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Published: March 11, 2018
Ross MBA Adcom Bullish on Class of 2020—And Round 2 Decisions Aren’t Even Out Yet!
It’s a good week at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. In a March 9th post to the Ross MBA Admissions Blog, Soojin Kwon, managing director of full-time admissions and program, shared her excitement about the Round 1 applicants who have paid their deposits and said they’ll be heading to Ann Arbor next fall. The details she shared about the earliest members of the Ross MBA Class of 2020 suggest that diversity is the word that defines them. In addition to a professional hockey player in the NHL, a Ghanaian who leads commercial programs for GE, a Read more
Published: March 11, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: Who Is Your MBA Interviewer?
At schools like Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management, MBA admissions interviews are conducted exclusively by members of the admissions staff. London Business School and Columbia Business School, meanwhile, are among those that rely on an army of alumni to meet with candidates around the world. Still other schools—including the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business—train current students in the art of interviewing and call on them to help assess potential future classmates. While Read more
Published: March 11, 2018
Three Reasons to Apply to MBA Programs in Round 3
As we move through March, the Round 3 deadlines of leading MBA Programs are drawing near. Conventional wisdom in the MBA admissions world suggests it’s best to avoid the final rounds when applying to top business schools, but sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise. One thing to keep in mind is that all indications suggest that this year could actually be a good one in which to apply in R3.  This is because a strong global economy and job market (particularly in the US and Europe) have led to declines in MBA application volume at many business schools.  As such, several top programs will likely Read more
Published: March 11, 2018
Getting to Know John Gilligan: The New Director of the Oxford Saïd Finance Lab
Are you looking to dive deep into finance during your MBA program and seeking opportunities to interact with banking firms, funds, and industry leaders? That’s precisely the theory behind the Finance Lab at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Read more
Published: March 8, 2018
Four Things to Consider When Visiting Full-Time MBA Programs
Fridays from the Frontline The process of picking a business school is both an art and a science. Broadly speaking, prospective students must decide which industry they ultimately want to infiltrate and then figure out which MBA program will give them the necessary tools to get where they need to go. This all sounds simple and straightforward enough, but there are a host of other variables prospective b-schoolers must weigh in order to make an informed choice—geographic location, small, tight-knit community vs. huge class with expansive network, the prevailing on-campus cultural attitude, and the reputation of the school within one’s Read more
Published: March 7, 2018
How MBA Rankings Can Provide Value To MBA Candidates
U.S. News will release their MBA Rankings for 2019 on Tuesday, March 20, 2018. For those of you currently navigating the admissions process, we thought it would be timely to look at rankings and the value they provide for MBA candidates.  So how can b-school applicants use rankings to discover the “best” schools—for them?  Read on for 5 key tips… U.S. News is one of many organizations that rank top MBA Programs, the list also includes BusinessWeek, the Financial Times and the Economist. However, because business schools receive different rankings depending on the sources’ criteria, it can be difficult to understand Read more
Published: March 7, 2018
Is Tuck the Best Business School for Studying Emerging Markets?
As stateside opportunities wax and wane, MBA students at U.S. business schools have become increasingly interested in emerging markets in developing countries around the globe. Though they can present greater risks, there are career opportunities unique to these often overlooked economies that appeal to many sides of the MBA in training—particularly the part that longs to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing. Read more
Published: March 7, 2018
MBA News You Need: The Gender Pay Gap Post-MBA, Kellogg Professor Talks NRA Boycott, Case Centre Award Winners Announced, and More
Each week we collect all the MBA news that’s fit to print to give you a quick overview of the latest trending topics from top schools around the world. Here’s your quick MBA News You Need digest for the week of March 8, 2018. Research Finds a Wider Gender Pay Gap Post-MBA Could the gender pay gap widen after an MBA? According to research by the Financial Times, women earn on average 9 percent less than men before an MBA and 14 percent less post-MBA. But the good news is that awareness of the gender pay gap is growing, and Read more
Published: March 6, 2018
Clear Admit Launches New MBA Admissions Podcast Series
We are excited to announce the debut of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast, where we’ll bring you frequent insights into how prospective MBA applicants can navigate the competitive application process. We’ll also discuss trends within graduate management education, student life on campus, post-MBA career options, and more. We will speak to admissions directors, industry thought leaders, and prospective and current students about the topics and trends that currently loom large in the MBA world. Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond, a Wharton alumnus who brings more than 15 years of experience in MBA admissions, will also be a frequent guest. Read more
Published: March 6, 2018
The Managerial Approach to Sentence Correction
For most examinees, GMAT Sentence Correction can look a lot like a typical workday: you face a series of tasks and decisions that seem a bit daunting and quite a bit out of your control or expertise. But remember: the whole reason you’re taking the GMAT is to eventually become a high-level manager, and what effective managers do is determine where they’re best able to add value and then focus on that. The same ideology should be true of your Sentence Correction approach! Elon Musk is able to spearhead initiatives in space travel, electric cars, and (perhaps soon) revolutionary public Read more
Published: March 6, 2018
Real Humans of the IESE MBA Class of 2019
Our Real Humans of the MBA Class of 2019 series takes us this week to lovely Barcelona, Spain, where students at IESE Business School have just taken part in “Multi-Culti,” one of the most highly anticipated social events of the year. It’s a half-day shindig that lets the school show off its true international spirit through regional dance, dress, and food from the dozens and dozens of countries and regions its students call home. From all the accounts we heard, it lived up to the hype. The school is also basking in its recent third-place rank among business schools in Europe in the Financial Times 2018 Global MBA Ranking, released in January, up from fifth the year before. And just earlier this week, IESE placed second in Europe in the FT’s just-released Top MBAs for Women ranking, and 14th globally. Read more
Published: March 5, 2018
Round 2 Applicants: Your Handy Guide for Leading MBA Programs’ Decisions
Round 2 leading MBA program decisions are upon us! For those who have applied in Round 2 and are anxiously awaiting their decision, you’re in the right place. Use this to guide you through Round 2 decisions that will be released in March 2018. School Decision Date Notre Dame / Mendoza March 9, 2018 Duke / Fuqua March 15, 2018 U. Chicago / Booth March 15, 2018 Cornell / Johnson March 15, 2018 (Jan. Round) Boston College / Carroll March 15, 2018 Michigan / Ross March 16, 2018 Vanderbilt / Owen March 16, 2018 Rochester / Simon March 20, 2018 Read more
Published: March 5, 2018
What the Relaunch of the Berkeley Entrepreneurship Association Could Mean for Haas MBA Students
Entrepreneurship at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley is getting an upgrade. Right now the university is working to rebrand and relaunch the Berkeley Entrepreneurship Association (BEA). While the newly updated BEA isn’t available yet, it’s in the works and will have many exciting announcements over the next weeks and months. We were lucky enough to get an inside look at what’s coming to the BEA in a talk with Luca Cosentino, MBA’19, BEA president and co-chair and the man behind the re-launch. Here’s the inside scoop! Clear Admit: What is the Berkeley Entrepreneurship Read more
Published: March 5, 2018
Financial Times Reveals New Ranking of Top MBAs for Women
For years, there’s been a growing push for women to enter business and business school, and some change has occurred. In 2017, four in 10 applicants to two-year, full-time MBA programs were women, up from 33 percent in 2013 according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Unfortunately, that increase in applications has not been reflected within MBA cohorts. Women still only account for a third of the students accepted into the top 100 MBA programs, the same as it was five years ago. And there’s another issue as well: cost. Women, on average, earn around 91 percent of their Read more
Published: March 5, 2018
Our Five Favorite MBA Podcasts Right Now
Many business schools and MBA students have recently begun to produce podcasts, discussing the diverse range of student and graduate experiences as well as current trends and relevant topics in business. These podcasts are unique in that they provide a candid, first-person look at business school from those currently enrolled, allowing for an open platform to discuss business topics outside of the confines of the university. While this is a fairly new trend, there are several different podcasts out there for those who might be interested to learn more. We’ve assembled our five favorite MBA podcasts right now, and we’ll Read more
Published: March 5, 2018
MBA ApplyWire Spotlight: Applying to Business School Next Season
While there’s still time to apply in Round 3, some MBA hopefuls are getting a head start on their plans for next season, as can be seen on ApplyWire, Clear Admit’s latest tool to aid in your admissions process. This week, we're setting the spotlight on a candidate curious about their options for next year. We take a closer look at a post from an applicant considering CMU / Tepper, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, and Northwestern / Kellogg. Read on for more details about the candidate’s background. Initial feedback encouraged higher goals: Read more
Published: March 4, 2018
How to Secure the MBA Summer Internship You Want
Sponsored Content According to research published the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) last year, 86 percent of companies planned to hire an MBA graduate. It comes as no surprise that the reason most MBA candidates choose a business school is to strengthen their position in the job market. One of the most popular and effective employment strategies is to pursue an internship like one of the many offered at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Read more
Published: March 4, 2018
Applying in Round 3? Get a Profile Review and Check Out the Stats of Fellow MBA Candidates
With just about a month to go to Round 3 deadlines for the leading MBA programs, applicants for this round should be finalizing school selections and drafting essays. We know that acceptance rates during this round can make things tougher for applicants than in earlier rounds, so we’re using this post to highlight a tool that can provide you with a little extra help. Clear Admit’s ApplyWire allows you to create a basic profile of your candidacy while sharing the schools to which you are considering applying. Once posted, your entry will allow admissions experts from both Clear Admit and Veritas Prep, as well as fellow candidates, to provide you feedback on your school selections and application strategy. Read more
Published: March 1, 2018
The Vision Behind the Cornell MBA FinTech Intensive
Fridays from the Frontline Fintech is one of those buzzy, disruptive industries the business world loves to hate and hates to love. But very much unlike their tech brethren—edtech, cleantech, insurtech— the financial services sector, which should by all accounts be shaking in its skivvies about going the way of the Guam flying fox, has strangely begun to embrace fintech innovations like open banking and cryptocurrency. MBA students are taking notice and beginning to flock toward fintech in lieu of more traditional financial services gigs. Enter Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management’s FinTech Intensive, “a cutting-edge Read more
Published: February 28, 2018
Inside Cornell’s MBA Fintech Intensive
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business' brand new MBA FinTech Intensive is a cutting-edge program with an innovative studio curriculum. Led by Drew Pascarella, a Cornell Johnson lecturer of finance and managing director of Vista Point Advisors, the FinTech Intensive blends hard science and collaborative projects with startups and institutional players in New York for an in-depth learning experience. Read more
Published: February 28, 2018
MBA News You Need: Booth Black Out Day, NFL Players at Ross, Tuck’s Energy Initiatives, and More
Each week we collect all the MBA news that’s fit to print and give you a quick overview of the latest trending topics from top schools around the world. Here’s your quick MBA News You Need digest for the week of March 1, 2018. Read more
Published: February 27, 2018
GMAT Tip: Put the Critical in Critical Reasoning
As you read GMAT Critical Reasoning problems, you might be struck by how different the questions can be: some are about biology, others about geology, and still others about politics, home repair, corporate strategy, and a whole host of other topics. But, strategically speaking, Critical Reasoning problems are all a lot more similar than meets the eye. There are a handful of blueprints for the structure of these problems, and if you can see those blueprints the subject matter becomes window dressing. The most popular Critical Reasoning blueprint? It looks like this: Fact that guarantees that X is true. Conclusion Read more
Published: February 27, 2018
Berkeley Haas Celebrates 8 Years of Defining Leadership Principles
If you want to get a feel for the culture of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, look no further than its four Defining Leadership Principles (DLPs): Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Introduced eight years ago, the DLPs have become a part of the fabric of the school. In fact, 75 percent of students from all three MBA programs and the undergraduate program cite them as a major reason they chose to attend. Not only that, 90 percent of Haas alumni surveyed from the past decade report being familiar with them and using them to navigate both their professional and personal lives. Earlier this month, as part of Haas Culture Day, the school celebrated the DLPs' eighth birthday, complete with cupcakes.  Read more
Published: February 26, 2018
HBS Black Business Leaders Series Celebrates Black History Month
To commemorate Black History Month, Harvard Business School (HBS) presented a series of cases, courses, and podcasts highlighting influential black business leaders. Within its MBA curriculum, HBS has also been working to increase the representation of compelling African-American protagonists culled from a wide range of industries in the case studies at the heart of its distinctive case study method.  Read more
Published: February 26, 2018
7 Top Takeaways from Leading Business School 2017 Employment Reports
There’s been a steady stream of salary and employment data from leading business schools over the past several months as one after another has released 2017 employment reports. We’ve shared a lot of it along the way, including special reports on Kellogg, McDonough, NYU Stern, Tuck, and Stanford. With results from nearly every top school now in, prospective MBA students can take heart that the news is pretty universally encouraging. Overall, data gathered about the Class of 2017 reveal growing salaries across all industries Read more

MBA Applywire

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November 16, 2024 5:16pm ET
Applying: ESADE, IE Business School, IESE
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Tech
Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology, Pharmaceutical Companies: Apple , Facebook , Google , Microsoft , Oracle , Johnson & Johnson , Novartis , Pfizer , Roche
GMAT: 525
GPA: 2.79
Years of Work Experience: 4
Post MBA Location: Europe
Notes:

Asian, female, USA. Top 10 Undergraduate school in USA, majored in Biomedical Engineering. Worked for Salesforce, Accenture, and Microsoft within sales department. Major accomplishments within sales roles. Strong personal essays. Letters of Recommendations from direct managers. Founder and held multiple leadership positions in school clubs during Undergrad. Just a really bad test taker and cannot seem to get my scores up no matter how many times I take it specifically in the quant section. American trying to stay in Europe post MBA and only applying to European B-schools.
7
November 15, 2024 9:32am ET
Applying: Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, Minnesota / Carlson, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM
Pre-MBA Career: Insurance
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Other
GMAT: 505
GPA: 3.44
Years of Work Experience: 3
Post MBA Location: Midwest, Northeast
Notes:

GMAT Note:
* The score is an unofficial practice test. I am beginning my studies for the real thing now.

Undergrad Majors:
* Economics
* Business Management

Work Experience Notes:
* Insurance experience is at a family business
* I implemented data analytics into business operations since that was not a practice beforehand.
* I help with sales, customer service, bookkeeping, and marketing.

Extracurriculars & Volunteer Activities:
* Worked as an economics research assistant during my undergrad where I consulted public and private entities
* Was part of an economics research project that won a national award for its work in community economic development
* Published 2 university-sponsored economics articles
* During my senior year, I was appointed to a university faculty committee to help plan university award ceremonies and delegate student scholarships
* Won a leadership award from my university
* Economics honor society member
* President of a student club (1 year) and a club's Senior Advisor (1 year)
* Started and led 2 initiatives that installed free smoke alarms in rural area homes (received a leadership award from the American Red Cross for this)
* Ironman triathlete
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November 14, 2024 8:16pm ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Cambridge / Judge, Columbia, Cornell / Johnson, emlyon, IESE, Imperial, INSEAD, London Business School, Manchester / AMBS, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern, UPenn / Wharton
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Hospitality
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Consumer Goods, Other Companies: Amazon , Apple , Google , Coca Cola , LVMH , Nestle , Nike
GRE: 326
GPA: 3.46
Years of Work Experience: 6
Post MBA Location: Consultancy
7
November 14, 2024 6:29am ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Georgetown / McDonough, UVA / Darden
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Consulting, Capital Project Development (Renewable Energy/CCS)
Post-MBA Target Industry: Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Commercial Banking, Family Business, Entrepreneurship
GMAT: 664
GPA: 2.9
Years of Work Experience: 7
Notes:

Pakistani male, looking to get into the financial services industry short term, and long-term make a significant contribution to the family business or pursue entrepreneurship. Studied engineering from UT Austin for undergrad followed by three jobs (roughly 2 years each) and a nine month break in between job 2 and 3. Planning to take the GMAT again in 3 weeks to offset GPA. Goal score is 695. Mitigating circumstances around GPA are just illness and general family/self issues but doubt they will be very convincing.
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November 13, 2024 11:52am ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Georgetown / McDonough, Michigan / Ross, UNC Kenan-Flagler, USC / Marshall
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Real Estate Development Analyst and Acquisitions Project Manager
Post-MBA Target Industry: Private Equity, Family Business, Entrepreneurship Companies: Other
GPA: 3.44
Years of Work Experience: 3
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MBA LiveWire

November 17, 2024 10:14am ET
Interview Invite to Stanford GSB
Round: Round 1
Received via email on November 14, 2024
GPA: 3.52
GRE: 322
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Technology
Note:

Consortium applicant applied round 1
November 17, 2024 12:58am ET
Rejected at Columbia
Round: Round 1
Received via portal on November 14, 2024
GPA: 3.49
GMAT: 740
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: India
November 17, 2024 12:46am ET
Interview Invite to Duke / Fuqua
Round: Round 1
Received via email on November 12, 2024
GPA: 3.49
GMAT: 740
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: India
November 16, 2024 12:19pm ET
Interview Invite to Northwestern / Kellogg
Round: Round 1
Received via email
GRE: 320
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Application Location: India
November 16, 2024 10:45am ET
Accepted to Boston College / Carroll
Round: Round 1
Received via phone on November 12, 2024
GPA: 3.91
GRE: 318
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: Texaa
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