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10 Jul 2014, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Get Together for Small Group Dinner at Stanford |
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When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school. At the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), Small Group Dinners, which the school sponsors, provide a way for first- and second-year students to interact in small groups. Each dinner must be announced publicly and must involve a small number of people who have not had such a get-together before. On his blog, one second-year student wrote that the dinners are “an excellent way to make new friends and learn more about classmates.” For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at the Stanford GSB and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
10 Jul 2014, 17:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: The University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School |
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MBA applicants tend to overvalue rankings and so can overlook some strong business schools that might be a good fit. In this series, we profile amazing programs at schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15. Placing 17th in Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2012 rankings of full-time MBA programs, the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School has earned a reputation for graduating exemplary business leaders. Students complete a curriculum of required core classes in their first year, all of which put leadership and teamwork at the forefront while also allowing students the flexibility to choose from eight optional career concentrations. The Leadership Immersion capstone course refines students’ leadership skills, pitting them in an “Apprentice”-style team competition and providing them with coaching from executives and faculty. But what really sets Kenan-Flagler apart is the robust sense of community developed among students. Teamwork seems to pervade all aspects of the MBA program, from small class sizes that employ case-study method, team projects and group learning, to the Student Teams Achieving Results program, or STAR, which offers hands-on consulting experience for teams matched with partnering corporations and not-for-profit organizations. While taking the required core curriculum “modules,” students also work closely with an assigned study group, allowing them to develop lasting collaborative relationships. |
11 Jul 2014, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Pursue Marketing at UPenn Wharton |
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Perennially ranked among the top business schools in the world, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania appears to be best known for its reputation in finance—as its original name, the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, would imply. Nevertheless, the school prides itself on its breadth and depth of expertise in a multitude of business areas. For instance, consider these facts about Wharton’s highly regarded marketing program:
For a thorough exploration of what UPenn Wharton and other top business schools have to offer, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
14 Jul 2014, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Cornell Johnson Applicants Can Now Leverage LinkedIn |
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Cornell Johnson has announced a significant redesign of its one- and two-year MBA application this week, and the change may seem both easier and, depending on the extent of your social media presence, slightly more daunting. In addition to making the online application accessible across mobile and tablet devices, Johnson is giving candidates the option of saving time by connecting their LinkedIn profiles directly to the application form. Applicants can automatically populate portions of the application with information from their LinkedIn accounts. Of course, the upshot is that the LinkedIn profile might serve as yet another point of consideration in evaluating your candidacy. “This modern platform gives our applicants the chance to provide a personal tagline and meaningful summary, point out skills, explain experience, differentiate from the crowd, and show how they build a network,” explained Ann Richards, Johnson’s interim executive director of admissions and financial aid in a press release. Although the school has stated that LinkedIn will not factor into the admissions decision in any systematic way, Richards told Poets & Quants that, in recent years, the business school had already been looking at applicants’ online presence on a case-by-case basis, saying “If there was a red flag on an application or some information that wasn’t consistent, we might have Googled somebody or checked their LinkedIn profile.” The revelation may reflect larger trends in MBA admissions and seems to suggest that equally ubiquitous social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, are not beyond the reach of admission committees. In short, you never know who might be looking at your profile. Still, the essence of what schools are seeking in prospective students remains unchanged, and it is worth noting that candidates can opt out of sharing their LinkedIn accounts. A strong professional network with compelling endorsements may not be decisive to gaining admission, but it can certainly enhance the admission committee’s overall impression. |
14 Jul 2014, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Conflict Is Compelling |
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When you are writing a compelling story, conflict can actually be a very important element. Of course, we mean conflict in the literary sense, not the physical or emotional sense (no one wants to hear about how you hotheadedly instigated a confrontation). In literary terms, conflict occurs at the moment an oppositional force helps shape the central story. So, a narrative that presents you—the candidate and hero of the story—experiencing an effortless ride toward victory would not typically be as interesting or exciting as one in which you suffered some bumps and bruises along the way. For example, most people would find the story of a rookie challenger beating an experienced marathon runner at the finish line a lot more compelling than the story of a runner who leads the race by a wide margin from beginning to end and never experiences any competition. Although you might not have an anecdote like this in your arsenal, our point is that whether you are telling the story of refining a supply chain, getting a deal done, marketing a new product or accomplishing any other facet of business, you should identify and share the hurdles you overcame in doing so, because describing a time when you enjoyed a smooth and easy path to success may not allow you to shine as brightly. |
15 Jul 2014, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Are You Employable? |
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Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. We believe that asking MBA candidates about their goals is plainly absurd, because so many students change their goals while they are in business school. Further, an MBA is supposed to be about career development and exploration, right? Regardless of how we feel on the subject, though, you must ensure that if a school asks about your goals in its essay questions or an interview, you have a compelling story about where you believe your MBA will take you. Several years ago, getting a banking job may have sounded compelling to you. Are you really capable of making that transition today? Certainly, fewer jobs are available now in the real estate world. Is this a likely next step for you during a prolonged real estate drought? Venture capital and private equity jobs are challenging to land even during the best of times—are you able to compete with the elite during a downturn? These are just a few examples of questions you should honestly ask yourself. Keep in mind that not only are the admissions committees examining your story to determine what you might add to the next class, but if you are a borderline case, they may also send your profile to the career services office to help confirm whether your stated goals are realistic and you will not be difficult to place by or after graduation (i.e., that you will not hinder the school’s employment stats and thereby negatively affect its standing in the rankings). So, pay special attention to your goal statements and make sure that you can credibly stand behind them—and, as we have written in the past, even consider being prepared to discuss some alternate goals. |
16 Jul 2014, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: James E. Schrager, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business |
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose an MBA program, but the educational experience at business school is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we focus on James Schrager from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Although he has a PhD from the University of Chicago in Organizational Behavior and Policy, James E. Schrager (“New Venture Strategy”) is not just an academic, but also a practitioner, able to claim that he helped take the first private American company public on the Tokyo stock exchange and helped turn around aspects of the Pritzker family holdings, which were ultimately sold to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Students we interviewed noted that Schrager brings his high-level experiences to class but remains entirely in touch with students’ more modest perspectives, adapting his anecdotes accordingly and creating practical learning points that pertain to what students will face early in their post-MBA careers. Schrager is a three-time recipient of the university’s Emory Williams Award for Excellence in Teaching (in 2007, 2001 and 1996). One second-year student told mbaMission, “He is not up in the sky, but very practical, and by the way, his class is always full.” Students’ grades in Schrager’s “New Venture Strategy” class are based in part on the success of a business idea the students present to their peers—the other students act as venture capitalists and give feedback on the idea. For more information about Chicago Booth and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
16 Jul 2014, 17:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: You Don’t Need a 750 to Get In! |
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Recently, we have had a variety of MBA applicants ask some form of the following question: “Do I need a 750 to get into a top MBA program?” Although a 750 on the GMAT can only help, it is definitely not a prerequisite. We wanted to dispel this myth and put some who believe it at ease. Here are a few simple reasons why this is just not the case… 1. The Average Is Lower: Average GMAT scores at the top 15 MBA programs range from approximately 700 to 730. Clearly, if the high end of the GMAT average range is 730, the schools cannot expect applicants to have a 750. That would mean that every applicant would be above average, and that just is not possible. Still, if a candidate’s score falls below the average, this generally places a greater burden on the other components of the individual’s application—so, for example, maybe his/her work experience would need to be stronger than others’, or maybe his/her extracurriculars would need to stand out even more. Or maybe I am straying from my main point! The bottom line is that mathematically speaking, many people have a GMAT score below 750. 2. Dee Leopold Says So: I recently spoke with Dee Leopold, the managing director of MBA admissions and financial aid at Harvard Business School, who told me point blank that she assesses each individual differently and neither expects nor demands a target GMAT score. The school just happens to have a high number of great applicants with high scores to choose from, and thus its average remains high. Dee said that she would closely examine a journalist’s Quant score and pay particular attention to an engineer’s Verbal score, for example. She is concerned that people obsess over target GMAT scores and specifically said that she will not provide candidates with GRE guidance because she does not want to trigger similar anxieties with regard to that exam as well. She grudgingly acknowledged that no matter how many public declarations she makes to the contrary, applicants simply refuse to believe that she does not have a target—and then insisted again that she does not! 3. Too Few Applicants Have a 750 or Higher: The top 15 MBA programs accept approximately 7,000 applicants each application season. Only approximately 3,700–4,600 GMAT test takers earn scores of 750 or higher each year (depending on whether GMAC counts test taken or individual test takers), and some are earned by people who do not ultimately apply to business school at all, do not apply to any of the leading schools, take the test only to become an GMAT instructors, pursue an EMBA or part-time MBA instead, are rejected because other aspects of their profile render them uncompetitive… and the list goes on. Basically, the top 15 MBA programs do not receive applications from enough applicants with 750s to entirely populate their incoming class, as evidenced by the schools’ mid-80% GMAT ranges, which are typically 660–760. 4. All Schools Take the GRE!: Applicants do not really even need to take the GMAT anymore. Of course, if you do take the GMAT, you should strive to achieve the highest score possible, but if the GMAT is not even required, you obviously would not need to score a 750 to be accepted. (Note: London Business School is the sole “GMAT only” holdout among top-programs; the GMAT is “preferred” at Dartmouth-Tuck and UCLA-Anderson, but the GRE is still accepted). We want to be unequivocal: 750 is a great GMAT score, and anyone with one should be delighted. However, if you do not fare as well on the exam, you should still be quite hopeful and keep a positive mind-set because the admissions process is holistic. If you have any questions about your score, request a free 30-minute consultation at www.mbamission.com/consult.php. Post by mbaMission President/Founder Jeremy Shinewald. |
17 Jul 2014, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Competing in the ISB Super League |
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When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also making a commitment to a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school. A unique institution taking hold at the Indian School of Business (ISB) is the ISB Super League, or ISL. Launched in 2010, the ISL pits teams of ISB students against one another in head-to-head intramural combat in ten different sports—including cricket, soccer, Frisbee, basketball and water polo—over the course of three months. Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra visited campus to inaugurate the fall 2012 season and even participated in a student volleyball game. The previous year (2011), the ISL kickoff event featured Gayatri Reddy, co-owner of the Deccan Chargers, and Accenture officially sponsored the year’s four franchises—the Hyderabad Nizams, the Titans, the Raging Bulls and the Hurricanes—which competed for points and ultimately the Super League Cup in the ten different events. Each year, the ISL franchises are selected via a live fantasy auction in which students bid for teams and players using real money. The players for each team are then “sold” in a live auction using virtual currency. The winning team takes home 60% of the money accrued from the bids, the second- and third-place teams split 35% of the funds and the remaining 5% covers tournament organization costs. For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at the ISB and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
17 Jul 2014, 15:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Business of Medicine MBA at Kelley School of Business |
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MBA applicants can get carried away with rankings. In this series, we profile amazing programs at business schools which are typically ranked outside the top 15. As the demand for business-savvy health care professionals grows, business schools are taking notice. Leading the way is the new Business of Medicine MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, designed to train practicing physicians to assume management positions and face a changing health care business environment. As the Financial Times reports, the two-year degree program began in the fall of 2013 and presents a new kind of opportunity at the intersection of business management and medical practice. The degree combines the basic curriculum of Kelley’s full-time MBA with specialized health care courses supported by the school’s Center for the Business of Life Sciences. The Financial Times quotes interim dean Idalene Kesner, saying, “With this degree, physician leaders will emerge with the full skill set to transform individual institutions, the broad health care field and, most important, patient outcomes.” Part of the Business of Medicine MBA will be taught online, drawing on Kelley’s pioneering strengths in distance learning, while the other part will entail one weekend residence per month, allowing for a more flexible time commitment. |
18 Jul 2014, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Think Kellogg, Think Entrepreneurship? |
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Let us play a quick game of word association—we will start. “Kellogg.” Ok, go ahead. “Entrepreneurship.” Right? No? Aspiring MBAs may be surprised to learn that Kellogg offers nearly 50 courses in this discipline and that roughly 16% of each student class typically completes an Entrepreneurship and Innovation major—defying the stereotype that Kellogg produces only marketing MBAs. As part of Envision Kellogg, the school’s strategic plan, the MBA program introduced four new impact initiatives in 2012, one of which is the Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (KIEI). Overseen by the Larry and Carol Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice, the KIEI offers numerous opportunities for students to develop their entrepreneurial acumen. In bolstering the school’s offerings in this area, three new full-time hires were added to the Levy Center’s faculty in 2012–2013, bringing the total to 28 professors. In addition to business plan competitions, the Levy Center manages the Kellogg Entrepreneurial Internship Program and the Entrepreneur in Residence program, an experiential learning option through which, for a day, an experienced entrepreneur hosts half-hour sessions with students who aspire to careers in this field or are seeking advice on their already active projects. The Heizer Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital also offers the Private Equity Internship Program, wherein rising second-year students intern with small businesses or private equity firms—receiving a $1,000 weekly stipend—to facilitate career transitions that would otherwise be challenging for those without experience. A new offering, introduced in 2013 as part of the KIEI, is the Kellogg Entrepreneurial Internship Program, which offers a $6,000 stipend to first-year students for a ten-week summer internship with a host company. Kellogg also has an Entrepreneur in Residence program, wherein an experienced entrepreneur hosts half-hour sessions with students who aspire to careers in this field or are seeking advice on their already active projects. MBA student entrepreneurs coming from or planning to enter a family business will likely be interested to learn that Kellogg’s Center for Family Businesses not only publishes research and cases on such businesses, but also confidentially consults to family-run companies. Indeed, this is all just the tip of the iceberg… Go beyond the stereotypes. For in-depth information on Kellogg and other leading business school programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
21 Jul 2014, 07:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Special 50% Off Offer on mbaMission Insider’s Guides! |
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To celebrate the release of mbaMission’s 2014–2015 Insider’s Guides—detailed, 70- to 110-page books that go beyond the stereotypes of 15 of the top U.S. business schools to reveal their true character—we are offering a code worth 50% off your Insider’s Guide purchase from Monday, July 21, through Monday, July 28. That means each guide would be just $12.50! To take advantage of this special offer, simply complete a three-minute survey here. Once you have done so, you will receive an exclusive offer code good for 50% off your purchase of one or more Insider’s Guides. Remember, this code is valid only from Monday, July 21, through Monday, July 28, so be sure to mark the dates on your calendar! |
21 Jul 2014, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Do Not Use the Same Technique Twice |
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Writing can be challenging for many business school applicants, and some have particular difficulty changing their essay structure from one essay to the next. For example, a candidate might choose to use a quote at the beginning of an essay to create a sense of urgency: “This cannot be fixed. This cannot be fixed!” I stared blankly at the broken machinery and knew that the next few hours would be crucial… Using this kind of attention-grabbing technique is certainly acceptable, but you should never use the same technique twice (and definitely not three times!) in one application. By starting more than one essay in the same manner, you are effectively sending the admissions reader the message that you understand how to use a gimmick but not how to tell a compelling story in your own way. This is also a quick way to lose the reader’s interest! So be sure to vary your approach with each new essay within a single application. We work with our candidates to ensure that their ideas are presented in fresh and different ways, to captivate the admissions committee with each introduction and, indeed, each essay. |
22 Jul 2014, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Advice: Listen! A Hot Tip for Great First Impressions |
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In this weekly series, our friends at MBA Career Coaches will be dispensing invaluable advice to help you actively manage your career. Topics include building your network, learning from mistakes and setbacks, perfecting your written communication, and mastering even the toughest interviews. For more info or to sign up for a free career consultation, visit www.mbacareercoaches.com. Most people hate networking events — for good reason! Milling around with a bunch of strangers, trying to find the “important” people, jockeying for attention, and then trying to impress them once you get the floor can put a lot of pressure on you. It is that last part in particular which causes a lot of anxiety: how am I going to make a memorable impression on this stranger? There is an easy way: listening. Most people don’t think about the power of listening to build human connections when they are working a group at a networking event. Here is an easy way to do this:
[*]When there is a natural pause, ask the person speaking a question that allows him or her to expand on a passion. Some examples based on Sarah’s story… - It sounds like you have found some beautiful places in your travels, what other places have you discovered? - If you could recommend the three best things to do in Vietnam what would they be? - Do you get to travel with your sister often? Where else have you been? - I am curious if you have any good ideas about how to create a feeling of peace and solitude here in the midst of work and the city. It’s so wonderful to travel, but the challenge is bringing that feeling home. What do you think?[/list] Notice how all of these questions are completely open-ended, allow Sarah to expand on her experience and something she loves, and maintain a level of social distance that doesn’t encroach into her personal life. For example, “What does your sister do?” “How did you afford that trip?” “What does your family think about you taking a vacation with your sister?” would be too personal and inappropriate. Notice also that these questions focus on Sarah and don’t attempt to deflect attention off her and onto you. Some examples that would do that…
[*]Actually listen to what the person says. People know when you aren’t listening. They can tell when you are just waiting to talk. If you don’t listen you will destroy all the good will you created by asking such an interesting question. So listen, pay attention, and follow the conversation wherever it goes from there![/list] |
22 Jul 2014, 17:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Using Judgment on Details |
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Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. “Should I use Calibri or Times New Roman font for my essays?” “Should I list my GPA to the third or fourth decimal place?” “I don’t have enough space to enter my full title, so should I write Vice President or VP Sales?” As candidates approach their first application deadline, small questions start to arise—questions that often require a little judgment to answer. No one was ever kept out of Harvard Business School for listing his/her GPA to the third decimal point or for abbreviating a title. Remember, the admissions officers are not punitive. They are not mean-spirited people, reading your application and searching for reasons to reject you. So, if you have a small lingering question about your application, you can connect with the admissions office and ask someone there. Most often, they will ask you to use your judgment. As long as your broad story is compelling, the smallest details should take care of themselves. |
23 Jul 2014, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Dean Profiles: David Schmittlein, MIT Sloan School of Management |
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Business school deans are more than administrative figureheads. Their character and leadership often reflect an MBA program’s unique culture and sense of community. Each month, we will profile the dean of a top-ranking business school. Today, we focus on David Schmittlein from the MIT Sloan School of Management. David Schmittlein first came to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2007 after almost 30 years at Wharton, where he served as the Ira A. Lipman Professor in the school’s marketing faculty. He is the first Sloan dean to be hired from outside the ranks of MIT’s faculty and staff, thus bringing with him a wealth of new ideas and energy. Upon joining MIT, Dean Schmittlein announced his top priorities in a press release: “to enhance MIT Sloan’s visibility and engagement with leaders of the business community, regionally and globally, especially among the school’s alumni. MIT Sloan should be a wonderful focal point for the professional lives and development of Sloan alumni and others in the broader MIT community who are engaged in business and innovation.” In addition to enhanced global visibility, a significant focus of Schmittlein’s deanship thus far, according to the school’s Web site, has been “to work with the faculty in creating new high-quality management education programs, to develop enhanced educational opportunities for current students, and to develop and disseminate business knowledge that has impact and that will stand the test of time.” In an interview with mbaMission, Senior Director of Admissions Rod Garcia remarked that one noticeable change since Schmittlein entered the position is that “the dean has placed a huge emphasis on concept-based action learning. We have our Entrepreneurship Lab, our Sustainability Lab, our China Lab, our India Lab, our Global Health Delivery Lab, among others. The movement toward these labs has accelerated during the dean’s tenure as he has engaged with our alumni around the world.” For more information about MIT Sloan and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
24 Jul 2014, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: University of Chicago (Booth) Essay Analysis, 2014–2015 |
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business has jumped on the “do what you want” bandwagon this MBA application season, jettisoning the short-answer essays it required of applicants last year as well as its classic “What are your goals? Why an MBA? Why Us?” essay prompt. So, for Chicago Booth, everything rides on either a presentation or essay—your choice! What should you do? Our analysis follows… Presentation/Essay: Chicago Booth values adventurous inquiry, diverse perspectives, and a collaborative exchange of ideas. This is us. Who are you? Chicago Booth was an innovator with its presentation prompt, which has been part of its application for the better part of a decade now. Because the presentation is such a long-standing feature, does that mean you must choose it and take the more “artistic” approach? Not at all. Choose the format that allows you to best answer the question—the one that will most effectively reveal who you are. We recommend that you start (as always) with a thorough brainstorming session, before you even consider whether you want to move ahead with an essay or a presentation. By creating an inventory of ideas, you will be able to provide a profound picture of yourself. That said, whether you ultimately write an essay or prepare a presentation, your submission must not be just a long list of accomplishments. Both approaches require you to create a coherent story and offer a clear representation of yourself. Many applicants will misguidedly assemble a register of achievements and try to foist a fake theme on the admissions committee meant to tie them together—and the admissions committee will see right through that attempt. If you elect to write an essay, think about themes in your life. You do not need to break new ground and identify a theme that has never been discussed before. If your story is one about your constant willingness to take the challenging path, for example, that could work perfectly, as long as you own the narrative. To do this, offer sincere and compelling examples of such behavior on your part. Although the Chicago Booth admissions committee does not limit the number of words you can use, we think a general guideline for an essay should be 750–1,250 words. If you submit more than that, you risk becoming like the rude dinner guest who lingers too long, unaware that the party has ended. An alternative to the thematic approach is to tell a single story that fully captures who you are—what we will call the sole narrative approach. This would need to be an incredibly compelling representation of yourself. Effectively, the story must reveal such depth of personality that nothing else would need to be said. This will be possible for some candidates. The key with this option is richness of detail and truly showing your story, rather than relaying results. If you instead choose to create a presentation, it must not be a humdrum PowerPoint, where you put six bullet points on a slide. That probably goes without saying. However, you should also not feel that your presentation needs to represent or convey your outstanding artistic abilities. Likewise, do not get so carried away with the design that you lose track of the content. The bottom line is always to stick with what represents you well. Before you launch into developing an elaborate design scheme, sit back and contemplate what “vehicle” would best allow you to express yourself. The vehicle should be engaging, of course, but that does not mean it cannot also be simple. Maybe you annotate four pictures on four slides and draw out all sorts of interesting tidbits from your life by picking up on various personal details in those photos. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. We are not suggesting that you take this exact approach, but our point is that your presentation does not need to be terribly complex to be effective. As you create your presentation, identify a vehicle that is enticing and then keep returning your focus to the content. |
24 Jul 2014, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Wharton’s MBA Pub |
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When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also making a commitment to a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school. Every Thursday evening at the Wharton School, a large proportion of students heads to MBA Pub, where they can enjoy unlimited free beer and pizza (with an annual $170 membership). Formerly housed in its own designated space in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, the school moved MBA Pub to a new off-campus facility at the historic Armory building in Center City in 2013, thus making the event more proximal to where the majority of Wharton students live. Because Wharton has no classes on Friday, Pub—as it is commonly called—serves as an ideal way for many students to mark the end of the academic week, kick off the weekend, and catch up with classmates and professors (who can be invited as guests). Pub’s food offerings, drink selection, and decorations vary each week throughout the year, depending on which campus group is the week’s sponsor—though beer and pizza are staples. The event also features a variety of special events and social functions, which in 2013–2014 included Rainbow Pub, in which faculty and administrators dressed in drag as a show of support for the school’s LGBT community, a dance competition, and a date auction. Pub is obviously separate from Wharton’s academic and recruiting offerings, but according to those with whom mbaMission spoke, many students and alumni consider it an emblematic experience of the program. For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at Wharton and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
24 Jul 2014, 19:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Opportunities at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business |
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MBA applicants can get carried away with rankings. In this series, we profile amazing programs at business schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15. In 2013, the University of Texas McCombs School of Business introduced several highlights to its MBA experience that would allow students to benefit from expanded opportunities for work experience (including with nonprofits), entrepreneurship, and leadership programming. For example, a pilot program for brand management experience with Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s Yahoo! brand was expanded. In what is now called the DPSG MBA Labs program, teams of students learn marketing skills working hands-on for major firms. Another addition, the new Texas Venture Labs Scholarship, awards MBA scholarships to winners of a start-up pitch competition, in which both admitted and prospective students can compete. In the area of nonprofit work, McCombs hosts a chapter of the Net Impact program, which affords students the chance to work on socially and environmentally responsible projects aimed at solving major societal problems. The school’s aspiring MBAs can also take advantage of the new Leadership Center, which offers a personalized program to help students assess and improve their leadership skills. |
25 Jul 2014, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Thinking Social at NYU Stern |
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Although New York University’s (NYU’s) Stern School of Business is perhaps not well known among the top MBA programs for sustainable enterprise or social entrepreneurship, the school actually offers an array of resources for those interested in pursuing careers in these fields. The Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship serves as the hub of all socially entrepreneurial activities and events at the school, and in 2008, Stern introduced a Social Innovation and Impact specialization, thereby formalizing an academic track for students with this career path in mind. Attending or helping plan the Social Enterprise Association’s “Think Social, Drink Local” marquee fundraiser is one of many options that socially conscious aspiring MBAs will find to fulfill their interests at Stern. With help from corporate sponsors such as Brooklyn Brewery and Crop Organic Vodka, the school’s Social Enterprise Association hosts the event in partnership with the Luxury and Retail Club. In March 2014, the ninth annual event took place at the Angel Orensanz Center, where it was also held in 2013, and featured an open bar showcasing local and/or sustainably sourced food and drink. This annual event also involves an “I Heart New York” runway fashion show—a fundraiser for Stern’s Social Impact Internship Fund—in which Stern students and administrators model clothing by ecofriendly designers. The fashion show is a highlight of the evening and has raised more than $10,000 in past years. Through Stern Consulting Corps, students can partner on consulting projects with New York City–based nonprofits such as the William J. Clinton Foundation’s Economic Opportunity Initiative. And for those who also have the entrepreneurial bug, Stern added a Social Venture Competition to its traditional for-profit Annual Business Plan Competition, in which participants compete for a $50,000 prize. In short, socially conscious Sternies have quite a bit to keep them busy! For a thorough exploration of what NYU Stern and 15 other top business schools have to offer, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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