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22 Jan 2014, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Barry Nalebuff, Yale School of Management |
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a 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 profile Barry Nalebuff from the Yale School of Management (SOM). Perhaps best known as one of the founders of Honest Tea, for which he is now chairman, Barry Nalebuff (“Competitive & Corporate Strategy”) is the Milton Steinbach Professor of Management at the Yale SOM. An expert in game theory and strategy, Nalebuff has been a professor at the SOM since 1989. A second year told mbaMission that in the classroom, Nalebuff “is a favorite for his sharp wit and insights.” His book The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008) explores how almost all interactions, business and personal alike, have a game theory component. Nalebuff and Adam Brandenburger, a professor of business economics and strategy at NYU’s Stern School of Business, developed the concept of a new business strategy called co-opetition, which they write about in a book of the same name: Co-Opetition: A Revolutionary Mindset That Combines Competition and Cooperation: The Game Theory Strategy That’s Changing the Game of Business (Crown Business, 1997). The book’s Web site describes co-opetition as “a method that goes beyond the old rules of competition and cooperation to combine the advantages of both. Co-opetition means cooperating to create a bigger business ‘pie,’ while competing to divide it up.” A first year noted in a February 2010 Yale SOM Community Blog post, “Prof. Nalebuff never misses an opportunity to illustrate the ways in which companies can cooperate to grow the PIE (potential industry earnings). Of course, he then always reminds us that these same companies should compete aggressively to secure the biggest piece of that newly expanded PIE.” For more information about the Yale SOM and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
22 Jan 2014, 14:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: How Important Is Location? |
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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 asked aspiring MBAs to answer a variety of survey questions about their business school prospects and perspectives. 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. One might assume that MBA applicants choose their programs solely on the basis of academics, but when we asked applicants, “On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most), how important is location in your choice of business school(s)?,” responses indicated that location plays a rather significant role. Overall, 31% of respondents rated location an “8,” and 23% rated it a “7.” Of all who weighed in, 85% rated the importance of location a “6″ or higher. Among U.S. candidates, 38% rated location an “8.” Meanwhile, 37% of international candidates said that location rated a “7.” Interestingly, perhaps, 15% of U.S. applicants said that location ranks a “10″ in importance in their school choice, compared with just 5% of international respondents. Conversely, 15% of international candidates rated location at the lowest end of the scale, as a “1,” whereas none (0%) of the U.S. respondents did so. 
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23 Jan 2014, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Learn about Energy at MIT |
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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. Held each spring since 2006, the MIT Energy Conference attracts technologists, investors, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and energy professionals who are defining the world’s energy future. The conference theme in 2013 was “From Idea to Impact: Collaborating to Meet Global Energy Challenges,” and the event’s keynote speakers were the president and CEO of NRG Energy, Inc., and a former governor of New Mexico who also served as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. Panel discussions explored topics ranging from “Breaking the Climate Stalemate” to “Utility of the Future” and “Energy Innovation for Development.” The previous year’s (2012) conference was themed “Insight and Innovation in Uncertain Times,” and the president of Shell Oil Company and the vice president of GE ecomagination delivered the keynote addresses. Via panel discussions, participants examined such issues as “Managing the Shale Gas Revolution,” “Large-Scale Energy Decisions Under Great Uncertainty,” and “Grid-Scale Energy Storage: Overcoming Barriers to Widespread Adoption.” The conference theme in 2011 was “Confronting Limits with Fact-Based Analysis,” and the U.S. secretary of the Navy, and the chairman, president, and CEO of Duke Energy presented keynotes. Panels explored the topics of “Risky Business: Is the Age of Big Energy Passé?” and “Renewable Fuels: New Options for Fossil-Free Energy.” For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at MIT Sloan and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
23 Jan 2014, 16:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: mbaMission’s Exclusive Interview with Niki Da Silva, Director of MBA Admissions and Recruitment at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management |
Recently, the director of MBA admissions and recruitment at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, Niki Da Silva, took some time out of her busy schedule to speak with us about several aspects of the school’s program. During our conversation, Da Silva was able to shed some light on the following:
 mbaMission: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today. I really appreciate it. So I guess my first question stems from Rotman’s reputation for filling the ranks of Canada’s Bay Street. Would you say that that is a fair reputation? Is Rotman a “finance” school? Niki Da Silva: Yeah, it’s a great question, and in some ways, it is a fair reputation, but what I would actually say is yes, it is a fair reputation, but we are more than a finance school. So to give you a little bit of context—we like to slice and dice our employment statistics around industry as opposed to function. So we typically have about 45% of our class go into finance as an industry. Not all of those roles are financial analysts, investment bankers, it could be a marketing role in a bank in the industry of finance, but regardless, I think with a placement number that’s that large, we do have a justified strength in placing graduates in finance. We also have a number of accolades, being a top ten school in the world for finance. So there definitely are lots and lots of external measures that show that Rotman is strong in finance. And a school that’s literally blocks away from Bay Street rightfully should be strong in finance, in my opinion. It’s one very natural advantage that the school has. We are also one of what is becoming a smaller and smaller number of 20-month programs with an internship, which we know in the finance industry is kind of their preferred method of recruiting. It’s, you know, “Let’s make offers to the students who we saw for our four-month interview over the summer and see how many we can convert to full-time.” So we also have this kind of natural competitive advantage in the internship game. So I think all three of those things—our proximity to Bay Street and the school’s reputation and our faculty leadership in finance—all result in yes, we do tend to fill the ranks of Bay Street. That’s where our students want to go, so that’s all very good from my perspective. mbaMission: Right. NDS: The caveat would be that you want to focus on your strengths, but even with 45% of our class going into financial services as an industry, the majority of our students—and we have a massive program, 350 full-time MBA students annually, so we’re looking at by far the largest full-time MBA program in Canada—so even though we have these compelling percentages of students going into financial services, the raw number of Rotman students doing things that are not finance is, in many cases, more than the total number of students in other schools’ programs. So that’s the argument that I would make to say it’s not totally spot-on to think of Rotman as just a finance school, because we are so much more than that. mbaMission: Right. So what would you say are the school’s other strengths? I looked at your stats earlier, and I know that 5% of the class goes into health care. I think 5% goes into technology. Are there any particular areas where Rotman shines that you think might get overshadowed by finance typically but that really deserve attention, too? NDS: Yeah, there are probably two perspectives on that. One would be, I think, that with Rotman having this historical reputation in finance, a lot of students may assume that if you’re good at finance, your school doesn’t rate as strongly in the other big MBA placement game, which is consulting. Interestingly, what we actually find is that with our problem-solving methodology and integrative thinking, the focus at the school is so tightly aligned with what consulting firms want that I think most people are actually surprised to see the roster and caliber of big strategy consulting firms that do hire here. That said, I think that the biggest maybe unknown or budding industry for us at Rotman is actually business design. We’re one of the few schools who has a business design focus in second year. We have a Business Design Club with over 200 members of our student body. We host a design challenge, and business design has actually drawn a number of amazing recruiters from firms like IDEO, Nike, Target— mbaMission: Right. NDS: So it attracts this creative type who’s interested in a role that focuses on innovation, on process innovation, on strategy, and kind of similarly on the back end, it brings recruiters to the school who don’t want to go to a place that just turns out investment bankers and consultants. mbaMission: Right. NDS: So that’s probably our biggest hidden gem, because in many ways, it’s the exact opposite personality to being a finance school. mbaMission: For sure. That’s really interesting. That’s not something that is typically accentuated by a top MBA program. When they’re evaluating schools, people will often go down the list—finance, consulting, marketing and on to a couple of others—but business design is a good niche. NDS: Yeah, definitely. mbaMission: I think when candidates think of Rotman, they think “integrative thinking,” like “case method” comes to mind when they think of Harvard. But for some people, it’s still a bit of a buzzword. Can you explain what the philosophy is behind integrative thinking and how it’s executed at Rotman? NDS: Of course. Quite candidly, I think one of the challenges when you look at something as complex as integrative thinking versus a more traditional teaching methodology is that it is deep and complex and harder to explain than to experience, but I’ll give it my best shot. So, what integrative thinking is really about is teaching our students to start by asking the right questions to structure a problem. The synonym we would use in the full-time MBA program is integrative thinking is a model-based approach to solving problems. So what we teach our students to do is start by structuring problems in the right way. I think a fair criticism of the MBA industry in many ways is that MBAs are far too focused on “We’ll analyze the options that are out there. We’ve been given a problem. We’ve been given a case. Let’s figure out what the best possible solution is,” and they haven’t been trained to actually stop and ask questions and frame the problem themselves, which as we all know, once you get into the real world, is what your job is actually going to be. Your boss isn’t going to come in and say, “Luckily, I’ve spent my evening framing the problem for you. Now I just need you to choose from the options.” You have to figure out what the real problem is, not just the symptom of the problem. So our students start with deep structural training and learning how to actually frame problems in the right way and ask the right questions. Then we move them through the problem-solving framework or methodology in model-based problems. “What are our assumptions, and how can we model what the current situation is?” And this always sounds and feels complex because, particularly if you’re not from an engineering or quantitative background, you don’t necessarily think that everything you do involves some sort of model or construct of reality, but we try to ensure that our students understand that in every problem, you’re using an implicit model of how the world works. And what we’re trying to do is tease out those assumptions, so we can map it all out. Here’s the model of what’s happening. Here are some proposed models of what we are suggesting might be better options or better solutions. And then, ultimately, let’s finish off the problem-solving process by designing a strategy that builds a model that optimizes all of the potential options out there. Sometimes that’s a model from a particular industry. Sometimes that’s a model from an option that’s obviously available, and sometimes it’s creating an entirely different model to solve the problem. So it is fundamentally a problem-solving framework and a way of thinking about problems, but it also involves slowing down the process and thinking about how you’re structuring and defining your thinking before you start solving. mbaMission: That makes sense. And so it finishes with the Capstone course, correct? NDS: Yes. mbaMission: Can you give us an example of a project that students have undertaken in the Capstone course? NDS: Absolutely. The idea of integrative thinking is always best explained with an example of how you would execute on that in a classroom. mbaMission: Right. NDS: So in the Capstone, we actually have real firms. We had four firms come in this year and work with our MBAs, and our delivery mechanism is something that we’ve termed “live cases.” So, unlike the very traditional methodology of what we would call “cooked” cases—where there’s a teaching note, you kind of know what happens, your faculty are guiding you through a problem that has already been solved—these are real problems, real-time, and even the executive teams at these firms don’t necessarily know what the problem is and certainly don’t know what the optimal solution is. So they come in and really explain the issue they’re facing to the class. The class then works in teams and selects the problem that is most interesting to them. Probably a good example was we had a company who is an insurance aggregator, and they came in and said, “Listen, we’re a Web site that gives potential clients quotes on insurance. They enter some data, and we spit out a quote on what their range of options might be. The problem is, we have this great product, we’re giving great information, but no one’s actually calling us. So our conversion rate is woefully low.” So our students looked at that, and the ones who took on that particular project in the Capstone, what literally happens is they then sign off on all kinds of NDAs [nondisclosure agreements]. They literally are logging into the live system at the company, getting something like 80,000 lines of code of data on user behavior, consumer behavior. “Integrative thinking” and “model-based problem solving” kind of envelope the buzzword of “big data,” and most of the really complicated problems in MBA curricula are big data. We just have a different label for it in many ways. So they take all this information and start to model what’s actually happening right now, and by modeling what’s happening, they start to slowly peel away what some of the assumptions might be, right? It could be that the quotes are just not competitive, so of course no one’s calling through, and the students can compare and contrast if that’s in fact true. They may think that it’s just a marketing problem, like there’s no immediate call to action on the Web site, and it’s not obvious what you should do next. Why are people not picking up the phone? So in working through and starting with that structuring, that helps guide them down the path to why is that happening, and how could we optimize this model and increase the conversion rate? mbaMission: Right. NDS: So that’s the hard work through the majority of the Capstone. Each group comes up with their model and their pitch to the executive team explaining their model and why this new strategy that they’ve built, and that the model explains, will solve the issue of increasing the conversion rate. And the really cool thing is they work alongside our faculty in the Capstone, so they have lots of support and guidance and coaching, and then the very best teams physically go to the head office of these firms and get to pitch to the senior executives and showcase their solutions to them. And we have had lots of stuff already implemented, which has been really rewarding for students. mbaMission: Yeah, that’s really cool. NDS: It’s a little bit different from a typical case and really gives our students what we hope is a different skill set and something that’s actually required. To be job ready, you’ve got to navigate through this stuff and figure it out and be prepared to present your recommendations to the boss, even when you don’t know if you have the right answer. mbaMission: That’s really cool. I like the competitive aspect of that. I didn’t realize that it was competitive like that. That’s perfect. NDS: Right. mbaMission: So switching gears a bit, I understand that the class is typically about 50% Canadian. Is that right, and is that your target? Or would you guys like to be maybe a little more fragmented? NDS: That’s a good question, and it’s actually something that differentiates us, because we’re much more international than the typical North American program but less international than, say, a European program that’s closer to 70% to 90% international students. So there are two things that we factor in, and we really don’t have any sort of hard target in terms of citizenship numbers. There also are so many people living in Canada who are not even Canadian citizens, so citizenship can be a little bit of a misleading stat for us, but it is what it is, and we benchmark year over year, and every other school uses it as well. We’re not where we think we want to be, probably plus or minus 5% to 7%. We look pretty closely at what’s happening with the market and where the demand is for Canadian programs, and right now, 57% of all GMAT test takers who are sending score reports to Canadian schools are international. So we’re kind of close to what the general market demand is. mbaMission: Right. NDS: Actually, some of our newest firms that have come on board this year—a lot of global firms like Microsoft Global and recruiters based out of the United Kingdom or Huawei Technologies—a lot are coming to us now that we’ve expanded, because it’s this new talent pool for international students. So the high international percentage is something that we think we’ll maintain, and I could see it possibly increasing slightly in the future, but that wouldn’t necessarily be something we’re targeting doing. mbaMission: Right. And as an identity for the school, does Rotman feel like it’s a Canadian MBA program, an international MBA program or just a solid MBA program, period? NDS: I think I’d put us in the last bucket. In many ways, I think any good MBA program in 2013 should be international by nature. mbaMission: Right. NDS: And I think it would be hard for us, knowing that our student body is fairly evenly split, to say that we are just a Canadian program. mbaMission: Sure. NDS: And we do certainly see that flavor in the classroom, so I would say we’re a global player in the MBA space, and we are doing our best to position ourselves among the elite business schools of the world, regardless of where they’re located. mbaMission: Right. What type of student would you say thrives at Rotman? NDS: That’s a great question. I came here about, well, almost two years ago now, but it still feels relatively new, and that was one of the big things I was trying to figure out. That’s one of the most important things that the admissions committee has to understand in getting that ultimate call on “fit” right. I think the kind of person that thrives at Rotman and also what makes a Rotman student unique or different is that there really is a highly intellectual feel about the school, being part of U of T [University of Toronto], which is the top-ranked Canadian university in the world. We have students coming to study here who really have a demonstrated intellectual curiosity. They want to learn the way businesses work. They’re in it, I think, for this transformational experience, not just the transaction of the MBA. So they’re genuinely intellectually curious, which makes them different. I think there are other programs where there’s much more of a transactional feel—“I’m here for a reason. It’s about my next job.”—whereas there’s time in a 20-month program to really explore other interests. The other thing that makes Rotman really different is our diversity. So we value tremendously people who come from not just different countries, but different backgrounds, whether that’s academic or industry, and we really, truly embrace those students, support those students. Those are always my favorite stories to tell at orientation: “Did you know you have a professional poker player in your class? Did you know you have a former national censor or a schoolteacher who taught sixth grade in DC?” Those kinds of profiles, they’re not just anomalies in our class. There really is this individualistic culture, which I think is very much part of U of T’s identity as well, but there’s this real value in diversity, in being an individual in the program, and you feel like you have a place, even if you are a nontraditional MBA student. mbaMission: I see. NDS: And I think it would be a silly oversight to not talk about the skills that any MBA student should have, which are, of course, the people skills around demonstrating leadership potential, communication skills, team skills, but the last thing and probably final important differentiation with our students is there’s a real focus on self-development. So we have this really interesting thing at the school called the “Self-Development Lab” that is literally run by a Harvard-trained psychologist who focuses on the individual quality and your individual presence as a leader. And we literally run these labs on how you’re showing up nonverbally and in group settings. You get tons of intensive feedback about making you a more authentic version of yourself as a leader, which means we should attract people who are self-aware, who have some resilience, who actually have that as a valued outcome of their MBA experience. So there really is a difference in the personalization of leadership development for our students. mbaMission: Great. Can you take us through the life cycle of an application at Rotman? I mean, after an application is entered online, what is generally the evaluation process, from beginning to end? NDS: Sure, absolutely. So essentially, an application comes in, assuming it’s all complete, of course, and we have one person in the office who is responsible for putting together complete applications. The first step in the process is they actually all come to me for what we call a quick scan, which is really just so I can get an understanding of what are their basics, bio demo stats, what are their career goals, and I’ll note anything that we really want to probe further on or better understand. The file is then assigned to one of our six assistant directors, who starts with the first thorough read of the application and determines if the candidate looks like someone we’d want to invite to interview or not. If not, they then go back to me for a final read, if ultimately we’re going to decline them. If invited to interview, that process happens kind of simultaneously, so we do a more thorough review of the file, review the resume, essays, look at references and then the interview invitation will go out. Prior to the interview, the file is read again from cover to cover, and after, the interview rating and the rest of the total assessment of the file go into the system, and then decisions actually happen by committee. We meet weekly, and the committee reviews all the files completely, and we have a conversation around making admissions decisions and scholarship decisions at the same time. mbaMission: Okay. From an interview perspective, we see interviews changing so much—is there any special approach to them at Rotman? Or anything else unique about your application process? NDS: Well, we were the first school to introduce a video component into the process. mbaMission: Oh, right, of course. NDS: So that’s one unique feature that candidates always ask lots of questions about. Relative to that, there’s maybe less anxiety about the actual interview. The interviews are conducted by our team, so they are conducted by someone on the admissions committee. They’re typically behavioral in nature. We do have a standardization of the process, so we screen for the same competencies with every single student. We just ask different questions to get out those competencies, based on the person’s resume or application package. mbaMission: As far as the video component, how would you recommend someone prep for it, perhaps so they don’t have too much anxiety about dealing with the technological aspect of it? Can you offer any advice on that front? NDS: So they actually get a practice question that they can do as many times as they want. It’s not recorded. The school never sees it. That gives them a real opportunity to make sure that they’re confident in the technical aspect of the video—the lighting, the sound, everything’s working, it’s all good. They know that the question comes up from us, and it is a video question, of course, so they get comfortable with how that part works. There’s literally a timer on the screen that counts down how much time they have left to think, and then how much time they have left as it’s recording. They get a minute and a half to respond. So practicing, I think some people skip the practice, and I have no idea why on earth you would skip the practice. Actually doing the practice is a good thing, even if you just want it to be over. The questions that we ask in the video—and we’re very transparent about it—are conversational, they’re about getting to know the personality of the applicant. There are things like “Tell me about a book you’ve read that had an impact on your life.” They’re not things you can prepare for. The worst videos are by people who, like, write notes after they hear the question or try so hard to present this very polished image, and it just it doesn’t work. It should feel like, this is going to be me talking to my classmates or having some sort of conversation with a faculty member in the coffee line. You should be able to feel like yourself. And I think the worst thing people can do is not be authentic. I’m not sure why. I know candidates continue to do it, but you just think, you’re going to be in this program for two years of your life, and it’s going to be exhausting to have to be someone that you’re not. So just embrace who you are and have fun with it. mbaMission: Right. NDS: It’s easy for me to say, obviously, being on the other side, but we are seeing, I think increasingly, this year relative to last year, that people are just being themselves and having fun with it, and that’s been great. mbaMission: Sure. When you pick up an applicant’s file to review it, do you start with the resume? Do you read through it in a particular order? Do you have a specific approach you use? NDS: I think everybody kind of has their own perspective on it, but yeah, what I tend to do is look at their resume first, just to get a broad overview of education and background. It also gives you a sense of whether they have other interests beyond just their jobs. There’s a section on there that explains the things they like to do. Then I tend to focus on some of the stats, whether it’s GMAT or GPA, anything that they’ve submitted. And then I kind of feel like I have a quick snapshot of who this person is, so, now, what do they want to do? Why are they getting their MBA, and where do they want to go next? Because we really do place a heavy value and emphasis on admitting people who we think will be successful in what they want to do post-MBA, so employability does play a significant factor in our decision. mbaMission: Can I interject and ask, part of the MBA experience is to go and explore, so, recognizing that a lot of people tend to change their goals while in business school, how do you assess whether they’re employable or not? NDS: That’s a great question, and we actually encourage—I mean, every school is different—but we would actually say that if you don’t know what to do post-MBA, you should say that. You should be honest, and then we’ll talk to you about it in the admissions process. You probably have maybe an idea, maybe it’s not a job title at a specific company, but you probably know the kinds of things you want to be doing on a daily basis. If it’s working with people, if it’s analysis or, I mean, no one really has no clue. mbaMission: Right. NDS: Or if they do, they should not be investing a hundred thousand dollars in an MBA program until they figure it out a little bit. But you’re right, lots of people, even the ones who think 100% “I know exactly what I want to do,” will come in, and they’ll have an experience that changes their mind. They’ll shift. So what we really look for is, do they have an understanding of what they’re great at, what they want to do, what they’re passionate about doing? Can they articulate that? Do they seem flexible? Are they coachable? Are they resilient? Because even if you know that you want to be a strategy consultant at McKinsey [& Company], you might come into an MBA and, unfortunately, that’s probably one of the most competitive jobs for any student, and you might not land there for your first job out of the MBA program. And we want to ensure we’re admitting people who are still going to feel like they had a good experience and are open to coaching, to other options, to working really hard. If they don’t get that summer internship, are they going to come back and try again, or are they just going to kind of give up and feel like they’re entitled to a specific role because they were admitted to Rotman? mbaMission: Right. NDS: So I guess it’s really more about employability in the broadest sense of the term, not necessarily whether they will get that specific job that they originally had in mind for post-MBA. We actually spend a lot of time in our interviews talking through expectations, and sometimes I’ll say to someone, “It sounds like you’re really interested in consulting. You might also be interested in internal strategy. That might not be something you’ve ever considered, but I imagine you’ll explore this during your time at the school” to kind of open doors and approach the MBA with some flexibility. mbaMission: A little preliminary career coaching. NDS: You’re right. I think that’s a missed opportunity as part of the admissions process. You’re not doing the candidate or the school any favors if you’re not being honest about what the career prospects are like. mbaMission: Right. Are there any red flags, any consistent mistakes that people tend to make when applying to Rotman? NDS: Yeah, there are a couple. One of the biggest—although I think it’s a red flag for a reason, and it should be—is a sense of entitlement. I was just speaking to one of our assistant directors who interviewed someone today who was asked a question like “Looking back on Rotman, what will success mean to you?,” and they kind of reframed it and said, “Well, I want to tell you about my expectations of the school.” And it became a very aggressive, arrogant conversation, and unfortunately, we know that this is a tough program, and there are going to be ups and downs and stresses and failures, and we do try to screen out people who just have unreasonable expectations and believe there’s this sort of culture of entitlement. So we’re working really hard as part of our interview process to say, well, it’s one thing if they frame it that way, but then let’s push back and try to suss out if it just came out as ambitious—because there’s a fine line between entitled and ambitious—and it’s great to be ambitious, but we need to know we’re admitting people who have some resiliency, who are going to actually work hard and put in the 200 hours of case interviews that they are going to have to do if they actually want to get to McKinsey and not think that just by virtue of being admitted, “I’m at Rotman, therefore I should get a job wherever I want.” mbaMission: Right. NDS: It’s tough to screen out those kinds of things, but that is I think one of the biggest mistakes that people make—focusing too much on what the school will do for them and not enough on what they’ll contribute to the broad community of the school. mbaMission: One thing that I wanted to ask you, and I don’t know if anything new has happened on this front, but Dean [Roger] Martin, who’s a rock star dean, is transitioning, and you have an interim dean. Is there a deadline for his replacement? How’s that search going, basically? NDS: I will happily send you a press release. We actually just made an announcement about this, so you’re not behind the ball at all. mbaMission: Oh, great! NDS: It is about who our next dean will be, and it is Tiff Macklem, who is the former senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada. mbaMission: Oh wow. NDS: He was kind of Mark Carney’s right-hand man. mbaMission: That’s incredible. NDS: Yes, it’s very exciting. mbaMission: Well, you replaced one rock star with another rock star. NDS: There you go. That’s the hope, right? mbaMission: So next time we interview, we’ll ask you about his priorities. NDS: Exactly. He doesn’t officially start until July 1. As someone coming in externally, I’m sure it’ll take him a little while before he’s clear on exactly what he wants to do. mbaMission: Right. That’s one thing I think some applicants don’t really understand, that these MBA programs are big institutions with lots of moving parts, and you can’t kind of narrow a school down to just one simple thing. You have to consider curricula, environment, professors, even buildings, because so much shapes an environment. And it takes a long time to put your mark on it. Dean Martin’s mark will be on Rotman for a long time, but then, eventually, it’ll take on a different personality under the new dean, but it takes a while. NDS: Exactly. mbaMission: Well, I think we’re running short on time, but is there anything you want people to know about Rotman that we haven’t discussed? NDS: Yeah, I guess what I would say—and this maybe applies not just to Rotman but to the MBA decision in general—is that I think, unfortunately, far too many candidates look backward at just the history of an institution, whether that’s via rankings or talking to someone who graduated five years ago, and don’t spend enough time understanding the vision and trajectory of the school. And quite honestly, I think that’s one of Rotman’s biggest strengths. If you look at, kind of to the point you made about Roger Martin, since he joined us in 1998, we have literally doubled the physical capacity of the school. I think the increase in enrollment is like 300% just from the size of the program. Our number of faculty has also grown tremendously. There’s this real trajectory and momentum that is exciting to be a part of, but if you think about the value of your degree, and the MBA should be a long-term investment, plotting out the trajectory of where an institution is heading is something that I think applicants should factor into their decision. Twenty years from now, when you’re up for that promotion to the C-suite, what are people are going to be saying about your alma mater? I think we’re in a great place, where we’re working really hard to continue that trajectory. That would probably be the one thing that I’d want people to know. mbaMission: I agree 100%. We do presentations around the world and online all the time, and whenever people ask us really superficial questions on rankings, we’re like, “If you’re really going to make your decision based on rankings, then I guess you should try to project out where that ranking is going to be 30 years from now.” NDS: Exactly. mbaMission: I mean, of course they understand we’re being facetious when we say that, but we hope they get the point and maybe consider rankings as just one element of their decision rather than giving them so much weight. NDS: Right. And I don’t believe all candidates even know how the rankings are calculated or what the weightings are. They have some value, of course, but people just put way too much emphasis on them in their decision making. mbaMission: Absolutely. Well, Thanks so much. You’ve been with super generous with your time, and it’s been great speaking with you. NDS: Oh, no problem. Thank you, too. I really appreciate it, Jeremy. |
24 Jan 2014, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Career Assessment at HBS |
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With the job market mixed for new MBAs these days, Harvard Business School (HBS) has put together an arsenal of resources to help students in their job search. Students begin by completing an online self-assessment program before they even arrive on campus. The CareerLeader tool, developed by a member of the HBS faculty, helps incoming students identify their life interests, professional skills and “work/reward” values. When they arrive on campus, first-year students participate in a class that helps them interpret their CareerLeader results while discussing cases on the careers of HBS alumni. Later in the semester, but before official recruiting begins, students can attend Industry Weeks, which are on-campus programs and panels that provide overviews of a variety of industries and address how to plan a successful industry-specific job search. These are taught by career coaches, alumni, Career Services staff members and company representatives. First years can also join Career Teams, which are small groups of first-year students who use exercises—facilitated by trained second-year leaders—to help identify and advance their professional goals. Students may also arrange to meet with one of 35 career coaches for one-on-one guidance or take advantage of one of the many student clubs that help prepare their members for interviews. Clearly, HBS is committed to helping its students not just find jobs, but find the “right” jobs. For more information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at HBS or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. If you are applying, our HBS Interview Guide can help you put your best foot forward. |
24 Jan 2014, 16:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Balancing Love and B-School |
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Career-driven couples are often forced to accept certain trade-offs. While business schools typically offer clubs, social activities and other helpful resources dedicated to partners of MBA students, maintaining a healthy relationship alongside of one’s professional goals can entail just as many challenges as completing the MBA curriculum itself. Understandably, some careerists avoid committed relationships altogether. However, The Wall Street Journaloffers another perspective in an article this week, sharing the story of one professional couple’s attempt to balance romance with each of their graduate school prospects. Lydia Fayal, now a student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Morgan Blake, a recent MIT Sloan alumnus, opted to incorporate some long-term planning strategies into their love life. “Regardless of geography, we each wanted the other to go to the right place,” Blake says. The couple ultimately endured the temporary strain of a long-distance relationship and is now “relishing the payoff for sticking to their plans.” Despite the physical distance, they have collaborated on such projects as IdeaStorm, an entrepreneurial brainstorming program co-founded by Blake. Similarly, in working on her own entrepreneurial endeavor, called AdmitSee, Fayal turned to Blake for business advice. “We really bonded over building that company,” Fayal says, suggesting that business and romantic commitments are not always at odds. |
27 Jan 2014, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Captivate with Experience, Not Extreme Descriptions |
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This week we offer an oxymoron of sorts: extreme humility. We suppose that one candidate could be more humble than the next, but one could never refer to oneself as “extremely humble,” because doing so would undermine the very claim to humility. Our philosophy at mbaMission is that candidates should let their experiences—not just their word choices—captivate the admissions committees. Sometimes we find that candidates attempt to emphasize their actions with “extreme” adjectives and adverbs, and this is an approach we strongly discourage. Example: “As others withdrew their support, I remained remarkably dedicated to our crucial fundraising efforts. I dramatically increased my participation in our strategic planning meetings and insisted that we push forward with a wildly creative guerrilla marketing plan, which brought forth tremendous results—$1M in ‘instant’ proceeds.” In these two sentences, the writer uses the descriptors remarkably, dramatically, wildly and tremendous to make his impression. We find that a more effective approach is to eliminate these “extreme” descriptions and let the experiences do the “talking.” Example: “As others withdrew their support, I remained dedicated to our fundraising efforts. I increased my participation in our strategic planning meetings and insisted that we push forward with a guerrilla marketing plan that brought $1M in ‘instant’ proceeds.” In this second example, we do not need to be told that the results were “tremendous,” because the $1M speaks for itself; we do not need to be told that the marketing campaign was “wildly creative,” because this is implied in the nature of guerrilla marketing. In addition to truly showing a level of humility on the part of the candidate, this approach is also less wordy. Although the eight words saved in the latter example may seem inconsequential, we removed them from only two sentences. If we can remove four words from each and every sentence, we would be able to significantly (but of course humbly) augment your essay with other compelling ideas. |
27 Jan 2014, 15:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Kenan-Flagler Announces New Dean |
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On February 1, Meade H. Willis Distinguished Professor of Taxation Douglas Shackelford will take over as UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s new dean. Shackelford will replace John P. Evans, who has served as interim dean of the school since July 2013—when Kenan-Flagler’s former dean, James Dean Jr., was appointed as provost. “Doug is uniquely qualified to serve as the next dean of UNC Kenan-Flagler,” stated the school’s provost in a press release from the school, adding, “He is a seasoned academic leader and an internationally recognized scholar and business educator.” Shackelford has served as associate dean of the school’s online program, MBA@UNC, since 2010, and previously as senior associate dean for academic affairs from 2003-2007 and associate dean of the Master of Accounting Program from 1998 to 2002. He is also the director and founder of the UNC Tax Center and a research associate in public economics at the National Bureau of Economic Research. |
28 Jan 2014, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: HBS Venture Capitalist Compares Progressivism to Nazism |
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Last Friday, HBS MBA and legendary VC investor, Tom Perkins, of the partially eponymously named, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, wrote a letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal that has caused quite a stir– likely bringing additional negative sentiment to the very group he was trying to defend – the 1%. In his letter, Perkins attempted to “call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany (and) its war on its ‘one percent,’ namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the ‘rich.’” Perkins directly links the perpetrators of Kristallnacht to a “descendent ‘progressive’ radicalism,” making a rather incredible leap in logic by likening progressive taxation of the wealthiest Americans to Jewish persecution and genocide under the Third Reich. Kleiner Perkins has distanced itself from the remarks, tweeting on Saturday: “Tom Perkins has not been involved in KPCB in years. We were shocked by his views expressed today in the WSJ and do not agree.” Slate also offered an apt retort, stating that Perkins’s letter “certainly proves you can get rich without being very thoughtful, perceptive, or intelligent.” History is not a subject typically emphasized in the MBA curriculum, but that does not explain how Perkins muddled through all those HBS case studies without at least retaining some critical thinking skills. That said, Perkins graduated from HBS in 1957, so it is safe to assume there were few classes that offered media training. |
28 Jan 2014, 15:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Deciding on a Safety School |
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Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. For many candidates, Round 3 is a time to sit back, relax and wait for the MBA admissions committees to make their decisions. However, for others, this round is a time to be conservative and apply to a safety school. But what constitutes a safety school? Although determining exactly what a safety school is can be difficult (given that many variables are involved and the definition can shift depending on each candidate), a good place to start is with scores. If a candidate’s GMAT score and GPA are significantly higher than the target school’s averages, then the school is—at first glance, at least—a “safe” choice. So, for example, if you have a 750 GMAT and a 3.8 GPA and you are applying to Emory’s Goizueta School (GMAT middle 80% range 620–730 and GPA 3.4 for the Class of 2015), you are off to a promising start. Next, you might consider your work experience relative to the target program. For example, many Goldman Sachs investment banking “alums” apply to and are admitted to the so-called M7 schools (Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago, Columbia and MIT). So if you happen to be such a candidate, choosing a school outside this tier would certainly make you more competitive (keeping in mind scores, community service and recommendations as well). Finally, you might consider the general selectivity of the program. If you consider yourself a competitive candidate at Columbia Business School, which accepts 18% of applicants, applying to Texas, which in recent years has accepted closer to 30%, may be a safe option. Before you start applying to any safety schools, however, you should ask yourself this relatively simple question: “Would I go if I got in?” Spending time applying to an MBA program that you would not be willing to actually attend is pointless. If you choose to apply to such a school (as some do), anyway, you will, rather ironically, find yourself with no “safety” net at all. To explore potential safety schools typically ranked outside of the top 15, check out our Diamonds in the Rough blog series. |
28 Jan 2014, 19:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: What I Learned at… London Business School, Part 4 |
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In our “What I Learned at…” series, MBAs discuss the tools and skills their business schools provided as they launched their careers. Nitzan Yudan is the CEO and co-founder of FlatClub, a United Kingdom–based online marketplace for short term rentals that connects verified members of exclusive alumni, employment and organizational networks. In the final part of this four-part series, Nitzan reflects on the influence LBS has had on his career. My journey from banker to entrepreneur has been a complete roller coaster, with many ups and downs. Entrepreneurial problem solving is now something that I never stop thinking about. My son was born around the same time that the business was born, and when he and I play with LEGOs, the first thing I think about is how I would “publish” the house we built on the FlatClub site. My advice is that if you like problem solving, become a consultant. If you like problem solving with no resources, become an entrepreneur. When I think about how LBS has influenced my career, specific entrepreneurial skills come to mind. In particular, my education gave me important insights into thinking about how venture capitalists make decisions to invest. The course “Financing the Entrepreneurial Business,” for example, really helped me understand how to pitch ideas. Conversely, the prospect of pitching an actual business idea made class much more interesting and engaging. Beyond imparting these very powerful tools, the LBS network provided the necessary connections and opportunities for starting a business. Many alumni in the United States that we spoke to were eager to help, and one even reached out to invest. FlatClub would not exist without LBS—that I know for sure. |
29 Jan 2014, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Billionaire Darden Alum Rebuilds Brooklyn |
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Not often do real estate developers have the liberty to create an entire neighborhood from scratch in one of the most densely populated cities in the country. University of Virginia Darden School of Business alumnus David Walentas (‘64), featured in Forbes this month, seized on just such an opportunity in the late 1970s by transforming a dilapidated industrial landing under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges into what is now one of the most high-end neighborhoods in New York City—Dumbo. After earning an MBA and making his first foray onto the NYC real estate scene, Walentas borrowed $12M to build up a neighborhood that is now listing individual penthouse suites for $15M. Dumbo’s name has since become synonymous with luxury lofts, art galleries, artisanal shops and boutique retailers, in addition to serving as a hub of tech and start-up ventures. While Manhattan has given birth to plenty of real estate moguls, Forbes points out, “Walentas is the first billionaire to ever make his money almost entirely in New York’s coolest borough.” In a profile this month, Forbes discusses Walentas’ next big move in Manhattan real estate. |
29 Jan 2014, 14:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Richard Honack, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management |
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school to attend, but the educational experience 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 Richard Honack from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Richard Honack (“Service Marketing and Management” and “Sports Marketing and Management”) is known for integrating alumni and speakers into his popular “Service Marketing and Management” class, which focuses on how one can deliver excellent customer service. Students we interviewed raved about the class’s practicality and about the way Honack unifies theory and real-world application. Further, students reported that they appreciate Honack’s warm personality. One second year told mbaMission that Honack is “interested in each student’s life,” adding, “He wanted to know what your goals were and what students wanted to get out of his class. He made connections for students and wanted to enrich their overall experience at Kellogg.” Students chose Honack as one of five recipients of the school’s Faculty Impact Award in June 2010. For more information about Kellogg and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
30 Jan 2014, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Simon Graduate School of Business |
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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. The full-time MBA program at the University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business offers a broadly finance-oriented general management curriculum featuring particular strengths in analytics and accounting. With the option of either the traditional two-year MBA or an accelerated 18-month program, all Simon students begin with a management core rooted in three foundational skill sets: Frame, Analyze and Communicate (known collectively as FACt). The core curriculum encompasses two different required course sequences—“Framing and Analyzing Business Problems” and “Communicating Business Decisions”—in addition to such courses as “Managerial Economics,” “Capital Budgeting and Corporate Objectives” and “Economic Theory of Organizations.” Students complete their core with an assigned study team from their cohort before exploring more specialized professional interests. The school’s elective courses represent a wide variety of industries and functions, such as entrepreneurship, consulting and real estate. Students may choose between 15 optional career concentrations, ranging from Competitive and Organizational Strategy (which includes a more specialized Pricing track) and Marketing (which includes both a Brand Management and a Pricing track), to such analysis-heavy fields as Business Systems Consulting and Computers and Information Systems. Simon’s Center for Entrepreneurship, Center for Information Intensive Services and Center for Pricing offer curricular and research support to supplement the specific career concentrations. Simon is also home to more than 20 professional and social student-run organizations aimed at coordinating networking events and professional development resources to assist students in advancing their careers. |
30 Jan 2014, 16:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Wordly Cuisine at Darden |
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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. For the International Food Festival at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Administration, sponsored by the International Business Society, students arrange themselves into teams according to their home country or culture. On the night of the festival, the teams set up tables with decorations representing their home countries and cultures and present home-cooked, authentic cuisine; in addition, the students often dress in their region or culture’s traditional clothing. A cultural showcase at the end of the evening allows participating groups to show off their region’s music and dancing. One alumna told mbaMission, “It is fascinating to see all of your classmates whipping up their own culinary decadence. Everyone makes a point to eat light the day before, and they gear up to taste foods from 30 different countries and regions—from Korea to Greece to Texas.” Most of the student body and their partners attend this event, as do many professors and alumni. For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at Darden and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
31 Jan 2014, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Recruiting While Tailgating at Ross |
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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! 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 more information on Michigan Ross or 15 other leading MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
03 Feb 2014, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Answering the Ethical Dilemma Essay Question |
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Dilemma: An argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives against an opponent (according to Merriam-Webster) Over the years, we have found that one of the essay questions that gives candidates the most grief is the dreaded “ethical dilemma” question. Although most candidates clearly understand the difference between what is and is not ethical, the problem usually lies in the word “dilemma.” As you can tell from the definition provided, a dilemma occurs when two equally conclusive sides exist simultaneously—with an emphasis on “equally.” Here we offer two examples of responses to an “ethical dilemma” essay question. The first presents only one reasonable side, and the second offers two. Example 1: “While I was working at ABC firm, my boss asked me to book our second quarter revenue in advance so that we could create the appearance of a great first quarter. I firmly told him that this was unethical and refused.” In this example, the candidate is asked to do something that is clearly unethical. However, because the argument really has only one reasonable side—the reader would not want to hear the story if the candidate had agreed to book revenue ahead of schedule!—no ethical dilemma actually exists in this case. Example 2: “As the marketing manager for a small pharmaceutical company, I had to set the price for our breakthrough drug. I needed to consider that on the one hand, a rock-bottom price would mean that our life-saving drug would be available to all, but on the other hand, even though a high price would serve a smaller market, it would make the drug far more profitable and would ensure that we could continue to conduct valuable research into additional life-saving compounds.” In this second example, the candidate outlines a true dilemma. This applicant could be entirely comfortable telling the reader that he pursued either of the pricing strategies, as long as he walks the reader through his/her rationale. The test to determine whether the experience you are considering discussing in your essay involves a true dilemma is fairly simple. Ask yourself, “Could I comfortably discuss the alternative to the path I chose?” If the answer is “yes,” you are clearly on the right track. If the answer is “no,” try again. |
04 Feb 2014, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Start Advancing Your Personal Goals Now |
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Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. We have noted before in our Mission Admission series that it is never too late to improve your business school candidacy by engaging in community activities. Today, we send a similar message with regard to personal leadership—you always have time to take steps to bolster your chances of admission. Many candidates completely ignore the personal side of their candidacy. But if you have completed a triathlon, learned a language, published an article or simply been an inordinately dedicated neighbor/sibling/mentor in an unofficial capacity (for example), these kinds of stories can provide interesting points of differentiation. So, if you have an activity or adventure in mind that you would otherwise complete later, pursue it now. We are not suggesting that you go out and start writing poetry tomorrow in hopes of getting something published, but if you are a dedicated poet and have poems that you have long intended to submit, do so now. If you can run 20 miles and have always planned to run a marathon, do it now. Your personal stories can set you apart. |
05 Feb 2014, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Dean Profiles: Glenn Hubbard, Columbia Business School |
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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 Glenn Hubbard from Columbia Business School. Glenn Hubbard was appointed dean of CBS in 2004, having been at the school for nearly 20 years and having served as the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, the school’s senior vice dean, and codirector of the entrepreneurial program. He is also well known for having been an economic advisor to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012 and a leading designer of the 2003 Bush tax cuts, which he helped implement while chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers. After being criticized for his ties to the financial services industry in the 2010 documentary Inside Job, Hubbard has made a more concerted effort to bring professional responsibility to the fore of the CBS curriculum and to require faculty to fully disclose their professional activities outside of teaching. While many business schools responded to the recent financial crisis by adding standalone ethics courses to their curricula, Hubbard told the Wall Street Journal in 2011, “I don’t think students pay attention to [ethics] the way they do when it’s integrated into your marketing course, into your operations course, into your finance class.” With the launch of a new flexible curriculum in 2008 and further curricular changes set to begin in 2013, the school has reportedly worked to incorporate this integrated approach to teaching ethics directly into its core components. The new curriculum also engenders what Hubbard has promoted as the three most essential directives for business students: “analyze, decide, and lead.” From what we learned in our research, Hubbard is often the good-natured subject of student sketches in the CBS Follies comedy show and has been known to even make a personal appearance now and then. Videos from past Follies in which the dean has featured can be found on YouTube, including a musical parody of “Every Breath You Take”by The Police in which Hubbard covets Ben Bernanke’s 2006 appointment as chairman of the Federal Reserve. For more information about CBS and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
05 Feb 2014, 16:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: When Did You Decide to Apply? |
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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 asked aspiring MBAs to answer a variety of survey questions about their business school prospects and perspectives. 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. Perhaps you have had business school on your radar for quite a while. Actually committing yourself to the admissions process, however, requires some definite foresight and planning. Understandably, then, when we asked, “When did you decide to apply to business school?,” the majority of respondents said that the timing of their decision occurred more than a year before the typical start of the application season in July—42% in aggregate. Such long-term planning appeared to be prevalent among international applicants in particular, 36% of whom indicated that they made the decision to apply more than a year in advance—while an additional 12% said that they had made the decision more than two years in advance. U.S. candidates’ most common response, on the other hand, was August to December of the previous year—six to 12 months before the beginning of application season. Still, some applicants seem to decide to pursue an MBA within a relatively narrow time frame. Of the U.S. candidates who responded to our survey, 14% noted they made the call in July, the same month application season began (compared with only 8% of international applicants), and 7% within the three months before that, between April and June (12% of international). Taken in aggregate, comparable percentages in each group decided to apply within the same calendar year as the application deadline (36% overall, 35% of U.S. applicants and 36% international). Although you can never really start too early or too late in preparing and optimizing your candidacy, remember that when you ultimately decide to apply to business school will determine which admissions round(s) you should target and how you will need to prioritize the various components of your application timeline. 
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Hi Generic [Bot],
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