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17 Nov 2017, 14:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Bloomberg Businessweek Announces 2017 MBA Rankings |
 Bloomberg Businessweek has announced its list of 2017’s best business schools in the United States, and Harvard Business School took first place for the third straight year. The 2017 list is characterized by near constant movement, with only two schools in the top 20 holding on to their same position as last year, and the rest of the list shifting up and down in surprising ways. Businessweek’s Top Ten Business Schools
The Bloomberg ranking methodology includes an employer survey (35% of score), alumni survey (30%), student survey (15%), job placement rate (10%), and starting salary (10%). MBA hopefuls should keep in mind that, because the full-time rankings comprise five elements, it’s possible to rank highly without knocking every category out of the ballpark. For example, Chicago Booth maintained its 4th place standing overall while ranking 35th in the alumni survey rank. Click on over to Bloomberg Businessweek to see the details for all of the 85 schools ranked in this list. And remember, here at SBC we don’t like to encourage clients to focus too heavily on rankings when they’re making their MBA program selections. However, we also know those headed for b-school really can’t help themselves, so be sure to consider multiple factors when making your final school selection. Image credit: Michael A. Herzog (CC BY-ND 2.0) |
20 Nov 2017, 09:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: What Really Happens During an MBA Admissions Committee File Review |
 You may agonize over your application for months, but an adcomm may spend less than 15 minutes reviewing your file. What happens during that critical quarter-hour can literally change your life. This is the first in a series of five blog posts that will help answer frequently asked questions, including: What is an MBA Admissions Committee looking for? How exactly do they review my application? At SBC, we have ex-admissions committee members from every top school on our team. Here, we share our collective expertise and give you a peek into what really happens during an Adcomm review. To illustrate our points, we’ll use two fictional MBA applicants to a Top 5 MBA program: Jackie and Bill. In this post we will focus on our fictional applicants’ “stats.” Jackie’s Stats: Yale BA Economics and Environmental Studies Overall GPA: 3.7 GPA by year: Year 1 – 4.0, Year 2 – 3.8, Year 3 – 3.6, Year 4 – 3.4 Quant grades: Calc B-, Stats B, Econ B- GMAT (took once): 690 Verbal 39/88%, Quant 45/66%, AWA 5, IR 5 GPA Assessment:
Only took the GMAT once, even with the knowledge it was below the school’s average. Why didn’t she take it again? Bill’s Stats: University of Memphis, BS Computer Science (on scholarship) Overall GPA: 3.35 GPA by year: Year 1 – 2.8, Year 2 – 3.2, Year 3 – 3.6, Year 4 – 3.8 Quant grades: Calc 1 B, Calc 2 A, Stats A, Accounting A GMAT: 750 Verbal 42/96%, Quant 50/87%, AWA 6, IR 8 GPA Assessment:
He aced it! Breaking it Down: GPA & Undergrad along with the GMAT The adcomm looks at several components of your GPA: your overall GPA, your year-by-year breakdown, the overall trend, and the rigor of your course load. For example, a 3.7 in a sports management major is not necessarily stronger than a 3.3 in economics or engineering. And the fact that Jackie had low B’s in all her quant classes may hurt her. Bill’s lower grades are offset by solid A’s in most of his quant classes, which is a huge plus for him. Also, Bill shows significant improvement. Although he clearly struggled early on, he eventually figured out how to juggle even more rigorous courses with other commitments. Prestige of the undergrad school is also considered, but it’s weighed against how many applicants come from a particular school. In this case, while Jackie went to a terrific undergrad program, if there are a lot of applicants from Yale, a candidate from U of Memphis on a scholarship might be more appealing. And then there’s the GMAT or GRE, very important adcomm assessment tools. While Jackie’s is just below the average for a top 5 program, she only took it once. This calls into question why? Even attempting the GMAT or trying the GRE just one more time would have demonstrated to the adcomm that she had the self-awareness that her score was below average and would have given her points. Jackie’s quant score also is below the 75-80% threshold, which at some top programs might be an issue without other quant strength indicated throughout the rest of her application. For Bill, combined with his high quant grades, he achieved a very strong quant percentage on the GMAT, which helps to mitigate any issues with his lower GPA in his earlier undergrad years. In all, your GPA and GMAT/GRE are important indicators of your ability to succeed in the classroom. With a lower GPA and/or lower quant grades in undergrad, it would be worth taking another quant class or two now to help better demonstrate your intellect. With the GMAT, it’s important that the overall score be within the range of your target program AND that the individual components (especially quant) are each strong, with quant hitting your school’s desired — but often not publicly stated — threshold. Up Next Week – Career Path, Resume, and Career Goals |
21 Nov 2017, 12:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Spotlight On: New Center for Gender, Equity & Leadership at Berkeley Haas |
 Business schools play a critical role in helping workers, companies, and leaders adapt to meet the needs of the 21st-century workforce. Earlier this month, the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business launched its new Center for Gender, Equity & Leadership (CGEL), which will address numerous issues related to diversity in business. “The economic case for supporting workplace diversity and women in business has never been stronger,” says Kellie McElhaney (pictured), an associate adjunct professor at Haas, who will serve as founding director of the new center. For years, McElhaney has argued that businesses risk their bottom line when they fail to diversify their leadership, or don’t treat men and women equally. “Women, underrepresented minorities, and the LGBTQ community face systemic structural, cultural, and individual barriers to opportunities and advancement. We will work to identify and tackle these problems and develop an evidence-based playbook.” The CGEL’s stated goals include:
Jamie Breen, assistant dean of the MBA program for working professionals at Haas and a CGEL founding advisory council member, says she’d like to know why the drop-off rate for women on the path to upper leadership tracks increases significantly at the VP to SVP level. “We used to think that getting women into very senior leadership positions was a pipeline issue—if we got women into the pipeline, it would take care of itself,” she says. “We now know that is not the case. We have systemic issues, and we need to understand the unwritten rules and practices that drive these outcomes and, more importantly, how to make them explicit and change them.” To learn more about the key initiatives and faculty research at this new Center, please visit the Berkeley Haas newsroom. |
22 Nov 2017, 08:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: How Reading Can Help You Get Into B-School |
 Setting aside time to read over the next few months is one of the smartest things you can do to enhance your candidacy for top-flight MBA programs. The broader your knowledge base, the more interesting you become to others, including the admissions committee. The reality is that many candidates have not read a book for personal enjoyment or education for years, and they often don’t consider MBA application season a good time to start. But when you consider the advantages of diving into some good books over the next several months, getting into a habit of reading is a no-brainer. The No. 1 reason to read more is to strengthen your GMAT reading comprehension skills and to improve your essay writing. There’s no better way to improve your vocabulary and mastery of grammar, and reading can be a welcome change of pace from GMAT prep books. If you read a variety of materials from different genres, you may also get some creative ideas when it comes to inventive sentence structures and storytelling methods, which can inspire your b-school essays. Another big advantage of reading is that it offers you something to talk about with business school interviewers. Many of these conversations touch on current events, history, and politics. If you can demonstrate that you’ve kept aware of the world outside of your cubicle, you’re a step ahead of the game. Make sure you’re regularly reading at least one of the general business magazines such as Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, or The Economist. With the holidays upon us, now is a great time to let friends and family know that you’d like a subscription to one of those periodicals as a gift this year. However, it’s also crucial to further develop your own interests and passions, not just to demonstrate that you are a member of the Warren Buffett Book of the Month Club. If you are interested in art, read about that. If you are intrigued by the history of baseball, immerse yourself in that area. If medical science advances fascinate you, find some gems in this arena. Of course, it never hurts to develop some form of business perspective on the subjects you feel passionately about. For instance, if you love reading about medicine, mix in some books about the economics of the healthcare system in the United States, or the behavior of the global pharmaceutical industry. Should you wish to transition to a new sort of career after business school, displaying this kind of commitment can be particularly important. If you have been an IT consultant for the last five years but want to become an entrepreneur and launch a new restaurant concept, show a commitment to the area that goes beyond what the admissions committee will expect. Reading about consumer trends, restaurant and retail entrepreneurs, or the organic food movement helps demonstrate that you follow your interests rather than just talking about them. You may counter that you just don’t have the time to read. Nonsense! Start by creating a plan that will make the task mentally manageable. For example, a modest but meaningful goal might be to read three books over the next six months. That means reading one 300-page book every two months, or 150 pages per month. That’s just five pages a day. Anyone can do five pages a day—especially when the end result is becoming a more interesting, more compelling MBA candidate and person. |
23 Nov 2017, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Happy Thanksgiving! |
 On behalf of the entire team here at Stacy Blackman Consulting, today we’d like to wish our U.S.-based followers and clients a lovely Thanksgiving and a joyous holiday season. In this time of gratitude, we give enormous thanks for our 16 amazing years in the MBA admissions consulting business, and for you, our loyal blog readers. We appreciate your confidence in our work and are grateful that you’ve chosen us as a trusted resource to help you achieve your MBA goals. Warmest wishes,  |
24 Nov 2017, 07:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: 5 Podcasts to Feed Your Mind This Thanksgiving Weekend |
When you finally emerge from your Tryptophan coma this Thanksgiving weekend and have a hankering for some food for thought, check out these illuminating podcasts from b-schools and beyond that cover entrepreneurship, creativity, leadership and one of the most important aspects in all of our lives…sleep. Enjoy! Even as adults, we still have to deal with bullies, at work and otherwise. Professor Bob Sutton at the Stanford Graduate School of Business has devoted his career to studying organizational behavior and dysfunction, and lately, figuring out how we can avoid or deal with people who demean, disrespect and drain those around them. In his podcast How to Outwit Workplace Jerks, he’ll explain how to handle toxic coworkers without falling into the mud with them. If you missed some of his media interviews a few weeks ago, retired U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly spent 20 years working for NASA and has many fascinating details to share about the challenges of working in outer space, cross-cultural collaboration and decision-making. Kelly spent 520 days in space over four missions, and this Harvard Business Review podcast shares his advice that leaders can use in space and on earth. Knowledge@Wharton is well-known for its insightful podcasts, and this recent episode reflects on both our current turbulent times, and how throughout history, leadership has frequently been shaped by outside forces both natural and man-made. The podcast Why Leaders are Made, Not Born, is a fascinating interview with historian Nancy Koehn, Harvard Business School professor and author of the new book Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times. These days, it seems we’re always hearing entrepreneurs say how they get by on 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Does that scant amount really make them more productive, successful, and just a little bit super-human? In this episode from the popular $100 MBA podcast, host Omar Zenhom dives into the important subject of sleep and success, as well as reveals the sleeping habits of many of today’s most famous business leaders. Zenhom has an interesting experiment to help you determine your optimal amount of sleep. NPR’s is a podcast about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. In this episode, host Guy Raz talks with Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe about how harassment and online bullying ultimately inspired her to launch a dating app where women make the first move. Today, the Bumble app has been downloaded more than 20 million times. Image credit: Flickr user Patrick Breitenbach (CC By 2.0) |
27 Nov 2017, 08:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: What Really Happens During an MBA Admissions Committee File Review-Part 2 |
 We’re back with our second in a series of five blog posts to help answer frequently asked questions about what really happens during an MBA admissions committee file review, and today we’ll tackle applicants’ Career Path, Resume and Career Goals. Returning to our fictional applicants Jackie and Bill, here are their backgrounds and plans: Jackie Career path: two years total Two years of full-time work experience as an Investment Banking Analyst for top NYC bank Career plans: Short term – Continue in finance in Investment Banking role post-MBA Long term – Launch her own private equity firm Bill Career path: five years total 1 year at Oracle 2 years as Investment Banking Analyst for top NYC bank 2 years Private Equity Associate in San Francisco Career plans: Short term/Long term – Launch a game-changing educational software company Breaking it Down: Career Path and Career Goals While it may seem like the number of years of experience is important, a better measure is what you have done with your time. Quality of work experience is much more important than quantity. Jackie has good experience, however with only two years, she will have difficulty differentiating her very common IB background from the thousands of other applicants out there. Bill’s a bit longer on experience, and he seems to have moved around a lot. Why? The adcomm will want to understand the reasoning for his career transitions. The white space between each role is as important as explaining the role itself. Additionally, as MBA programs continue to decrease the amount of essays required, the MBA resume has become an even more important evaluation tool. In general, the adcomm understands your day-to-day responsibilities (if you have had a traditional role). Use your resume to highlight your accomplishments so that you stand out. Jackie’s resume was a standard investment banking resume, just listing her job duties and selected transactions that she worked on. A better way would be to explain what she achieved on several transactions. Did she play the role of an Associate? Did she present to C-level executives? Did she devise a new financial modeling method that contributed to the success of a deal? Bill’s resume explained more about his specific achievements within the investment banking position as well as his move to a coveted private equity post. However, he’ll still need to explain why he left Oracle after just one year. Career goals are also an important part of the equation, as the majority of top programs want to make sure you have a clear reason for attending business school and have a plan afterward. Jackie’s goals are somewhat vague, and it seems like she wants to return to banking. She would benefit from having a more specific short-term goal focused in a particular industry. For example, she has a double major in economics and environmental studies. Even if she wants to continue in banking, she would be better served by mentioning she wants to focus on companies in the environmental space and in the long term launch a PE firm that concentrates on this space as well. By increasing the level of specificity in her goals, she gives the adcomm more confidence about her success post-graduation. Bill’s goals are also vague, but he came prepared in his essays and interviews with a sketched-out business plan of how he will launch his own company post-MBA. He has a plan for specific classes he’ll take, found a professor at his program who could help him through independent study, and identified a start-up club on campus where he will further craft his business plan and be connected with investors. All of this detail will ensure he is ready to start his launch work soon after graduation. While Bill has chosen a riskier path, he has a clear, demonstrated plan to achieve his goals, which helps the adcomm assess the achievability of his goals to a much better extent. Next up – Leadership and Extracurriculars Post 1: GPA and Test Scores |
28 Nov 2017, 06:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: The Bigger Picture: Procrastination is Part of The Process |
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In the MBA admissions business, procrastination is a big deal. I have seen individuals procrastinate for months on end, eventually abandoning the application process altogether. Driven and well-intended applicants are plagued by indecision, anxiety and paralysis in the face of sitting down to write essays. As a result, I have thought a lot over the years about procrastination: why we do it and how to stop. But as with everything in life, moderation is the key. While too much procrastination can derail your entire effort, I argue that some procrastination is essential. It’s hard to feel inspired when you are chained to a desk, delivering task after task, 24/7. We all know that inspiration is more likely to strike while we are in the shower, or out taking a walk. Ideas are often generated through conversations with friends, encounters out in the real world, listening to music or even aimlessly surfing the Internet. Truly, inspiration is everywhere, but it might be hard to uncover if you are always focused on doing. Sometimes your brain just needs a break.  In fact, simply staring at your blank computer screen, bored out of your mind, may be better than forcing yourself to churn out work on it. Several studies have documented that boredom can spark creativity. In one study, participants had to tediously copy names out of a phone book. This “bored” group was compared to a control group. Next, both groups were asked to engage in exercises that required creativity. The bored group consistently scored higher than the control group. These days, we pretty much eliminate every moment of boredom through the use of our devices. Kids no longer lay in the grass, staring up at the sky and pondering the universe. In fact, kids don’t even speak to each other anymore.  Constantly checking our devices makes us feel good temporarily but it interrupts the deeper contemplation that initiates from listless, aimless boredom. Here’s an idea. If you get stuck while drafting your MBA essays, or your next screenplay or business plan, ease up a bit. Cut yourself some slack and try one of these two taboo tactics: procrastinate for a few hours or simply lean into boredom. Let me know how it goes! |
29 Nov 2017, 08:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: The R2 Deadline Clock is Ticking…Should You Retake the GMAT? |
 With about six weeks left before Round 2 deadlines, you may be wondering whether it’s a good idea to retake the GMAT. First off, if your undergraduate GPA was high and you also earn a great GMAT score, that’s probably enough to convince the AdCom you can hack their program’s curriculum and they’ll move on to weighing other aspects of your candidacy. But a low GMAT score—especially when combined with a poor GPA—could pose a red flag. So what should you do if a) you’re just an awful test-taker, or b) you’re not happy with your initial score? When does it make sense to try again? While your score is just one data point out of your entire package for the admissions committee to consider, it’s often viewed as proof of academic prowess, and therefore worth improving if the circumstances are right and time permits. If you have experienced difficulty with taking tests throughout your life, you should try a test prep class or private tutor to see if dedicated guidance helps. And you may also want to look into the GRE (assuming your target schools accept GRE scores), take a few practice tests and see if you fare better. If not, then we’d advise using the “Optional Essay/Additional Information” field that most applications offer as an opportunity to refocus the AdCom on why you can handle their program, despite a poor test score. Point to your career success or specific quantitative or analytic achievements. If you’ve typically done just fine taking tests over the course of your academic career, a poor GMAT score may just be a fluke—or the result of insufficient preparation, lack of sleep leading up to the test, or nerves. Regroup and try again. You won’t be penalized for taking the test more than once, so if you know in your gut you can do better, it’s worth a try. Just be sure to take a different approach to test prep and test-taking this time. Finally, don’t worry a bit of how it might look to the admissions committee if you retake the test multiple times. As Soojin Kwon, director of MBA admissions at Michigan Ross School of Business, said last week, “We look at the highest score, so it can’t hurt you to take it again. Moreover, we view it favorably when an applicant strives to do better if their score isn’t where they think it could be. Put your best effort forward. It’s probably the last standardized test you’ll ever take.” |
30 Nov 2017, 08:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: 4 Areas Admissions Committees Focus on When Evaluating Your Candidacy |
 B-school applicants can’t help but fret over what their target MBA programs really want to see in a candidate, agonizing over whether their particular profile will generate enough interest to merit an interview and ultimately, land them a seat at the school of their dreams. Every year, those admissions offers going to Olympic athletes, NASA scientists, and former White House aides grab the headlines and can discourage candidates without a flashy personal or professional story. In truth, the admissions committee focuses on four very specific areas when evaluating your candidacy and fit with their program. The welcome news for applicants of all stripes is that standing out in these aspects can happen no matter where you’ve worked before or what background you have. Work Experience and Professional Goals In general, the admissions committee likes to see three or more years of work experience prior to applying, but the quality of the overall experience matters much more than length. Even within flat organizational structures where you’ve had the same title for years, you can differentiate yourself from other applicants by highlighting concrete professional growth, quantifiable achievements, or examples of times when you embraced new challenges and took advantage of learning opportunities. Whether your pre-MBA experience is at Goldman Sachs or your family’s business, the admissions team will look first and foremost for steady progression. Business school is a wonderful place to refine your career goals through the study of new disciplines, discussions with students and professors, and the pursuit of entrepreneurial projects. That said, you do have to make some choices and explain your areas of interest in order to get admitted. Successful essays won’t include the statement, “I look forward to figuring out my future career path in business school.” Make sure you include a definite role you envision for yourself in the future, and explain the kind of impact you want to have in the business world and on society. Finally, remember to convey realistic post-MBA career goals. Consider the application process from the school’s perspective: MBA programs want to launch graduates who will go on to become successful in their careers and serve as vibrant members of the alumni community. Don’t forget to sell them on your employability so the admissions team feels confident you’ll find a great job quickly upon graduating. Leadership Business schools strive to create the leaders of tomorrow, and the admissions committee wants to see that you have a framework already in place in this all-important area. Lots of applicants worry about how the admissions team will perceive their leadership skills, especially if they’ve never actually held a management position. However, your leadership essay or the examples in your application don’t need to be your greatest life or professional achievements. Applicants can call upon times when they’ve lead ideas, sports teams, student groups, etc. Successful leadership examples should show how you motivated other people, bringing out their passions; educating them; helping them see organizational priorities in new ways. The work of a leader energizes or improves the work of others, so find anecdotes in your professional and extracurricular background that illustrate this kind of behavior. Define the leadership challenges you faced, not the management ones. Collecting impressive titles does not make someone a great leader—helping a team overcome great challenges does. Keep in mind that in the adcomm’s view, your past is a strong predictor of how involved you’ll be on campus if admitted. Ultimately, leadership examples from college, on the job, and during your time at business school signal to future employers how you would perform in their organization. Creativity and Intellectual Aptitude When some Type-A personalities see the word creativity as it relates to an MBA application, they freak out and assume I’m talking about something artistic. Actually, I’m referring to expressing creativity by showing when you have solved problems at work or in your volunteer activities by thinking outside of the proverbial box. While some business schools use extremely creative MBA essays prompts, such as the Cornell Johnson School of Management’s Table of Contents essay, or the airport layover scenario at CMU Tepper School of Business, all admissions teams will look for evidence in your essays and interview responses that show you have a unique perspective that will add something new to the classroom. So think beyond your obvious achievements and differentiate yourself by highlighting the most compelling, memorable stories and experiences. Intellectual aptitude, meanwhile, will be judged based on your submitted GMAT or GRE scores as well as your undergraduate GPA and major. A solid 3.2 overall GPA from an Economics or Chemistry major will weigh more heavily than a 3.8 GPA in the Arts or Humanities. However, admissions committees actively seek a diverse class that includes those so-called “poets of b-school,” and that’s where a strong GMAT score or taking additional college-level math courses that prove you can handle the academic rigors of the program comes in. Interpersonal Skills and Fit The admissions process at a growing number of business schools now includes video essays, team-based discussions, and group interviews as a way to ensure the applicant has the appropriate interpersonal skills for success and will fit in well with the program’s culture. Business schools want students who will play nice with others, and so watching how someone interacts with peers before anyone’s even admitted can be very telling. Your application and interview should support those individual attributes that make you a great candidate and person overall, convey your understanding of the school’s culture, and reveal how you will be a terrific fit if admitted. Applicants should also keep in mind that for some schools, fit and knowledge of the school can be equally as important as concrete qualifications. You still need to have those qualifications, but if you don’t also have a thorough knowledge of the many great facets of the school, you could find yourself on the rejected applicant pile. Round two application deadlines are just around the corner. By focusing on and strengthening these four areas in your MBA application, you’ll boost your chances of making it to the interview stage and beyond. |
01 Dec 2017, 08:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Business Schools Continue to Close MBA Gender Gap |
 Forté Foundation reports this week that women’s enrollment in full-time MBA programs at its member schools – which represent the top business schools in the US and abroad – continued to climb in 2017 to 37.4% on average, up 4% from 33.4% five years ago in the fall of 2013. In the last five years, women’s enrollment at Forté Foundation member schools has steadily gained each year. This fall, 17 schools had 40% or more women enrolled, up from only two schools that reached this milestone in the fall of 2013. Also, 26 schools had 35% or more women enrolled, more than double from 12 schools in 2013. The fall of 2017 is the first year that two schools reached 45% or more women enrolled. (The Wharton School and George Washington University School of Business.) And three other schools, two in the US and one in the UK, are close behind at 44%. “This progress demonstrates that gender parity is not a pipe dream. Although women’s enrollment in business school is a slow and steady growth story, at this rate we could reach an average of 40% women’s enrollment in top business schools in less than five years and 50% by 2030,” says Elissa Sangster, Executive Director of Forté Foundation. “Why is this significant? There is evidence that an MBA can provide both career advancement and significant pay gains for women, giving them greater economic mobility. And efforts to support women to pursue an MBA can contribute to a more diverse leadership pipeline at companies.” The following 17 Forté member business schools have 40% or higher women’s enrollment:
Forté Foundation was launched in 2001 to address this inequity and its impact on the business landscape, and grew to 25 member schools in 2005 in the US. Today, Forté Foundation includes 51 member schools: 39 in the US, four in Canada and eight in Europe. Image credit: Flickr user IamNotUnique (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) |
04 Dec 2017, 08:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: What Really Happens During an MBA Admissions Committee File Review-Part 3 |
 We’re back with our third in a series of five blog posts to help answer frequently asked questions about what really happens during an MBA admissions committee file review, and today we’ll focus on applicants’ outside-of-work leadership and extracurricular activities. Post 1: GPA and Test Scores Post 2: Career Path, Resume, Career Goals Returning to our fictional applicants Jackie and Bill, here are their leadership initiatives and involvement outside of school/work: Jackie College Extracurriculars
College Extracurriculars
As you can see, Jackie has participated in several activities, but how much is too much? Was she really an effective contributor in all of them? She seems to have a consistent interest in “green” causes, a track record of leadership roles and has given back to her alma mater. Bill seems to have been consumed by his full-time work and has very limited activities throughout college and post-college; however, he was working to finance his college studies that his scholarship didn’t cover. Looking closer at the content of his activities we see that where he was active, he was focused on helping others. He also created his own opportunities and gave back to his alma mater — all positive traits in the eyes of the adcomm. The bottom-line here for the adcomm’s assessment: EVERYTHING counts, even how you spend your free time. Impact is most important, so focusing on a few activities and making a difference can be more impactful than a laundry list of involvements. Extracurriculars are also a great opportunity to demonstrate leadership, especially if you are light on work-related leadership, as both Jackie and Bill are. Extracurriculars are also a chance to show you are well rounded and have a passion; this passion can be used to help develop your planned career goals and shape your MBA story. Next up – Interpersonal, including essays and recommendations Image credit: Flickr user Premier of Ontario Photography (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) |
05 Dec 2017, 13:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: NYU Stern Receives $8M Gift to Establish Fubon Center for Technology, Business and Innovation |
 New York University’s Stern School of Business has announced the establishment of The Fubon Center for Technology, Business and Innovation, made possible through an $8 million endowed gift from alumnus Richard Ming-Hsing Tsai. The Fubon Center will serve as the school’s hub to support, facilitate and enhance cross-disciplinary collaboration among its existing areas of excellence in technological innovation, including: FinTech, Business Analytics, Technology and Entrepreneurship. As a new nexus for continuous innovation at Stern, The Fubon Center will serve to strengthen and build industry ties, focusing on cutting-edge research that creates impact for business. It will also help shape future coursework to align with a rapidly evolving business landscape. Additionally, the new center will help foster academic collaborations between Stern and National Taiwan University, Tsai’s undergraduate alma mater. “Technology demands that companies, regardless of industry, be nimble, adapt and innovate at an unprecedented rate,” says Peter Henry, Dean, NYU Stern School of Business. “Thanks to the generosity and inspiration of our alumnus Richard Tsai, we can help transform these challenges into exciting opportunities, staying as relevant to the new economy as we are to Wall Street.” Richard Tsai is the Chairman of Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd. and Fubon Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Tsai has more than 30 years of experience in financial and insurance businesses, and is also currently the Vice Chairman of Taiwan Mobile Co., Ltd. Tsai holds an MBA degree (1981) from NYU Stern, and a Bachelor of Laws Degree (1979) from National Taiwan University. The establishment of The Fubon Center for Technology, Business and Innovation is the latest in a series of new initiatives at the intersection of technology and business that Stern has introduced over the past 18 months. Stern was the first among top business schools to deliver a course on the blockchain in 2014, which led to the creation of an official FinTech specialization in the MBA program in 2016. This past May, the school launched a Tech MBA, a one-year specialized MBA program that integrates business with technology coursework, as well as experiential learning projects with companies through its Stern Solutions programming. |
06 Dec 2017, 14:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Financial Times 2017 MBA Rankings for Europe, the Americas, Asia |
 This week, for the first time ever, the Financial Times has published rankings simultaneously for the Americas and Asia-Pacific alongside the European tables. In the FT’s 2017 ranking of European business schools, the top 10 schools have remained the same this year with just bit of shuffling of positions. Here’s a snapshot of the top-ranked schools in the various regions. Top Ten European Business Schools
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08 Dec 2017, 12:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Columbia Launches New MS Degree in Business Analytics |
 Columbia Business School and Columbia Engineering have announced a new full-time Master of Science in Business Analytics degree, with a three-semester curriculum designed for those who want to focus on learning the modeling techniques and data science tools that help businesses use data to make better decisions. A key element of the new degree program is a capstone project that provides an intense consulting engagement with clients and their real-world business problems using relevant data sets over the entire course of the three-semester study. “The role of analytics has grown increasingly critical for most sectors of the economy,” says Mary C. Boyce, Dean of Columbia Engineering. “Our partnership with Columbia Business School combines our strength in data science, optimization, stochastic modeling, and analytics with their strength in data-driven decision-making for business and marketing to create a rigorous new Master’s degree program.“ Jointly developed by faculty at both Columbia Engineering and Columbia Business School, the M.S. in Business Analytics equips graduates for careers as analysts and associates in consulting firms, and business analysts and data scientists in the fields of financial and professional services, technology, advertising and media, and other professions where a deep understanding and practical application of data analytics are required. “By tapping into the vibrant and diverse business ecosystem that can only be found in New York, Columbia Business School and Columbia Engineering are uniquely situated to offer this new Master’s degree,” says Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School. “We see this as a must-do program for any future business person who wants to have a leg up in using data to make informed business decisions.” Another key element of the M.S. in Business Analytics is access to career placement services. As a first step, students complete a required Professional Development and Leadership course and have access to dedicated career services. “The M.S. in Business Analytics combines classroom instruction by distinguished Columbia professors with the experience of working on real-world problems via the capstone project course,” says Garud Iyengar, Professor and Chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research in Columbia Engineering. “We expect this program to have 100 percent placement of its graduates as do our very successful M.S. in Management Science and Engineering and M.S. in Financial Engineering programs,” Iyengar adds. Applications are now being accepted for the first cohort, which will start in September 2018. Students have the option of taking a summer semester and completing the Master’s degree in one year, or can choose to take three non-contiguous semesters (fall, spring, fall). For more information about the M.S. in Business Analytics, please visit: (https://ieor.columbia.edu/ba). |
08 Dec 2017, 13:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Major Expansion Planned in 2018 for IESE Business School |
 Rendering of the new building project for the IESE Madrid campus | Photo: © S-M.A.O Spain’s highly-ranked IESE Business School will soon undergo a complete facilities transformation, according to a recent announcement by the school’s dean, Professor Franz Heukamp. In 2018, work will begin on a new, state-of-the-art campus building in Madrid. Designed by the architectural firm S-M.A.O. with the goal of achieving LEED Gold certification, the projected 24 million euro investment will double the current space of IESE in Madrid and triple the amount of land available, allowing for future extensions if needed. “IESE aspires to have one of the most influential training centers in the world. The enlargement of our campus will help us support and stimulate the growth of the business community in Madrid,” Heukamp stressed to the more than 3,000 alumni gathered to celebrate the school’s Global Alumni Reunion in November. The expansion of the Madrid campus is designed to help the school better serve the approximately 15,000 IESE alumni living in Madrid, while also continuing to enhance the school’s cutting edge research and teaching offering to the national and international business community. New international programs for managers and companies will be delivered from the campus, and there will also be a special emphasis on deepening IESE’s research and entrepreneurial activity in the city. The fundraising campaign for financing the project has already started. IESE has the support of its entire network of former students as well as that of its partner companies, who are collaborating to provide 70% of the funding. The remaining 30% will come from IESE’s regular budget. This project is part of an overall expansion plan for IESE, which began in 2015 with the opening of a new campus in Munich, continued with the expansion of the school’s South campus last year in Barcelona, and which will culminate with this project for the IESE campus in Madrid. |
11 Dec 2017, 08:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: What Really Happens During an MBA Admissions Committee File Review-Part 4 |
 We’re back with our fourth in a series of five blog posts to help answer frequently asked questions about what really happens during an MBA admissions committee file review, and today we’ll focus on applicants’ interpersonal skills, as demonstrated by their essays and recommendations. Post 1: GPA and Test Scores Post 2: Career Path, Resume, Career Goals Post 3: Outside-of-Work Leadership, Extracurricular Activities Returning once again to our fictional applicants Jackie and Bill, here are summaries of their interpersonal skills: Jackie Essays: Why School X – Solid finance education, interested in flexible curriculum, networking within class and forming bonds with sectionmates Other essay themes – Travel experiences, marathons, diverse community service contributions, stories from work Recommenders:
Essays: Why School X – Excited about school’s entrepreneurial programs, discusses Small Business Development Center and Venture Initiation Program Other essay themes – Family background, national track & field competitions in high school, mentoring experiences Recommenders:
Essays MBA programs are looking for a variety of factors within your essays. If you have a standard Goals essay, the adcomm is evaluating not only the ambitiousness and achievability of your goals (as discussed in blog post #2), but also whether business school is even needed to achieve your goals. In these types of essays, the adcomm is also looking to see if you have done your homework on their program. While Jackie lists a lot of school attributes, many of them are vague, and she could easily be discussing another school’s program. Bill is more specific, detailing exactly why the program is for him. In his case the adcomm is able to easily see how he’ll come in and add value immediately. Specificity is key — demonstrate your knowledge by detailing specific classes, professors and extracurriculars to show the adcomm how you will be prepared from Day 1! Beyond the goals-focused essays, the adcomm should learn something new about you in your essays. Jackie focused on a number of unique themes in her essays; however, she did not note anything “green” in any, which was perplexing having been an environmental studies major in undergrad combined with several “green” extracurriculars. It seems like she has a good story here that she is not truly capitalizing on. Bill talks about his family background, which includes immigrant parents and growing up in his family business along with his mentoring work, which he appears to truly love — all are positives and help set him apart from other applicants. Where Bill falls short is that he discusses a national track & field competition in high school, which seems distant and not the best area to focus on for someone in his mid-to-late 20s. Bill would have been better served to address in more detail his tech enrichment program that he developed for low-income-neighborhood schools. This effectively demonstrates leadership as well as an intent to give back to his community. Recommendations While Jackie has a plethora of people relaying all sorts of good things about her, she’s actually disregarding the school’s recommender instructions, which state: We require two letters of recommendation from people who are very knowledgeable about your performance in a work setting, ideally from current or former supervisors. Jackie’s current boss fits this bill perfectly; however, using a college professor and a nonprofit board member do not. She will have points taken away for not following instructions and for an adcomm evaluation, every point counts! She would have been better off selecting her second recommender as someone who also knows her work experience but from a different angle — possibly her mentor at the firm or another manager with whom she has worked closely. Also, while some schools accept additional letters of support, you need to be very careful about them. Too many are overkill and can have the reverse effect on your application. If you want to go this route, make sure your school is open to this and be very judicious about who submits a letter. Bill has a strong recommendation from his current boss, but he made a misstep in using the head of his firm, who gave him a very generic recommendation. MBA programs are clear on this point: the title of the recommender is not as important as his or her ability to effectively evaluate your performance. By using the head of his firm, Bill lost an opportunity to provide more detailed information about his accomplishments in the workplace. A better route would have been to choose a former supervisor at one of his two previous companies as his second recommender. In summary, make sure your recommenders know you and add meaningful insight; familiarity always trumps prestige. Letters from current and recent supervisors are always most important. Don’t submit extra letters unless they are truly helpful, providing an additional point of view. Next up – So what happened? |
12 Dec 2017, 06:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: The Bigger Picture: Will I Ever Figure It All Out? |
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One afternoon at the start of the school year, my daughter came running into my room with a list of supplies she needed for her Halloween costume. She was dressing up as superheroes with a group of friends and she was going to be Wonder Woman. I was surprised – she usually resisted costumes. Fast forward to the night before Halloween, when she came into my office sulking that she hated her costume. This sounded more like my girl. I know her. Over time she will better understand herself and she will accept certain truths about herself. She can then avoid moments like this past Halloween, when she awkwardly clomped around her school’s field, in a costume she felt embarrassed by, in front of every other student, faculty and parent at the school. In her eyes, 15 minutes of torture. No one expects a second grader to fully know themselves. But as a member of the over forty crowd, sometimes I feel like I am the only one who doesn’t have it all figured out. I mean, Gwyneth has it figured out: “I wish more women had told me that at 40 you sort of stop worrying about what other people think about you, and you come into yourself in the most phenomenal way.” And Jennifer Aniston has it all figured out: “I feel better in my 40s…because, say, in your 20s, you didn’t know s–t. For me, in my 30s I was just trying to figure it all out. Then when you hit 40, you’re like, ‘Oh, okay. I got this.’” All the writers who produce those articles titled, “30 Things You Know For Sure Once You Hit 30” or “Why Facing Adversity Allows You to Know and Live Your Truth”…they clearly have it all figured out. As for me, I don’t know if I will ever figure it out. And I am not sure I want to. Yes, it’s true, over time, I have gotten to know myself better. I will never dress up as a superhero with a group of friends. I prefer Pilates over Soul Cycle. I love gummy candy. I like working for myself. I learn better visually. I don’t like clutter. I prefer small groups over big crowds. I’m an early bird, not a night owl. All of these nuggets of self-knowledge, collected over time, allow me to be happier, more content and more productive.  GUMMY CANDY: MY KRYPTONITE But there are still plenty of times when I feel awkward and I do give a s-t. There are times when I am in over my head, I fear messing up, times when I feel vulnerable, embarrassed or agitated because I made the wrong decision. Here’s the thing. I don’t want to turn a certain age and be 100% comfortable in my life and my skin, so settled that nothing ever phases me. I want to keep trying new things and failing, feeling the full range of emotions: embarrassed, ashamed and also joyfully happy. I want to experience novelty, and I want to grow and learn. If you are like me and you haven’t figured it all out, and are thinking that perhaps you never will, don’t despair. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing. Let’s make lists of the 10,000 things we still want to learn, experience and do. Let’s keep figuring it out forever. |
13 Dec 2017, 14:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Bloomberg Businessweek’s Best International B-Schools |
 Bloomberg Businessweek has announced its annual ranking of the 31 best international business schools, following up on last month’s release of the top MBA programs in the United States. The methodology for Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking places considerable weight on recruiter opinions regarding how well MBA programs prepare their graduates with relevant skills, as well as student feedback on the same. INSEAD, which has campuses in France, Asia, and the Middle East, unseated London Business School for the top spot, Bloomberg Businessweek reveals, thanks to its strong performance in both alumni and employer surveys, as well as a boost in its recent students’ ability to obtain jobs shortly after graduation. Top Ten International MBA Program Rankings
The Bloomberg ranking methodology includes an employer survey (35% of score), alumni survey (30%), student survey (15%), job placement rate (10%), and starting salary (10%). MBA hopefuls should keep in mind that, because the full-time rankings comprise five elements, it’s possible to rank highly without knocking every category out of the ballpark. Click on over to Bloomberg Businessweek to see the details for all of the 31 schools ranked in this list. And remember, here at SBC we don’t like to encourage clients to focus too heavily on rankings when they’re making their MBA program selections. However, we also know those headed for b-school really can’t help themselves, so be sure to consider multiple factors when making your final school selection. |
14 Dec 2017, 13:01
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Do More Than Wait for MBA Admissions Responses |
 The best way to cope when you’re anxiously waiting for news of any kind is to stay busy. And I’m not talking about devoting hours each day to stalking the MBA message boards. Though these forums provide a tempting distraction for MBA hopefuls waiting for interview invites and admit decisions, they also stir up enormous stress in candidates and often spread misinformation that can derail your carefully considered MBA application plans. You’re much better off focusing your energies on the following activities to pass the time productively. Stay Engaged with the School Sure, you don’t have a firm answer from your dream school yet, but you should still continue to invest the time to further immerse yourself in all things related to the program. Every b-school asks applicants “Why this school?” either explicitly in the application or during the interview, so you’ll want to keep up with any big news announcements that you can later reference as a way to demonstrate your interest and commitment to attending if admitted. If you haven’t already done so, follow the school and relevant professors on social media, through their podcasts or blogs, and check the program’s event calendar for any winter break meetups designed for prospective students. The more specific details you can weave into your conversation with your interviewer, the more convinced the admissions team will be regarding your fit with their school culture. Also, use this time to rekindle or reinforce those relationships with current students or alumni that you started cultivating months ago. Send a brief message reminding them that you’ve submitted your application and hope to have good news to share with them soon. This simple gesture signals your continued excitement about the program, and, as an added bonus, these contacts can answer any new burning questions you have as well as provide valuable admissions interview insight. Prepare for Interviews Last month, I shared my recommendation for 30 minutes of interview prep a day. That may sound like a lot of time, but given the fact that business schools typically weigh the applicant’s interview performance as heavily as their GMAT or GRE score, this area is obviously too important to just wing it. Spend time coming up with appropriate responses to the most common MBA interview questions, such as: what are your strengths and weaknesses?; why do you want to do an MBA now?; why have you applied to this program?; what are your post-MBA career goals?; as well as the typical ice-breakers, tell me about yourself and walk me through your resume. But be prepared for curveballs and behavioral questions that start with, “Tell me about a time when…” Harvard Business School is notorious for its atypical interview questions, which have ranged from: “What is one thing I’d never have guessed about you, even after reading your application?” and “What is the most interesting conversation you’ve had this week?” to “Explain to me something you’re working on as if I were an eight-year-old.” While you can’t fully prepare for these types of surprise questions, it’s helpful to brainstorm stories and examples from your professional or personal life that support the general themes of leadership, overcoming challenges, and your unique passions and ambitions. Come ready to discuss things you haven’t already shared in your application. Non-native English speakers need to make sure their language skills pass at a near-native level, and ramping up the reading is a great way for this subset of MBA applicants to prepare for the interview experience. Even reading five pages a day of a business publication or books related to your primary areas of interest can help improve your interviewing skills by giving you something memorable to talk about during the exchange. Allow for a Plan B These days, it’s wise to balance your ambition with a dose of realism. If you land on the waitlist in rounds one or two, will you try your luck in ultra-competitive round three? If you have your heart set on a particular school and don’t get in, will you reapply next year? If you don’t go to business school next fall, what career shift or lifelong dream might you pursue instead? Remembering that you have choices feels immensely reassuring. Having an acceptable backup plan in mind will go a long way toward not only coping with any potential adverse outcome, but actually thriving in spite of it. A version of this post originally appeared on Stacy’s ‘Strictly Business’ MBA blog on U.S. News |
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