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12 May 2014, 18:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Columbia Business School 2014-2015 MBA Deadlines |
 Columbia Business School has announced the MBA application deadlines for the 2014-2015 admissions cycle. This year’s deadlines are: January 2014 Entry Deadline: October 8, 2014 August 2014 Entry Early Decision: October 8, 2014 Merit Fellowship Consideration: January 7, 2015 Regular Decision: April 15, 2015 Columbia Business School students may enroll in either August or January. The CBS admissions website notes that the paths are identical in terms of competitiveness of admissions, academic rigor, and student resources, but they differ in terms of timing and the opportunity to complete a summer internship. All applications are due at 11:59 p.m. EST on the day of the deadline. For more information, visit the Columbia Business School admissions website. |
13 May 2014, 10:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: MIT Sloan 2014-2015 MBA Admission Deadlines |
 The MIT Sloan School of Management has updated its MBA application deadlines for the 2014-2015 admissions season. The deadlines are: Round 1 Deadline: September 23, 2014 Notification: December 17, 2014 Round 2 Deadline: January 8, 2015 Notification: April 6, 2015 Leaders for Global Operations Program Deadline: December 15, 2014 Notification: March 2, 2015 Applicants must submit all materials by 3 p.m. EST on the day of the deadline. MIT Sloan expects the application for August 2015 entry to be available in July. For more information, visit MIT Sloan’s admissions website. |
13 May 2014, 12:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Harvard Business School Round 3 Notification |
 Round 3 applicants to Harvard Business School have just one more day of anxious waiting before their fate is announced. In her latest update to the Director’s Blog, Dee Leopold informed readers that decisions would be emailed at noon Boston time on May 14th. At that time, applicants will either receive an admit with lots of details on what to do next; placement on the waitlist, which Leopold hopes to resolve speedily; or a ding, with more information on dates/times for “touchpoint” calls, the director writes. Another admissions season is coming to an end, but Round 1 is just a few short months away. If this cycle didn’t yield the results you were hoping for, don’t give up! You still have time to enhance your candidacy and strengthen your application for the 2014-2015 season. |
14 May 2014, 18:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: UPenn Wharton School 2014-2015 MBA Application Deadlines |
 The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has announced the MBA application deadlines for the 2014-2015 admissions cycle. This year’s three deadlines are: Round 1 Deadline: October 1, 2014 Notification: December 16, 2014 Round 2 Deadline: January 5, 2015 Notification: March 24, 2015 Round 3 Deadline: March 26, 2015 Notification: May 5, 2015 * * * Deadlines for Wharton’s MBA/MA-Lauder and JD/MBA programs are: Round 1 Deadline: October 1, 2014 Notification: December 16, 2014 Round 2 Deadline: January 5, 2015 Notification: March 24, 2015 To be considered for a round, all applications must be submitted by 5p.m. EST on the day of the deadline. For more information, visit the Wharton School’s admissions website. |
15 May 2014, 19:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: HBS Keeps “Optional” Essay for 2014-2015 Admissions Cycle |
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Just one day after Harvard Business School sent out Round 3 decisions, director of MBA admissions and financial aid Dee Leopold was back on the blog today with the news that HBS would be repeating the optional essay prompt that created such a stir when it was first announced. The (optional) “essay” question is: “You’re applying to Harvard Business School. We can see your resume, academic transcripts, extracurricular activities, awards, post-MBA career intentions, test scores, and what your recommenders have to say about you. What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?” Although Leopold went on record last year saying Harvard Business School would always be changing the essay question, the director admits the admissions team really liked the wide range of responses they received from admitted candidates. She goes on to list the two recommender questions for the upcoming season, which are as follows: • How do the candidate’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (300 words) • Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (250 words) The application will go live in mid-June, says Leopold, and the Round 1 deadline has been set for September 9, 2014. HBS will conduct interviews from mid-October through November, with notification on or around December 10th, the director adds. You may also be interested in: Harvard Business School Enters Online Learning Harvard Business School Admitted Student Profile |
16 May 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: CMU Launches Integrated Innovation Institute |
 Carnegie Mellon University has formally launched an Integrated Innovation Institute, a market-focused center that will cross-train students in the values, principles, thinking and methods of engineering, design and business — the three disciplines considered to be the core of innovation. Drawing on Carnegie Mellon’s top-ranked College of Engineering, School of Design and Tepper School of Business, the institute’s origins lie in the groundbreaking principles of Carnegie Mellon Professor and Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon, a founding father of artificial intelligence who also established the basis for a science of design. Simon helped lay the foundation for cognitive science, crossed disciplinary boundaries of half a dozen fields, and set a precedent for collaborative research. “Global business challenges demand a new breed of executive talent. Our integrated innovation tenets force students outside their previous training and comfort zones, creating hybrid thinkers and doers,” says institute co-director Peter Boatwright, the Carnegie Bosch Professor of Marketing at the Tepper School of Business, in a statement. “We’ve been moving toward this pivotal point for years, training students in a deeply integrated and pragmatic method that directly addresses the barriers inhibiting speed in industry.” The Integrated Innovation Institute comes amid much global debate on the need to “fix” innovation. A recent study by Accenture found two dominant obstacles: a conservative approach focusing on line-extension renovation rather than a broad portfolio of bold ideas; and a lack of systematic, enterprise-wide processes capable of timely commercialization of inventions into products or services at scale. “Innovation can be studied, formalized, taught — and continuously improved upon with new knowledge,” says institute co-director Jonathan Cagan, the Ladd Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the College of Engineering. “We’ve elevated collaboration to a new plane, and what we’re doing could only come out of Carnegie Mellon’s rich history of interdisciplinary work. At the institute’s core are three professional master’s degrees: the Master of Integrated Innovation for Products and Services (Pittsburgh, founded in 2003); the Master of Science in Software Management (Silicon Valley, founded in 2004), the only program to focus on innovation related to the continuum of the software field; and a professional master’s degree planned for fall 2015 as part of Carnegie Mellon’s new Integrated Media Program at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Augmenting these degrees is a pilot innovation laboratory where graduate student teams tackle corporate-sponsored cases with real-world rigor and accountability, and where institute-funded projects explore vexing societal problems. The institute also conducts proprietary applied research, and extends its training through executive education, customized company programs and open-enrollment consortia. “Increasingly, organizations recognize the impact that engineers, designers and marketers who understand one another’s thinking can have working together at the ‘fuzzy front end’ of a project,” says institute co-director Eric Anderson, an associate professor in the School of Design and associate dean of the College of Fine Arts. “Sponsors report that our graduates are a market-level above, with the agility to step into any range of scenarios, in any industry and immediately apply their knowledge.” With the launch of the Integrated Innovation Institute, Anderson, Boatwright and Cagan believe that Carnegie Mellon’s tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration will carry forward through generations of “elite integrated innovators” who will transform the world. |
16 May 2014, 12:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Stanford GSB Essay Questions for Class of 2017 |
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The Stanford Graduate School of Business has updated its admissions website with the two essays required for the 2014-2015 MBA application. The questions remain essentially unchanged from last year’s application. Essay A: What matters most to you, and why?(650-850 suggested word count) A strong response to this question will:
Enlighten us on how earning your MBA at Stanford will enable you to realize your ambitions. A strong response to this essay question will:
Your answers for both essay questions combined may not exceed 1,100 words. For more information, visit the Stanford GSB admissions website. |
16 May 2014, 13:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Stanford GSB 2014-2015 MBA Application Deadlines |
 The Stanford Graduate School of Business has released the MBA application deadlines for the 2014-2015 admissions cycle. The deadlines are: Round 1 Deadline: October 1, 2014 Notification: December 10, 2014 Round 2 Deadline: January 7, 2015 Notification: March 25, 2015 Round 3 Deadline: April 1, 2015 Notification: May 6, 2015 All application materials are due by 5 p.m. PST on the day of the deadline. For more details, visit Stanford GSB’s admissions website. |
19 May 2014, 17:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Target U.S. Business Schools as a Latin American MBA Hopeful |
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This post originally appeared on Stacy’s “Strictly Business” MBA Blog on U.S.News.com International students typically make up 25 percent to 40 percent of MBA cohorts at top U.S. business schools. It’s not surprising that the overwhelming majority of applicants from Latin America want to pursue an MBA degree in the U.S. According to data from the most recent QS Top MBA Applicant Survey, more than 70 percent say the U.S. is their destination of choice, followed by Canada at 30.3 percent. The poll also confirms that Latin American applicants place a high value on specializations – higher than any other world region – in order to meet their individual needs. While all b-school hopefuls should tailor their school selections to those that will enhance their career, this is particularly important for students who plan to return to their home countries after graduation. Latin American applicants should research the strength of each potential school’s international placement records and alumni network before applying. [Overcome three common hurdles of international MBA applicants.] Travel expenses can make campus visits difficult, so applicants from Latin America should not miss the opportunity to participate in local “coffee chats,” which are typically organized and led by current students while visiting their home countries during winter break. In an April post to the Daytime MBA Student Blog of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Joaquin Brahm of Chile calls coffee chats “a must” in the application process.? These informal events, often held in homes, are a great resource for applicants to hear firsthand? about all aspects of the MBA experience, including personal questions about everyday student life. “We received only good feedback about coffee chats in Latin America,”? says Yonathan Lapchik, admissions cabinet member of the Latin American Student Association at Fuqua. “Prospective students found it a very useful step in their application process. Our idea is to continue developing these kinds of events in the future and establish them as another resource for applicants in their pathway to Fuqua.” Many MBA programs offer incentives and scholarships to applicants from Latin America, and some schools are introducing efforts to attract potential candidates. Last year, the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School launched a Latin American Visitor Program ?designed to encourage prospective full-time MBA students from Latin America to visit the campus. The program provides a travel subsidy of $600 and waives the $145 admissions application fee for up to 20 sponsored students. Kenan-Flagler also offers up to 10 full-tuition fellowships to applicants from Latin America each year as part of the new Fellowship for the Americas award. As I often write on this blog, the admissions committee wants to get to know each applicant beyond their resume, and the MBA essays are the perfect opportunity to share unique personal or family background information that would allow the reader to understand your core values and motivations. One of my clients discussed being the first from his family to go to college, and the intensity of breaking family tradition and moving away. This made for a much more interesting essay than merely naming the school that he went to. In other words, that back story – the discussion of the decision – was the most interesting part. Another client also wove family into her application by addressing a brother’s serious illness and how it affected family relations, events and her personal and professional goals. Don’t be afraid to open up with details of experiences that set you apart and have shaped the person you are today. Since English likely isn’t your first language, it’s important to demonstrate a high level of fluency that will allow you to contribute actively to class discussions. This you can do during your MBA interview. Whether you interview over the phone, by video chat or in-person, make sure you practice beforehand with a native English speaker or someone who has lived in the U.S. for a long time and who can provide feedback on American business etiquette or your English language usage. Once on campus, you’ll gain access to a network stretching across the U.S. and around the globe. Try to network with Latino alumni who hold leadership positions in the U.S. and are often looking to groom the next generation. During recruiting, keep in mind U.S. companies may not want to hire someone if it involves helping them obtain an H-1B visa, since the employer must prove it has searched extensively for a qualified U.S. citizen or permanent resident and that the international candidate is the best option. However, if the company is an international firm and you’re willing to relocate elsewhere in Latin America or to a region where visa sponsorship won’t be an issue, ask about hiring options outside of the U.S. Your American MBA will put you leagues ahead of local applicants. As business relationships across the Americas continue to expand, MBA applicants from Latin America can rest assured they have much to contribute to the U.S. business school classroom, particularly where cultural differences, language issues and differing business practices come into play. |
20 May 2014, 10:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Trips and Treks: a Critical Part of the MBA Experience? |
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In case you missed it, the New York Times had an interesting article over the weekend exploring the role travel plays during one’s MBA experience. Some travel opportunities during b-school are curricular and offer course credit as part of a class. Other trips are student-organized and career-focused but don’t include academic credit, such as the so-called “tech treks” to Silicon Valley. Finally, MBA students can find multiple opportunities for leisure travel across the globe during holiday breaks and long weekends. Each of these experiences provides valuable networking settings where students can bond with their classmates, and the Times notes that the array of travel possibilities in b-school has grown dramatically of late. Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer has taught for 35 years at the GSB, and tells the Times, “The social aspects of business school have become more prominent over the last decade — there is no doubt about that. Students go to Vegas and take over a Southwest Airlines plane, they go to the Sundance movie festival, and some of them rent houses on Lake Tahoe.” So what’s the potential down side to all the camaraderie-building that group travel provides? Well, it comes at significant financial cost, and estimates quoted in the Times are all over the map. The article notes travel budgets range anywhere from $5,000 to $30K during a two-year program. Students of modest means who don’t want to miss out on these networking excursions pay for them with credit cards, banking on the belief that it will pay off down the line with a high-paying job. Still others take on jobs to pay their way. Despite the sometimes exorbitant cost, the overwhelming majority of the MBA students and graduates interviewed by the Times seems to find significant value in these travel experiences. Some point to employment offers and internships that came about thanks to a school-sponsored trip. MIT Sloan School of Management alumna Samantha Joseph (MBA ’09) worked as a teaching assistant to pay for her travel expenses, which included trips to nine countries during her two years at MIT Sloan. Though she didn’t receive course credit for most of these experiences, she tells the Times they were an important part of her education. “If you want to be a global leader in any industry, it’s important to see how the business world works and runs in other countries,” says Joseph, now director of corporate responsibility and sustainability at Iron Mountain, a data and records management company. Ultimately, students must decide for themselves what is financially feasible when faced with the dizzying array of travel options that come up during an MBA program. Personally, I believe there’s so much to be gained from making strong connections with your classmates, and there’s almost no better place to do so then outside the classroom—and possibly outside the country. |
20 May 2014, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: UC Berkeley Haas 2014-2015 MBA Deadlines |
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The University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business has updated the application deadlines for the 2014-2015 admissions cycle.The three deadlines are: Round 1 Deadline: October 1, 2014 Notification: January 15, 2015 Round 2 Deadline: January 7, 2015 Notification: March 26, 2015 Round 3 Deadline: March 11, 2015 Notification: May 14, 2015 The Haas School of Business is a member of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, and deadlines for applying through the Consortium have not yet been announced. For more information, visit the Berkeley MBA admissions website. |
20 May 2014, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Tuck School of Business Fall 2015 Application Deadlines |
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The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth has announced the MBA application deadlines for the 2014-2015 admissions season. The deadlines are: Early Action Round Deadline: October 8, 2014 Notification: December 18, 2014 November Round Deadline: November 5, 2014 Notification: February 13, 2015 January Round Deadline: January 6, 2015 Notification: March 13, 2015 April Round Deadline: April 1, 2015 Notification: May 15, 2015 1st Round Consortium Deadline: October 15, 2014 Notification: December 18, 2014 2nd Round Consortium Deadline: January 5, 2015 Notification: March 13, 2015 All applications are due at 5 p.m. EST on the day of the deadline. 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 membership decision. For more information, visit the Dartmouth/Tuck MBA admissions website. |
20 May 2014, 15:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Columbia Business School 2014-2015 MBA Essays |
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The Columbia Business School Class of 2016 MBA application is now live, and here is a preview of the essay questions for the 2014-2015 admissions season. Applicants must complete one short answer question and three essays. Short Answer Question: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (75 characters maximum) Examples of possible responses: “Work in business development for a media company.” “Join a consulting firm specializing in renewable energy.” “Work for an investment firm that focuses on real estate.” Essay 1: Given your individual background and goals, why are you pursuing a Columbia MBA at this time? (Maximum 500 words) Essay 2: Please view the video below: The Center How will you take advantage of being “at the very center of business”? (Maximum 250 words) Essay 3: What will the people in your Cluster be pleasantly surprised to learn about you? (Maximum 250 words) Optional Essay: An optional fourth essay will allow you to discuss any issues that do not fall within the purview of the required essays. For further details, please visit the Columbia Business School admissions website. |
23 May 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Emory Names First Black Female Dean of Business School |
 Emory University Provost Claire Sterk has announced that Erika Hayes James, Ph.D., has been appointed dean of the university’s Goizueta Business School. James will assume her new role on July 15. She comes to Emory from Darden School of Business, where she served most recently as senior associate dean for executive education. “Erika James has all of the qualities that we want for a leader at Goizueta,” Sterk says. “She brings a background of impressive scholarship and strong skills in academic administration, and she will work collaboratively with faculty, students, staff, alumni and supporters to take the school to the next level—all the while honoring the principled leadership of Mr. Goizueta’s legacy.” Emory’s business school was founded in 1919 and was named in honor former Coca-Cola chairman and CEO Roberto C. Goizueta in 1994. “I believe the Goizueta Business School is a world-renowned school that is on the verge of greatness,” James says, adding, “I want to be a part of helping the school reach that greatness.” In Atlanta, Goizueta is positioned well for corporate partnerships, entrepreneurial activities and other collaborations with industry. James hopes to deepen the connections between Goizueta and Atlanta’s business community, nonprofit organizations and other universities. “I see a real opportunity to align business thought leadership in Atlanta and, in the tradition of the academy, to bring research to bear on challenges,” she says. James also sees opportunities to bring Goizueta’s business acumen together with Emory’s health care expertise to address the enormous national challenges facing health care delivery systems. “I am sure our father would consider Erika James to be an inspired choice, given their shared interest in innovative teaching and learning, and developing business leaders who are committed to excellence and integrity,” says Olga Goizueta Rawls, chair and CEO of The Goizueta Foundation. “We are anticipating even greater successes for the Goizueta Business School and its graduates under her leadership.” |
23 May 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: MBA Hiring Up in 2014, Says New GMAC Survey |
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More companies plan to hire MBAs and other business school graduates in 2014, according to a recently published global survey of employers. Some 80% of business school recruiters plan to hire MBAs in 2014, up seven percentage points from last year and 30% points higher than 2009, in the heart of the economic crisis, when just half of employers hired MBAs. For the 13th annual Corporate Recruiters Survey, the Graduate Management Admission Council polled 565 employers from 44 countries during February and March. GMAC partnered with EFMD and the MBA Career Services and Employer Alliance to conduct the survey, which included 32 of the top 100 companies in the FT 500 and 36 of the Fortune 100. The optimistic hiring outlook for MBAs and other master’s-level business graduates comes as companies shift focus away from overcoming economic challenges and look toward growth and expansion. The percentage of companies reporting a focus on overcoming economic challenges dropped from 58% in 2009 to 25% this year, as well as reducing costs, from 66% in 2009 to 45% this year. At the same time, the percentage of employers planning to hire new bachelor’s degree graduates is holding steady, down one percentage point from the 75% that hired bachelor’s graduates in 2012 and 2013. “More companies in all sectors and across the world plan to hire business school graduates, with projected hiring rates the highest for all degree types since the Great Recession started in 2009,” says Sangeet Chowfla, GMAC CEO and president. “MBAs have always been valued by employers, but this survey shows that as the economy improves, employers see MBAs as a good investment into their future.” Here are some of the survey’s key findings:
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27 May 2014, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Rethinking MBA Rankings |
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MBA rankings are a tricky subject. Most applicants put an enormous amount of credence in them when making their school selections, but the results aren’t always as clear-cut as they seem. The various media outlets that publish this information each have a specific focal point, which often differs from their competitors, and at times, it can feel more like an “apples and oranges” comparison. For example, whereas Forbes focuses on ROI five years after graduation, Businessweek looks closely at the satisfaction levels of students and recruiters. U.S. News meanwhile takes the pulse of b-school deans and takes GMAT and GRE scores into account, and the Economist wants to find out how effective the MBA degree is at opening up new professional opportunities. In other words, the rankings are not all the same. When the Financial Times published its annual MBA rankings at the beginning of the year, Conrad Chua, head of admissions at Cambridge Judge Business School, blogged about the low-key reaction he received internally about the program’s strong showing at no. 16 after prior years spent in the mid-twenties. “…While rankings are important and gives us valuable benchmarking information in certain metrics, there are a lot of areas that we feel strongly about that are not captured by rankings,” Chua writes. “For example, the quality of the academic experience, the learning environment, the networks that our students and alums can tap into.” Last week, Poets & Quants published a fascinating piece on the “love-hate relationship” b-schools have with rankings. Using the rankings see-saw experienced by the Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business over the past four years, the article points out some very real perils of taking this particular data point at face value. Idalene “Idie” Kesner, dean of Indiana University’s Kelley School, tells P&Q, “You love them when they go in your direction, and you are frustrated when they don’t. For a long time, we said that if you do good things, the rankings will follow. We have woken up to the fact that we need to focus on the rankings in and of themselves.” The article is a must-read, and I encourage prospective applicants to think hard about the data points that are important to your own career path when determining the value of a particular ranking. You don’t have to go to the best business school of all. Just figure out which MBA program is the best one for you. You may also be interested in: The Truth Behind 3 Common MBA Rankings Myths |
27 May 2014, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Tuesday Tips: Harvard Business School MBA Application Essay Tips 2014 |
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Harvard Business School has decided to repeat the same essay question this year as originally used in last year’s application cycle. Though the admissions committee said they were planning to change the essay questions every year, it turned out that the one open-ended essay was helpful enough to use it again. The most challenging part of this essay is remaining disciplined. With unlimited space to make your case, you may be tempted to compose a laundry list of everything interesting or impressive you have ever done. That urge could backfire, as the essay is used to determine who isn’t a fit for HBS as much as selecting the lucky candidates who make it into the interview round. Maturity, accomplishment, and leadership are highly valued qualities and this essay is your chance to display those qualities through the stories you choose and the voice coming through your writing. There is one question, technically optional, for the Class of 2017 application essay: You’re applying to Harvard Business School. We can see your resume, school transcripts, extra-curricular activities, awards, post-MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you. What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy? HBS adds this tip to the essay prompt: There is no word limit for this question. We think you know what guidance we’re going to give here. Don’t overthink, overcraft and overwrite. Just answer the question in clear language that those of us who don’t know your world can understand. A note on word count: HBS traditionally has limited essays to around 400 words each. Do not be tempted to go overboard with a 2,000 word essay, rather focus on concise and clear writing and consider keeping this essay to 1,200 words or less. Our successful clients had essays anywhere from 500-1,300 words last year, though you should take a pass through your essay to cut any unnecessary words if you find yourself on the upper end of that range. The goal of this essay is to know yourself, know HBS, and know how to match the two to demonstrate your fit for the school. Your first task should be to evaluate all of the other aspects of your candidacy – what is the story your resume tells? What do you think recommenders will say? How does your transcript communicate your skills, accomplishments and interests? Then you need to evaluate how to fill the gaps with the essay. We advised many successful clients on this essay last year, and those who received an acceptance letter from Harvard Business School pursued a range of topics. Some applicants focused on their career journey and aspirations while others wrote about their personal background. Both highly personal and career oriented essays were successful, and most candidates told more than one story in the essay. One common thread we observed was that all of the successful essays demonstrated a core driving passion. While comparisons with Stanford’s “What Matters Most” open-ended question may come immediately to mind, HBS is very different and it will be important to know the program. As you consider possible stories to tell in this essay keep in mind that HBS has always been highly focused on leadership and wants to accept candidates who have a track record of leadership impact and a success trajectory that indicates upper management potential. Accomplishments have traditionally been a strong focus of HBS essays, and using at least one accomplishment story in this essay may be a good strategy, particularly if your accomplishments are not obvious when reading your resume or transcripts. A note on what not to do: We see many applicants tempted to include “why HBS” type information in HBS essays. This has never been part of an HBS application essay question and we don’t recommend including that sort of angle here. HBS is quite clear on why applicants are interested in the school, and they would rather see you use the space to provide more information about yourself and your candidacy. |
28 May 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: MBA Admissions Counseling: What You Pay and What You Get |
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Those who are new to the MBA admissions process often wonder whether they should engage the services of a professional consultant, and if so, to what extent. I believe a consultant can always help, whether you are a first-time or a repeat business school applicant, whether you are in the dark or more knowledgeable about the admissions process. Working with a respected consulting team gives you the ability to leverage the database of knowledge of a collected group of experts who together have experience with thousands of clients in programs across the globe. As I pointed out recently in my US News blog post on the pluses and minuses of hiring an MBA admissions consultant, input from one friend who applied, or even someone who attended the school, provides only a limited snapshot. For anyone interested in a closer look at the costs and variety of services provided by the leading MBA consulting firms, I recommend John Byrne‘s story on what admissions consultants charge, published by Poets & Quants yesterday. In addition to merely listing prices side by side, the article does a good job of explaining the whys as well. While essay editing is a popular service we offer, the process is really much more involved than just working within a certain word count. My consultants coach clients in their up-front strategy, help them develop compelling stories that play out across the application, prep for interviews, review and retool resumes, and much more. We have high standards, for ourselves and for you. We know what it takes to be successful and we’re excited to help you reach your goals. If you think you might be interested in working with an admissions consultant, I invite you to contact Stacy Blackman Consulting for a free consultation about your candidacy today. |
28 May 2014, 10:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: How Does Social Media Fit Into Your MBA Application Strategy? |
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In the era of social media saturation, business school hopefuls have to think about more than just drafting memorable essays, nailing interviews and marketing themselves effectively during the MBA application process. Today’s applicants must scrutinize their public persona on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and elsewhere to make sure it matches the version they wish to present to the b-school admissions committee. In an online survey we conducted in April, I discovered to my surprise that 20% of applicants plan to create a new online presence to enhance their application and their online brand. It makes perfect sense though. At a time when essay word counts are shrinking, you can see how it might be more compelling if you can back up your noted interest in photography by pointing to your Instagram account. As I mention in Poets & Quants’s recent story on social media in the b-school application, many applicants are just beginning to realize that everyone has an online brand now and so the focus at first is on clean up. Review your online persona to ensure that there aren’t any inappropriate pictures or posts. Basically, put it to the grandma test: if you wouldn’t want granny to see it, just get rid of it. To meet the growing need for guidance in this area, Stacy Blackman Consulting has launched a new service this season called the social media strategy review to help applicants professionalize their existing profile and set them up for a lifetime of online social success. With competition as stiff as it is at the ultra-elite schools, I would err on being a little more conservative and think about removing overly political or religious posts, and of course anything remotely sexy or related to partying. You don’t need to scrub your profile of all personality, however. Leave the travel pics and anything that supports the outside interests you’ve highlighted in your application. It’s good for the AdCom to see your informal side. I shared a few more tips on social media and admissions strategies with editor John Byrne, so click on over to Poets & Quants to read the entire article. |
30 May 2014, 10:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: NYU Stern 2014-2015 MBA Deadlines |
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The Stern School of Business at New York University has announced the application deadlines for the 2014-2015 MBA admissions season. The four deadlines are: Round 1 Deadline: October 15, 2014 Notification: December 15, 2014 Round 2 Deadline: November 15, 2014 Notification: February 15, 2015 Round 3 Deadline: January 15, 2015 Notification: April 1, 2015 Round 4 Deadline: March 15, 2015 Notification: June 1, 2015 *Applicants will receive one of three initial notifications: invitation to interview, waitlist offer, or denial of admissions. Online applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline. Any mailed application material must be postmarked by the deadline date. NYU Stern encourages international applicants to apply by the November 15 deadline to facilitate visa arrangements and to have priority consideration for off-site interviews, if desired. You may also apply for any other deadline. For more information, please visit NYU Stern’s admissions website. |
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