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Published: March 15, 2017
Round 2 Interviews Complete, HBS Gears Up for Round 3
Harvard Business School (HBS) Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Chad Losee took to his Direct from the Director’s Blog this week to look ahead to Round 3. For any anxious Round 2 applicants out there—don’t worry, you didn’t miss any important announcements! Losee simply shared that his team wrapped up Round 2 interviews last week and loved having the chance to get to know you in person—or at least via Skype. “We are in the midst of the (tough) final decisions and will be back in touch soon—March 22nd at noon Eastern Time via Read more
Published: March 14, 2017
What Bain & Company Looks for in MBA Hires
Bain & Company—widely considered one of the most elite consulting firms in the world—is a coveted post-MBA destination for students at top business schools in every part of the globe. Headquartered in Boston with 53 offices in 34 countries around the world, Bain employs more than 7,000 people and counts as its clients leading Fortune 500 companies, as well as nonprofit and government organizations. And business is booming. According to Keith Bevans, global head of consultant recruiting, the company has grown at a rate of 15 percent a year for the past 20 years, with no slowdown in Read more
Published: March 13, 2017
MBA DecisionWire Spotlight: UNC / Kenan-Flagler or UT Austin / McCombs for Consulting
In this edition of MBA DecisionWire Spotlight, which highlights the admissions results of students and alumni posted to Clear Admit’s DecisionWire, we round up responses to a candidate with a couple of options. This week, a candidate with acceptances to UNC / Kenan-Flagler and UT Austin / McCombs asked for advice on where to head for consulting. Read more
Published: March 13, 2017
7 Takeaways from the 2018 U.S. News Business School Ranking
The schools making up the top 10 in this year’s U.S. News & World Report ranking of the nation’s best MBA programs—released today—were exactly the same as last year. That said, there are a smattering of surprises in terms of how top schools rose and fell relative to one another—and in movement among schools outside of the top 15. At quick glance, here are this year’s top 10, in order of their 2018 rank (2017 rank in parentheses): 1 Harvard Business School (1) 1 University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School (4) 3 University of Chicago Booth Read more
Published: March 12, 2017
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business
At the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, campus diversity is more than a goal: It’s an expectation. Read more
Published: March 9, 2017
Haas Women in Leadership Conference Draws New Audience: Men
When the Women in Leadership (WiL) organization at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business hosts it annual conference tomorrow, things will be different than in years past. This year, every fifth person in the audience is expected to be male—up from the five to 10 men who have historically attended. “When we got together to decide what we wanted the conference to be about, we just starting writing things down that were important to us—and collaboration and the involvement of men were both very high on the list,” says WiL Conference Co-Chair Shipra Agarwal (MBA ’17). Both she and the conference’s other co-chair, Chiaki Nakajima (MBA ’17), feel that they are where they are today because they had strong male support. “We thought, ‘Let’s make that the focus of the conference because we want men to be part of it as well and to understand how to be better allies,” Agarwal says. The theme they settled on was “Power of Us: Collaborate. Inspire. Lead.” Read more
Published: March 9, 2017
Fridays from the Frontline: NYU Stern Student Shares a Recruiting Road Less Taken
Are you considering the luxury retail industry after business school? If so, don’t miss this week’s Fridays from the Frontline, which comes to us from NYU Stern School of Business second-year MBA student Nina Dudhale. New Jersey-native Dudhale worked in digital acquisition marketing at American Express OPEN before coming to Stern, where she has chosen to specialize in luxury marketing and finance. Nina Dudhale, Stern MBA ’17 As she shares in the post below, folks at Stern warned her at the get-go that recruiting in the luxury retail space is less structured than industries like consulting or Read more
Published: March 9, 2017
Cambridge Judge Empowers Women to Become Rising Leaders
Currently, only 26 women serve as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies—roughly 5 percent—and only one in six board members are women (17 percent). While the numbers are up from 12 years ago when there were no women CEOs and only 10 percent of board members were women, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Cambridge University's Judge Business School is among the MBA programs working to further bridge the gap with its Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme. Read more
Published: March 8, 2017
Social Impact at the Marshall School of Business
When talking about career paths one might pursue after an MBA, most people think of areas like finance, consulting or marketing. Over the past several years, however, MBA students have grown increasingly interested in the business of social impact; according to Business as Unusual, a 2014 Net Impact survey, 88 percent of MBA students report that they’re interested in learning about businesses with social missions and environmental emphases. That’s one reason why the USC Marshall School of Business recently hosted its second annual Social Impact Careers Panel. Read more
Published: March 8, 2017
Chicago Booth Names Stanford GSB Professor as Its Next Dean
The path from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business is becoming well worn, as Chicago Booth prepares to welcome its second consecutive dean from the Palo Alto campus. Madhav Rajan, who chairs the accounting department at Stanford GSB and served as senior associate dean for academic affairs from 2010 to 2016, will take the helm at Booth on July 1st, the school announced yesterday. Sunil Kumar, who served as Chicago Booth’s dean from 2011 until leaving to become provost of Johns Hopkins University in July 2016, also came from Stanford, where spent 14 years, ultimately in the role of senior associate dean. Since his departure, Douglas Skinner, also an accounting professor, has served as interim dean as Chicago Booth conducted a global search for a successor.    Read more
Published: March 7, 2017
What Women Want in an MBA: Financial Aid and Flexibility
In honor of International Women’s Day, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) today released a new report entitled “What Women Want: A Blueprint for Change in Business Education.” For readers who may be too young to remember the 2000 romantic comedy also called “What Women Want,” it starred Mel Gibson as a chauvinistic advertising executive who suffers a blow to the head that renders him suddenly able to hear everything women around him are thinking. Though first instinct would be to assume that the two—Gibson’s rom-com and GMAC’s research—have nothing at all to do with one another, that’s not Read more
Published: March 7, 2017
Application Tip from ASU’s W. P. Carey School: How to Choose the Right Recommenders
Sponsored Content The b-school application process has several components. And while you can complete the majority of the application on your own, the letters of recommendation require a bit more time and consideration. These letters are a key opportunity to distinguish yourself from other candidates, so make sure to get the ball rolling as early as possible in the application process. Opt for Quality Selecting the right people for the job is a crucial step. While it may look impressive to see your CEO’s name on a recommendation letter, unless you worked directly with the CEO, the gaps Read more
Published: March 7, 2017
DecisionWire Data Suggests a Tiered Business School Ranking
As many of our readers know, U.S. News & World Report is scheduled to release its annual ranking of leading MBA programs next week. We wanted to use this time—ahead of the ranking’s release—to highlight some key insights from our MBA DecisionWire data, which we think will provide context for the upcoming rankings and perhaps even foretell some of the results. Our analysis of DecisionWire data yielded some fascinating findings that we believe support a tiered ranking system for schools, one in which the peer group a school finds itself in serves as a better indicator of Read more
Published: March 6, 2017
Which Business Schools Produced the Most Unicorn Founders
Billion-dollar startups, affectionately coined “unicorns,” have become a benchmark that business schools around the world use to boast overall success. But which business schools actually produce the most successful startup founders? Earlier this year, U.K. software research firm Sage compiled data on billion-dollar startups, which also included the schools from which company founders graduated. The research, unsurprisingly, found two business schools standing taller than the rest of the competition: Harvard Business School (HBS) and Stanford University Graduate School of Business. HBS alumni produced 23 of these unicorn startups, as reported by Fortune. These Read more
Published: March 6, 2017
Data Science Courses Increasingly Find Their Place in MBA Curriculums
Five years ago, MIT Sloan School of Management debuted a new course its professors believed to be the first of its kind. Called “The Analytics Edge,” the course gave students access to large quantities of real data that they could use to hone their analytic skills. “Our focus is on the application and the story, and how to use it in real life,” Allison O’Hair, one of the course’s co-instructors, said as part of a news article on the school’s website at the time. “To our knowledge, this is a new way of teaching ... the only class here that teaches analytics through applications. We let students get their hands dirty with real data and applications of analytics.” Read more
Published: March 6, 2017
MBA DecisionWire Spotlight: Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, NYU / Stern or Yale SOM for Finance
In this edition of MBA DecisionWire Spotlight, which highlights the admissions results of students and alumni posted to Clear Admit’s DecisionWire, we take a closer look at a candidate with a handful of options. This week, a candidate with acceptances to Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, NYU / Stern, and Yale SOM asked for advice on where to head for investment banking, and potentially private equity.Before we get into the constructive feedback, let’s get what many people are likely thinking out of the way:Initial Read more
Published: March 2, 2017
Fridays from the Frontline: HBS Student Offers Advice for Prospective Latino Students
Today’s Fridays from the Frontline contribution comes to us from Karla Mendez, a first-year MBA student at Harvard Business School (HBS). Born in Mexico, Mendez moved to Fresno, California, when she was five with parents who wanted to build a better life for her family. In the thoughtful post below, Mendez shares some of her experiences as a Latina American, including the tension between wanting to maintain a strong connection to her Mexican American roots while not having them define her completely. She also describes the pressure so often felt by immigrants, and sometimes even more so their Read more
Published: March 1, 2017
Top Student Trading Competition Returns to Rotman School
For the 14th consecutive year, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management last month hosted one of the world’s top student trading competitions. The Rotman International Trading Competition (RITC) is an annual event that draws students and faculty from 52 universities worldwide—including from China, Iceland, India and South Africa—for a three-day simulated market challenge. Read more
Published: February 28, 2017
New Smith School of Business Program Inspires Fearless Leadership
The development of leadership skills is heavily emphasized by many MBA programs. In fact, it’s often a selling point. At the University of Maryland R.H. Smith School of Business, leadership development is a core part of the UMD Smith MBA experience, reflected in the recent launch of a new program to help encourage fearless leadership in its students.  Read more
Published: February 27, 2017
Black Business Leadership in Focus at Harvard Business School
“Entrepreneurship is a synonym for liberation because those who have success with it—it provides them the freedom to be whoever they want to be,” said Steven Rogers, a senior lecturer on entrepreneurial finance at Harvard Business School (HBS), as part of recent video promoting his latest project. “But more importantly to me is that it provides them with the freedom to uplift others.” Linking entrepreneurship with freedom in this way provides the perfect set up for Rogers’ new course, “Black Business Leaders and Entrepreneurship.” New this semester, it is the first of its kind at HBS. Read more
Published: February 27, 2017
MBA DecisionWire Spotlight: Chicago Booth, Northwestern / Kellogg or UVA / Darden with Family
The choice of an MBA program can comprise a myriad of factors, as seen in this edition of MBA DecisionWire Spotlight, which highlights the admissions results of students and alumni posted to Clear Admit’s DecisionWire. This week, we take a closer look at a candidate with acceptances to U. Chicago Booth, Northwestern / Kellogg and UVA / Darden. While some feedback was positive and direct... Read more
Published: February 27, 2017
MBA Alumni Tout Degree’s Value and Versatility, GMAC Survey Finds
There have long been MBA applicants who view business school as an opportunity to make a career pivot—changing industry, function or both. Indeed, according to survey results released today by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), more than half of alumni respondents currently work in an industry or job function they had no prior experience in before entering business school. Not only that, two in five alumni (39 percent) currently work in an industry they hadn’t even considered prior to starting business school. GMAC’s 2017 Alumni Perspectives Survey Report, conducted last fall, includes responses from 15,000 graduate business Read more
Published: February 26, 2017
Johnson Women in Tech to Host Upcoming NYC Conference
Later this week, students from Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business will host a conference in New York City aimed at bringing more women into the tech industry. Johnson Women in Technology (JWiT) co-chairs and second-year MBA students Tejaswini (TJ) Marathe and Kathryn Ruth Bartlett led the organization of the JWiT Conference, which will take place on Friday, March 3rd, at the Microsoft Technology Center in midtown Manhattan. “Our theme, ‘Tech Together,’ is a call to action for men and women to support women’s success in the tech industry through partnership and mentorship,” the duo said in a press release about the event. Read more
Published: February 23, 2017
Fridays from the Frontline: A Day in the Life of an INSEAD MBA Student
INSEAD is definitely riding high these days, having topped the Financial Times’ annual ranking of leading global MBA programs for the second year running. Calling itself “the business school for the world,” it features campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi and more than 90 nationalities represented in its student body. Students complete an accelerated 10-month program, which has helped the school rank especially high in terms of return on investment, since both tuition and the opportunity cost of being out of the workforce is lower for INSEAD students than those in two-year MBA programs. Read more
Published: February 22, 2017
I’d Tell You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You: Confidentiality Warning Keeps MBA Applicants Mum on Wharton TBD Prompt
In past years, the prompt the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School sends in advance to MBA applicants invited to participate in the team-based discussion (TBD) portion of its admissions process has been a closely held secret—for about two minutes. Historically, within days of invitations going out, it has been shared by someone (or someones) within the applicant community, drawing feedback and advice on how best to prepare. In fact, some admissions consultants have even crafted whole workshops around the topic. Read more

MBA Applywire

1
April 10, 2025 11:41am ET
Applying: Stanford GSB
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Real Estate - Consulting
Post-MBA Target Industry: Entrepreneurship
GRE: 314
GPA: 3.9
Years of Work Experience: 5
Location: France
6
April 8, 2025 11:18am ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, UCLA Anderson, UPenn / Wharton
Intake Year: 2027
Pre-MBA Career: Structured Finance
Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology, Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Private Equity Companies: Goldman Sachs , JP Morgan , Morgan Stanley , Accell Partners , Andressen Horowitz , Kleiner Perkins , NEA , Sequoia Capital , Bain Capital , Blackstone , Carlyle Group , TPG , KKR
GMAT: 738
GPA: 3.4
Years of Work Experience: 2
Location: San Francisco
Post MBA Location: NY/SF
Notes:

Georgetown Math Undergrad
12
April 7, 2025 3:18pm ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM
Intake Year: 2027
Pre-MBA Career: BigLaw attorney; In-house counsel
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Family Business Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey
GPA: 3.66
Years of Work Experience: 6
Post MBA Location: NYC/Asia
Notes:

Attended undergrad in the UK (3.66) and law school in the US (3.40) as part of a dual-degree program and graduated with both an LLB and JD in 4 years. No quant background but open to taking courses.
6
April 7, 2025 10:15am ET
Applying: , Duke / Fuqua, Emory / Goizueta, Georgia Tech / Scheller, Indiana / Kelley, UNC Kenan-Flagler
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Healthcare
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Entrepreneurship, Non Profit/SI
GPA: 3.3
Years of Work Experience: 16
Post MBA Location: Atlanta
Notes:

Bachelor’s of Science in Psych from Ohio University.

Cumulative GPA 3.325.

I went to school for 2 years and had mediocre grades, dropped out for 9 years to have a family and work, and came back and finished the last two years strong with a 4.0 every semester. Awarded Provost’s List multiple times.

Was also working FT and Secretary of the Psych club, and mothering 2 kids while un medicated ADHD.

I have had 16 years of work experience total, and I have 7 years of work history as an optician and a mortgage loan originator (both quant experience) and was promoted in both of those jobs. I’ve also owned my own businesses, and have self-led successful volunteer experiences as well as volunteered for organizations.

Also not sure if it matters but I have a unique background. American but have spent time living in Mexico and working/studying in Guatemala and Peru. Recently just spent 2 months in the jungle learning about plant medicine and the Shipibo language from an indigenous elder in the Peruvian Amazon.

I enjoy process improvement hence the consulting concentration, and I also am interested in entrepreneurship based on my past businesses, and wanting to help support indigenous female entrepreneurs in Peru.
8
April 7, 2025 9:05am ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, London Business School, MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, UPenn / Wharton
Intake Year: 2026
Pre-MBA Career: Software Engineer
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Entrepreneurship Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Other , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google
GRE: 339
GPA: 3.31
Years of Work Experience: 2
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Post MBA Location: Usa, middle east
Notes:

Ecommerce brand founder

Ex professional football player

Goal is tech or consulting in USA or UAE
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MBA LiveWire

April 10, 2025 4:45pm ET
Rejected at USC / Marshall
Round: Round 2
Received via email April 10, 2025
Standardized Test: Granted Waiver
GPA: 3.88
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Other
Note:

Not the worst thing to happen! GO IU
April 10, 2025 4:43pm ET
Accepted to Indiana / Kelley
Round: Round 3
Received via email April 10, 2025
Standardized Test: Granted Waiver
GPA: 3.88
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Other
Application Location: California
Note:

Full Ride plus Stipend
April 10, 2025 12:33pm ET
Interview Invite to Carnegie Mellon / Tepper
Round: Round 3
Received via email
Standardized Test: GMAT
GPA: 3.99
GMAT: 700
Program Type: Deferred Enrollment
April 10, 2025 9:03am ET
Rejected at USC / Marshall
Round: Round 2
Received via email on April 08, 2025
Standardized Test: Granted Waiver
GPA: 3.29
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Other
Application Location: California
Note:

Interviewed during R2 (interview went well) but still rejected. (Most likely due to no record of attending admissions events )
April 9, 2025 11:06pm ET
Accepted from Waitlist to MIT Sloan
Round: Round 2
Received via email April 9, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GRE: 326
Program Type: One Year Program
Target Career: Finance
Application Location: Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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