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The mbaMission Blog

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GMAT Impact: Integrated Reasoning (Slowly) Rising—Solutions Await [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   08 Nov 2014, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: Integrated Reasoning (Slowly) Rising—Solutions Await
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.

Thus far, the still relatively “new” Integrated Reasoning (IR) section of the GMAT (added in June 2012) has been almost an afterthought for most applicants. We can hardly blame test takers for focusing their studies on the “traditional” elements of the GMAT—the Verbal and Quant sections—because admissions officers have been quite clear that candidates’ IR scores would not be immediately relevant. Admissions representatives were candid in explaining that they would need to wait and see how a few cycles of students fare in their selected MBA programs before determining whether a correlation can be drawn between their IR test results and their subsequent academic performance.

By May of 2014, some students with IR scores will have completed a year of business school, and admissions officers should be able to start data mining. We are likely still in the earliest stages of the IR section’s relevance, but conscientious/conservative applicants should assume that its value will only increase for admissions committees. Meanwhile, some MBA employers—consulting firms in particular—are considering using students’ IR scores as a factor in hiring decisions, which means that your IR score might be more relevant on your way out of business school than it was on your way in.

Recognizing that the significance of the IR section will likely grow, our friends at Manhattan GMAT designed “GMAT Interact for IR,” a five-lesson curriculum for test takers that is free. Yes, FREE! After an introductory session, applicants engage in four lessons, each focusing on a type of IR test question: Graphics Interpretation, Table Analysis, Multi-Source Reasoning, and Two-Part Analysis. Manhattan GMAT’s INTERACT is not just a series of video recordings—it is truly interactive! It engages students the same way a tutor would and allows them to make choices that direct their learning.

Students who have taken the “GMAT INTERACT for IR” modules thus far have given enthusiastic feedback about the experience. We are encouraging our clients to try it out as well, so letting you in on the “secret” only seems fair.
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: My High GMAT Score Will Get Me In!! [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   09 Nov 2014, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: My High GMAT Score Will Get Me In!!
So you have taken the GMAT and exceeded even your highest expectations, scoring at the very top of the scale. Congratulations! But please do not assume that earning such a high score means you can relax with respect to the other components of your application. Every year, applicants who have scored 750 or even higher are rejected from their target business schools—even when their GMAT score falls within the top 10% of the schools’ range. And many of these candidates were rejected because of a fatal, but ultimately avoidable, mistake: they got overconfident and assumed their GMAT score alone would get them in.

“You are more than your GMAT score or the sum of your years of work experience. We may admit students who have lower GMAT scores because they are amazing in all other aspects of their candidacy. We may also deny candidates with very high GMAT scores because they are one-dimensional and are not as competitive on those other important dimensions.” So said Liz Riley Hargrove, the associate dean for admissions at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, in an exclusive interview with mbaMission. The business schools are interested in hearing about your ambitions, accomplishments, leadership skills, teamwork experience, perseverance, motivation, integrity, compassion … and the list goes on. Fundamentally, admissions committees need to be able to determine whether you will be a vital and contributing member of their community, and your GMAT score tells them only that you can do the work.

Heed our advice—even (or especially!) those of you with a 780—and commit yourself to the rest of your application with the same enthusiasm with which you approached the GMAT!
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Monday Morning Essay Tip: Use Information That Is School Specific [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   10 Nov 2014, 09:01
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Use Information That Is School Specific
In MBA application essays, some business school candidates unintentionally discuss their personal experience with a specific MBA program in a vague and general way. Because they are writing from memory and discussing their authentic experience, they do not realize that they are not being specific enough. Consider the following example:

“During my visit to Cornell Johnson, I was struck by the easygoing classroom discussion, the warmth of the professors, and the time spent by the first-year student who not only toured the facilities with me but also took me for coffee and asked several of his colleagues to join us.”

While these statements may in fact be true, the text contains no Cornell-specific language. If Yale SOM, Michigan Ross, or the name of any other school were substituted for Cornell Johnson here, the statement would otherwise not change at all. This results in a weak and generic essay. If any statement in your esay could easily apply to any other school, this is not good.

In contrast, the following statement could refer only to Darden:

“While on Grounds, I was impressed by Professor Robert Carraway’s easygoing and humorous style as he facilitated a fast-paced discussion of the ‘George’s T-Shirts’ case. Although I admittedly felt dizzied by the class’s pace, I was comforted when I encountered several students reviewing the finer points of the case later at First Coffee. I was impressed when my first-year guide stopped mid-tour to check in with her learning teammate and reinforce the case’s central point. It was then I recognized that this was the right environment for me.”

If you were to substitute the Darden name and even the professor’s name with those of another school and professor, the paragraph would no longer work. The Darden-specific information regarding the day’s case, First Coffee, and learning teams ensures that these sentences have a sincere and personal feel and shows that the candidate truly understands what the school is about. This is necessary for a compelling personal statement that will catch the admissions committee’s attention.
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MBA News: International Applicants Achieving Higher GMAT Scores than A [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   11 Nov 2014, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: International Applicants Achieving Higher GMAT Scores than American Ones
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article—which quotes mbaMission’s own Founder/President Jeremy Shinewald—MBA program applicants from China and India have been attaining higher scores on the GMAT than test takers from the United States.

The article, titled “On B-School Test, Americans Fail to Measure Up,” explains that Asia-Pacific MBA hopefuls have exhibited advanced proficiency as of late on the Quantitative section of the GMAT—causing median scores to rise and Americans’ results to appear less than stellar by comparison. For this reason, admissions officers for various programs are now seeking new methods by which to judge applicant strength. According to Shinewald, U.S. candidates are “banging their heads the wall” and test score inadequacy is “causing a ton of student anxiety.”
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MBA News: Bloomberg Businessweek 2014 Rankings Released, Duke Fuqua No [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   11 Nov 2014, 15:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Bloomberg Businessweek 2014 Rankings Released, Duke Fuqua Now at Number One
 Bloomberg Businessweek has just released its 2014 ranking of full-time MBA programs, and some people may be surprised at certain schools’ new standings. For this survey, schools are ranked according to a myriad of factors, including recruiter marks (employers’ opinions of a program’s graduates) and enrolled student survey responses.

This year’s results certainly show a few major shakeups. Duke Fuqua, which ranked sixth in both 2012 and 2010 (up from eighth in 2008) knocked long-standing first-position holder Chicago Booth from that coveted spot (it is now ranked third). Perhaps even more notably, Harvard Business School (HBS), which has held steady at number two since 2008, dropped to eighth and failed to make the top five for the first time in list history.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Duke Fuqua graduates received high ratings from recruiters who tend to hire large numbers of MBAs. The school’s dean was quoted as saying, “To be a great leader, you need to be great in a team setting, and I think that’s where we get credit from employers.”

As for HBS’s surprising six-spot drop, on the other hand, Bloomberg Businessweek claims that a major reason for the perennial favorite’s decline is “the perception that the school caters to elites while neglecting women and minorities.”

Other notable position shifters are Columbia Business School, which moved from 13th in 2012 to fifth this year; UCLA Anderson, which advanced from 18th to 11th; and the Yale School of Management, which rose significantly (15 spots!) from 21st to sixth.

The current top 20 is as follows: (visit the Bloomberg Businessweek Web site for the full list):

  • Duke Fuqua
  • UPenn Wharton
  • Chicago Booth
  • Stanford Graduate School of Business
  • Columbia Business School
  • Yale School of Management
  • Northwestern Kellogg
  • Harvard Business School
  • Michigan Ross
  • Carnegie Mellon Tepper
  • UCLA Anderson
  • UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler
  • Cornell Johnson
  • MIT Sloan
  • Dartmouth Tuck
  • Indiana Kelley
  • Maryland Smith
  • Emory Goizueta
  • UC-Berkeley Haas
  • UVA Darden
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MBA Career Advice: Find a Common Interest [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   11 Nov 2014, 16:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Advice: Find a Common Interest
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.

One easy way you know to make a connection with someone is through common interests. It is like winning the lottery when at a networking event, the person you are talking to shares you passion for French new wave film, obscure e.e. cummings sonnets, Korean food trucks, or traveling through Europe by train. But interests are so particular. If you are meeting someone for the first time, how the heck are you going to find that needle in a haystack you share in common? What are you going to do, read off your litany of hobbies and see if they check any of the same boxes?

There is an easier way. And it is based on two simple facts of human nature.

  • There are certain things we all have in common. One of those things is that we all want to feel more alive. We all like to feel passion and enthusiasm. We like to share the things we love and get carried away by our own positive emotions.
  • Being alive is contagious.
So the specific content of your experience doesn’t matter as much as the emotion of the conversation. A lot of people think that formal networking conversations need to focus on the professional and how great you are in your career, a myth we already debunked. The best thing you can do at a networking event is talk about things that make you come more alive and engage others in what makes them come more alive. It doesn’t even matter what it is.

Did you have an incredible serendipitous experience this morning, running into an old college friend on the train to work? Did your mechanic make your weekend by giving you a special discount that you didn’t even ask for? Did the sandwich you have for lunch make you nostalgic for one your mom used to make when you were a kid that you looked forward to every day in your lunch? Talk about those things. Because when you do, you come alive. You speak enthusiastically, you smile and gesture naturally, and you exude a contagious sense of positive energy.

When you do this, other people cannot help but follow. Eventually the whole group will be laughing and smiling. You might even disturb the other serious networkers around you. You will be the group conversation everyone wants to be a part of. Then, not only will you have found common interest, you will have created a shared experience. Then, all you need to do is give those great new connections a future and you are on your way to building a thriving network!
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Mission Admission: The Round 2 Application Rush [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   11 Nov 2014, 19:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: The Round 2 Application Rush
Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

Thanksgiving weekend in America tends to signal the beginning of the rush toward second-round business school application deadlines. Many candidates who are just beginning to contemplate their MBA applications will call us and ask, “How many schools can I apply to at this stage?” or “Am I too late to start my applications for Round 2 now?” Unfortunately, these questions have no clear-cut answers.

First and foremost, your focus should be on quality over speed. As a candidate, you are far better off completing applications to three schools with 100% effort than applying to five schools and putting forth just 60% effort. MBA admissions offices notice sloppy mistakes, and they will conclude that you did not pay full attention to your application and therefore may not really care all that much about their program.

One thing some candidates forget—or do not realize in the first place—is that they do not need to commit to a specific number of schools up front. We typically suggest that candidates master one application and then apply what they have learned to the next. Submitting applications to five schools simultaneously can generally be problematic, but if you make significant progress on one school’s application and then begin work on the next, you can be confident that you will complete each one with a degree of excellence.

The ideal number of target schools varies from candidate to candidate and depends on each individual’s professional and personal schedule, written communication skills, risk profile, ambitions, and other similar factors. So approach your applications methodically, recognize what is realistic, and then work aggressively—but not haphazardly—toward your end goals.
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Dean Profiles: Sunil Kumar, The University of Chicago Booth School of [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   12 Nov 2014, 15:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Dean Profiles: Sunil Kumar, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Business school deans are more than administrative figureheads. Their character and leadership is often reflective of an MBA program’s unique culture and sense of community. Each month, we will be profiling the dean of a top-ranking program. Today, we focus on Sunil Kumar from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Before his appointment as dean of Chicago Booth in 2011, Sunil Kumar served for 14 years on the faculty of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he was also senior associate dean for academic affairs. Kumar received a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Engineering in computer science and automation from the Indian Institute of Science, and a Bachelor of Engineering from Mangalore University. He has been the recipient of numerous honors for his teaching and research in the area of operations management and communications networks, including the 1998 Finmeccanica Faculty Scholarship from Stanford University and the 2001–2002 Professor of the Year award at the Indian School of Business.

“I think he actually fits the personality of Chicago pretty well, because, in a sense, he’s kind of nerdy and quantitative, but at the same time, he’s pretty funny,” stated a 2012 Chicago Booth graduate we interviewed. “His personality really came out during our student events, and I would just say that he is very approachable and a ‘real’ person.”

For more information about Chicago Booth and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Beyond the MBA Classroom: Liquidity Preference Functions at Stanford G [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   13 Nov 2014, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Liquidity Preference Functions at Stanford GSB
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.

“Leave it to clever biz students to dress up a party as a business meeting,” quips a Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) News article in reference to the school’s weekly Liquidity Preference Functions—or LPFs—explaining, “Every Friday … students blow off end-of-the-week steam over beverages, food, and loud music.” Essentially happy hours, LPFs are a longstanding GSB social tradition in which students get together to enjoy spirits at local establishments after classes. Alumni even have LPF events during reunion. In fact, the gatherings are such a quintessential part of the GSB experience that two of the school’s graduates who started a winery together named one of their wines LPF to honor this facet of their time at their alma mater.

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at the Stanford GSB and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Diamonds in the Rough: Rotman School of Management [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   13 Nov 2014, 18:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Rotman School of Management
One of Canada’s top-ranked business schools for finance—the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management—recently began benefitting from the leadership of a foremost figure in the nation’s financial sector. After Roger Martin stepped down as the school’s dean, former senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem assumed the role for a five-year term (beginning July 2014).

Rotman, ranked first among Canadian MBA programs by the Financial Times, underwent significant growth under Martin’s deanship, both in campus size and endowment. Macklem’s appointment as dean suggests a continued rise in Rotman’s academic profile and its reputation for financial education. “He has vast experience managing large institutions, translating academic research into public policy, and representing Canada on the world stage,” stated the university’s vice president and provost.

In addition to its finance-related strengths, Rotman offers a rather unique approach to core business pedagogy. Relying on what it terms “integrative thinking,” Rotman’s teaching model challenges the compartmentalization of traditional functional areas. Students complete a series of core courses in their first year that emphasize generalized business skills and the ability to think across functional disciplines. In their second year, they are given the option to choose from among ten different major areas, while supplementing their focus with a broader array of elective courses.
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Friday Factoid: Overseeing Almost $9M at UVA Darden [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   14 Nov 2014, 13:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Overseeing Almost $9M at UVA Darden
Many think that because the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business casts itself as offering a general management program, the school has no specialties. General management, however, is a philosophy that suggests that no business problem can viewed in isolation—for example, a finance problem relates to marketing, a marketing problem relates to operations, and so on. In the student club Darden Capital Management (DCM), students can apply general management principles in evaluating equities to understand the entire firm while also specializing in asset management to further their careers in this finance industry niche.

Through DCM, first-year students pitch long and short investment ideas to second-year student fund managers who oversee nearly $9M of Darden’s endowment, which is divided among five funds, each with its own focal area. Approximately 20 first years ultimately “graduate” and run these funds themselves for credit as second years, reporting on their investment decisions and performance to Darden’s finance board. Students who manage these funds report that they have had an advantage breaking into asset management, because this hands-on experience gives them plenty to discuss in interviews. Managing close to $9M will do that…

For more information on the Darden School or 15 other leading MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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B-School Chart of the Week: If Not Accepted This Year, Will You Reappl [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   14 Nov 2014, 16:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: If Not Accepted This Year, Will You Reapply Next Season?
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.

 “If you are not admitted to any MBA programs this year, will you try again next year?” When we asked visitors to our site this question during the 2013 application season, the majority—64.4%—responded “yes.” This year, that number rose dramatically, with an even more significant majority—82.1%—indicating that they plan to reapply to business school next year if they do not gain admittance to any programs this season. As the professional landscape continually grows more competitive, we imagine that MBA hopefuls are more determined than ever to obtain their graduate degrees and position themselves for long-term career success. This year’s applicants, at least, seem to view the potential benefits of an MBA as far outweighing the challenges of the application process.



 
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Alumni Get You In! [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   15 Nov 2014, 09:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Alumni Get You In!
From time to time, we at mbaMission visit admissions officers at the leading business schools, which gives us the opportunity to ask rather frank questions. On one such visit, we pushed an admissions officer on the extent of alumni influence in the admissions process and ultimately received a surprising response: “We get ten letters each year from [globally famous alumnus whose name mbaMission is withholding], telling us that this or that MBA candidate is the greatest thing since sliced bread. He gets upset when we don’t admit ‘his’ applicants, but what makes him think that he deserves ten spots in our class?”

Many MBA applicants fret about their lack of alumni connection with their target schools, and the myth abounds that admission to business school is about who you know, not who you are or what you can offer. Of course, these latter qualities are more important, and a standout applicant who knows no graduates at all from the program he/she is targeting is still a standout applicant and should get in—just as a weak applicant who knows a large number of alumni or a particularly well-known or successful graduate is still a weak applicant and should not be admitted. Clearly, some extreme exceptions exist where influence can be exerted, but the “standard” applicant need not worry that every seat at the top MBA programs has already been claimed by someone with good connections.

Remember, the admissions committees want to ensure that a diversity of ideas and experiences is represented in the classroom. Every top MBA class includes people with different socioeconomic backgrounds, nationalities, religions, professional backgrounds, and ages.  Harvard Business School has more than 900 students in each incoming class, and the vast majority of these students do not have a personal connection with a CEO or the president of a country. And who knows? These days, such connections could even be a liability.
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GMAT Impact: Reorient Your View on Math Problems [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   16 Nov 2014, 16:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: Reorient Your View on Math Problems
With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this weekly blog series, Manhattan GMAT’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.

The Quant section of the GMAT is not a math test. Really! It just looks like one on the surface. In reality, the test writers are testing us on how we think.

As such, they write many math problems in a way that hides what the sentence is really testing or even implies a solution method that is not the best solution method. Assume nothing and do not accept that what they give you is your best starting point!

Instead, slow down a little. First, just glance at the whole problem (before you really start reading) to see what kind of problem you have.

Next, read the problem and jot down any numbers, formulas, etc. Do not do any translation or simplification at this stage—in short, do not do any actual work yet. Just get the basics on paper, and wrap your brain around what the question is saying. You will be less likely to fall into their traps if you think before you act.

Then, Reflect and Organize: what have you got, and what should you consider doing with it? Do any pieces of information go together? Do you see any clues that give you an idea of how to solve the problem? Is the problem really obviously suggesting a certain path? Maybe that will work—but make a conscious decision that this really is your best path.

Most of the time, when an “obvious” path is suggested, some other path is actually faster or easier. Also, remember that your best approach might be to guess and move on, depending on how hard the question is!

Finally, if you are not going to guess, then get to it and work! You made some kind of plan during the previous step, so start working that plan!

If you get stuck at this stage, you are allowed to give yourself one chance to unstick yourself. Go back to an earlier step in your work to see whether you can find another way forward. If you find yourself still stuck, pick something and move on.

Want to see some examples of all this? Glad you asked. I have got a full two-part article for you with three different practice problems Get to it, and let me know what you think!
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Monday Morning Essay Tip: Limit the Use of “I” When Beginning Sentence [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   17 Nov 2014, 09:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Limit the Use of “I” When Beginning Sentences
Although putting yourself at the center of the stories in your MBA application essays is certainly important, a common mistake business school applicants tend to make is beginning too many sentences with the word “I.” As a general rule, you should never begin two sentences in a row this way. Consider the following example:

“I worked for three years at ABC Plastics, a small injection molding company. I was responsible for overseeing the overall management of ABC Plastics, from day-to-day operations to strategic planning. I managed 100 people. I worked very long hours, but I learned more than I could have ever imagined.”

Now consider the same statement reworked to avoid using “I” at the beginning of subsequent sentences:

“For three years, I worked at ABC Plastics, a small injection molding company. My responsibilities at ABC included overseeing the overall management of the company, from day-to-day operations to strategic planning. Because I supervised more than 100 staff members, my days were long, but the experience taught me more than I could have ever imagined.”

As you can see, the second example reads much better than the first—and none of the sentences in the second example begin with “I.”
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Mission Admission: Deciding How Many Schools to Target [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   18 Nov 2014, 13:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Deciding How Many Schools to Target
Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

These days, as candidates consider their strategies for Round 2 of the MBA application cycle, many have a logical question in mind: To how many business schools should I apply? The answer, of course, varies dramatically from applicant to applicant, but the golden rule is that you should only apply to an MBA program if you have enough time to make your application the best it can be. So, if you have time to “perfect” only three applications, you should focus on applying to just three schools—and not consider submitting five “average” applications.

In terms of a target number—assuming that time is not a factor and you can commit yourself to all of your applications—five or six is generally optimal. With five or six applications, you can apply to a mix of reach, competitive, and safe schools—and can thereby truly cover your bases. Of course, each applicant has his/her own risk profile and timing to consider, but for most candidates, applying to too few schools can increase the risk of not being admitted, while applying to too many can be overkill.
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MBA Career Advice: Take the Transaction Out of Networking [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   18 Nov 2014, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Advice: Take the Transaction Out of Networking
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.

Do you think that the purpose of a networking event is to impress people? Is it to deliver your elevator pitch as many times as possible and hope that one of them sticks? Is it to be sure to let people know what you have to offer? Or worse, is it to figure out what the other people in the room have to offer you? A networking event is not an Egyptian bazaar where everyone is hocking their wares, and you need to stop treating it that way.

Many who try speed dating, hate it. But speed dating is actually a very good analogy for networking events. In dating, connecting with someone is not about what they have to offer you in terms of income, skills, abilities, or other connections. We are seeking genuine human connection when we date. But sometimes when we meet people for networking purposes, we ignore the importance of connecting with the human being, and somehow think it is ok to connect on a transactional basis. This is backwards!

If you want to take the transaction out of networking and get people to like you, you have to leave your agenda at home. The time to work your agenda is in a second or third conversation with someone. So take the emphasis off your professional successes and the value you have to offer. Take your attention off the person’s title, company, or position. And just be yourself. Talk about subjects you care about, professional or not. Listen to what the other person says. If a connection is made, ask the person for a business card and create a reason to follow up. Later on, if it turns out either one of you can be useful to the other, you will figure it out soon enough. But a connection that is made on a person to person basis will always be stronger than one based on a transaction.
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Professor Profiles: Dan Ariely, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Busi [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   19 Nov 2014, 12:01
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Dan Ariely, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they select a program to attend, but the educational experience at business school is what 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 Dan Ariely from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.


Dan Ariely‘s “Behavioral Economics” class is reportedly a popular one at Fuqua—“It always has the longest waiting list,” remarked one second year we interviewed, and an alumna said of Ariely, “He was wonderful.” When mbaMission asked a first-year student about Ariely’s class, he said jokingly, “I’m pretty sure you have to snag that class within one or two seconds of it becoming available!” The course explores how people actually act in the marketplace, as opposed to how they might act if they were being completely rational. Ariely is also author of the books The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves (HarperCollins, 2012), The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home (Harper Collins, 2010), and Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions (Harper Collins, 2008).

An alumna told mbaMission, “He got us to think about everyday things in a totally new way,” and a second-year student commented, “Everyone takes his course. Everyone. He’s our rock-star professor.” Another second year agreed, saying, “He’s is one of the superstar professors here. He explains more complex research in an easy to understand way.” Ariely maintains a blog that can be found at https://danariely.com/. He also writes a weekly advice column, titled “Ask Ariely,” for the Wall Street Journal.

For more information about Duke Fuqua and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Beyond the MBA Classroom: Tailgating Parties at Ross [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   20 Nov 2014, 13:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Tailgating Parties at Ross
When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also making a commitment to a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school.

College football is big in Ann Arbor, and Ross students appear to enjoy the season with real fervor. Tailgates precede nearly every game, and some tailgate parties are even sponsored by corporations and serve as mini recruiting events. At these sponsored tailgates, corporate representatives—who are usually Michigan alumni—network with Ross students. And generally, the more important the game, the more senior the executives representing the sponsor company!

And while we are talking about football, we should also mention “The Bus”—a literal school bus painted to look like a Michigan football helmet that is owned by roughly 50 Ross students and has been passed down from class to class each year since the early 2000s. Originally conceived as a way to centralize tailgating for the Ross community, “The Bus” is present at every home game as well as at least one away game each season, serving as home base for spirited tailgate parties. Even the dean has been known to visit tailgates at “The Bus”—which has its own Facebook page! A first-year student with whom we spoke noted that “Bus tailgates at home football games” were not to be missed, saying they are “Lots of fun, and you get to hang out with the whole class.”

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at Michigan Ross and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Diamonds in the Rough: Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   20 Nov 2014, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business
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.

Despite the size of its parent institution, the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University boasts a relatively intimate classroom experience—with approximately 150 students in each incoming full-time MBA cohort—and a close-knit community. Fisher students consequently benefit from the school’s wider university network (more than 500,000 alumni in more than 150 countries) and its proximity to major companies based both in Columbus and throughout the Midwest. Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Fisher 27th in its list of top MBA programs in 2012, up from 32nd place in 2011.

The Fisher curriculum consists of a core sequence spanning the first year of the program and offers three distinct categories of business education: Academic Preparation & Fundamentals; Ethics, Leadership, & Professional Development; and Career Management Introduction. With eight disciplines in which students can major (including a “Make Your Own Major” option), Fisher also features four career tracks aimed at developing cross-disciplinary expertise. In addition to being able to create their own custom track, students can choose between Enterprise Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and New Business Ventures, Health Care Management, and Real Estate Management. Starting in the final term of their first year, students are able to take Flex Core and elective courses that count toward their major.

A particularly noteworthy highlight of Fisher’s MBA curriculum is its experiential Leadership & Professional Development (LPD) program, which spans the full two years. The first program of its kind to be offered at a business school, LPD begins with a compulsory two-week pre-term immersion course, in which students attend workshops, bond with teammates, perform mock interviews, and formulate their professional development goals. During the course of the academic year, the LPD program organizes various workshops and assessments—in addition to connecting students with corporate mentors who offer career guidance and networking opportunities. Also among the LPD offerings is a speaker series that in recent years has welcomed such business leaders as the president/CEO of Victoria’s Secret, the president/CEO of the Timken Company, and the founder/CEO of Quantum Health.
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