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Accepted MBA Updates

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The Berkeley MFE: One Tough Program with Amazing Opportunities for Gra [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   03 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: The Berkeley MFE: One Tough Program with Amazing Opportunities for Grads



The Scoop on Berkeley’s Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) [Show Summary]
Dr. Linda Kreitzman, Executive Director of the Master of Financial Engineering Program at UC Berkeley – Haas is passionate about the program. On today’s podcast Linda will take us through specific aspects of the program and what makes it unique, what it takes to be successful in the program, and some of the expected outcomes for graduates. Listen in to the “Queen of Quants!”

Interview with Linda Kreitzman, Assistant Dean and Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Haas Master of Financial Engineering Program [Show Notes]
Our guest today, Dr. Linda Kreitzman, earned her Honours Degree in Political Science, masters degrees in English, French and Spanish and later on a Ph.D. in Economics. Most importantly for our call today, she became program Director of the Master’s in Financial Engineering at UC Berkeley – Haas in 2000 and Executive Director of the program in 2006. Poets and Quants recently named her the “Queen of Quants” and in the same interview she identified herself as her students’ “surrogate mother.” Let’s learn more about the Haas MFE from this ultimate insider.

Could you give an overview of the MFE program highlighting its distinctive features? [2:12]
It’s a one-year program that starts in March and ends the following March, with four academic terms. After 75% of coursework is completed, students go anywhere in the world for a paid internship. The program is ranked #1 in the country and has 50% faculty and 50% industry professionals who teach in the program. We admit students who have PhDs, masters or straight from undergrads. We have a pre-programmed set of classes that anyone can take before coming to the program, which helps us assess them. We believe success is not just what happens in the MFE but also post-MFE. We place each and every student, which is what we love to do.

If we find a student who is doing really well academically, we can recommend them for admission as early as their junior year, and then bring them on board and mentor them before they officially join. Any student at any university in the world can contact us about this.

I understand that you’ve been the Director from Day 1. Why did Haas decide to have an MFE? [5:30]
Haas’ decision to create the MFE came a little bit before I came on board in 2000, with professor emeritus David Pi and dean Laura Tyson. There was a demand for financial engineers and students who could be very technical, with a stats programming skill set already, which MBA programs didn’t offer. There were other MFEs, CMU for example, but we were the first to launch an MFE at the business school, to make sure our students were not considered typical quants just doing number crunching, but that they had economic intuition and strong communication skills, which is what differentiates us from others. We wanted the ability to position our students in any field in finance or technology, not in the back room doing number crunching.

What makes the MFE different from an MFin? Or an MBA? [9:45]
The MFin tends to teach more the corporate finance side and is a general degree. With the MFE we are looking for people who already have strong programming, stats, math, and finance experience. We bring people who already have had corporate finance, and maybe already passed CFA level 1. Our program is much more technical, more data-science oriented. Also, the MBA program does not prepare students months or even years in advance but we do.

Obviously academics, specifically in advanced quant subjects, are important to the MFE. The average GRE/GMAT quant percentile is 93.2 and the average verbal percentile is 77.7. The average UGPA is 3.75. Beyond the stats, what is the MFE looking for? [11:16]
We are looking for people with strong logic skills, with a good understanding of financial markets (or willing to learn that), who are open to taking different courses to find their path, and willing to prepare before starting with us. We also are looking for someone who is humble, and can work well with others. 95% of the homework in the program is team-based, as you won’t work by yourself within a firm, so we provide that in the programming.

What about work experience? What role does experience play in the evaluation process? What kind of experience are you looking for? Is there a max amount of work experience? [14:00]
We don’t require experience. With young students just one three-month internship is good enough for us if they have a strong academic background. We have had great success with students straight from undergrad. We do look at the skillset but we do not want applicants to think work experience is necessary. For listeners, look at the bios of students in the MFE program and you will see a wide range of backgrounds, and some with very little formal work experience.

Can you describe the application process for the MFE? [15:58]
It’s a straightforward process. You answer questions, submit two letters of recommendation, and transcripts. For the questions, we ask about academic work where you may have solved problems or done research, and to talk about the tools you’ve used. We don’t expect you to tell us you have done very complex work, we just want to get to know you to help you prepare for the program. We also want to know why you want to do the MFE, and we also love it if you tell us you don’t know. It’s ok to say, “I love stats, I love math, I love AI, and I want to come and I’m flexible.” The other question is have you been innovative, and what are your strengths and weaknesses. Basically we just want to get to know you.

One thing that is important to note is that we work quickly – we give decisions back within 4-8 weeks.

What’s the purpose of the video question? [18:59]
We really want to see how they are able to communicate within a couple minutes of time, as well as how well they think on their feet.

What kind of careers will graduates go into? [19:24]
Our students go into all titles in finance. Some are managers, researchers, analysts, and associates. They go into M&A, trading, structures, data science, work for investment banks on the sell side or buy side, hedge funds, and fin tech as well.

What’s a cool story about a Haas MFE grad? Or one that you are particularly proud of? [20:14]
In 2012, we had a student Charles Gorintin who sang the same tune for pretty much the whole program – he wanted to be a high frequency trader for Virtue in Chicago. I set up the interview with them, and he did extremely well. His offer was expected to come in and so he asked me how he should decline an interview at 2pm when it was 10am that same day. It was two hours away and at Facebook. I told him he had to go. He begrudgingly went, and at 7pm he called and said he was going to accept an offer at Facebook. I just about fell off my chair. I thought maybe he would miss the market, but when I was in touch with him he would always say, “Don’t worry, I love what I do.” I am so proud of him because now he is back in France having launched a healthcare data science company. The moral of the story is come to the MFE, but be open, and we help you explore the paths.

What are the plans for the future of the MFE? I understand it will expand this year. [23:30]
We currently have 80 students and we will expand to 100, so we will have two cohorts, one that will specialize in data science. Those who want to continue their work in finance will be able to do that, but the reality is that banks are using data science. You don’t have to pick a specialization but can just pick the electives you want.

Your recent interview on P&Q said that you are angered when people tell you they want an MFE to get rich.

What are some good reasons for wanting to pursue an MFE? [25:19]
I am not angry, but rather annoyed or concerned when someone says they only want to do this to make money. There is no reason not to want to make money, of course, but there must be other reasons to go into this field – passion to make a difference, to apply your skill set, passion for finance, to understand the markets, to create things.

Why does it go March to March? [29:09]
It started because we thought we would make it a part-time program, and also for a bureaucratic reason as you can only have so many students on campus at a certain time. With the MFE I felt like you can’t have a summer internship because the students wouldn’t have enough of a skill set yet. As I started dealing with the companies I realized that a fall internship idea was extremely positive. Banks were telling me, “We have nobody to help us in the fall, so it’s great.” Students coming from the industry also were happy because they had gotten their bonus and it helped them pay for the program.

On a personal note, How does someone who P&Q notes has degrees in polisci, English, French and Spanish then move to the quant side of the world, earn a PhD in economics, and then become director of one of the most demanding quantitative programs in the world? Why the switch? [32:01]
I wouldn’t say it was a switch, as within political science I did do economics and statistics. I really love education and could have branched out and gone to industry, but it is pretty cool to be in my position because I get to work with the industry, students, and faculty, so it felt more a natural path for me. When Haas called me and wanted to interview I had already been teaching econ courses. I was going to join the industry but instead decided to launch the MFE.

There are deadlines but you get back to people quickly, so it seems kind of like a rolling admissions model. How does it work for you? [34:22]
It works efficiently for us. The reality is you want to have some deadlines to be organized and structured, but it is common for students to say they missed the deadline, so we need it open until the end of December. We also sometimes in January or March get individuals who apply for the following year and we may believe that they are right for entry earlier. We reserve the right to say you are ready to come within a couple months. We council students before they apply, and have discouraged applicants at times as well. We are a very forthcoming program so be in touch with us to talk about your background and interests.

What question would you like to answer that I didn’t ask? [39:52]
Why have I been in the program the last 18 or 19 years? To work at Haas with the other directors, I have to say it is really a cool place to work. The finance faculty are brilliant, kind, and they are very open to working together on curriculum issues. I am very fond of our team, and working with the students is exciting. You see them come in and help polish them. I believe we make a difference in their lives.



Related Links:

• Berkeley Haas Master of Financial Engineering Program

• Get Accepted to Masters in Finance Programs

• Up Close and Personal with Berkeley Haas

• Meet The Queen Of Quants: She Runs Haas’ Master of Financial Engineering Program

• Accepted Admissions Consulting Services

Related Shows:

• Exploring the Haas MBA: An Interview with Peter Johnson

• From Military to Haas MBA

• MIT Sloan Master in Finance: How to Get In!

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Haas MFE Spring 2019 Application Deadlines:
All application deadlines are 11:59 PM Pacific time.

Round:
Online application submitted by:
Decision posted by:

 One
January 24, 2018
April 4, 2018

 Two
April 4, 2018
June 8, 2018

Three
June 20, 2018
August 17, 2018

Four
October 3, 2018
November 30, 2018

Application for Spring 2020 Opens December 2018



Tags: Admissions Straight Talk, Grad School Admissions, MBA Admissions

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MBALaunch Prep Program for Women Still Accepting Applications! [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   05 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: MBALaunch Prep Program for Women Still Accepting Applications!



The Forté Foundation is accepting applications for MBALaunch 2019 through October 22nd!

MBALaunch is an intensive business school prep program designed to help women apply successfully to business school by providing a strong support network and a structured roadmap of the application process. GMAT exam prep is also a focus, as well as interview skill building. MBALaunch is for women applying to b-school in Fall 2019 for the 2020 school year.

Linda Abraham, Accepted’s founder and president, has advised MBALaunch members as part of its office hours and has presented to its members several times. She highly recommends the program and has been a proud participant in it.

The program will launch in the following cities:

Atlanta:  February/March 2019

Boston:   February/March 2019

Chicago:  Friday, February 22

Houston:  Friday, February 22

Los Angeles:  Friday, February 8

New York:  February/March 2019

San Francisco:  Friday, February 15

Seattle:  February/March 2019

Toronto:  February/March 2019

Washington, D.C.:  February/March 2019

London:  February/March 2019

The fee for the MBALaunch program is $550.

You can find more info and apply to MBALaunch here.





 

Related Resources:

• Navigate the MBA Maze, a free guide

• MBA Selectivity Index, discover the schools where you are competitive

• Can The Consortium and Forte Foundation Boost Your Goals?, an interview

Tags: MBA Admissions

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4 Ways to Show How You’ll Contribute in the Future [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   07 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: 4 Ways to Show How You’ll Contribute in the Future



Schools are looking for applicants who can show that they have strong leadership qualities and experiences and can demonstrate that they will actively contribute to their student/alumni communities, not to mention to the greater community and society. Yet grandiose, declarative statements and promises to be a superlative do-gooder are unpersuasive.

So how can you show what you will do in the future?

Point to the past
Most admission committees are firm believers that past behavior reveals abilities and interests and is a good predictor of the future.

Here are four tips to help you relay the message that you plan on achieving greatness by contributing to your school/community/world-at-large, by highlighting your impressive past.

  • Share the story of past achievements and quantify if possible the impact you had.
    By showing how you’ve already contributed, you demonstrate that you have the initiative, people skills, and organizational talent to make an impact in the future.

  • Discuss skills you’ve developed that will aid to future contributions.
    You can show the adcoms that you’re prepared to give back by proving that you have the appropriate skills and the tools needed. Use evidence to support your skill development by talking about how you’ve worked to build your skill set (by taking a course or through work experience, etc.). Analyze your success to reveal that you are a thinking, growing, dynamic individual. And when asked about failures or setbacks, discuss what you learned from the tough times. Demonstrate a growth mindset.

  • Show how your skills are transferable.
    To contribute to your classmates or school, you’ll need to show how your unique talents or experiences can be shared with your classmates, professors, or work colleagues. Talk about how your skills, understanding, and ethics can impact those around you.

  • Mention how your target school will help.
    Now the adcom readers know that you’ve got skills and that you’re ready to share them. Next, you need to reinforce the idea that their school is THE PLACE to accelerate your upward trajectory.

A good essay on your contributions will cover each of the above topics – what you’ve done in the past, how you’ve developed your skills, how you plan on sharing that knowledge, and how your target school will help you effect change. Remember, the past reveals much about the future, so share the story of what you’ve done and how you’ve reached this point and you’ll be well on your way to proving that you’ve got what it takes to contribute in the future.

Need help showing how you’ll contribute? Check out our one-on-one admissions services to learn how our expert consultants can guide you to creating an application that will get you ACCEPTED!





 

Related Resources:

• From Example to Exemplary, a free guide to writing outstanding application essays

• Tone Up Your Writing: Confidence vs Arrogance

• 3 Tips for Highlighting Your Strengths in Your Application Essays

Tags: Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions

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Writing a Lead That Pops [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   08 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Writing a Lead That Pops



How many times have you wandered through a bookstore, opening up a book to read the first few lines only to quickly close it again? How often have you read one of those free samples on your Kindle, only to decide after a paragraph that you’re glad you didn’t buy it?

Similarly, how many times have you met someone for the first time and made a judgment in the first five minutes – whether it’s based on how they look, speak, or carry themselves? Even if you know it’s wrong to do so, how many of us have said to ourselves, “they just don’t seem like my type,” and started to look at the clock before you’ve even ordered coffee?

The human tendency to make snap judgments
We all do this, dozens of times a day. In our extremely fast-paced world, we are forced to make quick decisions: whether it’s which brand of pasta sauce to buy at the store, which book to read, or which movie to watch. There’s always another link to click on if we’re not grabbed right away by the content on the page, or another pair of shoes right next to the ones our eyes first laid sight on, or another person to talk to at a party if the person who approached us first just wasn’t that interesting. We can often only base our decisions on a “snap judgment”: a two-minute movie trailer, the label on the pasta sauce jar, or the first few lines of a book.

Unfortunately, admissions committee members often have to make very quick decisions; they simply have too many applications to wade through to spend more than a few minutes on each one, which means you – the application essay writer (anyone applying to law school, b-school, med school, grad school, or college) – need to remember this:

Make those first few lines count. Make them sing. Grab your reader’s attention before their attention wanders away.

Now, I know this can sound like a lot of pressure, and in a way, it is. Much like a movie trailer or first few lines of a newspaper article, you only have a short space in which to convince your reader to keep reading.

The challenge of reeling in the essay readers
Try thinking of it as a fun challenge. Think of it as catching a fish: you must “hook” your reader first before reeling them in. You do this in a brief, to the point, compelling few sentences that start the essay off with a punch. This is called a lead.

The strongest leads are usually personal anecdotes about YOU. Not the details of your GPA or the technical facts of what you researched in the lab, but a STORY that makes the reader sit up and say, “Ah! An interesting human being with a voice!” For many of you, the essay will be the main way to “introduce” yourselves to the admissions committee, and it may be the only way that they get to “meet” you. So, it needs to really shine.

Components of a good lead
A good lead:

  • Gives your reader an idea of your “agenda” or main points – i.e. who you are, your story, and at least a strong hint as to what you are interested in doing with your life/career/studies
  • Uses some sort of creative detail or description
  • Makes your reader interested in reading the rest of the essay
Examples of good leads
Here are some examples of interesting first lines:

  • “It was absolutely pitch black outside…”
  • “Money was flowing…out the window.”
  • “Finding a green, scratched 1950s Cadillac in a dump last summer was the moment I realized that mechanical engineering was for me.”
Many clients have expressed fear when I suggest this idea of an anecdotal introduction, as if it appears too “soft,” too “personal,” or “creative.” I would argue that it should be both creative and yet very strong if it’s the right anecdote: the story that ties where you’ve been to where you’re going. And, a bit of descriptive language can go a long way to spice up a straightforward story.

How to find your lead that pops
I’d suggest that you first make a list of some turning point moments in your life that relate to the professional goal(s) you now have. These can be taken from anywhere – from recent or older work experiences, cultural background, or “aha moments.” An engineering applicant could describe the first moment she experienced a lack of light in her rural home and realized she wanted to become an electrical engineer; an MBA applicant might have had a very profound experience in a recent work situation that made him see why he wants to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector; a law school applicant might have witnessed a courtroom scene during an internship that inspired her to pursue a certain type of law…the possibilities go on and on.

As you make your list of anecdotes, try to jot down as many small, precise details as you can about each memory or experience. Why was this moment important on your journey towards your dream career or school? How did it help shape you, and what did it teach you?

Then, try starting your essay with the anecdote itself. This “hooks” the reader with a real-life human experience, adding in some needed color, personality, and ideally, voice.

Think about the time in the bookstore when you simply had to know what happened on the next page, so you bought the book and read it straight through. You want the admissions people to feel the same way. Once they’re hooked, you can take them anywhere you please.

Need help with the “hook” that will grab the adcom’s attention? Work with an admissions pro to create an application that will draw in your readers, keep their interest, and inspire them to put your application in the “admit” pile. Learn more about our Admissions Services here.





 

Related Resources:

• 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose, a free guide

• What 3 Essential Ingredients Must You Include in Your Statement of Purpose?

• The Importance of Obstacles in Your Application Essays

Tags: Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions

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How Will You Pay for Your International Graduate Degree? [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   09 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: How Will You Pay for Your International Graduate Degree?



Are you applying to graduate programs outside of your home country?

Not sure how you’re going to pay those massive tuition bills?

Sounds like you could use some expert tips to make your graduate school experience more affordable!

REGISTER FOR OUR UPCOMING WEBINAR: How to Fund Your International Graduate Degree

Hundreds of international applicants have turned to us with the all-important question: How will I pay for graduate school outside my home country? So we called in the experts to provide the answers you need – straight from grad school funding guru Zack Hirschfeld, Senior Relationship Manager at Prodigy Finance.

Zack will help you understand:

  • Payment options for school, as an international student
  • How Prodigy Finance loans work, and the benefits of their loans
  • Interest rates and how monthly loan repayments are calculated
LIVE WEBINAR: Wednesday, October 24th, 2018 at 10am PT/1pm ET

Register Now:



Tags: Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions

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Walk Me Through Your Resume [MBA Interview Questions Series] [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   10 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Walk Me Through Your Resume [MBA Interview Questions Series]



This blog post is the first in a series of articles analyzing some of the most popular MBA interview questions and how to best respond to them. In this post, we’ll address “Walk Me Through Your Resume“:

Reason for asking the question:
  • This question (or some version of it) is very often the first question asked in an MBA interview, since it should be a fairly easy question to answer and provides a foundation for the rest of the interview. Can the candidate remain focused on answering the question? Is he or she especially nervous? Can the candidate summarize his or her work accomplishments succinctly while at the same time providing a narrative about career progression? All of this information is helpful to manage the interview.
  • The interviewer has already had the chance to look at your resume, but wants to understand the “why” of it. The responsibility of the candidate is to highlight some career accomplishments, but primarily to explain the reasoning and motivation for the most significant career moves made.
How to prepare:
The answer to this question should be 2-3 minutes long, so once you have chosen the things you would like to highlight, practice your answer several times to make sure you can fit it into that timeframe. The point is not to summarize everything you have done at every job, but to briefly discuss accomplishments and the circumstances surrounding moves from one role to another. The logical starting point is your graduation from college. Summarize the degree you received and how it made sense to pursue the career you did based on your education. From there, look closely at your jobs. In one-two sentences, how would you discuss your time in that role? What was the motivating factor to move from that role to the next one? For your current job, lay out your current responsibilities. While it may be tempting to continue on and also answer “why an MBA” when you get there, just wait until that question is asked.

How to highlight particular circumstances:
Situation 1: Worked two years at a consulting firm, then switched to work in marketing at a pharmaceutical company.

“While at XX Consulting I had an extended engagement with a major pharma company. Working there made me realize the growth and potential of the industry, and I no longer wanted to be an outsider looking in. I wanted to XYZ.”

Situation 2: Worked in operations at a manufacturer, then switched to finance.

“During my time in operations I worked closely with the finance group in preparing our supply chain forecast. Through that experience I came to realize that I really loved numbers, and finance more closely fit with where I saw my career going. I made the case to senior management, and after recognizing my capabilities in the area they found a spot for me.”

Situation 3: Moved up in the organization from analyst to senior analyst to associate.

“I was fortunate to be involved in projects that gave me a lot of responsibility early on and had supportive mentors along the way. This allowed me to be recognized for my contributions and move up in the organization.” [In this type of situation, mentioning a few details of the projects would be appropriate.]

Important things to remember:
  • Do not rehash everything on your resume. Remember, the interviewer will have already read through it, and seen several details. They want to understand WHY you have done what you have in your career thus far.
  • Stay focused. Don’t get bogged down in details that the interviewer doesn’t need or want to know. HIGHLIGHT and move on.
Additional things to consider:
It’s possible the interviewer might ask “Tell me about yourself” instead. In this case, it is still appropriate to give the details about your work experience, but also to give some background on you. Possible things to share: Where you grew up, interesting information about your childhood/schooling, why you chose to go to the university you did, and why you chose to study what you did. Essentially, by wording the question this way, the interviewer is encouraging you to include more personal details about your life, both current and from the past.

Nervous about your upcoming interview(s)? We’d be delighted to help. Our MBA admissions consultants have a combined experience of 100+ years working either within an MBA admissions office or as a consultant. We know what it takes to be successful in your interviews, and we’d love to work with you to bring out your best self when interview day comes. Check out our interview services here, and contact us today!




Jen Weld worked as an admissions consultant and Former Asst. Dir. of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program (4 years) prior to joining Accepted. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing. Want Jen to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
 

Related Resources:

• MBA Interview Prep: How to Ace Your Interviews, a free guide

• 5 Steps to Follow After You Receive Your MBA Interview Invite

• 3 Day-Of Tips for Acing Your MBA Interview

Tags: MBA Admissions

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4 Ways to Display Teamwork in Application Essays [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   10 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: 4 Ways to Display Teamwork in Application Essays



Teamwork, and its close cousin, leadership, are highly prized by graduate programs and universities. Haven’t worked in teams on any regular basis? Don’t worry! There are more ways than you may realize to prove your chops in this area. Consider the following 4 options:

  • Remember: No Man is an Island
    Unless you’ve been living alone on an island for the last several years, you have undoubtedly participated in various groups. You may have been a member of a sports team or dance troupe, a member of a committee on either a volunteer or workplace basis, helped to organize an event, planned a triathlon, or been a tutor, Big Brother, or Big Sister. In each case, you were working with other people, even if it was only one other person, and had opportunities to display teamwork.

  • Put Your Listening Ears On
    Teamwork and collaboration involve effective listening, so if you can discuss a time when you took the time to listen to others, patiently and skillfully, and explained how doing so eased tensions and increased collaboration, that will demonstrate your teamwork abilities.

  • Discuss Morale Boosting and Conflict Resolution
    Talk about the steps you took to improve morale or to motivate. If you helped to generate enthusiasm for a project when enthusiasm was flagging, or brainstormed an idea to strengthen a group or project, that’s also teamwork. If you were a member of a committee and figured out a way for two warring members of the committee to stop fighting and start working together, that would also constitute teamwork. Any time you took the initiative to get involved with other people (especially when they are difficult!) to find a better way to get things done, find a middle ground, brainstorm a new idea, it’s all teamwork.

  • Think Small
    Effective teamwork can also be shown in very small groups. A client once wrote about her efforts to heal a serious rift in her family after her father passed away and siblings fought for control of the successful family business. An ugly succession fight was underway. The client’s ability to patiently coax cooperation in such an emotionally charged environment, including her “shuttle diplomacy” and active listening among family members, displayed skilled teamwork and leadership. Another client wrote about having organized a trip with a few friends, and how she dealt with a dispute between two of the participants whose bickering threatened to ruin the trip for everyone. Her effective listening, and creatively figuring out an activity that both of the “combatants” would not be able to resist, helped defuse the situation and save the trip from descending into a hellish situation for everyone. In both these situations, the “teams” were small but the stakes for those involved were high.

So do not feel stymied when asked for examples of how you have displayed teamwork – as you now see, you’ve been working in teams more often than you realize!

Our expert admissions advisors can help you identify and write about your teamwork experiences…or any other component of your application. Learn more about our one-on-one Admissions Consulting Services here.





 

Related Resources:

• Fitting In and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions, a free guide

• “I’m Smart, Really I Am!” Proving Character Traits in Your Essays

• 4 Qualities Top MBA Programs Seek

Tags: Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions

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How to Understand the Relationship Between CoA and Visa Applications [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   11 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: How to Understand the Relationship Between CoA and Visa Applications



You may have heard that you shouldn’t worry about financing until you get accepted.

And, to some extent that’s true; the first hurdle is achieving that admit. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore the financing side of the admissions process – you’ll need to face it at some point, and the earlier you begin, the better.

That’s especially true for international students who need to prove they have access to a minimum amount of funds to secure an international study visa.

What is the Cost of Attendance? Is it accurate?
Cost of Attendance (CoA) is the amount a university expects that you’ll pay to attain your degree from their institution.

Apart from tuition, fees, and other services provided and invoiced by the school, CoA is an estimate, the minimum the school believes you can live on.

While CoA includes living expenses, the school can’t factor in your personal preferences, and you’re likely to find that the CoA is more a jumping off point for developing your budget than it is an actual representation of your expenses.

Many students find they need more than the school-provided CoA to thrive during their studies. But, even if you believe you need less than the school-provided CoA, you’ll still need to have this amount available to apply for your visa.

How does CoA affect my visa applications?
Many universities do their best to attract international students to their programmes and do so knowing that they’ll need to work closely with the relevant immigration department in their country.

Your responsibility lies in the demonstration of the funds necessary to cover the school-provided CoA. And, in many cases, you won’t be able to apply for your visa without having first proved to the university that you can pay.

Fortunately, the schools and their international student offices have experience and are there to assist you through the process. Still, it never hurts to know what’s coming up before crunch time.

[Save a spot our upcoming webinar, How to Fund Your International Graduate Degree!]

United States: I-20 forms and the F-1 study visa
Most international students to the United States enter on an F-1 visa. To obtain one, you’ll need to have an I-20 form in hand before you submit your application.

The I-20 form is a document issued by your university which details the CoA for an academic year and, perhaps more importantly, how you intend to meet these financial obligations.

While your university will automatically include any school-sponsored financial aid, such as scholarships, you’ll have to show proof of funds through loan letters, bank statements, or sponsorship and scholarship documentation before you can get your I-20.

The length of time it takes to secure an I-20 form from your school depends on their policies and how long it takes you to provide them with the proof.

United Kingdom: Tier 4 student visa
Students headed to the UK must show they can pay the school’s fees and tuition as well as a minimum of £1015 per month in living expenses, for at least nine months. But there’s an added stipulation: the money must be in the student’s account for at least 28 consecutive days within the 31 days before their visa application.

This money can be held in a certificate of deposit (CD), but the time limits still apply. The same goes for anyone else that may be responsible for you financially during your studies.

There is some good news, however. If you’ve already paid the university their tuition and fees, you’ll just need to have the monthly maintenance amount available in your account (the 28-day rule still applies). And, if you’ve secured an international study loan, proof of this loan is sufficient for immigration officials- up to the amount specified on the loan letter.

France: Visa de long séjour études
To study in France, you’ll still need to provide documentation from your university to immigration officials, but it won’t necessarily provide your full CoA. Instead, universities offer a complete statement of their expenses, such as tuition and required fees; living expenses are usually based on a national minimum of €615 per month for the duration of your studies.

Demonstrating funding begins when you complete the online application. You’ll be asked whether you are supporting yourself, if someone else will be responsible for you financially, or if there’s some combination of the two.

If you select self-support, you’ll need to show that you have access to any shortfall between financial aid (such as scholarships from the school) and loans. This money needs to be available and documented in advance as immigration won’t count any non-guaranteed employment in France as a means of support.

However, if someone else will also act as a sponsor, you’ll need to demonstrate they’re capable of meeting the minimum monthly amount for the duration of your stay.

Similar practices, with different minimum living expense amounts, are prevalent throughout the EU. And, student visa application processes in just about every country meet some combination of these practices.

For example, to secure your student pass to study in Singapore, you’ll need to demonstrate that you have 8400 SGD in living expenses as well as the tuition fees in your account at least one day before application.

Using international student loans to prove finances to immigration officials
Visa applications take time- and you certainly don’t want to leave them to the very last minute. To ensure you have everything in order, you’ll want to apply for loans earlier rather than later, even if you’re hoping to secure scholarships to assist with financing.

You may also want to consider a loan provider, like Prodigy Finance, that disburses your fees directly to your university. This alleviates the time restrictions imposed by some countries and ensures you have your loan letter in plenty of time.

Prodigy Finance also allows borrowers to reduce the size of their loans almost up until they arrive on campus, which is especially helpful for students waiting to hear back on a scholarship but needing to apply for their visas in a hurry.

Want to know more about Prodigy Finance? Learn more on their website.

Not sure how you’ll gather the funds to pay for your international education? Attend our upcoming webinar, How to Fund Your International Graduate Degree, presented by the experts from Prodigy Finance, to learn the steps you need to take to make your graduate dreams financially feasible. Reserve your spot and mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 24 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. Register now! 





 

Related Resources:

• What are Interest Rates and APR? (And Why are They Important?)

• Is Drop in Foreign Student Visas Due to Trump’s Immigration Policy?

• Paying for Your MBA as an International Student

Tags: Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions

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Ingredients of a Great MBA Letter of Recommendation [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   12 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Ingredients of a Great MBA Letter of Recommendation



“Ingredients of a Great MBA Letter of Recommendation” is excerpted from MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools, by Linda Abraham and Judy Gruen.

You may view the job of gathering strong Letters of Recommendation (LORs) as an annoying chore, or even redundant. Haven’t you already proven in your essays and through your stellar resume how amazingly focused, smart, diverse and dedicated you are to earning your MBA? You may think so, but the adcoms want even more proof. So take a deep breath and reach back for that final burst of energy you still need, because LORs are read carefully by adcoms and can be highly influential to the acceptance process.

LORs can strengthen your application on many fronts. For example, they validate claims. Because they are written by a third party, they affirm that what you claim about yourself in your essays is true.  They reveal new and distinct qualifications by providing an opportunity to showcase additional managerial or leadership experiences, or exemplary characteristics that you didn’t have room to discuss in your essays. They can counteract a weakness. For example, if you’re a quant jock, you should look for someone who can talk up your communication skills. Conversely, if you come from a nontraditional professional background, you should find a recommender who can testify to your quantitative and analytical skills. Finally, they develop a fuller picture of you. Because they offer a complementary (and complimentary) perspective about your leadership, integrity, and other characteristics, LORs round out your profile. Through third-party validation, they confirm that you are a well-rounded person of good character who can fit well with the school and its environment.

In fact, when the adcom wrestles between extending an offer to two otherwise equally qualified candidates, a stellar LOR can tip those precariously balanced scales in your favor. Conversely, lackluster LORs that fail to add any new insights and lack enthusiasm can doom your application.

Effective letters of recommendation highlight and amplify your leadership, teamwork, organizational and communication skills. They offer examples of the value you have brought to an organization. This means that managers, supervisors and professional mentors are ideal candidates to write them. Having supervised you over a period of time and seen you in a variety of situations, they can respond knowledgably to most, if not all, of the questions that schools raise, such as how you stand out from others in a similar capacity, and in what ways you have had an impact on your organization. They also ask for assessments about your personal attributes such as intelligence, creativity, focus, integrity, communication skills, even your sense of humor.

Recommenders will also need to assess your weaknesses and what you have done to remedy them. Consequently you need recommenders who really know not only about your proven abilities and talents, but also about areas where you can improve and do so without drawing attention to or magnifying any weaknesses that you do have. (Hint: This means your mother is out of the running as a recommender – even if she is your boss!)

If you cannot ask your current manager for an LOR, ask a former supervisor, as long as he or she did not supervise you more than three years ago. You should also get someone who can speak about your skills and abilities now, such as a team lead or manager of another department where you currently work. Recruiting a recommender who knows you well and cares about you and your plans will result in a far more effective LOR than getting someone in the company with a high title who barely knows you to sign off on a letter about you.

If you run your own company, good recommender options include a partner, consultant, major client, vendor, supplier, attorney, accountant, or board member, if applicable. Whomever you choose should have a longstanding relationship with you (at least two years) during which you’ve had opportunities to display your integrity, professionalism and other strengths. Under no circumstances should you ask a relative (especially one who shares your last name) to write your LOR, even if you work in a family business. If you work in a nontraditional, nonbusiness environment, make sure that at least one of your recommenders can speak to your business acumen and management potential.

Tools to make your recommender’s job easier
Writing a meaningful and beneficial LOR will take at a minimum one to two hours of a recommender’s time, which is a lot to ask of an already busy person. Explain to your hoped-for recommender your plans for graduate study and why you are applying to the MBA programs that you have chosen. Tell her what you need the LOR to accomplish for you, including the addition of new, distinct details about your work experience and management potential. Offer tangible information that will make her job easier, including your essays. Then ask if she feels she can endorse you enthusiastically and can give the letter the time it requires. If not, she can politely decline, and you can move on to the next possible recommender.

Once you have recommenders lined up, give them the tools they need to get the job done, including:

  • A brief overview of how you are trying to position yourself with the school.
  • A resume.
  • Copies of each LOR form, with basic data already filled in.
  • Timeline to submit the LOR to meet the school’s deadline. If applicable, stamped and addressed envelopes.
  • A list of experiences, anecdotes or other stories that you would like mentioned. Choose with an eye toward strengthening any weaknesses in your application. The stories you suggest should be different from those already discussed in your essays, though it would be natural to mention a very significant achievement in both an LOR and an essay.
  • Copies of relevant work evaluations.
  • Copies of your essays, if you already have essay drafts.
To ensure a stellar LOR, suggest that your recommenders check out our Letter of Recommendation Services. They’ll be matched with an advisor who will coach them through the LOR writing process or help them edit and polish their letters.







Related Resources:

• Navigate the MBA Maze, a free guide

• MBA Letters Of Recommendation: Who, When, What, Where & How

• All You Need to Know About Recommenders & Recommendations

Tags: MBA Admissions

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Top MBA Programs for Entrepreneurs [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   15 Oct 2018, 17:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Top MBA Programs for Entrepreneurs



MBA programs are ranked in a variety of ways: by GPA and GMAT/GRE scores, salaries earned by grads, and other metrics. Pitchbook Data, Inc. has devised a ranking that is based on the number of graduates who are entrepreneurs, and how much venture funding they have raised.

There were multiple criteria that went into these international rankings. However, there is still some skewing of trends. This is due to the fact that some programs have a reputation that will entice the types of people who go on to become entrepreneurs. Shifts in rankings are also noted. This makes it easier to see how a particular school has moved up or down over the years. The data for this report was collected from the beginning of 2006 through June 30, 2018.

Top 25 MBA Programs for Entrepreneurs

RankUniversityEntre-

preneursCompaniesCapital Raised

($B)Vs 2017

RankTop 5 Companies

by VC Raised

1Harvard Business School1,3101,18639.38NCGrab, GO-JEK, Grail (Biotechnology), Katerra, Zynga

2Stanford GSB86177522.66NCSoFi, Compass, Sea, DoorDash, Cabify

3University of Pennsylvania - Wharton

72063624.23NCMeituan-Dianping, Dianping.com, Deliveroo, Adaptive Biotechnologies

4INSEAD489439

9.80NCHouzz, Transferwise, Zalora, Prodigy Finan, PolicyBazaar

5Northwestern Kellogg4814496.62NCLazada Group, Nubank, Fastly, Westwing Home & Living, Kaminario

6MIT Sloan4784188.96+1Rocket Internet, Lazada Group, HelloFresh, Foodpanda, Desktop Metal

7Columbia Business School4644327.54-1Compass, Vroom, Betterment, Rubius Therapeutics, Grofers

8Chicago Booth4393967.05NCVir Biotechnology, Zalora, Sapphire Energy, Juno Therapeutics, EVA Automation

9UC Berkeley Haas3723396.65NC51credit, Lime, Netskope, Niantic, RetailNext

10NYU Stern2702634.16+1Lazada Group, Scopely, Violin Systems, Illumino, Sprinklr

11UCLA Anderson2682534.79-1Radiology Partners, The Honest Company, Future Finance, One Kings Lane, Fulcrum BioEnergy

12London School of Business2362152.95NCImmunocore, LendingClub, IDEXX Markets, WorldRemit, Nexeon

13Tel Aviv University - Coller School of Management2332213.78NCHouzz, BluVine, IronSource, Stratoscale, Gigya

14University of Texas McCombs1711531.69NCSpredFast, AirStrip, Carrick Therapeutics, Xenex Disinfection Services, Datameer

15Michigan Ross1571461.58NCAyla Networks, Autekbio, TLV Partners,Craftsy, Wimdu

16Babson Olin1521351.91+1Biocartis, Tenable, Rethink Robotics, Windeln.de, SI-BONE

17Duke Fuqua1501471.44-1EndoChoice, BAROnova, Tiger Connect, RentMineOnline, Atox Bio

18USC Marshall1341301.82NCBird, Sauce Labs, Zoomcar, Lucky Group, Hollar

19Cornell S.C. Johnson1251212.46NCCrius Energy Trust, Solaria, Workday, Farmer’s Business Network, Zibby

20Oxford Saïd 108871.99+1Rocket Internet, Collective Health, Off Grid Electric, M-Kopa, Seedrs

21Yale SOM103951.63NCJana Small Finance Bank, Private Holdings, AltSchool, Bread Operations, Modernizing Medicine

21Dartmouth Tuck103972.40-1Compass Therapeutics, Rappi, Alector, Renewable Energy Trust Capital, Poshmark

23UVA Darden97911.28+1CarTrade.com, Lendstreet, EdgeConneX, X4 Pharmaceuticals, Gainspeed

24Pepperdine Graziadio Business School96921.78+1Stemcentrx, Alteryx, Smart Wires, Xirrus, Acorns

25CMU Tepper96861.55-2Hyla Mobile, LendingHome, Dynamics, Rakuten Aspyrian, Knopp Biosciences

Top MBA Programs - Unicorns

RankUniversityEntrepreneursCompaniesCapital Raised ($B)Vs 2017 Rank

1Harvard Business School241915.1NC

2Stanford GSB131011.8NC

3University of Pennsylvania - Wharton19136.5NC

4INSEAD1092.9NC

5UC Berkeley Haas431.1Not Ranked

5MIT Sloan442.3NC

5 NYU Stern441.5-1

8 Columbia Business School321.0+1

9Tel Aviv University - Coller School of Management220.7+1

9China International Business School223.6+1

9UCLA Anderson220.3+1

9Northwestern Kellogg221.1Not Ranked

9Washington Olin210.3+1

9Pepperdine Graziadio Business School220.6+1

Are you an entrepreneur applying to business school? Check out our MBA Admissions Services and work one-on-one with an expert advisor who will help you choose the best program for you, create an application that sparkles, and get ACCEPTED!





 

Related Resources:

• MBA Applicants: Make Your Work Experience Work for You, a free guide

• B-School Selectivity Index: Discover the Schools Where You Are Competitive

• MBA Admissions Advice for Career Changers

Tags: MBA Admissions

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UC Berkeley Haas EMBA Application Essay Tips & Deadlines [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   15 Oct 2018, 17:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: UC Berkeley Haas EMBA Application Essay Tips & Deadlines



These Haas EMBA essay questions reflect the larger Haas (and, even further, Berkeley) community and culture: they draw out the multi-faceted individual. Your professional goals and your prospective fit with the Haas EMBA program are expressions of, and extend from, that core individuality. Even though part-time, the EMBA program, again reflecting Haas culture, is intense in terms of student engagement, community mindset, and transformation both personal and professional. Ideally, your essays, together as a whole, will personalize your candidacy, showing you to be a potentially distinctive contributor within the program and beyond. Keeping the 4 Haas “Defining Principles” (see question 2) on your radar screen as you draft all 3 essays will help you stay in the right conceptual geography.

UC Berkeley Haas EMBA Application Essays:
Haas EMBA Essay #1
What are your short-term career goals (3 to 5 years)? What are your long-term career goals (10+ years)? Describe your plan to meet these goals. Why is this the right time for you to undertake the program? (250 words max)

Given the short word limit, get right to the point. Start by discussing your intended short-term career step(s) that will align with the specified time frame. Key details to include are position/role, company/industry, possibly geography, and expected scope of responsibilities. In addition – to go beyond just a logical answer and to make the reader excited about your goals – note why you are taking this step and how this role fits into your overall career vision. Consider opening the essay with an enticing point or two about this short-term goal and/or this “why” message.

Your long-term career goals will appropriately and necessarily be less detailed and should include the “vision” element. E.g., if you aim to become CIO of a major enterprise, indicate what draws you to this goal; what you want your footprint to be.

Address “why now” explicitly; a sentence will often suffice. Reflecting on what this program will be a bridge from and to can bring this into focus. Ideally, you will also incorporate a specific point or two about the specific program here, beyond just EMBA generally.

Haas EMBA Essay #2
At Berkeley Haas, our unique culture is defined by our Four Defining Principles, which are integral to the education and development of innovative leaders of the future. Based on what you know of our culture, why is Berkeley Haas the place for you? (250 words max)

  • Question the Status Quo
  • Confidence Without Attitude
  • Students Always
  • Beyond Yourself
If you really think about these 4 points, they are inter-related. E.g. “students always” will naturally “question the status quo” and “confidence without attitude” inherently takes you “beyond yourself”…

In this essay, you should demonstrate understanding of Haas’ culture while also strategically using it to portray something new and fresh about yourself. Hence, I suggest:

  • presenting a brief, meaningful anecdote from your experience that reflects some or all the 4 points;
  • in a “reflection” paragraph, identifying aspects of that experience that align with specific aspects of the school’s culture;
  • discussing specific interactions or experiences with Haas, to underscore your personal familiarity with its culture.
I also suggest referring to at least 1-2 of the 4 points explicitly, in your own story and/or in the reflection section.

Haas EMBA Essay #3
Tell us a six-word story that reflects a memorable experience in your life to date. Elaborate on why it is meaningful to you. Tip: A successful six-word story will pique the reader’s interest in the forthcoming explanation. Together, the story and explanation will share a specific and personal experience that helps the reader get to know you better, giving insight into your character and values. (350 words max)

A tip about that 6-word story: first, select the “memorable experience” you’ll write about. Then “play” with the mini story- approach it with an attitude of fun. It will not likely be the most elegant 6 words ever written; the important thing is that it teases the reader into wanting to read the main essay.

Be strategic about what experience to portray; it probably should be non-work related. Review what your application covers so far and think about what else relevant and interesting you might bring to the Haas EMBA table that isn’t yet addressed.

In drafting the essay – keep it simple. Elaborate on the “real” longer story and discuss explicitly why it is memorable for you. An effective discussion will illuminate your perspective, your values, and/or your inherent motivations.

For expert guidance with your UC Berkeley Haas EMBA application, check out Accepted’s MBA Application Packages, which include comprehensive guidance from an experienced admissions consultant. We’ve helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to top EMBA program and look forward to helping you too!

Haas EMBA Application Deadlines for 2018-19

Submission Deadline

Round 1
December 4, 2018

Round 2
February 6, 2019

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with individual programs to verify the essay questions, instructions and deadlines.***




Cindy Tokumitsu has advised hundreds of successful applicants, helping them gain acceptance to top MBA and EMBA programs in her 15+ years with Accepted. She would love to help you too. Want Cindy to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
 

Related Resources:

• Why MBA, a free guide to writing about your MBA goals

• School-Specific EMBA Application Essay Tips

• How Do You Deal with Criticism? MBA Admissions Committees Want to Know

Tags: MBA Admissions

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How to Get Into Grad School, and Get Jobs After Grad School [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   16 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: How to Get Into Grad School, and Get Jobs After Grad School



Interview with Dr. Shirley Chan, Accepted Admissions Consultant [Show Summary]
In this episode you’ll hear Accepted’s own Dr. Shirley Chan share her soup-to-nuts perspective for graduate school applicants. She has worked as an academic advisor, career advisor, and admissions committee member and views the process holistically. During part of this show Dr. Chan provides information on how best to approach critical aspects of your application, including your statement of purpose, resume, and interview. She also provides insights particularly important to Asian applicants. Read on!

How to Get Into Grad School, and Get Jobs After Grad School [Show Notes]
Our guest today, Dr. Shirley Chan, is a Trojan through and through. She earned her Masters of Education and Doctor of Education from USC. She then went on to work as an academic advisor in USC’s computer science department where she advised students on which classes to take and how to best prepare themselves for life after graduation, whether that be grad school or jobs. Then she transferred to Marshall’s MBA program working with international students, and becoming the Senior Associate Director for MBA Admissions. Most recently she has worked in Career Management at Marshall and as an independent career consultant before becoming a consultant for Accepted this year.

The standard line in admissions is that admissions and higher ed is not a field people decide to go into in kindergarten. What has been its attraction to you? How did you get into it? [2:34]
In college I was a high school outreach coordinator, particularly in low-income communities, helping students apply for financial aid and scholarships. I found it really rewarding to guide students toward achieving academic and career success. Since then my career has been focused on higher education, developing students through academic advisement, career advisement, and admissions. I wanted to understand from the very beginning to the very end of the process, which is why I worked in all of these areas. I really felt drawn to admissions because having that beginning-to-end perspective made me really understand from a candidate’s perspective what they are looking for, what they cared about, and has allowed me to provide a life coaching approach when I work with my clients.

You recently joined Accepted as a consultant after 15 years in different advisory roles both in academics, admissions, and career management. On the graduate level both in the engineering and business world, how should career goals guide both the applicant and student? [5:06]
You don’t start driving until you know where you are going to go, so you really need to know your career path, or at least have a good idea of where you want to go, before you begin. Applicants need to explore in advance, because they will be spending lots of money and time on the program. They should speak with alums or current students, and look at career paths after, and really think about, “Is this the type of career I will want in the future?” For students already in a program they need to fine tune the function they want to do, and that will look different depending on the program. If they are going into electrical engineering, there might automatically be more focus, whereas someone getting an MBA will have a more versatile skillset and could go into finance, marketing, operations, etc. Talk to people and figure out the type of organization you want to work for – the type of culture, big or small, those types of things. For a business degree in particular you need focus as soon as you begin the program. If you have no focus, and without a strong background in business, it will be hard to convince someone to give you a chance.

You’ve worked both as an admissions consultant and as Sr. Assoc Director of Admissions. How did your perspective on admissions change as a consultant? [10:01]
Applicants probably don’t realize how many applications an admissions committee goes through and therefore are not really thinking about how important it is to stand out. When I think about my time on the admissions committee I can remember things that stood out at me – what an applicant wrote in a statement of purpose or in an essay that helped me understand the person and what they wanted to achieve. From a consultant’s perspective, now it is my job to help them shine, to help their voice come out in their writing or in an interview, so they convey their experiences in a way that stands out. You need to show things like impact in your academics or career. It could be something trivial to you, but even small things that show you did something that pushed the envelope or motivated others are important. Bottom line I try to think about my clients from an admissions committee perspective and how to make them unique.

In admissions, I understand that you worked a lot with international applicants, specifically Asian applicants. What are the challenges they face during the application process, not so much statistically, but in terms of cultural differences between the U.S. and Asian educational model? [13:57]
I’ve predominantly worked with applicants from China, India, Korea, and Japan. When English isn’t your first language you should always have someone double-check your grammar and spelling. From a cultural perspective, applicants are extremely bright, but they come from an educational system where merit is based on high test scores and GPAs. In the US most universities take a holistic look, so take into consideration what you do outside of work, who you are and should be in the community when you join. Applicants often miss that and don’t know how to convey the non-academic, non-professional side of themselves. Also, the way they describe short- and long-term goals also tends to be very vague. Part of it their vagueness is because they haven’t really explored enough. They just write about what they want to do, but with no insight into what they want to do and why. Don’t just talk about wanting to work at huge companies that everyone knows about, look at mid-size ones, or talk about ones in your home country. For engineering, if you are interested in particular areas, mention faculty members whose research you would like to contribute to.

How do you recommend a young professional or student explore career paths effectively? [21:34]
There is so much information on the internet, so start there. If you are looking into a school, really explore the website – look at class profiles, student blogs, videos of students and alums, and the clubs. There are also lots of different forums, so see if you can find people to talk to. Expand your network, go to LinkedIn or any other social media platform and find people in similar social interest groups and connect to learn more about their career path. There is no reason why a person can’t get info these days about a particular program or job they want to get. One thing to remember is to be polite, cordial, and patient in the process, as you may have difficulty getting in touch with some people.

What’s an effective way to conduct an informational interview? [23:50]
Consider who you want to contact, how you want to contact them, and what you want to get out of it. LinkedIn is a great way to connect with people. When it comes to contacting them, be cordial, polite, and brief. Respect their time, let them know how you got their info, and make your request – 20 minutes for coffee, for example. Think about what kind of information you want to get from the person – challenges they face in the job, what problems they are solving, why their job is interesting, holistic understanding of an industry, trends, etc. Also be prepared for them to ask you questions, too, as they may want to get info from you to see if they would be an advocate for you in the future (if you are speaking to an alum of a program, for instance).

If someone wants to go into management consulting, from business school or from a graduate program, how can they prepare or position themselves for a career in this really hot field? [27:36]
People that go into management consulting are smart, personable, and curious. They can look at complex information and quickly simplify it to understand it. They work well with people in teams and communicate effectively, and are constantly trying to obtain knowledge about other industries. To be an effective management consultant, you need to be able to quickly extract information that is helpful and be a great problem solver. You need to read a lot, know what is going on in politics, the economy, with business transactions, and talk to a lot of people. If you are an introvert but fixated on being a management consultant, you have to get out there. Clients need to be comfortable with you.

On a very nuts-and-bolts level, what are your top tips for resumes? [30:27]
From a formatting standpoint, you need to have your contact information, professional experience, skills, and educational background. Unless you have more than 10 years of experience you should really keep it to one page. Sometimes for engineers if you have a lot of technical skills you may need to list them out, but for MBA programs, resumes should always be one page.

In terms of content, you may want to provide a scoping statement for each job that helps the reader understand what the organization does and what you do/did for them, especially if you’re working for a smaller organization that an admissions committee might not be aware of. For the bullet points, ask yourself two questions – is this relevant to the position you’re applying for, and are you differentiating yourself from others? Oftentimes this means you need to show impact – preferably with a quantifiable result – otherwise it’s wasted space. Think about using the STAR method for your bullets – briefly state the situation, task, action taken, and result.

What about interview prep? Case interviews? [33:25]
Of course you need to practice a lot. Nowadays a lot of interviews take place online so you should record yourself to see how you are presenting yourself on camera – are you talking too quickly, for too long, or are you too slow. You can find a lot of practice questions online. Also get people to practice with you. Before you do practice with people, you should write down some examples of what you want to talk about. Think about the STAR framework with this, too. People are often tempted to go straight to the action piece when answering a question, not taking into account the fact that the person interviewing you doesn’t have the same understanding of the situation as you. You need to set the stage, and then talk about the actions and results. One exercise I encourage people to do is list out a matrix. For consultants, firms are looking to hire people with strong problem solving skills and analytical skills, so list examples for each of these skills that exemplifies them. Then you have examples ready to go.

As a former admissions director, what are the most common mistakes to avoid in MBA and grad application? [36:14]
One thing is don’t ever copy and paste a statement of purpose from one school to another. You may be applying to USC but have UCLA on it! Another thing is going into too much detail with information that an admissions committee may not understand or even care about. Focus on highlights of a project, conveying impact. Grammatical or spelling errors should not be there, so don’t be careless. Also make sure you take the time to talk about the school and the program you’re applying to. So many applicants completely forget to talk about the school and why they are applying. Relay why the program is the right fit for you, otherwise you’ll be submitting a generic statement of purpose and appear uninterested in going to that school. This is critical for every degree program.

Any last words of advice? [39:39]
Just do a lot of research. Even if you have a family member who went to the school, do your own research. Use online resources, find out about jobs that are out there, and be thorough!

What do you wish I would have asked you? [40:35]
What can international applicants highlight to make themselves unique? Some applicants I work with have worked in different countries, speak multiple languages, and therefore have a global perspective – sharing that perspective brings out that uniqueness.



Related Links:

• Dr. Shirley Chan’s bio

• Work with Dr. Chan

• Applying to Graduate Engineering Programs: What You Need to Know

• Fitting In & Standing Out: the Paradox at the Heart of Admissions, a free guide

Related Shows:

• Bain & Company’s Keith Bevans Talks About Careers, Life at Bain

• From Hospitality to Kellogg MBA to Accepted MBA Admissions Consultant

• Society of Women Engineers: The Community for Women in Engineering

• Getting Accepted to U.S. Universities from Abroad

 

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The Answer to the BIG Money Question… [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   16 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: The Answer to the BIG Money Question…



You have questions about how you’re going to pay for that graduate degree as a foreign student. And we’ve brought in the experts to give you answers.

Join us on Wednesday, October 24th at 10am PT/1pm ET for How to Fund Your International Graduate Degree, a webinar that will help you create the financial plan that will make your graduate school dream feasible.

This must-attend webinar will be presented by Zack Hirschfeld, Senior Relationship Manager at Prodigy Finance, and will cover important issues like choosing among international payment options, deciphering loan terms and benefits, and understanding interest rates.

You don’t want to miss this if you are aiming for a graduate degree outside your home country.

The webinar is free, but you must reserve your spot to attend.

Save My Spot Now:



Tags: Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions

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Why Do You Want to Attend This MBA Program? [MBA Interview Questions S [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   17 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Why Do You Want to Attend This MBA Program? [MBA Interview Questions Series]

 



This blog post is part of a series of articles analyzing some of the most popular MBA interview questions and how to best respond to them. In this post, we’ll address “Why This MBA Program?“:

Reason for asking the question:
To gauge the sincerity with which the candidate is approaching the school.

How to prepare:
You need to make sure you show that your reasons for applying to the program go well beyond the obvious reputation, location, or network. Your job in answering this question is to convey your sincere enthusiasm for the school. You need to be as specific as possible. Appropriate topics for a convincing response:

  • Unique curriculum necessary to reach your goals.
  • Faculty you are excited to learn from.
  • School clubs or organizations you are particularly passionate about joining.
  • Components of the program that intrigue you – study abroad, entrepreneurship project, etc.
  • Aspects of your visit to the school (provided you have had the chance to visit) that really got you excited about being a part of the community – classroom environment, conversations with students, admissions officers, or other prospective students.
Important things to remember:
When preparing your answer, select aspects that are unique to the program, and make sure your answer isn’t one that could be valid for other schools you are looking at. Hopefully this is an easy question for you to answer since you are legitimately excited at the prospect of attending the school.

Additional things to consider:
If the school is not a top choice, you still need to do the job of convincing your interviewer that it makes sense to offer you admission, and if admitted there would be a decent chance you would attend. Even if this is a “safety school,” you need to be respectful of the school and interviewer.

Nervous about your upcoming interview(s)? We’d be delighted to help. Our MBA admissions consultants have a combined experience of 100+ years working either within an MBA admissions office or as a consultant. We know what it takes to be successful in your interviews, and we’d love to work with you to bring out your best self when interview day comes. Check out our interview services here, and contact us today!




Jen Weld worked as an admissions consultant and Former Asst. Dir. of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program (4 years) prior to joining Accepted. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing. Want Jen to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
 

Related Resources:

• Prepare for your Interview with an MBA Admissions Pro!

• The Morphing and Multiplying MBA Interview

• 5 Steps to Follow After You Receive Your MBA Interview Invite

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International Student Financing Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   18 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: International Student Financing Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make



While you’ll spend a lot of your pre-study time preparing your applications, it’s never too early to cast an eye on your finances. They’re a big part of international study and it’s easy to become confused or – even or worse – backed into a corner you don’t want to be in.

A little time spent now will help you avoid these top four mistakes.

Mistake #1: Confusing APR and the interest rate on international student loans
Obviously, you want the best loan for your unique situation. This might mean pursuing the one with the lowest total cost or perhaps one that disburses the funds directly to your university. The choice is yours, of course, but you’ll need to know what your metrics are before comparing loans with one another.

But, one thing you don’t want to do is compare offers based on interest rates alone; these figures don’t account for the full cost of your loan – interest rates totally ignore the associated fees. The offer with the better interest rate may end up more expensive when you factor in fees.

It’s best to use the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of a loan as this figure includes the fees as well as the interest rate. Understanding the APR may be second nature for students from some countries as it’s legally mandated as a means of protecting borrowers, but if you’re unsure of what APR is or how to calculate it, take a moment to educate yourself before making a costly mistake.

Mistake #2: Under-budgeting or only using the school’s CoA to develop your budget
Universities are keen to attract international talent, and they’ll certainly do what they can to assist you in developing a budget and finding the financing to get a visa and attend their programme. In fact, it’s a legal requirement for universities in the United States to provide a Cost of Attendance (CoA). And, these figures are a great start when creating your budget.

But, you shouldn’t adopt the university’s CoA without doing some research on your own. Often, their figures are the bare minimum, and it’s tough to find the lowest rates on everything, all the time, without sacrificing your international and education experiences.

Spend time thinking about how you would like to live and find accurate figures to reflect your lifestyle. That might include the type of accommodation, the transportation available, and how many times you can afford to eat out during a week, month, or year.

It’s a mistake only to find the minimum funds needed to secure your visa as you’ll end up paying for it later when you need to borrow extra money or forego the experiences you were most looking forward to.

Mistake #3: Forgetting about the hassle of transfer times and fees
There is nothing worse than missing a payment date and being charged extra for it – especially when the delay wasn’t your fault; but it’s still your responsibility.

If you accept a student loan, whether it’s from a bank in your home country, one in your host country, or from an international student loan provider like Prodigy Finance, you need to know precisely where the money is going to and when it will be there. If you receive a range rather than a date, you’ll need to account for this and finalise your loan early enough to avoid late fees.

Keep in mind that receiving money from your home country (whether it’s from the bank, your employer, or your parents) will also have transfer times. Often, the easiest is a local deposit in your home country that you can withdraw through your credit/debit card in your host country.

No matter where it’s coming from and where it’s going to, you should expect some fees, and you’ll need to understand them and budget for them. It’s one of the simplest ways to stay on budget during your studies.

Mistake #4: Waiting too long to apply for international student loans
Visas take time – sometimes much longer than you think.

To get a student visa to the UK, for example, you’ll need to have the funds you need in your account for 28 consecutive days in the 31 days before you apply for your visa. That’s time you’ll spend waiting.

In the US, you need to prove to your school that you have the financing you need before they issue you with the paperwork you need before you can apply for your student visa. And, of course, visa processing itself requires time.

One of the reasons students wait to apply for loans is that they’re waiting to hear about scholarships and other sources of funding. And, this is a mistake as it can throw off timings.

It’s often better to secure the financing needed first; if scholarships come in later, you can use the extra money to make a repayment towards your loan. Or, if you choose a Prodigy Finance loan, you can reduce your loan amount before its disbursement to your school (which occurs according to its deadlines).

Either way, you don’t want to wait to get your finances in order – and while GMAT or GRE prep may be taking up a lot of time now, you don’t want to put the money off for too long.

Want to know more about Prodigy Finance? Learn more on their website here.

Not sure how you’ll gather the funds to pay for your international education? Attend our upcoming webinar, How Will You Fund Your International Graduate Degree, presented by the experts over at Prodigy Finance, to learn the steps you need to take to make your graduate dreams financially feasible. Reserve your spot and mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 24 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET.  Register now! 




Katie studied human rights and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Kent State University while working with NGOs in Geneva, Switzerland. Although she has since settled in South Africa, with work towards a Masters in Forced Migration through the University of the Witswatersrand, nothing stops her from being a proud American. Although writing is often solitary work, Katie has been part of the Prodigy Finance Team as the Content Specialist since 2013. She also loves rugby, sloppy Mexican food and Tudor history which means you could find her in any section of a bookstore.

Related Resources:

• What are Interest Rates and APR? (And Why are They Important?)

• Grad School Applicants: Think About Funding NOW

• Having Trouble Securing a Loan for Your International MBA?

* This blog post is sponsored by our friends at Prodigy Finance

Tags: Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions

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Yale School of Management Executive MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   19 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Yale School of Management Executive MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines



Yale School of Management’s Executive MBA fully reflects the character of the SOM and more broadly of Yale University: intensive community, holistic perspective, intellectual vigor, and real-world engagement and impact. Its unique “areas of focus” approach is central to its approach; it is not for everyone, but for the right people, it will be perfect. Make sure you are in the latter category before applying – and, if you are, in that case allow this approach to organically drive your application. Carefully review the website, read the blog, and, if possible, interact with the adcom by visiting the school and/or attending an info session. I strongly recommend obtaining the offered pre-assessment. These efforts should inform your essays and will help you convey fit.

Yale School of Management Executive MBA Application Essays:
Yale SOM EMBA Essay #1
Why have you selected your chosen area of focus? How do your professional and personal experiences and future goals align with your chosen area of focus? How will the Yale MBA for Executives program help you achieve these goals? (500 words maximum)

Yale’s EMBA program is unusual in that it involves a significant emphasis on specific “areas of focus,” which students typically work on in year 2. In the essay, integrate your reason for selecting your area of focus with your discussion of goals and how the Yale EMBA will help you achieve them.

With only 500 words to answer this multi-part question, keep the structure simple. I suggest starting with your professional goals, including both “what” (what industry, function, positions, perhaps geographies) and “why” (what motivates these goals, what footprint do you hope to have, what is your “vision for your career).

The question has an interesting twist in asking about your personal goals. These can be personal growth areas and/or explorations you wish to make for personal interest. They may or may not be directly connected to your professional goals. Most people will, understandably and appropriately, devote more space to the professional goals. But DO discuss personal goals as well. This part of the question aligns with Yale’s holistic perspective and is important for fit.

In discussing how the program will benefit you, be specific: describe what skills and knowledge you seek, and how the program will provide it. Yale’s “areas of focus” approach is unique; make your essay convey how and why this approach is ideal for your needs.

Yale SOM EMBA Essay #2
Cite a statistic that you find shocking. What actions could be taken to address this challenge? (500 words maximum)

You might at first reasonably think that you should choose a statistic strategically linked to your career goals in some way. Or that will show some distinctive area of knowledge or experience you possess. Well, maybe. Or maybe not.

Just picking some random statistic that you really did find shocking when you heard it might be a bit scary for an MBA essay. I’ve seen it work. Why? Think about Yale SOM’s intellectual dimension. They appreciate people who are open to intellectual exploration and find interest in the world around them. In this question, the Yale SOM adcom is truly interested in the quality of your thinking and your curious nature, not just how advantageously you can portray your existing interests.

What triggers your “shock”? And in determining what actions could be taken to address the issue, how do you approach it? Where do you look for answers, how do you synthesize your findings? How do you assess the viability of possible solutions? Your essay should show these elements.

Your topic may be known to you already – or it may be totally new. Regardless, the best essays in answer to this question will present freshness of inquiry, willingness to look at something new or in a new way, openness to considering steps that could be taken – you needn’t have the perfect answer; you should share the process of exploration.

Yale SOM EMBA Essay #3 (Optional)
If any aspect of your candidacy needs further explanation (unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, academic performance, promotions or recognitions, etc.), please provide a brief description here. (200 words maximum)

Use this space if you have an extenuating issue to address or a point that needs clarification. It is not an invitation to to write a whole new essay that goes beyond providing context.

For expert guidance with your Yale School of Management Executive MBA application, check out Accepted’s MBA Application Packages, which include comprehensive guidance from an experienced admissions consultant. We’ve helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to Yale SOM’s EMBA program and look forward to helping you too!

Yale SOM EMBA Application Deadlines for January 2019 Intake

Submission Deadline

Round 1
November 13, 2018

Round 2
January 29, 2019

Round 3
April 9, 2019

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with individual programs to verify the essay questions, instructions and deadlines.***




Cindy Tokumitsu has advised hundreds of successful applicants, helping them gain acceptance to top MBA and EMBA programs in her 15+ years with Accepted. She would love to help you too. Want Cindy to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
 

Related Resources:

• A Lot About Yale SOM’s EMBA Program, a podcast episode

• School-Specific EMBA Application Essay Questions

• Executive MBA Applicants: 4 Immediate Action Items

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Personal Statement Tip: Less is More [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   19 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Personal Statement Tip: Less is More



Most of us have heard the saying “less is more,” but how many of us put it into practice when it counts? Your application essays are the perfect forum for reaping the benefits of this deceptively simple principle.

What does “less is more” really mean?
It’s the idea that we must resist our natural tendencies to overplay our hands, to choose complexity over simplicity, to include unnecessary details, to say what needn’t be said, to be redundant…See what I did there? Often, more information is of less value in getting your point across.

Every day we have multiple opportunities to explain ourselves, demonstrate our skills, or express something: speaking in class or at a meeting for work; trying to convince our friends, colleagues, parents, or children of something; or texting or tweeting when you just want to make your point fast.

How do you apply this principle to your MBA applications?
Here are three key areas to practice less is more:

  • Open-ended essays
    From personal statements to MBA goals essays, being focused and concise is essential. Focus on key details on your work experience, fit with the program, and lessons learned. DO NOT repeat the question or include vague generalizations. For example, there’s no need to state the obvious such as: “You asked about my goals, so in this space I will tell you about my goals” or “Each of us faces many key decisions in our lives.” At best, admissions committees, who read far too many generic essays, will just gloss over these parts. At worst they will see them as evidence that you don’t express yourself in a compelling way. Also, don’t succumb to “pack-it-in-itis” and try to stuff fifteen different stories in these longer essays. Pick the two or three most powerful stories about your experience and/or goals, and polish those until they shine.

  • Interviews
    The same principle applies here, especially because our tendency to include the unnecessary is amplified by anxiety. A perfect example concerns the dreaded “Walk me through your resume” request. When we practice this with our MBA clients, over 90% of them start by telling us where they went to college and what their major was, then more or less read their resumes, sometimes point by point, often taking close to 10 minutes. Huge mistake. A much better – and simpler – approach is to say something like, “My resume shows that I have a strong engineering background, with professional experience that has focused increasingly on business-related problem-solving and leadership.” Then proceed to illustrate each of those three main points with select, high-impact details from the resume. Two or three minutes, tops. Less is more.

  • Additional information essays
    These are the essays typically used to explain weaknesses: low GPAs; poor test scores; gaps on the resume. Here again our fear of leaving out key information often compels us to include too much, thus diluting the answer. Don’t start this essay with something like, “Your school has very high academic standards, and I know you prefer that students meet these standards. My grades and test scores are below the standard, so here I wish to explain why and hope that you will not hold these against me.” Too long. Too wordy. Too much information. Instead, remember that less is more and go straight to the main point: “My GPA and GMAT score do not adequately reflect my academic capabilities.” Then use key information, including numbers (a particularly effective way to practice less is more), to back up your claim.

Using less is more is a smart way to impress admissions committees and ultimately end up with more options for graduate school. We can help you focus your essays, trim them back, or help you from the very beginning – check out our catalog of application services here.





 

Related Resources:

• 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Personal Statement

• How to Stay Within Essay Word Limits by Reducing Verbal Verbosity

• What 3 Essential Ingredients Must You Include in Your Statement of Purpose?

Tags: Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions

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Wharton Receives Largest Gift Ever [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   21 Oct 2018, 09:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Wharton Receives Largest Gift Ever



According to a Wharton press release, Marc J. Rowan and Carolyn Rowan have pledged $50 million to the Wharton School to entice and keep world-class faculty and provide funding for the University of Pennsylvania’s economic policy program, Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM). Poets & Quants reports that this pledge is part of Wharton’s More Than Ever fundraising campaign, which has already raised $679,976,855 (68%) toward its goal of $1 billion. The campaign began in 2013, and will run through 2021.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Rowan are Wharton alumni, and Mr. Rowan serves as chair of Wharton’s Board of Overseers, is a Penn Trustee, and is co-chair of the More Than Ever campaign.

The gift will allow Wharton to recruit three Rowan Distinguished Professors, who are world-renowned leaders in their disciplines. They are expected to serve as inspiration to students and faculty and make connections between academic and business worlds. Wharton will also select several Rowan Fellows for five-year terms to acknowledge and aid Wharton’s most distinguished faculty in their pursuit of innovative research and teaching.

Mr. Rowan credits Wharton faculty’s commitment to cutting edge business education with his success. This is not the Rowan’s first gift to Wharton and UPenn. Besides supporting Wharton, they have donated to the Institute of Contemporary art, the football program, and Penn Medicine’s Basser Center for BRCA, among others. He stated, “Carolyn and I are honored to join the vision of the Wharton community and to bring the School’s outstanding students face to face with the most important thinkers of our time. As top Wharton researches advance and shape their fields, they transform the lives of their students, preparing them to make a difference in the business world and beyond.”

Marc J. Rowan is a co-founder and Senior Managing Director of Apollo Global Management, LLC, a leading alternative asset manager concentrating on contrarian and value-oriented investments using private equity, credit-oriented capital markets, insurance, and real estate. Mr. Rowan graduated Summa Cum Laude from Wharton with a BS and an MBA in Finance.

Do you need help getting into Wharton or any other top business school? Explore our MBA Admissions Consulting Services and work one-on-one with an expert advisor who will help you get ACCEPTED.





 

Related Resources:

• Best MBA Programs: A Guide to Selecting the Right One, a free guide

• Wharton MBA Class Profile 2019

• Wharton MBA Application Essay Tips & Deadlines

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GMAC Releases Latest Report…and the News is Not Good for U.S. Programs [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   22 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: GMAC Releases Latest Report…and the News is Not Good for U.S. Programs



The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC)’s most recent annual Application Trends Survey shows a marked decrease in applications to U.S. business schools. It also discusses where MBA students are choosing to study.

A Drop in U.S. Applications
GMAC’s survey of 336 graduate-and doctoral-level programs showed 466,112 applications during the 2018 application round. This is down almost 7% from last year, and includes a 1.8% decrease in domestic applications, as well as a 10.5% decline in international apps. The majority of U.S. programs (53%) in the GMAC survey stated that their number of applications went down. This includes almost 70% of full-time two-year MBA programs.

Despite the drop in U.S. applications, the GMAC survey showed global stability in the number of applications worldwide. Asia-Pacific programs reported an 8.9% increase, while applications were up 7% in Canada and 3.2% in Europe.

The news within the U.S. is just the opposite. Fifty-eight percent of U.S. full-time programs – including one-year programs – stated that their application volume decreased in 2018. This is the second highest percentage of schools reporting a decline since 2004, when 76% of programs saw declines.

Why the Drop?
According to Sangeet Chowfla, President and CEO of GMAC, there are several reasons for the U.S. decline, including the low rate of unemployment, which indicates that “young professionals have an increased opportunity cost of leaving their jobs in pursuit of an advanced degree.” In addition, “a disruptive American political environment and the emergence over the past decade of tremendous educational and professional opportunities abroad also contributed to the dip. Together, these factors explain “why demand in the United States has dropped from previously record-high application volumes at some schools.”

Another factor in the decline may be access to employment after the MBA, according to Duke University’s Fuqua School’s dean and chairperson of the GMAC board of directors, Bill Boulding. “Economic indicators in the U.S. are strong, but if we are to maintain such growth and productivity we need to make it possible for people from all different regions and backgrounds to study and work in the location they desire. If that doesn’t happen, we limit not only the possibility of an individual, but also continued economic prosperity in the U.S. and growth around the world.”

Looking Forward
Although the statistics look grim, this trend is not taking place at the top-tier schools. Smaller schools that relied heavily on international admissions are changing their recruitment strategies to go after more U.S. students. If the trend continues, they may need to find more creative ways of attracting students, which may include increasing scholarships for admitted students. Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in Nashville is offering one-on-one counseling to prospective students, and getting help from students and alumni to link up with applicants to talk about their Vanderbilt experience. Vanderbilt plans on remaining a small program, and is selective in their admissions. They look for students that have the best fit, and will thrive there.

The GMAC survey was conducted from early June to mid-July, 2018. The results are based on worldwide replies from 1.087 graduate business programs at 363 universities. Programs included in the survey are in 44 countries, including 43 states and the District of Columbia. MBA, business master’s, and PhD programs were included. Nine out of 10 programs stated that their applicants this year are equally or more academically competent that applicants last year.

Check out our MBA admissions consulting services for the one-on-one guidance you need to submit MBA applications that get you accepted!





 

Related Resources:

• Best MBA Programs: A Guide to Selecting the Right One, a free guide

• , a podcast episode

• Business School Selectivity Index, discover the schools where you are competitive

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Webinar on Funding a Graduate Degree Abroad: LIVE ON WEDNESDAY! [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   22 Oct 2018, 10:01
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FROM Accepted.com Blog: Webinar on Funding a Graduate Degree Abroad: LIVE ON WEDNESDAY!



Have you reserved your spot for our upcoming webinar, How to Fund Your International Graduate Degree?

If you want to learn how to pay for graduate school as a student studying in a foreign country, then you’ll want to tune in on Wednesday, October 24th at 10am PT/1pm ET for Prodigy Finance’s IMPORTANT webinar.

Need to save money? Need to pay the bills? Need to pay for graduate school? Learn how on Wednesday!

REGISTER for How to Fund Your International Graduate Degree now!

Register Now:



Tags: Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions

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