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Published: August 6, 2014
Admissions Director Q&A: Pejay Belland of INSEAD
Moving right along in our Q&A series, today we feature an interview with Pejay Belland, director of marketing, admissions and financial aid for degree programs at INSEAD. Belland worked in the pharmaceutical and music industries before entering higher education at INSEAD,where she has spent the majority of her career. Since joining INSEAD in 2007, she has held roles in career services, MBA marketing and program management. She was appointed to her current position as director of marketing, admissions and financial aid for INSEAD’s degree programs in May 2011. The British-born Belland is based out of France but manages a Read more
Published: August 5, 2014
MBA Recruiting Now Starts Before Classes at Many Top Business Schools
First-year students at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business are gathering this week in San Francisco for a tour of area tech firms, UVA’s Darden School is conducting “career kickoff” meetings with two-thirds of its incoming first-year class and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business has added four days of career services programming to its orientation—and this is all taking place before those MBA students attend a single class. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlights these instances as evidence of several shifts in business education, including that recruiters are eager to meet with future talent earlier than ever before, MBA students have a growing interest in tech careers and traditional on-campus MBA recruiting is no longer sufficient. Read more
Published: August 4, 2014
The Economist Group Launches $25,000 MBA Scholarship Contest
The Economist Group’s business education division, Which MBA?, yesterday launched its second Brightest Minds MBA Scholarship Contest, which will award a $25,000 scholarship to the prospective MBA or EMBA student who scores highest on a simulated GMAT exam. The first Brightest Minds MBA scholarship ran earlier this year, drawing more than 4,500 entrants, The Economist Group reports. The winner, Rishabh P. from India, is currently applying to several business schools, with plans to begin an MBA program in fall 2015. Read more
Published: August 4, 2014
Columbia MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-Campus
The following Columbia MBA admissions interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Regular Decision applicant. The interview was at a coffee shop. It was casual and conversational, though the interviewer really focused on my previous experiences. The questions asked were: 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why MBA? 3. Why Columbia? 4. Why xyz industry? 5. What would you do if your industry was gone? 6. Would you go back to your previous job function? 7. Do you have questions for me? All in all – very simple. 1.5 hour interview. Good Read more
Published: August 3, 2014
USC Marshall School of Business Summer Accelerator Hosts 20 Startups
Could a piece of chewing gum help Type 2 diabetics monitor their glucose levels? Will you soon see camel milk for sale alongside cow’s milk at your local grocery store? These are just a few of the ideas students and alumni of the USC Marshall School of Business are working on as part of the school’s startup accelerator this summer. Housed at Marshall’s Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, the program is called AIM (Accelerate + Incubate + Mentor), and 20 student- and alumni-led startups will spend 10 weeks developing ventures ranging from customizable chocolate shops to custom charm jewelry for moms based on their children’s drawings. Read more
Published: August 3, 2014
Admissions Director Q&A: Sherry Wallace of the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School
Today we hear from Sherry Wallace, director of MBA admissions at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. We are grateful to her for making time to share some of the things she’s most excited about in the year ahead – not the least of which is welcoming a new class of students to campus today for orientation. But that’s not all. With a new dean at the helm, Kenan-Flagler is in the midst of wide-spread growth and improvement. Increased application volume, record numbers of job postings, a new energy concentration and continuing emphasis on leadership are just a few of the things you’ll learn about in the interview that follows. Read more
Published: July 31, 2014
Fridays From the Frontlines: Test Obsessed
Welcome to this week's Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly summation of the business school blogosphere.  We check in with applicants who are in the final, feverish stages of GMAT preparation, as well as with current students who let us in on their comparatively less stressful post-GMAT lives. In the applicant corner, Naijambagal tells the shocking story of how an eye problem sent her to the hospital and made her miss the GMAT!  She also explains how she studied for the test for about an hour everyday while in traffic on the way to work.  Meanwhile, Grantmeadmission brings insights from brain science to bear on GMAT prep strategies.  As he explains, the process of forming a memory comes in three stages--encoding, reinforcement, and retrieval--and there are things we can do to facilitate each stage.  Meditation and eating foods like parsley, berries and dark chocolate improve encoding, whereas caffeine, sleep, and taking breaks boost the process of reinforcement. Read more
Published: July 30, 2014
Twitter Thursdays: News from MBA Programs
Welcome to another installment of Twitter Thursdays, in which we sum up the latest news from MBA programs, as reported on Twitter.  If you want to stay on top of our updates, special prizes, admissions tips and breaking news, be sure to check Clear Admit out on Twitter. We’ve also created several lists related to MBA admissions to ease your daily access to breaking news from the top MBA programs. For prospective students interested in entrepreneurship, Rich Lyons, the Dean of the Haas School of Business, directed followers to the school’s related offerings.  The Senior Associate Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions at Michigan / Ross, Diana Economy, also sought to inform prospective applicants about the MBA program with a plug of a webinar this week. As Clear Admit reported earlier this week, the Dean of Stanford GSB, Garth Saloner, also plugged the future construction plans on campus. Conrad Chua, the Head of Marketing and Admissions at Cambridge / Judge, took some time to explain why the school is returning to accepting the TOEFL. Read more
Published: July 30, 2014
MIT Sloan to Host Women’s Week, August 4th – 7th
The MIT Sloan School of Management is gearing up for a week filled with events designed to increase awareness about the school among women who are considering a graduate management degree. MIT Sloan Women’s Week, which will take place from August 4th through 7th, will include a webinar open to prospective applicants anywhere in the world, as well as three alumnae panels in cities around the country. “There are so many opportunities for women to contribute while they are here on campus as well as after they graduate and become part of our alumni network,” Sloan Admissions Director Dawna Levenson said as part of an article about the week’s events. “MIT Sloan women are making an impact in the world, and these panels will showcase just that,” she added. Read more
Published: July 30, 2014
Admissions Director Q&A: Bruce Delmonico of the Yale School of Management
We’re continuing our round of interviews with Yale School of Management (SOM) Admissions Director Bruce DelMonico, who has been leading the charge at the New Haven business school since 2006. (A lawyer by training, DelMonico grew tired of sleeping in his office and traveling for weeks on end, so he took a job in his hometown as part of the Yale SOM admissions team. A decade later, he’s still there.) It’s an exciting time to be at Yale SOM, DelMonico tells us. Under the leadership of Dean Edward Snyder, who joined the school in 2011, Yale SOM has continued to expand the Global Network for Advanced Management, a consortium of leading business schools, and moved into its sparkling new home, the Lord Norman Foster–designed Evans Hall.   Read more
Published: July 29, 2014
New Director Named to Lead Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative
Harvard Business School (HBS) has named a 2010 alumnus to direct its Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI), which seeks through an array of programs and activities to advance understanding of the management and leadership challenges organizations face as they work to create social value. Matthew Segneri (MBA 2010) was named director of HBS's SEI, which since its launch in 1993 has helped establish and promote the concept of social enterprise. He succeeds Laura Moon, who has become managing director of HBS's wide array of Initiatives, which focus on research and course development in specific topics such as leadership, health care and digital technology.  Read more
Published: July 28, 2014
Stanford Graduate School of Business to Break Ground on New $75 Million Residential Building
First-year Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA students will live in a brand new residential building by 2016, the school reports. Design concepts for the new $75 million project were approved by the Stanford Board of Trustees last month, and the school plans to break ground on the new facility in fall 2014. The four-story, 146,000-square-foot residential building will be adjacent to the school’s state-of-the-art Knight Management Center, which opened in 2011. The new facility will include 200 single-living units. The addition of this new housing to the existing 280 units in the school’s Schwab Residential Center will enable Stanford for the first time to offer on-campus housing to its full first-year class. It will also provide space for up to 80 visiting executive education participants. Read more
Published: July 28, 2014
Trivia Tuesday: INSEAD’s Blue Ocean Strategy Institute
It’s time again for Trivia Tuesday, our weekly in-depth look at the specific programs and what differentiates them from their competitors.  This week, we’re picking up the Clear Admit Guide to INSEAD to learn more about the school’s Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. “Located in Fontainebleau, the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute (IBOSI) was founded in 2007 to raise awareness of the Blue Ocean theory of strategic market growth created by INSEAD professors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. According to this model, the market universe can be divided into areas of “red ocean,” in which Read more
Published: July 27, 2014
Wharton Social Impact Initiative to Pay Down Student Loans for MBAs Who Pursue Nonprofit, Public Sector Careers
For MBAs who pursue careers in the nonprofit and public sectors, paying back staggering student loans they took out to finance their degree can be incredibly challenging. At the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a social impact‒focused fund managed by the Wharton Social Impact Initiative comes to the rescue. The John M. Bendheim Loan Forgiveness Fund for Public Service was created in 2005 by a 1940 graduate of the school, John Bendheim, and his son Tom, WG/Lauder ’90. The fund will grant up to $20,000 per year to pay down selected candidates’ student loans. Read more
Published: July 27, 2014
Admissions Director Q&A: Shari Hubert of Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business
In our continuing series of interviews with admissions directors at leading business schools, we spoke most recently with Shari Hubert of Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. Hubert joined McDonough last year as associate dean of MBA admissions, where she leads recruitment efforts to attract highly qualified, diverse students to the school’s full-time and part-time MBA programs. Prior to joining McDonough, Hubert served as director of recruitment for the Peace Corps’ Office of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection, where she was responsible for recruiting 4,000 volunteers annually and managed the operations of nine regional recruitment offices across the United States. Before that, she led campus recruitment for Citi’s Global Bank in North America and served as the manager for campus relations in corporate recruiting at GE’s corporate headquarters. She also led the Executive Leadership and Civic Development Program at the Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy association focused on public and private partnerships. Read more
Published: July 24, 2014
Fridays from the Frontline: It was the best/worst of times
This week in the business school blogosphere, MBA students travel the world and embark on promising business ventures, while applicants continue wading through the complex and often mysterious process of applying to business school. Many applicants are doling out advice about how to navigate the MBA admissions game. First, Texaswannabecali recommends getting “behind the scenes info” on your target schools by contacting alumni, current students, and visiting campus. She also stresses the importance of researching your schools before visiting: “Don’t you just hate the person who asks a question in class that the teacher LITERALLY just answered 3 seconds ago? Yeah, don’t be that person.”  Read more
Published: July 23, 2014
IESE Launches Corporate Finance MOOC
IESE, like many other leading business schools, is embracing technology to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and has just launched its latest, called Corporate Finance Essentials. Designed for executives anywhere in the world who want to understand key financial issues related to companies, investors and their interaction with capital markets, the new course will be taught by IESE Javier Estrada. Over the course of a series of six lectures lasting between 45 and 60 minutes each, Estrada will help participants increase their financial literacy and gain a better understanding of what is written in the financial press. Recommended readings will complement the lectures. Read more
Published: July 23, 2014
Admissions Director Q&A: MIT Sloan School of Management’s Dawna Levenson
As we continue to make the rounds, checking in with admissions directors at top business schools around the globe, we had the good fortune recently to speak with Dawna Levenson, director of MBA admission at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Levenson’s MIT roots run deep. She has an undergraduate degree from the school as well as an MBA from Sloan. She spent 18 years working for the company now known as Accenture but then decided it was time do something new and different. Read more
Published: July 22, 2014
Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business Hosts 17 Ventures in Summer Startup Incubator
Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business this summer is hosting 17 entrepreneurial ventures as part of its startup incubator program, the school reports. Called the “Startup Hoyas Summer Launch Program,” the incubator was designed specifically for current Georgetown students and recent graduates who want to launch a new venture. Participating students enjoy a range of benefits, including dedicated support from Georgetown faculty, mentors and experienced entrepreneurs. Read more
Published: July 21, 2014
Clear Admit Welcomes New Admissions Counselor from Columbia Business School
Clear Admit this month welcomed a new Admissions Counselor to our team of experts. Erin Hale joins us from Columbia Business School (CBS), where she worked in admissions for three years as a member of both the recruitment and operations teams. Erin brings not only her in-depth knowledge of the CBS admissions process and MBA admissions in general, but also a passion for working with MBA applicants. Erin has been drawn to admissions since her college days at Colgate University, where she volunteered in the admissions office while completing her degree in English. She had a brief but enjoyable stint at publisher John Wiley following graduation, but soon enough the pull to return to work in admissions was too hard to resist. Working first in transfer admissions at Marymount Manhattan College, she came to CBS in 2011. Read more
Published: July 21, 2014
Trivia Tuesday: Public Management and Social Innovation at Stanford GSB
This week in Trivia Tuesday, in which we highlight the distinguishing aspects of top business schools, we’re opening up our Stanford School Guide for a closer look at their Public Management and Social Innovation Program. "The Public Management Program (PMP) was founded in 1960s by then-dean Arjay Miller to promote communication and collaboration between leaders of government and business. His experience as president of Ford Motor Companies provided the impetus for this initiative; in this role, he witnessed firsthand the misunderstandings between politicians and those in the private sector. The PMP became part of the Center for Social Innovation in 2000, and today the Center has the broader mission of preparing students to address social and environmental problems. Read more
Published: July 20, 2014
Tuck School of Business Alumni Set Record with Annual Gift
Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business has long been known for the generosity of its alumni, and this year total funds raised broke all previous records, the school reports. Tuck Annual Giving (TAG) raised $6.35 million in the last fiscal year and drew the participation of 70.9 percent of alumni, more than ever before at Tuck or any other business school for that matter. This year marks the fourth in a row that more than 70 percent of Tuck graduates have contributed to the TAG campaign, which is more than double the average giving rate of other business schools, the school notes. Read more
Published: July 20, 2014
Admissions Director Q&A: Soojin Kwon of the Ross School of Business
We are thrilled to launch the latest edition of the Clear Admit's Admissions Director Q&A Series. We began interviewing admissions directors at leading business schools back in 2008, and we circle back regularly to capture changes and new developments in the dynamic field of graduate management admissions. We kick off this most recent round of interviews with Ross School of Business Admissions Director Soojin Kwon, who has been leading the admissions team at the Ann Arbor school since 2006. A Ross graduate herself, she knows the school’s admissions process from both sides. During her tenure at the school, she has worked to increase the transparency of the application process through her blog and other online forums. Read more
Published: July 17, 2014
Fridays from the Frontline: GMAT Anticipation and Regret
This week in the business school blogosphere, applicants are gearing up to take the GMAT or contemplating what went wrong for them last time. Meanwhile current students prepare to enter the business world, and alumni look back on their time in business school. Scheduled to take the GMAT next week, Naijambagal shares his advice on GMAT test-taking, which comes down to knowing the material, doing practice questions, reviewing your mistakes and not getting nervous.  The last one is easier said than done! Read more
Published: July 16, 2014
Yale School of Management Implements Sliding Scale Application Fee Structure
Yale School of Management (SOM) yesterday announced that its 2014-2015 MBA application is now live. While the application itself features no major changes from last year’s, the school is implementing a new sliding scale application fee structure designed to increase access for applicants from lower-wage regions and industries or who are still in school or at the beginning of their careers. Most applicants will pay the standard $225 application fee, but applicants whose total compensation is less than $20,000 a year will pay $175, and those with a total compensation of less than $10,000 will pay $125. Compensation information Read more

MBA Applywire

4
November 27, 2024 12:00pm ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, London Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Eingeneer
Post-MBA Target Industry: Other
GMAT: 675
GPA: 3,5
Years of Work Experience: 4.8
Location: Chile
4
November 27, 2024 9:07am ET
Applying: Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Finance Manager
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Accenture , AT Kearney , Bain , BCG , Deloitte , Ernst & Young , McKinsey , PWC
GMAT: 690
GPA: 3.79
Years of Work Experience: 2
7
November 27, 2024 9:07am ET
Applying: Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, Notre Dame / Mendoza, UNC Kenan-Flagler, UVA / Darden, Vanderbilt / Owen
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Banking
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Commercial Banking Companies: Accenture , AT Kearney , Bain , PWC , Bank of America
GRE: 306
GPA: 3.64
Years of Work Experience: 5
Location: Africa
Notes:

Recently wrote the GRE. It's not a super score but I will probably apply with it anyway. I am still considering retaking the test, as the next time I can take it is around the Round 2 deadline.

My educational background is in social sciences, so wasn't very quant-heavy. Looking at taking an additional quant course to back up my GRE score as the exam fee is about 10x the minimum wage in my country. Any suggestion is welcomed.
5
November 27, 2024 6:51am ET
Applying: Dartmouth / Tuck, Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Program Manager, Humanitarian INGO
Post-MBA Target Industry: Entrepreneurship, Non Profit/SI
GMAT: 685
GPA: 3.27
Years of Work Experience: 4
Location: US Citizen (positioned abroad)
Notes:

Long time listener first time caller. Love the podcast! Adding my profile just because I want to be part of the community.

R2 applicant for Fall 2025 entry.

Background: mid-to-late 20s US citizen, lower-income single parent upbringing.

Work experience: currently a manager at a humanitarian INGO in active / post-conflict settings (think Afghanistan, Yemen, etc.) with several million in project budget under management and overseeing multiple teams. Will have been in emergency aid for 2 years upon matriculation, career before that was 1 year quantitative analyst ---> 1 year teaching English abroad. High impact job, recently promoted.

Academics: 3.27 cumulative. Small state school for first year with a 4.0. Transferred to an Ivy, but had to work full time to support family, had just above a 3.0 at the Ivy. I've also done a masters since at a top 5 UK (shout-out to Alex!) with distinction (3.9+ equivalent). Additionally, took Calculus this year (got an A-) to give schools a bit more reassurance on quant abilities since my quant record in college had its ups and downs, and to demonstrate respect for the rigors of the Y1 MBA curriculum.

Test: took the GMAT only once, 685 (86V 82Q 84D). First mock exam was a 625 with a terrible quant score, but brought quant up to 76th percentile with a couple months of study. Internet is too slow to take online, so only had one chance to do it in-person while I was on leave -- retake physically impossible even if I wanted to.

ECs: Very focused on social entrepreneurship. Have also been helping teach / support one of the foreign language programs at the state school I originally went to and transferred out of. Community service award as well, and mountain climber.

Post-MBA goal is social entrepreneurship that can help people in crisis contexts.

I've listened to enough Wire Taps to guess exactly what the advice will be: "You might want to cast a wider net due to the lower GPA, right now you're only targeting top schools." -- Absolutely fair call. However, what I want to do is extremely difficult and will require a ton of resources. I've selected the programs I think best fit my goals / have a strong social and entrepreneurial mission. I don't particularly mind getting dinged everywhere and reapplying next year if need be.

Long post, thanks for reading! Have a great holiday!
2
November 27, 2024 3:06am ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Harvard Business School
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Technology
Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology, Entrepreneurship Companies: Amazon , Apple , Microsoft
GMAT: 675
GPA: 3.2
Years of Work Experience: 5
Location: India
Post MBA Location: Bay Area / New York
Notes:

I wanted to get your thoughts on my R2 Strategy.

I've 2.5 years of work in Deloitte Strategy Consulting (promoted)
Worked at a unicorn tech startup for a year in a strategy team
Founded my own startup, after multiple side projects for an year
Currently working at another early-tech startup as a program manager

In the long and short term, I'm looking at entrepreneurship. with short-term flexible to be PM in Business Technology companies

I'm interviewed at Columbia MBAxMS, Cornell Tech MBA, USC Marshall
Waitlisted at NYU Tech MBA.

What should be my R2 strategy. Thinking to go optimistic and target dream schools.
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MBA LiveWire

November 27, 2024 1:46pm ET
Rejected at Washington U. / Olin
Round: Round 1
Received via portal November 27, 2024
GPA: 3.9
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Operations Management
Application Location: Asia
November 27, 2024 12:44pm ET
Accepted to Washington U. / Olin
Round: Round 2
Received via phone November 27, 2024
GPA: 3.75
GRE: 330
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: Phoenix
Note:

Consortium and received a full-ride plus a stipend. Interviewed on November 10th and received offer today, November 27th.
I feel very optimistic for Booth and Yale results next week.
November 27, 2024 12:29pm ET
Accepted to Cornell / Johnson
Round: Round 1
Received via portal November 27, 2024
GPA: 3.94
Program Type: One Year Program
Target Career: Technology
Application Location: India
Note:

Interviewed for Cornell Tech MBA program on 13th Nov. GMAT/GRE test waiver.
November 27, 2024 10:41am ET
Accepted to NYU Stern
Round: Round 1
Received via email on November 25, 2024
GMAT: 715
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Finance
Application Location: India
Note:

Interview on 7/11. Received email regarding a status update. No scholarship
November 27, 2024 10:38am ET
Accepted to Cornell / Johnson
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 27, 2024
GPA: 3.65
Program Type: One Year Program
Target Career: Entrepreneurship
Application Location: New York City
Note:

Interviewed on November 11th. Received admissions offer on November 27th. Applied for Cornell Tech MBA.
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