Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog : Ask Admissions Consultants

StacyBlackman · 2013-12-11T12:44:33-08:00

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MIT Sloan, Bank Negara Malaysia Collaborate to Establish Asia School o [#permalink]

15 Apr 2015, 06:01

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: MIT Sloan, Bank Negara Malaysia Collaborate to Establish Asia School of Business

MIT Sloan School of Management has entered into a 10-year collaboration with Bank Negara Malaysia to establish the Asia School of Business (ASB) in the English-speaking global financial center of Kuala Lumpur. The school, which is scheduled to open in September 2016, will host an inaugural class of 25 to 35 students into a two-year MBA program.

“The distinguishing feature of the ASB will be the use of Action Learning as a core part of the educational process,” explains Charles Fine, the Chrysler Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management at MIT Sloan, who will serve as the founding president and dean of the ASB.

“Every class that we offer and every lecture that we give will be intimately connected with the companies and institutions in the region so that students emerge with a deep understanding of the business, political, and economic issues that come to play in ASEAN and beyond,” Fine says, adding that “Our intent is to create a world-class school of management in Southeast Asia.“

The ASEAN region, which is comprised of ten countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, has an economy valued at $2.4 trillion and a population of 600 million. The region is the fourth-largest export market of the U.S. and the fifth-largest overall trading partner.

The ASB’s curriculum will apply MIT Sloan’s values and approach, according to Richard Schmalensee, Co-Chair of the ASB, and the former Dean of MIT Sloan.

“Like Sloan’s, the ASB program is based on three pillars,” he says. “The first pillar is a tradition of doing rigorous, intellectual work on the important problems businesses face. The second pillar is a global perspective, with particular emphasis on Asia for the ASB. The final pillar—which is an integral part of MIT’s history and legacy and one that the ASB will also emphasize—is a strong spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in enterprises of all sizes.”

The ASB will ultimately have its own faculty, but in the short term professors from MIT Sloan will teach at the school and provide guest lectures. In year one, classes will take place in the bank’s state-of-the-art learning center and students will live at its residential campus. Architectural plans are underway to build a new campus on nearby land.

Faculty at the ASB will also have exchange opportunities via MIT’s International Faculty Fellows program. Professors will spend time at MIT’s Cambridge campus participating in activities designed to boost teaching effectiveness, improve research, and enhance scholarship.

As part of the collaboration, the ASB students will spend four weeks on an educational exchange program at MIT Sloan learning about U.S. business. Students will visit companies in the Boston area, attend lectures from MIT Sloan faculty, and complete an Action Learning project with MIT Sloan MBA students.

These exchanges aim to increase MIT Sloan’s knowledge of ASEAN, and deepen its ties with the worldwide academic community.

“While the journey ahead for Asia has tremendous promise, businesses will need to rise to new challenges arising from the changes that are reshaping the regional and global environment. The ASB aims to advance the frontiers of business innovation and entrepreneurship in Asia and to develop future leaders,” says Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia and Co-Chair of the ASB Board of Governors.

Tuition to the ASB will be in the range of US$40,000 per year.

You may also be interested in:
MIT Sloan Finance Symposium Includes MBA Application Fee Waiver

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Female Leadership: Where it’s Strong, Where it Can Improve [#permalink]

16 Apr 2015, 13:01

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Female Leadership: Where it’s Strong, Where it Can Improve

Gender issues at business school remain a hot topic in graduate management education, and just this past week, three fascinating articles on the subject have been published. The first is a Bloomberg Businessweek interview with Dean Allison Davis-Blake of University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

As one of only ten female deans at the top 60 business schools, Davis-Blake tells the media outlet that she’s used to being alone at the top. She points out that the reason why the vast majority of deans are men can be traced back to the 1980s, which is when most of today’s deans were in graduate school and women made up a much smaller percentage of students pursuing advanced degrees.

The road to deanship includes many required benchmarks, says Davis-Blake, from earning a PhD to landing a tenure track job as an assistant professor to eventually making tenure, and then candidates must further distinguish themselves as academic leaders. We currently find very few women at the other side of those hurdles.

While the dean had many male mentors who exposed her to leadership opportunities along the way, Davis-Blake says she hopes women coming up today have something she didn’t: more direct female role models.

Speaking of her mentors, the dean tells Bloomberg, “They might be a lot like me dimensionally, they might think a lot like me, or they might speak a lot like me, but I can’t look at them and say, ‘Oh, that person has the same issues in life that I have.’ Looking at another woman, I can say that I see myself more in that person. Having more women deans around allows people to say, ‘Yeah, I could do this’.”

***

Female numbers in MBA programs were miniscule 30 years ago, but the demographics are changing, and many top business schools have enrolled up to 40% women in the Class of 2016. Women make up 37% of the Yale School of Management Class of 2016, down 2 percentage points from last year, but there are still healthy signs of strong female leadership at the school.

A new story in the Yale Daily News reports that earlier this month, the SOM student body elected its fourth female student body president in a row, calling this a sign of increasing female involvement and diversity at the business school.

Brittan Berry MBA ’16, who was just elected for the position, says the SOM’s dedication to diversity contributes to this continuity in female leadership, adding, ““I think the SOM is continuously moving forward in its mission to become one of the most diverse business schools.”

According to current student government president Alexa Allen MBA ’15, about half of all leadership positions at the SOM are occupied by women, and that “diversity is the norm.” Former president Caitlin Sullivan MBA ’13 concurs, noting that “although her class at the SOM was about 35 percent women, the women within the school exhibited disproportionate influence because of the leadership positions they occupied.”

If this trend at Yale SOM (and elsewhere) continues to grow, Dean Davis-Blake will be able to rest easy about having sufficient female role models for the next generation of women leaders.

***

Whereas traditional two-year MBA programs are making notable strides to achieve parity in female enrollment, a new article in Fortune reports that is far from the case at executive MBA programs offered at the country’s top business schools.

Harvard Business School’s two-year MBA program is made up of 41% women; the EMBA enrolls 24%. At MIT Sloan School of Management, the figure in their executive program is about 17%. And while the Wharton School declined to offer specifics, the school’s vice dean of executive education Monica McGrath told Fortune that although the two-year program had almost 50% female enrollment, “In executive education, it’s not even close to that. It’s a problem, for sure.”

In short, notes the article’s author Katherine Noyes, “Exec-ed programs skew male because, unfortunately, C-suite offices still skew male.”

And so it goes back to the problems Dean Allison Davis-Blake laid out above. Executive education programs are designed for professionals who have been in the workforce for ten-plus years, and that’s where the numbers for women begin their decline.

The outlook is not all doom and gloom though. With the approaching parity we’re seeing in two-year MBA programs, in another 20 years this issue of imbalance may be nothing more than a relic of the past.

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UV Darden Welcomes Newest Ventures to i.Lab Incubator [#permalink]

17 Apr 2015, 14:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: UV Darden Welcomes Newest Ventures to i.Lab Incubator

Earlier this week, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business announced it will welcome a new and diverse cohort of ventures to the 2015 i.Lab Incubator program, a university-wide initiative that supports early-stage businesses from U.Va. and the greater Charlottesville community. The i.Lab and the incubator are operated by Darden’s Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The 24 ventures in the 2015 class include 10 founded by Darden students, 10 founded by U.Va. students or faculty members, and four founded by individuals unaffiliated with the University.

“This year we saw a particularly experienced group of applicants,” said Philippe Sommer, director of Darden’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. “It will be an incredible asset to have entrepreneurs in the incubator with deep expertise in fields such as engineering, biomedicine and education.”

(c) jack looney photography

The i.Lab Incubator program includes a 10-week summer accelerator, during which participants develop and refine their business ideas and participate in the community of fellow entrepreneurs. Ventures receive a $5,000 grant, office space, mentoring support, networking opportunities with local investors, and access to accounting and technological expertise. The program also includes a clinic with faculty and students from the U.Va. School of Law, who offer guidance on the legal aspects of new-venture creation.

Participants in the i.Lab Incubator can also tap into the experience of a cadre of entrepreneurs in residence, who provide one-on-one coaching and offer sessions on various aspects of the entrepreneurial process.

Eight ventures from the 2014 class will remain with the program for the coming year — the largest number of returning ventures in the program’s history. “These young companies have made great strides, figuring out their business models and how to manage risk,” continued Sommer. “We are all impressed by their desire to persevere and to continue exploring the market for their offerings.”

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Decide Whether to Pursue a Pre-MBA Internship [#permalink]

20 Apr 2015, 11:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Decide Whether to Pursue a Pre-MBA Internship

This post originally appeared on Stacy’s “Strictly Business” MBA Blog on U.S.News.com
The summer before business school is traditionally a blissful time to just hang out, travel, sleep in and generally savor the brief respite between your turbocharged job and the whirlwind that awaits once you set foot on campus.

While the vast majority of incoming MBA students still do spend the months leading up to school indulging in their favorite pastimes, the pre-MBA internship has become a growing trend among the recently admitted. Let’s take a look at what it is, who it’s for and why you should think about pursuing one – maybe.

What Is a Pre-MBA Internship?

A summer internship is the hallmark of the two-year MBA program, but a pre-MBA internship is one that is specifically targeted to professionals who will be heading to business school in the fall for a full-time program. Whether you’re interested in banking, private equity, venture capital, consulting, marketing, or nonprofits, there’s probably already a niche program with this group in mind.

These internships or “camps,” as they’re sometimes called, are short, usually ranging in duration from four to six weeks. Many companies have created intensive pre-MBA programs lasting no more than a few days.

If you know the industry you would like to pursue, begin tapping your fellow future students and the alumni network for leads, and check to see if the companies on your career target list offer these opportunities. Above all else, make sure the internship environment provides you with a chance to learn, not make coffee runs.

Who is Best Suited for a Pre-MBA Internship?

This type of internship is ideal for career switchers, who make up 38 percent of incoming students, according to the latest Prospective Students Survey Report published by the Graduate Management Admission Council. If you are switching fields, this short stint before your first year is like a test drive of a new area of interest and effectively gives you two summers to do an internship.

Use the experience to try out an industry or company and see if you love it and want to return the following summer, or move on to a new and different industry instead. The pre-MBA internship is brief, but it’s usually enough to confirm your interest so that you’re not wasting your precious summer internship doing something you’re not passionate about.

Why Should You Do a Pre-MBA Internship?

The obvious reason for pursuing a pre-MBA internship is that it allows you to build skills and gain experience in a new role or industry. It often feels like the recruiting starts as soon as you set foot on campus, so students should arrive on campus with a fairly clear idea of where they want to intern.

It can be challenging to persuade recruiters that you’re serious about the field and to take a chance on you if you have zero experience in their industry and only a few weeks of case studies and lectures to back you up. Having a bit of real-world exposure under your belt makes you that much more competitive and will give you more ammunition when you interview with recruiters for a summer internship.

When Should You Avoid a Pre-MBA Internship?

As I’ve said, most incoming students don’t pursue a pre-MBA internship. You already have a lot going on between sorting out your financial aid, budget and housing as well as finalizing projects at work.

From a purely financial point of view, it’s unlikely you would make as much money in the internship as at your current full-time job, so this might be the time to save your pennies before going to school and facing that steep MBA tuition.

On the other hand, many admitted students have spent the past few years with their nose to the grindstone, with little thought or time for a rejuvenating vacation. The summer before business school could be their last chance for some carefree fun and globe-trotting, and a necessary break to recharge and refill the tank before the intensity of the MBA program hits.

Ultimately, you are already admitted to the program so this is not about gaining favor with the admissions committee. It’s a personal decision about how you want to spend your free time.

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Stacy Blackman B-School Application Survey [#permalink]

21 Apr 2015, 05:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Stacy Blackman B-School Application Survey

It’s that time again, folks! We at Stacy Blackman Consulting want to check the pulse of this year’s crop of b-school applicants by polling them about their MBA plans. The survey poses 13 simple questions, such as “How many schools are you applying to?”, and the whole questionnaire should take less than three minutes to complete.

Every participant has the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes to win a $100 Amazon gift card. The survey is live now and will close at midnight PST on May 5, 2015. So please, take a moment to share with us your thoughts and experiences related to the MBA application process.

Enter survey here.

Thanks so much for your participation!

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In Business School, One Size Does Not Fit All [#permalink]

22 Apr 2015, 06:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: In Business School, One Size Does Not Fit All

Poets & Quants recently published an excellent, in-depth article to help applicants figure out if your target b-schools really ‘fit’ you. There are so many factors that go into determining fit, and many b-school hopefuls focus heavily on rankings and prestige over finding an MBA program where they will truly be able to thrive.

Editor John A Byrne takes a look at class size, and how a large or small class can affect both your relationships during school and your alumni network. He also shares which schools are known for having collaborative or competitive cultures. Learning styles, cost of living, caliber of professors and geographic and weather considerations should also be weighed when making this expensive, life-changing decision.

For some applicants, there may be a clear winner after looking at the quantitative and qualitative data. Or, after researching all of these elements, you may still feel pulled in different directions. But at least you have a head start in finding the program(s) that fit you best.

Read the full story now on Poets & Quants.

You may also be interested in:
Reputation and Rankings Trump All in B-School Selection

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B-Schools Showcase Green Business Practices [#permalink]

22 Apr 2015, 17:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: B-Schools Showcase Green Business Practices

Today’s global economy has two faces: one of exponential growth in developing countries, and the flip side—a voracious ravaging of resources by developed nations. While some business leaders continue to march in step to the “more is better” mantra, others are realizing that business as usual is not sustainable for our planet.

Earth Day may be commemorated officially on only one day of the year, but business schools around the country are using the occasion to show their dedication to tackling issues of climate change and sustainability that are at the core of doing green business.

Here’s what’s going on this week at some of the top MBA programs:
Business Takes the Lead: How Innovation Will Drive Our Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change 2015 Conference, Wednesday, April 22, 2015, at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School

Fight Less, Collaborate More: How to Solve the World’s Greatest Environmental Challenges, Thursday April 23, 2015, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business

UCLA Anderson School of Management is on day two of its annual Social Innovation Week, which runs April 20-23, 2015. Panelists and speakers will discuss social entrepreneurship, social impact in media and entertainment, corporate social impact and one-for-one models.

UC Berkeley Haas School of Business announced yesterday that the team from the full-time MBA program took first place in the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge, at Morgan Stanley’s London Headquarters on April 17. The winning team’s investment thesis was about drought mitigation innovation.

University of Michigan Ross School of Business announced today that influential Indian business leader, GV Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman GVK, will be the keynote speaker for Commencement on May 1st, 2015. At the event, he will share his views on the power of positive business, and how it creates a social impact on society.

And finally, Columbia Business School deserves a ‘shout out’ for its great article on the business case for going green.

This is just a sampling of the activities currently taking place on business school campuses, where sustainability and good stewardship are more than just buzz words—they are the very key to long-term economic growth and a better planet for future generations.

Earth image courtesy of Flickr user woodleywonderworks, CC 2.0

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The Introvert’s Guide to Thriving at B-School [#permalink]

24 Apr 2015, 06:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: The Introvert’s Guide to Thriving at B-School

I finally got around to a book that’s been on my reading list for a while: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. The book examines how extroversion came to be so highly prized in Western culture and how this tendency may be causing harm to not only introverted individuals but to our society at large.

As I was reading the book—which I highly recommend for extroverts and introverts alike—I kept thinking of the many people I know who were accepted into top MBA programs. Some of these candidates fit the extrovert personality profile to a T: gregarious risk-takers who had no trouble expressing their ideas and selling themselves to the admissions committee. But a surprising number of these successful applicants were clearly introverts, individuals who needed time to think through their ideas before expressing them, who were naturally more reserved and regarded the prospect of a group interview with nothing short of dread.

Students in countless MBA programs will see the truth in this statement. So where does this leave those who are more inwardly focused and need time away from friends and colleagues to recharge their batteries? The good news is that introverts can thrive in extrovert-driven environments—they might just have to work differently to do so…

This article originally appeared on The Wharton Blog Network. Please follow the link to learn a few things for the introverted b-school student to keep in mind.

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Columbia Business School 2015-2016 MBA Essays, Deadlines [#permalink]

27 Apr 2015, 08:01

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Columbia Business School 2015-2016 MBA Essays, Deadlines

Columbia Business School has posted the deadlines and tweaked the essay questions for the 2015-2016 MBA application cycle. For those interested in the school’s January entry option, that application is now available.

January 2016 Entry
Deadline: October 7, 2015

August 2016 Entry
Early Decision: October 7, 2015

Merit Fellowship Consideration: January 6, 2016

Regular Decision: April 13, 2016

Essay Questions
Applicants must complete one short answer question and three essays.

Short Answer Question:
What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)

Examples of possible responses:
“Work in business development for a media company.”
“Join a strategy consulting firm.”
“Launch a data-management start-up.”

Essay 1:
Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals going forward, and how will the Columbia MBA help you achieve them? (Maximum 500 words)

Essay 2:
Columbia Business School’s location enables us to bridge theory and practice in multiple ways: through Master Classes, internships, the New York Immersion Seminars, and, most importantly, through a combination of distinguished research faculty and accomplished practitioners. How will you take advantage of being “at the very center of business”? (Maximum 250 words)

Essay 3:
CBS Matters, a key element of the School’s culture, allows the people in your Cluster to learn more about you on a personal level. What will your Clustermates be pleasantly surprised to learn about you? (Maximum 250 words)

Optional Essay:
An optional fourth essay will allow you to discuss any issues that do not fall within the purview of the required essays.

***

Columbia Business School students may enroll in either August or January. The CBS admissions website notes that the paths are identical in terms of competitiveness of admissions, academic rigor, and student resources, but they differ in terms of timing and the opportunity to complete a summer internship.

The August entry has two review periods — early decision and regular decision. Because CBS uses a rolling admissions process, it is always to your advantage to apply well before the deadline.

All applications are due at 11:59 p.m. EST on the day of the deadline. For more information, visit the Columbia Business School admissions website.

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Stacy Blackman B-School Application Survey [#permalink]

28 Apr 2015, 12:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Stacy Blackman B-School Application Survey

It’s that time again, folks! We at Stacy Blackman Consulting want to check the pulse of this year’s crop of b-school applicants by polling them about their MBA plans. The survey poses 13 simple questions, such as “How many schools are you applying to?”, and the whole questionnaire should take less than three minutes to complete.

Every participant has the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes to win a $100 Amazon gift card. The survey is live now and will close at midnight PST on May 5, 2015. So please, take a moment to share with us your thoughts and experiences related to the MBA application process.

Enter survey here.

Thanks so much for your participation!

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IE Business School Revamps its International MBA Program [#permalink]

28 Apr 2015, 13:01

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: IE Business School Revamps its International MBA Program

Spain’s IE Business School recently announced it has redesigned its one-year international MBA degree to allow students to design a custom program in accordance with their own specific interests and career plans. Students can center on becoming creators by opting for the track with a special focus on entrepreneurship, or transformers, if they prefer to concentrate on developing their managerial careers in the corporate world.

The new IMBA will start this month with a student body comprising some 90% international students from 65 countries, with an average of 5 years of professional experience. The program also has Spanish and English-language versions.

Students can choose from over 150 elective courses to personalize their learning experience, and can opt to develop business projects or work on social projects in South Africa, Ethiopia, Peru, or Brazil. The program offers a total of 66 international destinations designed to enrich the MBA experience.

IE Business School’s International MBA program will also include Professional Fitness sessions throughout the entire program. Students will use the sessions to design a professional growth strategy, attending sector-specific workshops and participating in the new Talent Forum, a three-day job event run in collaboration with recruiters.

They will also build on their contact networks during the Global Network Week, travel with the Venture Lab initiative to get to know entrepreneurial ecosystems in other countries, or present their own business projects during the Venture Days organized by IE in cities worldwide, including Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Mexico D.F., Providence, Berlin, Tokyo and Lisbon.

Students will develop their soft skills as part of the new Behavioral Fitness model, aimed at building on their capacity for leadership, communication, management of high-performance teams, mindfulness, influence, and change management, all key factors for success in the field of business management.

Participants will also be able to take part in the Post MBA Long Exchange Program, a three-month exchange program with any one of 58 business schools worldwide, including Chicago Booth School of Business, Babson College, NYU Stern School of Business, London Business School, or CKGSB Beijing.

“The program has a marked focus on entrepreneurship, social commitment, and innovation, as well as bringing added impetus to students’ soft skills and capacity to map a career path,” says Santiago Íñiguez de Onzoño, Dean of IE Business School, explaining in a statement how the redesign of IE’s International MBA will further strengthen the international nature and humanistic approach of the program.

For more information about the revamped International MBA, visit the IE Business School website.

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UC Berkeley Haas to Study Crowdfunding [#permalink]

29 Apr 2015, 10:01

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: UC Berkeley Haas to Study Crowdfunding

Earlier this month, researchers at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership announced the establishment of CrowdBerkeley to better understand crowdfunding, a phenomenon which is changing the future of finance by fostering the exchange of capital through new technology channels and providing a more equal playing field for funding investors and recipients.

Crowdfunding got its name from the process of crowds of people investing relatively small amounts of money online to fund new ventures and individuals—bypassing traditional investors and lenders. The growth of crowdfunding continues at a rapid pace, and the practice is expanding to new markets and to new places around the globe each day.

Fung Institute engineers have been aggregating databases from global crowdfunding platforms to provide researchers, policy experts, and government agencies with the tools to advance knowledge on technology models and to facilitate innovation and networks in crowdfunding. For example, CrowdBerkeley’s public research will provide evidence of crowdfunding trends such as participant demographics.

Berkeley-Haas faculty and researchers in finance and social enterprise will use the data to study how crowdfunding is impacting traditional financial models and paving the way for innovation and new ventures.

CrowdBerkeley enhances an already active study of crowdfunding on campus. Berkeley-Haas has held more than a dozen campus teach-ins where Berkeley academics and students network and collaborate with alumni and industry partners working in crowdfunding. The business school is also redefining finance education by including crowdfunding models, both current and evolving, in the MBA curriculum.

“We care about training our students so they will be best positioned to understand the future of finance from the standpoint of policy, regulation, and tech,” says assistant professor Adair Morse, who teaches the “New Venture Finance” MBA course.

In the course, students learn how to raise equity without traditional investors, create credit and loan models without brick-and-mortar lenders, and understand the implications of new currencies such as Bitcoin, an open source payment network that utilizes technology to conduct peer-to-peer transactions instead of banks to do business. Berkeley-Haas students have launched several crowdfunding companies, including Indiegogo and WeFinance.

“The goal of CrowdBerkeley is simple: we aim to leverage the excellence of UC Berkeley to learn, educate, and inform entrepreneurs, policymakers, and researchers on how crowdfunding can shape the economy and society,” says professor Laura D’Andrea Tyson, director of the Haas School’s Institute for Business and Social Impact.

Learn more about this new partnership to study crowdfunding here.

(image credit: Rocío Lara, CC 2.0)

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Georgetown McDonough’s New Global Real Estate Center [#permalink]

30 Apr 2015, 07:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Georgetown McDonough’s New Global Real Estate Center

Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business recently announced it has received a gift of $10 million from alumnus Robert Steers and his wife Lauren Steers to launch a new center focused on global real estate. Steers is the CEO of Cohen & Steers Inc., a pioneering global investment manager and the first investment company to specialize in listed real estate.

This gift will create the Steers Center for Global Real Estate to help students prepare for real estate careers through practical experience with an increasingly international focus. The center will offer one-on-one career planning for students, hands-on learning through a real estate clinic, and a growing focus on global opportunities through consulting projects and career treks.

Georgetown McDonough says it has developed a real estate curriculum that allows MBA students and undergraduates to work on real estate projects and to underwrite live real estate transactions. New courses in real estate equity, real estate debt, negotiations, investment analysis, a real estate clinic, and more will help the school reach its goal of becoming the premier destination for global business education.

“It was important to me to see Georgetown McDonough create a formal real estate center with the financing to be permanent and to think and plan strategically,” says Steers, a 1975 McDonough School of Business graduate. “To be a preeminent school and center, we need to constantly strive to innovate and come up with additional strategies that prospective students and employers look at and say ‘wow, that’s really something special.’”

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SBC Celebrates! [#permalink]

01 May 2015, 06:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: SBC Celebrates!

We’ve had a tremendous year at Stacy Blackman Consulting, and there’s nothing I like better than celebrating success with the people who make it all possible: our amazing team of consultants, editors, and support staff who keep the whole operation running smoothly.

Several of us recently spent an evening catching up, toasting the highlights of our latest admissions season, and nibbling on the fantastic creations of Chef Suzanne Goin’s restaurant, A.O.C.

Oh, and least I forget, one of the highlights of the evening was playing a hilarious version of Bingo that had us scrambling to figure out which one of us was the skydiver, who spoke four languages, which of us harbored a secret obsession with reality TV, and who was the avid collector of Pez dispensers (guilty!).

When you’re working with someone remotely in the MBA admissions process, it’s often hard to picture who is on the other end of that email or telephone call. I hope this small glimpse into our celebration conveys the warmth and camaraderie of the people with whom you’re engaging. We love what we do, are beyond ecstatic for our clients when they achieve their goals and get into the b-school of their dreams, and we really enjoy collaborating with each other, too.

If this is the year you plan to embark on your MBA journey, know that all of us at Stacy Blackman Consulting are ready to guide and support you in any way we can. Make 2015 a year to remember!

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What to Do Before Heading to B-School [#permalink]

04 May 2015, 06:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: What to Do Before Heading to B-School

You did it! You got into business school—congratulations!

It might seem like years ago that you first started your applications, or you might feel like the whole process flew by. Either way, you now have just a few months left before you head to campus and take your first official steps toward earning an MBA. And we guarantee that those remaining weeks will go quickly.

So what you should do between now and then?

Obviously everyone’s situation is different. Some future students choose to work up until they leave for school in an effort to save as much money as possible. Others have already given their employers notice and are off traveling the world. And still others will choose to follow the growing trend of participating in a pre-MBA internship.

You probably already know how you’re going to spend the bulk of your time before business school. But here are a few items to put on your To Do list just in case:

Thank your recommenders. Big time. Meaning, take them to dinner, get them a small gift, or at the very least write a heartfelt thank-you note. Don’t underestimate the role your recommenders played in helping your candidacy—their glowing praise and memorable examples of your accomplishments might have been what convinced the adcomm that they just had to have you in their program.
Thank the rest of your support system. You likely had someone else read over your essays or spell-check your application. You also probably had some good friends who listened patiently as you stressed out about everything from the GMAT to interviews to Notification Day. Make sure you let them know you appreciate their support. Even better, return the favor the next time they need help with something.
Get your finances in order. Even if you know where the majority of the money is coming from that will fund your MBA—be it personal savings, student loans, scholarships/grants or assistance from your family—now is the time to think about a monthly budget for your time on campus. There will be no shortage of opportunities to spend money over the next two years, and you should prioritize what’s most important to you before everything and everyone starts competing for your time. Would traveling for an industry trek be more important than going on spring break with sectionmates? Would you want to hit the slopes with your program’s Ski Club or participate in an international opportunity? If you know you won’t be able to afford it all, start thinking about what you definitely don’t want to miss out on. Your savings account will thank you later.
Make new friends, but keep the old. Start getting to know your new classmates through your program’s intranet, message boards and local meetups. It’s a great feeling to already have a few acquaintances before you even step foot on campus. But don’t forget about the co-workers, friends and family members you’ll be saying goodbye to. Yes, there are tons of ways to stay in touch with people these days so it’s not like you’re going to totally drop off the face of the earth. Except that it kinda is—at least for a little while. Business school is intense. You’ll be mentally and physically exhausted during your first year (in a good way, we promise). So get some quality time in with those you care about now and forewarn them you may be a little less communicative than usual this fall.

Most of all, enjoy this unique time in your life. One chapter is closing and another (very exciting) one is beginning. Take some time to celebrate your huge accomplishment before classes start!

Think of it this way:

***
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Stacy Blackman B-School Application Survey [#permalink]

05 May 2015, 04:00

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Stacy Blackman B-School Application Survey

Today’s the day, folks! We at Stacy Blackman Consulting want to check the pulse of this year’s crop of b-school applicants by polling them about their MBA plans. The survey poses 13 super simple questions, such as “How many schools are you applying to?”, and the whole questionnaire should take less than three minutes to complete.

Every participant has the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes to win a $100 Amazon gift card. The survey closes at midnight PST on May 5, 2015. That’s right, it ends tonight! So please, take a moment to share with us your thoughts and experiences related to the MBA application process.

Enter survey here.

Thanks so much for your participation!

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Gearing Up for Round 1 at Harvard Business School [#permalink]

05 May 2015, 10:01

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FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Gearing Up for Round 1 at Harvard Business School

With the official end of the 2014-2015 MBA admissions season just over a week away, Harvard Business School‘s Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold previewed what’s ahead for next season’s Round 1 applicants.

One important tip for candidates aiming for the first round is to plan for a campus visit right now, if possible, while there’s still signup availability over the next 10 days. There will be no opportunity to see the famous Case Method in action prior to the September 9th deadline.

Beginning May 8th, on-campus info sessions will take place Monday and Friday at 2 pm with AdCom members with plenty of time for questions, Leopold assures, noting that the calendar will post room locations each week. No advance notice is required. Also as of May 8th, HBS will conduct campus tours at 1:15 pm on Monday and Friday.

Finally, the director says essay and recommender questions will be posted on May 15th, and the application for Class of 2018 will go live in mid-June. Stay tuned!

You may also be interested in:
Make the Most of Your B-School Campus Visit

Thinking About a Harvard MBA? Plan a Campus Visit!

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gmatclubot

Gearing Up for Round 1 at Harvard Business School [#permalink]

05 May 2015, 10:01

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