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18 Feb 2015, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: How to Stand Out in a Group (Interview) |
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Have you been invited to a group interview—or hope you will be soon? Some of the world’s top MBA programs use a team-based interview format, and we won’t be surprised if this trend grows in the future. Business schools want students who will play nice with others, and so watching how someone interacts with peers before anyone’s even admitted can be very telling. Here’s what you don’t want to do during a group interview:
Here’s what you should try to accomplish:
However, if you tend to be on the shy side, don’t let others intimidate you. If no one’s given you the chance to get a word in, you’re going to have to find an appropriate way to join the conversation before it’s too late. Remember:  Do you want to stay on top of the application process with timely tips like these? Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter and you’ll receive our expert advice straight in your mailbox before it appears on the blog, plus special offers, promotions, discounts, invitations to events, and more. |
19 Feb 2015, 13:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: B-School Alumni Report Boost to Earning Power, Career Trajectory |
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Business school alumni earn increased compensation, exercise enhanced purchasing power, consistently climb to the executive ranks, and give overall high marks to the value of their education in driving their professional success, according to new research findings from more than 12,000 graduate business school alumni surveyed by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). The results of the 2015 Alumni Perspectives Survey Report offer a global snapshot of employment and career progression for graduate business school alumni representing the classes of 1959 through 2014. Graduates also gave positive reviews to their business school’s alumni association, with a majority saying their engagement with these associations has contributed to their success. Conducted in October and November of 2014, the survey represents alumni from more than 230 graduate business programs at 71 universities in 16 locations across the globe. It is the latest in GMAC’s survey report series to provide data showing that an MBA or other graduate management degree, such as a Master in Management, Accounting or Finance, is a strong educational investment available to students in today’s highly competitive career marketplace. In fact, in the survey, 95 percent of alumni rated their graduate management education as a good to outstanding value, and 93 percent would recommend their graduate business program to others. Additional key findings include: Ninety percent of alumni credit graduate management education with increasing their earning power. In both developed and developing economies, graduate management alumni exercise enhanced purchasing power. For the first time, GMAC offers a comparison of earnings for graduate management alumni relative to others. A global analysis of alumni salaries by work location in relation to GDP and purchasing-power-parity per capita (GDP PPP) uncovers that business school alumni have purchasing power 1.6 to 6.8 times that of the average resident of the country where they work.  Business school alumni career trajectories show consistency in reaching higher levels of their organizations regardless of graduation year.The majority of alumni held mid-level positions one year after earning their degree. Five years after graduation, the majority of business school alumni are in senior-level positions or higher, and at 10 years, one in four alumni are in executive-level positions and 5 percent are in the “c-suite” (e.g., CEO, CFO, COO). Graduates who have made it to the c-suite are most likely of all alumni to say they use the knowledge, skills and abilities learned in graduate business school on the job.  B-school alumni rise fast in the workplace and have high levels of job satisfaction. The majority of graduate business school alumni, working across all occupational levels from entry-level positions to c-suite, credit their graduate management education for preparing them for leadership positions, as well as for accelerating the pace of their career advancement. In addition, they report high levels of job satisfaction. Four in five alumni, or 84 percent, say their graduate management education offered opportunities for quicker career advancement. For the first-time, this report measured entrepreneurial behavior in the workplace — defined through the traits of innovativeness, proactiveness and social risk taking — factors associated with alumni career success. Analysis shows c-suite and self-employed alumni describe themselves with these attributes to a greater extent than alumni at all other job levels. Fifty-nine percent of alumni belong to their business school’s alumni association and tend to rate their level of career success higher than those who are not members. The additional services alumni seek from their alma mater include courses and seminars, access to career services and more networking events. “Graduate management degree-holders consistently tell GMAC their education is a solid investment and a spur to personal, professional and financial achievement, even in up-and-down economies,” says Sangeet Chowfla, president and CEO of GMAC. “A graduate management education isn’t just a degree, it’s a career catalyst.” |
20 Feb 2015, 14:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Popular Stanford GSB Course on Female Entrepreneurship Offers Lessons for All |
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The men who take a Stanford Graduate School of Business course on female entrepreneurship do so for the eye-opening exposure to some of the down-and-dirty aspects of starting your own business. Learning about the strategic and business challenges of entrepreneurship is great, but what about the expectations and emotions of starting a business? How does starting a company impact your personal life? What are you willing to give up to get your business off the ground? While women are still the majority participants in the “Entrepreneurship from the Perspective of Women” course taught by Professor Fern Mandelbaum, that may change as word continues to spread of the “people issues” covered in the course, a recent profile piece in Fast Company reveals. The idea for the course came ten years ago, when Professor Garth Saloner, currently dean of the Stanford GSB, created a two-week seminar on female entrepreneurship with the simple goal of exposing business students to a multitude of entrepreneurship examples. As of 2015, the class will be offered as a full, quarter course. Three male students interviewed in the article say they signed up for the course because they wanted to better understand the real-life challenges and decisions that entrepreneurs have to make. “In a lot of the other classes, you hear the stories of winners … not to say that you didn’t hear it in this class, but the tone of it was more about the trade-offs that you have to make along the way,” says former student Andrew Yaffe. “We had both male and female speakers in the class addressing topics in term of how often they were able to see their children, when they started their company, what was the initial pay they took. I found the male and female perspectives valuable.” The course name may dissuade male students who assume it’s a class for women, but Professor Mandelbaum hopes that will soon change because the topics are important for future business leaders of either gender in order to create inclusive work environments. Men may not think business school is the place to learn some of the personal aspects covered in the class, but, says past participant Johnson Ci Yu Fung, “What better way to generate innovation than to see it from a perspective that the other half of the population experiences?” You may also be interested in: Stanford GSB Expands Course on Female Entrepreneurship New Georgetown MBA Course Focuses on Women Leaders |
23 Feb 2015, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Face the Challenge of Round 3 Business School Applications |
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This post originally appeared on Stacy’s “Strictly Business” MBA Blog on U.S.News.com Round three is the most competitive one at most business schools, since the vast majority of acceptances happen in the first two rounds. If you weren’t able to apply earlier because you were busy studying for the GMAT, dealing with a family crisis or completing an all-consuming work project, you’ve got to bring your A-game if you hope to land a seat at the end of the admissions cycle. With fewer slots available, fine-tune your focus on schools where you’ll be a compelling candidate. A strong, well-thought-out application is critical. Make sure your academic profile aligns with the school’s median GMAT and average GPA and that you add something special to the class that the admissions committee didn’t see earlier in the season. Special means unusual work experience, substantial community service, a diverse background, compelling leadership examples, unique or uncommon interests outside of business or entrepreneurial success of some sort. “We actually enjoy round three,” Dee Leopold, managing director of MBA admissions and financial aid at Harvard Business School, recently told The Wall Street Journal. “It takes a certain amount of confidence to apply then. Those applicants march to their own drum, and we would never want to miss them.” You should definitely use the required or optional MBA admission essays to explain to the admissions committee your reasons for waiting until the third – or final – round to apply. You don’t want anyone to jump to the conclusion that you are using round three as a last-ditch effort to get into business school in the fall after receiving rejections from other schools in earlier rounds. [Read more about the best round to submit your business school application.] Applicants who graduated from college more than five years ago should also give serious consideration to applying in round three. While every situation is different, time is of the essence, especially at programs that tend to focus on younger applicants. Plus, it’s unlikely your candidacy will improve significantly over the next eight months after you’ve already been in the workforce for so long. If this is your situation and all you need to do is put the finishing touches on your materials, go for round three. It’s worth noting that being admitted to some schools is not as challenging in round three as others. Elite European business school INSEAD has four rounds, and provides options for a January start date in addition to the traditional September intake. This allows later applicants who don’t mind waiting to start school to have a stronger chance at admission. The University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School has five rounds, and Columbia Business School also offers a January intake for candidates who don’t need an internship between the first and second year. [Get advice on what matters most in MBA admissions.] Finally, it’s important to have a Plan B in case things don’t go your way. You can always apply to a set of schools in round three knowing there is a good chance you will need to reapply to them and add in some new ones next season. Though the initial rejection may sting, you’ll be in a great position for round one in the fall with your essays, recommendation letters and transcripts already in hand. Or, you may find that the soul searching required for an MBA application sets you on a different path altogether. Perhaps you will decide to make a career switch now and pursue higher education later. Round three is certainly a gamble, but you just might be that missing element the admissions committee is looking for to spice up the mix. |
24 Feb 2015, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: HBS Dominates in B-School ‘Oscars’ |
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Harvard Business School took home a whopping six awards and experienced its best showing ever at the 2015 annual Case Centre Awards, a celebration of excellence in case writing and teaching from across the globe that are now considered the case method community’s annual ‘Oscars.’ Awards for cases are presented for nine management categories plus an Overall Winner Award. Each year, an award is made to recognize an individual who has made an Outstanding Contribution to the Case Method. David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim of Harvard Business School authored the Overall winning case, Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010. “The ‘Cola Wars’ have been a classic competitive dynamic and industry analysis case for three decades,” says Yoffie, who is the Max and Doris Starr Professor of International Business Administration at HBS. “It is an industry that is easy to understand, but complicated to analyse, which always works well in the classroom. Understanding why this industry has been so profitable for so long makes it stand out,” Yoffie explains. Debapratim Purkayastha, associate dean at ICFAI Business School in Hyderabad, India, won the Outstanding Contribution to the Case Method award for his innovative and forward-looking commitment to transform case teaching and writing. “To students, I would like to say that the process of case learning is more important than the results. It’s not just about getting a good grade; it’s about developing the skills you will need in your future career,” says Debapratim. Case-based sessions are great fun when you are well prepared; and a big drag when you are not. Prepare the cases, participate wholeheartedly in the classroom keeping an open mind, and then spend some time for introspection after the class; you will be surprised by the results, Debapratim advises. A new award debuted in 2015 for Outstanding Case Teacher, which recognizes an excellent practitioner in the case classroom. This award went to Casey Lichtendahl, associate professor at University of Virginia Darden School of Business. He teaches students how to apply advanced statistical and machine learning techniques to key business problems while immersing them in the world of practical data science. Two case writing competitions are held each year to find an outstanding first-time case writer, and to identify the best new case written on a ‘hot topic.’ Laurel C. Austin, associate professor at Copenhagen Business School, won the Outstanding New Case Writer competition with the case, UCSD: A Cancer Cluster in the Literature Building? Vlerick Business School professors Steve Muylle and Stijn Viaene won the best ‘hot topic’ case with Hello bank! The Birth of a Mobile Bank. The Case Centre is a non-profit organization that advances the case method worldwide, sharing knowledge, wisdom and experience to inspire and transform business education across the globe. The Case Centre Awards are in their 25th year and have been awarded on a global basis since 2011. |
24 Feb 2015, 12:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Michigan Ross to Release Early Deny Decisions |
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The University of Michigan Ross School of Business continues to streamline and improve the transparency of MBA admissions by piloting a new process that will release unsuccessful applicants from Rounds 1 and 2 before the official Round 2 notification date on March 13th to give them more time to make other plans for the fall. Admissions Director Soojin Kwon posted this diagram on her blog to help illustrate the change:  credit: University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business “This is not to say that all applicants who weren’t invited to interview will be denied early,” Kwon clarifies. “If you weren’t invited to interview and you don’t receive an early release notification, you will be notified on the regular notification date.” The admissions committee plans to send out the early deny notifications by the end of this week (February 27). You may also be interested in: Michigan Ross Director on Interviewing, Team Exercise |
25 Feb 2015, 08:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Mind Your Manners |
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Our clients often ask us if they should write thank-you notes to their interviewers. While handwritten messages of appreciation will always be a classy move—and we certainly encourage applicants to write such notes if they’re so inclined—an email message is just as acceptable in this day and age. The most important thing is to ensure you have your interviewer’s contact information. This is especially critical if your discussion is taking place on campus and you won’t know who your interviewer is going to be until you arrive. Don’t forget to ask for that person’s business card when you’re wrapping up! If you’re interviewing with a local alum, then you’ll have already been supplied with their email address. As for the content of the message, you shouldn’t feel the need to go on and on. There are only two must-includes: 1) thank the interviewer for their time and 2) reiterate your interest in the program. If you can throw in a sentence or two that references something you talked about, all the better. But a thank-you note is not the place to try and sell yourself any further. The point is to show that you’re excited about and thankful for the opportunity to be considered for a spot in Program X. Some AdComs need to make accept and denial decisions very quickly, so you shouldn’t let more than 24 hours go by before you send your message. If you interviewed in the morning, send it before the business day is over. If your talk was in the late afternoon or evening, get your e-mail out first thing in the morning. If you have to type out a quick message from your phone because you’ll be traveling back home after the interview, please don’t forget to read things over carefully to ensure spellcheck or autocorrect didn’t do you wrong. You don’t want the last impression you leave to be a negative one! Have MBA hopefuls been accepted to their dream programs without writing any sort of thank-you note? Yes, of course. But showing that you have manners and are aware of the proper etiquette is never a bad move—it’s just the right thing to do. Remember:  Do you want to stay on top of the application process with timely tips like these? Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter and you’ll receive our expert advice straight in your mailbox before it appears on the blog, plus special offers, promotions, discounts, invitations to events, and more. |
26 Feb 2015, 13:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Survey Says American MBA Programs Prepare Students Better Than Anywhere Else |
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MBA programs in the United States feel overwhelmingly confident that their graduates are prepared for today’s workforce—and that they are better prepared than their European and Asian counterparts. According to a Kaplan Test Prep survey of over 200 top business schools across the United States, a whopping 95% think American business schools better prepare their students than European business schools do, and 92% said the same about business schools in Asia, despite their growing global prominence. Given the number of contrary news reports over the past year, it is perhaps surprising that 95% of surveyed business schools say that “today’s MBA graduates in the U.S. are properly prepared for the changing employment landscape.” This evaluation comes at a time when many business leaders are questioning whether U.S. colleges and universities are preparing students with the skills needed in today’s workforce. A Gallup study last year shows that a third of business leaders disagree with the statement that “higher education institutions in this country are graduating students with the skills and competencies that my business needs.” Recognizing the skills gap, many business leaders are working with business schools to make sure the MBA degree stays relevant, and some business schools are significantly revamping their curricula to give students the skill sets needed to excel in an increasingly tech-focused economy. In what may become a trend among business schools that are changing their curricula, Kaplan’s survey finds that 26% currently offer a course to teach students how to code; 64% don’t and the remaining were unsure. Of the 64% that said they’d didn’t offer a coding class, just 7% said they may develop one. “American business schools continue to produce many of the world’s top leaders in a host of industries, from finance to technology to healthcare, but despite the confidence in their ability to meet workforce needs, many business schools understand they must continue to evolve so that their graduates have the know-how needed to thrive in a competitive, increasingly technology-driven global economy,” said Brian Carlidge, Executive Director of pre-graduate and pre-business programs, Kaplan Test Prep. “We think MBA programs may increasingly offer their students the opportunity to take courses in both coding and data science in the years to come to give them basic knowledge in two areas that businesses are increasingly taking an interest in,” Carlidge added. For the Kaplan survey, admissions officers from 204 business schools from across the United States – including 11 of the top 30 MBA programs, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report – were polled by telephone between August and September 2014. |
27 Feb 2015, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Dean Lyons on 5 Years of Haas Defining Principles |
 When the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business introduced its new curriculum five years ago, the emphasis would be on creating innovative leaders. Haas students have a distinct profile in the marketplace: MBAs who have tried unusual things, taken risks, and explored new frontiers. The school published a Q & A this week with Dean Rich Lyons where he reflects on the fifth anniversary of introducing the Haas Defining Principles, an initiative that has touched all aspects of Haas: admissions, curriculum, staff hiring and reviews, alumni relations, and day-to-day operations. Here is an excerpt from that interview that current Berkeley MBA applicants may find interesting, as it conveys how Haas strives to differentiate itself while creating ‘path-bending leaders': Q: Haas now has five years worth of graduates who grew up with the Defining Principles. How are you seeing this reflect back on the school? A: I see it all the time. Here’s an example: we hand out our “culture cards” that list the Defining Principles. When I go to see a donor or alum I always ask, “Do you know about the culture work we’ve been doing?” Many, many of them say, “I’ve got the culture card on my desk.” Or they have it in their wallet or purse. It’s not just that they’re aware of it—they are using it, and they have an appetite to be guided by it. They’re proud of it. Another example: I was at lunch recently with some venture capitalists who don’t know the school very well, and I handed a culture card to them. They said, “This describes the kind of people we like to fund.” Questioning the status quo is the first principle on the list, and most entrepreneurs are very good at that. But these VCs also know that if you can’t build a team as an entrepreneur, you won’t be successful. Confidence Without Attitude—they said that’s exactly what they’d like to see more need of. Students Always and Beyond Yourself fit in as well. Check out the complete interview to learn the dean’s thoughts on how the school has changed since 2010, what other MBA programs should focus on if they too are interested in cultural change, and what shifts he envisions for the campus in the years to come. You may also be interested in: 3 Ways Berkeley-Haas Develops Innovative Leaders |
02 Mar 2015, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: New Social Impact Fund at UNC Kenan-Flagler |
 Students at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School are going to invest real money using socially responsible principles through a new $250,00o public equity fund managed by both MBAs and undergrads. UNC Kenan-Flagler has a variety of student-run funds that collectively manage more than $12 million. Each fund has a distinct investment strategy, but the goal for all of them is to achieve superior returns while providing students with a unique educational experience. Students have access to all aspects of the fund management and investment analysis, and those experiences and the skills they develop prepare them for careers in investing. Working with the Applied Investment Management’s (AIM) Global Perspectives Fund, a $2.5 million hedge fund, a select group of students will manage the new funds using socially responsible investment (SRI) principles. “This social-impact fund is a wonderful intersection of areas for which UNC Kenan-Flagler has a long track record of excellence: investment management, sustainability and real-life learning,” says Carol Hee, director of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at UNC Kenan-Flagler, in a recent media statement. “Our students will be able to test their hypotheses about what makes one company better than another using the triple bottom line as the metric.” “Even students who wouldn’t describe themselves as ‘interested in sustainability’ will benefit from exposure to this new investment strategy,” says Chip Snively, a finance professor at UNC Kenan-Flagler. “After participating in the AIM program, our graduates are well equipped to add value to the organizations that hire them.” Details on investment policy, fund operational procedures and social impact goals for the fund will be established by students with an expected launch during the 2015-16 academic year. You may also be interested in: UNC Kenan-Flagler’s History of Sustainable Enterprise |
03 Mar 2015, 12:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Harvard Appoints New iLab Director |
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The Harvard innovation lab will soon have a new managing director with the appointment of Jodi Goldstein, who officially assumes her duties in June following the departure of current Managing Director Gordon Jones, the school announced last week. The i-lab is a university-wide facility that fosters team-based and entrepreneurial activities, and provides a forum for interactions among students, faculty, alumni, and the surrounding community.  Photo credit: Harvard University Goldstein has been a key member of the i-lab management team since its launch in 2011, and last year she spearheaded the Launch Lab, a business incubator for Harvard alumni that is already demonstrating great potential as a solutions-centered community built on interdisciplinary collaboration. “We all can be proud of the i-lab’s extraordinary success, beyond what any of us might have imagined when it opened its doors just over four years ago” says Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria, who is the director of the i-lab Advisory Board. “In this next stage of its development, there is no better choice than Jodi to serve as its leader.” Goldstein holds a B.S. from the University of Vermont and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In addition to being a founder, she has held a variety of roles at General Electric, TA Associates, and multiple startups ranging from product, market, and business development to strategic consulting. She is widely known in the Boston startup ecosystem, having been an entrepreneur and investor in the region for 20 years. |
04 Mar 2015, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Don’t Sabotage Your MBA Efforts |
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In high school or college—or maybe even recently on an important project at work—you might have been able to wait until the last minute to do something and still come out looking like a champ. But we can assure you that won’t be the case for anything having to do with your MBA application efforts. Procrastinating is a sure-fire way to weaken your materials. Early in any candidate’s MBA journey comes preparation for the GMAT or GRE. If you believe you can wing this critical piece of the process, think again. Studying for these tests usually requires months of effort—as well as leaving enough time for a “do-over” if your first attempt doesn’t go so well. Same thing applies for essays or data forms—you can’t just throw these things together as the clock ticks down. They require a lot of upfront thought and several rounds of edits in order to ensure your unique voice is coming through. Preparing for an interview is similar: if you don’t practice at all until the night before, you’re bound to realize you aren’t quite as smooth as you hoped you’d be. Then you’re either going to stay up late to work on your responses OR not be able to sleep because you’ll be so worried about your upcoming performance. Neither helps put you in the best frame-of-mind when it’s go time. And if you don’t do thorough research on two or more programs you’ve been accepted to and make your final decision on a whim or gut feeling . . . well, that could be a multi-thousand-dollar mistake. Enough said! So do yourself a favor and ensure you have ample time to complete each part of the MBA application process. Daily progress—no matter how minimal—is much better than attempting to do everything right before the deadlines hit. Think of it this way:  On that note, there’s no time like the present to register for the North American Access MBA Tour: NYC – March 6; Toronto – March 8; Montreal – March 10; Vancouver – March 13. Meet one-on-one with top-ranked North American and European MBA program representatives (from UVic, SFU, Ivey, IESE, Hult, IE, Manchester, EDHEC, Washington University and more), career counselors and GMAT instructors. Over $1 million in scholarships are offered as well. Register here for free today! *** Do you want to stay on top of the application process with timely tips like these? Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter and you’ll receive our expert advice straight in your mailbox before it appears on the blog, plus special offers, promotions, discounts, invitations to events, and more. |
04 Mar 2015, 12:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Applying to Business School in Round Three |
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Round three is far and away the most difficult round for MBA applicants. You’re competing against stellar candidates from the previous two rounds, and there are relatively few spots available at the end of the application cycle. I recently covered the challenges of round three business school applications in my U.S. News MBA blog, and those comments were picked up in a Poets & Quants article on the same subject. If you’re considering submitting an application in the coming weeks, take a look at these two posts for my thoughts on when Round 3 makes sense…and when it doesn’t. You may also be interested in: Evaluate in Which Round to Submit Your MBA Application |
05 Mar 2015, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: The Michigan Ross ‘Admissions Formula’ |
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The admissions team at Michigan Ross School of Business is about a week away from making their admit calls to Round 2 applicants in the U.S. and internationally, and all decisions will be posted by Friday, March 13th. If there’s one question every applicant wishes he or she could know the answer to, it’s “What are my chances of admission?” With that in mind, MBA Admissions Director Soojin Kwon liststhe qualities they are looking for in applicants, and has posted a video explaining the complicated formula that is used to make those tough decisions at Michigan Ross. As you’ll discover in the video, there are some factors you control, some factors controlled by the admissions team, and yet other factors no one can control or predict since they fluctuate each year according to the current applicant pool. If you’re on the fence about applying in the final round, you might feel better knowing Michigan Ross saves space in the class for Round 3. “One of the things we see year after year is that we get some really strong candidates in Round 3,” Kwon writes, noting, “We’ve found it to be candidates who may have decided later in the game that they want to pursue an MBA.” When you decided is less important than why you want to and how you’ll contribute the Ross community, the director explains. So if you’re submitting your application on March 23rd, be sure to answer those questions fully and use the optional essay space if you need to in order to explain your reason for applying later in the cycle. Best of luck to those awaiting a decision on your application next week! You may also be interested in: Improving Your MBA Candidacy |
06 Mar 2015, 12:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: W. P. Carey Foundation Endows JD/MBA Program at UPenn |
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In recognition of a $10 million endowment from the W. P. Carey Foundation, the JD/MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania will be renamed the Francis J. & Wm. Polk Carey JD/MBA Program. Law and business are more interconnected than ever, and business lawyers need to understand corporate finance, management, marketing, and real estate to best serve their clients. In addition, businesses are turning to lawyers to serve in business roles such as CEO. “Doing business requires an increasingly diverse set of skills,” says Geoffrey Garrett, Dean, Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise, and Professor of Management at the Wharton School. “Through their experience at Wharton and Penn Law, our JD/MBA students develop the critical thinking, reasoning, and leadership abilities necessary to navigate our global economy and excel in their careers.” Established in 2009, the three-year JD/MBA program was the first elite three-year program in the country. Through an integrated, accelerated course of study, students earn both JD and MBA degrees in three years, rather than the five years it would typically take to earn each degree separately. Students spend their first year in the Law School and the following summer in Law and Wharton courses designed specifically for the JD/MBA. The second and third years combine Law and Wharton courses, along with a JD/MBA capstone course. “Both institutions were critical to the career success of Frank and Bill Carey and they believed so strongly in the interconnected nature of business and legal education,” Jay Carey said on behalf of the W.P. Carey Foundation. “My father and uncle also believed in supporting excellence, and we are grateful to support Penn Law and Wharton given their historic preeminence and continued success.” |
09 Mar 2015, 06:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Study Abroad: Key to Competing in the International Economy |
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How important are travel and education experiences abroad to achieving success in the global economy? That’s almost a trick question, since the answer is a resounding v-e-r-y. The ability to work well internationally with people and cultures other than your own has never been more critical than it is today, and one of the best stepping stones to cross-cultural competence is studying abroad. Wharton Magazine has published a fascinating article highlighting the recent White House Summit on Study Abroad and Global Citizenship. During that event, First Lady Michelle Obama said studying abroad is “quickly becoming the key to success in our global economy. Getting ahead in today’s workplace isn’t [just] about getting good grades … but about having real experience with the world beyond your borders. Study abroad is about shaping the future of your country and of the world we all share.” Several travel bloggers and digital media influencers were invited to the event. One such guest, the publisher of WanderingEducators.com Jessie Voigts, says, “Study abroad and gaining international experience are critical to citizens of the world today. In order to compete in the international economy, we need to have an educated, well-traveled, resilient population.” We’ve covered the subject of studying abroad in the past, and of particular interest were the research findings of Kellogg School of Management Professor Adam Galinsky, who suggested that living abroad boosts creativity. Together with the study’s lead author William Maddux, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD, they conducted five studies to test the idea that living abroad and creativity are linked. The results showed that the longer students had spent living abroad, the more likely they were to come up with more creative solutions to problems. “Knowing that experiences abroad are critical for creative output makes study abroad programs and job assignments in other countries that much more important, especially for people and companies that put a premium on creativity and innovation to stay competitive,” Maddux wrote. Take a look at Lisa Ellen Niver‘s piece, “Make Study Abroad an Education Imperative,” for further thoughts on how international education experiences will help Americans keep pace with other countries in global marketplace. You may also be interested in: Living Abroad Boosts Creativity, Say INSEAD & Kellogg Profs |
10 Mar 2015, 12:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Stanford GSB Tops Latest US News B-School Ranking |
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Stanford Graduate School of Business no longer has to share the limelight at the top of U.S. News & World Report’s latest ranking of Best Business Schools for 2016. The three-way tie last year between Stanford, Harvard Business School and University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has been broken, with those schools occupying second and third place, respectively. Chicago Booth School of Business ranks No. 4, MIT Sloan School of Management takes fifth place, and Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management ranks No. 6. The top ten is rounded out by UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, Columbia Business School, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and, coming in at No. 10, UVA Darden School of Business. The schools making up the top ten remain largely unchanged from last year. NYU Stern School of Business had occupied 10th place in the 2015 ranking, and Darden was at No. 12. NYU Stern is now tied in the No. 11 spot with Michigan Ross School of Business. #11. Michigan Ross School of Business #13. (tie) Duke Fuqua School of Business #13. (tie) Yale School of Management #15. UCLA Anderson School of Management #16. Cornell’s Johnson School of Management #17. UT McCombs School of Business #18. UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School #19. Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis #20. CMU Tepper School of Business The U.S. News rankings are based on a weighted average of several indicators, including overall program quality, peer assessments, recruiter assessments, placement success, starting salary and bonus, average GMAT/GRE score, undergraduate GPA and more. To compile this year’s rankings, all 464 master’s programs accredited by AACSB International were surveyed in fall 2014 and early 2015. A total of 385 responded, of which 126 provided enough of the data needed to calculate the full-time MBA rankings. You may also be interested in: The Truth Behind 3 Common MBA Rankings Myths Separate GMAT Rankings for U.S. and Asian Applicants |
11 Mar 2015, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Decision Dilemma: Should You Go to the Next-Best School? |
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Did you give it your all this application season and end up with mixed results? By mixed results we mean that you were dinged by the most competitive schools, but still got in to one or more other quality programs. If that’s the case and you’re excited about heading to campus this fall, read no further. But continue on if a nagging voice in the back of your head keeps asking, “What if…?” Ah, the quintessential “bird in hand” dilemma: do you count your lucky stars that you have the option to earn an MBA from a school you were interested in enough to apply to in the first place? Or do you forego your golden ticket and give it another shot next year, hoping to land a spot at your dream school? While the saying goes “A bird in hand is better than two in the bush,” we understand that in real life it isn’t always easy to accept an outcome you’re not 100% enthusiastic about. And there is no one-size-fits-all answer here, of course. But we can suggest this first step for your decision-making process: think long and hard (and objectively as possible) about how comfortable you are with risk. How have you reacted in the past when you took a big chance on something and it didn’t pan out? How upset or regretful do you become when you realize an opportunity you turned down might have actually been the right choice? Asking a trusted friend or family member for their take might be helpful as well. We’d also recommend giving yourself as much time as possible to make your final decision. It may just be that once the initial sting of any rejections wears off, you’ll realize that you’re in a very enviable position. Remember:  *** Do you want to stay on top of the application process with timely tips like these? Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter and you’ll receive our expert advice straight in your mailbox before it appears on the blog, plus special offers, promotions, discounts, invitations to events, and more. |
11 Mar 2015, 11:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Wharton to Offer World’s Largest Student-Run Impact Investing Fund |
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This week, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced a new partnership to provide students with world-class experiential training in impact investment through an online crowdfunding platform, and to greatly expand the student-run Wharton Social Venture Fund (WSVF), a flagship program operated under the Wharton Social Impact Initiative. Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII), the School’s hub for social impact activities, research, and opportunities, will lead the collaboration with OurCrowd, an equity-based online crowdfunding platform, and investment firm Locust Walk Impact Partners. This development makes Wharton’s offering the largest and most active student-run impact investing fund in the world. In this unique model, WSII trains and supervises MBA and select Wharton undergraduates who staff the Wharton Social Venture Fund. These students then work with Locust Walk Impact Partners to identify genuine investment opportunities; capital for these investments will come through a dedicated social impact channel on the OurCrowd crowd-funding platform. “We are delighted that our students are getting real-life, experiential education in impact investing,” says WSII Senior Director Jacob Gray, who oversees the Wharton Social Venture Fund. “It was important for WSII to maintain our focus squarely on the educational opportunity for students. This way Locust Walk can focus on doing great deals, OurCrowd brings a platform for investors, and Wharton brings the best students in the world.” Founded in 2007, the WSVF portfolio has included strategy and co-investment projects, with an approach focused on companies in education, energy, health and wellness, food and nutrition, environmental sustainability, and financial inclusion. The group also annually competes in the MBA Impact Investing Network & Training Program (MIINT) and has won the competition two of the last three years. As the largest and most active equity-funding crowd platform, OurCrowd is disrupting and democratizing the traditional Angel and Venture Capital funding models. “Crowdfunding is a perfect way to raise funds for impact investing,” says OurCrowd CEO and Founder, Jonathan Medved. “We have already invested in companies that are changing the world in diverse areas such as disabilities, gun safety, food security, malaria diagnostics, tsunami warning, prescription drug assurance, and more. By working together with Locust Walk and the Wharton Social Venture Fund, we will dramatically expand the impact investing ecosystem.” Locust Walk Impact Partners is led by Rob Fioretti, who received both his undergraduate and MBA degree from Wharton. The investment firm is staffed entirely by MBAs trained by the Wharton Social Venture Fund. “Combining the talents of some of the best and brightest business minds in the world with the leading crowdfunding site in the world is a natural fit,” says Fioretti, “And we are thrilled that we will be able to offer individuals the opportunity to invest and participate in the growth of these select companies.” The collaboration will take effect immediately. The first deals are expected to launch on the Our Crowd platform in Q2 2015. |
12 Mar 2015, 12:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Ask B-School Alumni These 4 Questions |
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One of the most valuable aspects of attending a top-ranked MBA program is the amazing network you cultivate during those two years. US News has a great article with tips for both applicants and current business school students on connecting with alumni to learn the best ways to get through the program and launch your career. The article’s author, Delece Smith-Barrow, suggests reaching out to alumni through LinkedIn or a school’s career services office with four specific questions: What classes did you find the most helpful? How did you balance your time? What were some of the challenges of the program? How much are you in touch with your alumni network? Alumni can usually provide the most honest opinion on which courses will translate into future job opportunities, and point out which social opportunities allow you to really connect with other students outside of the classroom to help build that network foundation. According to the recent business school alumni survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council, 59% of alumni belong to their business school’s alumni association and tend to rate their level of career success higher than those who are not members. Take a look at Smith-Barrow’s piece and the comments from admissions officers within to find out how to keep perspective while on campus and make the most of the experience from both the academic and social standpoint. You may also be interested in: Economist Ranks B-Schools’ Alumni MIT Sloan Launches Alumni-Student Mentoring Program |
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