MBA Feature

Published: September 25, 2019

Kellogg Class of 2021: Intelligence and Diversity Continue to Shine

Northwestern Kellogg’s incoming Class of 2021 reflects the intelligence and diversity that the school is known for. As Renee Cherubin, the senior director of Full-Time MBA admissions said, “Our incoming Class of 2021 class reflects everything that makes me proud to be an alumna and current leader at this school, namely the incredible depth and breadth of diversity that Kellogg strives for. We’ve built a class that is not only incredibly intelligent, but also includes a rich array of cultural backgrounds, industries, functions and perspectives — all of whom will come together to form a tight-knit community.” While there were no significant changes this year over last, there are a few areas of the 474-person class that we should highlight. Read more

Published: September 25, 2019

Real Humans of Rochester Simon’s MBA Class of 2021

Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester has cultivated a reputation as an MBA program that values both hard and soft skills in its business leaders, which this year’s incoming class reflects to a high degree. The MBA Class of 2021 consists of 107 students representing 18 different countries of origin. While Simon’s representation of women MBA candidates of 34 percent in recent years sits below the 38 percent national average, the incoming class reports an impressive jump to 42 percent women representation for 2021. Additionally, the school ranked second in 2018 for percentage Read more

Published: September 25, 2019

Admissions Tip: Understanding the MBA Admissions Interview – Part II

This is the second in a four-part series on the MBA admissions interview. You can view Part I here. Okay—now that you’re clear on open interviews and interviews by invitation, let’s get into some of the finer points. What’s this about blind versus non-blind interviews, you ask? Some schools believe strongly in the notion of blind interviews, which means that your interviewer will know nothing about you in advance of the interview other than what appears on the résumé you give them. Schools that fall firmly into this camp include Yale School of Management (SOM), Columbia Read more

Published: September 24, 2019

Chicago Booth Lands Top Honors on Forbes Best U.S. Business School Ranking

For the first time in Forbes’ history of ranking U.S. business schools, the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business took the number one spot. Booth’s meteoric rise followed the same path as Wharton did in the last ranking—both jumped from 7th to 1st in their respective rankings, and Wharton was also new to the leading position. Forbes’ biennial ranking focuses primarily on return on investment for MBA graduates. The organization surveyed more than 100 schools and 17,500 alumni from the Class of 2014 regarding their pre- and post-MBA compensation, career choice, and location. Responses received from 25 percent of those alumni determined schools’ ranks in terms of five-year MBA gain, which Forbes defines as “the net cumulative amount the typical alumni would have earned after five years by getting their M.B.A. versus staying in their pre-M.B.A. career.” They did exclude programs if their response rate was under 15%, or if graduates actually lost money after five years. (In 2017, there were 100 schools in the ranking; this year, there are only 61.) Booth landed top honors with a $94,400 five-year MBA gain, coming in $3,600 above the next highest school, Stanford GSB. While Stanford GSB’s Class of 2014 grads reported the highest total compensation of any other school—$250,000 five years post-MBA—the high cost of living in the Bay Area affected their net gains. Meanwhile, Chicago Booth’s Class of 2014 reported reaching an annual salary of $245,000. Two thirds of the Booth class had entered the lucrative fields of finance or consulting, with McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Accenture and Amazon scooping up most graduates. Read more

Published: September 24, 2019

MBA News You Need: $5M Gift for NYU Stern Women, INSEAD to Host Africa Business Conference, 10 New Electives at Dartmouth Tuck, and More from IESE and Yale SOM

Each week we collect all the MBA news that’s fit to print and provide a quick overview of the latest updates from top business schools around the world. Here’s your MBA News You Need digest for the week of September 23, 2019. Read more

Published: September 23, 2019

Real Humans of Duke Fuqua’s MBA Class of 2021

We continue our exploration of MBA student life in our Real Humans series down in Durham, North Carolina. The Associate Dean of Admissions at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has walked us through many appealing features of the city and the school culture. As you’ll see on the following pages, the Daytime MBA Class of 2021 agrees—Fuqua is the place to be. Tradition and community are a part of the school’s DNA. Fuqua students benefit from participating in traditions such as Fuqua Friday or the Duke Basketball Read more

Published: September 23, 2019

Admissions Director Q&A: IESE’s Pascal Michels

This installment of our ongoing series, Admissions Director Q&A, takes us to the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain, and the business school, IESE. An IESE full-time MBA graduate of 2010, Pascal Michels joined IESE as an associate director on the career services team in 2013 and took over the role of full-time MBA admissions director in 2017. A recovering finance professional, Pascal finds true meaning in working with people and is passionate about business education. Currently he is in the last steps of getting certified as an Executive Coach by Columbia University in New York. In his free time, he claims to go swimming a lot, but generally just hangs around the gym’s spa. Unverifiable injuries and a hectic travel schedule are his preferred excuses for not having completed a marathon since 2015. Clear Admit had the opportunity to chat with Pascal Michels about IESE’s MBA program and the importance of not being boring in your application (or in real life). Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change, or event happening at IESE in the coming year? Read more

Published: September 23, 2019

Episode 54: Wire Taps—Scholarship vs. Rank, Travel/Tourism Candidate, Low GRE and More

Welcome to another episode of our podcast series, Wire Taps, which tackles admissions challenges MBA hopefuls post to MBA ApplyWire. Applicants share details including GPA, GMAT/GRE, career goals and target programs, as well as any other potential issues. Then, in each episode, Clear Admit’s own Graham Richmond and Alex Brown review recent entries and offer their expert advice. If you want the chance to be featured on Wire Taps, post to MBA ApplyWire. For this edition of Wire Taps, Graham and Alex review an entry from a Read more

Published: September 22, 2019

Admissions Tip: Understanding the MBA Admissions Interview, Part I

In this first part of a multi-part series, we’ll unpack the different types of interviews—open, invited, blind, non-blind, resume-based, behavioral-based, team-based, etc. Along the way, we’ll offer some tips for how best to prepare for each and explore a few of the more interesting wrinkles in the world of MBA interviews. When all is said and done, you’ll have a much firmer grasp on the MBA interview landscape as a whole, which we hope will better prepare you for interviews at all of your target schools. Open Interviews Versus Invited Interviews Also known as open interviews, applicant-initiated interviews are what they sound like. At Dartmouth Tuck and a handful of other schools—Kellogg’s Northwestern School of Management, Emory’s Goizueta School, Duke’s Fuqua School and UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, for example—applicants do indeed get to choose to interview. There’s no need to wait—or stress over—receiving an interview invitation. Just schedule a date, pack your bags and go. Read more

Published: September 19, 2019

CBS, HBS, INSEAD and More Meet to Discuss Diversity in Management Education

For today’s business world, “diversity” isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the reality. Firms are increasingly creating international teams, pushing for gender and racial balance, and advancing LGBTQ equality. That’s why leading scholars from ten of the top business schools in the world—including INSEAD, Columbia Business School, NYU Stern, and Harvard Business School—came together to have an in-depth conversation around the importance of diversity in management education. Read more

Published: September 19, 2019

Fridays from the Frontline: Wait, How Did I Get to Oxford?

Each individual path to business school is unique, and the MBA application process often functions as the great equalizer for prospective students. In other words, applications are opportunities to showcase one’s originality within the established framework of your desired school’s culture. Beyond the standard rigamarole of GMAT scores, securing undergrad transcripts, and getting up to speed on quant pre-reqs, assembling a knock-out personal statement and prepping for in-person interviews can be trying, even for the most seasoned professionals. Nikita Pancholi took to the Oxford University's Saïd Business School blog to offer insights on how to put your best foot forward in the application process. Read more

Published: September 18, 2019

Stanford GSB Class of 2021 Almost Reaches Gender Parity

This week, Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) released its MBA Class of 2021 profile. The details revealed massive growth in diversity—particularly when it came to female students—and continued high qualifications for acceptance. Let's dive into the Stanford GSB MBA Class of 2021. Read more

Published: September 18, 2019

Real Humans of UNC Kenan-Flagler’s MBA Class of 2021

Home to 13.2 miles of bike lanes, over 95 restaurants and bars, 250 acres of parks, 12 theaters and live music venues all with a population of under 60,000, Chapel Hill is routinely ranked one of the nation’s top college towns. And within that landscape, the collaborative and supportive culture at UNC Kenan-Flagler left a strong impression on each of the MBA candidates featured in this edition of Real Humans. Whether during the application process or kicking off the new school year, students and staff dedicated their time to each other to Read more

Published: September 17, 2019

MBA News You Need: Pre-MBA Work Experience at UCLA Anderson, Berkeley Haas on MBA Application Fears, Dartmouth Tuck Admissions Criteria, and More from Michigan Ross and Vanderbilt Owen

Published: September 16, 2019

Real Humans of Northwestern Kellogg’s MBA Class of 2021

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management students praise the diverse, friendly, and supportive on-campus atmosphere. The overall Class of 2021 demographics further support this culture. Of the 474 full-time MBA students in the most recent class, U.S. minorities account for 26 percent of the student body while international students represent 32 percent of the group. Twenty-nine percent of the Class of 2021 majored in STEM subjects for their undergraduate degrees, 49 percent in economics/business, and 24 percent in humanities subjects. GMAT scores ranged between 620 and 780, with the average landing at 730. While Kellogg has Read more

Published: September 16, 2019

Clear Admit Admissions Director Q&A: Judi Byers of Cornell University’s S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management

We continue with our updates to Admissions Director Q&As with a trip to Ithaca, NY. Judi Byers is the Executive Director of Admissions & Financial Aid for the residential MBA programs at Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. She leads a team of 14 admissions professionals and directs the strategic recruitment and admissions activities for the Two-Year and One-Year MBA programs in Ithaca. Read on to hear from Byers about Cornell’s Diversity and Inclusion efforts, its NYC curriculum, the Cornell Application Guide, LEAD events to get to know candidates, and more! Clear Admit:What’s the single most exciting development, change, or event happening at Cornell in the coming year? Read more

Published: September 15, 2019

Prodigy Finance to Host Free Webinar on September 18th – “How Will You Fund Your MBA Abroad?”

Register Here If you’re applying for your MBA abroad in 2019 or later, this is a great opportunity to learn about how you can get a free loan quote without any co-signer or collateral in under 30 minutes. The webinar will be hosted by the Neha Rangari, Growth Associate from Prodigy Finance. She will discuss financing for your education, including: • Benefits of a top-ranked MBA course • The 30-minute loan application • Loan terms, including loan size, interest rates, and the repayment period • How Read more

Published: September 12, 2019

Fridays from the Frontline: Expanding My Worldview Through HBS’s FIELD Global Immersion

First-year Harvard Business School MBA students take part in the FIELD Global Immersion course. Over the course of a semester, they work with a global business, which has a product or service issue to solve. Students are expected to choose a city or country they do not have prior experience with, and the course culminates in a weeklong visit to the business. There are so many reasons the study abroad component has become indispensable to the MBA education. To study abroad is an opportunity to understand–as current HBS student Reggie Smith wrote in a recent blog post–how to “innovate in the globally competitive 21st century economy.” Read on for a first hand account of the FIELD Global Immersion at HBS. The following piece has been republished in its entirety from its original source, HBS Blog MBA Voices. Expanding My Worldview Through HBS’s FIELD Global Immersion by Reggie Smith '20 Eight of us (six HBS students, a translator, and a driver) packed into a nine-passenger minivan for a winding drive through the bustling streets of Seoul. Our driver navigated us to a small office building as child-like anticipation grew in the van. The building was very clean and felt sparsely populated. We hopped in a small elevator and quickly arrived on the 7th floor. The open office floor plan had six rows of computers with the company’s CEO and the newest hire sitting practically shoulder to shoulder. We soon realized we had just stepped into the “Silicon Valley” of Seoul. Read more

Published: September 11, 2019

HBS MBA Round 1 Interview Invite Timing

If you clicked “submit” last week on your Harvard Business School MBA application, congratulations! Getting all of your admissions materials together and making the best first impression can be challenging. Now, you’re likely anxiously awaiting the next step in the process: an interview invitation. We are here to help you figure out the likely timing of Round 1 HBS interview invitations, based on our MBA LiveWire admissions tool and other historical trends. Read more

Published: September 11, 2019

Admissions Director Q&A: Luke Anthony Peña of Dartmouth Tuck School of Business

Since 2017, Dartmouth Tuck's Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Luke Anthony Peña, has developed and implemented strategies for recruiting, selecting, and enrolling MBA candidates who possess the greatest potential to become tomorrow’s wise leaders and contribute to and thrive in Tuck’s distinctly immersive learning community. Peña previously served as director of MBA admissions at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he led its marketing and recruitment teams, and managed all external outreach including events, online programming, and social media. At Stanford GSB, he introduced and implemented data analytics to enhance recruitment and yield efforts, and created digital resources to improve relationship management with both alumni ambassadors and prospective students. In this Admissions Director Q&A, Peña talks about Tuck's enhanced first-year core curriculum, the new two-week long orientation, the emphasis Tuck places on Full-Time MBA students, and more. Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change, or event happening at Tuck in the coming year? Read more

Published: September 9, 2019

Real Humans of NYU Stern’s MBA Class of 2021

As last season’s MBA applicants transition to students at their target programs, we are excited to begin introducing them in our Real Humans of the MBA Class of 2021 series! We start in New York City with New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and you should stay tuned as we make our way around the world to additional leading business schools. When asked, “Why the Stern School of Business?” students of the incoming NYU Stern Class of 2021 applauded the customizable curriculum and the school’s Read more

Published: September 9, 2019

Admissions Director Q&A: Dawna Levenson of the MIT Sloan School of Management

We are moving right along in our Admissions Director Q&A series with a trip to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dawna Levenson is an Assistant Dean of Admissions at the MIT Sloan School of Management there. Dawna Levenson, Assistant Dean of Admissions, MIT Sloan School of Management As the co-lead of the team, she shares responsibility for all recruiting, evaluation, conversion and marketing activities in support of the MBA, Sloan Fellows MBA, Master of Finance (MFin), Master of Business Analytics (MBAn), and Master of Science in Management Studies (MSMS) programs. Prior to this role, Levenson was the Director of Admissions for 5 years and the Associate Director for MFin Admissions for one year. Levenson came to Admissions from the MIT Professional Education office where she managed the Advanced Study Program, the Career Reengineering Program, and a collaboration with Accenture’s Solutions Workforce. Levenson had worked closely with the Admissions Office reading MBA applications since 2007, before joining the team full time, and brings a wealth of admissions and recruiting experience to the team. Prior to MIT, Levenson was a partner at Accenture where she spent 18 years. She holds a SB and SM degrees from MIT Sloan. Clear Admit interviewed Levenson about the increasing demand for data science, the lifecycle of an MIT MBA application, the most memorable applications to her, interviewing at Sloan, and more. Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change, or event happening at MIT Sloan in the coming year? Read more

Published: September 8, 2019

Admissions Director Q&A: Soojin Kwon of the Michigan Ross School of Business

Welcome to another edition of our series, Admissions Director Q&A! This week, we are excited to feature Soojin Kwon, the Managing Director for Full-time MBA Admissions and Program at the Michigan Ross School of Business. Kwon has led MBA Admissions since 2006 and, since 2016, the student experience and academic advising of the MBA programs. Before joining Ross, Kwon was a Manager in Deloitte’s Strategy and Operations practice. Prior to consulting, she served as a Presidential Management Fellow, doing rotations with the Senate Budget Committee, House Appropriations Committee, and Department of Commerce. Kwon holds an MBA from Ross, a Master in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Yale. She has served on the boards of the Forte Foundation, Greenhills School, and ETS’ Business School Advisory Council. Clear Admit was thrilled to sit down with Kwon to discuss the brand new +Impact Studio, Michigan Ross’s unique interview process, reflections on 15 years’ of admissions essays, and more. Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change, or event happening at Michigan Ross in the coming year? Read more

Published: September 5, 2019

Fridays from the Frontline: Yale SOM Internship Spotlight – Anna Collura ’20

The first-year MBA internship is arguably the second-most important milestone behind actually getting into business school. It is the moment where theory translates into praxis; when business school students have an opportunity to fully embody a year’s worth of knowledge and see how it applies to real-world situations. Second-year MBA student Anna Collura ’20 took to the Yale SOM blog to explain how she applied lessons from her first year at Yale her internship at George State University this past summer. Read more

Published: September 4, 2019

Admissions Director Q&A: Bruce DelMonico of the Yale School of Management

We continue our Admissions Director Q&A series with the Assistant Dean for Admissions at the Yale School of Management, Bruce DelMonico. He has been at the school for close to 15 years, and has been running the Admissions Office for roughly 13 of those years. During that time, he has seen the school grow both in size and in stature, and looks forward to its continued momentum under the leadership of incoming Dean Charles. DelMonico says he was drawn to Yale because of its mission to educate leaders for business and society and has stayed because the school is one where the mission really matters, which is an uplifting and inspiring place to be. If you are pursuing your MBA at Yale, you will want the scoop from DelMonico on the new Dean Kerwin Charles, the integrated curriculum, the role essays play in admissions, and more. Happy reading! Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change, or event happening at Yale in the coming year? Read more

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MBA Applywire

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.

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

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

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.

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

View or Submit Entries

MBA LiveWire

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

November 16, 2024 9:42am ET

Accepted to Ohio State / Fisher

Round: Early Decision

Received via email on November 14, 2024

GRE: 316

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

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