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Published: August 28, 2022
Wire Taps 249—Eastern European with low GRE score. Retaking the GMAT, modest GPA. Strong numbers, strong profile
This week’s episode kicks off with a look ahead to this week’s admissions deadlines for Oxford / Said and ISB. Graham and Alex also discussed the current activity on MBA LiveWire from those applying to Columbia Early Decision and J-Term rounds. Graham noted two recently published Adcom Q&As, from the ISB and UC Irvine; he then brought up the recent publication of a ‘Real Numbers’ piece on the percent of students who are US minorities at the top programs in the United States. This led to a discussion regarding the important distinction between being an under-represented minority Read more
Published: August 28, 2022
Emory Goizueta Secures Over $41M in Scholarship Donations
Emory University’s Goizueta Business School announced recently they have secured more than $41 million in new scholarship donations with three more years of the fundraising campaign remaining. Goizueta considers student scholarships a fundraising priority, as a means to attract the best and brightest students. “The cost of pursuing a graduate degree is a significant investment,” said Melissa Rapp, associate dean of graduate admissions at Goizueta. “Scholarships provide individual students financial relief and allow our school to attract the most sought-after student talent. More broadly, this funding benefits communities by establishing a pipeline of diverse and talented students Read more
Published: August 25, 2022
Harvard Business School Announces Full-Tuition Scholarships
Harvard Business School (HBS) seeks to remove cost as a barrier to higher education with the announcement that they will provide scholarships to cover the total cost of tuition and course fees for those with the greatest financial need. This will apply to approximately 10 percent of the HBS MBA student body. While students will be responsible for their own living expenses, the funding from the school works out to $76,000 per year for the two-year program. More scholarship support will also be made available to middle income students. “We know that talent is much more evenly distributed than Read more
Published: August 24, 2022
A CEO, A CMO, and 2 Founders: Meet 4 Tuck MBA Alumni Bettering the World Through Business
Sponsored Content The mission of the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business is to develop wise, decisive leaders who better the world through business. Through the foundational first-year core curriculum, innovative second-year electives, and immersive, team-based learning experience, Tuck MBAs accumulate the functional expertise of strategic thinking and management, the analytic skills used to develop and defend points of view, and the empathy to understand and work effectively with others. They learn to make the right decisions by thoughtfully defining, analyzing, and solving problems and seizing opportunities. They understand Read more
Published: August 24, 2022
Associate Director of Admissions Q&A: Lindsay Haberman of UCI Merage
We head to California to learn about University of California, Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business (UCI Merage) from Lindsay Haberman, Associate Director of Recruitment and Admissions for the Full-Time MBA Program, in this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series. Lindsay joined the Merage School in April 2015 and has worked primary with the FEMBA and Full-Time MBA students. She has held multiple roles, starting as a coordinator and now in her current role working with MBA Recruitment and Admissions. Her main responsibilities include recruitment, event management and marketing. Prior to the Merage Read more
Published: August 23, 2022
Real Numbers of MBA Admissions: Percentage of U.S. Minorities at Top U.S. Business Schools
The percentage of U.S. minorities at top U.S. business schools can provide a sense of the diversity you will find in your MBA program. U.S. minorities is defined as enrolled students at business school who are US citizens or permanent residents who self identify as African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American, Asian Pacific, or Asian Indian. See the percentage of minorities as reported by top business schools in the chart below. U.S. School % U.S. Minorities Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business 44% Columbia Business School 40% Cornell University SC Johnson Graduate School of Management 43%** Dartmouth Read more
Published: August 22, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Dibyendu Bose of the Indian School of Business
In this edition of our ongoing Admissions Director Q&A series, we hear from Dibyendu Bose, the Senior Director of Admissions & Financial Aid and Alumni Engagement at Indian School of Business (ISB), about their Post Graduate Program in Management (PGP). His marketing portfolio includes the flagship MBA and EMBA equivalent programmes (PGP suite) as well as Advanced Management programmes (AMP suite) at ISB. In his role as the head of the Office of Alumni Engagement, he is responsible for integrating the global alumni community through different School initiatives and making them an integral part of Read more
Published: August 21, 2022
Wire Taps 248—Indian EdTech entrepreneur. Aerospace and Defense engineer. Enlisted Army linguist.
This week’s podcast kicks off with a discussion of the recently released class profiles for UCLA / Anderson and Cornell / Johnson. Both programs showcase impressive incoming students and stats overall, but there are some notable trends to observe around application volume and an uptick in the percentage of international students. Alex and Graham wonder if this potentially leads to some downward pressure on gender diversity, as the international pool traditionally has fewer women (as a percentage) than the domestic pool. Alex noted the fast-approaching R1 deadlines for this season, and Graham highlighted the Adcom Q&As that Read more
Published: August 17, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Maria Pineda of University of Maryland Smith School of Business
For this installment of our Admissions Director Q&A series, it’s time to learn all about the MBA program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Maria Pineda has been with UMD Smith for over 15 years. As the Senior Director of Admissions, Maria manages the recruiting efforts for Full Time MBA and Specialty Master’s Programs. She joins us again to discuss admissions, essays, interviews and more. Maria Pineda, Senior Director of Admissions at The University of Maryland Clear Admit: What is the one aspect of your program that you wish Read more
Published: August 16, 2022
Cornell Johnson MBA Class Profile: Two-Year MBA Class of 2024
See the Cornell Johnson MBA Class of 2025 profile here.  The Cornell MBA class profile for the Two-Year Class of 2024 mirrors the Class of 2023 in some ways, with a few upward shifts in GMAT scores and percentage of international students. Cornell’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management maintained a class size of 303 students compared to 304 last year. They also matched last year’s composition of 39 percent women. The median GMAT score for the Class of 2024 rose ten points to 710, compared to 700 for the Class Read more
Published: August 15, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Chris Adams of The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business
In this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A, get an inside look at MBA admissions and opportunities at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. Chris Adams is the Director of Recruitment and Outreach for graduate programs at OSU Fisher and has the scoop on what makes the university and its Columbus, OH, base so attractive. Chris began his career as a marketing professional and PROSCI-certified change management consultant, launching real-world solutions in industries ranging from higher education to finance. Over the last six years, he’s been helping students take the next step in their careers Read more
Published: August 14, 2022
Wire Taps 247—Super GMAT modest GPA conundrum. Hungarian consultant. Brazilian banker
This week’s episode of WireTaps kicks off with a discussion on the percentage of international students at the top US MBA programs. There is quite a difference in the numbers at Stanford and Columbia versus Wharton and Harvard. Alex and Graham speculated as to the reasons. Your hosts also noted the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines for Round 1, which begin at the end of August. Graham then highlighted an upcoming webinar (August 17) featuring alumni who appeared in our Real Humans series to discuss their career paths. You can sign up here: https://bit.ly/realhumanswebinar Graham also highlighted the Read more
Published: August 11, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Chris Healy of Manchester AMBS
We have another informative Admissions Director Q&A for you, this time with Chris Healy, the Head of MBA Marketing & Recruitment at Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) at the University of Manchester. Chris has 15 years of experience in graduate management education and a passion for GME that has only grown over time. He’s implemented and developed marketing and recruitment strategies both domestically and internationally, to meet the academic and commercial objectives of the school. During this time, he’s gained experience and insight in the UK, Western Europe, Central Asia, Middle East, North America, Read more
Published: August 10, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Anna Farrus of IMD
Director of MBA Recruitment and Admissions at IMD, Anna Farrus, joins us for this installment of our Admissions Director Q&A series. Anna started at IMD business school in 2018. She oversees MBA recruitment and admissions and, earlier this year, took on the additional role of heading up the Career Development Center. Prior to her current role with IMD, she worked in admissions for two other European b-schools, IESE Business School and Oxford Saïd. Read on for her insights into IMD, what to expect in the admissions interview, how to write a strong application and Read more
Published: August 9, 2022
UCLA MBA Class Profile: A Smaller, Yet Still Diverse, Class of 2024
See the UCLA Anderson MBA Class of 2025 profile here. The UCLA Anderson School of Management has released their MBA Class of 2024 profile. Amid an industry downturn in applications, Anderson reports a roughly 20 percent drop compared to last year–from 3,085 to 2,471 applications received. The class size also settled at 330, compared to 360 the past few years. The program saw an 11 percent increase in international students and seven percent drop in female students compared to last year, too. Here are some key elements of the profile Read more
Published: August 8, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Justin Aier of Boston College’s Carroll School of Management
For this Admissions Director Q&A, Justin Aier, Assistant Dean of Graduate Recruitment & Enrollment at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, joins us to discuss the dynamic MBA program. He’s been a part of the Carroll School Graduate Admissions team for close to five years, has taken on roles from marketing and communications to recruitment and enrollment management. His favorite part of the admissions process is personally working with applicants to determine how the BC MBA can help them achieve their academic and professional goals. Read on for his insights into their admissions process, Read more
Published: August 7, 2022
Wire Taps 246—Over-represented, retake the GMAT? Professional gambling pastime. Military candidate, seeking deferral.
This episode kicks off with a brief conversation about Alex and Graham’s first webinar for Clear Admit+ subscribers. It was a fun and intimate event, allowing Alex and Graham to provide direct feedback on specific subscriber questions. The second Clear Admit+ webinar is scheduled for Monday, August 29. More details on Clear Admit+ are here:  https://www.clearadmit.com/clearadmit-plus/ Beyond ClearAdmit+ news, Graham highlighted the recently published UPenn / Wharton class profile. Wharton is the first school to announce their class profile this season, and it certainly includes some impressive numbers. One element that your hosts neglected to mention is the drop Read more
Published: August 4, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Gail Saegert & Jessica Lunce of SMU Cox
Learn about the SMU Cox School of Business in this Admissions Director Q&A with two associate directors of full-time MBA admissions from the program, Gail Saegert and Jessica Lunce. Gail Saegert (L) and Jessica Lunce (R), Associate Directors, Full-Time MBA Admissions at SMU Cox Gail graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a bachelor’s degree in International Business and worked in insurance and edtech before discovering her passion of working with business school students. She started her higher education career at London Business School, before moving on to Michigan Ross and SMU Cox. She has Read more
Published: August 3, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Wendy Guild, Ph.D., of University of Washington Foster School of Business
This edition of our Admissions Director Q&A takes us to Seattle to hear all about the University of Washington Foster School of Business from Assistant Dean of MBA Programs, Wendy Guild, Ph.D. At Foster, Wendy’s administrative work reflects her longstanding commitment to student development through her collaborative strategic leadership of advertising, marketing, recruitment, admissions, curriculum, and student services. Her teaching focuses on leadership, strategy, field studies, study tours, and sports and entertainment management. Her research focuses on creating engaging experiential learning content. Previously, Wendy worked at UCLA Anderson as Assistant Dean of Strategic Initiatives, Read more
Published: August 2, 2022
MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series Fall 2022
We’re sure you’ve already heard that the application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process without the use of sample essays? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series! Dates: September 14, September 21, September 28. Time: 12 pm-1 pm Panel & 1 pm-1:30 pm Breakout Q&A with Individual Schools (all times Eastern) Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel, hosted by Clear Read more
Published: August 1, 2022
MBA Real Humans: Alumni – LIVE Webinar Summer 2022
The Clear Admit Real Humans: Alumni Series spotlights recent graduates from the world’s top MBA programs. Each of the alumni provide feedback on their MBA experiences and share how business school prepared them for their careers at leading firms. Join us at 8 pm ET on Wednesday, August 17th to hear from a group of our featured alumni on the following: 1. What was the most rewarding thing about your MBA experience? 2. How has your MBA helped you in your career? 3. Think back on the recruiting process for your first post-MBA role, what are some Read more
Published: August 1, 2022
Wharton MBA Class of 2024: Holding Steady & Stellar
See the Wharton MBA Class of 2025 profile here. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania just released the class profile for the MBA Class of 2024. The school received 6,319 applications, a 14 percent drop from last year, and 877 candidates will matriculate this month. The class maintains gender parity, with 50 percent of the new class comprised of women. Other statistics also mirror or stay within single digits of the profile for last year, showing that Wharton is holding steady in the wake of Covid. Here are Read more
Published: August 1, 2022
Admissions Director Q&A: Morgan Janela of Columbia Business School
We welcome Morgan Janela, a Director of Admissions at Columbia Business School, for our latest Admissions Director Q&A to discuss all things CBS MBA admissions. Morgan oversees the operations and evaluations team, and serves as a member of the Admissions Committee for the MBA and Executive MBA programs, reading, evaluating, and interviewing candidates. Before leading the operations team, she worked on the full-time recruiting team, who helped oversee on-campus recruiting events. Prior to joining CBS in September 2013, Morgan was an Assistant Director of Admission at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Program Assistant Read more
Published: July 31, 2022
Wire Taps 245—Space career to help differentiate. Lots of potential, for next season. Using the MBA to help relocate?
This week’s episode of WireTaps kicks off with some discussion about the recent rollout of Clear Admit+, our new subscription service (which we are very excited to have launched!). Clear Admit+ comprises more than 4 hours of proprietary video content that Graham and Alex recently recorded in London. The subscription also includes access to our data dashboard, unlimited access to Clear Admit publications, and a monthly webinar series, the first of which is scheduled for today. More details are here: https://www.clearadmit.com/clearadmit-plus/ Beyond chatting about Clear Admit+, Graham highlighted the recent Adcom Q&As with Stanford and Arizona State / Carey. Read more
Published: July 28, 2022
Real Numbers of MBA Admissions: Percentage of Female MBA Students
Over the past decade, the percentage of female MBA students has been on the rise across leading business schools. USC Marshall was the first leading business school to achieve gender parity while others have achieved or continue to strive for that benchmark. The Forté Foundation has also consistently reported that women are either gaining or holding their ground on b-school campuses. Look at the chart below to see the percentage of female MBA students at leading business schools around the globe. Business School % Women Arizona State University Read more

MBA Applywire

5
November 27, 2024 5:44pm ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Duke / Fuqua, MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, UPenn / Wharton
Pre-MBA Career: Corporate Communication Specialist
Post-MBA Target Industry: Other
GPA: 3.9
Years of Work Experience: 6
Location: Indonesia
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!
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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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