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FROM mbsingh: Wharton – Class Visit |
Last one on this trip – Wharton. I somehow booked the hotel with best view and most expensive internet ever. Wharton’s class visit was the most jam packed event out of all b-schools. From coffee with current students to class visit to lunch and campus tour to second class visit and then an information session.Getting to Wharton was fairly easy. I stayed in Centre city and Wharton’s surrounding area is called U-city (roughly 10 min drive & $10-15 taxi). Campus is a centre walk called locust walk where buildings on either side are different departments or schools. Admissions office is in a building called Vance Hall. I got there bit early and signed up for my first class – Business Analytics by Sergei Savin. Current students showed up and talked about their experience so far. Wharton has second biggest MBA class so it has lot of diversity in terms of demographics, industry, ethnicity of students. Students answered few questions and took us to our first class. Sergei is a really funny professor, one you can easily get used to. He emphasized that Wharton does one thing better than anyone else is connecting data/numbers with people. Being a BI analyst i understand how important it is to have Technical skill set but also a business mindset to answer the questions more effectively and help make informed business decisions. Wharton is quant focused and it shows. For lunch and campus tour, current first year student was assigned to our group (myself and 4 other students). He had just gotten back from japan last night, but lack of sleep or jet lag didn’t affect his enthusiasm about the campus tour which is a positive sign. Keep in mind my sleep was all over the place and i only had 3 hour difference, he was coming from other side of the globe. So i had more appreciation for his effort. After the campus tour we were sent to our second class, this time i chose Venture capital and the finance of innovation. Boy o boy, my sleep deprived brain couldn’t handle all the numbers thrown at him. Valuation by DCF is an interesting topic and i learned a LOT. I think if i had read some introduction about it, or read the chapter assigned it would’ve been a different story but still i was able to hang in there and get most out of it. Wharton class visit was exceptionally pleasant experience. I had strong affinity towards Wharton and i feel like its justified. I still have few more schools on my radar that i want to check out but this 2 week trip has come to an end. Auf Wiedersehen |
FROM MBA Data Guru: MBA Acceptance Rate by Round (including class of 2018 data) |
MBA Acceptance Rate by Round (including class of 2018 data) The third round of MBA applications is notorious for having a lower acceptance rate. With the third round application deadlines approaching quickly for most business schools, you may be wondering if the stereotype about the third round is fact or fiction. I updated my analysis of MBA acceptance rate by round with the last 2 years of data and I expanded it to include Olin, Georgetown, USC, Arizona State and Vanderbilt. This analysis was done using self-reported data from GMAT Club. Data from the class of 2014 through the class of 2018 was used because otherwise there would not be enough data for round 3 and 4 to accurately capture the acceptance rate. MBA Acceptance Rate by Round Key Takeaways
Although 60% of the top 25 schools are noticeably impacted by which round you apply, several schools don’t appear to care when you apply. Stanford GSB and NYU Stern are the only two schools in the top 15 that are not influenced by which round an applicant applies. Cornell, UNC, Tepper, Emory, Kelley, USC, ASU and Vanderbilt all appear to be unaffected by which round a candidate applies. Schools where round has moderate impact Many schools in the across the entire top 25 are moderately impacted by application round. This include top 15 schools such as Kellogg, Tuck, CBS (rolling admission), Ross and Duke. McCombs, Georgetown and Olin are all only minimally impacted by application round. Schools where round has high impact Only schools in the top 15 seem to be highly impacted by applying 3rd round. HBS, Wharton, Haas and Darden are most impacted by round. Booth, Sloan, Yale and UCLA are also significantly affected by application round. MBA Acceptance Rate by Round Rank School R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Harvard University (HBS) 13% 8% 4% – 1 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 20% 20% 0% – 3 University of Chicago (Booth) 26% 23% 13% – 4 Stanford University (GSB) 6% 6% 6% – 4 Northwestern University (Kellogg) 22% 20% 13% – 4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) 18% 10% Low data – 7 University of California—Berkeley (Haas) 14% 14% 6% Low data 8 Dartmouth College (Tuck) 26% 24% 20% 7% 9 Columbia University (CBS) 20% 16% – – 9 Yale University (YSOM) 21% 21% 11% – 11 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (Ross) 26% 31% 24% – 12 New York University (Stern) 19% 22% 22% Low data 12 Duke University (Fuqua) 24% 23% 15% – 14 University of Virginia (Darden) 29% 28% 13% – 15 University of California—Los Angeles (Anderson) 19% 22% 9% – 16 Cornell University (Johnson) 33% 33% 31% 33%* 17 University of Texas—Austin (McCombs) 32% 28% 24% Low data 18 University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) 26% 33% 44% 38% 19 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) 25% 36% 34% Low data 20 Emory University (Goizueta) 27% 35% 32% 25%* 21 Georgetown University (McDonough) 41% 47% 32% – 21 Indiana University (Kelley) 22% 39% 34% – 21 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) 31% 31% 27% 28% 24 University of Southern California (Marshall) 26% 32% 23%* – 25 Arizona State University (Carey) 37% 20% 37% Low data 25 Vanderbilt University (Owen) 41% 41% 49% 45%* *Very few data points are available, so confidence on the accuracy is also low. MBA Data Guru - Business school admissions data and analysis |
FROM MBA Data Guru: Updated MBA Acceptance Rate by Round |
Updated MBA Acceptance Rate by Round The third round of MBA applications is notorious for having a lower acceptance rate. With the third round application deadlines approaching quickly for most business schools, you may be wondering if the stereotype about the third round is fact or fiction. I updated my analysis of MBA acceptance rate by round with the last 2 years of data and I expanded it to include Olin, Georgetown, USC, Arizona State and Vanderbilt. This analysis was done using self-reported data from GMAT Club. Data from the class of 2014 through the class of 2018 was used because otherwise there would not be enough data for round 3 and 4 to accurately capture the acceptance rate. MBA Acceptance Rate by Round Key Takeaways
Although 60% of the top 25 schools are noticeably impacted by which round you apply, several schools don’t appear to care when you apply. Stanford GSB and NYU Stern are the only two schools in the top 15 that are not influenced by which round an applicant applies. Cornell, UNC, Tepper, Emory, Kelley, USC, ASU and Vanderbilt all appear to be unaffected by which round a candidate applies. Schools where round has moderate impact Many schools in the across the entire top 25 are moderately impacted by application round. This include top 15 schools such as Kellogg, Tuck, CBS (rolling admission), Ross and Duke. McCombs, Georgetown and Olin are all only minimally impacted by application round. Schools where round has high impact Only schools in the top 15 seem to be highly impacted by applying 3rd round. HBS, Wharton, Haas and Darden are most impacted by round. Booth, Sloan, Yale and UCLA are also significantly affected by application round. MBA Acceptance Rate by Round Rank School R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Harvard University (HBS) 13% 8% 4% – 1 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 20% 20% 0% – 3 University of Chicago (Booth) 26% 23% 13% – 4 Stanford University (GSB) 6% 6% 6% – 4 Northwestern University (Kellogg) 22% 20% 13% – 4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) 18% 10% Low data – 7 University of California—Berkeley (Haas) 14% 14% 6% Low data 8 Dartmouth College (Tuck) 26% 24% 20% 7% 9 Columbia University (CBS) 20% 16% – – 9 Yale University (YSOM) 21% 21% 11% – 11 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (Ross) 26% 31% 24% – 12 New York University (Stern) 19% 22% 22% Low data 12 Duke University (Fuqua) 24% 23% 15% – 14 University of Virginia (Darden) 29% 28% 13% – 15 University of California—Los Angeles (Anderson) 19% 22% 9% – 16 Cornell University (Johnson) 33% 33% 31% 33%* 17 University of Texas—Austin (McCombs) 32% 28% 24% Low data 18 University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) 26% 33% 44% 38% 19 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) 25% 36% 34% Low data 20 Emory University (Goizueta) 27% 35% 32% 25%* 21 Georgetown University (McDonough) 41% 47% 32% – 21 Indiana University (Kelley) 22% 39% 34% – 21 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) 31% 31% 27% 28% 24 University of Southern California (Marshall) 26% 32% 23%* – 25 Arizona State University (Carey) 37% 20% 37% Low data 25 Vanderbilt University (Owen) 41% 41% 49% 45%* Check out the upcoming deadlines for round 3 and 4. *Very few data points are available, so confidence on the accuracy is also low. MBA Data Guru - Business school admissions data and analysis |
FROM Oh Kay MBA: After being admitted |
I know it has been a long time since my last update. Since being admitted, I have had a lot going on. In relation to MBA, I met some of my future classmates and attended First Day, the welcoming event at Booth. Afterwards, I paid the deposit and accepted my offer. So, now, I’m officially starting Business School in September! During all this time, I have gone through 4 different stages that I can sum up in this infographic. Luckily, right now, I think I’m leaving an stage of stagnation -or as I call it, “Chill out” – into one of getting it done. Now, to make to checklist! |
FROM MBA Data Guru: Best Schools for Young MBA Applicants |
Best Schools for Young MBA Applicants Deciding when to start applying to business school can be a challenge. Salary increases dramatically after an MBA, but schools tend to prefer applicants with more work experience. I looked at the top 25 US MBA programs’ admission data to find the best schools for young MBA applicants in terms of chance of being admitted. I analyzed the MBA acceptance rate by age to see which schools had the smallest disadvantage for younger applicants relative to traditionally aged MBA applicants. How Many MBA Applicants are Young? I defined an applicant as young if they are 25 or younger. I compared the young MBA applicants to those who are the more typical age range of 26 to 29. Over the past 5 years, the number of young applicants has increased significantly from 13% of the applicant pool to 21% over the past 5 years. Despite the increase in supply of young applicants, there has not been a drop in acceptance rate for younger candidates. MBA Applicant Age Distribution The rise in applications from younger applicants could be driven by some schools adopting programs specifically targeted at undergraduates. Harvard has the 2+2 program that allows undergraduates to apply to HBS while they are still in school. Those who are accepted must spend at least 2 years working full time before starting their MBA. NYU Stern also has a program targeted towards undergraduates called the Berkley Scholars. It is a very selective program where 5 to 6 undergraduates will get a full ride and a stipend for living expenses. Unlike Harvard’s 2+2 program, Berkley Scholars start their MBA immediately. The Berkley Scholars tend to do very well. From the class of 2016, two of the scholars joined McKinsey and one went to BCG. Best Schools for Young MBA Applicants Almost every school in the top 25 penalizes young applicants in admissions. On average young applicants have only 2.5 years of work experience which, is 2 years lower than traditionally aged applicants that are 26 to 29. Most of the best schools for young MBA applicants still moderately penalize younger applicants. Stanford is the only school that actually gives young applicants an advantage when they apply. My hypothesis is that it is related to their affinity for startups. If a young person has a great idea for a startup, will 2 more years working as a low level analyst really improve the odds of it working out? In the table below, the “Disadvantage for <25” column shows how much lower the odds are for a young applicant to be admitted. For example at MIT an applicant that is 26 to 29 has a 16% acceptance rate. The disadvantage factor is -10%, so the young MBA acceptance rate is 14.4%. I have included the average GMAT and GPA for reference. School Disadvantage for <25 GMAT (<25) GMAT (26 – 29) GPA (<25) GPA (26 – 29) Stanford University (GSB) 52% 733 731 3.57 3.59 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) 3% 719 712 3.52 3.46 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) -10% 720 729 3.56 3.52 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) -16% 714 714 3.43 3.39 Georgetown University (McDonough) -20% 699 699 3.43 3.35 University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) -26% 709 712 3.42 3.37 Cornell University (Johnson) -28% 712 715 3.32 3.36 Columbia University (CBS) -29% 722 726 3.55 3.49 Vanderbilt University (Owen) -30% 698 692 3.49 3.34 University of Virginia (Darden) -35% 723 718 3.44 3.39 Worst Schools for Young MBA Applicants These schools are at the complete other end of the spectrum. These MBA programs severely penalize young applicants. It is interesting to see Berkeley, the other top California school, treats young applicants completely contrary to Stanford. Young applicants have a 72% lower chance of being admitted then applicants 26 to 29, despite the young applicants having higher GMAT and GPA. I was a little shocked to see Harvard featured so prominently on the list of worst schools for young MBA applicants given that they have the 2+2 program to attract young talent. School Dissadvantage for <25 GMAT (<25) GMAT (26 – 29) GPA (<25) GPA (26 – 29) University of California—Berkeley (Haas) -72% 722 721 3.56 3.51 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (Ross) -64% 721 720 3.33 3.41 Harvard University (HBS) -63% 731 732 3.59 3.58 Arizona State University (Carey) -52% 690 687 3.46 3.41 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) -52% 734 731 3.56 3.55 Duke University (Fuqua) -50% 716 717 3.46 3.42 University of Texas—Austin (McCombs) -49% 717 708 3.38 3.44 Dartmouth College (Tuck) -48% 716 727 3.51 3.46 Indiana University (Kelley) -47% 694 698 3.43 3.39 Yale University (YSOM) -46% 713 724 3.49 3.47 University of California—Los Angeles (Anderson) -45% 720 718 3.48 3.47 University of Chicago (Booth) -44% 726 731 3.56 3.52 Emory University (Goizueta) -44% 714 705 3.46 3.37 Northwestern University (Kellogg) -42% 730 724 3.5 3.49 New York University (Stern) -41% 711 718 3.47 3.43 University of Southern California (Marshall) -40% 703 707 3.52 3.42 MBA Acceptance Rate by Age Group For reference, here are the raw MBA acceptance rates by age group for each school. I also looked at older applicants and plan to do a follow-up article focusing on applicants that are 30 years old and older. Rank School <= 25 26 – 29 30+ 1 Harvard University (HBS) 4% 12% 12% 1 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 10% 22% 15% 3 University of Chicago (Booth) 16% 28% 18% 4 Stanford University (GSB) 8% 5% 5% 4 Northwestern University (Kellogg) 14% 24% 26% 4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) 14% 16% 11% 7 University of California—Berkeley (Haas) 4% 16% 8% 8 Dartmouth College (Tuck) 14% 27% 17% 9 Columbia University (CBS) 15% 21% 13% 9 Yale University (YSOM) 13% 24% 16% 11 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (Ross) 14% 40% 36% 12 New York University (Stern) 15% 26% 14% 12 Duke University (Fuqua) 13% 26% 24% 14 University of Virginia (Darden) 23% 36% 19% 15 University of California—Los Angeles (Anderson) 14% 24% 22% 16 Cornell University (Johnson) 28% 40% 41% 17 University of Texas—Austin (McCombs) 19% 37% 29% 18 University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) 30% 41% 42% 19 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) 34% 40% 38% 20 Emory University (Goizueta) 22% 39% 42% 21 Georgetown University (McDonough) 39% 49% 46% 21 Indiana University (Kelley) 22% 42% 56% 21 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) 34% 33% 38% 24 University of Southern California (Marshall) 24% 40% 35% 25 Arizona State University (Carey) 19% 39% 62% 25 Vanderbilt University (Owen) 35% 50% 63% Are you curious what round to apply during? Check out my article on MBA Acceptance Rate by round. MBA Data Guru - Business school admissions data and analysis |
FROM MBA Data Guru: Military MBA Acceptance Rate Analysis |
Military MBA Acceptance Rate Analysis Transitioning from the military to MBA is a fairly popular path to follow. A little over 4% of MBA applications come from military veterans. When looking at the data comparing military applicants to traditional MBA applicants, a few trends become clear:
Military applicants on average have the highest acceptance rate despite having the lowest average scores. My hypothesis is that they tend to have more significant leadership experience than other applicants and tend to do well in job placement. They also know how to operate well under pressure. These traits are desirable for MBA programs. Military MBA Acceptance Rate by Tier For the purposes of this analysis, I broke the schools into tiers since not all schools have enough data on military applicants to look at individually.
Tier Applicant Group Accepted GMAT GPA Age 1 Traditional 14% 727 3.53 27.3 1 Military & Defense 23% 719 3.39 28.4 2 Traditional 25% 718 3.45 27.3 2 Military & Defense 39% 705 3.28 28.9 3 Traditional 37% 709 3.43 27.1 3 Military & Defense 55% 685 3.23 28.8 As you can see, military applicants have a substantial advantage at tier 1, 2 and 3 schools. The tier with largest lift is actually tier 1, which has a 62% higher acceptance rate for military applicants compared to traditional applicants. Military applicants had a 58% higher acceptance rate for Tier 2 schools and 49% for tier 3. Military applicants had the smallest score gap for tier 1 schools and the largest gap for tier 3 where military applicants had a GMAT that is 24 points lower. Military MBA Acceptance Rate Lift School Military Acceptance Rate Lift Harvard University (HBS) 117% University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (Ross) 94% Duke University (Fuqua) 90% University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 75% Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) 71% Northwestern University (Kellogg) 57% Columbia University (CBS) 39% Dartmouth College (Tuck) 36% University of Texas—Austin (McCombs) 30% University of Virginia (Darden) 19% University of Chicago (Booth) 11% The chart above shows how much higher the acceptance rate for military applicants is compared to traditional applicants. Harvard had the highest lift, where military applicants are more than twice as likely to get accepted. At the other end of the spectrum is Booth, where military applicants only have a 11% advantage over traditional applicants. My advice for military applicants is to apply to Ross and Duke. They are really strong schools with a greater than 50% chance of admission. I only included schools where there is enough data. I looked at the acceptance rates for the other schools but there wasn’t enough data to publish an actual number. So I grouped them into categories.
MBA Data Guru - Business school admissions data and analysis |
FROM mbsingh: Self reflection & Recommenders |
Spending two weeks in States, travelling coast to coast, visiting all the exceptional B-Schools. It reinvigorated the desire to go all in this MBA process. Before visiting Haas (first school on schedule), I thought I’ll check out the campus, gather as much detail as possible and use that in my applications later. But I was so wrong, you don’t really get material for your essays. Yes you do attend classes and it gives you better context but you can find same information online if you dig deep enough. Visiting the schools is more of realizing who you are and where you fit, instead of what the school is about. Now I may be wrong but it depends on each individual. Some of the schools I visited were instant click while others were complete dud. One thing that I can say with certainty is self reflection is so crucial to application process and it’s naive to delay it till last minute. I don’t have a stellar background, I am right up there in academics but financial and personal circumstances held me back and I was never really able to utilize my potential to its maximum. So I have to stand out and I have to let my guard down. I have to write down who am I , what I want to accomplish and why I feel I can accomplish it. Just the thought of opening up to my recommenders and sharing my life story with them scares the crap out of me. Everyone walks around with aura of invincibility and this could have potential negative impact on me. Worst case scenario is I don’t get admitted and end up staying at my current job, seeing my recommenders on daily basis. Best case scenario, they are genuinely nice and understanding people and I do get into B-school. Either way, to get the most passionate and personal recommendation from them i have to share my story. So I have started opening up, writing on weekly basis – my background, my accomplishments, my interactions with my recommenders. I am talking to them more openly about career focus and future plans. So when the time comes, they are all ready and excited. Another benefit of doing this now is I can compile a package for them, stuff I might have done for them, things that have made huge impact but they might have forgotten about me. Also to show them why I am applying to a particular school, so they can communicate my ambitions and strengths through their writings as well. |
FROM BschoolEng: Applications |
I apologize for it being almost a year since my last post as I got quite busy with all my applications but here I am now to reflect on the entire process and to hopefully leave you with some tips and tricks that may help you with the process. Tip #1: Don’t save your application until the last minute Although quite self-explanatory, I know too many people who procrastinate and end up saving their application until the very end, which increases the chances of avoidable human errors. I started each of my applications at least 1 month prior to the application due date and made sure to have friends proofread my application for any typos or grammatical mistakes. Tip #2: Start writing the essay of your backup school first and your dream school last. In hindsight and in rereading my essays, the first essay I had written for HBS was not as strong as it could have been. It felt very disconnected and did not strongly emphasize any one point relative to my Wharton essay which was the last essay I had submitted. Having applied to 4 schools in total (in order of submission: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UPenn), my essays got progressively better with each submission as I had more time to think about what I had done and refine my points to tell a more convincing story. It is through the filling out of the application itself as well that made me think more about the value of my work and why it was that I wanted to go to business school. Tip #3: Talk to as many students, alumni, and professors I can not stress this point enough. With each school I applied to, I made sure to talk to at least 1 student, 1 alumni, and 1 professor as each one offers a different perspective. It is not about name dropping who you talked to in your essay, but bringing into the fold some of the clubs that you may be of interest in participating in, or some of the industries in which fellow alumni have transitioned into, or even some of the research that you would want to participate in during your time there. For example, in my Wharton essay, I had reached out to Professor Peter Fader, one of the foremost thought leaders in data analytics, and we conversed about some of the projects I had been working on and how it tied into his research on customer lifetime value. That conversation alone got me super excited about the curriculum of Wharton and that’s exactly what I wrote about in my essay. It is these conversations alone that spark new insights that could drive home what you write about in your essays. Tip #4: Recommendations Most schools require at least 2 recommenders. Initially, I had followed this guide here: How to put together a KILLER recommendation package! to create a recommendation package for my 2 recommenders but what I soon realized was that this was overkill. Your recommenders should be close enough to you and understand the work you’ve done that you don’t need to provide so much detail for them and have their letters sound artificially produced. What I ended up doing was writing a paragraph or two emphasizing some of the traits that I wanted each recommender to call out such that there would be no overlap and that the letters would paint a picture of my overall character. For instance, my direct manager would comment on my work ethic and my leadership skills whereas my direct marketing manager would comment on my analytical and problem-solving abilities. You will get a notification everytime your recommenders submit their letters, so make sure you keep track of which schools have been submitted and for those that haven’t be done within 7 days of the deadline, send a friendly email reminder. Once you find the results of where you are going (bad or good), it is very important that you show your recommenders your token of appreciation, whether it be a small note or a gift. For example, my manager loves photography so I wrote a hand-written note and gave him a gift card to B&H as a sign of appreciation. For my other recommender, I gave him a hand-written thank you note and a nice bottle of whiskey. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant but just thanking them for their time and support goes a long way and is a must. |
FROM BschoolEng: Results |
December rolls around and all the R1 school decisions have been released. In order of having found out: R1 HBS (Harvard): Ding without interview R1 GSB (Stanford): Ding without interview R1 Sloan (MIT): Ding without interview R1 Wharton (UPenn): Interview I will admit, after finding out that I had gotten rejections to Harvard, Stanford, and MIT without any interviews at all, I was quite devastated. Because these applications are so subjective, it was hard for me to figure out where I had gone wrong. For HBS and Sloan, was it because I submitted a GRE test score instead of a GMAT score? For GSB, I had already accepted the fact that they were looking for above and beyond candidates. Being a data scientist from a large tech company was “typical” and wasn’t anything that made me stand out from the rest. Banking on Wharton as my last hope, I was ecstatic when I found out I got the interview. Wharton is known for their quantitative rigor and their data – driven curriculum (and yes, the fact that they have a lot of finance people) so it makes sense that I would fit right in. As this was the one and only school I got an interview for, you can imagine how nervous I was when it came time to prep for the interview. More on that in my next post. |
FROM BschoolEng: Interview Process |
Due to guidelines, I am unable to tell you guys what the exact prompt was for the Wharton interview process but I hope the sharing of my experiences will help you in your prep. Plus, I believe (though I’m not 100% sure) that each round of each year has a different prompt but the general idea is the same. When Wharton sends out the interview invites, you are given the prompt and your selection of location and time to interview. For me, I was strategic about where and when I wanted my interview to take place. Time: Every Thursday, Wharton students are invited to a pub event where they gather for happy hour and as a result, candidates who interview on Thursdays are allowed to join and mingle with 1st and 2nd-year students. Having never visited the campus before nor spoken to many current students, it was a great way for me to not only get to know the student body but also to do some networking and get my name out there. Location: Despite living in San Francisco, I chose to do my interview on campus for three reasons:
TBD: Candidates who I felt were strong were ones who were outspoken and not only recapped what other people said but supplemented their own points in addition to others. They were agreeable but weren’t afraid to ask follow-up questions to spark the conversation. As the only engineer in the room, I made sure to use this to my advantage by bringing an analytical perspective to the discussion, whether it be outlining certain success metrics or establishing a methodology to measuring impact. Follow-up Interview: The majority of your prep should be towards the TBD. Having completed the application and gotten this far, you should be quite familiar with your business school *story* (i.e. Why business school? Why now? Why Wharton? Post MBA goal, etc.). These questions will definitely be asked in addition to your thoughts on how the interview went and your contributions to the team-based discussion. As I had mentioned before, by realizing early on what you can bring to the table, the follow-up interview will not so much be an interview but a conversation. In preparing for this section, just imagine yourself having been in a group situation where there was conflict and how did you go about choosing sides? What could have streamlined the process? What would you have done differently? Just ruminating these thoughts will prove helpful when it comes to the follow-up portion of the interview. |
FROM BschoolEng: Building that network |
Throughout the application process, I cannot emphasize how important it is to speak to as many existing students, alumni, and professors. Not only is it beneficial for the application itself but it provides an authentic view of what the school is about and whether or not you can see yourself fitting in with the culture for the next 2 years. The three forms of “networking” that I have found to be the most useful/successful in terms of conversion are (in order of importance):
1. Wharton and Kellogg 2. MIT 3. HBS and GSB I emailed Wharton and Kellogg students, alumni, and professors alike and they were all extremely helpful, not only emailing me but I also had a face-time call with an existing Kellogg student and had students voluntarily check up with me to see how my application was going. Some of them were even gracious enough to read my essay despite having never met them in my life. HBS and GSB, on the other hand, were rather cold in their responses. Of the 10 people I interviewed in total, I received 2 responses to which there was never any follow-up afterward. This is all anecdotal and not meant to be taken as fact but definitely, reach out to people from the school and their responses will definitely give you an accurate feel of how you see yourself fitting in because remember these are the people that you are going to be establishing a lifetime connection with. |
FROM BschoolEng: Acceptance / Pre-MBA Internship |
December 15, 2016. D-day. I knew that decisions were expected to trickle in on this day and I had the worst sleep the night before, in anticipation. Your 1:1 interviewer would be expected to call admits between 9 – 10 AM EST so I was awake at 6 AM PST counting down the hours. And by 7 AM, I had gotten the call. I couldn’t have been happier. It definitely took me that entire day to process what exactly had happened. Immediately, I began searching for housing, which professors I wanted, what classes to take. This was the last school I had been waiting on, with rejections from the rest, and I honestly couldn’t have been more blessed for the results to turn out the way it did. That day, I started planning out what I would be doing for the next 8 months before school starts in August. The traditional thing that almost everyone will tell you to do is to travel. That’s fine and all if that’s something you want to do but having spoken to many students (check my networking post if you haven’t already), you travel a lot in business school. I wanted to utilize this opportunity during the summer to learn as much as I can prior to the start of school. I know I want to get into venture capital someday and without having ever worked in the trenches, it would have been hard for me to break into the industry. Having spoken to a fellow Wharton alumni who is currently in VC, he gave me 3 tips to best utilize my time during the summer:
I was fortunate enough to be given the option to decide between options #2 and #3 and after careful consideration, chose to go with #3 since working at a startup for a short 2-3 months will not be as impactful to both myself and the company relative to the personal gain of working at a VC firm who often hires summer associates. As a result, I will be working as a summer investment associate as my pre-MBA internship from May until July and still have one month to travel before the start of the school. Killin’ two birds with one stone. |
FROM mbsingh: Passion vs Obsession |
This post is bit off topic. I have started to jolt down personal experiences, beliefs, view points and concerns. One thing that has resonated over the years with me is passion. Everything i have achieved or accomplished , its largely because i was so passionate about it. MBA is next item on the list. MBA itself isn’t a thing that i want to tick off my bucket list, it’s the MBA experience and transformation that i am after. Challenge that i’m facing lately is way too many distractions. I am passionate about lot of causes and i am invested in quite a few of them. So it all boils down to my priorities and GMAT obviously trumps the list or at least it should. So i have decided to change my passion into obsession and try to ace GMAT and give myself better odds come the application season. Obsession might not be the right attribute but win or lose i want to give it my all and then some. Passion is when you see the results, passion is when there’s joy and excitement. Obsession is when there’s no end in sight but you’re keeping a promise you made to yourself. |
FROM Oh Kay MBA: The Checklist |
Talking with potential roommates, looking for apartment options, keeping my documents in order, etc. – there’s just a lot going on these days. September and the start of the MBA is so close now, that’s why I have made a checklist to keep track of my progress with all the preparations. Financial: Calculate budget for the next two years (100%) I like keeping it loose. So I am adding some extra thousand dollars for unexpected expenses like trips, events and clothes. Apply for financial aid (50%) After defining how much money I would need, I started the process with Prodigy and got a pre-approved loan. However, I will still check the options with Booth too that will be available in a couple of weeks. Visa: Send the transcripts (30%) I may be a little late here. I have asked my university for the documents, but I’m still waiting for them to be issued. After that, I will have to send the transcripts myself. Have my funding sources documents in order (80%) I already did my budget so I have my finances in order. I only need to scan all the supporting documents. Accommodation Decide: Roommate vs living on my own (70%) I’m still deciding, but a leaning towards living on my own. Choose the apartment (60%) I’ve put myself in the waiting list at two different buildings both for a convertible and a 2 bedroom. Buy the furniture (50%) I’m already talking with some second years who are selling their stuff. The trip Get plane ticket (0%) I should have them by the end of May at the latest to get a better price. Choose the stuff I’ll take with me (50%) I have a lot of clothes (like really a loooot). I will need at least 6 full bags to carry them all, so I will have to choose what to take. I think I will travel to Chicago with my sister so that I can have two additional bags (and she can take a vacation) Professional: Take a nice and professional new pic (0%) I need a good picture to use in my resume, linkedin and all future documents Update linkedin content (50%) I already updated it with my new position at work and translate all my information to English, but there’s still a lot of detail to add. Update resume (50%) Recruitment starts so early in the first term that I already need to have a winner resume ready. Interview questions bank (20%) I have started a habit of writing down experiences at work and outside that I could use for class participation or behavioral questions in interviews. As you can see, I am a little behind in some issues but I expect to make a lot of progress in the next couple of weeks. Good luck with your own preparations! |
FROM mbsingh: Foster – Class Visit |
There’s something in Pacific North West that you cannot find anywhere else. The atmosphere and scenic nature are next to none, with mountains on one side and ocean on the other. I always wanted to check out Foster School of Business as it’s close to Vancouver and also because of it’s in heart of Seattle with easier access to Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing and other major Fortune 50 companies. So i decided to visit Foster on our long weekend and attend a class. I reached out to MBA ambassador Stephan Tomick and he set me up with Elaine for coffee chat. As it turns out my cousin also goes to U-Dub (University of Washington). So he showed me around the campus and i got much more candid tour than i expected. After that we met up with Elaine and asked her gazillion questions. From class size to diverse backgrounds of students to helpful community everything checks out. My Why MBA response ranges from Fin-tech to Management Consulting to Climb corporate ladder in Tech. Though Fin-tech will always be my reason to go for MBA, but i have to be realistic as to what if it doesn’t workout. By Indian standards i should’ve grand children by now but grad school is holding my mom back from creating an account for me on e-harmony & shaadi.com. Failed career transition + pressure from parents won’t do me any good, so i have to have some backup plan. Talking to Elaine, i found out that Foster can help with Tech placement, Fin-tech and also help me land a consulting gig (might not be at top 4) though it’ll require lot of effort from my side. Her complete honesty won more brownie points for Foster than their online MBA brochure. She also got me in touch with another first year student who got Consulting gig at McKinsey. Now this is where crazy stuff happens, i literally shook hands with Chrsitian (McKinsey intern) as he was on his way out of the classroom for a meeting. He gave me his card and told me contact him if i need help, which i did. I have never seen anyone respond so quickly to my message on LinkedIn not even the forever nagging recruiting consultants. All the three students that i talked to at Foster were more welcoming than any other MBA student i talked to since i started this journey. Honest confession, i didn’t think of Foster as a top tier B-school and was under the impression that i’ll keep it as my Safety school. Boy i was so wrong but i am glad i decided to take time out to visit Foster. It might not be on top of B-school rankings but it has surely made it to my list of schools. |
FROM mbsingh: Myths and Misconceptions |
Here’s what i have figured out about MBA application process. I am in no way shape or form, the authority figure hell i haven’t even applied yet. So it’s my opinion and you’re entitled to disagree.
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FROM MORENA MBA: Update 1.2 School List| Are you the one? |
Back in September I had a list of schools that were based on random thoughts in my head. Looking back at my post, I just laugh. Like, “Girl, you really thought you knew!” My current list is based on more sound reasoning and facts (if I’m going to go to business school, I need to learn to rely a bit more on hard data). I’ve visited schools, talked with current students, chatted with admissions directors and researched how schools align with my goals. So here is the list: Wharton– Wharton is currently at the top of the heap in my b-school wish list. I was invited to Wharton Diversity On-Campus Visit Day where I was able learn all about the Wharton MBA program. I wasn’t enthralled with the school at first visit, but the more I talk to students, professors, etc, the better impression I get. Each person I come in contact with at Wharton has been nothing short of super helpful and has gone the extra mile to ensure they can give me the knowledge I need to make my decisions. I am also in love with the Lauder MA/MBA program. It bridges the gap between my desire to build new skills through an MBA and my craving to continue studying and exploring international issues. Columbia- I went to the Columbia 35 Annual BBSA Conference in March hosted by the Columbia Black Business Student Association. I will speak more about the conference in a later post. In short, the conference blew away any misconceptions I had about Columbia and put it in the top tier of schools I want to apply to. Right now I have a great impression of Columbia but need to do a bit more research on how the school can fit my career needs. I also went to a information session which was great to get an overview of the school and its academic offerings. NY Stern- I will have my first interaction with Stern today during a multi-school admissions event they are hosting. I will say on paper, NYU Stern has some of the most exciting programs on the intersection of business, human rights, and social ethics. Their Center for Business and Human Rights in basically a hub of my short-term and long-term career goals. Hopefully I will like the school. NYU is also part of Consortium which a nice bonus. I would be able to stay in New York (is that a plus? Still not sure), study a field I am passionate about, and not break the bank (if given a Consortium fellowship). I do need to reach out to those at the school more. I have not talked to alumni/current students/professors so my excitement is based solely on the school website at this point. *Chicago Booth- Booth is still lagging behind the rest of the pack. There are doing amazing work with the Social Enterprise Initiative and have an excellent reputation. A part of me wants to try Chicago for two years, although I don’t know if that itch can be scratched by just taking a long weekend trip. I’ve talked to two recent alumni about the Booth program and they both loved their Booth experience. I think I need to speak with admissions and visit the school to get a better feel for the campus and culture. Either way, Booth will probably be my R2 school. I think that is an adequate explanation of the school choice. I don’t plan on applying to anymore that 3 schools. Honestly, many told me that three schools school be all you need to create a successful admissions process (if you do the work correctly). At this point I will apply to Booth if something goes wrong Round1 (but that can change once I do the work of really digging into Booth a bit more). |
FROM MORENA MBA: Update 1.3 Money Spent | Cash Rules Every Around Me |
Applying to business school is expensive AF and people try to justify it by saying it is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of business school. True. But. If you are a do-gooder like me, you are trying to reduce costs in both instances. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind when applying to MBA programs (and this espeically applies to those in non-profit and non-business roles) is that you are amongst business men and women with larger discretionary spending accounts that the rest of the population. This means more investment and more waste. What some might do on their own, those with money rather pay someone else who can do it. There is nothing wrong with that (spending makes the world go wrong and keep the economy moving). But for little ole’ me, I need to be cognizant of how much I am spending and where my money goes. Lets do a tally so far. Manhattan GMAT ($1400)- Somewhat helpful but not work the full $1400. An indepedent post is coming on this, I promise Magoosh ($100)- I have been using so many resources that I have even dug into Magoosh yet. This is the best deal IMO. Plus, when you are done you can sell you access to someone else and get a good chunk of your money back. Target Test Prep ($99 per month before deals etc)- This is an amazing platform for reviewing content. The struggle is that it take sooo long for me to get through (probably because I have so many gaps in my content knowledge). This is costing me a lot more than I wanted it to. I may table it for a bit and come back. Forte On-Demand MBA Program ($350)- I was feeling anxious that I am not part of any MBA prep program as a minority student and so I signed up for this. Honestly I haven’t gotten much out of it yet and I am wondering why I spent the money. I will probably circle back and complete all the webinars to squeeze all the knowledge I can out of the program. Essay Snark Countdown to Round 1 Apps ($40)- Finally, I start to feel good about the money I spend. This countdown is a weekly email chock full of information on what you need to accomplish this week to have you application ready by early September. I am learning a lot and Essay Snark is a great resource for those of us who do not want to shell out money for a consultant. I really think that when it comes to applying, effort and time can get you most of the way. Money to Spend in the Future I think moving forward I will spend money for a few GMAT tutoring sessions and a some essay review. I refuse to spend on consultants (especially after I did the work of speaking with a few and did not get a great impression). As of right now, my opinion is that money spent on the GMAT or visiting schools is money well spent. There are a tons of people who are trying to get a piece of this MBA pie, and many want to take advantage of the fear of young applicants. |
FROM lillianmbula: PTSD |
I think this the most ‘raw’ post I have ever written to date. As I said in a previous post one of the reasons I have taken so long to get to apply my MBA is because I had PTSD. For the clueless …….. What Is PTSD? PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. Source So how did I get here??? Well the company I used to work for sold its African operations. Since I was recruited for the African operations and the company head offices were in the Middle East we were asked to relocate. I was sent to do on assignment in Baghdad and returned with…….PTSD. Battling PTSD in Kenya a country where mental illness is considered witchcraft and therefore ostracised and stigmatised was a harrowing experience. But I made it………. Thanks to loads of counselling and medication. SO here I am now ready to take on the GMAT. |
FROM lillianmbula: Scholarships |
So Africans are the most underrepresented demographic in the top business schools in the world. Why is this so? Well for starters the cost. Paying for an international MBA from an African (Kenyan in my case) salary is tough. Very tough. Most African currencies are weaker than the US dollar so its just a dream for most to attend Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, INSEAD etc That said there are scholarships for us Africans. Yup you heard me right. Some scholarships I found are: Stanford Graduate School of Business https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/mba/financial-aid/international-students/stanford-africa-mba-fellowship Harvard Business School https://www.hbs.edu/mba/financial-aid/Pages/external-funding-opportunities.aspx#international Specifically the Olam International Africa Graduate Scholarship Wharton https://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/mbaprogram/financial_aid/outside_scholarships_1213.pdf |
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✅ Duke Fuqua : Mar 12, 2024
✅ UVA Darden : Mar 13, 2024 ✅ Dartmouth Tuck : Mar 14, 2024 ✅ Michigan Ross : Mar 15, 2024 ✅ IESE: Mar 15, 2024 ✅ Johnson (Cornell): Mar 15, 2024 ✅ Georgetown McDonough : Mar 18, 2024 ✅ Emory Goizueta : Mar 20, 2024 ✅ UT Austin McCombs : Mar 21, 2024 ✅ Chicago Booth : Mar 21, 2024 ✅ UC Berkeley Haas : Mar 21, 2024 ✅ UCLA Anderson : Mar 22, 2024 ✅ Yale SOM : Mar 26, 2024 ✅ Wharton : Mar 26, 2024 ✅ Kellogg : Mar 27, 2024 ✅ HBS : Mar 27, 2024 ✅ Stanford GSB : Mar 28, 2024 ✅ UW Foster : Mar 29, 2024 ✅ USC Marshall : Mar 31, 2024 ✅ MIT Sloan : Apr 5, 2024 ✅ Cornell Johnson : Apr 5, 2024
Tuck at Dartmouth
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