The Leading Independent
Resource for Top-tier MBA
Candidates

Posts by Jeanette Brown

About
Published: April 27, 2017
Fridays from the Frontline: A Sufi Poet at INSEAD
Today’s post comes to us from INSEAD MBA student Sabrina Lakhani, a Chicago native whose pre-MBA career took her from Babson College in Boston to a small Connecticut marketing consultancy for a couple of years to volunteering as a full-time project coordinator at a hospital for children in Kabul. From there it was on to East Africa, working first on a network of hospitals and later on a network of schools. She then returned to work for her family’s businesses in Chicago before joining a decision heuristics science‒based marketing firm as director of client services. In an earlier post, she Read more
Published: April 25, 2017
Two HBS MBA Students Win Highly Selective Fellowship for Immigrants and Their Children
Earlier this month, two Harvard Business School (HBS) MBA students were named among the 2017 recipients of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, an award recognizing outstanding graduate students who are immigrants and children of immigrants in the United States. Caleb Gayle (a member of the HBS MBA Class of 2019 who is pursuing a joint degree at the Harvard Kennedy School) and Peter Hong (MBA ‘18) were the only business school students among the 30 fellows selected this year. This year’s fellows also included a Read more
Published: April 19, 2017
Admissions Director Q&A: Carlson School of Management’s Linh Gilles
Last month as part of our Real Humans of MBA Admissions Series, we introduced the Clear Admit audience to Linh Gilles, director of admissions and recruiting at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Today, we’re pleased to shed even more light on the admissions process she oversees with a more in-depth interview as part of our Admissions Director Q&A Series. Gilles has been in admissions at Carlson for the past decade and in the director’s role since 2012. And by virtue of also being a current student in the full-time executive MBA (EMBA) program, she knows the school Read more
Published: April 17, 2017
April Is Jam-Packed with Admitted Students’ Weekends: What You Need to Know
Along with showers, April also brings dozens of admitted students’ weekends at business schools across the country—part of the schools’ efforts to convince top candidates to call their campuses home next fall. Anxious applicants who spent months with their eyes glued to LiveWire in a desperate attempt to foretell their futures are now packing their bags and heading off to meet potential classmates and see what life at Harvard or Stanford or Wharton or any number of other top business schools might really be like. Which means it’s now the schools’ turn to try to impress. Indeed, the month of Read more
Published: April 16, 2017
Kellogg EduIndia Team Wins Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge
Making the World a Better Place While Also Making Money Earlier this month, 10 teams from business and other graduate schools from around the globe convened at Morgan Stanley’s New York offices for the Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge. At the end of the day, low-income primary and secondary students in India may just end up being the biggest winners. The annual competition, now in its seventh year, brings together bright teams of graduate students from leading business schools and other institutions to apply financial know-how and ingenuity to tackle some of the world’s thorniest problems. Known as sustainable Read more
Published: April 13, 2017
Fridays from the Frontline: MBA Student Finds Support to Be Out at Wharton
For some MBA students, business school presents an entire new community with whom they can choose whether or not to share their sexual orientation. For Rafael de la Rosa, a second-year MBA student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, the decision to be out to his classmates was one he arrived at only after careful consideration. Connecting to Wharton’s Out4Biz LGBT student group before coming to campus helped him feel confident that he could be his full self. In the post that follows, you’ll learn that not only did he come out to everyone at Wharton, de Read more
Published: April 9, 2017
Wharton’s Strength in Real Estate Bolstered by Recent Alumni Gift
The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School last week announced the creation of a new international real estate program that promises to benefit students and faculty alike. The Grayken Program in International Real Estate—funded through a gift from John P. Grayken, C’78—will enhance Wharton’s already strong focus on real estate through expanded academic programming for students, research support for faculty and industry events and outreach. Grayken is founder and chairman of private equity firm Lone Star Funds, which invests globally in real estate, equity, credit and other financial assets. Lone Star is a research sponsor to Wharton’s Samuel Zell Read more
Published: April 6, 2017
Applying for an MBA During Undergrad: Schools Step Up
Deciding to attend business school isn’t a spur of the moment decision. For most applicants, it’s a choice made after months, if not years, of research and consideration following their undergrad degree. And, according to the 2016 MBA.com Prospective Students Survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), these considerations can begin quite early for some prospective MBA students. The survey found that on average, millennials apply to graduate management programs within 14 months of considering such degrees—a significantly shorter timeline than members of Generation X (21 months). Further, the 2016 Application Read more
Published: April 5, 2017
INSEAD Entrepreneurship Receives €10 Million Turbo Boost from Unnamed Alum
INSEAD, which calls itself the “business school for the world,” will soon be pouring €10 million into its entrepreneurship offerings thanks to a generous alumni gift, the school announced earlier this week. The benefactor’s identity was withheld, but the amount makes it the single largest gift received from an individual donor and alumnus in the school’s history. “On behalf of the entire INSEAD community, I would like to extend my gratitude to our donor for his exceptional financial support and confidence in INSEAD,” Dean Ilian Mihov said in a statement. “This generous gift will transform the entrepreneurial ecosystem at INSEAD as well as inspire and empower faculty, entrepreneurs, students and alumni around the globe.” Read more
Published: April 4, 2017
Admissions Director Q&A: Cristina Sassot of Barcelona’s ESADE
Last week, we learned a little about Cristina Sassot the person as part of our Real Humans of MBA Admissions Series. Among other things, she tries to steer clear of caffeine, has been known to say she’d be in more than one place at the same time, and is a big fan of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, both the books and the screen adaptations. This week, we’re asking Sassot—who leads admissions at Barcelona’s ESADE Business School—to reveal a little more about the inner workings of her office and the admissions process at the school. And she’s Read more
Published: April 3, 2017
Kellogg Unveils New Global Hub, Doubles Down on Its Collaborative Culture
Business schools that place a premium on collaboration appreciate that their students—and the diversity of perspective they bring—are as valuable as their renowned faculty. Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management is one such school, and it has just placed a $250 million bet that by championing collaboration it will help define the future of graduate management education. That $250 million bet, of course, is the stunning new Kellogg Global Hub, a 415,000-square-foot home for the business school perched alongside Lake Michigan just north of Chicago, which welcomed students for the first time last week. Toronto-based KPMB Architects won an international Read more
Published: April 2, 2017
The Glorious New Kellogg Global Hub, in Pictures
A week ago today, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University welcomed students into its glittering new Global Hub, which replaces the aging Jacobs Center as the business school’s main facilities. Culminating a $250-million project that involved 1 million work hours put in by more than 1,500 people, the new 415,000-square-foot building is an architectural triumph designed to bring to life Kellogg’s central values of collaboration and boldness. “In my mind, this building tells the world unequivocally that we are a contender—we are not and have never been a one-generation wonder,” said Kellogg Dean Sally Blount to an Read more
Published: March 30, 2017
Fridays from the Frontline: February 2017 MBA Mama of the Month Charanya Kannan
To close out Women’s History Month, we are delighted to feature another amazing woman balancing the demands of pursuing her MBA with the demands of raising a family. Harvard Business School (HBS) second-year MBA student Charanya Kannan was named MBA Mama of the Month for February 2017 by our content partner, MBA Mama. A wife and mother of one, Kannan began her career as a TV anchor in her native India. She went on to earn an engineering degree and a diploma in management from Bombay and to join the Tata Group’s leadership program. Tata sent her to Read more
Published: March 30, 2017
Getting to Know the New Head of Admissions at Stanford GSB
As we reported here last week, the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) has concluded a seven-month search for its new assistant dean of MBA admissions and financial aid. Stepping into the big shoes left by Derrick Bolton—who led Stanford’s admission team for the past 15 years and is credited with helping the business school establish itself as one of the very best in the world—will be a woman many believe ideally suited to the challenge. In accepting the role, Kirsten Moss becomes the only person to ever lead admissions at both Stanford and its chief Read more
Published: March 28, 2017
With $10 Million Alumni Gift, Wharton Enters Deferred-Admission MBA Game
Undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania will now have a unique opportunity to gain admission to the Wharton School MBA program as seniors in college thanks to a new program funded by a $10 million alumni gift, the Wharton School announced today. Named for Wharton alums and benefactors Ken Moelis and his wife, Julie Taffet Moelis, the new Moelis Advance Access Program is similar to the deferred-admission MBA program at Harvard Business School (HBS), which admits high-potential college students and reserves a place for them in a future MBA class pending successful completion of required work experience. Ken and Julie Moelis In addition to giving Penn undergrads a jump start on the highly competitive MBA admissions process, the program will also provide support in the form of financial aid and a strong pre-MBA community for participants. Ultimately, Wharton plans to expand the program to include promising college applicants from other leading undergraduate institutions around the country and the world. Read more
Published: March 28, 2017
Real Humans of MBA Admissions: ESADE’s Cristina Sassot
Cristina Sassot joined the admissions team at Barcelona’s ESADE Business School in October 2008, soon after she earned her own MBA there. In 2010 she was promoted to director of admissions and has held the role ever since, helping craft the classes for the school’s 12-, 15- and 18-month full-time MBA programs. ESADE, meanwhile, has been climbing the ranks itself. The Financial Times ranked it the 17th best MBA program in the world this year and second best in the world for career progress. The Economist, for its part, ranked it third best in Europe for salary increase. We’ll feature an in-depth interview with Sassot in the coming weeks about the school’s admissions process, but today we are happy to share a little bit more about the person who leads that process as part of our Real Humans of MBA Admissions Series. Our thanks to Sassot, and ESADE, for taking part in both. Read more
Published: March 27, 2017
Prodigy Finance Marks 10th Anniversary by Giving Out $10,000 Scholarships
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, international loan provider Prodigy Finance this month announced a new scholarship program to benefit international students who are accepted to study at business and engineering schools in the United States and the United Kingdom and chose Prodigy as their loan provider. Five fortunate MBA students will receive $10,000 each to help fund their studies as part of the $100,000 scholarship program, announced March 10th. Another five scholarships will be awarded to students pursuing engineering degrees. Founded a decade ago by three INSEAD MBA graduates who themselves faced hurdles funding their own education, Prodigy Finance was developed to address challenges confronting international students—who can’t always secure a co-signer in their intended country of study and aren’t eligible for federal funds. Read more
Published: March 23, 2017
Friday from the Frontlines: Why We Need More Women in Business School
This week’s Friday from the Frontlines comes to us from the London Business School’s MBA recruitment and admissions team and addresses the need for—and value of—having more women in business school. Before recently becoming senior director of MBA recruitment and admissions at LBS, Stephanie Kernwein Thrane oversaw the school’s MBA exchange program, which gave her insight into the goings on not only at the London school but also at 34 partner schools around the globe. She is committed to helping promote women in business school and in business and has been actively involved both at LBS and through Read more
Published: March 22, 2017
After Extensive Search, Stanford GSB Names New Assistant Dean of Admissions
The void created last August when long-time Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA admissions czar Derrick Bolton left has been filled. The school announced today that Kirsten Moss has been named the new assistant dean and director of MBA admissions and financial aid. Moss is no stranger to Stanford’s admissions office, having served as part of the team from 2004 to 2010, first as a consultant, then as associate director of evaluation and finally as director of MBA admissions. During her time with the Palo Alto school, she managed the evaluation, marketing and operations teams while also developing a new approach to assessing leadership capability. Prior to joining Stanford, she led first career services and later admissions and financial aid at her alma mater, Harvard Business School (HBS), from 1995 to 2001. She preceded Deirdre Leopold, who would go on to hold HBS's key admissions director role for the next decade and a half. Read more
Published: March 22, 2017
Real Humans of MBA Admissions: Carlson School of Management’s Linh Gilles
Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of getting to know Linh Gilles, director of admissions and recruiting at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. She’s been in admissions at Carlson for the past decade and in the director’s role since 2012, but she also knows the school from the student’s perspective. That’s because she is currently enrolled in the full-time executive MBA (EMBA) program herself—all while working full time and raising two kids. “I suppose at some point working for an MBA program for 10 years, you do just drink the Kool-Aid,” she says with a laugh. But Read more
Published: March 21, 2017
HBS Admissions Director Encourages Reapplicants
With Round 2 applicants anxiously awaiting the imminent release of decisions from Harvard Business School (HBS) today, this post from January seemed worthy of a reprise. Of course, we know you are all very hopeful that Chad Losee’s words below encouraging rejected applicants to reapply to HBS will prove moot when you get your acceptance at noon. But since that unfortunately simply can’t be the case for everyone, maybe it’s nice to be reminded that one in 10 students in HBS’s class didn’t get in on the first try? Best of luck to you all—whether you’re awaiting word from Read more
Published: March 20, 2017
Wharton Admissions Dean Weighs in on Topping U.S. News Ranking
Last week, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School tied for first place with Harvard Business School (HBS) in U.S. News & World Report’s closely watched annual ranking of top MBA programs in the nation. Though Wharton has only claimed the top spot once before in the ranking’s 28-year history, it has traditionally been considered part of the “holy trinity” of schools, behind only HBS and Stanford Graduate School of Business in many people’s eyes. That made last year’s fourth-place finish after the University of Chicago Booth School of Business a real blow and this year’s strong showing an important rebound. Read more
Published: March 16, 2017
Fridays from the Frontline: MBA Mama and Stanford GSB Student Valerie Rivera
This week's Friday from the Frontline comes to us via our content partner, MBA Mama, an online platform designed to share the stories of women successfully navigating both motherhood and the MBA. As its January Mama of the Month (MotM), MBA Mama featured second-year Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA student Valerie Rivera. Mom to 11-year-old twin boys, Rivera is also a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where she held various leadership positions. Don't miss MBA Mama's exclusive interview with Rivera, below, in which she talks about why she chose Stanford for her MBA and what she's liked most about her time there, some of the time management strategies she employs to keep up with family, school and career, and her plans to open a consulting firm after she graduates. Our thanks to MBA Mama for allowing us to share this interview with the Clear Admit audience. Read more
Published: March 15, 2017
Round 2 Interviews Complete, HBS Gears Up for Round 3
Harvard Business School (HBS) Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Chad Losee took to his Direct from the Director’s Blog this week to look ahead to Round 3. For any anxious Round 2 applicants out there—don’t worry, you didn’t miss any important announcements! Losee simply shared that his team wrapped up Round 2 interviews last week and loved having the chance to get to know you in person—or at least via Skype. “We are in the midst of the (tough) final decisions and will be back in touch soon—March 22nd at noon Eastern Time via Read more
Published: March 14, 2017
What Bain & Company Looks for in MBA Hires
Bain & Company—widely considered one of the most elite consulting firms in the world—is a coveted post-MBA destination for students at top business schools in every part of the globe. Headquartered in Boston with 53 offices in 34 countries around the world, Bain employs more than 7,000 people and counts as its clients leading Fortune 500 companies, as well as nonprofit and government organizations. And business is booming. According to Keith Bevans, global head of consultant recruiting, the company has grown at a rate of 15 percent a year for the past 20 years, with no slowdown in Read more

MBA Livewire

November 12, 2024 10:22am ET
Interview Invite to Columbia
Round: Round 1
Received via email on October 24, 2024
GPA: 3.2
GMAT: 635
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: west coast
November 12, 2024 9:19am ET
Interview Invite to UNC Kenan-Flagler
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 12, 2024
GMAT: 728
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Application Location: India
November 12, 2024 2:50am ET
Accepted to UVA / Darden
Round: Early Decision
Received via phone on October 16, 2024
GPA: 3.4
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Non Profit / Social Impact
Application Location: Australia
November 12, 2024 1:36am ET
Rejected at NYU Stern
Round: Round 1
Received via email on November 07, 2024
GPA: 3.92
GMAT: 720
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Application Location: India
November 12, 2024 12:31am ET
Accepted to NYU Stern
Round: Round 1
Received via phone on November 07, 2024
GPA: 3.82
GMAT: 710
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Technology
Application Location: California
View or Submit Entries
Live
Wire