deadlines

Suggested Early Submission Date: November 1, 2007
Final Deadline for International Applicants: February 1, 2008
Second Recommended Date for Domestic Applicants: February 1, 2008
Final Deadline for Domestic Applicants: April 1, 2008

McCombs Essays

1. Please define your short- and long-term goals and objectives, your career progression to date, and how an MBA fits in at this time. What makes the Texas MBA the perfect fit for you? (Limit: 900 words)

2. The Texas MBA is built around four key pillars of leadership. Describe an experience that you have had that clearly demonstrates your leadership as it relates to one of our four pillars: 1) Responsibility/Integrity; 2) Knowledge/Understanding; 3) Collaborative/Communication; or 4) Worldview of Business and Society. (Limit: 650 words)

3. At the McCombs School of Business, you will be part of an active and diverse community. Referencing your personal strengths and unique experience, how will you enrich the McCombs community during your two years in the program? (Limit: 500 words)

Optional: Please provide any additional information to the Admissions Committee that will highlight your unique personality and character and/or address any areas of concern that will ultimately be beneficial to the committee in considering your application. (Limit: 350 words)

Friday, March 30, 2007

U.S. News Full-time MBA Ranking 2008

Earlier today, U.S. News & World Report released its 2008 ranking of the top full-time U.S. MBA programs. Because this particular ranking relies heavily on statistics like GMAT averages, GPAs, starting salaries and peer assessments, there’s generally less variation year-to-year than in rankings based on student and recruiter opinion (the dominant metrics in several other prominent rankings). There are, however, a few interesting changes to note when comparing the list to last year’s ranking.
First, let’s take a look at this year’s top-ranking schools:

1. Harvard University
2. Stanford University
3. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
5. Northwestern University (Kellogg)
5. University of Chicago
7. Dartmouth College (Tuck)
8. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
9. Columbia University
10. New York University (Stern)
11. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross)
12. Duke University (Fuqua)
12. University of Virginia (Darden)
14. Cornell University (Johnson)
14. Yale University
16. University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
17. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
18. University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
18. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
20. Emory University (Goizueta)

The top nine remains virtually unchanged as compared to last year. The most noteworthy is that Tuck leap-frogged over both Haas and Columbia to land in the #7 spot, but it’s also interesting that Kellogg is tied with regional rival Chicago for the #5 spot (last year it had tied MIT for 4th). As is often the case, there was more movement among schools 10-20. UCLA / Anderson was the biggest mover, dropping from 10 to 16, with Stern rising three spaces to take its place. Ross, which shared the #11 spot with Duke last year, now holds that space alone while Fuqua ties Darden for #12.

While it can be interesting and fun to track these slight changes - especially for those associated with the schools in question - the facts that there is so little change from year to year and that these same programs are included so consistently in the top 20 speaks to the consistent quality of these programs. It also underscores the importance of deeper research to really understand a school and its offerings to put these rankings in perspective and identify the school that’s the best personal and professional fit.

Friday, March 09, 2007

MBA News: BusinessWeek’s Undergraduate B-School Rankings

BusinessWeek’s second annual Undergraduate Business Programs Rankings came out last night and while many of the schools on the list are familiar names, there are several schools new to the top 50 and some significant shifts within the top 20.

Wharton and the University of Virginia’s McIntire School held on to the number one and two spots, respectively, but the number three spot saw some dramatic shifting - UC-Berkeley’s Haas School skyrocketed from number 12 to number 3 in just a year. BusinessWeek’s article explaining the rankings says that the key to Berkeley’s rise was a significant increase in recruiter satisfaction - last year the school ranked 41st in this category and this year their rating jumped to number one.

BusinessWeek’s top 20:

1 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2 University of Virginia (McIntire)
3 UC Berkeley (Haas)
4 Emory University (Goizueta)
5 University of Michigan (Ross)
6 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
7 Notre Dame (Mendoza)
8 Brigham Young University (Marriott)
9 New York University (Stern)
10 Cornell University
11 Georgetown University (McDonough)
12 Villanova University
13 University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
14 Boston College (Carroll)
15 UNC at Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
16 Washington University (Olin)
17 Wake Forest University (Calloway)
18 Indiana University (Kelley)
19 USC (Marshall)
20 Lehigh University

Since many business schools offer graduate or undergraduate programs, but not both, followers of the MBA rankings may not immediately recognize all of the schools in the top 20. However, with the nation’s top firms recruiting heavily from the leading schools, the bright young graduates of these programs are likely to be the future colleagues and team members of MBA grads.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Admissions Tip: Late-Round Considerations

After a relatively sleepy February, March is upon us with its extensive list of application deadlines and decision notification dates. Let’s take a look at the long list of Round 3 (or 4 or 5) deadlines spread over the next two months:

March 1: Columbia (int’l applicants), Darden R4, Ross R3, Wharton R3
March 7: HBS R3
March 9: Johnson R4, Kellogg R3
March 12: Haas R4
March 14: Chicago R3, IESE R5, Stanford R3, Yale SOM R3
March 15: Stern R3
March 19: CMU/Tepper R3
March 21: Duke/Fuqua R3
March 28: INSEAD R4
March 31: UT Austin/McCombs (final)
April 5: Tuck April Round
April 18: Columbia (final), IESE R6
April 25: UCLA/Anderson R4
April 27: LBS R4
April 30: CMU/Tepper R4

While it’s always best to apply as early as possible, the difference between applying in round one and applying in round two is, for most applicants, a marginal one. However, the later rounds are a very different game. Because most of the seats in the incoming class will have been given away by the time round two decisions are released, the acceptance rate in the third round is dramatically lower than that for the first two deadlines of the season.

To maximize your chances of a later round acceptance, demonstrating your interest in the school and submitting thoughtful and error-free written materials will be crucial. Just as applying in round one is generally taken as a sign of interest in a given program, applicants submitting their materials in a later round need to work extra hard to convince the adcom that they are genuinely interested in the school and are not simply applying as an afterthought because interview invitations didn’t come through in round two. Demonstrating that you would make a valuable contribution to the community and providing evidence that you have taken steps to engage current students and alumni will work to your advantage.

As always, we’d like to recommend the in-depth Clear Admit School Guides to those applicants who are targeting the later deadlines and just beginning to investigate certain programs, and to encourage those who’ve visited the campus and interviewed to share their experiences in the Clear Admit Wiki. Potential R3 or R4 applicants are also welcome to contact Clear Admit directly to discuss the strength of their later round candidacies and learn more about our one-on-one counseling services.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Fortune MBA Ranking 2007

CNNMoney.com recently published Fortune magazine’s ranking of the “50 Best Business Schools for Getting Hired.” The list was compiled based on schools’ reputations with polled recruiters and career placement track records. To arrive at the job placement score, Fortune examined the percentage of students who secure jobs within 3 months of graduation (20% weighting), the average number of job offers per student (also weighted 20%) and average salary in a student’s first post-MBA position (accounting for the remaining 60%). In this way, Fortune’s methodology resembles a blend of the Wall Street Journal’s approach of surveying corporate recruiters and Forbes’s focus on post-graduation salary as a measure of return on investment.

The full list is available on the website; here are the top 20 (with an interesting four-way tie for 12th):

1. Wharton
2. Harvard Business School
3. MIT Sloan
4. Stanford GSB
5. Kellogg
6. Columbia Business School
7. Chicago GSB
8. Duke/Fuqua
9. Dartmouth/Tuck
10. NYU/Stern
11. Michigan/Ross
12. Berkeley/Haas
12. Cornell/Johnson
12. UVA/Darden
12. Yale SOM
16. Georgetown/McDonough
17. UCLA/Anderson
17. Thunderbird School of Global Management
19. UT Austin/McCombs
20. CMU/Tepper

Those interested can also peruse school-by-school information and profiles on the site.

NOTE:  Since the time we posted this news, the data and methodology used in this ranking have been questioned, and CNNMoney.com has removed the entire feature from its site and issued an official apology.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

UT Austin / McCombs Essay Topic Analysis 2006-2007

With the recommended early application submission date for the rolling MBA admission process at UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business coming up on November 1st, we wanted to offer a few comments on that program’s essay topics for this season. Though the school gives applicants 2000 total words to work with, the range of possible subjects is fairly narrow, making this an application that will require some forethought if one is to present a full picture of his or her candidacy.

Essay 1: Discuss your intermediate and long-term career goals, as well as a current vision of your desired employment upon graduation. Your explanation should include, but is not necessarily limited to the following: how you will leverage your professional and personal experiences in pursuit of these goals; why an MBA is necessary to achieve them; and why McCombs is the right MBA program for your career path (1000 words).
This question is very close to the typical career goals/why MBA essay, with one interesting difference: whereas the vast majority of programs ask applicants to share their “short- and long-term career goals,” Austin explicitly asks for a three step plan, requesting that the candidate share his or her target position immediately after graduating as well as an intermediate step from that position toward his or her long-term goal. Another important thing to note is that the remaining short essays in this application don’t really lend themselves to discussion of a professional success, so it might be wise to incorporate some comments about one’s professional progression and most notable successes into this essay’s narrative.

Essay 2: Please choose one of the following (500 words):
A. What non-professional accomplishment are you most proud of and why?
B. What special contributions do you feel you would bring to the McCombs Community? Please include contributions beyond your professional skills and talents.
Whether covering a past achievement or future contribution, both of these questions explicitly request for information about the applicant’s interests and involvements outside of the professional realm. This indicates a strong interest in the way candidates choose to allocate their time outside of work and the ways this might translate to a positive impact on the McCombs community (or has translated to some achievement already), so it would make sense to reflect on those hobbies and involvements that could lend some additional color to your candidacy and help the adc