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Published: July 2, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: Admissions Director Q&A with MIT Sloan’s Dawna Levenson
After a brief hiatus, we are delighted to resume the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast series with a terrific interview with Dawna Levenson, who was just promoted to assistant dean of admissions at MIT Sloan School of Management. Describing herself as a “true, blue Bostonian,” Levenson holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from MIT. (Her advanced degree is not an MBA, but that’s only because the school didn’t yet offer one when she was a student.) She has worked full time in admissions at Sloan for the past six years and read applications on a part-time Read more
Published: June 28, 2018
Renowned Economics Professor Laura Tyson to Serve as Berkeley Haas Interim Dean
Economics Professor Laura D’Andrea Tyson will serve as interim dean of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business starting July 1st, Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ announced yesterday. Tyson, who joined the Haas faculty in 1990, succeeds Dean Richard Lyons, who is stepping down after 11 years in the role. Tyson is no stranger to the role of dean, having served at Haas’s helm from 1998 to 2001 and as dean of London Business School from 2002 to 2006. She will serve as interim dean while the chancellor’s office continues to seek a permanent replacement for Read more
Published: June 11, 2018
These Four Attributes Will Help You Get into Tuck’s MBA Program
Nice guys finish last? Not so if you’re an applicant to the MBA program at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. Tuck’s admissions director yesterday outlined new, simplified criteria for evaluating MBA applicants—part of the school’s continuing commitment to being as open and transparent in its admissions process as possible. When it comes right down to it, Tuck wants students who are a combination of the following four attributes: nice, smart, accomplished, and aware. As part of a news story on the school’s website outlining the new evaluation criteria, Tuck Executive Director of Admissions and Read more
Published: June 10, 2018
NYU Stern Reinstates November Deadline Amid Other Slight Shifts, Maintains Popular “Pick Six” Essay
NYU Stern School of Business today becomes the latest school to share its 2018-2019 MBA admissions deadlines and essay questions, including a few changes from last year. We caught up with Isser Gallogly, Stern associate dean, MBA admissions and program innovation, to get the latest. Here’s what we learned. For starters, Gallogly and his team have decided to reinstate the November deadline they eliminated last year for the full-time, two-year MBA program. This means a return to a four deadlines: October 15th, November 15th, January 15th, and March 15th. “Last year we gave it Read more
Published: June 6, 2018
Wharton: New Essay, New MBA Admissions Director?
Late last week, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School revealed its essay questions for the 2018-19 MBA admissions season, including a change to the second prompt. Instead of the prompt it has used for the past several years—in which candidates are asked to describe how they will contribute to the collaborative Wharton community—Essay 2 this year is more specific. “Describe an impactful experience or accomplishment that is not reflected elsewhere in your application. How will you use what you learned through that experience to contribute to the Wharton community?” Clear Admit will soon release its Read more
Published: June 6, 2018
How These Stanford GSB Students Broke the Rules with Their MBA Summer Internships
For many business school students, there’s a simple formula where summer internships are concerned. Target a company where you aspire to work, recruit successfully for a summer internship, perform well and show your smarts. Voilá, come summer’s end, you’ve landed your post-MBA job. Especially in some industries—consulting and investment banking, for example—the path from summer internship to full-time offer is certainly the most common and, in some instances, all but required. But what if you want to find out what it’s like to work for a startup? Or for a nonprofit focused on social impact? Or to try to get Read more
Published: May 16, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: HBS MBA Student Team Venture to Combat Insect-Borne Disease Takes Top Honors at New Venture Competition
Last week’s episode of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast was focused on the winner of the student social enterprise track of Harvard Business School (HBS)’s New Venture Challenge (NVC). This week, as promised, we’re following up with an episode dedicated to the winner in the student business track. This year, the $75,000 grand prize in the student business track went to Hour 72+, which proposed a non-toxic, odor-free insect repellent that lasts for three days instead of just a few hours. The Hour 72+ team articulated its product’s goal as fighting insect-borne illness across the globe. Read more
Published: May 14, 2018
Harvard Business School Drops Round 3 for MBA Admissions
Beginning this application season, Harvard Business School (HBS) will no longer feature a Round 3 for applicants to its MBA program, the school’s admissions director announced in a post to his blog this morning. “After careful consideration, we have decided to focus our MBA application process on two rounds—with deadlines in September and January—and to focus our spring round on 2+2 applications,” Chad Losee, HBS managing director of admissions and financial aid wrote on his Direct from the Director blog. “To be considered for the Harvard Business School Class of 2021, you need to apply Read more
Published: May 13, 2018
Real Humans of the Columbia Business School MBA Class of 2019
As first-year MBA students at Columbia Business School (CBS) finish up their finals and head off to their summer internships, we’re excited to feature a handful of the MBA Class of 2019 reflecting on what led them to choose CBS for business school and how their experience so far has met—or exceeded—their expectations. Though still in Uris Hall on the main Columbia University campus, CBS will occupy state-of-the-art facilities as part of the Manhattanville campus currently under construction a little farther uptown within the next few years. But even with its new home still a few years Read more
Published: May 9, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: From HBS to Saving Lives—an MBA Student’s Venture to Help People Breathe
Last month, Harvard Business School (HBS) announced the winners of its 21st annual New Venture Competition (NVC), which has attracted more than 5,000 participants and awarded more than $2 million in cash prizes to student and alumni startups over the past two decades. Hosted by the school’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and its Social Enterprise Initiative, in partnership with HBS Alumni Clubs & Associations, the NVC features three separate tracks, a student business track, a student social enterprise track, and an alumni track. The social enterprise track has attracted more Read more
Published: May 3, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: Reapplying to Business School
If your dream of attending a top-tier business school was dashed by a rejection this year, we know how hard that can be. To work so tirelessly toward a goal that you don’t achieve can be spirit-crushing. And yet, we’re here to tell you that it does happen. You are not alone. We’re also here to tell you that you might want to think about reapplying. Did you know—one out of every 10 students in most Harvard Business School MBA classes applied more than once and was rejected the first time. That’s right. On average, a tenth of the HBS Read more
Published: May 2, 2018
Record-Breaking LiveWire Discussion Highlights Room for Improvement in Johnson Adcom Process
Cornell’s S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management has the dubious distinction of producing some of the longest discussion threads in the history of Clear Admit’s MBA LiveWire. Last month, one thread drew more than 100 comments and another racked up 82. What gives? Johnson’s admissions process is divided into four rounds, with application deadlines in October, November, January, and April. But unlike many of its peer schools, which issue decisions by round in accordance with stated notification deadlines, Johnson informs its applicants of final admission decisions on a rolling basis. Early Round Applicants Kept Read more
Published: April 24, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: Clear Admit’s 12-Step Program for Early Bird MBA Applicants
Looking to get an early start on your MBA applications for the 2018-2019 application season? Don’t miss our latest podcast episode, in which Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond outlines a 12-step program for early bird MBA applicants. By getting the ball rolling this far in advance, you’re already setting yourself up for success. Richmond’s suggested steps can help ensure that you stay on track and take full advantage of your great head start. Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast Episode 11: Clear Admit's 12-Step Program for Early Bird MBA Applicants Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Read more
Published: April 17, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: The Great Test Debate—GMAT Versus GRE
In early April, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns and administers the GMAT, announced that it is shaving half an hour off the test, bringing it down from four hours to three and a half. GMAC called it a “candidate friendly change designed to enhance the test taking experience,” adding that “the GMAT is the only assessment designed specifically for graduate business school.” To get to a shorter test, GMAC sliced out 23 minutes of unscored (research) questions in the Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning sections and streamlined non-exam portions like tutorials and instructions. GMAC made no mention of Read more
Published: April 16, 2018
Real Humans of the INSEAD MBA Class of 2018D
We’re moving right along in our Real Humans series focused on current students at leading business schools around the globe. Today, enter INSEAD, under a spotlight. Ranked the number one MBA program in the world by the Financial Times in both 2016 and 2017, the global school with campuses on three continents was knocked to second this year by Stanford, but the many of the qualities that helped it dominate in prior years remain. Compared head to head against other international business schools (outside the United States), Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranked INSEAD tops out Read more
Published: April 10, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: How to Decide Between Business Schools as an Admitted Student
For some prospective MBA applicants turned admitted students, the choice of where to attend business school is a no-brainer. If you applied and were accepted to your first-choice school, it may be as easy as breaking out the bubbly and sending in your deposit. Of perhaps you got accepted at two schools, one on your reach list and another on your safety list. Many applicants in that situation are going to lean toward the reach school. But very often, admitted students find themselves deciding between schools amid circumstances that aren’t equal. Maybe a lower-ranked school offers you a phenomenal scholarship Read more
Published: April 9, 2018
MIT Sloan Round 3 Roundup from Admissions Director Dawna Levenson
With the Round 3 deadline having passed yesterday for applicants to MIT Sloan School of Management, Director of Admissions Dawna Levenson was quick to add an update post to her “From the Desk of the Admissions Director” blog today letting these late-round applicants know what to expect next. Levenson started out by underscoring that several things make applying in Round 3 unique, chief among them the accelerated timeline. “The next month will certainly be a whirlwind,” she warned. Here are the dates you should circle now on your calendars: Friday, April 20, 2018: Interview Read more
Published: April 9, 2018
Tuck Adcom Luke Anthony Peña to Pen Monthly Admissions Open Letter
Heading into his ninth month leading MBA admissions at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Luke Anthony Peña took to the Tuck360: MBA Blog last week to share the month’s happenings on campus. “I have a deep appreciation for our well-earned reputation as an accessible and transparent community,” he wrote. “In that spirit, I want to keep you updated on what’s happening here—at Tuck, in Admissions, and with me personally.” His April communication will be the first of monthly open letters designed to keep prospective applicants in the know. Luke Read more
Published: April 8, 2018
Financing Your MBA, Part 4: International MBA Student Loans
In our previous post on financing your MBA, we covered loan programs for MBA students from the United States. Today, we’ll take a look at loans through the lens of international students, who face some different restrictions but who are also eligible for special programs tailored to their unique requirements. By law, federal loans can only be distributed to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. This means that international students must put extra work into finding financial aid and loan programs to support their education if they choose to pursue a U.S. MBA program. Read more
Published: April 4, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: April Admitted MBA Students’ Weekends
Depending on where you live, April-like weather may or may not yet have arrived. (It’s chilly here in Philly as I write this.) But spring weather or not, admitted MBA students’ weekends are getting underway at leading business schools throughout the month. The latest episode in our Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast series tells you everything you need to know about these weekends—including what to expect, how to prepare, and what you should try to take away from them. We even offer some advice on what to do if two schools you’re choosing between managed to schedule their events on Read more
Published: April 4, 2018
Financing Your MBA, Part 3: Loans for U.S. MBA Students
Moving right along in our multi-part series on financing your MBA, we’ll take a look today at some of the options prospective MBA students have for obtaining loans to finance their time at business school. For the purposes of this post, we will focus primarily U.S. MBA student loan programs. International students, stay tuned for subsequent posts that will go into greater detail about loan programs tailored for your needs. Of course, because loans must ultimately be repaid—unlike scholarship or fellowship aid—deciding how much you should borrow is as important as understanding how much you can borrow. To make an Read more
Published: April 2, 2018
A Shorter GMAT? It’s True—Starting April 16th
If you’re planning to sit for the GMAT exam in preparation for applying to business school, you might do well to hold off for a couple of weeks. According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns and administers the GMAT, the test will be 30 minutes shorter than it has been in the past, lasting just 3.5 hours instead of the previous 4, including breaks and instructions. But before you get too excited, we should stress that this does not mean the test will be any easier. GMAC sliced 23 minutes out of the exam sections themselves by Read more
Published: April 1, 2018
Financing Your MBA, Part 2: Where to Look for Funding
In the first of our multi-part series on financing your MBA, we took a look last week at the costs involved in attending a top-tier business school. Now, with a better handle on how much money you’ll need, let’s start looking at where that funding will come from. Students typically rely on a mixture of savings, fellowships and scholarships, employer or outside assistance, and loans to meet the cost of an MBA program. According to the GMAC 2017 Prospective Student Survey, the most recently surveyed group of prospective students expected to finance almost half their education Read more
Published: March 29, 2018
Our Lastest Podcast: Who Should Apply in Round 3?
If you’re wrestling with the question of whether or not to apply in Round 3, you won’t want to miss our latest podcast. Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond unpacks the challenges of this late round, but also the very real opportunities it presents to the right candidates. Fewer spots remain in classes already largely filled with accepted candidates from earlier rounds, and scholarship dollars have often dried up. But schools absolutely do still accept candidates in Round 3, and some indicators suggest that this might be an especially good year to apply. Find out why. Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast Read more
Published: March 27, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: Top Takeaways from the 2019 U.S. News MBA Rankings
In case you missed our written analysis of the recent 2019 U.S. News & World Report‘s ranking of leading business schools, we’ve got what you need to make sense of it all AND listen on the go. Enjoy the latest episode in our Clear Admit MBA MBA Admissions podcast series. You know Chicago Booth tied Harvard Business School for first, knocking Wharton down to third. You know Stanford stayed put at fourth for another year. You know the University of Michigan’s Ross Read more

MBA Livewire

November 22, 2024 8:08am ET
Accepted to Cambridge / Judge
Round: Round 2
Received via email November 22, 2024
GMAT: 695
Program Type: One Year Program
Application Location: Asia
November 22, 2024 1:39am ET
Rejected at Columbia
Round: Round 1
Received via portal on November 14, 2024
GMAT: 695
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: India
November 22, 2024 1:07am ET
Interview Invite to Carnegie Mellon / Tepper
Round: Round 1
Received via email
Note:

Interview with admissions team member
November 22, 2024 1:02am ET
Accepted to Rochester / Simon
Round: Round 1
Received via phone November 21, 2024
GMAT: 625
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Entrepreneurship
Application Location: India
November 21, 2024 6:44pm ET
Accepted to Rochester / Simon
Round: Round 1
Received via phone November 21, 2024
GPA: 3.82
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Operations Management
Application Location: Nigeria
Note:

Application submission was on the 14th of October. Interview was on the 7th of November. Admitted with scholarship.
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