From Atlanta to Seattle and back, Forté Forums have been taking place around the country, giving prospective female MBA applicants a terrific opportunity to connect with admissions staff from dozens of leading business schools, hear from current students and alumnae and meet fellow applicants.
The Forté Forums are an annual event series put on by the Forté Foundation, a consortium of leading companies and business schools committed to helping launch women into fulfilling careers in business. Taking place in 10 U.S. cities as well as Toronto and London, these free events kicked off on August 17th and will culminate with a final event in October.
To truly understand what prospective female MBA applicants can hope to gain from attending a forum, we dropped in on one ourselves late last month in Boston. The cluster of professionally dressed young women in the lobby of the Liberty Mutual Building on St. James Avenue provided a preview of what we would discover upstairs. After a brief and efficient check-in process, attendees were given a package of materials and welcomed into a large banquet hall, where admissions staff, current students and alumnae from leading business schools stood ready to answer their questions.
A Crowded House
In all, there were close to 45 schools represented. Attendance was so great that it was difficult to make your way down the aisles between the schools’ tables, and prospective applicants sometimes had to patiently wait their turn to speak to representatives from their target schools. But wait patiently they did, and in turn they got to quiz admissions staff and current students from Harvard Business School, Cornell’s Johnson School, NYU Stern, Columbia Business School and countless other leading MBA programs about curriculum, application essays, student life, financial aid and more.
International schools, too, were solidly represented. Among the mix: IE Business School, HEC Paris and Cambridge University’s Judge School. Inquisitive young women with notepads in hand traveled from table to table introducing themselves and listening intently as admissions representatives detailed what to expect from the application process and how best to prepare.
