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12 Dec 2013, 10:30
12 Dec 2013, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: George Geis, UCLA Anderson School of Management |
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose an MBA program to attend, but the educational experience itself is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we profile George Geis at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. George T. Geis (“Entrepreneurship and Venture Initiation”) has been voted Outstanding Teacher of the Year four times while at Anderson and currently serves as faculty director of the school’s Executive Mergers and Acquisitions Program. Geis is also the editor of a Web site that provides analysis of mergers and acquisitions deals in technology, media and communications (www.trivergence.com) and writes a mergers and acquisitions blog (https://maprofessor.blogspot.com). One recent alumnus described him to mbaMission as an experienced investor and a funny and credible guy. He added that he had very much enjoyed the guest speakers Geis brought to class, as well as the strategic analysis of the board game industry, covered in a case discussion about the game Trivial Pursuit. In 2012, Geis received a teaching excellence award in the full-time MBA program, as voted on by second years. For more information about the UCLA Anderson School of Management and 15 other top-ranked MBA schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
19 Jun 2017, 15:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MIT Sloan Announces 2017-2018 Application Deadlines |
This week, the MIT Sloan School of Management released its 2017-2018 MBA application deadlines. For more information, visit mitsloanadmissions.com. For a complete list of 2017-2018 business school deadlines, be sure to check ourApplication Deadlines page. We will be updating our list as business schools release them. Do you plan to apply to MIT Sloan this fall? Stay tuned to the mbaMission blog for our analysis of the 2017-2018 MIT Sloan essay questions when they are released, and be sure be sure to download our free Insider’s Guide to the MIT Sloan School of Management. |
30 Jan 2019, 10:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: mbaMission Offers Free In-Person Consultations in Austin, Boston, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco! |
Are you a business school applicant in need of some guidance from an admissions advisor? If so, then we want to meet you for a free in-person consultation! In the coming weeks, mbaMission will be hosting FREE in-person, one-on-one consultations* in the following cities:
We look forward to getting to know some of this season’s best and brightest business school applicants! *This offer is valid only for those applicants who have not already had an mbaMission free 30-minute consultation. Please note that all mbaMission consultant appointments are booked in Eastern Time. After booking, if you would like to confirm the local time of your appointment, please contact denise@mbamission.com. |
26 Dec 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Have No Managerial Experience |
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Formal managerial experience is not a prerequisite for admission to a top MBA program—a truth some applicants may find ironic. Keep in mind that an MBA education is for individuals who aspire to become managers and is not exclusive to those who already are managers. If you are fretting about the fact that you have not had any subordinates to date and believe that having overseen a staff is a prerequisite to gaining admission to a top program, you are adhering to a myth and can stop worrying. Instead, think about the ways you have excelled in your position and made the most of the leadership opportunities before you. For example, consider the numerous investment banking analysts who apply to MBA programs each year. While analysts are at the bottom of the banks’ organizational charts and therefore do not have staffs to manage, they still have demanding jobs and must perform exceptionally well each day to succeed. Most analysts can tell the story of thriving in an ultracompetitive environment and thus reveal their professional excellence via their resumes, essays, and recommendations. And even if most analysts do not have staffs of their own, ample opportunities still exist for senior analysts to train and mentor newer analysts. So, even without a title and a staff, investment banking analysts can find ways to demonstrate their leadership and de facto management skills. And we imagine that with sufficient reflection and brainstorming, you can, too. |
17 Apr 2024, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Five Reasons to Write an MBA Optional Essay |
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As you are working on your MBA applications, you will inevitably come across an opportunity to write an optional essay. Virtually every application has one. But do you need to write an optional essay? What exactly is it for? And who should use it? Most business schools offer the optional essay as a space where you can proactively address weaknesses in your profile or preemptively answer any questions you feel an admissions committee reader might have after they review the other parts of your application. Here is what a sample optional essay prompt looks like: If needed, use this section to briefly describe any extenuating circumstances, unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, etc. or if you wish to provide further information or additional context around your application to the admissions committee, please upload a brief explanation of any areas of concern in your academic history or personal history. Usually, you can tell from the wording of these prompts that the admissions committee does not expect every applicant to use the space. For example, this prompt begins by specifying “if needed.” You should really only take advantage of the optional essay or the “additional information” text box if you feel you have something that is critical to explain or address. We have identified five scenarios in which you should definitely consider writing an optional essay. These are not the only reasons you might submit such an essay, but if any of these resonate with you, we strongly urge you to take this opportunity to clarify your circumstances for the admissions committee. Reason 1: Poor academic performance One of the topics we see MBA applicants address in the optional essay most frequently is a weakness in their past academic performance. If you feel that your academic record is not as strong as it should be for your target program, then proactively discussing this potential concern or weakness in the optional space can be beneficial. For example, you might have a low overall GPA, or your grades dipped substantially during a particular semester, or you have a few specific failing grades, an academic probation, a number of dropped or incomplete classes, a change of major in the middle of your degree, or some other aberration on your transcript. You might be wondering why you would draw the admissions committee’s attention to your academic weakness this way. Be aware that the committee is going to see and notice everything in your profile, and they will note any shortcomings on your transcript whether you mention them or not. The schools always look closely at applicants’ academic records, because they want to know that the candidates will be able to successfully manage the MBA coursework. If your academic background includes anything that might call your abilities into question, you want to take control of that narrative and reassure the admissions committee, rather than leaving them to guess or wonder. You want to offer the necessary information that will enable them to either view your challenges in the most positive light possible or understand how you have overcome them. Simply put, you cannot hide your weaknesses. So you should use the optional space to explain anything problematic from your past and/or to reassure the admissions committee about your future academic potential. So, how should you address these issues? First, explain and acknowledge the weakness in a straightforward manner. Provide any additional context, as needed, and of course, be honest. If you had a personal situation that negatively affected your academic performance, such as an illness, a family problem, or financial challenges that required you to work a full-time job while you were studying—whatever the issue might have been—spell out the situation clearly yet briefly. Second, take responsibility for any factors over which you had control but perhaps did not manage in an ideal manner—for example, you might have struggled in your transition to college life or engaged in behavior you are not proud of. Third, if applicable, make the case for how you have grown and changed since that time and why you are prepared for the academic challenge of business school now. Reason 2: Gaps in your resume or transcript Admissions committees will pick up on any notable gaps on your resume or academic transcript. Perhaps you were laid off or fired from one of your prior roles. Or perhaps you had a personal health or family issue you were dealing with during that time off. The admissions reader will not know what your situation was unless you share it with them. Many MBA applications specifically ask whether you have any gaps of a certain length, typically, three months or more. If you feel you can offer a sufficient explanation in the space provided in the application, you probably do not need to use the optional essay space, but if you have a gap that could use some clarification, and the application does not offer a dedicated space in which to do so, you can submit an optional essay that addresses the issue. Reason 3: Disciplinary or criminal issue Again, you will not be able to hide a problematic issue from the admissions committee. Even if a certain matter is not apparent anywhere in your application, if you are offered admission to a school, they will conduct a background check, and this could uncover anything you might have hoped to keep quiet. Rather than letting the admissions committee wonder about the details of a situation—or worse, make up their own theories—the best thing you can do is offer clarification yourself. Use the optional essay to help them fully understand what you dealt with, what you learned from the incident, and, most importantly, how you have changed since that time. Explain the occurrence succinctly. Take responsibility for your actions, and demonstrate your subsequent growth. We have seen numerous clients overcome these kinds of situations and get accepted to business school—including an applicant who had been charged with drunk driving and got into the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Reason 4: Lower than average test scores Another common weakness that applicants address in the optional space is a lower than average test score that they do not feel is indicative of their potential academic performance in business school. However, be aware that simply acknowledging your lower test score in the optional space does not mean that the admissions committee will overlook it or give you a pass. If your score is lower than the program’s average, it will still be a weakness in your application that you will need to mitigate in some way. That said, if you feel that your score does not reflect your true academic ability, you can use the optional essay to highlight other evidence of your quantitative, analytical, data interpretation, verbal, and/or communication skills. Schools will be particularly interested to see that you have demonstrated quantitative ability somewhere in your past, given that MBA programs are inherently quantitative. If you have a low Quant score on your GMAT or GRE, for example, the admissions committee will definitely want to see your quant skills evidenced elsewhere. Maybe in your professional life, you regularly perform quantitative analysis, create financial models, or do extensive analytical problem-solving. You can point this out in the optional space. Also, spotlight any certifications you have earned that are quantitative in nature, such as the CFA Charter or the CPA; these can serve as additional evidence of your ability to handle the rigors of business school. Reason 5: Choice of recommender Applicants also commonly use the optional essay to explain why their current supervisor is not providing a recommendation for them, especially if the school’s application instructions note that a letter from one’s supervisor is preferred. You would therefore need to explain why you did not choose this individual as your recommender. This is actually relatively common. For example, you might not want to disclose yet that you plan to go to business school, because doing so could negatively affect your chances for a promotion or bonus. Or perhaps you have not worked under the supervisor for very long, so they would not be able to speak to your abilities and past achievements. Simply explain the situation briefly and clearly. Be aware that many applications actually include a short-answer question that specifically asks you to comment if you have not asked your supervisor to recommend you. So, before you move forward with writing an essay about the situation, review your target school’s application thoroughly to see whether it includes such a question. If so, go ahead and use that space instead. Optional essay tips When providing an explanation in an optional essay or additional information text box, keep your submission brief, take responsibility for your actions (if needed), and demonstrate growth, when applicable. Do not waste an admissions reader’s time with long-winded storytelling. And remember that this is optional. Not submitting an optional essay or leaving an additional information box blank will not be detrimental to your candidacy if you have nothing in your profile that warrants clarification. So unless you indeed have something problematic to address, do not use the space at all. If you are not sure whether your specific situation merits an optional essay or any other form of additional explanation, feel free to reach out to our experienced MBA admissions consultants for advice. We offer complimentary 30-minute consultation calls across many time zones, and we would be happy to discuss your personal situation and ideal plan of attack. Also, download a copy of our free Optional Essays Guidefor even more tips and examples. |
12 Dec 2013, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: November 2013 Social Currency Ranking |
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Rankings come in all shapes and sizes, but can any ranking truly capture social cachet? For a different perspective on the value of an MBA, we turn to the New York Times society pages, where the editors select and profile promising couples. Each month, we dedicate one B-School Chart of the Week to tallying how alumni from top-ranked business schools are advancing their social currency ranking. Colder weather and holiday travel seem to have brought about a lull in New York Times wedding announcements for November. Still, out of the 124 total announcements last month, 19 included a business school mention. Several weddings featured MBA students specifically. For example, Nicholas Tangney, who is a managing director for Lorentzen & Stemoco and is currently studying for his MBA at NYU, was married to Samantha Lee, a vice president and account manager for consumer products clients at DeVries Global. Similarly, Tracy Messel, a student at HBS, married Steven Melzer, the director of finance and operations strategy at Expeditionary Learning. Morgan Fauth, a first year at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business who married research analyst Kevin Coleman, was also featured among the wedding announcements. Notably, Dartmouth Tuck, which has as-yet kept a rather low profile in the society pages, gained two mentions last month, raising its year-to-date total from five to seven: the marriage of alumnus and strategy consultant Andrew Brown to Caroline Hockmeyer, and the marriage of alumna and merchandise planning manager Anne Snodgrass to Wharton MBA Zachary Dennett. Another notable November announcement, though not technically an MBA wedding, was that of Ira Millstein, an adjunct professor and co-chairman of the Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Business School, to former stock trader Susan Frame. Millstein is also a senior partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and the former chairman of both the Central Park Conservancy and the American Red Cross of Greater New York. With a total of approximately 1,284 wedding announcements since January, our year-to-date total of MBA mentions hits 260 this month. 
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12 Dec 2013, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: The Indian School of Business Student Life Council |
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When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also making a commitment to a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school. The Student Life Council is the catalyst for all social activity planning at the Indian School of Business (ISB), and the council’s 2010–2011 director told mbaMission, “The campus has a very vibrant nightlife.” The council’s job is to ensure that ample social opportunities are available for students and their significant others, and one student with whom we spoke claimed that at least one major party is held each week in the “08 Lounge,” allowing students to get together, relax and socialize. The Student Life Council also publishes the school’s annual yearbook and manages student participation in competitions between business schools, including those of the Toastmasters Club—many of which, claimed one student we interviewed, ISB students have won. The Student Life Council also organizes opportunities for students to explore the city of Hyderabad. Guided heritage walks to the old city and the markets of Charminar allow ISB-ers to learn more about the history of the area. Trips to Banjara and Jubilee Hills on weekends give students the chance to mix it up with Hyderabadis and sample the local night life. For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at the ISB and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
12 Dec 2013, 16:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Rotman School of Management for Finance |
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One of Canada’s top-ranked business schools for finance will soon benefit from the leadership of a foremost figure in the nation’s financial sector. Following Dean Roger Martin’s departure last year, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management has announced that Tiff Macklem, currently the senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, will take over a five-year term as dean beginning July 2014. Rotman, which places 11th in Bloomberg Businessweek’s latest ranking of full-time MBA programs and first among Canadian programs ranked by the Financial Times, underwent significant growth under Martin’s deanship, both in terms of campus size and endowment. Macklem’s appointment as dean may suggest a continued rise in Rotman’s academic profile and its reputation for financial education. “He has vast experience managing large institutions, translating academic research into public policy, and representing Canada on the world stage,” stated the university’s vice president and provost. In addition to its finance-related strengths, Rotman offers a rather unique approach to core business pedagogy. Relying on what it terms “integrative thinking,” Rotman’s teaching model challenges the compartmentalization of traditional functional areas. Students complete a series of core courses in their first year that emphasize generalized business skills and the ability to think across functional disciplines. In their second year, they are given the option to choose from among ten different major areas, while supplementing their focus with a broader array of elective courses. |
13 Dec 2013, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: See the World on an M-Trek at Michigan Ross |
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For incoming first-year students at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business who are looking to get a head start on building friendships within their class or wanting to make use of some time off before school starts, the M-Trek program may be just the answer. M-Treks, which were first offered in 1999, are small-group, multiday, outdoor adventure trips that take place before the academic year begins. Organized in locations around the world, the trips are entirely student led (by second-year MBA students) and are designed to provide a team-based environment similar to that found at Ross and to promote leadership in a team setting. M-Treks look to be as inclusive as possible—trips are available to suit a wide variety of interests and thus range from hard-core adventure to relaxing sightseeing excursions. Trips in 2012 included “Hold Me Closer Thai-ny Dancer,” for which students visited Bangkok’s Floating Market, the rainforest in Krabi, and the beaches in Phuket; “It’s Not the Greeks’ Default: We Are Here to Party,” which included visits to Athens and to the islands of Ios and Santorini; and a trip to Indonesia called “Balinesia: Eat, Play, Ross.” M-Treks in 2011 included “Diamonds Are Forever,” a trek through eight cities in North America to visit the oldest, most legendary ballparks as well as the new classic ones; “It takes YOU to Tango,” which took participants throughout Argentina, from a bike tour of Buenos Aires to a cattle ranch to Iguassu Falls National Park; and “License to Kill” to Tanzania, where participants spent seven days scaling the fourth highest mountain in the world, and then enjoyed a two-day safari to Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has often been called “Africa Eden” because of the area’s incredible biodiversity. So, whether you are interested in hiking and rafting in Iceland or beaching and snorkeling in Mexico, M-Treks provide a chance to build friendships and develop leadership skills while having a great time. For more information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at Michigan Ross or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
14 Dec 2013, 15:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: “Complete the Passage” Critical Reasoning Arguments |
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When it comes to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this weekly blog series, Manhattan GMAT’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. Have you run across any “fill in the blank” Critical Reasoning (CR) questions yet? These arguments end with a long straight line and we are supposed to pick an answer choice that fills in that blank. Try this example from the free question set that comes with GMATPrep: “Which of the following best completes the passage below? “People buy prestige when they buy a premium product. They want to be associated with something special. Mass-marketing techniques and price reduction strategies should not be used because ________________ “(A) affluent purchasers currently represent a shrinking portion of the population of all purchasers “(B) continued sales depend directly on the maintenance of an aura of exclusivity “(C) purchasers of premium products are concerned with the quality as well as with the price of the products “(D) expansion of the market niche to include a broader spectrum of consumers will increase profits “(E) manufacturing a premium brand is not necessarily more costly than manufacturing a standard brand of the same product” Officially, these are called “Complete the Passage” arguments. The interesting tidbit: they are NOT a separate question type! These questions fall into one of the same categories that you have been studying all along; the format is just presented in this “fill in the blank” manner. Most of the time, these are actually Strengthen questions. Every now and then, you will see a Find the Assumption question in this format. The real trick here is to determine the question type. If the word right before the underline is because or since (or something equivalent), then this is a Strengthen question. If the argument is set up to ask you to insert a piece of information that would support the conclusion of the argument, then this is a Strengthen question. The only real variation I have seen is when the sentence leading up to the blank asks what must be true or what must be shown. In those cases, you probably have a Find the Assumption question. Want to know how to do the GMATPrep question, above? I’m so glad you asked! Take a look at this full article that explains how to do the question and also takes you through the standard 4-step process for all CR questions. The article on the Manhattan GMAT blog is the first in a 3-part series on CR; click the link at the end to read the second part, and so on. * GMATPrep questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC. |
16 Dec 2013, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Start with Your Strongest Accomplishments |
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When preparing personal statements that require significant information about career progress (for Chicago Booth, Kellogg or Wharton, for example), many applicants choose to discuss their accomplishments in chronological order. Although the simplicity of this approach makes it attractive, we encourage you to consider an alternative—showcasing more recent and thus potentially stronger accomplishments first. By choosing this latter approach, you may capture your reader’s imagination more quickly and reduce the risk of being lost amid similar candidates. Consider the examples of a software analyst who is now a project manager, managing a budget and leading a team of 20 programmers, and of an investment banking analyst who is now in his/her third year with a company and has been sent abroad to work directly with a CFO: The Project Manager: Chronological: “Joining ABC Technology as a software programmer, I…” Reverse: “Scrutinizing my plan one last time, I waited to present my team’s $3.7M proposal to our client…” The Investment Banker: Chronological: “As an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank, I started…” Reverse: “Arriving in Taipei, I was admittedly nervous to finally meet the CFO of XYZ Co. and lead my firm’s due diligence process…” In these examples, the candidates immediately present their standout accomplishments and thrust the reader into the excitement of their stories. Although this kind of reverse introduction is not “all purpose,” it can be a feasible option in many circumstances. Still, in choosing this approach, the candidate must also be able to fluidly return to earlier moments in his/her career later in the essay—a task that requires creativity and skill. |
17 Dec 2013, 14:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Choosing “Safe” Recommenders |
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Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. Given that you have significant time still before next year’s first-round application deadlines, you have the opportunity now to take some extra steps to ensure you submit your strongest applications possible. One such step is doing some background work on your recommenders to make sure your choices are indeed “safe.” After all, if you are playing by the strictest interpretation of the rules of recommendations, you will not know what your recommenders ultimately write about you. So, by doing a little intelligence work in advance, you can better understand whether you are making the right choice, before you commit to a certain individual. By doing some “intelligence,” we mean, where possible, contacting past colleagues in a discreet and diplomatic way to find out what their experiences were like with your potential recommender. For example, was your potential recommender a generous advocate or was he/she a disinterested third party who had a tendency to be harsh? Clearly, learning more about your target recommender’s approach in advance can help you understand whether or not you should offer him/her this important responsibility. Past colleagues can also guide you in how best to manage your recommenders, which can be just as important as choosing them. Knowing up front that your recommender is a procrastinator or performed better after being given a list of accomplishments from which to work can help ensure the best letter possible and can prevent you from inadvertently antagonizing your recommender or delaying the process. |
18 Dec 2013, 12:30
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Dean Profiles: Paul Danos, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth |
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Business school deans are more than administrative figureheads. Their character and leadership is often reflective of an MBA program’s unique culture and sense of community. Each month, we will be profiling the dean of a top-ranking program. Today, we focus on Paul Danos from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Paul Danos has served as Tuck’s dean since 1995, making his tenure one of the longest among the deans at the top-ranked business schools. His previous appointments at Tuck have included associate dean, director of the Paton Accounting Center, and the Arthur Andersen & Company Professor of Accounting. Danos is also considered an authority on business school administration, currently serving as the chairman of the trustees of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management and having previously served on advisory boards for the University of Notre Dame College of Business Administration, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the Graduate Rassias Foundation Board of Overseers, and the LEAD Council of Deans. Danos has overseen a number of strategic changes to Tuck’s curriculum during his deanship. One development, enacted as part of Tuck 2012—the school’s recent strategic plan—has been the inclusion of a mandatory mini course in the area of ethics/social responsibility. A September 2010 feature in Tuck Today titled “The Road Ahead” notes that, unlike at many other business schools, Tuck’s inclusion of an ethical component was not in reaction to the 2008 financial crisis and was in fact under way a year prior. Further, Danos argues that a lack of ethical education was not a driving factor behind the crisis but rather that financial leaders had too limited a scope of ethical responsibility and lacked the critical and analytical tools to confront the problem, stating, “The lesson you learn is that it takes more than what I would call conventional ethics to be a responsible leader.” In a February 2012 U.S. News & World Report article, Danos explains that business education requires a more holistic reevaluation of pedagogy in the wake of the financial crises, stating, “No matter who is ultimately to blame, lessons for anyone who purports to be educating leaders abound, and because so many of the bankers involved had MBA degrees, business schools must analyze the whole series of causes and effects, and try to draw conclusions about appropriate modifications to their own programs.” Consequently, in addition to requiring that students complete a mini course in ethics and social responsibility, Tuck introduced its research-to-practice seminar format, which integrates faculty research, an intimate class size (fewer than 20 students), and an emphasis on critical analysis. This integrated approach embodies what the aforementioned Tuck Today article refers to as “the Danos Doctrine—a recognition that an increasingly complex business world demands more varied and different skills of its leaders.” |
18 Dec 2013, 16:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: What Are You Most Looking Forward to About Business School? |
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Although quantifying a school’s profile certainly does not tell you everything, it can sometimes be helpful in simplifying the many differences between the various MBA programs. Each week, we bring you a chart to help you decide which of the schools’ strengths speak to you. We recently asked aspiring MBAs to answer a variety of survey questions about their business school prospects and perspectives. Now the results are in, and for those who are curious about their fellow applicants’ views on business school, we will be sharing some of the collected data in our B-School Chart of the Week blog series. We heard from 94 MBA applicants—68 U.S. candidates and 26 international—on the topic of “What are you most looking forward to about business school?” The most common responses we received could be organized into three general categories: “networking/making new friends and connections,” which accounted for the majority of responses both overall and among international candidates specifically; “learning and improving skills,” which was the most common among U.S. applicants; and—not surprisingly, perhaps—“career change or progression.” Despite the rather commonsense perception that business school is mainly about getting a new job or advancing your status in the career you already have, this latter category ranked third among the three, both overall and in each candidate group individually (discounting the “other” responses). In fact, only one international applicant (compared with ten U.S. ones) gave a response that fell into the “career change” category. Approximately 18% of the responses did not fit into any of the three top categories (“other”) and included comments such as “time off,” “global exposure,” “being able to participate in start-up competitions” and even “more free food at events.” 
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19 Dec 2013, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: The HBS Show |
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When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school. First presented in 1974, the HBS Show is a popular student-run comedy production that follows in the tradition of Harvard College’s Hasty Pudding Show and Harvard Law School’s Parody. This extremely well-attended show is a major production that pokes fun at life at HBS, incorporating joking—but good-natured—references to case protagonists, professors, administrators, and the recruiting process. A spouse of one HBS student who helped organize the 2012 production wrote in her blog, “It was a great outlet for business school students to roast their own school—the whole performance was based on The Godfather but with a zillion HBS inside jokes thrown in.” Featured among the HBS Show film productions in 2013 was a parody of Mean Girls titled “Mean Boys & Girls,” which depicted humorous “cliques” of business school students. For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at HBS and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
19 Dec 2013, 16:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business |
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MBA applicants can get carried away with rankings. In this series, we profile amazing programs at business schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15. Despite the size of its parent institution, the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University boasts a relatively intimate classroom experience—with approximately 150 students in each incoming full-time MBA cohort—and a close-knit community. Fisher students consequently benefit from the school’s wider university network (over 500,000 alumni in more than 150 countries) and its proximity to major companies based both in Columbus and throughout the Midwest. Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Fisher 27th in its list of top MBA programs in 2012, rising from 32nd place in 2011. The Fisher curriculum consists of a core sequence spanning the first year of the program, and offers three distinct categories of business education: Academic Preparation & Fundamentals; Ethics, Leadership & Professional Development; and Career Management Introduction. With eight disciplines in which students can choose to major (including a “Make Your Own Major” option), Fisher also features four career tracks aimed at developing cross-disciplinary expertise. In addition to being able to create their own custom track, students can choose between Enterprise Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and New Business Ventures, Health Care Management and Real Estate Management. Starting in the final term of their first year, students are able to take Flex Core and elective courses that count toward their major. A particularly noteworthy highlight of Fisher’s MBA curriculum is its experiential Leadership & Professional Development program (LPD), which spans the full two years. The first program of its kind to be offered at a business school, LPD begins with a compulsory two-week pre-term immersion course in which students attend workshops, bond with teammates, perform mock-interviews and develop their professional development goals. During the course of the academic year, the LPD program organizes various workshops and assessments—in addition to connecting students with corporate mentors who offer career guidance and networking opportunities. Also among the LPD offerings is a speaker series that in recent years has included such business leaders as the president/CEO of Victoria’s Secret, the president/CEO of the Timken Company, and the founder/CEO of Quantum Health. |
20 Dec 2013, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Chicago Booth for Marketing |
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You may be surprised to know that Chicago Booth is making inroads into an area that its crosstown rival (Kellogg) is known to dominate: marketing. Through the James M. Kilts Center—named for the Chicago Booth alumnus who was formerly CEO of Gillette and Nabisco (and is now chair of A.C. Nielsen)—Chicago Booth offers students roughly a dozen marketing electives. In particular, the school is growing its experiential opportunities in the marketing field, with students taking part in marketing management labs (semester-long consulting projects) recently at Abbott, Barclays and Honeywell. Further, professors in the department saw opportunities for increased practical involvement and created “hybrid” classes in “Marketing Research” and “Consumer Behavior” that involve a lecture component but also allow students to work on shorter-term consulting projects. Students can also sign up to be paired with an alumni marketing mentor, or participate in “day-at” visits to major marketing firms and companies such as PepsiCo, Wrigley and Kraft. Although Kellogg’s reputation for excellence in marketing is firmly intact, we have to assume that the folks in Evanston are occasionally glancing over their shoulders to see if Chicago Booth is gaining any more ground. For a thorough exploration of what Chicago Booth and 15 other top business schools have to offer, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides series. |
20 Dec 2013, 16:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: HBS MBAs launch a Platform for Small Businesses to hire MBAs |
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Thanks to a group of four entrepreneurial Harvard Business School students, those with MBAs and a passion for small business may now find it easier to secure freelance alternatives to traditional projects at firms like McKinsey & Company or Bain & Company. These HBS students launched Hourly Nerd, a company which pitches itself as “a marketplace where any business can hire a consultant on a project basis,” thereby providing “a low-priced alternative, especially for small businesses, to high-priced management consultants.” The project based model has reportedly proven popular among consultants seeking part-time or flexible work, such as MBAs who are raising children. With approximately 2,200 listed freelancers, HourlyNerd’s consultants (or “nerds”) consist exclusively of b-school alumni and students (80% and 20% respectively). The company has also received $750K in backing from two angel investors (one of whom is Mark Cuban) and a recent deal with Microsoft to provide services to its resellers—a significant leap in growth, since its modest inception during the first-year HBS course “Field III,” in which student teams are given $5,000 to model their own business. |
21 Dec 2013, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: How to Prep for the GMAT in 14 Days (If You Absolutely MUST) |
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When it comes to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this weekly blog series, Manhattan GMAT’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. Prepping for the GMAT in 14 days? Is that even possible? Most people study for a minimum of 2 months, and the average is probably closer to 4 months. Obviously, this is not the ideal situation. There are limits to how much you can learn in such a short period of time. Still, sometimes people get stuck. Maybe you have not gotten the GMAT score that you need to be competitive at a particular school and second-round deadlines are fast approaching. Maybe you are on a waitlist and the school has indicated that your chances would be better if you could lift your score. Whatever the circumstance, there are some things that you can do to try to achieve a score boost in a short period of time. If you need to do this (not “want” to, need to—only do this if you have no choice!), then keep these two things in mind: (1) You are going to live, sleep, and breathe the GMAT for the next two weeks. Make sure that your personal and professional life can actually handle this commitment; if not, then you will be adding a whole lot of stress to your life for what will probably not be a very good return on your investment. (2) You will also need to set realistic expectations for yourself. Nobody is going to jump from a 500 to a 720 in two weeks. Unless you are already naturally at a pretty high level, it is unlikely that you will score 700+ at all. Have I scared you off yet? No? Okay, click here for a detailed 14-day prep plan. Note that this plan still leaves a lot for you to figure out for yourself. The plan does not give you long lists of assignments; rather, it helps you to figure out how to prioritize what you are going to do based upon your particular strengths and weaknesses. Nobody can do everything in 14 days, and what you need to do will differ greatly from other students, so your real advantage will be in figuring out how to spend your time wisely. Finally, one last word of advice: if you are thinking about prepping in 14 days because you hate to study, or because you have 2 weeks between jobs and think it would be a great way to spend the time, or… any other reason that does NOT involve an absolute need to prep in such a short period of time, then do yourself a favor. Give yourself more time! |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2024 11:30am NY / 3:30pm London / 9pm Mumbai Watch earlier episodes of DI series below EP1: 6 Hardest Two-Part Analysis Questions EP2: 5 Hardest Graphical Interpretation Questions
Tuck at Dartmouth
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
 GMAT Club REWARDS
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