This episode begins with an in-depth review of the 2024 U.S. News full-time MBA rankings, which were released last week after a delay. U.S. News has changed its ranking methodology which caused some shifts in their ranking, but Chicago / Booth did retain the top spot! Alex and Graham share thoughts on the rankings changes, and continue to assert the reality that a tiered ranking system is always better than an ordinal one. Graham noted that 5 of the top MBA programs now have a median GMAT score of 740, which is pretty crazy. Your hosts then speculate that this is a result of more admitted candidates taking the GRE. Graham highlighted four Real Humans Alumni stories, a Georgetown / McDonough grad at Citi, a Harvard grad at Bain, a NYU / Stern grad at Accenture and a Michigan / Ross grad at Bain. These are always great reads for anyone targeting those programs or companies. Graham also highlighted the upcoming virtual event series that Clear Admit is hosting in May, which begins on Wednesdaywith Harvard Business School, UPenn / Wharton, Berkeley / Haas, London Business School, and INSEAD. This series offers admissions overviews from each of the programs and vital insights into the application process. Event signup is here: https://bit.ly/cambaevent
For candidate profiles this week, Alex and Graham tackled two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:
WireTaps candidate #1 is from Colombia and works in Real Estate and Construction. They have a 323 GRE score, and may plan to retake the test. They had originally targeted applying in the late rounds this season, but have now pushed their plans to the first rounds next season. Alex and Graham really like the profile, and hope that with a slightly higher GRE score, and early round applications, they will have very decent options. This week’s second candidate is from a more non-traditional background, but with a focus on health care. They have had a difficult upbringing which has helped inform some of their decisions. They have a strong undergrad GPA, but still need to take the GMAT or GRE. Their work experience does look very decent, but Alex and Graham have questions about their goals, outside interests, personal background, and more. The final candidate for this week has been admitted to Dartmouth / Tuck with a decent scholarship, Ross (slightly less money), Northwestern / Kellogg (less, still) and Yale SOM (with no support). Alex and Graham argue that it’s a toss up between Kellogg and Tuck…
323 GRE, from Colombia
Health care, no test score
Tuck vs Kellogg
Happy listening!
Be sure to post to MBA ApplyWire, MBA DecisionWire or MBA RankingsWire if you’d like Graham and Alex to offer admissions advice.
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This episode was hosted by Graham Richmond and Alex Brown, and produced by Dennis Crowley. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us!
