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12 Feb 2020, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Wharton Team-Based Discussion 2020: What to Expect and How to Prepare |
 The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania plans to send out Round 2 interview invitations on February 13, and once again, the school is using its team-based discussion format rather than a traditional admissions interview to evaluate its candidates. Understandably, Wharton applicants get anxious about this atypical interview, because the approach creates a very different dynamic from what one usually encounters in a one-on-one meeting—and with other applicants also in the room, one cannot help but feel less in control of the content and direction of the conversation. Yet despite the uncertainty, here are a few things that interviewees can expect:
The 2019 Wharton Team-Based Discussion Simulation Round 2 schedule is as follows:
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13 Feb 2020, 10:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Dan Ariely, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business |
 Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we focus on Dan Ariely from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Dan Ariely’s “Behavioral Economics” class is reportedly a popular one at Fuqua. “It always has the longest waiting list,” remarked one second year we interviewed, and an alumna said of Ariely, “He was wonderful.” When mbaMission asked a first-year student about Ariely’s class, he said jokingly, “I’m pretty sure you have to snag that class within one or two seconds of it becoming available!” The course explores how people actually act in the marketplace, as opposed to how they might act if they were being completely rational. (Note: “Behavioral Economics” is not available during the 2019–2020 academic year, according to the Fuqua course catalog.) Ariely is also author of the books Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter (Harper, 2017, with Jeff Kreisler), Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations (Simon & Schuster/TED, 2016), The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves (HarperCollins, 2012), The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home (HarperCollins, 2010), and Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (HarperCollins, 2008). An alumna told mbaMission, “He got us to think about everyday things in a totally new way,” and a second-year student commented, “Everyone takes his course. Everyone. He’s our rock-star professor.” Another second year agreed, saying, “He is one of the superstar professors here. He explains more complex research in an easy-to-understand way.” Ariely maintains a blog that can be found at https://danariely.com. He also writes an advice column for the Wall Street Journal titled “Ask Ariely,” bits of which were published in book form under the title Irrationally Yours: On Missing Socks, Pickup Lines, and Other Existential Puzzles (Harper Perennial, 2015). For more information about Duke Fuqua and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
14 Feb 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: International Opportunities at Wharton and Dartmouth Tuck |
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To think that the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania excels only in churning out investment bankers and management consultants would be a mistake. In fact, Wharton boasts a truly international program that was ranked #3 in this area in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report MBA specialty rankings. International students constitute 30% of the school’s Class of 2021 and represent 64 countries, and 12.3% of the school’s 2019 graduates took jobs outside the United States. Students who wish to study international business at Wharton have no shortage of options for doing so, including the following:
Students gain hands-on international experience through the “OnSite Global Consulting” (formerly “Tuck Global Consultancy”) course, which gives second years the chance to put their education into practice worldwide. Since 1997, students have consulted with 168 global organizations on more than 237 projects in 60 countries, according to the Tuck website. On-site consulting projects are led by small teams of students working under the supervision of Tuck professors with extensive consulting backgrounds. A large percentage of the second-year class participates in this elective, defining projects in the spring or early fall, then traveling to their assigned countries for three weeks to perform on-site research and analysis. At the end of the program, students present their findings to their clients. Past clients include such major corporations as Alcoa, British Telecom, DuPont, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, John Deere, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Nike, and Walmart. For more information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at Wharton, Dartmouth Tuck, or one of 16 other top business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
15 Feb 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Solve Any Sentence Correction Problem on the GMAT, Part 3 |
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With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. In Part 1 of this article, we talked about the five-step process to answer Sentence Correction problems, and in Part 2, we discussed some drills to build the needed skills. Make sure to read both of those before continuing with this third article in the series. Drill Number 3: Find a Starting Point Once again, open up your Official Guide and look at some problems you have done before. This time, do not read the original sentence. Instead, cover it up. Compare the answers, and try to articulate all the things that the problem is testing. Note that you can tell what is being tested even if you cannot tell how to answer. For example, you might see a verb switching back and forth between singular and plural. If the subject is not underlined, then you have no idea which verb form is required, because you literally have not even seen the subject. You do, though, know that subject-verb agreement is at issue. Drill Number 4: Eliminate Answers Once again, this drill involves problems you have already done. (Sensing a pattern? We learn the most when we are reviewing things we have already done!) This time, though, you are going to get to use the whole problem. Right after you finish a problem, add the following analysis to your review: (1) Why is the right answer right? Why is each of the wrong answers wrong? (2) How would you justify eliminating the right answer? What is the trap that would lead someone to cross this one off? (3) How would you justify picking any of the wrong answers? What is the trap that would lead someone to pick a wrong answer? You are probably already doing the first one, but most people skip the second and third steps. The first is important, but you can learn more! When you learn how you (or someone) would fall into the trap of thinking that some wrong answer looks or sounds or feels better than the right one, you will be a lot less likely to fall into that same trap yourself in the future. Next Steps Practice these steps until they start to feel like second nature to you. At the same time, of course, learn the grammar rules that we all need to know. Put both pieces together, and you will master sentence correction! |
16 Feb 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Must Have Botched the Interview |
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Maybe you are among the unlucky applicants who were/are on the outside looking in this year, shaking your head trying to understand why you did not get into an MBA program. As you look back and assess where you went wrong, you may narrow your focus and re-examine your interviews. After all, you were invited to interview but were rejected thereafter, so there must be a cause-and-effect relationship, right? Your rejection must mean that everything was at stake during those 30 to 60 minutes and that your interviewer just did not feel that you are of the caliber preferred by your target school, right? Not at all. Bruce DelMonico, the Yale School of Management (SOM) assistant dean for admissions, explained to mbaMission that the school uses a “consensus decision-making model [in which] we all need to agree on an outcome for an applicant [to be accepted].” Each file is read multiple times. With the need for a consensus, we can safely conclude that the committee is not waiting on the interview as the determinant. There is no post-interview snap judgment but rather serious thought and reflection by the admissions officers. Although we have discussed this topic before, it is worth repeating that no simple formula exists for MBA admissions and that the evaluation process is thorough and not instinctive/reactive. Yes, a disastrous interview can certainly hurt you—but if you felt positively about your experience, you should not worry that you botched it and that this was the determinant of the admissions committee’s decision. mbaMission offers even more interview advice in our free Interview Primers, which are available for 17 top-ranked business schools. |
17 Feb 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Begin Your Essays with Your Strongest Accomplishments and Enliven with the Active Voice |
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When preparing personal statements that require significant information about career progress, many MBA applicants choose to discuss their accomplishments in chronological order. Although the simplicity of this approach makes it an attractive one, we encourage you to consider an alternative to showcase your more recent and thus potentially stronger accomplishments first. By taking this approach instead, you may capture your reader’s imagination more quickly and reduce the risk of being lost amid similar candidates. Consider these examples: (1) a software analyst who is now a project manager managing a budget and leading a team of 20 programmers and (2) an investment banking analyst who is now in their third year with a company and has been sent abroad to work directly with a CFO. The Project Manager Chronological: “Joining ABC Technology as a software programmer, I…” Reverse: “Scrutinizing my plan one last time, I waited to present my team’s $3.7M proposal to our client…” The Investment Banker Chronological: “As an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank, I started…” Reverse: “Arriving in Taipei, I was admittedly nervous to finally meet the CFO of XYZ Co. and lead my firm’s due diligence process…” In these examples, the candidates immediately present their standout accomplishments and thrust the reader into the excitement of their stories. Although this kind of reverse introduction is not “all purpose,” it can be a feasible option in many circumstances. Still, in choosing this approach, candidates must be able to fluidly return to earlier moments in their career later in the essay—a task that requires creativity and skill. Another task that requires skill is determining when to use the active voice. Many writers use the passive voice in their essays, but the best writers know it should be used only rarely, if ever. The passive voice puts the verb in the “wrong” place in the sentence, thereby removing the “action.” Subjects become acted upon rather than performing actions. Sentences with the passive voice typically include verb phrases such as “was” or “has been” (e.g., “it was determined,” “the project has been completed”). Consider this example of the passive voice: “The marathon was run despite my injury.” In this sentence, the verb (or action) is diminished because the writer says the marathon “was run.” A better way of describing the same activity is to use the active voice, as illustrated in this example: “I ran the marathon despite my injury.” Here are two more examples: Passive: “The contract was awarded to us.” Active: “We won the contract.” Passive: “It was decided that I would be in charge of the project.” Active: “My boss selected me to be in charge of the project.” Remember—you are the center and subject of your essays. The best way to tell your stories and explain your accomplishments is to make sure that you are the catalyst of the stories you tell. Using the active voice ensures that the admissions committee(s) will see you as an active person who makes things happen. |
19 Feb 2020, 14:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Barry Nalebuff, Yale School of Management |
 Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we profile Barry Nalebuff from the Yale School of Management (SOM). Perhaps best known as one of the founders of Honest Tea, Barry Nalebuff is the Milton Steinbach Professor of Management at the Yale SOM. An expert in game theory and strategy, Nalebuff has been a professor at the SOM since 1989. A second year told mbaMission that in the classroom, Nalebuff “is a favorite for his sharp wit and insights.” Nalebuff is also an accomplished author with more than 400,000 copies in print. His book The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008), for example, explores how almost all interactions—business and personal alike—have a game theory component. Nalebuff and Adam Brandenburger, a professor of business economics and strategy at New York University’s Stern School of Business, developed the concept of a new business strategy called “co-opetition,” which they write about in the book Co-Opetition: A Revolutionary Mindset That Combines Competition and Cooperation: The Game Theory Strategy That’s Changing the Game of Business (Crown Business, 1997). The book’s listing on Amazon.com describes co-opetition as “a business strategy that goes beyond the old rules of competition and cooperation to combine the advantages of both. Co-opetition is a pioneering, high profit means of leveraging business relationships.” A first year noted in a SOM Community Blog post, “Prof. Nalebuff never misses an opportunity to illustrate the ways in which companies can cooperate to grow the PIE (potential industry earnings). Of course, he then always reminds us that these same companies should compete aggressively to secure the biggest piece of that newly expanded PIE.” For more information about the Yale SOM and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
20 Feb 2020, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Recruiting |
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In this blog series, our mbaMission [url=https://www.mbamission.com/about/?display=team]Career Coaches[/url] offer invaluable advice and industry-related news 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. To schedule a free half-hour consultation with one of our mbaMission Career Coaches, [url=https://www.mbamission.com/consult/?display=career-coaching]click here[/url]. Technology has disrupted many industries by providing opportunities for innovation—and that includes the recruiting space! In a [b][url=https://www.kornferry.com/press/korn-ferry-global-survey-artificial-intelligence-reshaping-the-role-of-the-recruiter]Korn Ferry Global survey[/url][/b], 63% of respondents said artificial intelligence (AI) had altered the way recruiting happens in their organization. [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efo2ebnES_U]Unilever[/url][/b] is one company that is incorporating AI into its hiring processes. For example, in the firm’s Future Leaders program, applicants are required to complete a series of online games to assess their logical thinking and risk appetite. In addition, they must record answers to interview questions on an online platform before advancing to an in-person evaluation. These AI tools help Unilever identify candidates of interest within a large applicant pool. Proponents of AI in the recruiting space praise its ability to accomplish the following: [list] [*]Offer more diverse qualified talent by broadening the candidate pool[/*] [*]Create efficiency in screening thousands of resumes[/*] [*]Improve the candidate experience by providing easier access to information and a streamlined scheduling process[/*] [*]Remove unconscious bias from the resume-screening and interviewing processes[/*] [/list] As a candidate for a more junior-level or middle-management role, you might be asked to participate in a video interview (where you will answer a set of predetermined questions on camera through a laptop or smartphone) or complete short online games as part of the hiring process. Here are a few tips to consider to help you get noticed (and hired!): [list] [*]Use role-specific keywords on your LinkedIn profile and resume, and match the words with the terminology used in the job description. Use numbers to demonstrate you have made a positive impact on businesses. Check out [url=https://www.jobscan.co/][b]Jobscan.co[/b][/url] or [b][url=https://www.vmock.com/]VMock[/url][/b] for more help with improving your resume. [/*] [*]Be confident in video interviews conducted using technology from vendors such as [b][url=https://www.hirevue.com/]HireVue[/url][/b]. Think about video and sound quality. Remove distractions from behind you. Place the camera at head height. Use headphones with a microphone. Remember that everything is being evaluated: the clarity and tone of your voice, your facial expressions, your eye contact, and your word choice. [/*] [*]Take online games/assessments seriously. Firms such as McKinsey that use these tools are learning a lot about your risk tolerance, decision-making ability, and personality. [/*] [*]Ask for feedback regardless of your results in the recruiting process. The hiring organization has collected a lot of information about you, and it will be helpful for you to understand how those details affected the company’s decision. [/*] [*]Ensure your online presence is accurate, up to date, and positive by Googling yourself. Your digital footprint matters! [/*] [/list] Even though many firms use AI in the recruiting process, human connections and advocates within the hiring organization remain very important. These people can help you—whether by sharing details about their personal experiences at the company and in the role, by putting your resume in front of the hiring manager, or by offering information about the hiring process and the hiring team. Contact us to schedule a [url=https://www.mbamission.com/consult/career-coaching/][b]free 30-minute consultation[/b][/url] with an mbaMission Career Coach to learn more about how to best position yourself in this new AI environment as well as how to identify, connect, and build advocates in your target companies. Have you been admitted to business school? If so, do you want to get a head start on defining your career goals? Do you need help preparing for job interviews or learning how to effectively network with your target employers? Or maybe you want to be a top performer in your current role but are unsure how to maximize your potential. Let an mbaMission Career Coach help via a [url=https://www.mbamission.com/consult/?display=career-coaching]free 30-minute consultation[/url]! |
21 Feb 2020, 14:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Kelley School of Business and Fisher College of Business Offer MBAs in the Midwest |
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As the demand for business-savvy health care professionals grows, business schools are taking notice. Leading the way is the Business of Medicine Physician MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, which is designed to train practicing physicians to assume management positions and face a changing health care business environment. The two-year degree program was launched 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. Idie Kesner, who was interim dean at the time but has since been appointed dean, said in a Financial Times article regarding the launch of the program, “With this degree, physician leaders will emerge with the full skillset to transform individual institutions, the broad healthcare field and, most important, patient outcomes.” Part of the Business of Medicine Physician MBA program—approximately 10–14 hours a week—is taught online, drawing on Kelley’s pioneering strengths in distance learning, while the other part entails one weekend residence per month, allowing for a more flexible time commitment. Despite the size of its parent institution, the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, another Midwestern business school, boasts a relatively intimate classroom experience—with approximately 100 students in each incoming full-time MBA class—and a close-knit community. Fisher students consequently benefit from the school’s wider university network (more than 550,000 alumni) and its proximity to major companies based both in Columbus and throughout the Midwest. Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Fisher 53rd in its list of top full-time MBA programs in 2018. The Fisher curriculum consists of a core sequence spanning the first year of the program and offers a plethora of optional pathways in which students can major, including Leadership, Corporate Finance, and Supply Chain. Of the 60 credit hours required for graduation, 7.5 credits consist of experiential coursework, including Business Lab Projects and the Core Capstone Experience. In these hands-on projects, students work with local and international businesses to apply the skills they have learned within the classroom to real-life scenarios. Nearly half (27 credit hours) of the required credit hours are dedicated to elective courses, proving that the Fisher MBA is a widely customizable program. |
22 Feb 2020, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: First Glance Exercises for Sentence Correction in the GMAT |
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With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. We have learned the four-step Sentence Correction (SC) Process in previous posts. People are excited about the opening step, the First Glance, and have asked for more exercises to help them learn how to become a First Glance Expert. For instance… Does the length of the underline tell you anything? If so, what? What about the very first word of the underline? Or the last word right before the underline starts? And what about the differences among the first words of each answer choice? Does anything strike you there? Fantastic clues often exist in these areas, but you need to learn how to translate them. As with any study we do for the GMAT, our real learning comes before the clock starts ticking. Take all the time you need to analyze already-completed questions to figure out how to spot and react to certain types of clues. Then, when the test starts, you will know what to look for, and you will be able to react immediately when you spot a useful clue! First, read the SC Process posts. Finally, start trying out the exercises detailed in the article “Get the Most Out of Your First Glance.” Plan to spend a few weeks working on this a little bit every day before you start to spot most of the types of clues that can pop out at you during your first glance at the problem. Have fun! |
23 Feb 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: My High GMAT Score Will Get Me In |
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So, you have taken the GMAT and exceeded even your highest expectations, scoring at the very top of the scale. Congratulations! However, do not assume that earning such a high GMAT score means you can relax with respect to the other components of your application. Every year, applicants who have scored 750 or higher are rejected from their target business schools—even when their GMAT score falls within the top 10% of the schools’ range. Many of these candidates were rejected because of a fatal, but ultimately avoidable, mistake: they became overconfident and assumed their GMAT score alone would get them in. Business schools want to learn a lot more about you than your GMAT score alone can convey. MBA admissions committees are interested in hearing about your ambitions, accomplishments, leadership skills, teamwork experience, perseverance, motivation, integrity, compassion… The list goes on and on. Fundamentally, admissions committees need to determine whether you will be a vital and contributing member of their community, and your GMAT score tells them only that you can do the work. Heed our advice—even (or especially!) those of you with a 780 score—and commit yourself to the rest of your application with the same enthusiasm with which you approached the GMAT. |
24 Feb 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Consider a Part-Time MBA—or an MBA Program in Europe! |
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We at mbaMission often receive questions about part-time MBA programs, so we thought we should offer a look at some of the pros and cons of this option. As for the pros, the one that business school candidates cite most frequently is that the part-time MBA involves a limited opportunity cost. Unlike full-time MBA students, part-time ones do not miss out on two years of salary (and, in some cases, retirement savings) and can still earn raises and promotions while completing their studies. Furthermore, firm sponsorship seems to be more prevalent for part-time MBAs, so candidates who have this option can truly come out ahead, with a free education and continued earning throughout. Beyond the financial rationale, many part-time MBA students see an academic advantage; they can learn both in the classroom and at work and can then turn theory into practice (and vice versa) in real time, on an ongoing basis. Of course, a cynic might add that another pro is that part-time MBA programs are generally less selective. So, a candidate who may have had difficulty getting accepted to a traditional two-year program may have a better chance of gaining admission to a well-regarded school in its part-time program instead. As for the cons, many part-time MBA candidates feel that the comparative lack of structure means that networking opportunities within the class are limited. While one part-time student could complete a school’s MBA program in two years, another might complete it in five. As a result, with candidates progressing through the program at such different paces, students will not likely see each other regularly in the same classes or at social events. In addition, in a traditional MBA environment, academics always come first; in a part-time environment, work typically comes first, and academics must come second or even third, after family. In other words, the full-time program generally involves greater intensity with regard to the classroom experience, given that it is the focal point of students’ lives. Another thing to consider is that some MBA programs do not offer their “star” faculty to part-time students—something that candidates should definitely ask about before enrolling—and offer limited access to on-grounds recruiting. Of course, we are not trying to offer a definitive “answer” or present a bias for a particular kind of program; we are simply sharing some objective facts for candidates to consider as they make informed choices for themselves. MBA candidates looking to broaden their business school choices could also consider European programs. Although many applicants who are competing for places at the top U.S. business schools are well aware of the strengths of the MBA programs at INSEAD and London Business School, even more options are available beyond these two, including IESE, ESADE, Oxford (Said), and Cambridge (Judge). These four schools in particular have been aggressively playing “catch-up” with their better-known brethren by raising funds and dedicating them to scholarships and to enhancing their global brands. Other candidates may also be aware that IMD offers a boutique MBA program with remarkable international diversity, highly regarded academics, and a strong reputation with international employers. So, numerous options are available, and each can be explored on its own academic merit. But is earning your MBA in Europe, in itself, a good choice for you? For many applicants, the key issue is where they would like to be after completing their education. If you hope to work in Europe, these schools clearly offer an advantage over all but the top five or six U.S. schools—Harvard Business School, for example, can probably open as many doors in Europe as INSEAD can. However, if you hope to work in the States, the European schools will not provide the pipeline of opportunities that a top-ranked American school could, particularly for candidates who are targeting a niche industry or a company that is not a well-known international brand. Still, beyond the employment picture, studying abroad offers intrinsic value. Spending two years in London, Fontainebleau, or Lausanne could certainly be its own reward. For more information on various international business schools, including INSEAD, Cambridge Judge, and IMD, check out our free mbaMission Program Primers. |
25 Feb 2020, 14:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School |
 Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we focus on Clayton Christensen from Harvard Business School (HBS). With research interests in the areas of technology management and innovation management, Clayton Christensen (MBA ’79, DBA ’92) joined the HBS faculty in 1992, after having cofounded CPS Technologies (where he was chairman and president) in 1984, working as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group (1979–1984), and serving as a White House Fellow (1982–1983). He is currently the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at HBS. Christensen’s “Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise” course is an elective he designed that shows students how to manage a successful company using theories of strategy and innovation to better understand which tools may be effective in various business situations. Students address such questions as “How can I beat powerful competitors?” and “How can we create and sustain a motivated group of employees?” Christensen is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business (Harvard Business Review Press, 1997), The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth (Harvard Business School Press, 2003), Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (McGraw-Hill, 2008), How Will You Measure Your Life? (HarperBusiness, 2012), and Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice (HarperBusiness, 2016). He received an Extraordinary Teaching Award from the HBS Class of 2010 as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award. Thinkers50, a ranking released every two years by the consulting group CrainerDearlove, has featured Christensen on each of its lists since the ranking’s inception in 2001 and named him the World’s Most Influential Business Thinker in both 2011 and 2013. Finally, in 2015, Christensen received an Edison Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of innovation. For more information on the defining characteristics of the MBA program at HBS or one of 16 other top business schools, please check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
26 Feb 2020, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Campus Facilities and Development at Duke Fuqua and MIT Sloan |
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The Fuqua School of Business is located on Duke University’s West Campus near the intersection of Science Drive and Towerview Drive. Students often congregate in the Fox Student Center, a 70,000-square-foot facility that was built in 2002. Linking the main wings of the school and featuring a café, enormous windows, and a spacious indoor winter garden, the Fox Student Center is the hub of the school. Students can eat breakfast and lunch there, grab a coffee, conduct team meetings, or just take a breather between classes or during the 15-minute break in each class period. In August 2008, Fuqua opened the 91,000-square-foot Doug and Josie Breeden Hall, the “new front door of the School for students and visitors,” as it was described in the student newspaper, the Fuqua Bulletin. Named after former dean Douglas Breeden (2001–2006), the building boasts a three-story atrium, two auditoriums (which seat 126 and 146 people), the expanded Ford Library, three 70-seat lecture rooms, and a suite of team rooms. All told, Fuqua’s campus covers nearly 500,000 square feet, with 58 team rooms, 10 classrooms, and 7 seminar rooms. In 2015, the school undertook a major renovation project for the R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center, turning it into the JB Duke Hotel. The hotel, which officially opened in January 2017, encompasses the Thomas Executive Conference Center as well as more than 90,000 extra square feet, including nearly 200 hotel guest rooms—some of which are occupied by the school’s executive students, who stay at the hotel during their residencies at Fuqua. The hotel is connected to the main Fuqua campus by a footbridge. In 2006, MIT’s then president Susan Hockfield announced a major campus development program that would invest approximately three-quarters of a billion dollars in new and renovated facilities on the school’s 154-acre Cambridge campus, and which included the Sloan School Expansion. This expansion added a new classroom building, E62 (address: 100 Main St.), with approximately 210,000 square feet of space that houses 210 offices, 6 classrooms, more than 35 group study rooms, a dining area, an Executive Education suite, lounge areas, and new, usable outdoor spaces. It was completed in time for the start of classes in fall 2010 and dedicated in May 2011, to coincide with MIT’s 150th anniversary. Another MIT Sloan building, E52, was closed for construction in 2013 and reopened in January 2016. The building features many of the school’s administrative offices, a conference center, and the Department of Economics. The classroom building, E62, is described on the MIT website as “the ‘greenest’ building at MIT.” A student from the Class of 2012, the first class to enter Sloan after the new building opened, described E62 to us at mbaMission as “the social hub at Sloan. It’s where students meet to socialize, eat—the cafeteria provides some of the best food in the neighborhood—and work on class projects. It’s probably one of the more significant things Sloan has done recently, as it provides the ideal networking space not only for students but also for the many professionals who come to check out the new building and recruit MBAs. The new building really adds to the Sloan experience, and I can’t imagine life before it!” For a thorough exploration of what Duke Fuqua, MIT Sloan, and other top business schools have to offer, please check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
28 Feb 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem on the GMAT |
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With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. I want to share a four-step Critical Reasoning (CR) process with you, a process that can be used on any CR problem. Here is the overall process: Step 1: Identify the question. Step 2: Deconstruct the argument. Step 3: State the goal. Step 4: Work from wrong to right. Those steps might sound obvious to some people and very vague to others. I will explain each in more detail, but I want to say first that each step is there for a very important reason, and each step has been split off from the others for a very important reason. You can find the full article on the Manhattan Prep blog, as well as additional articles that illustrate how to use this process with each of the various CR question types. Here are a few additional details for each step: Step 1: Identify the question. Use the question stem to identify the question. Each question type has certain characteristics; learn them. Step 2: Deconstruct the argument. Arguments can contain up to four main building blocks: premises, counter-premises, conclusions, and background. Every argument has premises, but that is the only component common to all. In addition, some arguments “contain” assumptions—that is, the assumptions are not written but can be implied based on the premises and conclusion. Step 3: State the goal. Each question type asks us to do a certain kind of reasoning; we need to make sure we know what it is. Each question type also has common error categories; remind yourself what they are, and you will be less likely to fall for them! Step 4: Work from wrong to right. This is just a fancy way of saying find and eliminate the wrong answers until only one answer is left. Your first focus is elimination; get rid of everything you know is wrong. Do not even ask yourself what might be the right answer until you have gone through all five answers once. Then compare any remaining, tempting answers. |
02 Mar 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Class Visits Are Not a Deciding Factor |
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Some MBA programs—Harvard Business School, for one—have gone on record stating that class visits are not a factor in their admissions decisions. But this definitely does not mean you have nothing to gain from visiting campus! Imagine that you are considering buying a $250–$500K home. Would you not want to visit it before purchasing it? Perhaps you would turn on the taps, open and close the doors and windows, and walk around the yard, making sure your planned investment will be a good one, right? Well, your business school education—when you take into account tuition, living expenses, and the opportunity costs of leaving your current job—will probably cost you somewhere in that dollar range. So, visiting your target school(s) to ensure that your potential “home” for the next two years is right for you is just as important. We feel that visiting the campus of the school(s) to which you plan to apply is a crucial step in the application process. Doing so allows you to gain a firsthand perspective into a program’s environment, pedagogy, facilities, student body, and professors. The dollars you will spend on transportation and lodging are the MBA program equivalent of hiring an inspector when buying a home. To the extent that your budget and available vacation days allow, make the effort to visit your target schools, even though doing so will not have a direct effect on whether or not you ultimately gain a letter of acceptance. It will help ensure that the school you ultimately attend is a good fit and increase your chances of a happy future there. |
02 Mar 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: March 2020 Event Roundup |
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Are you applying to business school this year? If so, you can enroll in one of our free business school workshops, which are offered both online and in person in major cities across the country! This March, the event lineup includes the following sessions:
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03 Mar 2020, 10:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Visiting B-School Campuses Multiple Times—and a Reminder on Best Behavior! |
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Many MBA applicants set their sights on more than one school. In the fortunate case that candidates do gain admission to multiple business schools, how do they choose between two (or more)? If you cannot determine a definitive “winner” based on specific academic or professional criteria, you may now need to make a campus visit or, perhaps, another campus visit. If you have not yet had a chance to visit your target school(s), we advise you to get to know the program(s) better before deciding where to invest up to two years and $100K or more. However, even if you have already visited your target campuses, this may be a good time for a second, more focused trip. Many candidates go on marathon tours of business school campuses in the fall but have only a limited window in which to get to know each program they visit. After the admissions committees have defined your choices and shifted the decision power back to you, you can really devote some time to familiarizing yourself with your target schools and completing diligence that may not have been possible before. For example, as a nervous prospective student, you may not have truly pushed the students you met to define a program’s weaknesses, or you may not have felt that delving deeply into the recruiting situation on campus was appropriate during your initial visit. Similarly, you may not have experienced the social environment on campus, preferring to maintain a strictly professional profile. Although attending “welcome weekends” will allow you to meet and mingle with your potential future classmates, visiting campuses now—while classes are in session and the schools are operating as they will next year—will provide valuable insight that will facilitate one of the most important choices of your life. Visiting target schools can not only help you make a positive impression on the admissions committee but also give you the opportunity to personalize your application (essays and interviews, in particular—depending on the timing of the visit) and may even help you select the school you will ultimately attend. But remember, whenever you visit a campus, you should always be on your best behavior. Although the Admissions Office receptionist is not a “spy,” and your tour guide’s main concern is not to inform the admissions committee of your actions or comments, both of these individuals will likely feel compelled to report any bad behavior to the committee. We spoke with one former receptionist (now an admissions committee member) at a top-ranked school who said that if she encountered rudeness from a visiting candidate, she would make note of it and send a message about the incident to the admissions director—who would subsequently remove the candidate from consideration for admission. Although we imagine most candidates plan to be on their best behavior during any school visit, we nevertheless offer this important reminder. |
04 Mar 2020, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Heading South for an MBA: The University of Texas McCombs School of Business and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School |
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In 2013, the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, Austin, introduced several highlights to its MBA program that would allow students to benefit from expanded opportunities for work experience (including with nonprofits), entrepreneurship, and leadership programming. For example, the school expanded its pilot program for brand management experience with Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s Yoo-hoo brand. In what is now called the Marketing Labs program, students are divided into teams of two to learn marketing skills by working hands-on for such major firms as AT&T and Dell. All first-year MBA students are eligible to apply to the program, which runs through the course of one academic year. During the 2019–2020 academic year, such companies as AT&T, Dell, ExxonMobil, and Frito-Lay are featured as partners in the program. Another addition, the Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition, awards MBA scholarships to winners of a start-up pitch competition, in which both admitted and prospective students can compete. The competition awards nearly $60,000 in prizes annually. 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. In 2014, the McCombs chapter was chosen as the Net Impact Graduate Chapter of the Year. Another Southern institution, Emory University’s Goizueta Business School—named after late Coca-Cola CEO Roberto C. Goizueta—is deeply rooted in a legacy of global business leadership. Goizueta’s MBA program offers one- and two-year formats, strives to maintain an intimate learning environment, and offers its students the benefits of being located in a significant global commercial hub. One of the program’s notable advantages has been its success in attracting recruiters. The school’s recruiting strengths seem to be reflected in its latest employment report as well—95% of the Class of 2018 received job offers within three months of graduation and accepted positions with such major companies as Accenture, Barclays, Deloitte, Delta Air Lines, Google, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan, Microsoft Corporation, and UPS. |
05 Mar 2020, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Fixing Common Interviewing Mistakes, Part 2: Be Confident! |
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This post was written by our resident Career Coach, [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/elissa-harris/]Elissa Harris[/url]. To sign up for a free 30-minute career consultation with Elissa, please [url=https://www.mbamission.com/consult/career-coaching/]click here[/url]. Since many MBA students are still engaging in internship interviews and have not (yet) secured offers, we wanted to highlight a common interviewing mistake: displaying a lack of confidence. This issue can manifest itself in several ways, including a lack of focus during interviews, the inability to clearly communicate the relevance of your experiences, and a lack of connection with the interviewer. All three of these scenarios are problematic because they raise red flags for the interviewer about your ability to do the job. In such instances, the interviewer does not get to see the real you, the one who can add value to their organization, so they cannot recommend you for an offer. To help improve your performance, we encourage you to approach the interview with reflection, research, and action: [list] [*][b]Reflection:[/b] Ask yourself, “What is the root cause of my lack of confidence?” Recall other situations where you did not feel confident. Are there any common threads? Uncover what makes you feel nervous so you can find remedies for it. Perhaps listening to upbeat music, repeating mantras, or practicing [url=https://themindfulmba.com/]mindfulness[/url] or reframing exercises might be helpful.[/*] [*][b]Research:[/b][b][b] Analyze the job description and talk with current employees to identify required competencies and areas of expertise as well as to gather more information about the role and company. Find at least one example from your experiences to match each of those requirements. Prove to yourself that there is a connection between where you have been and where you want to go, and use it as a way to prove your relevance in the interview.[/b][/b][/*] [*][b]Action:[/b][b] Prepare talking points for your interview. Identify the three or four key selling points you want to communicate about yourself and the three or four reasons you are passionate about the role and company. Practice interviewing (aloud!), and find friends or—even better—people who do not know you well to conduct a mock interview with you. Aim to connect with the interviewer, not impress them. You need to like the interviewer (and their company/role) just as much as they need to like you![/b][/*] [/list] Remember, the firm selected you for an interview, so the interviewer will be eager to hear how you can help the organization and to gauge how you will fit in there. Different tactics will work for different candidates, but you will certainly benefit from being kind to yourself and believing in your abilities. To learn other strategies for improving your interview performance, connect with mbaMission for a [url=https://www.mbamission.com/consult/career-coaching/]complimentary consultation call[/url] with one of our MBA Career Coaches. |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2024 11:30am NY / 3:30pm London / 9pm Mumbai Watch earlier episodes of DI series below EP1: 6 Hardest Two-Part Analysis Questions EP2: 5 Hardest Graphical Interpretation Questions
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