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Published: October 19, 2022
CBS Interview Questions & Report: Early Decision / Alumni / Zoom
9/01 – Applied 9/22 – Received Interview Invite via email. Submitted interview request form, matched with an alumni, and scheduled a virtual interview. 9/26 – Zoom interview, resume-based only. The alumni interviewer (~10 years out of CBS) submitted feedback immediately after the interview. I think they were filling out the feedback form as we spoke. 10/5 – Accepted! List of Interview Questions — – Tell me about yourself / work experience / background. – Why MBA? – Career goals – immediately after and long term. – Backup plan? Commentary — The interview Read more
Published: October 19, 2022
MBA Applicants – We Need Your Input! $25 Gift Card Opportunity!
How do global factors inform your decision about pursing an MBA? How do you engage with business schools and decide where – and when – to apply? We certainly have some ideas – but we want to hear from you! Clear Admit is conducting an online survey to learn more about your decision-making as you consider business schools and where/when you plan to apply. This anonymous survey will take you 10-15 minutes to complete. If you’re applying or planning to apply to full-time MBA programs for Fall 2023 enrollment or later, then we’d love to hear from you! Read more
Published: October 19, 2022
Real Humans of Vanderbilt Owen’s MBA Class of 2024
This edition of our Real Humans: MBA Students series takes us to Nashville to meet some new members of the Vanderbilt Owen MBA Class of 2024. Vanderbilt Owen welcomed 147 new students in the fall of 2022. Twenty-nine percent are women and 31 percent are international, which includes foreign nationals, dual citizens and U.S. permanent residents. A fifth of the new class identify as a U.S. minority. During their undergraduate years, Owen MBAs earned an average 3.43 GPA. Their average GMAT score landed at 690 and the median at 700. The middle 80 percent Read more
Published: October 18, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Shari Hubert of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business
In this Admissions Director Q&A, get the inside scoop on MBA admissions at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Shari Hubert, Associate Dean of Admissions, is responsible for overseeing recruitment and admissions for the school’s portfolio of ten business degree programs. Prior to Fuqua, she was in charge of admissions for the Full-time and Evening MBA programs at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Hubert has extensive experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, and entered higher education after working for the Peace Corps as director of recruitment within the Office Read more
Published: October 17, 2022
NYU Stern MBA Class of 2022 Employment Report: Record-High Compensation
See the NYU Stern employment report for the MBA Class of 2023 here. The NYU Stern School of Business MBA Class of 2022 achieved record-high compensation, including the school’s highest ever median base salary and mean total compensation, according to the new employment report. The median base salary increased $15,000 over last year’s class to an all-time record of $170,000. Average total compensation for the Class of 2022 climbed $14,340 to $196,143, another record. 94.1 percent of Stern MBA graduates accepted jobs within three months of graduation. Associate Dean of Career Read more
Published: October 17, 2022
CBS Interview Questions & Report: Early Decision / Alum / Off-Campus
The alum seemed very pleasant and casual. It was a very “fit” type interview, with the alum asking mostly questions about “Why MBA” and “Why my chosen field.” Questions about what clubs I would join as well as why my backup plan was if my initial plan failed were also asked. I was surprised how nonchalant (in a good way) and chill the alum was. I think CBS probably uses interviews to weed out people with toxic personalities, and that the interview doesn’t play a huge part in the admissions decision. Read more
Published: October 17, 2022
Real Humans of the OSU Fisher MBA Class of 2024
It’s time to head to The Ohio State and meet some new members of the Fisher College of Business MBA Class of 2024 in this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students. Fifty-six new MBA students joined Fisher in the Fall of 2022. Thirty-two percent of the new class are women and 43 percent are international. Nine percent identify as a member of a domestic minority group. During their undergraduate years, 41 percent pursued undergraduate degrees in business. Another 23 percent had studied arts and sciences, and 20 percent Read more
Published: October 16, 2022
Berkeley Haas MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off Campus
The interview was very conversational and lasted for about 45mins. 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why MBA? Why Haas? 3. How will you foster DEI? 4. Tell me about a time you motivated your team members. What was the outcome? 5. Another question about why I’m interested in Haas. 6. Questions for the interviewer. Overall I enjoyed the conversation and learned a lot from his stories. Read more
Published: October 16, 2022
Dartmouth Tuck MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Zoom
The interviewer was a friendly second-year student, we started with some small talk. The interview was only based on my resume. It lasted 45 minutes. I received the following questions: Tell me about yourself. Why did you choose your first job? Tell me about these specific interests on your resume. Why Tuck? Why is now the right time for an MBA? What is your greatest professional accomplishment? Tell me about a time you helped someone even when it wasn’t convenient for you. Tell me about a time you received feedback. How would you contribute to a study group at Tuck? Read more
Published: October 16, 2022
Duke Fuqua MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / On-Campus
I opted for the open interview and a full day of programming. My interview was at 9 am, and I checked in at 8:30 am and found two very welcoming first-year students waiting in the lobby, giving us company and engaging in great conversations. The interview started promptly at 9:00 am, with the interviewer briefly going over the process and introducing a little about himself. The questions thereafter flowed as follows (and I might be paraphrasing a bit here): 1. Please introduce yourself and share with me your journey thus far. 2. Why MBA? 3. Why Fuqua? Read more
Published: October 16, 2022
NYU Stern MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / AdCom / Zoom
The interview was relatively conversational. It began with tell me about yourself? And then the standard: – Why NYU? – What makes this program different than others? – Walk me through some feedback that you received and how you were able to leverage this for your development. The interviewer was super friendly and approachable. Read more
Published: October 16, 2022
Wire Taps 257—13 Applications in one round? Pivoting to investment banking. Start-up experience to tech product management
This edition of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions podcast kicks off with a quick review of the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines for this week, including final decisions from both Duke / Fuqua and UVA / Darden for their Early Action rounds. Alex and Graham then discussed the considerable activity last week on Live Wire in terms of interview invites for several top MBA programs. Graham highlighted three Real Humans pieces for Cambridge / Judge, CMU / Tepper and Rice / Jones and also noted the new adcom Q&As for INSEAD and CMU / Tepper. Your Read more
Published: October 13, 2022
Real Humans of the Cambridge Judge MBA Class of 2023
In this edition of our Real Humans: MBA Students series, we head to Cambridge University’s Judge Business School in England to meet some new members of the Class of 2023. 210 students matriculated at the one-year MBA program for the Class of 2023. Forty-seven percent are women and the class represents 46 different nationalities. During their undergraduate years, 34 percent had majored in business/accounting/finance. A quarter had studied engineering and 13 percent had studied other STEM disciplines. Fourteen percent earned degrees in economics followed by nine percent in social sciences. Five percent came from Read more
Published: October 13, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Teresa Peiro-Camaro of INSEAD
We continue our Admissions Director Q&A series with Teresa Peiro-Camaro, the Associate Director, Global Admissions at INSEAD. Based in Fontainebleau, France, she leads the Admissions Office team, which oversees the admissions process for Degree Programmes and is responsible for the class composition for Executive Degrees and MBA. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring that each INSEAD cohort brings together people, cultures, and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society. Teresa and her team accompany candidates along the entire application journey, helping them to explore their driving motivation and to fulfill Read more
Published: October 12, 2022
Duke Fuqua MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / On-Campus
The waiting area was friendly and lively with other candidates having conversation and student representatives placed in the room to chat with while you wait. My interviewer was a second-year and was friendly but professional. It was a resume-based interview that lasted about 30 minutes with an additional 15 or so for my questions. It seemed like fit was a really important emphasis of the conversation as opposed to purely professional achievements and goals. After finishing the interview, I felt even stronger that I wanted to attend. Questions: Tell me about yourself Why MBA? Why are you ready now? What Read more
Published: October 12, 2022
INSEAD MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumni / Zoom
My first interview was with an alumna based locally who graduated ~10 years ago (over Zoom). It was very conversational, and she naturally weaved in several questions. The questions I remember were: – Walk me through your resume. – What do you do in your spare time? – What will you do in your time outside academics at INSEAD? – Several probing questions in my application essays (more detail around specific failures, achievements, etc.). – Why do I want to return to the same place after INSEAD? It lasted an hour and I left the interview Read more
Published: October 12, 2022
Real Humans of the Rice Business MBA Class of 2024
For this edition of our Real Humans: MBA Students series, we meet some new members of Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business MBA Class of 2024. 160 students matriculated into the Rice Business MBA program in the fall of 2022. Thirty-nine percent are women and 42 percent are international, representing 21 countries. Sixty-one percent identify as U.S. minorities and 35 percent identify as U.S. underrepresented minorities. During their undergraduate years, Rice Business MBA students had an average GPA of 3.43. Fifty-three percent had majored in a STEM discipline. Forty percent pursued degrees in Read more
Published: October 11, 2022
UVA Darden Interview Questions & Report: Early Action / Second-Year Student / Zoom
The second-year student did not have my resume or anything from my application. They made me feel very comfortable in a heavily conversation-based interview. It was roughly 40 min long, we went past the allotted time, but the student was very engaged and wanted to continue. We started with “Tell me about yourself” and subsequent questions were based off of my responses, not a set list. Why did you go into your industry? Why do you want to leave? Why MBA? Why Darden? The rest of the interview was focused on specifics about what I was interested in at Darden Read more
Published: October 11, 2022
Admission Director Q&A: J.R. McGrath of Carnegie Mellon Tepper
The new Executive Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business joins us for this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A. J.R. has been at Tepper for the past 19 months as Director of Masters Recruiting and just accepted the role of Executive Director at the beginning of October. He has previously served in leadership roles at SMU Cox, TCU and Syracuse. In addition to his professional responsibilities, JR and his wife have a young daughter that keeps them busy. J.R. also enjoys running, golf and anything to do with Read more
Published: October 11, 2022
Michigan Ross MBA Class of 2024: Strong Academics, Gains in Representation
The University of Michigan Ross School of Business welcomed a diverse MBA Class of 2024. Here are some key elements of the profile: Michigan Ross MBA Class of 2024: Undergraduate Background Average Undergraduate GPA 3.5 Percent majoring in STEM 40% Percent majoring in business 38% Percent majoring in humanities 22% Michigan Ross MBA Class of 2024: GMAT Statistics Average GMAT Score 720 GMAT Score Middle 80% 680 – 760 Michigan Ross MBA Class of 2024: GRE Statistics GRE Average Quant 160 GRE Average Verbal 160 Ross MBA Class Profile: Student Characteristics Women Read more
Published: October 10, 2022
Duke Fuqua Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / On-Campus
Interview conducted on campus during the Veterans Symposium weekend. General casual conversation with specific interview questions mixed in. Started out with “walk me through your resume,” and we delved a little deeper into a couple specific stories or positions. Some specific interview questions: -Tell me about a time you had a conflict with your boss and how you navigated it. -Can you describe how you would handle a situation where you disagree with a group member’s approach to a challenge? -Tell me about a time you struggled and how you handled it. -You have one minute with Read more
Published: October 10, 2022
Real Humans of Carnegie Mellon Tepper MBA Class of 2024
The Carnegie Mellon Tepper MBA Class of 2024 has a lot to share in this edition of our Real Humans: MBA Students series. 192 students matriculated at Tepper this fall for the full-time MBA Class of 2024. Thirty-one percent are women and 56 percent are international. Seventeen percent of the class identify as underrepresented minorities. Located in Pittsburgh, PA, the Tepper School is the birthplace of the data-informed and emotionally intelligent approach to business: The Intelligent Future. The school offers a STEM-certified MBA program in four formats: Full-Time, Part-Time Online Hybrid, Part-Time Flex, and Read more
Published: October 9, 2022
Wire Taps 256—London-based finance guy. Tech applicant seeking entrepreneurship. Indian lawyer, next season.
This week’s action-packed episode runs the gamut from admissions gossip to HBS interview invites, and from Fortune’s MBA ranking to candidate profile reviews…  Alex and Graham kick things off by reviewing the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines, including UNC / Kenan Flagler, Texas / McCombs and USC / Marshall.  They also discuss the activity on MBA LiveWire as Harvard released its Round 1 interview invites. This led to a segment on the forthcoming departure of Chad Losee from Harvard, who joins admissions directors from Stanford, Columbia, Michigan, Tepper, and more as part of an admissions exodus. Graham then highlighted Read more
Published: October 6, 2022
Real Humans of Rochester Simon’s MBA Class of 2024
We head to upstate New York for this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students to meet some new members of the Class of 2024 at the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School. The new class numbers 112 students. Forty-three percent are women and 46 percent are international. Thirty-five percent of U.S. students identify as African America, Black, Hispanic American or Native American. The middle 80 percent of GPAs during their undergraduate years ranged from 2.9 to 3.9. When it came time to take the GMAT, the middle 80 percent of Simon MBAs’ scores landed Read more
Published: October 5, 2022
Stanford GSB MBA Class of 2024: Ready for Impact
See the Stanford GSB MBA Class of 2025 profile here. The Stanford Graduate School of Business welcomed 424 new students to its MBA Class of 2024. Kirsten Moss, Assistant Dean and Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, said in the school’s press release on the class profile, “Our newest students have already reached significant milestones in their personal and professional lives. The rich diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives will enable them to work together to tackle some of society’s most pressing challenges.” Here are some key elements 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 8:22pm ET
Accepted to Cornell / Johnson
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 27, 2024
GRE: 327
Program Type: One Year Program
Target Career: Technology
Application Location: San Francisco
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
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