In California, Rich Lyons, the Dean of the Haas School of Business, noted the rising stats for applications and matriculation at Haas.  The Assistant Dean of UCLA Anderson MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, Mae Jennifer Shores, shared a slew of . . . → Continue Reading]]> Welcome to another installment of Twitter Thursdays, a weekly column in which we highlight the updates of the top MBA programs on Twitter!  If you’re not following Clear Admit already, be sure to check us out on Twitter for updates, special prizes, admissions tips and breaking news.   We’ve also created a list of MBA programs to ease your daily access to breaking news from the top MBA programs, as reported by admissions committee members themselves.

In California, Rich Lyons, the Dean of the Haas School of Business, noted the rising stats for applications and matriculation at Haas.  The Assistant Dean of UCLA Anderson MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, Mae Jennifer Shores, shared a slew of GMAT tips as the new admissions season begins again.  Jon Fuller, the Senior Associate Director of Admissions at the Ross School of Business, also lent a helping hand to those taking the GMAT by plugging the Consortium’s webinar on best test-taking practices.  MBA Admissions Coordinator at Judge Business School, James Barker, announced that applications are now live, open and ready to be submitted for this year.  As for new students, Darden’s were treated to a home reception, courtesy of the Dean of the Darden School, Bob Bruner.

Can’t make it to Stanford’s campus?  That’s ok; the Stanford GSB has offered a virtual tour of its newest classroom in the Knight Management Center.  Wharton also showed off its bustling campus with some photos of new and returning students.  INSEAD shared the spotlight with Clear Admit this week in an MBA Podcaster feature.  For those applying to Chicago Booth, the school has shared some strategies to put your application in tip top shape.

That wraps up Twitter Thursdays this week!  If you’re on Twitter, let us know; direct message us on Twitter or e-mail wiki@clearadmit.com with your user name and status as an MBA applicant, student or admissions officer so we can add you to the appropriate Twitter list.  Happy “tweeting” and we’ll see you next week with some more Twitter updates!

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The video, entitled “Getting into INSEAD: The Business School of the World,” aired on August 20th as part of MBA Pod TV, MBA Podcaster’s YouTube video channel. In this most recent episode, Richmond offers valuable insight into what the school is looking for in prospective applicants. 

INSEAD’s . . . → Continue Reading]]> Are you looking at a career in international business or hoping to work outside your home country? INSEAD, with campuses in France and Singapore and exchange programs with Wharton and Kellogg in the United States, is one of the top international business schools in the world and features a concentrated 10-month MBA program. Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond shares valuable tips on INSEAD’s application process as part of a recent video by MBA Podcaster.

The video, entitled “Getting into INSEAD: The Business School of the World,” aired on August 20th as part of MBA Pod TV, MBA Podcaster’s YouTube video channel. In this most recent episode, Richmond offers valuable insight into what the school is looking for in prospective applicants. 

INSEAD’s short program is designed for people who have very clear career plans, Richmond says. “The benefits are the fact that there is a great return on investment,” he says. “You can enter the program and get back into the workforce without taking two years off.” INSEAD students also talk a lot about the intensity of the condensed program, which many say makes for stronger bonds with classmates, Richmond continues.

In terms of what INSEAD is looking for in prospective applicants, international experience is key, Richmond says. “I haven’t seen many people get into INSEAD who have not worked outside their home country,” he says.

INSEAD also wants to see that a candidate remains consistent across his or her application, understands what the school has to offer and will fit well within it. “They want you to demonstrate an understanding of how the curriculum works and how you see yourself going through it,” Richmond says.

Finally, INSEAD is really looking for quantitative ability in its applicants, Richmond says. “In such a short program, it’s hard to catch up. So you need to show up ready,” he says, adding that INSEAD prefers that candidates score above the 75th percentile on the GMAT.

MBA Podcaster’s 10-minute video on INSEAD also features commentary from INSEAD’s assistant marketing director, Cassandra Pittman, as well as first-hand accounts from current INSEAD students and alumni.

To view the complete MBA Podcaster video on getting into INSEAD, click here.

A) What are your short term and long term goals? How will a Tepper MBA help you achieve these goals? (Please include any information regarding what steps you have taken to learn more about Tepper.) (Suggested length: 2 double-spaced pages)

B) The Tepper School’s culture relies on all members to be active contributors to our community. With your values, experiences, and interests, how will you make a unique contribution to the Tepper community? Your examples may include: classroom interaction, student activities, career development, community service, etc. (Suggested length: 2 double-spaced pages)

C) Please answer two of the following three questions . . . → Continue Reading]]> CMU / Tepper’s online application for the 2010-2011 admissions cycle has gone live!  For interested applicants, the essay topics are as follows:

A) What are your short term and long term goals? How will a Tepper MBA help you achieve these goals? (Please include any information regarding what steps you have taken to learn more about Tepper.) (Suggested length: 2 double-spaced pages)

B) The Tepper School’s culture relies on all members to be active contributors to our community. With your values, experiences, and interests, how will you make a unique contribution to the Tepper community? Your examples may include: classroom interaction, student activities, career development, community service, etc. (Suggested length: 2 double-spaced pages)

C) Please answer two of the following three questions or statements. Please clearly specify which questions you are answering. Your two answers should equal a total of two pages or less.
1. Describe an obstacle you have faced in your professional or academic life. How did you overcome this obstacle and how did it foster your development?
2. Describe a time in which your ethics were challenged. How did you deal with the situation and what did you learn from it?
3. One thing people would be surprised to know about me is…

Stage 1 Application deadline: October 6, 2010 Interview decision sent on: November 5, 2010 Admission decision sent on: December 15, 2010

Stage 2 Application deadline: January 5, 2011 Interview decision sent on: February 8, 2011 Admission decision sent on: March 24, 2011

Stage 3 Application deadline: March 2, 2011 Interview decision sent on: April 8, 2011 Admission decision sent on: May 20, 2011

Stage 4 Application deadline: April 20, 2011 Interview decision sent on: May 27, 2011 Admission decision sent on: July 1, 2011

All applications are due by 5:00 p.m. UK time on the day of . . . → Continue Reading]]> The London Business School deadlines for the 2010-2011 application season are now online.  The deadlines for the four stages are as follows:

Stage 1
Application deadline: October 6, 2010
Interview decision sent on: November 5, 2010
Admission decision sent on: December 15, 2010

Stage 2
Application deadline: January 5, 2011
Interview decision sent on: February 8, 2011
Admission decision sent on: March 24, 2011

Stage 3
Application deadline: March 2, 2011
Interview decision sent on: April 8, 2011
Admission decision sent on: May 20, 2011

Stage 4
Application deadline: April 20, 2011
Interview decision sent on: May 27, 2011
Admission decision sent on: July 1, 2011

All applications are due by 5:00 p.m. UK time on the day of each deadline.

Essay 1: Explain why you chose your current job. How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions? (750 word maximum) This is a . . . → Continue Reading]]> Oxford/Said’s essay topics remain unchanged this year, although the word limit for both essays has been reduced.  Even considering this reduction, with a total of 1,750 words between two essays, Oxford presents a unique challenge in terms of sharing important and relevant information about one’s candidacy while staying on topic. For this reason, careful reflection and outlining is even more important when approaching this sort of application than one with a long series of shorter answers.

Essay 1: Explain why you chose your current job. How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions? (750 word maximum)
This is a very standard career goals essay, although applicants must specifically explain why they chose their current jobs. In addition, you should note the explicit five-year goals timeline; while it’s certainly fine to look beyond this is in your essay and cover longer-term objectives, it will be important to develop the five year plan in depth to tailor your response to the question. As is the case with any essay of this sort, you’ll also want to comment on the specific merits of the Said Business School even though the question doesn’t mention this directly.

Essay 2: Which recent development, world event or book has most influenced your thinking and why? (1,000 word maximum)
This question, which covers the range of world geography and topics factual and fictional, is about as broad as they come. The rather high word limit makes responding to the question all the more challenging, as many applicants find it difficult to sustain a coherent and relevant discussion over 1,000 words. In selecting a topic, think carefully about what your event or book selection will tell the reader about your concerns and priorities, ideally selecting a subject that is in accordance with the positioning established in the first response. In terms of structuring the discussion, it might be helpful to think about ways that this book, development or event has influenced your actions as well as your thinking; this could provide a way to introduce a fair amount of information about your experiences and candidacy while keeping to the topic.

For more guidance on how best to present yourself to Oxford or other programs with upcoming deadlines, feel free to send your resume or CV to info@clearadmit.com for a free initial assessment.

We all know not to divide by zero. It is a rule from middle school—if not earlier—and the reasons for it are pretty straightforward.

If you look at the graph of y = 1/x, the y value approaches +∞ as x approaches zero from the right, and the y value approaches –∞ as x approaches zero from the left. But the graph never reaches x = 0, because you cannot divide by . . . → Continue Reading]]> Today’s GMAT Tip has been provided by our friends at the test prep firm Knewton. In this article, they share advice on how remembering that you can’t divide by zero can help you solve GMAT problems. Read on to see what they say!

We all know not to divide by zero. It is a rule from middle school—if not earlier—and the reasons for it are pretty straightforward.

If you look at the graph of y = 1/x, the y value approaches +∞ as x approaches zero from the right, and the y value approaches –∞ as x approaches zero from the left. But the graph never reaches x = 0, because you cannot divide by zero. Dividing 1 by smaller and smaller fractions results in larger and larger quotients, because many tiny bits can fit into one whole. But you can’t answer the question of how many zeros fit into 1; the question doesn’t make sense conceptually.

All this is interesting, and the history of zero is at least a little bit interesting, too. But for the purposes of the GMAT, we have already thought much more about zero than we have to. If we remember not to divide by zero, we have remembered everything we need to know for test day. Or have we?

Here is a problem where aspiring GMAT 800′s tend to forget that dividing by zero can cause trouble on the Quant section:

If (x + 4)(3x + 1) = 3x²+x, what is a possible value of x?

(A) 1
(B) 1/2
(C) 1/3
(D) -1/3
(E) -1/2

There are a couple potential approaches to this problem. We could FOIL the expression on the left side of the equation. That won’t take too long, but if we’re really up on our game, we might notice that if we factor an x from the expression on the right side of the equation, there will be a (3x + 1) on both sides, which will let us cancel and simplify. That would be faster, and every second helps, so let’s use that method.

(x + 4)(3x + 1) = 3x²+x →

(x + 4)(3x + 1) = x(3x + 1)

We cancel the (3x + 1) on both sides, giving us:

x + 4 = x

Now we subtract x from both sides and get:

4 = 0

Wait a minute. Something went wrong. It is quite certain that 4 does not equal 0, so what happened? We can go over our calculations, but we didn’t make any errors. And this is the GMAT; 75 minutes are ticking away fast, so we don’t have time to ponder the rift in the universe that allows 4 = 0. Let’s just do the problem again really quickly with the first method. (We’ll take a second look after we finish.)

(x + 4)(3x + 1) = 3x²+x →

3x²+x + 12x + 4 = 3x²+x

Now we combine like terms by subtracting 3x² and  x from both sides, and we solve:

12x + 4 = 0

12x = –4

x = –1/3

So, –1/3 is a possible value of x, and answer choice D is correct.

Now let’s take a look at what went wrong when we factored and canceled. When we first pulled out an x, giving us (x + 4)(3x + 1) = x(3x + 1), everything was going fine. We hadn’t broken any rules yet.

And then we canceled the (3x + 1). When we cancel in this situation, what we are doing is dividing both sides by (3x + 1). The factors essentially go away, since (3x + 1)/(3x + 1) is always equal to 1. Except when (3x + 1) is equal to zero! Hindsight is 20/20, so let’s plug in x = –1/3, and sure enough it turns out that (3x + 1) is zero.

The takeaway: We can never divide by a variable, or by a variable expression, unless we know that the variable or expression does not equal zero. Remember, canceling is dividing, too.

Keep this in mind and you’ll avoid the head-scratching realization that 4=0. This will save you some troubling philosophical pondering, not to mention a lot of valuable time on test day.

For more information on Knewton, download Clear Admit’s independent guide to the leading test preparation companies here. This FREE guide includes coupons for discounts on test prep services at ten different firms!

The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley is one of a handful of top MBA programs whose admissions team has a new leader beginning this season. In mid-August, Stephanie Fujii replaced outgoing Director of Admissions Peter Johnson, who had been with Haas for more than a decade.

Fujii generously made time to speak with us while getting the hang of her new role just as the first admissions round of the season heats up at Haas. Though newly minted Berkeley’s admissions director, Fujii is not new to admissions nor is she new to Haas. She has been a part of the Haas admissions team for the past five years, most recently as senior . . . → Continue Reading]]> ~~ A CLEAR ADMIT EXCLUSIVE~~

The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley is one of a handful of top MBA programs whose admissions team has a new leader beginning this season. In mid-August, Stephanie Fujii replaced outgoing Director of Admissions Peter Johnson, who had been with Haas for more than a decade.

Fujii generously made time to speak with us while getting the hang of her new role just as the first admissions round of the season heats up at Haas. Though newly minted Berkeley’s admissions director, Fujii is not new to admissions nor is she new to Haas. She has been a part of the Haas admissions team for the past five years, most recently as senior associate director. Before that she worked in the nonprofit sector in eldercare, after recieving an MBA of her own from Haas.

“It is exciting to be part of the process and to meet people on the road and help them understand what makes our program unique,” she says. Prior to business school she was in HR consulting and while a student at Berkeley she was a Haas Student Ambassador, which involved working closely with admissions to plan student events.

“This isn’t the career that I envisioned for myself when I went to business school, but I knew I was very interested in the nonprofit sector and I wanted to do something I was passionate about,” she says. “And I can tell you that I am very passionate about Haas.”

Our thanks to Fujii for taking time out of a very busy schedule to share a little about her background, what she’s most excited about in the year ahead at Haas and what her team is looking for as they meet with prospective MBA applicants.

Clear Admit: What’s the most difficult thing about filling Peter Johnson’s shoes?

Stephanie Fujii: If you look at how the program has evolved – both when he was a co-director with Jett Pihakis and when he was the sole director – we continue to do great things. The program was evolving and still is. We were very transparent about our process and we did a good job of communicating what is unique about our program. In terms of going into new markets, selecting the right applicants – there was a tremendous amount of work that the two of them did, so the legacy of excellence they created is foremost in my mind.

What our students and our alums went through in the process, that’s something that we want to continue to do well. Then, as an added challenge, there are a number of really exciting things that are going on for us within the program and within admissions. It’s exciting but it’s also the unknown.

I feel very lucky that we have such a strong team in place made up of people who have been with us for years. We will miss Pete. But we launched our strategic plan in the spring and the challenge now is to continue to make sure we are selecting candidates who fit with our program.

Our strategic plan included articulating a set of defining principles: question the status quo, confidence without attitude, students always and beyond yourself. We are really working those values into our admissions selection process. Because of our strategic plan and our stake in the sand that we have set, we have to really be able to continue sharpening our message as we are talking to prospective students. This is something we are continuing to work on and refine but it is also just an exciting time for us.

CA: What’s the single most exciting development, change or event happening at Haas in the year ahead?

SF: I think the most exciting thing for us right now is that we have just rejoined the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. The Consortium is an organization devoted to promoting diversity and inclusion in American business. It achieves this by awarding merit-based, full-tuition scholarships at its member schools each year to the best and brightest MBA applicants.

We had initially been a member of the Consortium in the early nineties and had to withdraw because of Proposition 209, which prohibits state-funded programs in California from giving preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. (At the time, the Consortium awarded fellowships only to African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans.)  But ever since then we have continued to have discussions with the Consortium because diversity in every area is very important to us.

We are a small class – about 240 students – so we want to make sure we have people within that number from a variety of backgrounds representing lots of different experiences. The Consortium expanded its mission a few years ago to include all U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and so we were able to reconsider rejoining. This is very exciting for us because it fits with our overall goal of enrolling as diverse a class as possible. And then, aside from just our excitement at rejoining, there’s been our presence at events and getting our Consortium alumni engaged in this process. It is very exciting for us to be able to be part of this again.

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

SF: I could answer this on several levels. I think that in terms of academics and curriculum, most people know we are a general management program, but we also have a number of specialty areas. People often associate us with a specific one, but they don’t realize what a wide array we have.

We also are doing a lot of promotion around BILD, which is our connecting theme that we launched this fall. It stands for Berkeley Innovative Leader Development. We have identified what we feel makes innovative leaders successful and are looking at the core and the curriculum to make sure that our students are going to develop these qualities while at Haas.

Finally, in terms of things that I wish applicants knew more about, an area that comes to mind is really the culture. This is something that is hard to learn about by just reading about it. You really have to come and experience our culture and our community and get a sense that when we talk about our defining principles they aren’t just words that we wrote on a board somewhere. It’s something that we very much are. And from an admissions standpoint, it’s very important to make sure we are selecting candidates who fit in with this culture. 

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.). 

SF: As soon as the applicant presses submit they get an immediate response from us, which is “Thank you for submitting your application.” Then we assemble each application making sure that all of the required pieces are available – that means the application, the letters or recommendation and now our applicants can provide copies of official transcripts when they submit their application.

Once all of the materials have been assembled and we identify that the application is complete, then they go out for first reads. All of our applications are assigned to readers based on the country of applicant, and every applicant is read by at least two members of our team. At that point the second reader decides whether to invite to interview, deny or waitlist. Whenever there is disagreement between two readers, an application will go to a third read. Though some applications will go to a third read even when there’s agreement, just to get one more point of view.

Applicants who are invited to interview will then interview, either with an alumni outside of the Bay Area or one of our current students on campus. We then review all applicants who have completed interviews, discuss them in committee and make a final decision of whether to admit, deny or waitlist.

Applicants who are sent to the waitlist will then have a chance to submit more materials if necessary. For our round one applicants who are waitlisted, we will review that list again after we release our round two decisions and so on throughout the process.

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?

SF: So we are looking for a couple of things in the essays. The first is a clear and consistent story. We want people who understand and can tell us, “This is what I have accomplished so far, this is what I hope to accomplish after business school and this is what I want to get out of business school to accomplish those goals.” These things should all be part of that story of where you are headed, what you have to get there and what you need to get there.

The second thing we are looking for is authenticity. The essays are a really good opportunity to tell us who you are beyond your resume and transcripts. So be honest and share what you really care about, not what you think we want you to care about.

I think when you are trying to write something that you think the admissions committee wants to read it’s not necessarily coming from the heart, so it really falls flat. What we tell applicants is to have somebody who knows you well and who you trust to be brutally honest with you read through your essay and tell you if it captures who you are and what you want to achieve.

The article, entitled “Making the Most of the Campus Visit,” highlighted some of the most important things prospective applicants should plan during a visit, including talking to students, getting to know the faculty and learning more about the school’s career management offerings.

Richmond, who worked in admissions at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before co-founding Clear Admit, advised prospective applicants to always be courteous during campus visits. While at Wharton, he would open applications to find notes about rude or demanding applicants, he told Bloomberg BW.

Be polite, he advised, but don’t settle for just the . . . → Continue Reading]]> Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond shared advice for prospective MBA applicants planning visits to business school campuses as part of an article this week in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

The article, entitled “Making the Most of the Campus Visit,” highlighted some of the most important things prospective applicants should plan during a visit, including talking to students, getting to know the faculty and learning more about the school’s career management offerings.

Richmond, who worked in admissions at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before co-founding Clear Admit, advised prospective applicants to always be courteous during campus visits. While at Wharton, he would open applications to find notes about rude or demanding applicants, he told Bloomberg BW.

Be polite, he advised, but don’t settle for just the school’s official version of the MBA program. Plan your visit to include opportunities to investigate the program, its students and faculty, career management offerings, resources for families and partners and the broader campus for yourself.

For example, get to know students by networking with former colleagues who are now part of the MBA program, Richmond suggested. Or, to get a fuller understanding of the faculty, try to schedule a meeting with a professor who conducts research in your target field. “Ask for a sit-down,” he told Bloomberg BW. “It gives you a measure of how accessible the professors are.”

For the full Bloomberg BW article on how to make the most of your visit to business school campuses, click here.