This Dartmouth Tuck 2011 MBA Application tip post is one of a series of posts providing MBA application and essay advice for applicants to top MBA programs around the world. You can access the entire series at http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/tag/2011-mba-application-tips. My tips for answering Tuck’s essay questions are in blue below.

Please respond fully but concisely to the following essay questions. Compose each of your answers offline in separate document files and upload them individually in the appropriate spaces below. Although there is no restriction on the length of your response, most applicants use, on average, 500 words for each essay. There are no right or wrong answers. Please double-space your responses.

1. Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)

Note that the MBA is a “step” towards a goal. That means you have to briefly discuss the path you have been on and then your reasons for wanting an MBA — and specifically a Tuck MBA–  to continue down that path. You have to know a lot about Tuck as well as your goals to respond effectively to this question.  Why do you want a program that stresses the integration of business functions? Why do you want a small, tight-knit program? Which of Tuck’s strengths appeal to you? How will they help you achieve your goals?

2. Discuss your most meaningful leadership experience. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?

This question reflects the importance Tuck, like many MBA programs, places on leadership.

Have you inspired a troubled teen to apply himself academically? Have you chaired  a fund raiser that raised a record amount of money? Have you captained a sports team that led your intra-mural or company league? Have you been a team lead on a project that came in early and under budget? Are you head of a sales team? These could all be examples of leadership. How did you inspire your teammates to achieve? What did you learn from the experience.

The question asks you to reveal strengths and weaknesses. The first is fun and should be relatively easy. However we all cringe at the idea of revealing weaknesses, especially in a situation where you want to impress — like an MBA application. Nonetheless, resist that nasty impulse. Don’t reveal a phony weakness. The adcom will see right through it. Reveal a weakness that hopefully you can show yourself addressing in this leadership experience or through another later experience. Don’t dwell on the weakness, but do include it.

3. What is the greatest challenge or hurdle you have overcome, either personally or professionally, and how did you manage to do so?

This question asks for one challenge or hurdle and how you have overcome it. Tuck doesn’t care if your challenge is personal or professional, but it is asking for your “greatest challenge.”  Show resilience, maturity, self-discipline and personal strength in revealing how you have overcome whatever you have faced.

4. Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?

Tuck may be small and rural, but it is no backwater. And it is fiercely proud of its diversity — in all senses of the word.  It also wants people who will contribute to the school. When I visited Tuck for the International Educational Consultants Conference, I was struck by the variety of events within Tuck and the larger Dartmouth community. Clearly, to answer this question well you must reflect on your background, but you also need to study the activities, clubs, and programs available at Tuck.  What are the distinctive elements of your background? How will it enable you to contribute at Tuck?

5. (Optional) Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application.

It is almost impossible for four 500-word essays plus a bunch of boxes, a transcript, and a GMAT score to represent fully the uniqueness and talents of a truly impressive candidate. That comment has nothing to do with writing style and everything to do with the complexity of accomplished human beings. In my opinion this “optional essay“  is optional in name only.

6. (To be completed by all reapplicants) How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally.

Straightforward. What has changed that would compel Tuck to admit you this year when it rejected you last year?

For information on how Accepted.com can help you with your Tuck application, please see the Tuck Editing and Advising Package or our MBA Admissions Editing and Consulting.

Dartmouth Tuck 2011 MBA Deadlines

Applications are due by 5:00 PM EST

* Confidential Statements of Qualifications

** Applicants who wish to be considered for scholarships must complete the Application for Tuck School of Business Scholarships by the above deadline

*** Free Application for Federal Student Aid

****Prospective students who are applying to Tuck through the Consortium will receive two decisions; one from Tuck regarding their admission decision and a second from the Consortium regarding their fellowship decision.

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

• Many b-school students will be returning to class this fall without having had the rosy summer internship experience they had expected—that is, if they were lucky enough to land an internship at all. The main cause for disappointment: Fewer internships are turning into full-time job offers. “The number of offers at the end of the summer is shrinking, because companies don’t know their hiring needs, and so they’re very conservative,” says Kellogg assistant dean and director of career management, Roxanne Hori. The recent Businessweek article that covers this topic (”Salvaging an MBA Internship Gone Bad“) suggests that if you haven’t been offered a job by August, you shouldn’t despair—at least not yet. There are ways to persuade an internship employer to turn your summer stint into the real deal. Some tips from the article: Plan a mid-summer meeting with your employer. Discuss how you will contribute to the company long term. And if your employer still doesn’t bite, continue working hard until the end of the summer, and exit with dignity, making sure that you’re networking and job searching at the same time.

• Another recent Businessweek article compares private and public university spending per student for teaching, concluding that private universities spend twice as much as public ones. In the academic year 2007-2008, private colleges lay out teaching costs, on average, of $19,520 per student, while their public counterparts spent $9,732 per student. Both rates are up significantly in the last ten years—private costs by 22% and public by 10%.

• Yet another salary survey has been released by the Businessweek blog Getting In (”Salaries Strong for Recent Business Grads“). This one reports an increase in the number of jobs that corporate employers plan to offer undergraduate and graduate business grads, particularly to those coming out of summer internships. Looks like the author of our internship article (above) didn’t see this survey finding (conducted by Compensation Resources, Inc.): “This year, nearly 90 percent of corporate respondents plan to offer interns full-time jobs compared to only 60 percent in 2008.”

• Tuck alumni show appreciation to the Dartmouth business school by hitting a world record in its alumni giving participation rate. 66.7% of Tuck alumni participated in the recent Tuck Annual Giving campaign, surpassing other top b-schools by a landslide. The Tuck alumni giving rate has been above 60% consistently for the last 25 years. No other top b-school has ever even come close to that rate—this year, the next highest participation rate was at 42% and the average of the other nine schools on the top ten list was at a mere 20%. (Source: July 2010 Tuck Tip Sheet)

• Seeking more job optimism? The New York Times reports that hiring is on the rise, on Wall Street and elsewhere. A professor at Columbia calls the stock exchange “very resilient.” Everything has its ups and downs–look at hiring stats for companies like JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs, and you’ll see that the economy is about to experience an up. See the New York Times’ “Wall St. Hiring in Anticipation of an Economic Recovery” for more details.

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Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Several impressions and take-aways for applicants from the different events and sessions:

MIT Sloan Panels:

From the MIT panels it is clear that MIT is looking for demonstrated success academically and professionally.  The latter translates into success or professional progression that is better than the norm for your peers. In terms of those fuzzy attributes and personal characteristics that schools talk about, Sloan wants to see drive; an ability to build relationships and influence others;  and the establishment, pursuit and achievement of goals.  A few details about the individual programs:

1. 100% of the MFin grads have jobs this year, this program’s inaugural graduating class.
2. The EMBA is a program for those in mid-management with a demonstrated record of success who either want to advance in their career or make a slight career change without leaving their job.  Neither sponsorship nor the GMAT is required. (the latter may be requested if MIT has questions about the applicant’s quant skills.)
3. The LGO program focuses on managing the global production and distribution of goods and services. It is a joint, quant-heavy 24-month program between MIT Sloan and MIT’s School of Engineering. Participants earn both an MBA and an MS in Engineering.

We also heard two presentations by MIT Sloan professors. If you have any doubt that MIT Sloan is serious about innovation and global reach, abandon them. The creativity and global impact evident in just these two hours would force you to reshape your views.

Impressions from Conference Day 2 (Multiple presentations by various schools reps)

• Schools and admissions committee members look at different elements when they evaluate an application.  Pay attention to the nuances.
• Your informal and personally identifiable interactions with school admissions personnel are highly revealing. They COUNT! Arrogance at any point in time is a death knell for your application (and most relationships too.) Rudeness to a receptionist is a ding. What qualities impress positively? In your essays and interviews, reveal dignity, generosity of spirit, self-awareness, authenticity, and consideration of others. These qualities cannot be faked or “spun.”
• Regarding financial aid, merit aid tends to go to the top X% based on academic stats. Generally, when evaluating fellowship essays, the readers do not refer to your application essays. Poor credit can prevent you from obtaining the loans necessary for you to attend the school of your dreams if merit aid and your resources don’t cover the tab; get your credit in order before you apply.
• Regarding career development, the MBA employment picture improved throughout 2009-10. Read the employment reports for schools before you decide to apply and certainly before you decide to attend; you need to know school strengths as revealed in these reports. Understand the role of the career services staff (educating students about effective career planning and job search) and the limitations of that role. (They don’t create or find jobs for you.) Networking, which is about building relationships not the size of your contact list, is more important than ever. In order to build relationships, you must move beyond email.

Harvard Business School

At Harvard, we enjoyed an interactive two-hour presentation that was stimulating and engaging. To the extent it reflected the dynamism of the Harvard educational experience, I was extremely impressed.

This visit clarified for me that Harvard’s unparalleled brand is not just a matter of US News Rankings or smoke-and-mirrors branding.  At the same time, HBS is not for everyone, but like any top graduate program, it can be a fantastic experience for the right individuals.

Before the conference started my husband and I met with an acquaintance who is a professor at HBS. The professor was curious about my work, and I was curious about his. He asked me what I believe distinguishes Harvard students from the rest of the applicant pool. I thought for a moment and replied, “Leadership and impact.” He smiled, and the conversation moved on. Just before leaving, I asked him, “From your perspective as an HBS professor, what is a common quality shared by HBS students?” He replied, “I smiled when you answered my question because the students come from incredibly diverse backgrounds. However, if I have to identify a common thread, it would be leadership and impact.” If you are serious about attending Harvard Business School, make sure you demonstrate leadership and impact.

Reflections and Thank yous

It is our job as admissions consultants to help you choose the best target programs and show that you  belong at your chosen schools. The candor and graciousness shown by the hosting schools as well as by the presenting admissions directors will help Accepted’s staff do exactly that.

I am proud to report that Accepted’s staff was well represented at  the conference. In addition to myself, Jennifer Bloom, Paul Bodine, Judy Gruen, Tanis Kmetyk, Cindy Tokumitsu, and Robbie Walker attended.

Profound thanks to the hosts and presenters as well as to AIGAC, led by Graham Richmond of Clear Admit, and specifically to Maxx Duffy of Maxx Associates and Anna Ivey of Ivey Consulting who co-chaired the event. Thanks also to the sponsors: Veritas Prep, Clear Admit, Hult International Business School, Manhattan GMAT, MBA Podcaster, and Zoom Interviews

Learn More: Best MBA Programs: A Guide to Choosing the One for You.

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

Robert Dammon, CMU Tepper associate dean and professor, explains the price-wage connection: “The kinds of students that the best schools attract are going to get the highest-paying jobs.”

Paul R. Dorf, managing director of the consulting firm, Compensation Resources, adds, “The cream-of-the-crop companies hire the cream-of-the-crop grads.”

Top-ranked b-schools generally offer the most expensive programs and generally churn out the highest paid graduates. Harvard Business School, for example, has the most expensive MBA program, and the best paid alumni.

PayScale, a salary-comparison company, recently evaluated salary data of 23,000 MBA graduates from Bloomberg Businessweek’s top 45 American business schools.

Their data shows that on average, MBAs from top programs make $2.5 million (base-pay plus bonuses) over the course of 20 years in a single industry. HBS alumni make closer to $4 million, while alumni from lower ranked programs (but still in the top 45) like Iowa Tippie, make less than half of that.

Another interesting comparison between the higher ranked and lower ranked programs was the growth of salary over the two-decade period. Graduates from Yale SOM, for example, were awarded with extremely high starting salaries, but then experienced only small increases over the following 20 years. Grads from University of Connecticut’s business school, on the other hand, received lower starting salaries that more than doubled over that same 20-year period.

Below are the top median salaries earned after less than 2 years out of b-school and then the estimated career total for a 20-year long career:

Related Accepted.com Resources:

• B-School Zones
• The Rankings: An Accepted.com Special Report
• Forbes ROI MBA Rankings for 2010
• BusinessWeek’s Top 10 Undergraduate Business Schools with the Best Returns on Investment

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Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

The option to take the GRE instead of the GMAT exam is a somewhat recent development. What began as a trend (started by Stanford GSB) among a few schools has exploded into an almost-standard option available at 27% of the U.S. News‘ 433 b-schools on the Best Business School rankings report. More than 300 b-schools total accept the GRE as a GMAT alternative (including those not included in the U.S. News rankings).

This expanded option allows b-schools to widen their applicant pool, attracting potential MBAs from other GRE-required graduate paths.

US News ranked b-schools that now accept the GRE include:

1. (tie) Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
7. Dartmouth College (Tuck)
9. New York University (Stern)
11. Yale University
13. University of Virginia (Darden)
14. Duke University (Fuqua)
16. University of Texas—Austin (McCombs)
19. Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)

According to David Payne, VP and COO at ETS, accepting the GRE is a smart move, specifically from a business perspective. “At no cost to the schools,” he says, “it allows them to increase the size and diversity of their applicant pool.” More than 600,000 people take the GRE every year, while only 270,000 take the GMAT.

Both tests have experienced an increase in the number of test takers every year for the last six years.

Advantages to test-takers of the move of b-schools to accept the GRE include:

• The GRE costs about $110 less than the GMAT.
• Students who wish to apply to both b-school and another graduate or PhD program can do so easily (and affordably) by taking only one test.
• Those with weaker quant skills will have an easier time navigating the GRE’s math section than that of the GMAT.

Related Accepted.com Blog Posts:

• More B-Schools Accepting GRE in Lieu of GMAT
• GMAT or GRE: Which is Best for You?
• Record GMAT Registration Volume in 2009
• GMAT Advice

Want our news sent directly to your inbox? Subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Almanac by clicking here!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

According to “Consider a School’s Career Services Before Applying,” an article in US News & World Report’s Best Graduate School report, the availability of job search support and career counseling opportunities should be of utmost importance to potential grad students who are (presumably) going to grad school in order to land better post-grad careers.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, students who use career center resources are more likely to secure jobs than those who don’t take advantage of such services.

Most university career centers have responded to the need for increased services by providing more to students than basic resume and cover letter reviewing. Some offer webinars, workshops, or one-on-one career counseling; some set up job fairs and aggressively work with recruiters and alumni to create networking events.

Some schools even offer a career management course…for credit. Some top MBA programs even require that students take such a course. Duke Fugua students need to create a “personal development plan” before they even begin their first semester!

The US News article provides a few tips:

1. Start job searching early in your college or grad school career. Get to know your career services department early, make connections with people in your school’s career center, and attend as many courses, webinars, and workshops as you can during the course of your studies.
2. Create an account at your school’s online career website. At this virtual career center you can generally receive job listings, post resumes and your profile, find internships, and receive podcast seminars. You can also receive updates about local or campus-wide job fairs. At Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, the online career center even offers videoconferencing between recruiters and MBA students.
3. Seek help in starting your own business. More and more students are joining the startup nation and skipping the daunting task of job searching altogether by starting their own businesses. You school’s career center should be helpful in brainstorming with you, helping you build your contact list, and working with you to create a business plan.
4. Take advantage of alumni services. Just because you’ve graduated doesn’t mean that you need to abandon your ties to your school’s career center. Online and in-person resources and services are often available to program graduates and should certainly be utilized.

While choosing a graduate program based wholly on the quality of its career services department would be silly, examining different career centers at different universities should be included in your overall assessment of programs when considering which schools best suit your needs.

Related Accepted.com Resources:

• B-School Zones
• MBA Admissions Application Advice for Career Changers
• Applying to B-School in Times of Crisis: An Accepted.com Special Report
• MBA Students Must Work Harder to Land Internships This Year
• International Students’ Top Priority: Jobs

Want our news sent directly to your inbox? Subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Almanac by clicking here!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Stanford won top slot for both rankings. It is #1 for providing the best return on investment for its graduates, as well as for churning out MBAs who are extremely satisfied with their current jobs and their completed b-school experience.

The survey shows that Stanford alumni are more likely than grads from any other business school to sing praises to their alma mater. School satisfaction and job satisfaction are closely intertwined with financial success, says Pulin Sanghvi, Stanford GSB Director of Career Management and Stanford GSB ’97 alum. “True satisfaction happens from work-life actualization,” he says, referring to the Dalai Lama’s The Art of Happiness at Work. “We nurture students to pursue career decisions based on their internal drivers. That they then become financial successes is just a bonus.”

The Top Ten US B-Schools with the Most Satisfied Graduates

1.   Stanford GSB

2.   Wharton

3.   Chicago Booth

4.   NYU Stern

5.   Brigham Young University

6.   UC Berkeley Haas

7.   Dartmouth Tuck

8.   UCLA Anderson (tied)

8.   University of Rochester Simon Graduate School of Business (tied)

10. University of Virginia Darden

The Top Ten Non-US B-Schools with the Most Satisfied Graduates

1.   Oxford

2.   IESE

3.   London Business School

4.   IPADE

5.   Insead

6.   HEC-Paris

7.   IMD

8.   ESADE (tied)

8.   IE (tied)

10. Cranfield School of Management

For more information on the value of rankings and how you should (or should not) use them, check out Accepted.com’s new special report on MBA rankings.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

• Monday, December 14, 2009 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT Randall Sawyer, Director of Admissions at Cornell’s Johnson School of Business, along with other staff members will answer your questions. Our earlier Cornell Chat was standing room only, so make sure to use this outstanding opportunity to learn about Cornell’s close-knit student life, admission policies and programs. Join us on December 14th!
• Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT, Dawna Clarke, Director of Admissions at Dartmouth Tuck, will participate in an online admissions chat with Accepted.com. Discover Dartmouth’s vibrant, intellectual environment, as well as its exceptionally close-knit community. Learn how the Tuck MBA has been providing a world-class business education since 1900 and how you can be part of this legacy of business excellence.

Mark your calendars and then join us in Accepted’s chat room.

Also, this past week we posted two excellent transcripts from earlier Consortium and London Business School chats.

Here is a taste of the Consortium chat which had representatives from Cornell, Darden, McCombs, Ross, Simon, Stern, and Wisconsin answering questions about their programs as well as Consortium policies (The excerpt is a little longer than usual, but really good):

ES (Dec 1, 2009 7:31:15 PM)
Can I send the Consortium applications with my current score and then retake my GMAT and send the new scores? If the answer is yes, can I do that after Jan 5th or it has to be done before that?

ErinNicklesburgWISCONSIN (Dec 1, 2009 7:32:14 PM)
ES – There are limitations to how far beyond the deadline a school may be willing to accept a new GMAT score. Again, I encourage you to reach out to those individual schools to determine their time-line.

Linda Abraham (Dec 1, 2009 7:49:49 PM)
To the entire panel, what are the most common mistakes you see in MBA essays? In Consortium essays?

ChrisGaetaNYU (Dec 1, 2009 7:51:27 PM)
Hi Linda – A common mistake is a poorly written essay. A good career essay will be specific in terms of short-term goals. The applicant really needs to show that they have done their research and they have a solid and logical reason for attending business school.

TonyGreenROCHESTER (Dec 1, 2009 7:52:17 PM)
Regarding essay mistakes, one mistake is lack of thought and research into a decision for an MBA. This is shown by a lack of connection between prior experience and career goals.

AnnRichardsCORNELL (Dec 1, 2009 7:52:49 PM)
Linda – We are always concerned when we see a sloppy application – misspellings, wrong titles or programs. It’s an indication to us that the candidate doesn’t pay attention to detail – if they display this in their application to us, they may be as careless when recruiters.

Linda Abraham (Dec 1, 2009 7:52:52 PM)
I frequently find that candidates confuse areas of interest with career goals.

TonyGreenROCHESTER (Dec 1, 2009 7:52:59 PM)
Great applicant essays clearly state personal skills, and how an MBA will enhance these skills to obtain future career plans.

JonFullerMICHIGAN (Dec 1, 2009 7:53:22 PM)
Linda, one common mistake I see is that the applicant answers a question that s/he *wishes* the school asked instead of actually thoroughly answering the question that was posed. Make sure you answer the question! One good way to check – give your essays to a friend/family member *without* providing the question. Ask them to tell you what was being asked after they’ve read it. If they get the question completely wrong, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

GettingThere (Dec 1, 2009 7:54:06 PM)
Similarly, what are the most common mistakes you see in the interviews (once you receive feedback)?

Michelle (Dec 1, 2009 7:54:36 PM)
Chris: In terms of being specific in the essays, does it weigh favorably to name the company or organization for which you would like to work? Or should the goal(s) remain broad enough to encompass only an industry or position?

ChrisGaetaNYU (Dec 1, 2009 7:54:47 PM)
Hi Michelle-The more research you can do the better. Industry and specific function are most important. However, if you know some target companies and you want to mention them that is usually a sign that you are on the right track!

JonFullerMICHIGAN (Dec 1, 2009 7:54:51 PM)
GettingThere, make sure you’re prepared and take it very seriously – like you would a job interview. But don’t come across as being cocky or arrogant. You need to show you can play well with others.

KellieSaulsVIRGINIA (Dec 1, 2009 7:54:52 PM)
GT: Interviews where the interviewee asks for feedback on the spot are not okay.

ChrisGaetaNYU (Dec 1, 2009 7:55:14 PM)
Regarding interviews, it is always evident which students have not prepared. Answers should be succinct and on point. A 10 minute answer is usually an interview hazard!

AnnRichardsCORNELL (Dec 1, 2009 7:55:17 PM)
Getting There – I like to see confidence in candidates during the interview, so be prepared and be yourself.

KellieSaulsVIRGINIA (Dec 1, 2009 7:55:20 PM)
Yes, have confidence in yourself.

And last but defintely not least: excerpts from the transcript of Monday’s London Business School chat.

Niranjan (Dec 7, 2009 12:10:30 PM)
Hi Oliver & team, I would like to know about the opportunities for entrepreneurial studies and entrepreneurship at London Business School. Specifically: 1) Networking Opportunities (in terms of industrial networking) 2) Help provided by the school post-MBA in start-up 3) Success stories of past from the school.

ErikWilterdingLONDON (Dec 7, 2009 12:13:57 PM)
Niranjan: In addition to Oli’s response, you also have one core course geared towards entrepreneurship, Discovering Entrepreneurial Opportunities. Although I’m looking to pursue a career in Strategy after LBS, this was one of my favorite courses and was principally about how to identify the needs of a given market

OliverAshbyLONDON (Dec 7, 2009 12:16:08 PM)
Hi Niranjan: Entrepreneurship is an extremely important element of the London Business School experience. We have a Centre for Entrepreneurship, bringing top faculty to School. Our alumni network consists of a huge range of entrepreneurs like Tony Wheeler, the founder of the Lonely Planet, who recently gave a multi-million pound donation to the School for a dedicated Entrepreneurship Chair. The School hosts frequent entrepreneurial competitions on campus including the recent Global Security Challenge for Start-ups in the military arena.

MaryFerreiraLONDON (Dec 7, 2009 12:23:28 PM)
Niranjan: I know that Oliver and Eric have outlined some of our entrepreneurial opportunities which run through student and alumni life from things such as student involvement in the Global Social Venture Competition (London Business School is one of the organisers) through to work carried out by Sussex Place Ventures which helps provide seed capital and access to development finance. We have a helpful link on our website which outlines just some of the entrepreneurial activity across London Business School.

Mihir (Dec 7, 2009 12:27:26 PM)
Hannah: How is the CleanTech activity at LBS – activity clubs, internships & recruitment, etc?

MaryFerreiraLONDON (Dec 7, 2009 12:40:31 PM)
Mihir: In connection to CleanTech, I suggest having a look at some of the activity linked to the student organised Responsible Business Club . There is a great elective that our degree programme students can sign up for too. This is called Sustainability – Implications of Environmental and Demographic Change and will be taught by members of our Strategy and Economics group. In addition, just today I heard from two MBA alumni, one (Ishani), whose start-up business, Arctic Holdings, was featured in the papers this weekend. Another, (Gabrielle Weybrecht) has recently written a book that stemmed out of a project she undertook whilst an MBA student at London Business School. Her book is called “The Sustainable MBA: The Manager’s Guide to Green Business”.

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

In fact, business schools in America deem students from regions like Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia so important to their student bodies that they’re starting to venture out to these areas to do in-person recruiting.

Boston University School of Management, for example, has already sent staff out to Dubai twice and Cairo once in the last few months, in an effort to boost the Middle Eastern appearance at the BU program. Anderson School of Management (UCLA) is spending their recruiting energy on Latin America, as is Dartmouth University’s Tuck School of Business.

Recently Chicago’s Booth School, UVA’s Darden, Dartmouth’s Tuck, and Northwestern’s Kellogg joined forces and went to Ghana together to recruit students—a truly one-of-a-kind experience for the admissions staff and for the prospective students in Ghana.

Tuck is setting yet another trend that expands their international recruiting footprint even further: by placing full-time admissions officers on-site in these far-out regions.

Similarly, Duke’s Fuqua School of Business has established its global network by establishing global campuses in Dubai, London, Delhi, St. Petersburg, and Shanghai. Their presence in these places allows them to study these emerging markets, speak with prospective applicants in person, and attend local MBA fairs.

Organizations like the QS World MBA Tour are making it their business to scope out these countries personally to find applicants and bring them back to U.S. MBA programs. Last year the Africa Tour (led by the World Tour) only had European business school represented at their traveling school fair, but the U.S. programs have shown interest in joining in the near future.

MBA programs all over the United States are taking innovative and creative measures to reach students that have never been reached before. There are student groups that are doing the outreach, as well as alumni groups that have pooled together for this initiative. New scholarships and funding opportunities also help the emerging international crowd achieve their goals of studying in a U.S. top B-school.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

• The Dartmouth News published an article about the increasing percentage of women at Tuck with a couple of factoids about Harvard and Wharton. Unfortunately, there is an inaccuracy in the article regarding a non-existent experience requirement at Tuck. I checked with Dawna Clarke, Director of Admissions, who clarified,  “While the average years of work experience (at matriculation) is 4-5 years, that is not a requirement for admission.”
• The Economist this week published its eighth annual rankings of international business schools, which it bases on responses to surveys sent to students/alumni and over 100 top MBA programs. The criteria are “open new career opportunities; personal development and educational experience; increase in salary; and potential to network.” The Economist’s Top Ten:

1. IESE
2. IMD
3. Haas
4. Chicago
5. Harvard
6. Tuck
7. Stanford
8. London Business School
9. Wharton
10. Vlerick Leuven Gent

• New Global Entrepreneurship Program. EMLYON in France,  Babson College in the USA, and Zhejiang University in China have partnered to create the first ‘Global Entrepreneurship Program’ which opens its doors this month. The program begins with 65 students, who will study on each of the three campuses en route to earning an MSc in Entrepreneurship.
• First round deadlines are slowing getting checked off, and their passing means that round one interview invitations will be arriving soon. In fact, they have already started to arrive. As a result, BusinessWeek just published an excellent piece, “Acing the MBA Application Interview“, which I want to bring to your attention along with the many MBA interview resources at Accepted, specifically:

• • MBA Interview Coaching and Mock Interviews
  • MBA Interview Feedback Database — See the questions that have been asked previously and then share your interview experience.
  • MBA Interview Prep Mini-Course, a succinct, free, 5-day email course.
  • MBA I.V.: MBA Interview Questions & Tips, an instantly downloadable ebook.

By Linda Abraham, founder and president of Accepted.com.