MBA News
A collection of news items from MBA programs and about the business school admissions process.
Published: September 8, 2014
MBA@UNC Infographic Demonstrates ROI of MBA
MBA@UNC, the online MBA program at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, has created an in-depth infographic to help demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) of the MBA degree generally – as well as some specific benefits offered by online programs.
The infographic notes that 96 percent of MBA graduates rate the value of their degree as outstanding, excellent or good and would recommend a graduate management education to others, citing data from the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Three out of four of those surveyed by GMAC said they could not have obtained their current job without their degree.
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Published: September 7, 2014
Haas School of Business Dean’s Series Speaker Brings Innovative Leaders to Campus
The Dean’s Speaker Series kicked off last week at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, featuring Jamba Juice CEO James D. White discussing how he led the company through a turnaround to emerge as the nation’s largest fresh juice and smoothie retailer.
White talked about how he led transformational change – which in his case meant shifting the business model to include more franchises than company-owned stores. Through innovative leadership, he took a company that when he joined in 2008 was facing management and profitability challenges and helped it navigate the recession and come out the other side bigger and stronger than ever. Today, Jamba Juice has 854 stores globally, 551 of which are franchises. Within the next five years, it hopes to add 500 new stores nationwide.
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Published: September 4, 2014
IU’s Kelley School of Business Partners with NFL for Online MBA Programs
The Indiana University (IU) Kelley School of Business has partnered with the National Football League (NFL) Players Association to offer graduate-level educational programs – including an MBA degree – tailored to the needs of current and former NFL players, the school announced earlier this week.
"For more than a quarter century, the Kelley School has provided customized programs that have met the needs of many students within a variety of corporate and educational settings," Kelley School Dean Idalene Kesner said in a statement.
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Published: September 3, 2014
Tuck School of Business Introduces New Immersive Global Experience Requirement
Beginning next fall, all students at the Tuck School of Business will be required to complete a course that involves spending time in a country new to them, the school announced yesterday. The new Tuck Global Insight Requirement will be mandatory for all members of the Class of 2017 and beyond – part of an effort by the school to ensure that a Tuck education includes global immersion, which the school deems essential in today’s business environment.
“The world has become much more global,” Phillip C. Stocken, Tuck associate dean for the MBA program, said in a statement. “As a result, we believe our graduates must have a global business capability—a global mindset—to successfully navigate the different cultures, countries and markets in which they will inevitably work. There is no better way to do this than spending time on the ground in another country.”
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Published: September 1, 2014
UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Appoints First Assistant Dean of MBA Program, Admissions
The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley has appointed Stephanie Fujii as assistant dean of the full-time MBA program and admissions, a newly created position, the school announced last week. Fujii, a 2004 Haas alumna, has worked at Haas for the past nine years, most recently as executive director of full-time MBA admissions.
Fujii was appointed to this newly created role by Haas Dean Rich Lyons, effective August 1st. She now oversees both the full-time MBA admissions and the full-time MBA program offices.
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Published: August 27, 2014
Yale School of Management Reports Record-Setting Diversity of Class of 2016
As leading MBA programs welcome students from the Class of 2016 to campus, many have been eager to share just how diverse those classes are. Earlier this week we reported on Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and today it’s Yale School of Management’s (SOM) turn.
In a post to Yale SOM’s MBA Blog earlier this month, Yale SOM Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions Director Bruce Delmonico shared that its incoming class is among the most diverse in the school’s history. “Thirty-nine percent of the class is from outside the United States, representing 35 different countries, while 37 percent are women, 25 percent U.S. minorities and 13 percent U.S. underrepresented minorities,” he wrote. “All of these numbers are at or near historic highs for the school,” he added.
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Published: August 26, 2014
Harvard Business School Admissions Director on GMAT vs. GRE
Harvard Business School (HBS) has stated publicly for some time that it accepts both the GMAT and the GRE and does not prefer one over the other. In a bid to be even more transparent on the issue, HBS Admissions Director Dee Leopold devoted a recent post on her Director’s Blog to the matter.
To substantiate the claim that the school is agnostic in terms of a preference between the two tests, Leopold chose to reveal exactly how many applicants submitted each type of test score, along with how many of those applicants were ultimately admitted and matriculated. While the vast majority of applicants opted to submit GMAT scores, the percentage of matriculating admits as compared to total applicants broken out by test were within close range.
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Published: August 25, 2014
Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business Reports Strongest, Most Diverse MBA Class to Date
The full-time MBA class entering this fall at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business boasts higher test scores and greater diversity than any incoming class in the school’s history, the school announced this week.
“The MBA Class of 2016 is impressive,” Shari Hubert, McDonough associate dean and director of MBA admissions, said in a statement. “In addition to having the highest average GMAT score of an incoming class at our school, they represent diversity of cultures, gender, ethnicity and industry that enriches our student experience by bringing a variety of viewpoints and experiences to our classrooms and the program,” she continued.
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Published: August 24, 2014
Ice Bucket Challenge Continues Its Ripple Through Top Business Schools
It started last week with one section challenging another at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, ultimately leading to a school-wide dousing and a challenge issued to rival schools UNC Kenan-Flagler School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and UVA’s Darden School. And the ice-cold water just keeps flowing (as do the donations).
The challenge, of course, is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that began going viral in late July and has amassed an incredible $79.7 million in donations to date (as compared to just $2.5 million during the same time period last year [July 29th to August 25th]). The ALS Association reports that it has gained 1.7 million new donors along the way.
Those who are challenged are supposed to have ice water dumped over their heads and then challenge others to do the same—or to make a donation to fight ALS—within 24 hours. In taking up the mantle, business school classes have called upon their peers to both endure the icy shower AND donate.
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Published: August 20, 2014
Financial Aid at Harvard Business School, Straight from the Admissions Director
NEWS FLASH: Business school, especially at top schools, costs a ton. Okay, so that’s not really news. More notable is the fact that top schools want to make the MBA affordable, at least according to the most recent post on the Director’s Blog at Harvard Business School (HBS).
Earlier this week, HBS Admissions Director Dee Leopold devoted a post on her blog to the topic of financial aid, noting that HBS last year awarded $26 million in need-based financial aid and has plans to increase that amount for the Class of 2017.
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Published: August 19, 2014
Business School Students Accept ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Pass It On
With the likes of Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and former President George W. Bush pouring buckets of ice over their heads in support of ALS awareness, surely top business schools are getting in on the action as well, right?
At Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, it began with one section (Section 4) challenging another (Section 5). That section upped the ante, challenging the entire rest of the class, as well as all of Fuqua’s MMS Cross Continent students. So on August 13th, Team Fuqua did the #ALSIceBucketChallenge as one.
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Published: August 18, 2014
Student-Run Program at Tuck School of Business Makes Getting to Wall Street Easier
A new student-run program at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business seeks to help incoming students from underrepresented groups who are interested in financial services by providing career mentorship and preparation beginning even before they arrive on campus.
Called Wall Street Edge (WSE), the program was the brainchild of a recent graduate who himself received invaluable support from across Tuck that helped him meet his goal of working on Wall Street.
“Paying it forward like that is ingrained in the Tuck psyche,” Deirdre C. O’Donnell, associate director for Tuck’s Career Development Office and the WSE adviser, said in an article about the new program on the Tuck website. “It is invaluable for students to explore their options before getting to school, when there will no longer be enough hours in the day.”
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Published: August 11, 2014
Student-Led Program at UPenn’s Wharton School Focuses on Introspection
Ten students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School have helped create a program designed to help encourage MBAs to make time amid their studies to examine what they value in their personal and professional lives.
Called “Purpose, Passion and Principles” – or the P3 program for short – the student-led initiative debuted last fall after roughly a year of development. Participants take part in nine small-group discussions held once a week, in which one student serves as a facilitator. The student facilitator directs the conversation and helps create a safe environment in which students explore topics ranging from reflections on meaningful past life experiences to what success means to them to visions of their ideal future lives.
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Published: August 10, 2014
Cambridge Judge Business School Staff Obtain Social Media Driving Licenses
Staff at the Cambridge Judge Business School recently completed an innovative course designed to educate them in all aspects of social media. Thirty participants now have Social Media Driving Licenses demonstrating their proficiency, the school announced.
The inaugural Social Media Driving License (SMDL) course took place over eight consecutive weeks between May and July 2014. Thirty participating staff members took part in a combination of classroom and online exercises providing a comprehensive introduction to social media, including its professional application, value, scope and limits.
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Published: August 6, 2014
Yale Entrepreneurial Institute Hosts Demo Day for Student Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs developing startup ventures got to pitch their ideas as part of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI) Demo Day late last month, part of a host of events and programming supporting entrepreneurial studies at the Yale School of Management.
At Demo Day, YEI’s managing director Jim Boyle noted that the YEI Fellowship Program – a 10-week summer program that provides funding and support to startup teams from across the university to develop their ventures – has grown dramatically since it launched in 2007. Teams raised $600,000 to fund their ventures in the program’s first year, compared to $104 million raised by fellows in 2014.
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Published: August 5, 2014
MBA Recruiting Now Starts Before Classes at Many Top Business Schools
First-year students at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business are gathering this week in San Francisco for a tour of area tech firms, UVA’s Darden School is conducting “career kickoff” meetings with two-thirds of its incoming first-year class and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business has added four days of career services programming to its orientation—and this is all taking place before those MBA students attend a single class.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlights these instances as evidence of several shifts in business education, including that recruiters are eager to meet with future talent earlier than ever before, MBA students have a growing interest in tech careers and traditional on-campus MBA recruiting is no longer sufficient.
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Published: August 4, 2014
The Economist Group Launches $25,000 MBA Scholarship Contest
The Economist Group’s business education division, Which MBA?, yesterday launched its second Brightest Minds MBA Scholarship Contest, which will award a $25,000 scholarship to the prospective MBA or EMBA student who scores highest on a simulated GMAT exam.
The first Brightest Minds MBA scholarship ran earlier this year, drawing more than 4,500 entrants, The Economist Group reports. The winner, Rishabh P. from India, is currently applying to several business schools, with plans to begin an MBA program in fall 2015.
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MIT Sloan to Host Women’s Week, August 4th – 7th
The MIT Sloan School of Management is gearing up for a week filled with events designed to increase awareness about the school among women who are considering a graduate management degree. MIT Sloan Women’s Week, which will take place from August 4th through 7th, will include a webinar open to prospective applicants anywhere in the world, as well as three alumnae panels in cities around the country.
“There are so many opportunities for women to contribute while they are here on campus as well as after they graduate and become part of our alumni network,” Sloan Admissions Director Dawna Levenson said as part of an article about the week’s events. “MIT Sloan women are making an impact in the world, and these panels will showcase just that,” she added.
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Stanford Graduate School of Business to Break Ground on New $75 Million Residential Building
First-year Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA students will live in a brand new residential building by 2016, the school reports. Design concepts for the new $75 million project were approved by the Stanford Board of Trustees last month, and the school plans to break ground on the new facility in fall 2014.
The four-story, 146,000-square-foot residential building will be adjacent to the school’s state-of-the-art Knight Management Center, which opened in 2011. The new facility will include 200 single-living units. The addition of this new housing to the existing 280 units in the school’s Schwab Residential Center will enable Stanford for the first time to offer on-campus housing to its full first-year class. It will also provide space for up to 80 visiting executive education participants.
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Wharton Social Impact Initiative to Pay Down Student Loans for MBAs Who Pursue Nonprofit, Public Sector Careers
For MBAs who pursue careers in the nonprofit and public sectors, paying back staggering student loans they took out to finance their degree can be incredibly challenging. At the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a social impact‒focused fund managed by the Wharton Social Impact Initiative comes to the rescue.
The John M. Bendheim Loan Forgiveness Fund for Public Service was created in 2005 by a 1940 graduate of the school, John Bendheim, and his son Tom, WG/Lauder ’90. The fund will grant up to $20,000 per year to pay down selected candidates’ student loans.
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IESE Launches Corporate Finance MOOC
IESE, like many other leading business schools, is embracing technology to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and has just launched its latest, called Corporate Finance Essentials. Designed for executives anywhere in the world who want to understand key financial issues related to companies, investors and their interaction with capital markets, the new course will be taught by IESE Javier Estrada.
Over the course of a series of six lectures lasting between 45 and 60 minutes each, Estrada will help participants increase their financial literacy and gain a better understanding of what is written in the financial press. Recommended readings will complement the lectures.
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Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business Hosts 17 Ventures in Summer Startup Incubator
Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business this summer is hosting 17 entrepreneurial ventures as part of its startup incubator program, the school reports.
Called the “Startup Hoyas Summer Launch Program,” the incubator was designed specifically for current Georgetown students and recent graduates who want to launch a new venture. Participating students enjoy a range of benefits, including dedicated support from Georgetown faculty, mentors and experienced entrepreneurs.
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Tuck School of Business Alumni Set Record with Annual Gift
Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business has long been known for the generosity of its alumni, and this year total funds raised broke all previous records, the school reports. Tuck Annual Giving (TAG) raised $6.35 million in the last fiscal year and drew the participation of 70.9 percent of alumni, more than ever before at Tuck or any other business school for that matter.
This year marks the fourth in a row that more than 70 percent of Tuck graduates have contributed to the TAG campaign, which is more than double the average giving rate of other business schools, the school notes.
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Yale School of Management Implements Sliding Scale Application Fee Structure
Yale School of Management (SOM) yesterday announced that its 2014-2015 MBA application is now live. While the application itself features no major changes from last year’s, the school is implementing a new sliding scale application fee structure designed to increase access for applicants from lower-wage regions and industries or who are still in school or at the beginning of their careers. Most applicants will pay the standard $225 application fee, but applicants whose total compensation is less than $20,000 a year will pay $175, and those with a total compensation of less than $10,000 will pay $125. Compensation information
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Yale School of Management to Host First Global Network Week for Faculty
Yale School of Management (SOM) next week will welcome faculty members from the 27 business schools that are members of the Global Network for Advanced Management as part of a four-day program designed to foster collaboration around issues of sustainability.
The program, organized by the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, will begin on July 21st. The faculty event is an outgrowth of the network’s successful Global Network Weeks, which drew together students from the various member schools for weeklong courses with colleagues from peer schools.
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