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Published: June 1, 2014
Harvard Business School’s HBX Online Program Reveals Deeper Debate
As Harvard Business School (HBS) prepares to debut its new online education program on June 11th, some of its leading professors debate the strategy behind the school’s decision regarding how to respond to the rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs). A New York Times article yesterday explored the thinking behind HBS’s online platform, HBX, which will attempt to preserve and extend the school’s competitive advantage by creating online courses that, unlike MOOCs, replicate HBS’s distinctive discussion-based case method teaching, but that do not compete with the MBA itself. Read more
Published: May 29, 2014
Brown University to Begin Issuing EMBA Degree as Part of Joint Program with IE Business School
The governing body of Brown University voted earlier this month to begin issuing a master’s in business administration for the first time – to graduates of a collaborative 15-month executive MBA program the school has offered since 2011 with Madrid’s IE Business School, according to a report in Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Previously, graduates of the program received a degree only from the Spanish school. In conferring its own degree, Brown now leaves Princeton as the only school among the Ivy League to not issue an MBA degree of any sort. The Brown University Corporation, which governs the Rhode Island university, approved a proposal presented to the faculty earlier this year to beginning issues its own degree to students who complete the EMBA program, which Brown hopes will lead more students to apply to the program, according to the Bloomberg BW article. Read more
Published: May 27, 2014
HEC Paris Inaugurates New e-Lab
Earlier this month, leading European business school HEC Paris launched its new e-Lab, a unique space designed to support entrepreneurship, creativity, teamwork and communication through by making high-tech technology available to its students. “The ‘e’ in e-Lab signifies both ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘electronic,’ emphasizing the close link between the two,” read a release on the HEC Paris website announcing the May 20th inauguration of the new space. Designed for use by HEC Paris students interested in entrepreneurship, the e-Lab features video-conferencing capabilities, walls completely covered in "white board" paint, and portable equipment that can be moved easily to facilitate collaboration. Read more
Published: May 26, 2014
Emory University’s Goizueta Business School Appoints First-Ever African-American Woman Dean
Erika Hayes James, PhD, will become the next dean of Goizueta Business School at Emory University, the school announced earlier this month. James, who will assume her new role on July 15th, comes to Goizueta from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, where she served most recently as senior associate dean for executive education. “Erika James has all of the qualities that we want for a leader at Goizueta,” Emory Provost Claire Sterk said in a statement. “She brings a background of impressive scholarship and strong skills in academic administration, and she will work collaboratively with faculty, students, staff, alumni and supporters to take the school to the next level—all the while honoring the principled leadership of Mr. Goizueta’s legacy.” Read more
Published: May 22, 2014
Columbia Business School Annual Dinner Rakes in $3.2 Million
A gala event held earlier this month helped raise more than $3 million to fund financial aid, faculty research and entrepreneurial outreach at Columbia Business School, the school reports. The school’s 38th Annual Dinner drew more than 800 people to New York City’s Waldorf Astoria on Monday, May 5th. Setting a record, 60 new donors contributed 11 percent of the $3.2 million in total funds raised. There were 173 gifts in total, consistent with last year. Attendees included 120 current students from the full-time MBA, EMBA and EMBA-Global programs, as well as more than 40 alumni club leaders representing 30 regional alumni clubs, 13 countries, and two affinity clubs, the school reports. Read more
Published: May 21, 2014
UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business Joined by Growing Number of Partners in OneMBA® Program
Kenan-Flagler was one of the four founding partner schools of the OneMBA® Program. Other founding partners include Mexico’s EGADE Business School Tecnológico de Monterrey (EGADE Business School), Brazil’s Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-EAESP) and Erasmus University's Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) in the Netherlands. This week, OneMBA announced its newest partner, the School of Management at Xiamen University. OneMBA is a global executive MBA program offered in partnership by business schools around the world. In the 12 years since its launch, OneMBA had established a reputation for itself as one of the world’s most unique and diverse international MBA programs, according to Yifeng Shen, dean of the Xiamen University School of Management (SMXMU). “OneMBA's vision and goals reflect those of Tan Kah Kee, the ‘Henry Ford of Asia,’ who founded Xiamen University and its business program in 1921 with the call to serve China while embracing world cultures,” Shen said in a statement. Read more
Published: May 20, 2014
What a Harvard Business School MBA Doesn’t Teach You
With just days to go before he graduates, Harvard Business School (HBS) student Ben Faw compiled a list of things he didn’t learn at HBS into a compelling infographic that quickly became one of the most popular blog posts on LinkedIn earlier this week. Since Clear Admit readers often have HBS in their sights, we thought we’d share some of Faw’s insights here. An army combat veteran, Faw had the idea to dispel some of the misconceptions he thinks people sometimes have about the MBA, and especially about the HBS MBA. With the assistance of fellow classmates and a local startup, he helped create an informative post to tackle the myths one by one. Read more
Published: May 19, 2014
GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey Reveals Strong Hiring Forecasts for MBAs
Good news for MBAs seeking jobs. The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) released the results of its annual global survey of employers, revealing that 80 percent of business school recruiters plan to hire MBAs in 2014. That’s up seven percentage points from last year and a whopping 30 percentage points over 2009, in the midst of the economic crisis. GMAC’s annual Corporate Recruiters Survey, now in its 13th year, polled 565 employers from 44 countries in February and March, including 32 of the top 100 companies in the FT 500 and 36 of the Fortune 100. GMAC, which administers the GMAT exam, conducts the employers survey in partnership with EFMD and the MBA Career Services and Employer Alliance. Read more
Published: May 15, 2014
Harvard, Wharton, Stanford Release Class of 2017 Application Updates
Following the Round 3 notification details that went out to applicants to the Class of 2016 on Wednesday, Harvard Business School (HBS) Admissions Director Dee Leopold wasted no time in looking ahead to the application season for the Class of 2017. In a post to her Admissions Director Blog yesterday, she outlined what prospective applicants should expect in the year ahead. Not to be outdone, Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School also released application updates this week. In her post, HBS's Leopold shared the optional “essay” question that applicants will encounter when they look at the application for the Class of 2017, unchanged from last year:   Read more
Published: May 14, 2014
Harvard Business School Admissions Coming Soon to a City Near You
Prospective applicants in parts of Europe and Asia will soon have an opportunity to learn more about the Harvard Business School (HBS) MBA program as part of a series of outreach events scheduled for June. Members of the HBS Admissions Board will be visiting Madrid, Milan, Berlin, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo between June 9th and 14th. These international events will include a presentation from current HBS students, as well as alumni and a member of the Admissions Board. In several instances, the event will be followed by a reception, giving prospective applicants an opportunity to network with one another and members of the HBS community. Read more
Published: May 13, 2014
Ithaca Mayor Praises Johnson Graduate School of Business Students’ Community Service
Community service projects led by MBA students from Cornell’s Samuel Johnson Graduate School of Business were recognized as part of a recent symposium highlighting leadership through service. Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, a 2009 Cornell graduate, praised students from his alma mater for seizing opportunities to volunteer in the community. "I believe that young people like you have the skills that we need in the nonprofit sector that we are not getting," Myrick said. "You have the energy, the creativity, and the moral authority to make change, and it's those things — not experience — that matter." Read more
Published: May 12, 2014
Haas School of Business Raises $250,000 for Socially Responsible Investment Fund
The Center for Responsible Business at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business harnessed the power of a new Berkeley crowdfunding platform this semester to raise more than $250,000 for its Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Fund, the school reports. The center blew past its $100,000 fundraising goal, soliciting donations totaling $126,209 from individuals and corporations, which was then doubled thanks to a matching gift from alumnus Charlie Michaels, BS ’78. Total funds raised came to $252,418. Read more
Published: May 12, 2014
Trivia Tuesday: The Yale SOM Grading System
It’s time again for Trivia Tuesday, in which we examine the distinctive elements that separate the leading MBA programs from their peers. This week, we’re taking a peek into the Clear Admit School Guide to the Yale School of Management in order to share with you an excerpt about the program’s grading policies and grade non-disclosure. “Rather than using numerical or letter grades as a measure of a student’s performance in a course, Yale SOM’s grading sys­tem is more closely akin to a pass/fail model. Professors can assign students one of the following four grades: Distinction, Proficient, Pass or Fail. The highest, Distinction, is reserved for unusually high-quality work and is awarded to no more than 10 percent of students taking the course. Meanwhile, Proficient denotes a normal level of achievement in course­work and comfort with the subject matter. Though a grade of Pass is a positive signal at most schools, Yale’s reflects perfor­mance that did not meet the level of proficiency, yet was not so lacking that it warranted a failing grade. Finally, the grade Fail reflects a level of Read more
Published: May 11, 2014
MIT Sloan School of Management to Host Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum in Beijing
MIT Sloan School of Management later this week will host a conference in Beijing focused on the challenges facing entrepreneurs in China, including a cultural focus on efficiency over innovation. The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum will take place on Friday, May 17th. “Entrepreneurship is critical for China’s economic development, yet entrepreneurs have to overcome many hurdles,” MIT Sloan Professor and Associate Dean for International Programs and Action Learning Yasheng Huang said in a statement. “Many of those issues are ones faced by all founders, such as retaining good employees and navigating government bureaucracy, but those in the technology sector are pioneering new territory in China.” Read more
Published: May 8, 2014
Yale School of Management to Operate New Leadership Center in Beijing
New center's floor plan; Rendering by M Moser Associates. The Yale School of Management (SOM) will launch and operate a new Beijing center to host leadership programming by schools and centers from across Yale University, the school announced late last month. To inaugurate the new Yale Leadership Center, Yale SOM will host a major conference next fall underscoring the university’s far-reaching engagement with China. The new center is located in Beijing’s central Chaoyang District and will feature advanced technological capabilities to connect Beijing with New Haven and other points around the world for meaningful dialog, the school reports. The center will be home to research, conferences and professional and executive education. It will also provide office spaces for Yale faculty use when in Beijing as well as flexible work space for SOM’s MBA, MAM and PhD students. Read more
Published: May 7, 2014
UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business to Present Silicon Valley Business Perspective to Chinese Leaders
The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley this week began a new program through which Berkeley-Haas faculty will present a Silicon Valley perspective on business, innovation and leadership topics to top Chinese leaders, the school announced. Called the Partnership for CELAP and Berkeley-Haas, the three-year pilot program between UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP) in Shanghai kicked off with its first session on May 5th. CELAP is one of three preeminent Chinese government leadership academies, providing contemporary leadership development for China’s senior officials. Read more
Published: May 6, 2014
GMAC Introduces New Online Prep Tool for GMAT’s Integrated Reasoning Section
The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns and administers the GMAT, has introduced a new web-based resource to help prospective test-takers prepare for the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section added to the exam in 2012. The Official GMAT® Integrated Reasoning Prep Tool, which launched on April 21st, includes 48 items and answer explanations from the IR section of the GMAT and sells for $19.99. It is the only dedicated Integrated Reasoning prep tool available that contains retired Integrated Reasoning items, according to GMAC. Read more
Published: May 6, 2014
5 Ways To Excel When You Join a Startup
Taking the place of our weekly career strategy column by Ivan Kerbel, Common Bond has offered their take on how to succeed at a startup, no matter what the stage of your career.  You've signed the offer and sighed with relief: you're just weeks away from joining an innovative startup in your dream role. If you’ve never worked at a startup before now, you’re in for a wakeup call. You'll enter a completely new professional environment, where you'll face sole ownership of your workstream, turnaround times that occur at light speed, and the chance to actually grow a business. MBAs can bring great things to the table at any firm, but it takes special grit to excel in a startup. Here are five ways to start the summer strong: 1. Learn everything (really) about the company and industry. That weeklong orientation or onboarding period from your last job? Think again. Whether you’re an MBA intern or a full-time hire, don’t assume much training is ahead. Be sure you’re absolutely up-to-date on the industry landscape and your company’s recent initiatives so your employer doesn’t need to clue you in. 2. Prepare beyond your functional area. Cross-functional knowledge is the first step to diving in on day 1 and, ultimately, collaborating with teammates who love working with you. That means that if you’re a finance manager, review the firm’s latest marketing campaigns and PR placements, and if you’re on the design team, learn the names and brand of every investor. Read more
Published: May 5, 2014
UCLA Anderson Finance Professor Named Dean of Full-Time MBA Program
A finance professor recognized with numerous awards for teaching excellence has been named dean of the full-time MBA program at UCLA Anderson School of Management, Anderson Dean Judy Olian announced late last month. Professor Mark Garmaise will assume his new role on July 1, 2014, succeeding Senior Associate Dean Andrew Ainslie, who has been named dean of the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School. “In Mark, we have a combination of remarkable talents – an outstanding teacher who is dedicated to his MBA students, and a trailblazing scholar who infuses his teaching with relevant and emerging research findings,” Olian said in a statement. Read more
Published: May 4, 2014
UPenn’s Wharton School Awards $30K to Slidejoy for 2014 Wharton Business Plan Competition
How would you like to view beautifully designed ads every time you unlock your phone? What if you got paid to do it? Slidejoy, an intelligent Android app designed by a team of Wharton students, is built on precisely that model—and it took top honors in the 2014 Wharton Business Plan Competition last week, the school announced. The Slidejoy team won the $30,000 Perlman Grand Prize at Wharton’s annual Venture Finals on May 1st, where total cash prizes and in-kind services topped $125,000, the school reports. Read more
Published: May 1, 2014
Economist Ranks Top 20 North American MBA Programs, Chicago Booth Leads
In case you missed it, the Economist earlier this week broke out the top 20 North American full-time MBA programs, as a follow-up to its global ranking. As an introduction to this North American-specific list, the Economist calls America the “spiritual home of the MBA,” noting that the first MBA was offered there more than a century ago and that today, U.S. schools dominate the publication's global ranking. (Eight of the top 10 business schools in the worldwide ranking are located in U.S.) Among the Top 20 North American MBA programs, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business claimed the top spot (as it did in the global rankings). Among the other highest-ranking North American schools were several prestigious U.S. names, including Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, MIT Sloan School of Management and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Read more
Published: May 1, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline
Hello and welcome to Friday From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly perusal of the ponderings  of the b-school blogosphere. This week, we welcome a new contributor  to the FFF blogging family, and hear updates from current students about exciting campus events and activities. Brian Scott is an American about to embark on the MBA journey at INSEAD Fontainebleau. He's launched a blog to document the experience by giving an interesting and informative account of tips he's learned for INSEADers looking to work in the States, post MBA.  JourneyofalowGMATer has a post on additional books to read, in order to enhance the classroom experience.  Read more
Published: April 30, 2014
Poets&Quants Features Roundup of Best Admissions Advice from Clear Admit’s Jon Fuller
In case you’ve missed it, Clear Admit Admissions Counselor Jon Fuller has been sharing his MBA admissions expertise and answering readers’ questions on the Poets&Quants MBA blog in recent months. Fuller came to Clear Admit last year from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where he was the senior associate director of admissions for four years. The “Best of Jon” compilation, which ran today on Poets&Quants, features Fuller’s responses to readers’ questions tackling a wide range of topics, from how admissions committees weigh GPAs from tougher majors and programs to how to get off the waitlist. He also serves up some general advice to help prospective applicants avoid repeating mistakes some of their peers have made. Read more
Published: April 29, 2014
Harvard Business School Sets $1 Billion Five-Year Fundraising Goal
Harvard Business School (HBS) last week launched a $1 billion capital campaign and an outreach program to help drive engagement with and among alumni. Already the school has raised more than $600 million in gifts and pledges as part of a “quiet phase” of the campaign that began in 2012, the school announced. The $1 billion goal is part of a larger $6.5 billion university-wide campaign announced last September. The public launch kicked off with a day full of events on HBS’s Allston campus last Friday. Hundreds of alumni, students, faculty and staff took part in case discussions, faculty-led student and alumni panels and other programming. Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust and HBS Dean Nitin Nohria were joined by Campaign Chair John Hess (MBA ’77), CEO of Hess Corporation, in delivering remarks in the evening. Read more
Published: April 28, 2014
Columbia University Alumni Teams Selected to Join Columbia Startup Lab
Thirty-one teams of Columbia University alumni have been selected as the first-ever winners of the Columbia Startup Lab contest and will occupy newly renovated office space in the heart of New York City’s Silicon Alley, the school announced earlier this week. The teams, totaling 63 people, were chosen from more than 200 submissions by recently graduated alumni from each Columbia College, Columbia Business School, Columbia Engineering and the School of International and Public Affairs. As part of the Startup Lab, the entrepreneurs will benefit from discounted office space ($150 a month per desk) and business infrastructure, as well as support from each of the affiliate schools and Columbia Entrepreneurship, a new organization that resides in the President’s Office with close partnership from the University Office of Alumni Relations and Development. Read more

MBA Livewire

March 1, 2025 7:57am ET
Accepted to Oxford / Saïd
Round: Round 4
Received via portal on February 27, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GPA: Upper Second Class Honors
GRE: 315
Program Type: One Year Program
Target Career: Finance
Application Location: Slovakia
March 1, 2025 4:41am ET
Applied to Stanford GSB
Round: Round 2
Received via n/a
Standardized Test: GRE
GPA: 3.2
GRE: 330
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Entrepreneurship
March 1, 2025 4:20am ET
Accepted to Indian School of Business
Round: Round 2
Received via email on February 26, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GRE: 322
Program Type: One Year Program
Target Career: Consulting
February 28, 2025 8:11pm ET
Interview Invite to Stanford GSB
Round: Round 2
Received via email February 28, 2025
Standardized Test: GMAT
GPA: 2:1 (UK)
GMAT: 695
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Application Location: Korea
February 28, 2025 7:29pm ET
Accepted to NYU Stern
Round: Round 3
Received via email February 28, 2025
Standardized Test: GMAT
GPA: 3.4
GMAT: 735
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Finance
Application Location: United States, New York
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