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MBA Podcast

Published: November 5, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 321—770 GMAT, 2 years of experience. Indian, moved to Australia. Army, speaking fluent Mandarin.
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the MBA application deadlines and interview releases reported over the past week. We are seeing Round 1 interview invites on MBA LiveWire continuing to roll out for Berkeley / Haas, Stanford, Cornell / Johnson, and several other programs. Graham highlighted the deferred admissions events that Clear Admit is hosting, which begin this Wednesday, with Harvard, Stanford, UPenn / Wharton, Chicago / Booth, and UVA / Darden. Signups for the two deferred admissions events are here: https://bit.ly/declearadmit Graham then mentioned a recently published Read more
Published: October 29, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 320—331 GRE, CPG candidate. Mechanical Engineer, two years of experience. First-generation immigrant, IT experience.
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the MBA application deadlines and interview releases for this week. The past week has seen Round 1 interview invites on MBA LiveWire for UPenn / Wharton, Columbia, UCLA / Anderson, Georgetown / McDonough, Emory / Goizueta, as well as Berkeley / Haas, Stanford, and Cornell / Johnson. Graham highlighted two upcoming events that Clear Admit is hosting. Our monthly Clear Admit+ event is on Wednesday at 12 pm ET; we also have two events for candidates who are targeting deferred admissions, featuring Read more
Published: October 26, 2023
Episode 319: Pivot Your Career with an NYU Stern MBA
Sponsored Content In this edition of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions podcast, two special guests join host Graham Richmond to discuss how an MBA–especially one from the NYU Stern School of Business–can help candidates pivot or switch careers. Lauren Calio From the admissions side of the program, we welcome Lauren Calio, Senior Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern. Now in her sixth year at the school, she oversees enrollment management for Stern’s two-year Full-Time MBA Program, as well as its two 13-month Focused MBA programs: the Andre Koo Technology & Entrepreneurship MBA and the Fashion & Luxury MBA Read more
Published: October 22, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 318—Army to aerospace and defence. Investment banker, two years of experience. Ghanian, textile business
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming MBA application deadlines and interview releases for this new season; for this week UPenn / Wharton and Duke / Fuqua are scheduled to release interview decisions. We are also seeing Round 1 interview invites on MBA LiveWire for Columbia, Michigan / Ross, as well as Berkeley / Haas, Stanford, Dartmouth / Tuck and Cornell / Johnson. Graham highlighted a $25 million gift that was received by Northwestern / Kellogg to add further support to its Entrepreneurial Programs, via its Zell Read more
Published: October 18, 2023
Episode 317: Inside Career Services at Indiana Kelley
Sponsored Content Chart your path beyond business school with an inside look at career services at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. The head of career services and a current Kelley MBA candidate join host Graham Richmond to illuminate how Indiana Kelley prepares MBA students to find career success. Rebecca Cook Rebecca Cook is the Executive Director of Career Services at Indiana Kelley, overseeing career services for both undergraduate and graduate Kelley students. Rebecca is a Kelley MBA alumna and came back to Kelley in November 2009.  She has worked as the Director of Coaching and Development in Graduate Career Read more
Published: October 15, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 316—Journalism to Banking. Pakistani to the U.S. Real estate, from Peru
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming MBA application deadlines; for this week it’s NYU / Stern and UNC / Kenan Flagler; we are also seeing Round 1 interview invites on MBA LiveWire for Chicago / Booth, London Business School, as well as Berkeley / Haas, Stanford, Dartmouth / Tuck and Cornell / Johnson. This week, Duke / Fuqua and UVA / Darden will be releasing their Early Action round decisions. We then discussed a new content series that Clear Admit launched last week, which focuses on what Read more
Published: October 11, 2023
Episode 315: GMAT Focus Edition Q&A with GMAC’s Manish Dharia
Manish Dharia We welcome a special guest to the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast to review what’s on many MBA hopefuls’ application checklist: The GMAT. In particular, we’re going to dive deep into the new GMAT Focus format with Manish Dharia, Director, Product Development at Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC). Manish has been at GMAC, the non-profit organization that owns and produces the GMAT, since 2015 and served in a number of product management roles while making his way to the director role. Since he is currently in charge of all product development, he knows pretty much everything there is Read more
Published: October 9, 2023
Episode 314: Admissions Director Q&A with Jamie Schein of Stanford GSB
In our latest installment of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we welcome Jamie Schein, the assistant dean of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid at Stanford GSB, to the podcast to discuss all things admissions and more. Before joining Admissions & Financial Aid, she served for four years as the assistant dean and director of the Stanford GSB Career Management Center, and before that six years as the director of strategy and curricular support in the Stanford MBA Program, working with students, faculty, and staff to manage co-curricular programming and support for students in their academic Read more
Published: October 8, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 313—Fintech to media. Teacher to human resources. Strategy consulting to Biotech
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming Round 1 deadlines; for this week it’s Texas / McCombs; we are also seeing Round 1 interview invites on MBA LiveWire for Dartmouth / Tuck, Northwestern / Kellogg, Yale SOM, Stanford and Harvard, which released all its Round 1 interview invites last week. This week, London Business School and INSEAD are scheduled to release Round 1 interview invites. Graham highlighted two events Clear Admit is hosting in the upcoming weeks: one is a Real Humans event featuring MBA students from leading Read more
Published: October 5, 2023
Episode 312: The Flex MBA Online at Georgetown McDonough
Sponsored Content Full-time, part-time, residential, online, hybrid. Two years, one year, 18 months. Evening, Weekend, Executive. Flex. Ways to earn an MBA have evolved. In this special edition of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast, we explore the increasingly popular format of the Flex MBA Online. Sudipta Dasmohapatra We are excited to welcome Sudipta Dasmohapatra, the Senior Associate Dean of the MBA Programs and a Professor of Business Analytics at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, to the podcast to dive into the school’s Flex MBA Online, its structure, duration and features. Prior to her Dean appointment, Read more
Published: October 1, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 311—Enlisted Helicopter Pilot. Oil and Gas to Clean Energy. First-generation Vietnamese.
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming application deadlines; for this week Georgetown / McDonough, CMU / Tepper, Washington / Foster, Emory / Goizueta and UCLA / Anderson have Round 1 deadlines, and Cambridge / Judge has a Round 2 deadline; we are also seeing Round 1 interview invites for Dartmouth / Tuck, Northwestern / Kellogg and Yale SOM on MBA LiveWire. This week, Harvard and IESE will be releasing interview invites. Graham highlighted two recently published Adcom Q&As from Berkeley / Haas and INSEAD, and Read more
Published: September 24, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 310—Non-profit candidate. Marine Corps with Math degree. Digital trust and safety.
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming Round 1 deadlines for this week.  Dartmouth / Tuck, MIT / Sloan, Oxford / Said and Duke / Fuqua all have their Round 1 MBA application deadlines; we are also seeing Round 1 interview invites for Northwestern Kellogg and Yale SOM on MBA LiveWire. Graham highlighted our final Essay Insights series, which runs on Wednesday of this week, with UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM, UVA / Darden and Michigan / Ross; these events are very popular and bring together the leading Read more
Published: September 17, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 309—Over-represented, but under-targeting? MBB candidate, climate focus. Super GRE, poor GPA.
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming Round 1 deadlines for this new season; for this week NYU / Stern, IESE, Cornell / Johnson and Chicago / Booth all have their Round 1 MBA application deadlines; Duke / Fuqua is scheduled to release interview invites for its Early Action round. Graham highlighted our next Essay Insights series, which continues on Wednesday of this week, with CMU / Tepper, Columbia, Georgetown / McDonough, Texas / McCombs and UNC / Kenan Flagler; these events are very popular and bring Read more
Published: September 10, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 308—Military service, low GMAT. Military service, low GRE. Is a test waiver the right option?
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming Round 1 deadlines for this new season; for this week Stanford, Yale SOM, INSEAD, Columbia, Northwestern / Kellogg, Berkeley / Haas and Michigan / Ross all have their Round 1 application deadlines. Graham highlighted our next Essay Insights series, which begins on Wednesday of this week, and continues the following two Wednesdays; these events are very popular and bring together the leading MBA programs to talk about their admissions essay topics. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/cafallessays Graham then mentioned two pieces Read more
Published: September 3, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 307—Teacher, but low numbers. Chilean engineer. Full-time MBA or Part-time?
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming Round 1 deadlines for this new season; for this week Harvard, UPenn / Wharton and London Business Schools have their Round 1 deadlines, Duke / Fuqua and UVA / Darden have their Early Action deadlines. Graham then highlighted our next Essay Insights series, which run on September 13, 20, and 27; signups for this popular series are here: https://bit.ly/cafallessays Graham then mentioned two Adcom Q&A articles, where we interview admissions directors at Georgia / Terry and Boston / Read more
Published: August 27, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 306—Peruvian with huge GMAT. Tech candidate into music. Ballerina with great potential.
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming Round 1 deadlines for this new season, which kicks off with Cambridge / Judge this week. Graham then highlighted several events that Clear Admit is hosting over the next month. Later today, we are hosting our monthly CA+ webinar, that is open to all registered members of the Clear Admit community. This webinar will cover preparation for the forthcoming Round 1 application deadlines. We also have a Real Humans webinar, on August 30th, which includes alumni and students from Chicago / Read more
Published: August 20, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 305—Air Force pilot, 2.5 GPA. Argentinian entrepreneur. Cancer survivor, 337 GRE
Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming Round 1 deadlines for this new season, as we close out last season. Graham then highlighted several events that Clear Admit is hosting over the next month. Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 22, we host a webinar with CMU / Tepper: https://bit.ly./teppermbawebinar, on Monday, August 28, we have a Clear Admit+ webinar, and we have a Real Humans webinar which includes alumni and students from top MBA programs on August 30th: https://bit.ly/rhwebinar5. We will also be hosting our next Essay Insights Read more
Published: August 13, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 304—Aeronautics engineer, 3.0 GPA. Welsh and French, 318 GRE. British military officer, 320 GRE
Weekly roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast Alex and Graham begin by discussing the upcoming Round 1 deadlines for the 2023-24 season and bid goodbye to the 2022-23 season (with students now showing up on campuses for pre-term). Graham then highlighted several events that Clear Admit is hosting over the next month. These events include a webinar with CMU / Tepper (August 22nd): https://bit.ly./teppermbawebinar, a Clear Admit+ webinar, scheduled for August 28th, a Real Humans webinar which will include alumni and students from top MBA programs (August 30th): https://bit.ly/rhwebinar5 , and our Read more
Published: August 6, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 303—Chemical Engineer from Trinidad and Tobago. Education sector, low GRE. Super profile, next season
In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast Alex and Graham began by discussing a new survey that Clear Admit has launched, which investigates the media habits of MBA candidates. All participation is greatly appreciated; the survey is here: https://bit.ly/casummarysurvey Graham then noted a new Master in Management program offered by Chicago / Booth which led to a discussion of some of the more unusual formats being offered by leading programs for graduate management education. Graham then highlighted a Real Humans piece featuring an alum of Dartmouth / Tuck at Citi, and two Adcom Q&As from MIT / Read more
Published: July 30, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 302—Strong profile, no GMAT yet. Great numbers, over-represented? 319 GRE, weakest spot.
In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast Graham led things off by discussing the MBA Essay Insights series which wraps up this Wednesday. This season’s series has seen record levels of attendees (600+ each week); our final event brings together MBA admissions leaders from Cornell / Johnson, UCLA / Anderson, Washington / Foster, INSEAD, and London Business School. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/cambaessay  Graham then highlighted the recent survey Clear Admit has developed to understand the media habits of MBA candidates. These anonymous surveys allow us to gather data to really understand the behavior of the MBA applicant community, and we Read more
Published: July 23, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 301—Ex architect, now FAANG recruiting. 335 GRE, Nigerian in London. Super undergrad, one year of work.
In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast Alex and Graham begin by discussing some recent waitlist admissions posts on MBA LiveWire; for those still on waitlists, there is still some hope! Your hosts then discussed the recent updates to the Clear Admit website, which should make the user experience better. The new website also means that all the features that were previously only accessible to Clear Admit+ subscribers are now available to all registered users, for free! This includes the Admissions Academy video series, Clear Admit’s LiveWire Data Dashboard (which allows users to parse the data from MBA LiveWire), and Read more
Published: July 16, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 300—300 Episodes! Military candidate, low GRE. Looking ahead, career switch. Chemical engineer, clean tech
Before pressing play on our 300th podcast episode, take a look back at the Clear Admit podcast recording journey with us as we celebrate this milestone. The first Clear Admit podcast episode aired March 7, 2018, and since then we’ve had 302,000 listeners! The 10 episodes with the most listens thus far are: 7 Hardest MBA Interview Questions and How to Answer Them Admissions Director Q&A with Harvard Business School’s Chad Losee Keith Bevans of Bain & Company Discusses Consulting, Recruiting and More Clear Admit’s 12-Step Program for Read more
Published: July 9, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 299—770 GMAT and 2.9, does that work? Targeting 680 – 700, is that enough? History major, strong work experience.
This week’s show begins with Alex quizzing Graham about his recent trip to San Diego for this year’s GMAC conference, followed by a mention of some limited waitlist movement seen on MBA LiveWire.  Graham and Alex then pivoted to a discussion on the recent supreme court decision that has a large impact on how admissions can consider race in their admissions decisions. Your hosts believe that while this will necessitate some changes to the admissions process, there will still be processes that can be adopted to ensure diverse business school classes that represent all. Graham then highlighted the July Read more
Published: July 2, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 298—LIVE from the GMAC Conference with Yale, Berkeley, Georgetown, and CMU!
Welcome back to another edition of Clear Admit’s weekly MBA admissions podcast. This week’s episode can hardly be described as just ‘another edition’ of the show; that’s because it was recorded live in San Diego, California, at the annual GMAC conference and includes special guest appearances from admissions directors at Carnegie Mellon Tepper, Georgetown McDonough, Berkeley Haas, and Yale SOM! Before bringing on the string of special guests, host Graham Richmond (who did his best without co-host Alex Brown this week) ran down the latest news and notes.  This began with some discussion of continued waitlist movement visible on LiveWire, Read more
Published: June 25, 2023
MBA Wire Taps 297—Test Scores. 2.3 GPA, any chance? 2 years of work experience, is it enough?
As summer heats up, Graham and Alex are back with another episode of WireTaps, and a slightly new format!  After some quick discussion about lingering activity on LiveWire (which is now slowing down as the season gets closer to its end), Graham highlighted our July ‘Essay Insight’ virtual event series. This series, which begins on July 12th, brings MBA admissions officers from top programs to discuss their essays for the upcoming application cycle. This is a very popular series – signups are here: https://bit.ly/cambaessay Graham then mentioned an Adcom Q&A from Michigan Ross; these new Q&As for the Read more

MBA Applywire

7
November 26, 2024 6:16am ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, UCLA Anderson
Pre-MBA Career: Software Engineer
Post-MBA Target Industry: Other
GRE: 331
GPA: 3.2
Years of Work Experience: 4.5
Location: United States
Notes:

I am aiming to pivot from Software Engineering to Product Management. My undergrad degree was in Computer Science from an Ivy League school where I was a D1 varsity athlete. EC's outside of that are pretty slim, although I am involved with charities and volunteer organizations sporadically. Have organized and led a small handful of hobby groups among friends and colleagues as well. Work experience includes solid brand recognition, and my previous 2.5 YoE are in the music/entertainment industry.
2
November 26, 2024 5:48am ET
Applying: Columbia, NYU Stern
Pre-MBA Career: product Manager in Entertainment
Post-MBA Target Industry: Undecided
GPA: 3.57
Years of Work Experience: 3
Location: New York
Notes:

I am a woman of color and a Product Manager at a major streaming service with three years of experience thus far. I hold a degree in Cinematography from a CUNY school and began my career as an NBCUniversal Page. Since then, I’ve worked for prominent media companies like NBCU, Peacock, A+E Networks, and Paramount+. While I didn’t initially plan on pursuing an MBA, my career trajectory has naturally led me in that direction due to my rapid career growth. I’m preparing for the GMAT (focus edition) with a target score of 655 or higher.

As a non-traditional candidate, are there any potential red flags in my profile? Additionally, are there other MBA programs I should consider? Thank you!
9
November 26, 2024 12:03am ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM
Pre-MBA Career: Government Affairs at technology startup
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , LinkedIn , Microsoft , Tesla , Uber
GMAT: 770
GPA: 3.4
Years of Work Experience: 3
6
November 25, 2024 11:01am ET
Applying: Arizona State / W.P. Carey, Georgetown / McDonough, Indiana / Kelley, U. Washington / Foster, UCLA Anderson, USC / Marshall
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Military: Acquisition Program Manager
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , Bain , Deloitte , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , IBM , Lenova , LinkedIn , Microsoft , Oracle
GRE: 317
GPA: 2.43
Years of Work Experience: 9
Location: Los Angeles
Post MBA Location: West Coast
Notes:

Undergrad was at a Service Academy. Also earned a Masters of Science with a GPA of 4.0, Project Management Professional certification holder, and volunteered for two years at service to schools helping veterans get into an undergraduate program.
2
November 25, 2024 7:58am ET
Applying: Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB
Pre-MBA Career: Equity Research at Goldman Sachs, and long only Asset Management (healthcare sector)
Post-MBA Target Industry: Asset Management, inc. HF Companies: Fidelity
GMAT: 735
GPA: 3.6
Years of Work Experience: 5
Location: San Francisco CA
Post MBA Location: San Francisco CA
Notes:

I took a gap year in college and switched majors taking longer to graduate so I’m 30, would matriculate at 32 and graduate at 34. Seems like I’m an outlier and worried I’m too old.
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MBA LiveWire

November 26, 2024 11:19am ET
Interview Invite to Rochester / Simon
Round: Round 2
Received via email November 26, 2024
GPA: 7.01
EA: 161
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Technology
Application Location: India
November 26, 2024 10:53am ET
Accepted to London Business School
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 26, 2024
GPA: 3.7
GMAT: 655
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
November 26, 2024 10:32am ET
Accepted to Rochester / Simon
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 26, 2024
GPA: 3.76
GRE: 328
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Technology
Application Location: Pakistan
Note:

Admitted with 60% Scholarship
November 26, 2024 10:00am ET
Accepted to London Business School
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 26, 2024
GRE: 328
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Application Location: Based in UK but Caribbean
November 26, 2024 8:27am ET
Accepted to London Business School
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 26, 2024
GPA: 3.84
GRE: 327
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: United States
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