There is so much happening at this time of year! It's time for a round-up:
- Notre Dame Mendoza MBA Admissions Chat: Join Accepted.com for a chance to get insights into Notre Dame’s dynamic MBA program, on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT. Brian Lohr, Notre Dame's Director of Admissions and other members of the Notre Dame community, will participate in this chat devoted to Notre Dame's program, admissions policies and student life. The chat will take place in the Accepted chat room.
- Chat transcript from the London Business School Chat. Here's an excerpt:
Aspirant (Sep 16, 2009 12:06:25 PM)
Phillipa, the LBS website mentions that the program is targeted at people who are at a relatively early stage in their career. Can you please elaborate on this? What would typically be viewed as "early"?
PhillipaHainLONDON (Sep 16, 2009 12:09:00 PM)
Hi Aspirant, typically MBA students have between 2-14 years work experience and on average 5.6 years. By early, we mean that students will typically be in their first leadership role or looking to move onto a leadership role post MBA. But we do offer programs which are tailored to business professionals who are already in those leadership roles.
vivek (Sep 16, 2009 12:26:54 PM)
Vlad: Can you please elaborate on how LBS helps students who are interested in Entrepreneurship?
DavidMorrisLONDON (Sep 16, 2009 12:27:32 PM)
Vivek: The school has a strong tradition of entrepreneurship and very strong faculty working in this area. From a career services perspective, we work with a lot of entrepreneurship companies and the VCs behind them. Our faculty also runs a summer entrepreneurship school assisting students who are looking to launch or develop their own enterprise. We also have a very strong entrepreneurship club who run a range of events from their annual conference through to networking sessions.
Linda Abraham (Sep 16, 2009 12:31:04 PM)
David, Louise, and Hannah: Does Career Services play a role in application evaluation? If yes, what is it?
LouiseWeirLONDON (Sep 16, 2009 12:33:57 PM) Hi
Linda - Career Services is indeed involved as early as the application process and we work closely with the program office throughout the student's time at the School - members of our team sit on the application committee to ensure that student career aspirations are appropriate to the support that we offer, ultimately enabling us to offer a fantastic service to the new class of students.
- GMAC releases a report on MBA application volume trends.The report showed that 66% of full-time MBA programs reported an increase in applications for the class entering in 2009, compared to 77% in 2008. One-year full-time MBA programs had the sharpest application growth of any MBA program type in the survey, with 69 percent reporting an increase in 2009 and 70% in 2008. In contrast EMBA programs suffered a drop in MBA application volume: Only 37% reported in an increase in application volume in 2009 as opposed to 60% in 2008.
- "Steering a New Course" (The Economist). The Economist presents a thoughtful article on the counter balancing forces pressing on business schools to modify their curricula in light of the credit melt-down last year. On one hand, there are definitely lessons to be learned. On the other, they don't want to make changes they will regret in calmer times. Having observed the silliness that accompanied the dot-com boom in the late-90's and some other academic fads in my years as an admissions consultant, I think a little caution is in order.
- WSJ Rankings of "Accelerated" MBA Programs. More important than the rankings is the discussion of the pros and cons of the different less-than-fifteen-month programs. I also recommend " Schools Expand 'Pre-Experience' Offerings" if you are a college senior who wants to study business.
- MBA Interview Feedback Database. We have started receiving reports from 2009 MBA interviews, including Columbia. When you want to prepare for your MBA interviews, please check them out. Also, get tips for preparing for you interviews with the FREE MBA Interview Prep Mini Course .
- MBA Expectations and Realities. On the AIGAC blog Maxx Duffy explores the gaps and intersections between applicant expectations and b-school realities.
