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The mbaMission Blog

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MBA News: $10M Gift, New Name for Penn Law and Wharton JD/MBA Program [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   15 Mar 2015, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: $10M Gift, New Name for Penn Law and Wharton JD/MBA Program
Thanks to a recent $10M donation from the W.P. Carey Foundation to the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), the school’s JD/MBA program will soon have a new name. The elite three-year program at Penn Law School and the Wharton School, established in 2009, will be designated the Francis J. & Wm. Polk Carey JD/MBA Program. A four-year JD/MBA program option will also bear the new name.

The W.P. Carey Foundation was established in 1990 by its late namesake, Wharton ’53 graduate and corporate real estate financing businessman William P. Carey, and concentrates on supporting educational institutions. The new program name is in memory of the founder and of his brother, Francis J. Carey, who graduated from Penn Law in 1949. “On behalf of the W. P. Carey Foundation we are proud to make this gift to Penn Law and Wharton,” said Jay Carey, Francis J. Carey’s son. “With this gift, we will ensure that the next generation of business leaders possesses the necessary legal acumen and the next generation of lawyers understands the intricacies of the corporate world, and in doing so we honor the memories of Frank and Bill Carey and the company they built, W. P. Carey.”

The JD/MBA program allows students to earn both degrees in three years’ time; in contrast, attending separate JD and MBA programs to earn the two degrees would require five years. “Our JD/MBA program combines the resources of an elite law school with a top-ranked business school,” said Wendell Pritchett, interim dean of Penn Law, “and our students use their cross-disciplinary education to confront the complex challenges facing today’s corporate leaders.”
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Class Visits Are Not a Factor! [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   15 Mar 2015, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Class Visits Are Not a Factor!
Some MBA programs—Chicago Booth and Harvard Business School, in particular—have gone on record, stating that class visits do not factor into their admissions decisions. But does this mean that you have nothing to gain from visiting those campuses?

Imagine that you are considering buying a $250–$500K home. Would you not want to visit it before purchasing it? Perhaps you would turn on the taps, open and close the doors and windows and walk around the yard, making sure your planned investment would be a good one, right? Well, your business school education—when you take into account tuition, living expenses, and the opportunity costs of leaving your current job—will probably cost you somewhere in that dollar range. So, visiting your target school(s) to ensure that your potential “home” for the next two years is right for you is just as important.

We feel that visiting the campus of the school(s) to which you plan to apply is a crucial step in the application process. Doing so allows you to gain a firsthand perspective into a program’s environment, pedagogy, facilities, student body, and professors. The dollars you will spend on transportation and lodging are the MBA program equivalent of hiring an inspector when buying a home. To the extent that your budget and available vacation days allow, make the effort to visit your target schools, whether doing so will help you gain a letter of acceptance or not. It will help ensure that the school you ultimately attend is a good fit and will increase your chances of a happy future there.
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Monday Morning Essay Tip: Use Anecdotes [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   16 Mar 2015, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Use Anecdotes
Many business school candidates choose to take a straightforward, historical approach in their personal statements. This can be an easy way to organize an essay, but it may lead candidates to miss an opportunity for a more focused and gripping introduction. Although nothing is fundamentally wrong with taking a historical approach, an anecdotal approach can better maintain your reader’s interest in certain circumstances. (This all comes down to execution, of course!)

Example 1: Historical

“When I graduated from New York University with a finance degree, I eschewed Wall Street and pursued my own distinct path; I opened a flower shop in midtown New York, never imagining the challenges I would face as I strived to bring in new customers and locate products around the world. With time, I learned to advertise selectively (on billboards in local office buildings) and developed relationships with suppliers, particularly one in Peru, with whom I obtained an exclusive on Heliconia flowers. After one year, we started to specialize in foreign flowers, and with a niche identified, we developed a strong client base. My firm stabilized, and I was no longer bleeding cash to support my 11 employees; we were cash-flow neutral and contemplating a new location.”

This introduction is very direct and informative but involves almost no drama or emotion. To be more effective, the writer might instead consider positioning him-/herself as “the hero” and drawing the reader in with some anecdotal tension.

Example 2: Anecdotal

“My hand quivered as I signed the lease for 1,000 square feet of retail space in midtown New York. Two months later, I threw open the doors to my flower shop and was stunned when I did not make a sale until my third day. Admittedly, I began to question the wisdom of entrepreneurship and wondered if I should have joined my peers from New York University’s finance program as an analyst on Wall Street instead. However, each day, a trickle of customers came in, and more often than not, they commented on the colorful and rare flowers in my window, like the Peruvian Heliconia, exclusive to my shop. Within weeks, I had core customers picking up scheduled orders and referring friends; I bolstered this ‘word of mouth’ with select advertising on electronic billboards in the four 50-story office towers surrounding the shop. Soon, I noticed a surge of customers and was no longer bleeding cash. After one year, we were cash-flow neutral, and I was even contemplating opening another location.”

In this version, the same information is conveyed, but the tension inherent in the “quivering hand” and the empty store acts as a “hook” that draws the reader in. By taking this more personal, emotional, and indeed anecdotal approach, the writer allows the reader to identify with his/her struggle and thus maintains the reader’s interest.

Again, this is not a case of right or wrong. Each MBA candidate should decide what works best in his/her own essays.
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Mission Admission: The Value of Current Community Service [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   17 Mar 2015, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: The Value of Current Community Service
Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

MBA admissions committees try to identify applicants who are constantly active, challenging themselves in all spheres of their lives. So, not only are extracurricular and community activities powerful in showing an MBA candidate’s benevolence, but they also help create the impression that the applicant is always pursuing goals and is therefore predisposed to success.

We regularly encounter candidates who say, “I have been so busy professionally that I haven’t had time to volunteer, but I was really active during college.” In almost all cases, however, as applicants get further from their college years, their undergraduate experience becomes less and less relevant. Although having a record of consistent achievement throughout college and into a one’s professional life is best, MBA applicants are often evaluated on a “What have you done for me lately?” basis, meaning that contemporary community service is generally more important.

MBA admissions officers know that finding time to commit to external activities can sometimes be challenging, but they still see many applicants from the most competitive fields who indeed find time to give back to others. So, if you had a rich and fulfilling college experience filled with leadership, in short, keep that trend going. You have a powerful complement to your contemporary involvements, but not a substitute.
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MBA Career Advice: Utilizing Second Degree Connections [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   17 Mar 2015, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Advice: Utilizing Second Degree Connections
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.

Just as it is important for you to connect people in your network to each other, it is also important to ask those in your network to connect you to people they know. This is part of how you will grow your network, but it is also true that very often someone who can help you is one or two degrees away from you. You don’t have the relationship, but a friend or colleague does.

Let’s say you want to work in TechCo for your internship. You don’t know anyone at TechCo, but learn that your former manager is connected to one of TechCo’s managing directors. The first thing you need to do is get introduced. Ask your former manager to connect you directly. This will be much easier to do if you made sure to establish a strong connection with your manager before leaving the firm.

Once you have been introduced…

  • Follow up immediately. A good rule of thumb is that if you are the junior member of the introduction, the onus is on you to reply all and make the request. Wait at least a few hours but not more than a day or two to follow up.
  • Ask for something specific: a short conversation about their work, a chat about trends in their industry, some advice they would have for an MBA seeking an internship in their industry.
  • Propose a specific meeting time, place and format. Such as:
“I will be near your office this Friday. If you have 15 minutes in the afternoon to meet me in the lobby Starbucks, please let me know.”

“Would you be available for a 15 minute phone call next Thursday or Friday before noon central time? If those days don’t work, please let me know a day and time that would work for you.”

Phone will work best for most people, and 15-20 minutes is the most you should ask for in most cases. Propose a few candidate days and times to make it easy for them, but give them leeway to propose alternatives.

[*]Then, be sure to have a fruitful conversation and give the connection a future. Keep the door open for future follow up, and do not overlook the possibility that you might be useful to them.[/list]
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MBA News: Darden Dean Offers Advice on Choosing an MBA Program [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   17 Mar 2015, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Darden Dean Offers Advice on Choosing an MBA Program
Robert F. Bruner, who will step down from his position as dean of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in July, recently shared some words of wisdom for business school applicants. In a March 10 blog post, Bruner referenced a quote by the late entrepreneur Jim Rohn: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” The quote, claims Bruner, is valuable to keep in mind when electing an MBA program. “The idea of the ‘five friends’ resonates with me,” Bruner writes, “because at this time of year, business school applicants from around the world are choosing who will be their friends for the next couple of years.”

As MBA candidates should know, you can learn much more at business school than just what is taught in the classroom. “In graduate school, you learn more from the friends around you than from the faculty,” notes Bruner, who goes on to explain why carefully choosing the people with whom you will surround yourself during your graduate studies is vital. Networking is an important example, but some other factors might not seem so obvious, such as learning from your peers in study groups or the effect that your acquaintances’ future behavior could have on you. “The ‘five friends’ principle invites the applicant to consider the influence of future peers in selecting which school to attend,” Bruner concludes. “This influence is a vitally important contributor to the success of one’s learning experience in business school.”
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MBA News: Hockey Bringing Students Together at Business School [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   18 Mar 2015, 11:01
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Hockey Bringing Students Together at Business School
When one thinks about MBA programs, sports is not likely the first thing that comes to mind. At many business schools, however, one sport in particular stands out: hockey. As a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article notes, hockey clubs are very popular at certain programs, such as the Yale School of Management (SOM) and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Approximately 20% of Yale’s MBA students are members of the school’s hockey club, while the number of applications for spots in a similar club at Wharton was so vast that 100 people were left on the waiting list.

Despite the popularity of the sport, most of the club members at both schools are actually hockey newbies. “It’s a great leveler,” says the co-president of Wharton’s hockey club, David Light, who estimates that merely holding a hockey stick was a new experience for nine out of ten members. The Yale SOM club captain, Lauren Cohen, has similar views: “Seeing your classmates struggle to stay upright is a nice reminder that we are all human.” Hockey clubs also exist at such schools as Harvard Business School, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
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Professor Profiles: Vijay Govindarajan, Tuck School of Business at Dar [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   18 Mar 2015, 15:01
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Vijay Govindarajan, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they select a business school, but the educational experience you will have 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 profile Vijay Govindarajan from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.


Vijay Govindarajan (“Implementing Strategy: Management Control Systems,” “Managing Corporate Entrepreneurship,” and “Global Strategy and Implementation”), affectionately known by students as simply “VG,” has been cited by Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, and The London Times as a top-ten strategy professor. His research focus includes global strategy, strategic innovation, strategy execution, and strategic controls. VG has been a consultant to several well-known companies, including Walmart, FedEx, and Microsoft, and in 2008, he served as chief innovation consultant to General Electric. In addition to his residency at Tuck, VG was named a Marvin Bower Faculty Fellow at Harvard Business School in 2015 for a two-year period. He was also the 2015 recipient of the Association of Management Consulting Firms Award of Excellence.

One alumnus told mbaMission, “VG’s class is great, and the cases have been interesting. Most of the cases are about manufacturing companies; however, they are not boring at all. He’s a great speaker and great lecturer.”

Another graduate described Govindarajan’s classroom style to mbaMission by saying, “VG maintains a balance between lecture and class participation. He never cold-calls because he believes that students will be prepared. He doesn’t want students to comment for the sake of commenting and wants people to say something meaningful, which might be different from the approach at other schools.” Another alumnus shared that VG often brings great speakers to class.

For more information about Dartmouth Tuck and 15 other top-ranked MBA schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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B-School Chart of the Week: MBA Social Media Presence [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   18 Mar 2015, 19:01
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FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: MBA Social Media Presence
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.

As business schools compete to demonstrate their technological relevance, many have turned to social media as a way of engaging both applicants and alumni alike. Some schools even allow candidates to leverage their online presence for a streamlined application process.

Although the overall tech savviness of business school students and administrators may be difficult to measure in precise terms, numerous signs indicate that most MBA programs see social media as a valuable asset to maintaining brand recognition. That some schools are more successful than others at garnering online popularity is also evident.

To that end, Bloomberg Businessweek launched the social media campaign #WhyMBA back in October, asking various MBA-related questions of applicants, students, and alumni. The campaign sought to prompt conversation about the broader state of business education and featured a leaderboard that tracked which MBA programs enjoyed the most social media mentions.

With the release of its 2014 MBA rankings, Bloomberg Businessweek declared that UCLA Anderson was the “most tweeted @ school” over the course of the campaign. In our accompanying graphic here, we present the ten most social media savvy business schools, according to the #WhyMBA campaign.
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Beyond the MBA Classroom: Underground Poker at the Indian School of Bu [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   19 Mar 2015, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Underground Poker at the Indian School of Business
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.

According to students we interviewed at the Indian School of Business (ISB), the underground poker club is the talk of the campus, with some students claiming that the club is their favorite pastime at the school. Staying up into the wee hours of the night and playing for real money, participants devote several hours a week outside class to the club and reportedly form deep relationships with their classmates who share a passion for the game.

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at the ISB and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Diamonds in the Rough: Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Bus [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   19 Mar 2015, 15:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business
MBA applicants tend to overvalue rankings and so can overlook some strong business schools that might be a good fit. In this series, we profile amazing programs at schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15.

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business unveiled a new MBA curriculum in 2012 and with it, a revamped global emphasis. Dean David A. Thomas announced the changes as a response to the evolving global business landscape, meant to equip students “with the skills to be innovative leaders—whether they are joining established organizations or becoming entrepreneurs.” During “opening term,” first-year students are required to take “Structure of Global Industries.” This immersive three-week core course provides a foundation in international business that runs through the required “modules” in the spring semester and culminates with the school’s newly expanded, signature “Global Business Experience” during students’ second year. In this program, students take on consulting roles working for actual international organizations. In the spring, student teams travel to their respective client’s country—such as South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, and Italy—to gain firsthand experience working in a global consulting and management setting. After the participating students return to campus, they present the stories of and take-aways from their experiences to their classmates at the school’s Global Business Conference.
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Friday Factoid: A Sense of Community at UC-Berkeley Haas [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   20 Mar 2015, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: A Sense of Community at UC-Berkeley Haas
The Haas School of Business at the University of California (UC)-Berkeley is one of the smaller top MBA programs in the United States, with an average class size of just under 250. Despite its small size, however, Haas offers a very diverse community, both regionally and professionally. Roughly 40% of each incoming class is made up of international students, and each entering class as a whole reflects a wide array of interests and professional backgrounds. Each of Haas’s incoming classes is divided into smaller groups, called cohorts, and students remain in their cohort for the first semester, taking all core courses together. Within the cohort, students are further divided into study groups. Study group members work together to prepare for presentations and exams as well as to study cases, and these small groups help enhance and reinforce the relationships between classmates. Noted a second-year student with whom mbaMission spoke, “With everyone trying to work out their identity at the start,” the cohort “makes everything less overwhelming.” Indeed, Haas offers a well-defined structure that supports a collaborative community.

For more information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at UC-Berkeley Haas or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   21 Mar 2015, 15:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem
With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series, Manhattan GMAT’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.

I want to share our four-step Critical Reasoning (CR) process with you, a process that can be used on any CR problem.

Here is the overall process:

Step 1: Identify the question.

Step 2: Deconstruct the argument.

Step 3: State the goal.

Step 4: Work from wrong to right.

Those steps might sound obvious to some people and very vague to others. I will explain each in more detail, but I want to say first that each step is there for a very important reason, and each step has been split off from the others for a very important reason. You can find the full article on the MGMAT blog, as well as additional articles that illustrate how to use this process with each of the various CR question types. Here are a few additional details for each step.

Step 1: Identify the question. Use the question stem to identify the question. Each question type has certain characteristics; learn them.

Step 2: Deconstruct. Arguments can contain up to four main building blocks: premises, counter-premises, conclusions, and background. Every argument has premises, but that is the only component common to all. In addition, some arguments “contain” assumptions—that is, the assumptions are not written but can be implied based on the premises and conclusion.

Step 3: State the goal. Each question type asks us to do a certain kind of reasoning; we need to make sure we know what it is. Each question type also has common error categories; remind yourself what they are, and you will be less likely to fall for them!

Step 4: Wrong to right. This is just a fancy way of saying find and eliminate the wrong answers until only one answer is left. Your first focus is elimination; get rid of everything you know is wrong. Do not even ask yourself what might be the right answer until you have gone through all five answers once. Then compare any remaining, tempting answers.
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Have No Real Options! [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   22 Mar 2015, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Have No Real Options!
In the late 2000s, Harvard Business School (HBS) made a change to its application essay questions that surprised many. Its previously mandatory “long- and short-term goals” essay prompt changed its focus more broadly to “career vision” and became one of four topic choices from which applicants could select two. Immediately, MBA candidates tried to read between the lines and decipher HBS’s hidden agenda behind the change. As a result, many applicants called us, perplexed, asking, “Every other school asks about goals, so HBS must want to know about them, too. I need to answer the essay question option about career vision, right?”

This question in turn compelled us to ask rhetorically: Why would HBS make a question an option if the admissions committee absolutely wanted and expected you to answer it? If it did, why would the school not simply designate the question as mandatory, as it had been previously? We believe that in this case, HBS made the question an option because the admissions committee did not feel that applicants must have a definite career vision to be admitted. Essentially, HBS was saying, “If you have a well-defined career vision that would help us better understand who you are as a candidate, tell us about it. If not, we would love to hear something else that is interesting about you.” Note that HBS no longer poses this particular essay question, but we offer it here as a way of illustrating how candidates can sometimes overthink or misinterpret the “optional” elements of a school’s application.

Essay options are just that: options. None of HBS’s essay choices—or those of any other MBA program—are necessarily “right” or “wrong.” The admissions committees are not trying to trick you, and no secret answer exists that will guarantee that you will be accepted. The MBA programs offer multiple essay question options because they know that each applicant is different, and they want to provide an opportunity for each candidate to tell his/her unique story. So, as you approach your essays, focus on what you want to say—not what you think the admissions committee wants to hear.
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Monday Morning Essay Tip: Focus on Your Story, Not Your Time Frame [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   23 Mar 2015, 09:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Focus on Your Story, Not Your Time Frame
When starting an MBA application essay, many candidates default to using a comfortable and reliable device: stating the year in which the event occurred. However, in many cases, the year is irrelevant and could even be detrimental to the applicant’s case, particularly with MBA admissions committees who have an unspoken bias for younger candidates.

Example 1: “In 2006, while walking through a market in Dhaka, I found the most unusual item for my firm’s catalogue.”

In this example, the year really matter? Is this mysterious discovery not interesting enough to stand on its own? Further, this writer may be taking an unnecessary risk by informing the reader that the experience is several years old.

Example 2: “While walking through a market in Dhaka, I found the most unusual item for my firm’s catalogue.”

In the second example, we have a simpler opening, but one that still captures the reader’s imagination, even without disclosing when the event occurred. The only reason you may feel that the time frame is “missing” in the latter example is because it appears in the first example, so you may have half expected it to appear again, but in fact, the central story does not change at all without it. With no date mentioned, you would simply proceed through the introduction into the body of the essay, following the story line, rather than being distracted by the time frame for this hypothetical candidate. So, when writing about your experiences, consider whether disclosing the year or time frame is really necessary for the effectiveness or clarity of the story. If it is not, you may want to avoid mentioning the date, because it could be distracting or even a detriment.
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Mission Admission: Should I Seek a New Position Before Applying? [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   24 Mar 2015, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Should I Seek a New Position Before Applying?
Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

With approximately six months to go before first-round deadlines for the 2015–2016 MBA admissions season, many business school aspirants are considering ways they might enhance their candidacy. While candidates can take a variety of steps to accomplish this—from boosting their community and personal profiles, to pursuing additional classes, to reinvigorating relationships with potential recommenders—some even consider seeking a new position with a different firm or industry. Is this a good idea?

If you are contemplating such a move, the first thing to consider is your tenure at your current firm. If you have been with the company for less than one year, changing positions is generally unwise. MBA admissions committees tend to appreciate consistency and frown on what they perceive as opportunism. So, if you have had several positions in the past that you held for approximately one year or less, staying put now and proving your commitment may be a good idea. If, however, you are a long-serving employee and want to embark on a new path, a move may bolster your profile.

The next question is whether you are considering a horizontal or a vertical move. If you would be gaining an increase in salary and responsibility, you would almost certainly be making a wise choice and would also be insulated from concerns about tenure. MBA admissions committees want to know that you are a rising star. So, if you can obtain a new role that involves greater responsibility in the next nine months, you should grab that opportunity. As we often tell candidates, “What is good for your career is almost always good for your MBA candidacy.”

However, before you move on, you may also want to consider whether you will be burning bridges at your existing firm. Maintaining your references is important, because you will need them soon for your application(s). Further, you may want to ask yourself whether you have enough time to achieve something impressive at the new firm. If nine months is sufficient time to add to your professional or personal narrative, then a new position may be worth pursuing. However, if you are joining an organization that has a one-year sales cycle, for example, you may not have much to offer by application time and may want to think twice about moving.

Finally, we advise candidates to not pander to MBA admissions committees. If you think that a consulting or banking position will impress the admissions committee, but such a position is not part of your intended career path, shifting into one of these areas would be pointless. Your potential move should be consistent with your personal goals, not with what you think an admissions committee wants—the committees want authenticity and differentiated candidates, not a cookie-cutter “type” of candidate from a specific field.
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MBA Career Advice: The Awesome Email Introduction [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   24 Mar 2015, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Advice: The Awesome Email Introduction
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.

You are going to connect two friends via email. You are building your network and part of that entails connecting people to each others’. Sometimes the connections you facilitate for others are the ones that end up helping you the most. Imagine that you are connecting a subordinate, Laura, to a high level manager, Jake, from your past job. Assume you have already asked Jake if it is ok to connect him with promising professionals when you come across them, or even with Laura specifically. Consider these three options to make the introduction:

Option 1

Email to: Laura

Hey Laura, here is Jake’s email address. He is expecting your email. Follow up at whim!

Option 2

Email to: Laura and Jake

Hi Laura and Jake,

As promised I am connecting you two. Enjoy!

Option 3

Email to: Laura and Jake

Hello my dear friends. In my line of work I get to meet a lot of extraordinary people, and it always gives me great pleasure when I have the chance to connect two of them to each other. Jake is a former financier turned social entrepreneur via Awesome University’s MBA. He is currently building a new social enterprise in India. Laura is a recent Amazing College grad who grew up in Uganda, speaks 5 languages fluently, and has very big long term social impact ambitions. She has already founded a successful nonprofit aiding education in her hometown. You are both award winning photographers, which is why I have chosen Facebook as the means to connect you. Jake, will you please let Laura know everything you know about finding work in the social impact space and what if any opportunities there might be for her with your company given that her own MBA is still at least 3 years away? Thanks you two. Enjoy!!!!

You should go with Option 3. Why?

  • This email actually deepens your individual relationship with each of them because it acknowledges what is great about them and shows your appreciation.
  • It creates an instant connection between them by virtue of their values and strengths. There is no doubt these two will follow up and become useful connections to each other.
  • It makes it very easy for them. They do not have to figure out what they are supposed to do – you have laid it out for them by suggesting the specific ways in which Jake can be useful to Laura.
Be thoughtful when you connect people to each other. Do it because it is generous, but also do it because it will someday serve you in ways you cannot possibly predict.
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Professor Profiles: Roberto Rigobon, MIT Sloan School of Management [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   25 Mar 2015, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Roberto Rigobon, MIT Sloan School of Management
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand, but the educational experience you will have 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 profile Roberto Rigobon from the MIT Sloan School of Management.


Roberto Rigobon (“Applied Macro and International Economics” and “Applied International Macroeconomics: Development and Sustainability”) specializes in international economics, monetary economics, and development economics. At an awards ceremony in 2005, Sloan students described him as someone who “epitomized the fine line between madness and genius.” Other award-related descriptions of Rigobon refer to him as “serious but hilarious,” “crazy and brilliant,” and “high energy.” He teaches the reportedly very popular “Applied Macro and International Economics” course, which is often taken by up to 30% of Sloan students at a time. Rigobon handles as many as four sections (six hours) back to back, three days a week. He has won numerous teaching awards during his time at Sloan (including the school’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000, 2003, and 2005, and Teacher of the Year in 1999, 2002, and 2004) and is primarily recognized for his accessibility. As one second-year student blogged, “The door to his office was always open.”

For more information about MIT Sloan and 15 other top-ranked MBA schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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B-School Chart of the Week: What Sources of Funding Do Business School [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   25 Mar 2015, 17:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: What Sources of Funding Do Business Schools Offer?
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.

Funding is an important factor to consider in deciding which business school is right for you. Your MBA comes with no guarantee that you will recoup the cost of the degree in the years immediately after you graduate. In addition to paying a rather steep tuition for a top-tier education, many competitive business students incur hidden costs associated with making the right connections to advance their careers. Although MBAs tend to fare generally well in securing a pay increase post-graduation, having a solid plan for funding those two years of graduate education can make a world of difference.

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)—the organization that administers the GMAT exam—reports that 88% of business programs worldwide offer incoming students some form of tuition assistance. In its latest survey of schools, GMAC provides a breakdown of the most common types of financial assistance first-year MBA students received in 2014, which we have highlighted in the following graphics.
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Beyond the MBA Classroom: Winning the Golden Briefcase [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   26 Mar 2015, 11:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Winning the Golden Briefcase
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.

Founded by a Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) student in 1984, Challenge for Charity (C4C) is a well-attended annual fundraiser that brings students from nine business schools across the West Coast to the Stanford campus to compete in events such as billiards, bowling, and basketball to raise money for Special Olympics and a local nonprofit organization (each participating school selects a nonprofit organization in its area to support). Students earn points by winning the competitions in which their team participates and for each hour of volunteer work they completed during the year. Students who have committed a minimum of five hours of C4C service in one year are eligible to take part in the sports competitions and trivia quizzes that take place during this two-day event, held each spring, for the chance to win bragging rights and the coveted Golden Briefcase award.

A first-year student told mbaMission about the “White Party,” also a C4C fundraiser, which takes place in early March: “Everyone wears white and raises a bunch of money for charities … Students offer whatever they can, and others bid, so it’s another good way for folks to interact more. Some examples that I can remember were cooking classes, a class on how to make sushi, other learning-type experiences, and tickets to a baseball game. Everyone tries to participate. I’d guess that over 80% of the students here give back.”

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at the Stanford GSB, UCLA Anderson, UC-Berkeley Haas, or 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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