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Published: January 10, 2018
It’s Gonna Be a Long Night for Some Ross MBA Students
Right about now, MBA and other graduate students at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business are gearing up for what could be a very long, horrible night. Each year Ross hosts two Leadership Crisis Challenges, one in January for graduate students and another in March for undergrads. The Graduate Student Crisis Challenge kicks off today, January 11th, at 5 p.m.  Read more
Published: January 9, 2018
Ross Round 2 Interview Invite Details Revealed
In the delightfully transparent manner Ross School of Business Managing Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions and Program Soojin Kwon is known for, she took to her MBA Admissions Blog today to provide some insight into what those of you who submitted Round 2 applications should expect in terms of next steps. Round 2 is Ross’s biggest round, Kwon notes, so to give all applications a proper review, interview invitations will go out in two waves. “The first group of invitations will be sent later this week,” she wrote. “The second (and final) batch will Read more
Published: January 9, 2018
Are Tech Giants in Trouble in 2018? Why One LBS Prof Thinks They Could Be
Last year, tech giants such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook already started facing new regulations and pushback from government officials. For example, last November, the State of Missouri launched an investigation into Google to see if it had violated antitrust and consumer protection laws. Julian Birkinshaw, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School, thinks that’s only the beginning. Read more
Published: January 8, 2018
Why Wharton Prof Americus Reed Cares About the Waistlines of Hollywood Celebs
Americus Reed, marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, recently contributed his insight to a USA Today article that explored a seeming trend among diet firms toward seeking more male celebrity endorsements to promote their plans and products. Male celebrities like ’80s wunderkind Rob Lowe (Atkins Nutritionals) and hip-hop producer DJ Khaled (Weight Watchers) have become the new male faces of these diet giants. Diet companies are shifting their advertising approach in order to draw in a male demographic and expand the reach of their products. Women like Oprah Read more
Published: January 8, 2018
MBA ApplyWire Spotlight: Business School from the Hospitality Industry
As many Round 1 candidates report their decisions, others are posting their Round 2 application plans to ApplyWire, Clear Admit’s latest tool to aid in your admissions process. This week, we’re setting the spotlight on a candidate with a background in hospitality. We take a closer look at their plans in applying to Georgetown / McDonough, Northwestern / Kellogg, Toronto / Rotman, UCLA Anderson and USC / Marshall.  Read on for more details about the candidate’s background. Read more
Published: January 7, 2018
New Year’s Resolutions for MBA Applicants? Saïd MBA Students Suggest a Few
The start of every year is a great time to reflect on what went well the previous year—and how you can improve in the next. Indeed, the time-honored tradition of setting resolutions for the new year can be especially valuable for MBA students and applicants. Whether you’ve just completed your first or third semester of an MBA program or are still working on perfecting your MBA applications, there are always a few resolutions that can help make the most of how ever much of your MBA experience is still ahead of you. We’ve compiled a list of business school New Year’s resolutions from current MBA students at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School. While some are specific to Saïd's program, they all represent great business school advice you'd do well to read regardless of whether you haven't yet started or are closing in on graduation. Read more
Published: January 4, 2018
What Made 2017 a Record Year for Clear Admit
We wanted to wish you a terrific New Year, and all the best for 2018, especially for those of you who are in the midst of applying to your dream MBA programs. With this in mind, we also wanted to reflect on what a great year 2017 was for Clear Admit—and we hope for our users, too. We thank you for that. We set a record for number of pageviews for the site in 2017, sailing past our 2016 numbers (which had themselves exceeded all prior records). Engagement on the site was also at an all-time high: The number of Read more
Published: January 4, 2018
Why This Kenan-Flagler MBA Student Decided to Leave a Perfectly Good Life in DC Brokerage
Fridays from the Frontlines Ed Crocker is the first to tell you he had a great life in real estate in booming Washington, D.C. A third-year associate at a successful multifamily brokerage firm, he worked with a great team and some of the most dynamic developers in D.C. And yet, somehow, he wanted more. In the post that follows, learn how that yearning led him to consider business school and how the real estate program at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School immediately drew him in. As the second-year MBA student looks back on all he’s learned and all Read more
Published: January 3, 2018
The Biggest Earners at Intuit? MBAs, of Course
Since 1983, Intuit Inc.—the Mountain View, CA software company that spearheaded the creation of products like TurboTax, Quickbooks, and Mint—has effectively changed the way the average person manages their money. And with more and more MBAs shedding their finance industry aspirations for roles in tech, a job with one of the most well-regarded tech organizations is looking especially ideal. Why Should I Join Intuit Inc.? Intuit Inc. was ranked 13th overall on Fortune’s 2017 list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” and 30th overall on Glassdoor‘s newest “ Read more
Published: January 3, 2018
2 Reasons to Consider UNC Kenan-Flagler for Health Management if You Aren’t Already
In early December, the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School became the newest member of the Business School Alliance for Health Management (BAHM). BAHM, formed in 2010, is an international consortium of MBA programs that focus on the health sector. In particular, the consortium supports business school health management programs and their faculty, students, and graduates. Read more
Published: January 2, 2018
Doing Good Is the New Doing Well: New Partnerships Marry Business with Social Purpose at Oxford Saïd
Late last year the University of Oxford Saïd Business School partnered with the Global Thinkers Forum—a social purpose organization focused on accountable leadership, women’s empowerment, and youth development—to promote the annual Global Thinkers Forum Awards for Excellence. The event took place at the British Library on November 30, 2017, and celebrated recipients of the GTF Excellence in Global Leadership awards. Read more
Published: January 1, 2018
Real Humans of the Georgetown McDonough MBA Class of 2019
Set in an international city with strong ties to government, it’s not surprising to find students at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business drawn to both of those aspects. More than a third of the class—34 percent—is international, and far more bring international experience of one sort or another. More than three quarters of the 276 students who make up the full-time MBA Class of 2019 have lived, worked, or studied in another country, and 67 percent speak more than one language. Women are not as well represented this year as they have been in recent years. The Read more
Published: December 29, 2017
Hidden Gems for Top Tech MBAs: Schools You Shouldn’t Overlook
As promised follow-up to our piece earlier this fall on top business schools for technology, today we’ll examine an additional handful of schools that are similarly training MBA students for success in the burgeoning tech sector. Though they are sending a smaller percentage of their graduates to work at leading tech firms than the five we previously featured, the following schools are either not far behind, quickly gaining, and/or launching new initiatives specifically focused on training the next generation of tech leaders. MIT Sloan School of Management With technology in its very name, you would imagine that Read more
Published: December 26, 2017
GMAT Tip: Let It Cancel Out
When faced with Geometry problems with variables, many test takers will approach the question with fear, believing they are forgetting some obscure geometric rule that is the only path towards a correct answer. In reality, as we’ve covered in a few past posts, the understanding required to do well on Geometry questions on the GMAT is basic – Pythagorean theorem, special right triangles, area formula, and the like that you’ve found in the first half of an introductory Geometry course. Occasionally, we see some oddball questions associated with central angles, but there are still multiple ways to get to the Read more
Published: December 25, 2017
Tuck Professor Uncovers a Common Thread Between Exceptional Leaders
What makes a great leader? Is it what Tywin Lannister tells his nephew Tommen before he takes the throne: intelligence? Or is it something else? Based on the latest decade-long study conducted by a professor at the  Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, great leadership requires great teaching. Read more
Published: December 25, 2017
Career Services Director Q&A: Stanford GSB’s Maeve Richard
Earlier this month, Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) released its 2017 MBA Employment Report, revealing record-breaking salaries for the third consecutive year. The school’s most recent crop of graduates boasts average and median base compensation of $144,455 and $140,000 respectively—both up about $4,000 over last year’s all-time highs. (Incidentally, those figures are also higher than any other business school in the world.) The average signing bonus also increased by almost $3,000, setting a record as well at $29,534. Other guaranteed compensation, meanwhile, blew past last year’s all-time highs by close to $10,000 in Read more
Published: December 21, 2017
A Ross MBA Student’s Unexpected Journey: From Teacher in the Rural South to Investment Banker
Fridays from the Frontline Vaish Shastry came to the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business from the Mississippi Delta, where she taught middle school children. She came to business school thinking that she would return to the nonprofit world upon graduation. Instead, she’ll be working in the Consumer and Retail Group at global investment banking and asset management firm William Blair. Talk about a change in plans. In a recent blog post, Shastry explained how within just a few days at Ross she found her mind blown and her curiosity piqued by the world Read more
Published: December 20, 2017
Are International MBA Applicants Avoiding U.S. Business Schools?
Based on data from the most recently Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) monthly survey, interest in U.S. business schools among international MBA candidates is still below pre-2016 election levels. In fact, it’s below the previous five-year average for each month since the election. And in each of the last three months—between September and November 2017—international application volume has decreased. Image via GMAC report. Just before Donald Trump’s election victory, approximately 46 percent of international MBA applicants surveyed by GMAC responded that they would prefer to study in the United States—above the 45-percent, five-year, pre-election average. Read more
Published: December 20, 2017
Volunteer Fever Strikes Georgetown McDonough MBA Students
During the Month of Volunteerism at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, MBA student volunteers logged more than 710 hours of community service. For the month of November, full-time and evening MBA students divided into their cohorts to engage in a friendly competition to see which cohort could log the most volunteer hours. The winning cohort—FT19 Hoya—logged more than 203 hours with a 63 percent participation rate. Read more
Published: December 19, 2017
Add Your Story to MBA DecisionWire
Over the last two weeks, many of the leading MBA programs have released their Round 1 decisions. For a number of you, this means you now know which b-school campus you will be heading to in 2018. Before you start packing for your new adventure, head on over to MBA DecisionWire and complete an entry. It’s anonymous and only takes a minute to post. Sharing your profile, listing your choice of schools and declaring your decision proves useful for candidates who are just starting to explore their MBA application journey—or are in a conundrum of acceptances themselves.  Since its inception three seasons ago, MBA DecisionWire has received thousands of entries from candidates sharing their stories with their fellow applicants. Read more
Published: December 19, 2017
Your Future A.T. Kearney Career Is Waiting for You
For many organizations, finding a candidate with an MBA on their resume can be an early indicator of how well he or she will succeed. With the strong foundational business skills the degree provides, companies can feel safe hiring these kinds of candidates. Founded in the mid 1920s, A.T. Kearney is a Chicago-based global management consulting firm and one of the more active MBA recruiters. As of 2016, the company holds 60 offices in more than 40 countries throughout the globe, with roughly 3,500 employees. Why Work at A.T. Kearney? A.T. Kearney has made a commitment to creating transformational Read more
Published: December 19, 2017
Inside Dean Matthew Myers’ Plans for the SMU Cox School of Business
On August 1, 2017, Matthew Myers became the ninth dean of the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business. As the former dean of Miami University’s Farmer School of Business in Oxford, Ohio, Dean Myers comes to Cox with plans to build on the school’s current strengths and enhancing its offerings. In a Cox Today article titled “The Dawn of a New Dean,” SMU Cox dives into Myers’ plans in a detailed interview. Here’s what he had to say.  Joining Cox According to Myers, the most frequent question that he’s asked is, “Why Read more
Published: December 18, 2017
Real Humans of the Cornell Johnson MBA Class of 2019
Here are some of the things we know about the MBA Class of 2019 at Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. The 277 students in the class entered with an average GMAT score of 700 and an average GPA of 3.36—identical to the class preceding them. (Median GMAT score jumped 10 points, to 710.) As in prior years, the greatest percentage of students studied business in college, though this figure was just 35 percent—down from 41 percent the year before. Another 28 percent of the class were humanities majors, and 20 percent studied engineering. Read more
Published: December 18, 2017
Not Just for Finding Jobs: For More and More MBAs, LinkedIn Is the Job
Since its 2003 launch, LinkedIn has been shaping the way people find jobs, becoming the most extensive professional social network on the planet. With more than 530 million users, it is clear how the platform could pair job seekers with a multitude of career prospects. LinkedIn was just voted Company of the Year by HRDive for the comprehensive recruitment resources it offers its users. But a network this expansive presents its own pool of opportunities. In fact, Glassdoor dubbed LinkedIn one of the 25 best places to work in 2017. It’s also a company that prides itself on a unique Read more
Published: December 18, 2017
MBA DecisionWire Spotlight: Undecided about Cambridge / Judge, Stanford GSB and Wharton
After receiving multiple Round 1 notifications (and reporting them on LiveWire), MBA candidates are now turning to DecisionWire, to post—and often seek advice on—where they are attending. This week, we're shining the MBA DecisionWire spotlight on a candidate with acceptances to Cambridge / Judge, Stanford GSB, and UPenn / Wharton.  Judge and Stanford also offered scholarship funds. Read on for more about the candidate and feedback from community members and our resident admissions experts, Alex Brown and Graham Richmond. Alex led off with what everyone was thinking: Read more

MBA Applywire

3
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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