Last visit was: 27 Jul 2024, 07:10 It is currently 27 Jul 2024, 07:10
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
Unanswered
Active Topics
New posts
New comers' posts
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

Accepted MBA Updates

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
   1  ...  14   15   16   17   18  ...  123   
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
Notre Dame Mendoza 2015 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   25 Nov 2014, 11:01
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: Notre Dame Mendoza 2015 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines

Notre Dame Mendoza

You need to clearly convey to the Mendoza adcom that you have what it takes to be an effective leader—an integrated mind, a broad perspective, tenacity, and heart. Use your career experiences, your career goals, and your personal values to help you demonstrate these key elements.

Essays:

Your response to the essay questions is extremely important in the selection process. Create a file for your essay and include your name on each page. Your essay should be typed, double-spaced, and no longer than 2 pages.

1. Your responsibility as a lifelong member of the Mendoza community is to Ask More of Business – to exemplify individual integrity, organizational excellence, and a concern for the greater good. How do you plan to do this in your professional career?

This is a question asking you to show that you belong in the Mendoza community with the emphasis that it puts on service and ethics, as well as organizational leadership. There are different ways to approach this question. Here are two possibilities:

1. Present an experience that shows you demonstrating managerial ability, integrity, and a concern for the greater good or a commitment to service. Tell that story and then analyze what you learned from the experience. How did your understanding of these essential (for Mendoza) values evolve as a result of this event. How do you intend to apply that understanding and those lessons in the future?

2. Use three different experiences to show each of the qualities that Mendoza is looking for and weave them together with a unifying themes. Then again, take the lessons you learned from these different experiences and show how you intend to use them going forward.

With the first the first approach is you can go into greater depth, both about the experience and what you learned, but you may have trouble defining such an experience. With the second approach, you risk a travelogue type of approach, but it may work better in terms of the three values.

In both cases, make sure you answer the question about how you intend to fulfill your responsibility as a member of the Mendoza community in the future.

2. Slideshow Presentation

• Effective business communication is a central skill for managers and visual presentations are an important and frequent method of communication. Demonstrate your ability to clearly, concisely and persuasively communicate important information by telling us about yourself using a short slide presentation.

• Please consider the following guidelines when creating your presentation.

• You are free to cover any material about yourself that you think would be of value to the Admissions Committee.

• Please use whatever software programs you like to develop your presentation but note that the only acceptable formats for upload in the online application system is Adobe PDF.

• There is a strict maximum of four slides, though you can provide fewer than four if you choose.

• The slides that you submit will be printed and added to your application file for review by the Admissions Committee. As a result, only text and static images will be seen. Videos, music, hyperlinks, etc will not be conveyed and should not be included. Color may be used.

• Your goal is to clearly, concisely and persuasively convey key information. Slides will be evaluated on these dimensions and not on graphic or presentation elements.

• Notes pages will not be accepted. You should plan to convey your entire message on the actual slides themselves.

• To assist MBA Applicants with the development of their slide presentation, please consult .

Think strategically here. What do you want the admissions reader to know about you that isn’t found elsewhere in the application and can be presented well visually. Usually hobbies and non-professional experiences are good topics for this kind of question, but the key is that the experience or achievement can be presented graphically in four slides.

3. Supplemental Essay Instructions

The Notre Dame MBA Admissions Committee will accept supplemental essays from applicants who wish to provide additional information that has not been captured within other areas of the application.

For example, applicants with low undergraduate GPA’s may address any circumstances surrounding their performance or applicants who have been dismissed from school may want to consider addressing that issue. Also, if you want to explain your work history in greater detail, please use the Supplemental Essay to provide us with a chronology of your work history.

If you are a re-applicant, you must complete a Supplemental Essay outlining your activities since you last applied.

Ultimately, we will accept supplemental essays on any topic that you feel is important to the Committee and not explained fully within other portions of the application.

Please keep all submissions to one page, typed and double-spaced.

Again, the response to this MBA essay should complement the other essays and information found in your application. In my view, this essay is optional in name only. If you are impressive enough to get into Notre Dame, you should have more to say than can be captured in the required goals essay and the slide presentation.

If you are a reapplicant, the key question to address: How has your candidacy improved since you last applied?  An improved GMAT is easy to point to, if you have it, but don’t limit it to that. Be sure to discuss increases in responsibility on and off the job, a sharpened career goal, a community service initiative, or anything else that reflects well on you and hasn’t been discussed in the other essays.

If you would like professional guidance with your Notre Dame Mendoza MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our  MBA Application Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the Notre Dame Mendoza MBA application.

Notre Dame Mendoza 2015 MBA Application Deadlines:

 Application Deadline
Decision Notification 

Early Action
 September 8, 2014
 October 10, 2014

1
 October 13, 2014
 December 5, 2014

2
 January 12, 2015
 February 20, 2015

3
 February 23, 2015
 April 2, 2015






By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business SchoolsHow to Prove Character Traits in Essays

• Leadership in Admission

• From Music to MBA: IV with a Notre Dame Mendoza Student

Tags: 2015 MBA Application, MBA Admissions, Notre Dame Mendoza
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
How to Trap the Adcom in Your Love Snare – Register NOW! [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   25 Nov 2014, 15:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: How to Trap the Adcom in Your Love Snare – Register NOW!
On Wednesday, December 3rd at 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET, we will be hosting an exciting webinar, 5 Ways to Make Top B-Schools Love You.



If you want to create a b-school application that will make the adcom swoon, then you won’t want to miss this event!

During the FREE webinar, we will be offering specific advice on how to convince top b-school adcom that their next MBA class simply NEEDS you in order to thrive by creating an application that will take their breath away!



Reserve your spot for 5 Ways to Make Top B-Schools Love You now!



Tags: MBA Admissions, webinar
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
The Test Prep Guru Speaks [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   26 Nov 2014, 14:01
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: The Test Prep Guru Speaks
In honor of Thanksgiving, we’ve decided to repost one of the podcast episodes that our listeners have been most grateful for.

If you didn’t hear it the first time or you just want to review, now is the perfect time to listen to our highly informative (and super-popular) interview with Bhavin Parikh, CEO and founder of Magoosh, the leading online test prep company for the SAT, GRE, GMAT, and TOEFL.



*Theme music is courtesy of podcastthemes.com.

Related Links:

• Magoosh

• The Hansoo Lee Fellowship

• How to Put Your Best Foot Forward on Test Day

• How to Get Accepted to B-School with a Low GMAT Score

Related Shows:

• The GMAT Score Preview and Application Boxes

• The GMAT, the GRE, and the Guy Who Knows them Well

• Which Graduate Schools Should You Apply To?

Subscribe to Admissions Straight Talk:


     

Tags: Admissions Straight Talk, College Admissions, GMAT, Grad School Admissions, GRE, Magoosh, MBA Admissions, podcast, SAT, TOEFL
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
MBA Interview Nice-To-Know #5: Your Interviewer [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   26 Nov 2014, 14:01
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: MBA Interview Nice-To-Know #5: Your Interviewer

“MBA Interview Nice-To-Know #5: Your Interviewer” is excerpted from the Accepted.com special report, How to Ace Your MBA Interviews. To download the entire free special report, click here.

In the words of a Columbia applicant who was asked “was there something you wish you had known ahead of time?”:

Yes – I wish I had known more about the interviewer: what company she worked for, her role in the organization, her seniority, etc. That would have helped me mentally prepare for the kind of person I would be speaking to and be able to relate to her better.

If you have your interviewer’s name, Google him or her and try to glean a little information about this person so you can connect better on an interpersonal level. If you don’t know your interviewer’s name or simply can’t find it on the Internet, don’t sweat it. It isn’t a must.

Nationally recognized career coach Dr. Lois Frankel advises job applicants before a job interview to remember that, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” I am a firm believer in that adage.





Related Resources:

• Preparing for Behavioral and General Interview Questions, a short video.

• Seven Tips for MBA Interview Prep

• MBA Admissions According to an Expert

Tags: Ace Your MBA Interviews Series, MBA Admissions, MBA Interview, special report
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
London Business School 2015 MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   28 Nov 2014, 11:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: London Business School 2015 MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines

The LBS essay questions get right to the point, covering the core factors and that’s it – no nonsense, no meandering, no excess verbiage in the questions – therefore, ensure there’s none in your essays. Although succinct, these two questions, together, create a well-rounded picture of your candidacy: who you are as a professional (including past experience and future goals) and who you are as a person more broadly (in ways that are relevant to and will enhance LBS). In answering each question, keep in mind the picture that they create together. Note that the London Business School has historically been very concerned about your contribution and fit, and these essays continue that emphasis.

Essays:

1. What are your post-MBA plans and how will your past experience and the London Business School programme contribute? (500 words)

A solid, user-friendly, and effective structure for this essay starts with an intriguing fact, anecdote, or quote. This opening should relate to your goals and engage the reader. Then detail your post-MBA plans, focusing more on the practical aspects and the short-term phase.

For the second part of the question, either (a) weave in salient points from your career as you delineate your goals or (b) discuss the relevant past experience in a separate paragraph, whichever works best for you. Then add a paragraph addressing specific aspects of the LBS program that support your plans.

2. How will you add value to the London Business School community? (300 words)

Identify and describe two to three distinctive points (can be professional or non-work, but at least one should be professional) that show the adcom what you’ll contribute to the program. Show how they’ll add value by specific anecdote and/or detail. In doing so, consider the LBS culture. This short essay is a way to demonstrate your appreciation of the program’s culture, values, and personality, so address those factors in discussing how you will add value.  

3. (Optional).  Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School? (300 words)

You can use the optional essay not just to explain a problem (e.g. low GMAT, employment gap, choice of recommender) but also to present new material that you think will enhance your application.  However, if you are making the adcom read more than is required, there should be a good reason. First, succinctly explain any points that need explaining.  Then, if there is something you feel is important that you haven’t had a chance to discuss elsewhere, write about it, noting why it’s important for your application.

London Business School 2015 Application Deadlines:

Stage
Application deadline
Interview decision sent on
Admission decision sent on

 2
05 January 2015
 05 February 2015
 26 March 2015

 3
27 February 2015
 02 April 2015
 14 May 2015

 4
17 April 2015
 21 May 2015
 25 June 2015




By Cindy Tokumitsu, author and co-author of numerous ebooks, articles, and special reports, including Why MBA and Best MBA Programs: A Guide to Selecting the Right One. Cindy has advised hundreds of successful applicants in her fifteen years with Accepted.com.

Related Resources:

• School Specific MBA Application Essay Tips

• More BW Rankings: Best International B-Schools 2014

• 4 Ways to Show the Adcom How You’ll Contribute in the Future

Tags: 2015 MBA Application, London Business School, MBA Admissions
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
MBA Interview with Stanford MSx Student Erik Moon [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   28 Nov 2014, 12:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: MBA Interview with Stanford MSx Student Erik Moon

This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at top MBA programs. And now for a chat with Erik Moon, a recent graduate from Stanford MSx.

Accepted: First, can you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? Where did you go to business school?



Erik: First of all, I’m a bit older than the typical MBA student. I’m in my early 40s and have nearly 20 years of experience in product management, project management and operations in telecom, data centers and corporate IT. I’ve spent about half my career in Silicon Valley and the other half in Northern Virginia – so the two primary schools I was interested in were UVA / Darden and Stanford GSB.

I did my undergrad (BS Economics) as well as a masters degree (MS Information Systems) at George Washington University in Washington DC. I just graduated (2014) from the Stanford MSx program (previously known as the Sloan Fellows program). It is a full-time one-year program for experienced professionals. The summer / fall quarters are spent taking mostly core classes (like an MBA 1st year) and the winter / spring quarters are mostly electives (like an MBA 2nd year).

Accepted: What’s the difference between Stanford Sloan and Stanford’s MSx degree? 

Erik: Same thing… The Sloan program has almost 60 years of history as a degree program for experienced professionals. The program has changed significantly in the last few years to make the curriculum more flexible and incorporate the opportunity for many more electives than in years past. It is a 4-quarter full-time degree program, so Stanford doesn’t like to call it an EMBA – so students are not able to continue work while taking classes, but many students (approx 30%) are sponsored by their employers.

Accepted: What is your favorite thing about Stanford? And if you could change one thing about the program, what would it be?

Erik: That is a huge question! My favorite thing about Stanford has to be the optimism – the students all expect to be doing great things some day. People don’t come to Stanford just to slowly climb into middle management. The GSB motto – Change lives. Change organizations. Change the world. – is not an exaggeration…

If I could change one thing, I would want to increase awareness of the MSx program. It is a hidden gem that many people have simply never heard of in their b-school search. I think the branding (not wanting to call the program an EMBA) makes it very confusing. When mid-career applicants ask if Stanford GSB has an EMBA, the first answer is “NO” – then these applicants simply look elsewhere. But if they ask the right question – “Does Stanford GSB have a mid-career graduate business degree program?” – they would find the best “executive-level” business degree at the best b-school in the world.

Accepted: Can you share some advice to incoming students, to help make their adjustment to b-school easier? What do you wish you would’ve known when you started the program?

Erik: Since it is only a 1-year program, it is important to understand exactly what you want to get out of your short time on campus and quickly figure out how to get it. It requires a lot of initiative and focus when there are lots of life changes and distractions all around. You can’t sit back and expect all the good things to come to you – students need to actively seek opportunities and grab it.

That said, Stanford GSB has an acronym – FOMO. Fear Of Missing Out – there are so many events, clubs, guest speakers, presentations, brown-bag-lunches and other things happening that it is really easy to get frustrated or swamped. You have to come to the realization that you will never be able to attend everything. Again, important to quickly determined what you will get the best value for your time and prioritize!

Accepted: Can you tell us about Stanford’s unusual six-point grading system?

Erik: I blogged about this here: https://sloanlife.com/2014/08/02/gsb-grades-the-elusive-h/

Bottom line: Get your highest possible marks as early as possible and anchor your GPA nice and high while you’re taking relatively straightforward core classes. This affords you the freedom to later take classes you WANT to take and not worry at all about the grades.

Accepted: Were you involved in any clubs on campus? How central to student life is club involvement?

Erik: Not at all central, but the clubs are great ways to find other students with similar interests (and usually get a lot of free food / beer). I mostly spent my time with Entrepreneurship Club and High Tech Club. Participation is completely optional and you could certainly get by with never attending a club event…

Accepted: Now that you’ve graduated, what are you up to?

Erik: I’m currently working on a startup – Hinted.com – we’re building a platform for personal and professional feedback.

Accepetd: Looking back, what was the most challenging aspect of the b-school admissions process? How did you approach that challenge and overcome it?

Erik: I should have gotten off my ass and applied sooner… I could easily have done this 3-4 years ago… The GMATs were a perfect excuse for me to procrastinate. In retrospect, should have just bitten the bullet a long time ago when the quant material was a lot more fresh in my mind.

Accepted: Do you have any other advice for our business school applicant readers?

Erik: Apply to the best school you know you will get into first (and that you would be willing to go to) – and apply early! This will take off all the pressure. Once you have this acceptance, you can go pursue the dream schools top down, instead of inching upwards. This is the approach I took – I first applied to UVA Darden GEMBA and was accepted. I was completely willing to take that program – but then I started realizing that maybe I should try getting into more exclusive programs. I applied to Stanford MSx and intended to apply to Wharton San Francisco. I was accepted into Stanford and didn’t even have to fill out another application.

Also, if you want to go to a top school, don’t even bother applying until you can post a 700 GMAT or better. The application process is simply too competitive.

You also need to distinguish yourself in some way. You can have a 750 GMAT, a 3.9 GPA and great work experience and not look like an interesting candidate. Find something interesting about yourself where you can truly say that you have world-class talent / skills / experience to differentiate yourself.

Don’t hold back – you are your own best advocate – your b-school application is not the time for modesty (but don’t lie either). Demonstrate how you will take what Stanford (or other school) will give you and leverage that to give back to the community.

For one-on-one guidance on your b-school application, please see our MBA Application Packages. 

You can read more about Erik’s b-school journey by checking out his blog, Sloan Life. Thank you Erik for sharing your story with us – we wish you loads of luck!





Related Resources:

• The Stanford MSx Program for Experienced Leaders

• What Stanford is Looking for: Personal Qualities and Contributions

• Stanford GSB 2015 MBA Questions, Deadlines, Tips

Tags: EMBA, MBA Admissions, MBA Student Interviews, Stanford GSB
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
5 Ways to Make Top B-Schools Love You [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   01 Dec 2014, 12:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: 5 Ways to Make Top B-Schools Love You
Your admissions goal: to convince the adcom at your top choice b-school that love at first sight DOES exist.



You CAN get them to fall in love with you instantly with the tips you’ll learn in Wednesday’s webinar, 5 Ways to Make Top B-Schools Love You.

You already know what a great catch you are. Now it’s time to learn how to convince the adcom that you’re made for each other. Register for 5 Ways to Make Top B-Schools Love Younow!  Spaces are running out!

The webinar will air live on Wednesday, December 3rd at 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET.





Tags: MBA Admissions, webinar
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
Boost Your Booth Acceptance Chances! [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   02 Dec 2014, 13:01
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: Boost Your Booth Acceptance Chances!
If you’re aiming for a Chicago Booth acceptance, then you won’t want to miss Get Accepted to Chicago Booth, a webinar that will walk you through the Booth application process.



The webinar will air live on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 10:00 AM PST/1:00 PM EST and will be presented by Accepted’s CEO and founder, Linda Abraham, who will teach you the key steps you MUST complete to gain acceptance to Booth.

The webinar is free but you must reserve your spot in advance! Register now for Get Accepted to Chicago Booth!





Tags: Chicago Booth, MBA Admissions, webinar
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
MBA Applicant Interview with ProGMAT [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   03 Dec 2014, 09:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: MBA Applicant Interview with ProGMAT
This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring interviews with MBA applicant bloggers, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at the MBA application process. And now…introducing our anonymous blogger, ProGMAT…

Accepted: We’d like to get to know you! Where are you from? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? What’s your favourite non-school book?

ProGMAT: I am 26 years old, and was born in a small town in North India. Being a son of a Sr. Bank Manager, I moved to different cities with my family and completed my schooling. I’ve completed my under-graduation (B.Tech) in Computer Science Engineering from a city away from my home in Northern India.

As I grew watching my father, how he managed a great number of staff under him, I always wanted to be like him and always tried to get the things done with better management. My interests are more of design, creativity, innovation, management and music. At my work, I always try to get the maximum amount of management work I can get other than my duties (coding, testing, etc.).

I have not read many books but the recent one was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I really liked it. It is great classic fiction with nice vocabulary to learn.

Accepted: What stage of the application process are you up to so far? 

ProGMAT: Currently I am studying for the GMAT and writing my story side by side. I am not rushing through the application process as I have less time to study for GMAT, and my target score is 720+.

Accepted: Where and when are you planning on applying to b-school? Are you applying to any safety schools?

ProGMAT: The sooner I complete my GMAT, the better my chances are to apply this year in Round 2 process. That is why for now my complete focus is on GMAT, but I am comfortable in applying next year. After my research on schools and course types, I have a list of schools to which I would be applying including Tuck and ISB. I will also apply to 3-4 additional schools within my range for safe side.

Tuck is the best school I have known so far according to my priorities and eligibility. I dream about being a Tuckie. So in my application process, my major focus would be on the Tuck application. And for ISB, it gives me various advantages above all in terms of investment and environment (a plus point for my career and future).

Accepted: What is your current job? Do you plan on staying in the same industry post-MBA or moving to something new? Where do you hope to be in 5-10 years from now? 

ProGMAT: Currently I’m working in a Fortune 500 Company as a software developer in India. I have a total of 3+ years of experience in coding as well as management. Post MBA I would change my industry. Basically I am looking for a Consultant badge under my profile. So my short term goal is to be at a Consultant position in Big 4 firms. And my long term goal is to open my own firm. It will be related to technology for sure, but depends on the position of the market.

Accepted: In your blog you talk about your GMAT game plan — can you share a few tips with our readers about how to prep for the GMAT?

ProGMAT: GMAT is not an exam to pass and score higher. It’s all about your time management and stress management. The best thing to do while attempting a question is to get into the situation and find the best solution as fast as possible. As it is a game of time and stress,  huge dedication is needed to get through it. The best thing you can do while preparing is practice, practice and practice.

A few tips:

1.  Study the basics by going deep and learning the concepts.

2.  Study the type of questions which come frequently on GMAT.

3.  Always time your practice questions. And always try to use the official material for practice.

4.  For SC, there is limited number of rules. Learn them and apply.

5.  For CR and RC, try to read the quality material and increase your reading speed with understanding.

6.  The more you focus on the current question, the less time you take to solve it. This makes better chances of your high score.

Accepted: Why did you decide to blog about your experience? What have you gained from the experience? What do you hope others will learn?

ProGMAT: When I started my GMAT circus, I thought it was just like another exam, but a few days later I realized that it’s not an exam but a game like marathon. I studied different blogs and found that most of the people were suffering with similar problems. So I decided to keep track of this important event of my life that would help me to be in line and would help others who are facing similar problems as I do.

What I gained is the timeline of my preparation as well as more focus on the mistakes that I made earlier. Additionally, I am a non-native English speaker, so writing a blog will help me gain knowledge on the writing side as well. And meeting the fellow blog writers who are going through the same situation always gives you confidence to move forward.

For one-on-one guidance on your b-school application, please see our MBA Application Packages.

You can read more about ProGMAT’s b-school journey by checking out his blog, Pro GMAT. Thank you for sharing your story with us – we wish you loads of luck!





Related Resources:


Tags: MBA Admissions, MBA applicant bloggers
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
10 Commandments of MBA Interviews Webinar Recording Available [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   03 Dec 2014, 12:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: 10 Commandments of MBA Interviews Webinar Recording Available
The 10 Commandments of MBA Interviews webinar aired live recently – were you lucky enough to catch it?

If you missed it, then you certainly missed a good one; but no worries – the webinar is now available on our site for instant viewing or download (for a limited time only).



Learn 10 indispensably tips that will help you ace your interviews when you view The 10 Commandments of MBA Interviews for FREE today!



Tags: MBA Admissions, MBA Interview
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
UVA Darden Executive MBA Essay Tip 2015 [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   04 Dec 2014, 11:01
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: UVA Darden Executive MBA Essay Tip 2015

Given that the Darden EMBA application presents only one essay question to answer, the balance of your application – the online form, the resume, the recommendations, the interview – all carry more weight than they do in most EMBA applications that contain several questions (usually including one pertaining to your goals).  The Darden EMBA application as a whole must show that you are at the appropriate level organizationally and have sufficient quantity and quality of experience to both benefit from the Darden EMBA and contribute substantially as a student and classmate.  Moreover, to be competitive you should also show that you are a high performer relative to peers.  This essay is a precious opportunity to give the adcom insight into you as an individual that will complement, enhance, and illuminate the other factual information in the application.

Question:

Describe the most courageous professional decision you have made or most courageous action you have taken at work. What did you learn from that experience? (500 words maximum)

“The most.”  This superlative requires that the decision or action you choose to describe be truly significant – to you to others, to the organization.  Big stakes.  “Courageous” – why this specific value out of all the possible ones?  Because the adcom is interested not just in what you did or decided, but in your perception of what is important and your values.  A recent story would be preferable, but if you need to go with an older story, in the reflection section show how it influences you to this day and give an example.  If you have several potential stories to possibly use, since there is only one essay, select the topic strategically, to best showcase elements of your experience that are not elaborated elsewhere and are impressive and/or distinctive.

Devote most of the essay to telling the story.  Conclude with the reflection about what you learned.  This learning should be meaningful and insightful – an effective discussion of the learning will show your ability to grow and to synthesize experience.

Deadlines:







By Cindy Tokumitsu, co-author of The EMBA Edge, and author of the free special report, Ace the EMBA. Cindy has helped MBA applicants get accepted to top EMBA programs around the world. She is delighted to help you too!

Tags: Darden EMBA, EMBA, MBA Admissions
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
Chicago Booth Profile: Class of 2016 [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   05 Dec 2014, 11:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: Chicago Booth Profile: Class of 2016

Let’s see who makes up Chicago Booth’s most recent incoming class, the class of 2016…

•  Average class size – 581

•  Average student age – 27.7 years

•  Average years work experience – 4.6

•  Average GMAT score – 724

•  Average GPA – 3.59

•  GPA range (mid-80%) – 3.2-3.9

•  Female students – 36%

•  Male students – 64%

•  S. minority students – 22%

•  International students – 36%

•  Countries represented – 55

Geographic representation:



Undergraduate majors:



Industries represented:



(Source: Chicago Booth’s Quick Snapshot: Class of 2016)





Related Resources:


Tags: Chicago Booth, MBA Admissions
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
QS Global TopMBA Rankings 2014 [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   06 Dec 2014, 23:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: QS Global TopMBA Rankings 2014
TopMBA’s new 2014/2015 global report ranks business programs according to geographic location based on surveys completed by 5,669 actively-hiring MBA employers and 7,187 academics in the field of business and management. (See more about the methodologyhere.)

Top 20 B-Schools in North America



Some highlights:

•  The top 10 remained virtually the same this year as last, with two rather large exceptions: Ross and Stern entered the top 10 scene from 12th place to 8th place for Ross and 12th place to 10th place for Stern. Losing top 10 stature this year were Duke Fuquawhich fell from 10th to 13th place and Toronto Rotman which fell from 8th to 14th.

•  There were three newcomers to the top 10 this year – NYU Stern (see above), Texas McCombs (29th last year to 19th this year), and BU School of Management (24th to 20th). HEC Montreal fell from the top 20 (16th place last year to 22nd this year), as did York Schulich (13th to 28th) and Queen’s School of Business (18th to 31st).

•  Big jumpers further down in the rankings include USC Marshall (42nd to 23rd), UC Irvine Merage (51st to 33rd), UC Davis (54th to 36th), Michigan State Broad (71st to 38th), UC San Diego Rady (61st to 40th), Ohio State Fisher (60th to 42nd), UT Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management (83rd to 45th), Washington Olin (83rd to 47th), and Minnesota Carlson (87th to 49th).

•  Big droppers include UVA Darden (28th to 37th), University of Miami School of Business Administration (32nd to 77th), Rutgers Business School (67th to 82nd), and Vanderbilt Owen (37th to 86th).

Top 20 B-Schools in Europe


Some highlights:

•  HEC Paris jumped from 10th place last year to 4th place this year and Cambridge Judge jumped from 13th to 10th place; otherwise, the top 10 in Europe remain pretty much the same. Copenhagen fell from the top 10, from 9th place last year to 12th place this year.

•  New to the top 20 this year are ESSEC (29th place to 16th place), Manchester Bossiness School (27th to 14th place), and European Business School (21st to 19th). Trinity MBA in Dublin fell from the top 20, from 12th place to 21st

•  UK programs dominate the 65 schools on the European list with 26 programs represented. This is followed by France (9), Spain (5), Switzerland (4), Germany (4), the Netherlands (4), Italy (3), Denmark (2), Ireland (2), Greece (2), Finland (1), Portugal (1), Turkey (1), and Belgium (1).

You can download the full report here.





Related Resources:

• Businessweek Rankings 2014

• 2014 Economist MBA Rankings

• MBA Rankings: Why Should I Care?

Tags: Chicago Booth, Columbia Business School, Duke Fuqua, Harvard Business School, MBA Admissions, McGIll University, Michigan Ross, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Rankings, Stanford GSB, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Toronto Rotman, UC Berkeley Haas, UCLA Anderson, Wharton, Yale SOM
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
NYU Stern Langone 2015 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   07 Dec 2014, 11:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: NYU Stern Langone 2015 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines

The Stern Langone part-time MBA essays, together, require you truly to “know thyself” — i.e., know yourself so well that you can zero right in on the essence of who you are and where you’re going without background explanation or elaborate contextualization. All the essays require one common quality, albeit in different ways: confidence. It takes confidence to assert your goals without a lot of backstory; to assert crisply your reason for a key decision – why you’re doing a part-time MBA; and to assert a core dimension of who you are as a unique and distinctive human being.

My tips are in blue below.

Basic Instructions: Please adhere to the essay word limits provided for each question. Word limits apply to the total question. For example, your response to Essay 2 should answer both part (a) and part (b) with a maximum of 250 words.

Label the top of each essay with the following: Name, Date of Birth (month, day, year), Essay Number and Page Number (e.g.: Joe Applicant, January 1, 1982, Essay 1, Page 1)

Essays:

1. Professional Aspirations (250 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)

What are your short and long-term career goals?

First, don’t even think about how to get everything you want into this MBA essay.  You can’t. Rather, ask yourself, “What are the few, key points I must have in this essay to both answer the question effectively and stand out?”  First, you need the details of your short- and long-term goals: positions and titles, company, industry, a sample of likely responsibilities you’ll hold.  Beyond that, to make the essay compelling, in one or two sentences convey your vision for your goals (the broader impact you’ll have) and your motivation for your goals – these elements are often intertwined.

One way you can fit in pertinent career information is to start the essay with your current position and weave it into your short-term goals.  After all, you will have goals within your current position while you’re earning your MBA – it doesn’t require a promotion or change of position to have a goal.

A simple structure works best: the first paragraph covering your short-term goals (possibly starting with where you are now); second paragraph long-term goals.  With this short essay you don’t need intro and concluding paragraphs, intro and concluding sentences will do.

2. Fit with Stern (250 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)

(a) Why have you chosen to pursue your MBA on a part-time basis?

(b) Earlier in your application, you indicated your Langone program preferences in rank order from among the choices below. Please explain your preferences.

• Manhattan – Weeknights

• Manhattan – Weekends

• Westchester – Weeknights

I suggest more depth and content for part A, and a straightforward, factual explanation for part B.

Part A probes your decision-making regarding the part-time option. The adcom wants to know that the reasons are affirmative and that the part-time program is your program of choice. This section also gives you a chance to further elaborate on your current work and its distinguishing aspects – presumably one reason you are pursuing the part-time program is because you are engaged in your work. In this section, focus on the key 2-3 reasons for a part-time MBA and discuss each briefly but thoughtfully. Don’t worry about having “unique” reasons – it’s your specific work and the insights you’ll bring from it that are unique. Caution: state positive, affirmative reasons; avoid reasons like can’t afford a full-time MBA, afraid to leave job, can’t get into a top-tier full-time program, etc. Positive reasons include wanting to stay in fascinating job/industry, excitement about applying learning in real-time, valuing studying alongside peers who are immersed in diverse industries and functions, etc.

Part B should be short and sweet; a couple of sentences will suffice, simply explaining in concrete, practical terms why you are choosing the particular program.

3. Personal Expression

Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use almost any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative.

If you will submit Essay 3 via mail, please provide a brief description of your submission and its relevance to your MBA application.

Please note the following guidelines and restrictions: If you submit a written essay, it should be 500 words maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font. If you submit a video or audio file, it should be five minutes maximum. If you submit a non-written piece (i.e., artwork or multimedia), please provide a brief written description of your submission and its relevance to your MBA application.

If you prepare a multimedia submission, you may mail a CD, DVD or USB flash drive to the Admissions Office. Please do not submit a link to a webpage.

Please note that mailed Essay 3 packages are subject to size restrictions [see website]. Submissions that exceed the stated size restrictions will not be accepted for review by the Admissions Committee.

First, a comment about “feel free to be creative”: don’t strain to do something you think represents “creative” if it doesn’t flow naturally. Plenty, perhaps most, of admitted applicants write an essay. If you are inspired and have a great idea, fine, go with it. If not, write the absolute best essay you can. The key here is to help the adcom get to know you in ways that are relevant to Langone, that distinguish you, and that reflect your life beyond your job in some way. Langone, and more broadly NYU, relish involvement with the community, intellectual and/or artistic engagement, a sharp ability to self-reflect on one’s life and circumstances, a willingness to assert and/or question one’s values, a willingness and ability to ask questions that you don’t have answers to… There are many inviting avenues to consider in selecting a topic for this essay – and that selection is the key to hitting a home run with it. There really isn’t a formula. I have seen successful essays that focus solely on the applicant’s passionate hobby, that discuss some aspect of one’s family life, one’s regional culture, one’s religious or political evolution… And I’ve also seen successful essays that discuss a couple of things. With the 500-word limit, you can’t really do justice to more than two points though.

Don’t worry about discussing things that are “impressive” or about finding things that are unusual – this essay’s effectiveness rests on how vividly you present your topic(s), how you personalize it with anecdote and detail. A discussion about something as common as cooking or learning a language or playing basketball can become a memorable statement if done vividly with stories and experiences.

4. Additional Information: (optional)

Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include current or past gaps in employment, your undergraduate record, plans to retake the GMAT, GRE and/or TOEFL or any other relevant information. If you are unable to submit a recommendation from a current supervisor, you must explain your reason in this essay, even if you are a re-applicant. If you are a re-applicant from last year, please explain how your candidacy has improved since your last application.

This doesn’t explicitly limit the essay to extenuating circumstances or application-specific issues, but the topics it suggests are such issues. Moreover the phrase “bring to the attention of” doesn’t really invite you to continue marketing yourself with any new material that you think might enhance your application. I therefore suggest addressing the types of issues the question presents, or other information that has a direct bearing on the adcom’s ability to understand your candidacy. There is no word limit, but given the other word limits, keeping it short will align with the other essays.

Application Deadlines for the Part-time MBA Program:

To receive an initial notification by the date below, your application must be submitted online by 11:59 PM U.S. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline, and any mailed materials must be postmarked by the deadline date.

Fall 
Spring 

Application Due:
May 15*
September 15*

Initial Notification By:
August 1
December 1

Initial notifications: offer of admission, interview invitation, waitlist offer or denial of admission

 

 

 

*After the deadlines, applications are accepted on a rolling basis until August 1 for Fall and December 1 for Spring.




By Cindy Tokumitsu, author and co-author of numerous ebooks, articles, and special reports, including Why MBA and Best MBA Programs: A Guide to Selecting the Right One. Cindy has advised hundreds of successful applicants in her fifteen years with Accepted.com.

Related Resources:

• An Artist at B-School: Interview with an NYU Stern Langone Student

• Tips for Applying to Part-Time MBA Programs

• MBA Admissions Decisions: Should You Go Full-Time or Part-Time?

Tags: 2015 MBA Application, MBA Admissions, NYU Stern Langone, Part time MBA
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
MBA Interview Questions: Why This MBA Program? [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   08 Dec 2014, 12:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: MBA Interview Questions: 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:

1.  Unique curriculum necessary to reach your goals

2.  Faculty you are excited to learn from

3.  School clubs or organizations you are particularly passionate about joining

4.  Components of the program that intrigue you – study abroad, entrepreneurship project, etc.

5.  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.




Jen Weld worked as an admissions consultant and Former Asst. Dir. of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program (4 years) prior to joining Accepted.com. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing.

Related Resources:

• Why MBA?

• MBA Interview Questions: Walk Me Through Your Resume

• The 10 Commandments of MBA Interviews

Tags: MBA Admissions, MBA Interview, MBA Interview Questions Series
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
Wharton 2016 Class Profile [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   09 Dec 2014, 11:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: Wharton 2016 Class Profile

Let’s take a look at the 2016 class at Wharton. Last year’s stats are in parentheses.

•Total applicants: 6,111 (6,036)

•Enrolled class: 859 (837)

•Women: 40% (42%)

•International students: 31% (35%)

•U.S. minorities: (30%) 30%

•Range of years of work experience: 0-16 (0-13)

•Mean years of work experience: 5 (5)

•GMAT range: 620-780

•Mean overall GMAT: 728 (725)

•Middle 80% GMAT range: 710-750 (690-760)

•Undergraduate majors:

- STEM: 23% (25%)

- Business: 27% (28%)

- Humanities/social sciences/economics: 45% (44%)

- Other: 5% (3%)

Industry experience:

Consulting
20% (20%)

Private Equity/Venture Capital
12% (12%)

Investment Banking
9% (12%)

Government/Military/Non-Profit
13% (11%)

Consumer Products/Retail/Health Care/Energy
12% (10%)

Other Financial Services
7% (8%)

Technology/Internet/E-Commerce
6% (6%)

Investment Management
6% (4%)

Real Estate
2% (3%)

Other Industries
9% (14%)

 Are you looking to join the next Wharton class? Check out the recording of our recent webinar, Get Accepted to the Wharton School, to learn key strategies to help you get accepted to Wharton and other top business schools!



The class profile information is from Wharton’s website.



Related Resources:


Tags: MBA Admissions, Wharton
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
To R3 Or Not to R3, That Is The WSJ Question [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   10 Dec 2014, 12:01
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: To R3 Or Not to R3, That Is The WSJ Question

Round 3 applicants used to be viewed as disorganized, but now, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, they may be viewed as “appealing but unconventional prospects” or as “an offbeat catch” who “liven the mix of an incoming MBA class.”

I was quoted in the article when I explain how the first two rounds are generally dominated by more traditional applicants, but that “in later rounds, schools are looking beyond banking and consulting candidates to fill out their classes with applicants whose backgrounds, experience and goals run the gamut.” Some of these applicants are R1 rejects now applying more realistically at lower ranked schools, but others, I explain in the article, “are more highly qualified nontraditional candidates.” Often, its applicants with military experience, those who have been involved in startups, and those who come from underrepresented backgrounds who get accepted Round 3 – these are not applicants that the admission boards want to overlook.

Note that I’m not suggesting that applicants put off applying until Round 3 (especially if they’re ready to submit earlier), but my main point is this: Hope is not lost if you don’t apply R1 provided that you have some sparkles on your standard issue cookie.

Dee Leopold, managing director of MBA admissions and financial aid at Harvard Business School, agrees, adding, “We actually enjoy round three. It takes a certain amount of confidence to apply then. Those applicants march to their own drum, and we would never want to miss them.”

Drawbacks of applying late in the game include fewer available seats in the class, the scarcity of merit-based aid, the inability to attend admit weekends, and the occasional difficulty for foreign students in securing their visas in time for the school year.

 






Related Resources:

• Round 3 vs. Next Year: The MBA Admissions Debate

• Your 4 Step Guide to Beating Those MBA Round 2 Deadlines

• Maximize Your MBA Applications

Tags: MBA Admissions, Wall St. Journal
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
ESADE MBA 2015 Essay Tips [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   10 Dec 2014, 15:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: ESADE MBA 2015 Essay Tips

The ESADE (pronounced eh-SAH-day) MBA program in Barcelona, Spain, is a great option for applicants looking for a program that requires fewer than 2 years out of the job market but also provides an internship and even an international exchange option. ESADE offers a 12-month MBA, a 15-month option that includes an internship or exchange program, and an 18-month option that includes both an internship and an international exchange opportunity. Graduates do well: 91% secure a position within 3 months of graduating, increasing their salaries by an average of 67% over their pre-MBA earnings. This really is an international student body: the 170 students in the class of 2013 hailed from 43 countries, and 60% of them choose to work outside of Spain upon graduation.

Attach your CV or Resume: The ESADE application form does not prompt the applicant to describe his/her accomplishments in each position, but allows space for a job description for each role. Savvy applicants will make sure that their resume/CV highlights the initiatives they led and the impact they made in each role.

Personal essays (Each question is limited to 2000 characters including spaces, 30 lines approximately.) Frankly, in my experience, 2000 characters is only approximately 20 lines, around 300 words for each essay. My tips are below in blue.

1.  Which aspects have you improved on during your academic and professional career so far? Which tools or values have helped you achieve this?

ESADE provides a “transformative” experience, but to benefit from it fully, students must be open to transforming. This essay provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you recognize areas in which you can improve, and then take action to do so. Among the most important aspects to ESADE are leadership, teamwork, and organizational skills. The second part of the question is asking for applicants to analyze what enabled them to make these improvements: personality traits, introspection, trusted mentors, and even a comprehensive professional evaluation system may be among the tools that applicants have found most useful. Sharing a story or two in this essay that show both the improvement and the tools/values at work will engage the reader and set a tone of interest for your entire application.

2.  How will your background, values and non work-related activities enhance the experience of other ESADE MBA students and add to the diverse culture we strive for at ESADE? (Note: The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have accomplished)

ESADE has only 170 students in each class, so each of them must be active to create a lively campus. This essay offers applicants an opportunity to demonstrate how they have helped create community in the past – on campus, in professional and social organizations, in their neighborhood, even in their family life. If an example from a professional environment is the one that best illustrates a personal quality, then, yes, feel free to use it.

3.  What are your motivations in pursuing a full-time MBA at this point in your life? Describe your mid-term and long-term visions for your post-MBA career path. What is it about ESADE you think will help you reach your goals?

This is a standard goals question. Applicants need to demonstrate that their goals are ambitious but fully realizable. Anyone whose goals are not seen as reasonable cannot be accepted because they will graduate unhappy at the discovery of that reality – after losing 12-18 months of their lives and €60,000 of their hard-earned (or borrowed!) money.

4.  Complete two of the following four questions or statements (1000 characters per response)

a.  I am most proud of…

b.  People may be surprised to learn that I…

c.  What has your biggest challenge been and what did it help you learn about yourself?

d.  Which historical figure do you most identify with and why?

All of these essay prompts aim to discover any interesting aspects of your background, both professional and personal. These provide applicants a chance to round out the admissions committee’s understanding of who they are, what obstacles they have faced in their lives, and what they’ve accomplished. These are very brief essays of approximately 150 words each.

5.  Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include gaps in employment, your undergraduate record, plans to retake the GMAT or any other relevant information.

If you need to explain any of the standard issues – your direct manager doesn’t know you’re applying so you couldn’t ask him to write a recommendation, you completed your coursework in December but did not receive your diploma until the following May, etc. – then this is the place to make those clarifications. If you do not need to use this space for any of those mundane topics, then feel free to fill it with an example of your leadership, maturity, or innovation to provide further evidence of your fit with ESADE.

If you would like professional guidance with your ESADE MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and consulting or our MBA Application Packages, which include advising, editing, and interview coaching for the ESADE application.  

THE MBA ADMISSIONS TIMELINE

In order to secure a place on the Full Time MBA and an ESADE Scholarship, we strongly recommend applying early. Taking the visa application process into consideration, we recommend that non-EU citizens submit their completed application no later than (15 June 2015).



Applications should be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CET (Central European Time) on the date in question. Applications are considered complete once the Online Application and all supporting documents have been received.




By Jennifer Bloom has been helping applicants to the top MBA programs with their resumes, application forms, letters of recommendation, and essays for 16 years. She is happy to serve as your personal coach and hand-holder throughout the entire process. There’s no time like the present to begin!

Related Resources:

• Leadership in Admissions

• 4 New Ways to Display Teamwork in Application Essays

• 4 Ways to Show How You Will Contribute

Tags: ESADE, MBA Admissions
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
Is a Chicago Booth MBA In Your Future? [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   11 Dec 2014, 09:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: Is a Chicago Booth MBA In Your Future?
If you want to answer that question with a resounding “yes,” then tune in to Get Accepted to Chicago Booth, a webinar that airs in just a few days, on Wednesday, December 17th at 10:00 AM PST/1:00 PM EST.



Reserve your spot for Get Accepted to Chicago Booth and learn how to successfully take on that Chicago challenge!

See you soon!



Tags: Chicago Booth, MBA Admissions, webinar
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
User avatar
D
Accepted.com
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Posts: 6466
Own Kudos [?]: 848 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: Los Angeles CA
Send PM
NUS MBA 2015 Essay Tips [#permalink] Accepted MBA Updates   11 Dec 2014, 12:00
Expert Reply
FROM Accepted.com Blog: NUS MBA 2015 Essay Tips

National University of Singapore (NUS) hosts approximately 100 students each year in its full-time MBA program – 91% of those students come from outside of Singapore, representing 18 countries. The curriculum concentrates on global business with a focus on Asia in particular, and the program successfully places graduates in a variety of functions: 22% of the class enters consulting, 24% finance/accounting, 14% general management, 22% sales/marketing (with the remainder entering HR, Operations, and other functions).

Contrary to the global trend, NUS has not reduced the number of essay questions it asks of applicants this year. My tips are below in blue.

NUS has some short answer questions that you need to address, including:[b]

[/b]

Why is it important for you to embark on your MBA now?  [500 characters]

This is a very brief (500 characters is about 5 lines of typical text) opportunity for you to explain what is happening in your professional and personal life that make now the right time to pursue this education and what business skills and knowledge you need to reach the goals you have set before you.

Essays

1.  We would like you to tell us about your post-MBA immediate career goals and how your professional experiences have prepared you to achieve these goals. You may do so by a 300 words written essay or a two-minute video.

If you feel comfortable in front of a camera or know how to create fun graphic videos, the two-minute video offers you an opportunity to say a lot more than the 300-word essay can (in a practice session, I was able to read 430+ words with a calm, storytelling demeanor in the 2 minutes).  Once you’ve decided on the delivery medium, the content of this essay will be straightforward: NUS wants to hear what job you will aiming for when you graduate and what skills and network you have already gained that have prepared you for that path.

2.  The mission of NUS Business School is to advance knowledge and develop leaders so as to serve business and society. Discuss how you will contribute toward advancing the mission based on examples of past work and activities.  [300 words]

The phrasing of this question can be confusing, but what they are really asking for here are examples from your past when you advanced the mission of a business, organization, or society at large. Ideally, your examples of advancing a business will also have some benefit to society – minimizing waste, improving relationships with the surrounding community, for example – but that isn’t a requirement.

Given the word limit, you probably could provide 2-3 examples.

3.   (Only applicable to re-applicants) Please provide an update on any new aspects of your professional, international, academic or personal profile that would not have been included in your previous application. Please do also explain your motivation for re-applying to NUS. [300 words]

This is a gift to re-applicants: you’re being granted 300 extra words to make the case that you are ready for the NUS education. Briefly comment on any improvement in your GMAT score and/or GPA, then shine the spotlight on the ways in which you have developed your leadership skills and made a greater impact on your company or community since you last applied. How has this year helped you see ever more clearly how the NUS MBA will help you reach your goals more quickly and effectively?

4.  Tell us something interesting or unique about yourself which you think would be helpful for the Admission Committee to better evaluate your candidacy. [300 words]

I have a love-hate relationship with open-ended questions like this: on the one hand they are great for people with something truly unique in their background that doesn’t fit into any of the traditional MBA application essays; on the other hand, they strike intense fear in the hearts of most applicants in need of a more direct question!

As you analyze your profile, identify the one aspect that best distinguishes you from your peers: are you a great leader, community activist, analyst, athlete, or team builder? You may wish to ask your boss, peers, and friends what they think is really special about you, but you should only write the essay about a quality that is beneficial to the NUS program. Talking about something superfluous like your cooking skills or antique collection isn’t useful unless you use that skill to build community or make an impact in some way.

If you would like professional guidance with your NUS MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and consulting or our MBA Application Packages, which include advising, editing, and interview coaching for the NUS application.  [b]

[/b]

Full-Time NUS MBA Application Dates[b]

[/b]








By Jennifer Bloom who has been helping applicants to the top MBA programs draft their resumes, application forms, letters of recommendation, and essays for 15 years. She is happy to serve as your personal coach and hand-holder throughout the entire process. There’s no time like the present to begin!

Related Resources:

• Top MBA Program Essay Questions: How to Answer Them Right• NUS: A Small But Mighty Academic Powerhouse in Asia• An NUS MBA Shares Her Story

Tags: MBA Admissions, NUS
This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
NUS MBA 2015 Essay Tips [#permalink]
11 Dec 2014, 12:00
   1  ...  14   15   16   17   18  ...  123