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The mbaMission Blog

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MBA News: Kaplan Survey Reveals Spike in Schools Accepting GRE Results [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   24 Oct 2014, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Kaplan Survey Reveals Spike in Schools Accepting GRE Results
Recently, our friends at Kaplan Test Prep released the results of their 2014 survey of graduate school admissions officers, for which the firm polled admissions representatives from 204 U.S. MBA programs.

One of the results we found most intriguing was an apparent rise in the number of business schools that allow applicants to submit a GRE score rather than requiring a GMAT score. According to Kaplan, an astounding 85% of MBA programs now accept the GRE in lieu of the GMAT. When the same survey was conducted in 2009, just 24% of the participating programs recognized GRE results as adequate application criteria.

However, more schools accepting the GRE does not necessarily mean more MBA hopefuls are electing to take this route. Kaplan’s survey reveals that just one in ten applicants (at most) submitted a GRE score in place of a GMAT score this past application season.

What do the top graduate programs prefer? While 78% of the admissions officers surveyed indicated that their schools consider the two tests equal, 18% communicated a continued partiality for the GMAT. According to Kaplan Test Prep’s executive director of pre-business and pre-graduate programs, Brian Carlidge, “The trendline for business schools that accept the GRE as an admissions alternative to the GMAT has been unmistakable over the past five years. What was once seen as an almost exotic admissions policy by business schools has become nearly ubiquitous.”

 
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: The Admissions Committee Wants a “Type [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   25 Oct 2014, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: The Admissions Committee Wants a “Type”
Many MBA candidates believe that admissions committees have narrowed their criteria for selecting applicants over the years and that each school has one distinct “type” that it seeks. So, in this world of stereotypes, Harvard Business School (HBS) is interested only in leaders, while Kellogg wants only marketing students; Chicago Booth is seeking only finance students, and MIT Sloan wants only “eggheads.” Of course, these stereotypes—like most stereotypes—are not accurate. Chicago Booth wants far more than one-dimensional finance students in its classes, and it provides far more than just finance to its MBA students (including, to the surprise of many, an excellent marketing program). HBS is not a school just for “generals”; among the more than 900 students in each of its classes, HBS has a wide variety of personalities, including some excellent foot soldiers. So at mbaMission, we constantly strive to educate MBA candidates about these misconceptions in hopes that they will eschew such stereotypes, which can sink applications if applicants pander to them.

By way of example, imagine that you have worked in operations at a widget manufacturer. You have profound experience managing and motivating dozens of different types of people, at different levels, throughout your career, in both good economic times and bad. Even though your exposure to finance has been minimal, you erroneously determine that you need to be a “finance guy” to get into NYU Stern. So you tell your best, but nonetheless weak, finance stories, and now you are competing against elite finance candidates who have far more impressive stories in comparison. What if you had told your unique operations/management stories instead and stood out from the other applicants, rather than trying to compete in the school’s most overrepresented pool?

We think that truly being yourself is only natural. Of course, if you are still not convinced, consider what the Stanford GSB’s admissions committee declares on the school’s admissions Web site:“Because we want to discover who you are, resist the urge to ‘package’ yourself in order to come across in a way you think Stanford wants. Such attempts simply blur our understanding of who you are and what you can accomplish. We want to hear your genuine voice throughout the essays that you write, and this is the time to think carefully about your values, your passions, your hopes and dreams.”

 

Kind of makes sense, does it not?
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Monday Morning Essay Tips: Own Your Story [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   27 Oct 2014, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tips: Own Your Story
Many business school candidates unwittingly start their essays with platitudes—obvious or trite remarks written as though they were original. For example, when responding to the essay question “Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision,” an applicant might mistakenly write the following:

“Managers constantly face difficult decisions. Still, everyone hates indecision.”

The applicant does not “own” this idea and cannot lay claim to this statement. A simple alternative would be to insert his/her personal experience and viewpoint into the sentence:

“I found myself back in the boardroom with Steve, anticipating that yet again, he would change his mind on the mbaMission file.”

By discussing your personal and unique experiences, you take and demonstrate ownership of your story while engaging your reader. Avoiding platitudes and generalities—and ensuring that you are sharing your experience, rather than one that could belong to anyone else—is a simple but often overlooked step in creating a compelling message.
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Monday Morning Essay Tip: Own Your Story [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   27 Oct 2014, 10:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Own Your Story
Many business school candidates unwittingly start their essays with platitudes—obvious or trite remarks written as though they were original. For example, when responding to the essay question “Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision,” an applicant might mistakenly write the following:

“Managers constantly face difficult decisions. Still, everyone hates indecision.”

The applicant does not “own” this idea and cannot lay claim to this statement. A simple alternative would be to insert his/her personal experience and viewpoint into the sentence:

“I found myself back in the boardroom with Steve, anticipating that yet again, he would change his mind on the mbaMission file.”

By discussing your personal and unique experiences, you take and demonstrate ownership of your story while engaging your reader. Avoiding platitudes and generalities—and ensuring that you are sharing your experience, rather than one that could belong to anyone else—is a simple but often overlooked step in creating a compelling message.
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Mission Admission: What to Expect from Your MBA Interview [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   28 Oct 2014, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: What to Expect from Your MBA Interview
Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

With MBA interview invitations continuing to arrive this time of year, we thought now would be an appropriate time to discuss some challenging interview situations. Most business school interviews are straightforward opportunities for an interviewer to learn more about a candidate’s personal and professional backgrounds, goals, reasons for selecting a specific school, and leadership/team experiences, yet interviews can vary dramatically from school to school and sometimes include a few peculiarities. So, what constitutes a “tough” interview, and how can you best navigate one?

Stoic interviewer: Some interviewers can be unemotional, refusing to give you any indication as to whether you are making a positive impression or not. And amid the intense pressure of an interview, you may perceive this lack of clear positive response as a sign of actual disapproval. The key in managing such a situation is to tune out the interviewer’s lack of emotion. Focus on your answers and do your best to not be distracted by anything about the interviewer, ignoring everything except the questions he/she is posing. “Reading” the interviewer in real time can be challenging, so you should instead concentrate on showcasing your strengths.

Philosophical questions: Most candidates are ready to discuss their experiences and accomplishments, but many are not prepared to discuss their values and philosophy on life. Harvard Business School in particular likes to understand applicants’ motivations and will ask questions like “What is your motivation to succeed?,” “What drives you?,” and “What gives you purpose in life?” The key to answering these sorts of questions is pretty simple: expect and prepare for them in advance (after all, you are being warned right now). You cannot assume that all the questions you will receive during your interview will be experiential.

Persistent questioning: Sometimes a tough interviewer will continuously delve deeper into a subject, such as by repeatedly asking, “Can you be more specific about [the topic under discussion]?” after posing an initial question. These kinds of unusual pressure tactics can be disconcerting, but the key is to simply stay on topic. No matter how persistent he/she is, the interviewer is always essentially asking you about a subject that you know quite well—you! So again, by avoiding the distraction of the tactic and sticking to your agenda, you should be fine.

mbaMission offers even more interview advice in our Interview Guides, as well as through targeted one-on-one mock interview sessions  and group Wharton team-based discussion simulations, so check out these resources to see if they might be helpful in your application efforts.
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MBA Career Advice: The Art of the Bullet [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   28 Oct 2014, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Advice: The Art of the Bullet
In this weekly series, our friends at MBA Career Coaches will be dispensing invaluable advice to help you actively manage your career. Topics include building your network, learning from mistakes and setbacks, perfecting your written communication, and mastering even the toughest interviews. For more information or to sign up for a free career consultation, visit www.mbacareercoaches.com.

For a resume to be effective, it needs to be constructed in a clear and consistent way and the content (bullets!) needs to be brief and easily “digestible.” What do we mean by “digestible?” We mean that the bullets under each professional, educational or personal entry must have the following attributes:

Brief: No more than two lines

Attention grabbing: start each bullet with an action verb

Reveal that you took initiative: Prove that you did something

Show a compelling result: You did not just do something – you did it well and can prove it!

Let’s take a look at the following resume bullet:

  • Responsible for the leadership of our firm’s summer internship recruiting program for more than 20 sophomore and juniors from ten schools across the United States and two international school
Does this bullet reveal any of the attributes that we just highlighted? It is not brief. It is not attention grabbing. It does not reveal initiative. It does not show a result. And… This is the way that most bullets are written! What is the problem with this bullet? This internship program could have been a raging success, but the reader does not know that and even if he/she did know that, “responsible for” does not reveal that the applicant led the program to success. What if our bullet read like this?

  • Recruited 20 summer interns from domestic and international undergraduate business schools, 18 of whom were extended full time offers
The bullet above is brief. It starts with an action: “recruited”. It shows that the applicant took initiative. And, the results are very clear: he/she recruited well, because many were asked to return to the firm full time. Follow these rules and your bullets will make statements about you and your resume will do its job.
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Professor Profiles: Gregory Fairchild, UVA’s Darden School of Business [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   29 Oct 2014, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Gregory Fairchild, UVA’s Darden School of Business
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a school, but the educational experience at the business school is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we focus on Gregory B. Fairchild from the University of Virginia’s (UVA’s) Darden School of Business Administration.


As an academic director for Darden’s Institute for Business in Society, Gregory Fairchild (MBA ’92) (“Entrepreneurship” and “Business Strategy”) is charged with promoting ways in which business leadership can connect to broader societal issues. Fairchild specializes in entrepreneurship, business strategies, and business ethics and researches ways to create value in underserved areas. In January 2010, the Financial Times named Fairchild the world’s top research professor in entrepreneurship, and in 2011, Virginia Business magazine included Fairchild in its “Top 25: People to Watch” feature.

Fairchild has received a number of teaching excellence awards at Darden, including recognition as an outstanding faculty member in 2008. One alumna we interviewed called Fairchild’s classes “exhilarating” and noted that he reviews his students’ resumes and can tie someone’s background to the topic of the day. She added that he is “scarily good” at cold calls and “won’t let go until he has dug all of the facts out of you.”

For more information about UVA Darden and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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B-School Chart of the Week: To How Many Schools Will You Apply This Ye [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   29 Oct 2014, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: To How Many Schools Will You Apply This Year?
Although quantifying a school’s profile certainly does not tell you everything, it can sometimes be helpful in simplifying the many differences between the various MBA programs. Each week, we bring you a chart to help you decide which of the schools’ strengths speak to you.

We recently surveyed a number of visitors to our site to get a feel for the concerns, plans, and mind-sets of this season’s MBA applicants. Now the results are in, and for those who are curious about their fellow applicants’ views on business school, we will be sharing some of the collected data in our B-School Chart of the Week blog series.

How many applications to submit is one of the first decisions you will make with regard to pursuing an MBA. Whether you are targeting just one program or many, applying to business school is rather time-consuming, and we were curious how much of a commitment candidates may be making to the process this season.

The respondents to our poll seem rather ambitious on this front—or may simply view several programs as their “dream” choices. When we asked visitors to our site, “To how many schools do you plan to apply this application season?,” just over one-fifth (20.5%) of the MBA hopefuls answered “6,” making it the top response. Accounting for 17.9% of the votes each, “4” and “5” were tied for the second most common. (In 2013, by comparison, the most common response was “5,” with “6” being the second most popular choice.) Interestingly, a not-insignificant portion—12.8%—indicated that they plan to apply to as many as eight programs, while 5.1% are up for the challenging feat of completing 15 applications this season.
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Beyond the MBA Classroom: Winter Fun at Chicago Booth [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   30 Oct 2014, 10:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Winter Fun at Chicago Booth
When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school.

Business school candidates who decide to attend Chicago Booth can look forward—with approximately 500 of their closest friends in the community (partners are invited as well)—to the school’s annual ski trip, which takes place over winter break. The trip shifts locations each year, but in December 2013, more than 250 Chicago Booth students and partners traveled to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. After a full first day of skiing and snowboarding, trip attendees enjoyed back-to-back themed parties—donning their “most radical attire,” as one first-year student stated in a January 2014 post on The Booth Experience blog, for an ’80s-themed happy hour before partying late into the night at a “Heaven and Hell” rave. Other activities on the 2013 trip included a flip cup tournament, a pub crawl, a grilled cheese bake-off, and a visit to a local hot spring. Students and partners who were not interested in skiing or snowboarding could take advantage of Steamboat Springs’ other offerings, such as bumper cars on ice, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing. Also, members of the Chicago Booth Ski and Snowboard Club participate in the annual Tuck Winter Carnival (at Dartmouth), for which many of the country’s top business schools send teams to compete in a ski race—though we learned the event tends to be more about beer than competition.

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at Chicago Booth and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Diamonds in the Rough: An MBA for Working Professionals at Villanova [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   30 Oct 2014, 16:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: An MBA for Working Professionals at Villanova
MBA applicants can get carried away with rankings. In this series, we profile amazing programs at business schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15.

In 2013, the Villanova School of Business (VSB) received a $50 million gift from alumnus James C. Davis, founder of Allegis Group, and his wife, Kim. The donation—part of a $600M capital campaign—was the largest in the school’s history and was reportedly “earmarked to improve academic and career advising, increase internship and study abroad opportunities, perform technology upgrades, and provide scholarships,” according to Bloomberg Businessweek. The VSB also planned to use a portion of the funds to “beef up its faculty roster to include more professors focused on teaching as opposed to research.”

With a satellite campus in Center City, Philadelphia, VSB specializes in part-time programs for working professionals, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of a full-time curriculum without leaving their current job. In this vein, the school offers the choice of an accelerated, two-year “Fast Track” degree option, which meets twice a week, or the more customizable “Flex Track” degree option, which typically takes three years to complete and accommodates varying course loads.

One advantage conferred by the accelerated option is the opportunity to partake in the school’s two-part consulting practicum project, which includes the Nonprofit Consulting Practicum and the Global Consulting Practicum capstone course—each lasting 14 weeks. In the former practicum, students work with local, nonprofit organizations to identify strategies in such areas as branding, funding and membership retention. Alternatively, the latter practicum entails working with a multinational corporation to gain firsthand experience analyzing market issues. VSB also hosts a variety of elective international immersion courses through which students may travel abroad over winter break or during the summer semester.
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Friday Factoid: CBS’s End-of-the-Semester Push [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   31 Oct 2014, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: CBS’s End-of-the-Semester Push
With the month of December right around the corner, first-year Columbia Business School (CBS) students will soon be entering the last big push of their first semester, with finals wrapping up and the next semester not beginning until mid-January. The end of regular classes at the school is traditionally marked by CBS Follies, a student-run comedy and entertainment show, as well as an End of Semester Party, and those looking to stay involved with CBS and their classmates during the holiday break have plenty of opportunities to do so. Many students go abroad during the break to such places as Korea, Brazil, and Australia on Chazen Study Tours or as part of consulting projects through the International Development Club. And students wishing for a complete break from the classroom can take part in the Snow Sports Club’s annual Winter Ski Trip in early January. Although the long break can offer a welcome rest from the stress of first-semester classes, recruiting season for first years begins once they return to campus for second semester. So, one way or another, this is a good time for CBS students to clear their heads.

For more information on CBS or 15 other leading MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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GMAT Impact: First Glance Exercises for Sentence Correction [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   01 Nov 2014, 15:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: First Glance Exercises for Sentence Correction
With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series, Manhattan GMAT’sStacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.

For the past few weeks, we have been learning the four-step Sentence Correction (SC) Process. (If you have not read that three-part post yet, go do so now!) People are excited about the opening step, the First Glance, and have asked for more exercises to help them learn how to become a First Glance Expert.

For instance…

Does the length of the underline tell you anything? If so, what?

What about the very first word of the underline? Or the last word right before the underline starts?

And what about the differences among the first words of each answer choice? Does anything strike you there?

Fantastic clues often exist in these areas, but you need to learn how to translate them. As with any study we do for the GMAT, our real learning comes before the clock starts ticking. Take all the time you need to analyze already-completed questions to figure out how to spot and react to certain types of clues. Then, when the test starts, you will know what to look for, and you will be able to react immediately when you spot a useful clue!

First, read the SC Process posts (the three-part series linked above). Next, grab your copy of the Official Guide 13th Edition (OG13).

Finally, start trying out the exercises detailed in the article “Get the Most Out of Your First Glance.”

Plan to spend a few weeks working on this a little bit every day before you start to spot most of the types of clues that can pop out at you during your first glance at the problem. Have fun!
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: If I Am Not Accepted in Round 1, I Wil [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   02 Nov 2014, 13:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: If I Am Not Accepted in Round 1, I Will Apply in Round 2!
As you head into application season, what strategy do you have in mind? More than a few B-school candidates—having likely read about the supposed advantages of applying in Round 1 on various Web sites and discussion boards—plan to submit all their applications in that first round, with the idea that if no acceptances are forthcoming, they will just submit another set of applications in Round 2. If this is your plan, we ask that you step away from your stack of applications for a moment while we explain why this is probably not your best course of action.

Most Round 1 deadlines are in October, and even though often applicants may receive a kind of “progress report” in the form of an interview invitation in November, this is no guarantee of eventual acceptance. Ultimately, then, applicants will not know for sure whether they have won a spot at any of their target schools until mid- to late December. So let us imagine the worst-case scenario: You submit all your applications in Round 1 but are not accepted at any of your target schools. Now, feeling discouraged and unsure of your application strategy—not to mention dealing with the hustle and bustle of the holidays—you must quickly research and select new schools, rethink your approach, and crank out still more applications in the space of just a few weeks to be able to submit in Round 2—to schools that you may not even be that enthusiastic about. And do not forget that you will also need to pressure your recommenders during this busy time of year to produce more documents on your behalf on a very tight deadline!

Are you rethinking your strategy yet?

We recommend that instead, you change your mind-set from “If I don’t get into schools in Round 1, I will apply in Round 2” to “I am applying to some schools in Round 1 and some in Round 2, and hopefully I won’t have to finish my Round 2 applications.” With luck, you will not need to complete the applications you have slated for Round 2, but if you plan ahead, do not overload yourself with too many applications in the first round, and work steadily on your applications over several months, you will be in a much better place both mentally and with your required workload if you should have to move ahead with your Round 2 submissions. And if, in the end, you get accepted early or receive multiple offers of admissions from your first-round applications, you will have lost nothing more than a little time!
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Monday Morning Essay Tip: Introduce Without an Introduction [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   03 Nov 2014, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Introduce Without an Introduction
Most American high school students are taught to write essays that have a formal introduction, a body that supports that introduction, and a conclusion that reinforces the main point presented in the introduction. Although this approach and structure make for easily comprehensible academic work, business school application essays are constrained by word count, so candidates often have to use alternative, less lengthy openings, not having the luxury of “wasting” 100 words to introduce their topic.

We recommend sometimes using the “non-introduction” introduction, depending on the context and pace of your story. If you have a gripping opener that places your reader in the middle of a scenario, we suggest that you launch right into your story to grab and keep the reader’s attention.

Consider this traditional introduction:

“Throughout my career, I have strived to continuously learn and develop as a manager, frequently taking enrichment courses, seizing mentorship opportunities and seeking frank feedback from my superiors. When my firm staffed me on its $4.5M Oregon Project (our highest-profile product launch in a decade), I considered it a tremendous opportunity to deliver and never imagined that it would become the greatest test of my managerial abilities.

“When I arrived in Portland, I discovered a project deemed so important by our firm that it was overstaffed and wallowing in confused directives from headquarters in Chicago. I quickly surveyed the situation and began to create support for changes to…”

What if this essay, under the pressure of word limits, were to begin with a slightly modified version of the body?

“When I arrived in Portland, I discovered that my firm’s $4.5M Oregon Project—our highest-profile product launch in a decade—was overstaffed and wallowing in confused directives from headquarters in Chicago. I quickly surveyed the situation and began to create support for change…”

In this case, approximately 70 words are saved, and the reader is immediately thrust into the middle of the story, learning how the writer jumped into the Oregon Project and ultimately saved the day. Although the “non-introduction” introduction should not be used for every essay, it can be a valuable tool when applied with discretion.
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Mission Admission: What Makes a Good Thank You Note? [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   04 Nov 2014, 13:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: What Makes a Good Thank You Note?
Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

After visiting campus or interviewing, many business school candidates choose to write thank you letters to their respective hosts. But what makes a good thank you note?

Personalization: When writing to your host/interviewer, show sincerity by personalizing your letter. By handwriting your letter and mentioning specifics about your conversation and experiences, you will continue to foster your connection with your interviewer and show that your interaction truly made an impression.

Brevity: Your letter should be no more than a few sentences long. If you write several paragraphs, you run the risk of creating the negative impression that you are trying too hard or do not respect limits (possibly even suggesting that you might carry on too long in class). By being brief and sincere, you will instead make a powerful impression that will yield results.

Speed: Ideally, send your letter within 24 hours of your visit and within two days at the most. Most interviewers must submit their reports very soon after the interview, and your thank you note will have a better chance of positively influencing this report if it is received before the report is submitted. Also, after too long, your interest may logically fall into question, or your host may simply forget some of the details of your conversation that you are trying to reinforce. By writing your letter immediately, you will give the impression that you have been energized by the experience and are eager to maintain your connection.

Thank you notes are generally not a “make or break” aspect of your candidacy, but they can establish continuity and demonstrate your continued interest to your target school’s representatives. We encourage candidates to follow up with such notes because they are a low-cost way of reinforcing a positive impression and relationship.
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MBA News: How to Ace a Professional Interview [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   04 Nov 2014, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: How to Ace a Professional Interview
Whether for admission to an MBA program, a desired job, or any other purpose, an interview can often determine an individual’s future. Unlike with essays and other written application materials, in a live interview, you cannot ponder your responses, reveal your personality through text, or change your answers after the fact. You must therefore be prepared to illustrate—on the spot—your potential and strengths by projecting the appropriate demeanor, offering astute replies, and making a connection with your interviewer.

In an effort to help MBA hopefuls and career-minded individuals master this often stressful process, mbaMission Senior Consultant and Chicago Booth MBA and former Dean’s Admissions Committee member Angela Guido recently published an article on Poets & Quants covering the many ins and outs of professional interviewing. Angela advises, for example, that all candidates arrive at their interview knowing the answers to the following questions:

• Who are you?

• What do you want to gain?

• Where have you struggled?

• What did you learn from those struggles?

• What are your most substantial accomplishments (and how did you achieve those successes)?

• What has been your reasoning behind some of the decisions you have made throughout your career?

See the full article on Poets & Quants for all her in-depth guidelines.
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MBA Career Advice: Thank You! [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   04 Nov 2014, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Advice: Thank You!
In this weekly series, our friends at MBA Career Coaches will be dispensing invaluable advice to help you actively manage your career. Topics include building your network, learning from mistakes and setbacks, perfecting your written communication, and mastering even the toughest interviews. For more information or to sign up for a free career consultation, visit www.mbacareercoaches.com.

When you interview, you should always follow-up with your interviewer/s to thank them – and we repeat “always”! In doing so, you will have an opportunity to show that you were an active listener and internalized your interview, while also revealing some basic standards of courtesy and respect. So, when you follow-up with your note (and by “note” we mean e-mail!) it needs to contain some specific content which relates to the experience itself. Let’s consider two approaches….

Janet,

Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me earlier today. I appreciate your giving me a chance to discuss my fit with your firm and the skills that I would bring to the table. I enjoyed learning about your history with your firm and its strengths and even its challenges. I look forward to learning more and appreciate you connecting me with your colleague.

Sincerely,

Robert

Oh, Robert! You may have actually meant what you just wrote, but it came across so completely generically that Janet could not possibly have believed that you were listening or trying to make an impression! Instead of this pitiable attempt, you might offer some details which make it clear that you were present:

Janet,

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me earlier today – I appreciated your candor in discussing the challenges facing your industry, but, it is clear from our discussion that your team is taking an aggressive stance in defending its market share. I am hopeful that I can bring my background in big data analytics to help you take customer acquisition to a deeper level. As you suggested, I have already followed up with your colleague to schedule a time to meet with his team.

Sincerely,

Robert

In the latter example, Robert peppers his letter with specifics that reveal that he was actively listening – that he was and is interested. Simple phrases like, “candor in discussing challenges facing your industry” or “take customer acquisition to the next level,” prove that Robert was engaged. In a mere three sentences, with this thoughtful note, Robert has sent a clear and concise message! Interviewing for business school? The same rules apply: make specific statements about your conversation and make a much more memorable impression!
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Professor Profiles: Margaret Neale, Stanford Graduate School of Busine [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   05 Nov 2014, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Margaret Neale, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose which business school to attend, but the educational experience itself is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we focus on Margaret Neale from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB).


One former GSB student described Margaret (Maggie) Neale (“Managing Groups and Teams” and “Negotiations”) to us at mbaMission as “somewhat intimidating” but quickly followed with “I love her teaching style! She pushes each student way out of their comfort zone to make them a better negotiator using whatever style is appropriate for the situation.” Neale’s research is based on the psychology of conflict and negotiation. She was the Graduate School of Business Trust Faculty Fellow for 2011–2012 and serves as faculty director of two of Stanford University’s executive programs—Influence and Negotiation Strategies, and Managing Teams for Innovation and Success—and as codirector of the Executive Program for Women Leaders.

A first year described Neale to mbaMission as “wonderful, legendary,” adding, “She’s been around the Stanford community for a long time. She is very popular, engaging and friendly. If you have the opportunity to take a class with her, you should. But be warned, her classes are oversubscribed.” In 2011, she became the 13th recipient—and first woman—to be presented with the business school’s Davis Award, which is bestowed upon a faculty member for lifetime achievement.

For more information about the Stanford GSB and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Beyond the MBA Classroom: 37 Years of Wharton Follies [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   06 Nov 2014, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: 37 Years of Wharton Follies
When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school.

The Wharton Follies is both an annual musical comedy production that pokes fun at MBA life at Wharton and one of the school’s largest clubs, and it affords students the opportunity to shine in both creative and business roles. Entirely written, produced and performed by students and boasting a six-figure budget, it is one of the largest and longest-running such productions at any graduate program. Follies has run at Wharton for 37 years and typically features prominent members of the administration (including the dean, vice dean and director of admissions) and popular faculty members in cameo appearances.

The specific theme changes every year. In 2014, the theme was “The Book of Wharton,” in 2013, it was “It’s a Whartonful Life,” and in 2012, it was “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” In addition to a live component, the Follies typically involve a number of video sketches, such as 2014’s “Lord of the GSR,” a play on Lord of the Flies wherein a group of students become trapped in a graduate study room. The 2013 sketch “MBAs Assemble a Malm Bed from IKEA,” which depicts students from various top-ranked business schools proposing different strategies for furniture assembly, is especially notable, with more than 70,000 views as of this posting. A second year with whom we spoke explained that part of the appeal of Follies is that it “show[s] off student talent that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to witness.”

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at Wharton and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider ’s Guides.
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B-School Chart of the Week: What Is Most Important When Choosing a Sch [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   06 Nov 2014, 15:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: What Is Most Important When Choosing a School?
Although quantifying a school’s profile certainly does not tell you everything, it can sometimes be helpful in simplifying the many differences between the various MBA programs. Each week, we bring you a chart to help you decide which of the schools’ strengths speak to you.

We recently surveyed a number of visitors to our site to get a feel for the concerns, plans, and mind-sets of this season’s MBA applicants. Now the results are in, and for those who are curious about their fellow applicants’ views on business school, we will be sharing some of the collected data in our B-School Chart of the Week blog series.

This year, we asked MBA hopefuls what was most important to them when selecting which business school to attend. Well over one-half of our survey respondents (56.4%) cited “reputation/ranking” as their primary criteria for MBA program selection, while “professors/academic resources” and “recruiters/corporate connections” tied for a distant second place, with 15.4% of the votes each. Trailing the list of school factors under consideration were “location,” “alumni base,” and “cost/tuition”—which received just 5.1%, 5.1%, and 2.6% of responses, respectively.

These results were not surprising to us at mbaMission, given that every year, we see candidates target certain programs solely because of those schools’ reputations. And although the top schools undoubtedly have outstanding strengths and resources, we always encourage applicants to look beyond the stereotypes to identify the program that truly fits their needs best. We created our Insider’s Guides series for the express purpose of helping candidates do just that and hope that whatever your personal criteria may be, you find the right school to fulfill them.



 

 
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