Each week, we collect all the MBA news that’s fit to print and provide a quick overview of the latest updates from top business schools around the world.
Here’s your MBA News You Need digest for the week of August 5, 2019.
Admissions Advice from Kellogg: The Value of Extracurriculars and Clubs
The activities and interests that prospective MBA students include on their business school application say a lot about who they are, what they care about, and how they might impact the community. With diversity a high priority at many elite MBA programs, admissions counselors encourage applicants not to hold back. That said, there are a few key attributes the Northwestern Kellogg team specifically looks for.
“We want to know how you’ve chosen to spend your time outside of the duties of your job,” writes Andrea Calderon, associate director of admissions.
She goes on to explain that the admissions team loves learning about anything you’re truly passionate about whether that’s a pottery business or teaching kids to code. However, they also want to know how you’ve made an impact in the workplace and beyond your organization. Just remember that quality matters over quantity, so choose activities in which you’re deeply involved.
Beyond what you’ve done, the admissions team also wants to know what you plan to do in the Kellogg community. Talk about clubs you want to join, conferences you wish to attend, and more. There’s no wrong choice. The goal should be to show that you want to continue to develop your skills and passions while at Kellogg.
Read the full blog from Calderon here.
Application Essay Insights from Cornell Johnson
Judi Byers, executive director of admissions and financial aid at Cornell Johnson, recently offered insights into one of their admissions essays for prospective MBA students.
The Cornell Impact Essay explores the intersection of engagement and community. The goal of the prompt is to learn more about how an applicant will contribute to the Cornell community while also assessing their desire to be actively engaged.
The admissions team wants to know that you want to and are able to create an impact around your passion, whatever that might be. For example, if you’re an expert in health and wellness, Cornell wants to know how you’ll help classmates thrive. The goal is to understand how you might use your passion and experience to impact Cornell and society as a whole. Get a more in-depth look here.
Dartmouth Tuck Breaks Down Admissions Essays
There are a few tweaks this year when it comes to the essay prompts in the 2019-2020 Dartmouth Tuck application, all of which directly map to Tuck’s criteria: smart, accomplished, aware, and nice. However, there are a few additional tips to keep in mind:
- Essay 1: “Tuck students can articulate how the distinctive Tuck MBA will advance their aspirations. Why are you pursuing an MBA and why Tuck?” There are two important considerations: your short- and long-term goals matter, and the distinctions of the Tuck MBA matter. Devote half the essay to “why an MBA is right for you” and the other half to “why Tuck.”
- Essay 2: “Tuck students recognize how their individuality adds to the fabric of Tuck. Tell us who you are.” In this essay, you want to both share why you “fit in” at Tuck and how you are different and distinct. You need to share your individuality by focusing on what defines who you are in an honest, revealing, and deeply personal way.
- Essay 3: “Tuck students invest generously in the success of others even when it is not convenient or easy. Tell us about a time when you helped someone else succeed.” This essay is your chance to show how you helped someone else when there were considerable stakes or legitimate risk. The goal is to show thoughtful care and intentionality in your investment.
Find a far more complete description of the essay questions here.
MIT Sloan’s 12 Most Popular Leadership Articles
After decades of leadership articles, the MIT Sloan Management Review recently decided to collect a dozen of their most popular articles of all time. Now accessible for a limited time, the articles contain decades of research into skills, processes, and frameworks for managers.
Below, we’ll cover six of the top articles. You can read the rest here.
- The Most Underrated Skill in Management. Leaders who can make clear problem statements and take a structured approach to problem-solving are powerful.
- The Five Steps All Leaders Must Take in the Age of Uncertainty. Leaders must learn to shift their focus to the complex interplay between society, economics, and business.
- What Makes Work Meaningful—Or Meaningless. There are many benefits to finding work meaningful, and leaders must support that work to ensure future growth.
- What High Potential Young Managers Want. Leaders have to take a different approach if they want to help develop and retain the next generation of young managers.
- How to Manage Virtual Teams. To succeed in the virtual world, leaders must focus on collaboration in specific and unique ways.
- The Process of Organization and Management. Leaders need a unifying framework for thinking about tasks, processes, and activities if they want to get things done.
Summer Reading from London Business School
Summer is the perfect time to sit down with a good book and let it transport you to a new world. To help prospect and current students alike escape the mundane and change their headspaces, London Business School faculty assembled their top summer reads:
- The Right It. Entrepreneurs change the world, but most new ventures fail. This practical book offers advice for success and delves into prototyping.
- The Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today. This book delves into how the greatest economists in history shaped the big issues of today.
- Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. This book delves into why we don’t do the things we should and how to change the way the human brain works for better results.
- On Writing. This Stephen King book delves into his creative mind to teach you the process of creative writing. You’ll gain tips and tricks from King’s writing toolbox as well as an insightful and humorous look at his profession.
- Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. This book tells the story of Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes. It has ups and downs, success and disaster, and everything in between.
Read more about each summer reading recommendation here.
