MBA News
A collection of news items from MBA programs and about the business school admissions process.
Published: April 14, 2015
HBS Rolls Out New Recruiting Program Targeting Students at Women-Only Colleges
Harvard Business School (HBS) last week announced a new recruiting program designed to help increase the pipeline of qualified female applicants to its MBA program. The program, called Peek Weekend, invites juniors, seniors and recent graduates from women’s colleges for a June weekend of case studies, presentations and other activities designed to serve as an introduction to HBS and the MBA degree.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, HBS Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold explained that the school hopes through the program to give women a fuller sense of what an MBA can lead to. Calling the MBA “a misunderstood degree,” she noted that there is a perception among many that pursuing one “must mean you want to go work in a bank forever and sit in a cubicle and wear a suit.”
Read more
Published: April 13, 2015
Georgetown McDonough Survey Reveals Interesting Tax Refund Spending Trends
Do you think of your tax refund as a nice spring bonus or money the government owes you? Your answer likely influences the way you’ll spend the funds in question, according to new research from the Georgetown Institute for Consumer Research at the McDonough School of Business. The 2015 Tax Refund Consumer Spending Survey, sponsored by KPMG, was conducted during the last two weeks of March to examine consumer spending around Tax Day.
“Apparently all dollars are not created equal in the minds of consumers,” Kurt Carlson, director of the Georgetown Institute for Consumer Research, said in a statement. Indeed, 53 percent of consumers who think of their refund in terms of a bonus plan to spend it on something in the near term, the survey found. Furthermore, they are more likely to spend it at stores where they rarely shop throughout the year.
Read more
Published: April 12, 2015
Financial Times Data Suggest MBA ROI Is Greater for Younger Students
Parsing through data from its 2015 Global MBA rankings, the Financial Times has come to the conclusion that the earlier you get your MBA degree, the more you stand to boost your salary, both in percentage and absolute terms. Combining survey responses from the MBA class of 2011 with analyses of their career progress and salaries, the latest FT rankings data reveal a more significant jump in pay for younger graduates in the three years after graduation than for their older classmates.
According to the FT analysis, participants aged 24 and under when they began their degree enjoyed salary increases of nearly $69,000 three years out from graduation, a 145 percent increase over their pre-MBA salary. Those who were 27 to 28 when they began their degree program reported an average pay increase of $67,000, to nearly double their pre-MBA salary. The oldest members of the class, those aged 31 or above, had an average pay increase of $56,000, representing a roughly 70 percent bump over their pre-MBA salaries. This pattern was observed in all industry sectors and countries, regardless of whether graduates worked overseas or changed industries, according to the FT.
Read more
Choosing an MBA Program Based on Where You Want to Work
With some lucky applicants now having been accepted to multiple top-tier business schools, a new challenge faces them: choosing where to go. A New York Times article decided to look at that question in an interesting way, offering suggestions for what school to attend based on the specific company you hope to work for upon graduation.
According to the Times analysis, the best school to choose if you want to land at Amazon is the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Amazon last year hired 27 Ross MBAs, displacing the school’s historical No. 1 recruiter, Deloitte, according to the Times. Another 37 Ross grads headed to the e-commerce giant in the two years before that.
Read more
U.S., European Business Schools’ Expansion to China Continues with New IE Collaboration
Late last month, IE Business School signed a collaboration agreement with Chinese business school Antai College of Economics and Management to offer dual degrees to students from the two institutions, IE announced recently. Antai College, a leading business school in China and part of Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University, hold accreditation from each EQUIS, AMBA and AACSB. Antai College Dean Lin Zhou joined IE Dean Santiago Íñiguez de Onzoño for a signing ceremony at IE’s campus in Madrid on March 26th.
As part of the new agreement, students in IE Business School’s International MBA program can take a dual degree program with the Antai College of Economics and Management and vice versa. A dual-degree program is also available students in IE’s Master in Management and Antai’s Master in International Business program. In either instance, students will be able to complete both degree titles in two years, instead of the three years it would take to complete the degrees separately.
Read more
MIT Sloan to Host May Workshop for Prospective MBA Students Interested in Finance
If you are considering how an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management could help advance your career in finance, an upcoming workshop was made for you. The MIT Sloan Admissions Office has collaborated with several other offices and groups to organize a jam-packed day full of activities next month, all geared toward highlighting MIT Sloan’s strengths in finance for prospective MBA applicants.
The MIT Sloan Focus on Finance Symposium will take place on campus on Saturday, May 9th. The event is a joint effort between the Admissions Office, the MBA and Master of Science in Management Studies program office and the MIT Sloan Finance Group. The day-long workshop will include two sessions taught by finance professors Nittai Bergman and Rajkamal Iyer, including a case study in which participants will get to work together addressing questions of capital structure and financial distress.
Read more
MIT Sloan Gears Up for April Ambassadors Days
MIT Sloan School of Management features its interactive, customizable Ambassadors Program each fall and spring for prospective students, hosted by current students. The Ambassadors Program runs on Mondays and Thursdays throughout MIT Sloan’s spring semester, giving visiting prospective students the chance to choose from a range of options to design the visit that best fits their schedule and interests.
A full Ambassadors day beings with registration, followed by coffee with current students, attendance in a class, an information session with an Admissions representative, a second opportunity to attend a class, and then two campus tour options. Those who register are invited to pick and choose from the available sessions as they like. (Note, visitors are asked to attend only one class, but are given two time slots for ease of scheduling. Classes available to visitors change each day, and visitors may select the time of their class visit, but not the specific class.)
Read more
Published: March 30, 2015
One in Four HEC Paris Graduates Sets Out to Launch a Startup
Entrepreneurship is big and growing at HEC Paris, according to a recent survey of more than 8,500 graduates. The inaugural HEC Entrepreneurship Barometer, published last week, reveals that almost 25 percent of HEC graduates today are entrepreneurs, up from just 10 percent a decade ago.
HEC Paris has been increasingly promoting entrepreneurship over the past 30 years, through teaching, research, mentoring and resources like the HEC Incubator. To measure the impact of these initiatives, HEC Paris devised its new Entrepreneurship Barometer, which surveyed a representative panel of 8,500 alumni from the past decade from across HEC’s various programs.
Read more
Published: March 29, 2015
Columbia Business School Admissions Gears Up for J-Term Applications
While Columbia Business School (CBS) admissions is still busy reviewing applications for students hoping to secure a spot for fall 2015, it is also preparing for applicants to the January Accelerated (J-Term) program, which provides an innovative opportunity for candidates whose career goals don’t require a summer internship.
Columbia’s J-Term condenses the entire academic program of the two-year MBA into 16 months. Beginning in January, candidates study straight through the summer, foregoing the summer internship that is part of the traditional two-year MBA. For those who can achieve their career goals without a summer internship—entrepreneurs or those who plan to return to a family business, for example—the J-Term’s condensed schedule presents a significantly lower opportunity cost than the two-year MBA.
Read more
Published: March 26, 2015
Leading Admissions Consultants Converge in France, England for AIGAC Annual Conference
Leading graduate management admissions consultants are gathering this week in Europe for the eighth annual Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) members’ conference, where they will share best practices and speak directly with admissions officers from many of the world’s top business school.
Almost 30 attendees representing admissions consultancies from 12 different countries are scheduled to attend the seven-day conference, which takes places at London Business School (LBS) and includes visits to INSEAD, HEC Paris and Cambridge Judge Business School.
Read more
Published: March 25, 2015
Economist, GMAT Tutor Launch $25,000 Scholarship Competition for MBA, EMBA Applicants
The Economist and test prep firm GMAT Tutor have once again partnered to offer a $25,000 scholarship to the prospective MBA or EMBA student who scores highest on a simulated GMAT exam. Called the Brightest Minds MBA Scholarship Contest, the competition is open to prospective MBA or EMBA students anywhere in the world. The first competition ran in 2014, drawing more than 4,500 entrants, The Economist reported.
To take part in the contest, applicants simply complete The Economist GMAT Tutor simulation test, which uses adaptive technology similar to the real GMAT so that the difficulty level adjusts according to the test-taker’s ability. The simulation test requires the completion of a 75-minute Verbal section and a 75-minute Quant section. Participants should have the available time to complete the test in a single sitting and will not be able to pause once they begin.
Read more
Published: March 22, 2015
UVA’s Darden School of Business Launches New Asia Initiative
The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business earlier this month announced its strategic Asia Initiative at Darden, part of the school’s continuing investment in globalization.
One of the initiative’s main objectives will be to advance the understanding of the dynamics of Asian markets as a critical component of business education. Through its expanded engagement in Asia, the school also hopes to enhance its expertise and resources in the region, facilitate greater collaboration and new partnerships and improve communication between faculty, students and alumni from Darden with business leaders and policymakers in Asia.
Read more
Published: March 19, 2015
Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management Welcomes New Admissions Director
The S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management has named a new executive director of admissions and financial aid and further strengthened the admissions office with several other new hires, the school announced this week. The reinvigorated admissions team complements a recent re-launch of the school’s two-year MBA curriculum, Johnson reports.
Judi Byers, formerly admissions director at American University’s Kogod School of Business in Washington, DC, brings more than 10 years of admissions experience to her new role at Johnson. She joined Kogod, where she received her undergraduate degree in business, in 2004 as a marketing admissions coordinator, advancing to lead the admissions team by 2013.
Read more
Published: March 16, 2015
UPenn’s Wharton School Announces New Partnership for Student-Led Impact Investing
Students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School will have new opportunities to gain hands-on experience with impact investment thanks to a innovative partnership with an online crowdfunding platform and an investment firm founded by Wharton MBAs, the school announced earlier this month.
The Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII), which coordinates the school’s social impact activities, research and opportunities, has partnered with equity-based online crowdfunding platform OurCrowd and investment firm Locust Walk Impact Partners to create what the school touts as the “largest and most active student-run impact investing fund in the world.” The new collaboration greatly expands the student-run Wharton Social Venture Fund (WSVF), which is operated under the WSII.
Read more
Published: March 15, 2015
SXSW Conference Spotlights Business School Students’ Embrace of Design
Student-led design clubs can be found at 70 percent of the top-ranked MBA programs both in the United States and globally, an indicator that MBA students are embracing design wholeheartedly as part of their general management education, according to a presentation yesterday at the SXSW Conference in Austin. The presentation, entitled “Design in Tech,” was delivered by John Maeda, former president of the Rhode Island School of Design who last year joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) as its first “Design Partner.”
As part of the presentation, Maeda provided a data-driven examination of the intersection of design and technology. Reporting on the findings of his inaugural “Design and Technology Trends Report,” Maeda highlighted the rising importance of design in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, noting the acquisition of design firms by tech companies like Facebook and Google, as well as the trend toward venture capitalists funding startups that have designers as co-founders.
Read more
Published: March 12, 2015
Yale School of Management Announces New LGBT Scholarship
Class of 2017 students at the Yale School of Management who demonstrate both strong academic skills and a capacity for leadership within the lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer (LBGT) community will now be eligible for a new scholarship opportunity, the school announced this week. Through its partnership with Reaching Out MBA, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering LBGT MBA students, Yale SOM will award two Reaching Out LGBT MBA Fellowships to incoming Yale SOM students.
Recipients of the fellowships will receive a minimum of $10,000 in scholarship aid for each academic year, as well as access to a range of Reaching Out programming, mentoring and leadership opportunities, including some developed especially for the Fellows.
Read more
Published: March 10, 2015
Stanford GSB Edges Out HBS, Wharton in 2016 U.S. News & World Report Rankings
Stanford’s Graduate School of Business took the number one spot in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of the nation’s best MBA programs, released yesterday, knocking Harvard Business School (HBS) to second and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School to third. Last year, the three powerhouse schools tied for first place, but slight differences on core metrics caused HBS and Wharton to slip this year.
U.S. News uses multiple core measurements to compile its rankings, with the greatest weight given to quality assessments by deans and MBA directors at peer schools and corporate recruiter survey scores. Wharton’s scores slipped in both these regards, as well as in average pay for its MBA graduates, precipitating its drop this year in the rankings.
Read more
UPenn’s Wharton School Names Insider as New Director of MBA Admissions
The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has named a new director of admissions, the school announced to students last week. Frank DeVecchis will work closely with existing Deputy Vice Dean of Wharton MBA Admissions, Financial Aid and Career Services Maryellen Reilly Lamb to oversee the entire application process, from recruitment through matriculation.
DeVecchis knows the Wharton MBA program like few others. He joins the Admissions team from Wharton’s MBA Program Office, where he served most recently as director of MBA Academic Operations. In this role, he led all operations and daily management of the MBA program, including successfully implementing Wharton’s new Course Match course registration program. He also advised more than 800 students during his tenure as the senior member of the MBA academic advising team and helped plan and implement Wharton’s three-week orientation for incoming students.
Read more
Who Makes a Good Applicant to Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management?
With the Round 3 deadline for applications to the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University just a few days away, are you busy putting the finishing touches on your application? Maybe you are just beginning to consider applying in the year ahead. In either case, if Johnson at Cornell is on your radar, read on to learn more about just what the school is looking for in its applicants.
We recently spoke with Eddie Asbie, Associate Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, who joined Johnson in 2013 to help develop the Two-year MBA in Ithaca class. In our interview, Asbie took time to share some of what makes a good applicant in the eyes of the Johnson Admissions Committee, beyond the obvious solid entrance exam scores and strong academics that are par for the course with a top-tier Ivy League school.
Read more
IESE Becomes Latest Business School to Ink Deal with Prodigy Finance for International MBA Loans
Spain’s IESE Business School has reached an agreement with U.K.‒based Prodigy Finance that will enable it to offer a new loan to international MBA and Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) students to help them finance their studies, the school announced this week. In other words, financing an IESE education just became much easier for students who live outside of Spain.
The new deal expands IESE’s existing loans and scholarships, which help students cover tuition fees and living costs. International students, though, have faced hurdles because existing loan programs offered by IESE have required co-signers.
Read more
Consulting Projects Take Tuck School of Business Students around the Globe
MBA students at the Tuck School of Business have been putting what they learn in the classroom to work in the field as part of a global onsite consulting program that debuted in 1997. To date, they have completed more than 194 projects in more than 50 countries, the school reports.
The program, called Tuck OnSite Global Consulting, or OnSite for short, is available as an elective to second-year MBA students. As part of the experiential learning opportunity, MBAs hone their skills by providing professional quality consulting services to worldwide clients. The clients benefit, too – OnSite provides a cost-effective solution for corporations, nonprofits and governments for which time, money or manpower is in short supply.
Read more
Harvard Business School Names New Innovation Lab Director
If Harvard Business School (HBS) is in your cross hairs, and if innovation and entrepreneurial pursuits are what rev you up, you may be interested to learn that Harvard’s innovation lab will soon have a new commander in chief. Jodi Goldstein, a long-time investor and entrepreneur, will become Harvard i-lab’s new Evans Family Foundation Managing Director beginning this June, responsible for leading the university-wide facility that brings students, faculty, alumni and the community together for team-based and other entrepreneurial activities.
Goldstein, who replaces outgoing Managing Director Gordon Jones, is no stranger the i-lab, Indeed, she’s been part of its management team since the lab’s 2011 launch, coming up with and implementing much of the top programming and resources it’s been able to offer. Just last year she spearheaded the Launch Lab, a business incubator for Harvard alumni, which is putting Allston, MA—where the i-lab is located—on the map as a solutions-centered hub swirling with interdisciplinary collaboration.
Read more
Published: February 24, 2015
New Director Reinvigorates UC Berkeley Business Startup Accelerator
A Haas alumna and entrepreneur who has led several startups of her own has taken over as executive director of SkyDeck, the startup accelerator at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, the school reported this month.
Caroline Winnett, MBA ’90, who served most recently as founder and CEO of a neuroscience-inspired marketing company called BrandNeuro, met with Dean Rich Lyons because she wanted to run an accelerator program at Berkeley-Haas. Voila. She got her wish, joining as executive director of SkyDeck in November 2014.
Read more
Published: February 22, 2015
Association of MBAs (AMBA) Director Predicts Future MBA Trends
An article in today’s Independent provided a glimpse into the future of the MBA degree as the director of a global MBA accrediting body shared his picks for the top five MBA trends of 2015. Andrew Main Wilson is CEO of the Association of MBAs (AMBA), described as an international impartial authority on postgraduate management education. In this role, he pays close attention to the ever evolving MBA. In the near future, he tells us to look for alternative funding sources for MBA studies, a wider range of specializations, more growth in entrepreneurialism, curriculum changes and flexible delivery and learning.
Citing the AMBA 2012 Salary Survey, Wilson notes that corporate sponsorship of the MBA has been and continues to fall, which has led to the development of new funding sources, such as crowd funding and peer-to-peer lending. These, he says, “are likely to increase in popularity - and are certainly going to become a trend in 2015.”
Read more
Published: February 18, 2015
150th Birthday Gift to Cornell’s Johnson School to Support Faculty Renewal, Strengthen Ties to College of Engineering
Cornell University turns 150 this year, and to mark the occasion, an alumnus of both the Johnson Graduate School of Management and the College of Engineering, together with his wife, have made a gift to help support faculty renewal and enhanced collaboration between the business and engineering schools, Cornell announced this month.
The Eiko and Sudi Mariappa Sesquicentennial Fellowship, named for benefactors Sudi Marippa—who earned his Johnson MBA in 1986 after graduating from the College of Engineering with a BS in chemical engineering in 1982—and his wife, is designed to draw talented academics to Cornell to serve as both teachers and mentors.
Read more
