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07 Apr 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: 3 Exercises to Help MBA Applicants Develop a Personal Brand |
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This post originally appeared on Stacy’s “Strictly Business” MBA Blog on U.S.News.com Some b-school applicants balk at thinking of themselves as a “product” or “brand.” However, by taking the time to really examine your personal qualities, values and aspirations, you’ll ultimately be able to find out which MBA programs provide the best match for your unique profile. Think of it this way: If you had to create a marketing campaign for a new car, and you decided to focus on the vehicle’s seat warmers and sound system – when these days, potential customers are all about fuel economy – then your marketing messages would miss the mark. The pitfalls in formulating your MBA application brand messages are similar. I recommend clients start the process with three exercises that can help them think like a marketing strategist, identify strengths and develop a personal brand. [Find out what to do to sell yourself to an MBA admissions committee.] Exercise 1: Create a “Brag Sheet” In the real world, the practice of bragging is generally frowned upon. But when it comes to effectively brainstorming a set of messages you will ultimately want to convey to the admissions committee, a great way to begin is by jotting down every possible unique, exciting, wonderful, dazzling thing you can think of about yourself. Think of it as ”brag-storming.” Don’t worry about anyone seeing your list, and don’t try to do this exercise in one sitting. Keep a notebook handy or start a memo in your smartphone?, and write down ideas whenever inspiration strikes. This list not only serves to jog your memory, but also helps you realize that your hobbies, travels, volunteering and personal or family life experiences can provide raw material for brand messages and eventually essays. Admissions committees seek out well-rounded candidates who have experienced life, pursued their passions and achieved as much outside of the professional setting as within it. We came up with the idea of the brag sheet after I spent three months working with a client who insisted he had nothing interesting going on besides work. Just days before the application was due, he casually revealed he had a deep, lifelong interest in martial arts, which he felt was not appropriate for a b-school application. Weaving in this aspect was a great way to balance out a work-heavy application and added a lot of color and interest to his profile. Now we always have clients do a brain dump of everything under the sun so that these types of stories don’t slip through the cracks. Exercise 2: Generate Stories In our work with applicants, we’ve learned that it’s better to sift through an array of life experiences and see what emerges as a core strength, rather than lead off with what clients perceive as their strengths and then try to find example stories that back those up. You don’t need to actually write the stories at this time. Scratching out a few notes, like “how I overcame a speech impediment,” “the time I backpacked through Asia for six months on $2,000″ or “Have worked in the family business since I was 14 years old,” is fine. To get the wheels turning, consider personal achievements, leadership achievements in and outside of work, times when your actions made an impact on a person or group, instances when you motivated others or a time you solved a problem with ingenuity. Don’t be afraid to touch upon setbacks or failures, as your strategies for overcoming them may be the best indicator of your future success in the business world. To determine whether a story is worth fleshing out, see if you can list the concrete actions you took and the results you achieved. The actions you took reveal your approach to a particular problem and provide some clues about your strengths, capabilities and character. The results indicate that your actions made a difference. [Find out how a learning agenda can help your MBA application.] Exercise 3: Mine Stories for Strengths Once you’ve winnowed? down your list of stories, it’s time to figure out precisely which aspects of your skills, talents, strengths and character contributed to your accomplishments. Ask yourself how this experience shaped your life and made you stronger, or which strengths, talents or attributes helped you make a difference. The answers you come up with will add to the pool of potential brand messages that you might highlight in your application and essays. I had a client applying to Harvard Business School who wanted to write about his organizational skills as a core strength. Instead, we advised him to write about his ability to lead and inspire others. After all, he had written on his brag sheet about developing a program to provide vaccinations to the poor in underdeveloped countries – an enormous undertaking he developed from scratch. I’m sure his organizational skills helped, but the latter strength was more compelling, and it rose to the surface after viewing his stories. As with a traditional marketing plan, the goal is to launch a product thoughtfully and effectively. In this case, the product is you. The goal is self-awareness, and combing through your list of accomplishments can be an enormous help. Once these elements have been clarified, you can effectively put your best MBA strategy into action. |
08 Apr 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Kellogg School Takes 1st Place in Sustainable Investing Challenge |
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A team of students from the Kellogg School of Management has taken first place in the 2014 Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge with their proposed investment vehicle that would remediate contaminated land in the U.S. through reforestation. This preeminent global competition is geared for students to develop investment vehicles aiming at delivering positive social and environmental impact and competitive financial returns. Last week at Morgan Stanley’s New York City headquarters, Kellogg’s Nicole Chavas, Nathen Holub, Laura Kimes and April Mendez presented their winning idea for the Fresh Coast Forest Fund, which would lease 25,000 acres of contaminated municipal land to plant poplar tree farms on contaminated urban and industrial sites. Poplars naturally clean and restore soil by absorbing toxins, and could be harvested for use as biomass or wood product. As a collaboration among the Kellogg School of Management, INSEAD, and the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, the competition seeks to identify the next generation of sustainable investing practitioners, connect emerging leaders with industry professionals, and foster even greater emphasis on sustainability at graduate schools around the world. At last week’s event, ten finalist teams proposed investment vehicles addressing issues including agriculture, solar energy and sanitation. In February, more than 220 students from 39 schools in 10 different countries submitted prospectuses for the competition. A team from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business won second place for their proposal, myCatch, a lending vehicle that would provide loans to organizations on behalf of small-scale sustainable fisheries. “It is exciting to see today’s students—tomorrow’s financial professionals—pushing the frontiers of financial innovation to achieve positive social or environmental impact,” says Jamie Jones, Director of Social Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management. “The young leaders who participated in the competition will be a driving force for the conversation about sustainable investing at their academic institutions.” |
10 Apr 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: UMD Smith School to Offer Blended Part-Time MBA |
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Part-time MBA students in the nation’s capital no longer have to choose between online and classroom delivery. Starting in fall 2014, the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business will offer the region’s first blended program for working professionals at its Washington campus. The more flexible format will require participants in the school’s D.C. weekend program to meet on two Saturdays per month instead of three for traditional classroom instruction. Web-based learning modules designed by Smith faculty will provide the remainder of the content, allowing Smith students more latitude to structure their schedules. Participants in the pioneering program can complete their degree in two years. “This eliminates 30 percent of the classroom time, giving students a huge amount of flexibility with their own lives,” Edward Lavino, Smith’s director of admissions for part-time MBA programs, said in a news release. “That three-Saturday-per month commitment takes away from an already small amount of free time from the program’s typical student — a 27- to 28-year-old professional.” He said the blended format also allows assigned reading and skills practice to be designated for off-site engagement. “About one-third of classroom time is currently consumed by students practicing skills via laptops or through other teacher-led exercises, and case studies sometimes are read in class prior to group discussion,” Lavino explained. “Now students will be able to engage in the same work at a quicker pace — off-site and on their own.” Ken White, Smith’s associate dean of MBA and Master of Science programs, said flexibility is a major element of the program, but so is rigor. “Students in the blended program will have the same classes and same professors available as in our full-time MBA program,” he said. “This is a high-quality program created for busy working professionals.” The response among working professionals in the region has been positive. “Every applicant and current D.C. weekend student is on board,” Lavino said. Upcoming application deadlines for the program are April 14 and June 2. You may also be interested in: Smith School Appoints New Dean with Global Outlook |
16 Apr 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: MBA Students on Classroom Diversity |
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Earlier this week, Bloomberg Businessweek launched a new series called One Question, which will attempt to take the pulse of MBA students here and abroad to suss out what Next Gen business leaders are thinking. This week’s subject was classroom diversity, and students from Duke Fuqua, Cornell’s Johnson School, Simon Graduate School of Business, and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School weighed in on the following question: Does the curriculum at your business school expose you to a diverse array of leaders and other professionals? (Diversity could mean gender, ethnicity, class, or other characteristics.) What would you like to see more of? It was interesting to read the comments of current students, many of whom expressed a desire for greater diversity when it comes to issues of gender and sexuality in the workplace, as well as extending the concept of diversity to include a broader socioeconomic range. All but one of the interviewed students felt their school could improve its efforts in this area. Simon Moore-Crouch, a student at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, commends his MBA program’s strong diversity efforts, which he says are supported by cases, speakers, and projects that typically have an international component. Check out the original post for a more complete picture of the areas where these students would like to see broader representation. This One Question series sounds like it will be a lot of fun, and we look forward to seeing how Businessweek plans to pick the brains of MBA students on a regular basis! |
21 Apr 2014, 10:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Should You Hire an MBA Admissions Consultant? |
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This post originally appeared on Stacy’s “Strictly Business” MBA Blog on U.S.News.com With acceptance rates at the most elite business schools ranging from 6.8 to 21.6 percent, a growing number of MBA hopefuls are relying on the services of admissions consultants to help them market their candidacy and stand out amid a sea of equally amazing applicants. The Graduate Management Admission Council, which administers the GMAT exam, reports that one in five applicants worldwide uses consultants—but a 2013 survey by the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants reports that 57 percent of prospective MBAs used an admissions consultant. The majority sought assistance with their essays, resume evaluation and interview preparation. But it is important to recognize some of the pros and cons of working with an MBA admissions consultant, as it might not be the right move for everyone. [Avoid these three surprising mistakes MBA applicants make.] I believe a consultant can nearly always help, whether you are a first-time or a repeat business school applicant, whether you are in the dark or more knowledgeable about the admissions process. After all, both beginning athletes and Olympians have coaches. The one caveat to this situation would be if the admissions committee at the school to which you are applying is heavily focused on numbers, in which case you may not need a consultant to help flesh out things like your essays or interviews. On the pro side, a consultant offers a trained second pair of eyes to review your material, help steer strategy and provide a sanity check. Many admissions consultants have years of MBA admissions and marketing experience. Working with a respected consulting team gives you the ability to leverage the database of knowledge of a collected group of experts who together have experience with thousands of clients in programs across the globe. Input from one friend who applied, or even someone who attended the school, provides only a limited snapshot. A firm with years in the business has perspective on what has worked – and what hasn’t – over time. Any questions or concerns you have about a particular program can be answered in-house, saving you tons of time researching online or trolling business school forums. There is a lot of information about the MBA admissions process readily available online for free. Blogs like mine offer application advice, school-specific essay tips, and more. While you can and should take advantage of free online information about the MBA admissions process, some people feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount out there, and the information is not always correct. I believe applicants can do their own research and still benefit from personalized guidance and coaching. Detractors might argue that if you’re a strong MBA candidate, consulting services will provide little added value because your stats and profile speak for themselves. I disagree, and have seen many cases of stellar candidates who were shocked when they were denied admission to programs that seemed like sure things. For example, we worked with one Cornell University graduate who had three years of experience in a top investment bank, a high GPA, a high GMAT score, phenomenal extracurriculars and competent writing skills. However, when he came to us he had zero introspection and was unable to look inward to mine his unique and interesting strengths. He definitely belonged in a top program, but the guidance he gained in how to market himself took his application package from generic to compelling. Cost is the obvious potential drawback of working with an MBA admissions consultant. Fees run anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a la carte editing services to several thousand dollars for comprehensive packages targeting multiple schools. If you’re not committed to completing the process, it is a huge waste of money. Make sure you’re ready to follow through, and find out if the firm offers any type of financial guarantees if you’re not successful. One danger of hiring a consultant is that you might rely too much on their expertise, losing your voice and story in the process. Make certain that you’re prepared to partner with the consultant while not letting them take on the whole journey. [Try these exercises to help MBA applicants develop a personal brand.] Another complaint of applicants is that their consultant doesn’t devote enough time to them. Before you hire a consultant, ask about usual turnaround times and how many clients get taken on at once. A full-time consultant may be juggling you with 20 other clients, all vying for the same deadline, so ask these questions before you commit. Some potential clients think hiring a business school consultant means they don’t have to do any work. A good consultant is not an essay-writing service, won’t do the work for you and is not there to agree with whatever the client says. This type of relationship won’t work for personality types that have difficulty accepting criticism, coaching and input from others. Only invest in a consultant if you’re ready for a true partnership – not if you want a ghostwriter. Consultants can push you, point out errors and opportunities and help you submit your very best application. But they still need you on the team. |
22 Apr 2014, 19:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Answer Our MBA Survey for a Shot at $100 Amazon Gift Card |
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2014 could be a life-changing year for you. You may already know that you’ll be headed to business school in the fall, or you might be planning to start your MBA journey in the coming months. Either way, exciting things lie ahead. All of us here at Stacy Blackman Consulting want to help make your dreams come true by giving you a shot at a top program. Or at the very least, by putting a $100 Amazon gift card in your pocket! So, here’s the deal. We’re asking for a favor: please fill out our one-minute survey. We know how precious your time is—you’ll only have to “check the box” in response to nine simple MBA-related questions. Click now to fill it out for a shot at the $100 Amazon gift card—the survey will close on Thursday, April 24. Thanks for your participation, The team at Stacy Blackman Consulting |
23 Apr 2014, 04:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Stanford to Award Africa MBA Fellowships |
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The Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship application is now live, and the deadline to apply is June 13, 2014. The Fellowship enables talented African citizens with a passion for making an impact on the continent’s future to pursue an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business. What is the Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship Program? The Fellowship pays for tuition and associated fees for citizens of African countries with financial need. The Fellowship was created to reduce the financial barrier for African citizens to pursue an MBA at Stanford GSB. Stanford GSB will award up to eight fellowships annually. Within two years of graduation, Stanford Africa MBA Fellows are required to return to Africa to work for at least two years in a role that contributes to the continent’s development. Promising candidates are encouraged to apply now for the Fellowship. Applicants can find details about the new two-stage application process and timeline on the Stanford GSB website. In the first stage, applicants complete the free Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship pre-application. Up to 50 finalists will be selected by mid-July 2014 based on financial need, as well as Stanford’s admission criteria of intellectual vitality, demonstrated leadership potential, and personal qualities and contributions. Finalists then apply for MBA admission (the application will be waived for finalists) to the GSB in Round 1, October 2014. The school plans to enroll up to eight exemplary Stanford Africa Fellows in the MBA Class of 2016. Why is Stanford GSB providing this fellowship? Africa is at the forefront of significant global economic growth and opportunity. African students provide direct insight into an emerging global economy that will be increasingly powerful in business. The school hopes that the Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship will encourage talented Africans to leverage the Stanford MBA experience to make a big impact in Africa, executing the GSB’s mission to change lives, change organizations, and change the world. For More Details: Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship Webpage |
24 Apr 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: MBA Survey, Chance at $100 Amazon Gift Card Closes Today |
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2014 could be a life-changing year for you. You may already know that you’ll be headed to business school in the fall, or you might be planning to start your MBA journey in the coming months. Either way, exciting things lie ahead. All of us here at Stacy Blackman Consulting want to help make your dreams come true by giving you a shot at a top program. Or at the very least, by putting a $100 Amazon gift card in your pocket! So, here’s the deal. We’re asking for a favor: please fill out our one-minute survey. We know how precious your time is—you’ll only have to “check the box” in response to nine simple MBA-related questions. Click now to fill it out for a shot at the $100 Amazon gift card—the survey will close today, Thursday, April 24. Thanks for your participation, The team at Stacy Blackman Consulting |
24 Apr 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: GMAC Debuts Integrated Reasoning Prep Tool |
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The Graduate Management Admission Council has announced the debut of a new web-based resource to help applicants prepare for the Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT. The Official GMAT Integrated Reasoning Prep Tool is a set of 48 items and answer explanations, and it’s the only dedicated Integrated Reasoning prep tool available that contains retired IR items. Users may customize question sets by difficulty and type of question, easy to hard or random, and may choose exam or study modes. The tool contains timers that track time spent per question as well as total time. It also provides multiple reporting options, which focus on time management, session history, and question history. Benchmarking features show what percentage of GMAT examinees, by IR score, got each individual item correct. “We developed Integrated Reasoning as a way to measure ‘big data’ skills, the ability to evaluate and synthesize information presented in multiple formats,” says Ashok Sarathy, GMAC’s vice president for product management. “The Official GMAT Integrated Reasoning Prep Tool offers a valuable opportunity for test takers to prepare to do their best on the GMAT exam to showcase important skills that business schools and global employers are seeking today,” Sarathy adds. The Official GMAT Integrated Reasoning Prep Tool is priced at $19.99 and is available at mba.com. Purchasers will have access to the web-based tool for six months for unlimited practice sessions, and the option of purchasing an additional three months for $9.99. |
25 Apr 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Stacy Blackman’s B-School Buzz |
 Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of Stacy Blackman’s B-School Buzz, our periodic check-in with some of the MBA blogosphere’s applicant and student contributors. In this edition, Buzz bloggers share recruiting advice, admit weekend updates, and tips that may help others currently experiencing waitlist woes. Exhausted yet energized—Defying Gravity recounts some of the details from last week’s Admitted Students Welcome Weekend at Harvard Business School. Though she has yet to make a final acceptance decision, her initial feeling is that the next two years could be pretty amazing if the experiences during this two-day visit are any indication. Surviving the recruiting game—Duke Fuqua’s [b]Canadian Champ [/b] finally sees the light at the end of the recruiting tunnel and has a few tips for anyone struggling through the process now or in the future. Believe it, he says, when people say every step is tougher than the last. In the final stretch—CCatcher has just a couple of weeks left to her Tepper MBA and is caught up in a whirlwind of final assignments, events, and lunches and dinners with friends. Despite the fun and excitement, she says she cannot wait to be done with the MBA and start working! Putting off to prep better—When an invitation to interview from London Business School arrived in the mail, Knight MBA had some thinking to do. Rather than rush into an early interview date allowing just a few days to prepare, he has opted instead to wait until the end of May despite the increased competition from R3 applicants. The wait is over—MBA My Way may have surprised her 2013 self with the decision to forgo admission to her once-dream school Yale SOM to go with her “dark horse candidate” Cornell’s Johnson School. In this post, she shares what she did while on the Yale SOM waitlist which may have led to her eventual acceptance. Do you have an MBA-centric blog? Want it featured in an upcoming B-School Buzz post? If so, email me at buzz@StacyBlackman.com. |
28 Apr 2014, 05:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: HBS Launches Campaign to Raise $1 Billion |
 Harvard Business School plans to raise $1 billion over the next five years, and has launched an alumni outreach program to increase engagement with and among alumni well in to the future, the school announced at its public capital campaign launch on Friday. HBS has already raised more than $600 million in gifts and pledges since 2012 as part of the campaign’s “quiet phase.” The overall goal is part of Harvard University’s $6.5 billion campaign announced last September. This is the fourth campaign since the school’s founding in 1908. Funds raised will support priorities such as student financial aid, faculty research, globalization, and curricular innovation, as well as enhancements to the school’s residential campus. “What truly distinguishes Harvard Business School is our capacity to continually innovate,” says Dean Nitin Nohria in a press statement announcing the news. “In short, we have been unafraid to anticipate and respond to changes in the world around us. Our vision is to continue to embrace these two capacities: to hold fast to the characteristics we most cherish, and to be bold— even relentless—in innovating for a better future.” To have an impact on complex global issues, Harvard Business School will actively engage its 80,000 alumni around the world, many of whom are positioned to make change happen in established companies, new ventures, and social enterprises. “People often associate this School’s graduates with industries like finance and consulting,” says Campaign Chair John Hess. “But HBS graduates are essential in leading every type of organization, including hospitals, schools, and social enterprises. Good leadership exerts a multiplier effect, and the alumni that I speak with are eager to put their management knowledge to work in taking on some of most complex issues faced by society today.” A new website enables HBS alumni to connect with one other based on a wide range of personal and professional interests. The website includes hundreds of stories that highlight the impact alumni and faculty have in organizations and communities around the world. Professor Robert Steven Kaplan, the School’s Senior Associate Dean for External Relations, spearheaded the effort to bring the voice of alumni into the campaign by enlisting several hundred alumni in committees, each of which explored topics that ultimately shaped the campaign themes and direction. The effort to engage alumni began in Boston on April 26th and will extend around the world over the next 18 months. “The world turns to Harvard Business School for leadership not only because it is core to our mission,” says Kaplan, “but because our alumni are setting the example of true leadership by the impact they are making in large and small ways every day. They are the key to our future.” You may also be interested in: Harvard Business School Enters Online Learning Harvard Business School Admitted Student Profile |
29 Apr 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Big Curriculum Changes at Cornell’s Johnson School |
 For the first time in ten years, Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management has completely revamped the core MBA curriculum in order to better prepare students for the challenges of today’s business landscape. According to a recent article in the Cornell Business Journal, a three-year survey of students, alumni, and employers has lead to the development of a new core that will place greater emphasis on leadership, modeling and analytics, and better preparation for internship interviews. The program will also adjust the timing of certain courses to help alleviate the load on students during the intense recruiting period. Starting this fall, the way Johnson teaches leadership will change significantly. The school will now have a solid two-year plan for leadership development that begins with Leading Teams in August prior to the first year, Critical and Strategic Thinking in the second half of fall semester, and Principled Leadership in the first half of fall in each student’s second year at Johnson, the school reveals. Meanwhile, professor Bill Schmidt will led a course tentatively titled Data Analytics and Modeling, which emphasizes the modeling skills that alumni and recruiters consistently ask for. Students and alumni surveyed complained about the course load during the heavy internship recruiting season, the Cornell Business Journal reports, and many recruiters noted that Johnson students were under-prepared for their interviews. Because business school recruiting has changed quite a bit over the last decade, and now takes place much closer to the beginning of the year, Johnson “acknowledges that the core has to work alongside recruiting,” says executive director of student services Amanda Shaw. Credit hours in the fall semester will therefore drop from 7.5 to 6.5, and the Critical and Strategic Thinking course will take place in the fall semester so that students have the qualitative thinking skills they need for interviews. Meanwhile, the length of core courses in the spring semester will shorten, and core classes won’t take place the first two or last two weeks of the semester to provide more time for recruiting and end of semester projects, Johnson explains. On the admissions front, director of admissions and financial aid Christine Sneva promises a new experience with this year’s application for the two-year and one-year Ithaca MBA program. The new application, Sneva says, will focus on your professional profile with capability to sync to your LinkedIn account, and allow more innovation in telling your own story. The launch date is a few months out, but we’ll share the details here as soon as they become available. You may also be interested in: $50M Innovation Challenge at Cornell’s Johnson School Family Business Gets $10M Boost at Cornell’s Johnson School Cornell’s Johnson School Launches One-Year Tech MBA in NYC |
30 Apr 2014, 19:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Darden’s Dean Bruner Plans Return to Faculty Position |
 Earlier this month, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business announced Dean Robert Bruner‘s intention to return to a faculty position and take a traditional one-year leave of absence when his second term as dean ends in July 2015. Bruner and his leadership team have propelled Darden to phenomenal success, particularly in the areas of technology, diversity, globalization, and entrepreneurship and innovation. The dean is a huge proponent of social media, an active blogger, and frequent tweeter, and has also lent his full support to the school’s dive into Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). As part of the Campaign for the University of Virginia, Bruner and team raised $150 million for Darden and established new research “centers of excellence,” including the Darden Center for Asset Management and the Darden Institute for Business in Society. Financial aid for students has also increased, and the academic potential, diversity and geographic reach of students have reached new heights. The Class of 2015 boasts record-breaking GMAT scores and grade-point averages and represents 37 countries. On his blog, Bruner gives various personal reasons for his decision, which include getting back to his first love—teaching—and having accomplished much of what he had hoped to achieve when assuming the deanship in 2005. Executive Vice President and Provost John Simon said a committee would soon conduct a global search for the ninth dean of the Darden School. “Bob has laid a strong foundation for Darden to continue to make its mark on the world stage.” You may also be interested in: UV Darden School Launches New Business Knowledge Website Darden’s Dean on the Value of International Students Darden Dean’s Advice for Summer MBA Interns UV Darden School Launches New Business Knowledge Website – See more at: https://www.stacyblackman.com/2014/03/21 ... 6yJRS.dpuf |
02 May 2014, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Yale SOM to Operate Leadership Center in Beijing |
 On Wednesday, Yale University announced the creation of the Yale Leadership Center in Beijing, which will host leadership programming offered by schools and centers across the university. The Yale Leadership Center will be operated by the Yale School of Management (SOM), which will work to expand the growing array of conferences and workshops for Chinese leaders that Yale has offered in both China and New Haven. It will be Yale’s only center in China, hosting programming from the entire university community. The facility will act as a hub for leadership development activities and will facilitate research, act as a platform for discussions and conferences, and provide a home base for professional and executive education efforts. It will also have offices for faculty from throughout Yale to use when they are in Beijing, as well as flexible workspace for SOM’s MBA, MAM, and PhD students. The center is made possible by generous gifts from two Yale alumni and one Yale friend who are committed to deepening the mutually beneficial relationship between the university and their home country. Neil Shen, founding managing partner of Sequoia Capital China, Bob Xiaoping Xu, founding partner of ZhenFund.com, and Brad Huang, founder of Lotus Capital Management, have together committed $16 million. Shen will chair the center’s advisory board, while Xu will serve as vice chair. “This center is meaningful given the importance of China and the United States to the global economy, but also given their central roles in all major issues facing business and society,” said Yale SOM Dean Edward A. Snyder in a statement announcing the news. “We look forward to broad-based discussions with businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and public leaders on diverse issues, including improving health outcomes, environmental challenges, the increasing importance of creative arts, and managing financial assets,” Snyder continued. Speaking on behalf of all three founding donors, Shen noted Yale’s long history with China and Chinese students, which dates “back to 1854 when Yung Wing, the very first Chinese student to receive a degree from an American University, graduated from Yale.” The founders want this new center to accelerate efforts to cultivate academic and cultural exchanges between China and the United States, Shen says, which will benefit both their home country and Yale. “At the School of Management, we continually seek out ways in which to deepen our intellectual and programmatic connection to Yale for the benefit of our students, faculty, and alumni,” says Snyder. “This center and its opening conference will be another opportunity to engage all of Yale’s schools and departments.” Yale will inaugurate the center with a major conference, convened by Yale SOM on October 26-27, 2014. |
05 May 2014, 07:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Embrace LGBT Identity in Business School Applications |
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This post originally appeared on Stacy’s “Strictly Business” MBA Blog on U.S.News.com Marketing efforts to attract lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender MBA applicants are not cut-and-dried. While business schools can easily target potential candidates by ethnicity, asking applicants to identify themselves based on sexual orientation is not a standard demographic question. Nevertheless, LGBT applicants can benefit greatly from researching their target schools’ outreach efforts, campus clubs and inclusiveness toward their LGBT community as an important factor when selecting potential schools. Many gay and lesbian applicants wonder if they should openly address their sexual orientation as they begin the MBA admissions process. The LGBT Student Association at Harvard Business School, for one, urges applicants to be “out” in their MBA application and notes that the admissions office is not only very gay friendly but that it’s excited to increase the LGBT presence at the business school. The admissions officers want to learn about you as a person, beyond your GPA and GMAT scores. “It is perfectly appropriate – and, again, probably advisable – for essays to reflect who you are as a whole person, including your sexuality and gender identity/expression, if you choose to do so,” the student group explains. [Know how to sell yourself to MBA admissions committees.] I once worked with a client, “David,” who on the surface had a rock-solid background. He had followed an extremely traditional progression from Ivy League undergrad to banking to business school, but something in his story lacked depth. David’s essays didn’t provide a lot of detail as to why he had made certain decisions or what had fueled different moments, experiences and reactions. Then, during one phone call, he came out to me. This had been a very personal struggle for him, and at the time not even his parents knew of his sexual orientation. Our discussion opened up terms of his pressures, decisions and personality. I encouraged him to reveal this side of himself in the applications as it really shed light on who he was. His sexuality didn’t become the focus of his essays, but acknowledging it allowed him to speak more openly about his identity and what mattered to him. He did end up being accepted to Columbia Business School when he reapplied. He hadn’t revealed his sexual orientation in the first attempt. I don’t think the fact that he was gay got David in; however, I do believe his willingness to show introspection and be more open about himself in his application helped tremendously. [Learn how to build a personal brand as an MBA applicant.] Although business schools have progressed dramatically of late on LGBT issues, more can be done. In a recent GMAC article exploring outreach efforts to LGBT applicants, columnist Ronald Alsop says that, while schools have increased efforts in marketing to LGBT candidates, they’re still a very small minority of MBA programs. “According to GMAC’s 2013 Application Trends Survey, only nine percent of graduate business programs worldwide and only 13 percent in the US reported any special LGBT outreach efforts,” Alsop says. Liz Riley Hargrove, associate dean for admissions at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, notes that the school began hosting an LGBT Weekend in 2011 to show off its gay-friendly culture and dispel any negative perceptions of Southern stuffiness. “We need more LGBT students so the classroom is representative of the workforce our students will manage,” she tells Alsop. “Exposure to different perspectives will affect our students’ management and leadership styles.” Bloomberg Businessweek recently polled MBA students from several schools on how diverse they felt their program was. It was interesting to see the comments of one student from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, which scores exceptionally well on the Campus Pride Index for its LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices. Even so, student Arnab Mukherjee tells Businessweek that as a gay man, he would like to see more LGBT alumni or faculty addressing issues of gender and sexuality in the workplace through academic case studies, guest lecturers or career-related events. “I don’t think these are critiques that would be unique to Cornell Johnson, though, as I have heard exactly the same feedback from friends at other top programs, such as Chicago Booth, HBS, NYU Stern, and Stanford,” Mukherjee says. [Find ways to stand out in the b-school applicant pool.] Fortunately, students don’t have to rely solely on the networking opportunities within the LGBT clubs and organizations on campus. At the annual Reaching Out MBA conference and career fair, for both? prospective and current MBA students, several hundred LGBT students from across the country can come together and expand their professional networks in a meaningful way. New York University Stern School of Business alumnus Matt Kidd, the executive director of Reaching Out MBA, tells Poets & Quants that component is especially important for LGBT MBAs outside of large metropolitan areas – places where there may not be a large gay or lesbian population. “The difference there is that you really need to focus on your classmates, and if you only have one or two, it’s a pretty small LGBT population.” The LGBT population at business schools may be small, but its visibility is growing and the diverse perspectives members of this community can provide to an MBA cohort is not lost on business school admissions committees. |
06 May 2014, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: MBA Olympics Return |
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More than one thousand MBA students from Europe’s leading business schools will compete in the ultimate business school Olympics at HEC Paris later this week. London Business School, IE Business School and INSEAD are among 13 top schools taking students to the annual MBA Tournament (MBAT). Click here to view the embedded video. Hosted and organized by students at HEC Paris, the MBAT is largest gathering of MBA candidates at any single event in Europe. Here, participants can network with other students and alumni from across the globe, develop their team working abilities and, of course, take home a little sporting glory. This year, teams will compete in 23 sports, from football, cricket and rugby to chess, poker and – new to 2014 – ultimate frisbee. There are also themed evening events, such as a Glam Rock party, to give competitors the opportunity to unwind and make new friends. “The MBAT is one of the best things we do at HEC Paris,” says MBAT Co-President Katrina Senn, will join her fellow classmates in the HEC Paris ultimate frisbee team. “The competition brings classmates together as a team and lets us show other schools what we’re capable of. In fact, this year, we’re seeing increased participation from all of the schools coming to compete as it continues to gain in popularity.” This year’s participating schools are:
The three-day sporting competition is in its 24th year and will take place from May 8th to May 10th. |
07 May 2014, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: GRE Use Increasing in MBA Admissions |
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When the boom hit a few years ago to begin including the GRE as a testing option for MBA admissions, uncertainty among applicants ran high. The idea of allowing students to take only one exam as they contemplate going for an MBA versus another advanced degree is a solid one. However, many candidates wondered: would business schools view GRE scores with the same regard as the long-trusted standard, the GMAT? According to new data released by Educational Testing Service (ETS), which administers the GRE, more MBA applicants than ever before chose the GRE revised General Test to meet admission requirements during the 2012-13 testing year. Nearly 10% of individuals who took one of the two leading business school admission tests and indicated MBA as their intended degree objective, opted for the GRE. Melissa Korn‘s recent story on this increase for the Wall Street Journal reports that one in five applicants to Yale School of Management submitted GRE scores this year. SOM admissions director Bruce DelMonico tells Korn that figure is double the rate of 2010. The article goes on to note an increase at UT McCombs School of Business as well, where 14% of applicants to the full-time program submitted GRE scores this year, compared to just 10% for the class of 2014. Here at Stacy Blackman Consulting, we noticed a similar uptick in our recent online survey of 675 MBA applicants, the results of which are shared in the Wall Street Journal piece. We found that 7.7% of respondents were interested in the GRE, up from 4% last year, while the share planning to take the GMAT fell to 92.4% from 96.3%. David Payne, vice president of global education at ETS, believes greater numbers of MBA applicants will choose the GRE because of its many benefits, which include a ScoreSelect option that lets you decide which GRE scores to send to the schools you designate, and its test-taker friendly design. “We have heard from schools that they are seeing anywhere from 10 percent to 30 percent of their MBA applicants presenting GRE scores, and we expect this number to continue to grow,” Payne says. For some applicants, this news may set to rest any doubts about submitting the GRE rather than the GMAT with their MBA application. After all, the admissions committees are adamant about giving equal weight to both exams. However, until more schools begin publishing average GRE scores alongside the GMAT scores of admitted applicants, many MBA hopefuls will likely continue to hedge their bets and use the tried-and-true GMAT instead. You may also be interested in: GRE vs GMAT: Which test is right for you? SBC Scoop: GRE trumps GMAT? |
08 May 2014, 10:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: Changing of the Guards at UCLA Anderson, Simon School |
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Two new deanships have been announced in the last week, and both are connected to UCLA Anderson School of Management. Professor and corporate finance scholar Mark Garmaise has been named dean of the full-time MBA program at UCLA Anderson, and his predecessor Andrew Ainslie will become dean at University of Rochester Simon Business School. Both will assume their new responsibilities in July. Garmaise’s academic research has centered on using empirical data to investigate the effects of asymmetric information and incomplete contracting as they relate to real estate markets and entrepreneurial firms. A Harvard University graduate with a Ph.D. in finance from Stanford Graduate School of Business, Garmaise joined UCLA Anderson as a visiting assistant professor in the finance area in 2001. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2008 and to full professor this year. “In Mark, we have a combination of remarkable talents – an outstanding teacher who is dedicated to his MBA students, and a trailblazing scholar who infuses his teaching with relevant and emerging research findings,” says Judy Olian, dean of UCLA Anderson. “Mark is an award-winning instructor and highly respected authority on finance, venture capital and private equity. That combination, and his dedication to UCLA Anderson’s MBA program, will assure strong continuing leadership for the Anderson MBA program.” In announcing Ainslie’s appointment as the seventh dean of the Simon School, university President Joel Seligman spoke of Ainslie’s stellar impact at UCLA Anderson, where it was noted that during his tenure, the school increased its admissions by more than 60%, increased placements by more than 20%, and revised its curriculum. “He will be an outstanding dean. He is a creative and dynamic leader in business education,” Seligman says. Ainslie has been associate professor of marketing at UCLA Anderson since 2005; he was assistant professor of marketing there from 2000 to 2005. From 1997 through 2000 he was assistant professor of marketing at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management.He joined Anderson in 2000 and has led the full-time MBA program since 2010. “Andrew Ainslie impressed us with his leadership experience, his commitment to the research mission, and his farsighted approach to the challenges facing all MBA programs,” says Janice Willett, chair of the Trustees and Friends Advisory Committee for the search. Dean Olian adds, “We are proud of Andrew’s ascent to the Rochester deanship and so appreciative of his many accomplishments at Anderson.His unrestrained passion for MBA education and his clear analytic focus to drive strategic actions will no doubt advance the Simon School just as it benefitted Anderson.” |
09 May 2014, 11:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: MBA Application Trends in 2014-2015 |
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How many schools are applicants applying to? How important are MBA rankings? Should you consider submitting GRE scores rather than the GMAT? These are just a few of the questions we here at Stacy Blackman Consulting attempted to find out with our MBA application trends survey, conducted online in April. Poets & Quants picked up the story this week, and shared the main data points with their readers. Based on the responses of 675 participants who intend to apply to business school in the 2014-2015 admissions cycle, the survey showed an uptick in the number of applicants planning to apply to five schools this year. More than 25% plan to do so, up from 22.9% who aimed for five schools in 2013. This increase reflects the growing awareness among applicants of the ultra competitive nature of b-school admissions, but also, an understanding that there are more than just a handful of terrific schools out there. Just a few years ago, highly competitive applicants wouldn’t go for an MBA unless they could get into Harvard, Stanford or Wharton. Now, applicants are interested in applying to a range of schools. In fact, the list has become a lot longer and broader, with applicants adopting a more open attitude about where to study and adding schools such as UCLA Anderson, UT McCombs School of Business, and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School into the mix, in addition to the power trio. MBA admissions has become increasingly competitive at the elite level, and applicants now realize that an MBA from a highly selective school offers all of the benefits and a similar return on investment as a degree from a very top brand. This year’s survey showed that once again, applicants place a lot of weight on the value of rankings, with almost 70% of respondents saying rankings are extremely important, and less than 1% saying they weren’t important. Meanwhile, the influence of school reputation on an applicant’s decision of where to attend dipped slightly, from 52.4% in 2013 to 50.87% this year. Applicants are starting to place greater attention to the strength of a school’s job placement program—21.87% this year, versus 18.8% in 2013. Career advancement remains the most important reason for attending business school for 43.7% of survey participants, followed by the desire to change careers, which motivates 38.17% of MBA hopefuls. Finally, our survey polled prospective students on their interest in submitting GRE scores with their b-school application. While the GMAT still reigns supreme as the exam of choice, GRE interest this year grew to 7.65%, up from 3.97% in 2013. At this point I’m not pushing the GRE, and we typically tell clients that unless they have a hard time with the GMAT, or with testing in general, the GMAT is the better way to go. The schools are just more comfortable with the GMAT in general since it’s such a known entity. I believe people can always derive great value from going to business school, but many factors affect the kinds of programs that best meet their needs. Applicants need to find the very best fit for their own game plan. |
12 May 2014, 06:00
| FROM Stacy Blackman Consulting Blog: How to Ramp Up Your GMAT Prep |
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Guest post by our friends at Magoosh We need every edge we can get. Every prospective student is looking for some advantage for their application to business school whether it’s a unique personal story, unique work experience, or a slightly stronger GMAT score. To gain that edge, we have to dedicate our time and energy. There’s no way to fake it. The GMAT is no exception. We have to allocate our time wisely and focus our energies efficiently to gain that edge. To ramp up your GMAT prep and gain that edge, I have four pieces of advice. You’ll find that these tips will supercharge your prep and better prepare you for test day. Quality Test Prep Material Nothing can boost test prep like using quality materials. The market is suffuse with materials that are mediocre to terrible. Bad materials mean insufficient prep and lead to poor test scores. It’s not just that the materials don’t mimic the GMAT; if they aren’t created with rigor and constantly improved, these materials can be downright misleading. Step back a moment and assess your materials. Are you using one of the best GMAT books of 2014? Or do you rely on questions posted to forums, such as Beat the GMAT and GMAT Club. Don’t expect to hit your stride in the weeks before the test if you haven’t prepped with the best of the best. Find the best materials now so you aren’t one of the 20% of students who retake the GMAT. Wind Sprints—Not Marathons Bad study habits dampen success—not ramp it up. The trouble, though, is that many students don’t know that they’ve adopted bad study habits. They believed a myth and haven’t thought to question its validity since. Let’s dispel it: long study sessions don’t work! Students tell me they study eight hours a day and are still not improving. My first recommendation is to stop studying eight hours a day. Long sessions of studying don’t help students learn more; it’s a fallacy to think that more time equals more learning. They need to stop running long distances and practice their wind sprints. Plenty of research shows that short bursts of focus and learning outweigh long periods of study. Let’s say you want to study 12 hours a week. Plan on four sessions, three hours each, and after each hour take a 10 minute break. Better yet, budget six sessions, two hours each. Studying in this way encourages spaced repetition, which is shown to improve the long-term retention of information. Instead of doing everything in a six hour period, you give your mind time to rest and incorporate the information into long-term memory. As counterintuitive as it may sound, short bursts are better than marathons. Set a Timer One of the biggest misconceptions is that students think their abilities untimed are the same timed. Many students do not make time a part of their prep and pay the price on test day. Or students wait too long to start practicing under time pressure and realize that they are in trouble. So as soon as possible, set a timer when solving practice problems. Choose a set of five questions and try to finish them in ten minutes. If this is too difficult at first, that is, you can’t even get close, set the timer for thirteen minutes. Even though this is more time than you should take to solve a problem, at least you have a timer on and you are practicing your pacing. As you progress, dial down the time until you are at a good pace—about nine minutes for five Verbal questions and about ten minutes for five Quant questions. Spend Time Studying—Not Planning Time management doesn’t refer only to pacing on the test. It also refers to how we spend our study time. As little time should be spent planning your studies. Front-load all your planning so that you don’t have to do it every session. Decide what to do each day based on your materials and how much time you have. Use a study schedule created by experts, such as a 1 month GMAT study schedule, or base your study schedule on their recommendations. As you will see in the study schedules, each day is broken into parts. Work on multiple skills in a single study session. This is the best way to study and the best way to learn. Ramp up your studies with more focused study. Takeaway Every applicant to business school is looking for that unique advantage. With the GMAT, it’s no different. Take these suggestions and ramp up your study sessions. Grab quality materials, aim for focused, short bursts of study, start practicing your timing, and get all your planning out of the way so you can spend more time actually studying. Start implementing them now to improve your chances for success on test day. This post was written by Kevin Rocci, resident GMAT expert at Magoosh, a leader in GMAT prep. For more advice on taking the GMAT, check out Magoosh’s GMAT blog. |
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