News

Keep up with the latest events and news on MBA programs, Part-Time and Executive Programs, and rankings.

Published: September 15, 2013

UPenn’s Wharton School Offers Free MBA Foundation Series Classes Online

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has added a new series of massive open online courses (MOOCs) covering many of the fundamentals of business and management that students in Wharton’s full-time MBA program learn, taught by the same professors. The first of the Wharton MBA Foundation Series, “An Introduction to Financial Accounting,” begins today. Three other courses make up the new series – introductory courses in operations management, marketing and corporate finance – and all are available via the free online platform Coursera. The new series complements five elective courses already on offer from Wharton via Coursera, including courses on sports business and healthcare. All nine are expected to draw students from around the world, and more than 695,000 students have so far enrolled in a Wharton course, Coursera reports. Read more

Published: September 12, 2013

Harvard Business School Startup HourlyNerd Raises $750,000 in Seed Funding

A startup founded by Harvard Business School (HBS) students as part of a required first-year class secured $750,000 in seed funding earlier this week, including $450,000 from angel investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the Boston Business Journal reports. HourlyNerd, co-founded by Rob Biederman, Peter Maglathlin, David Connolly, Patrick Petitti and Joe Miller, is an online platform designed to connect small and mid-sized businesses with MBAs from top schools willing to provide freelance and part-time work. The idea was born as part of HBS Professor Clayton Rose’s Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development (FIELD) course, an experiential learning course added as a first-year requirement as part of HBS’s recent curriculum redesign. Through the HourlyNerd platform, businesses can post descriptions of the projects they need help with, and MBAs within the network can bid on work they are interested in by indicating the hourly rate they would charge and the milestones they intend to hit. Within its database, the startup boasts roughly 900 current MBA students and recent graduates from top programs including Stanford, Tuck and Wharton. Read more

Published: September 10, 2013

UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business Opens New Innovation Lab

The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley is home to a new 2,700-square-foot Innovation Lab where students can participate in more team-based and experiential learning, primarily as part of the school’s innovative leader curriculum. The new I-Lab, located inside Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium, was made possible thanks to a gift from alumnus Michael Gallagher, BS ‘67, MBA ‘68, former Haas Board chairman and retired CEO of Playtex Products. Haas Lecturer Clark Kellogg and Senior Lecturer Sara Beckman, who teach the school’s “Problem Finding Problem Solving” course, taught the first class in the new labratory space on Read more

Published: September 9, 2013

Shifts in Global Healthcare Increase Intersection between Medicine and the MBA

Entrepreneurship, innovation and cost cutting are increasingly important amid shifts in global healthcare systems, presenting important opportunities for business schools offering healthcare-focused MBA programs, the Financial Times reports. “The healthcare system is about much more than just treating patients,” Steve Chick, head of INSEAD’s Healthcare Management Initiative, told the FT. “The coordination of care is critical and that’s where business schools can play a big role.” Read more

Published: September 8, 2013

Harvard Business School Tackles Entrenched Issues of Gender Inequity

Harvard Business School (HBS) Dean Nitin Nohria has, for the past two years, been leading a school-wide effort to foster greater success among female MBA students by making changes to the school’s curriculum, rules and social rituals, according to a recent front-page story in the New York Times. HBS for years has seen women enter the school with the same test scores and grades as their male counterparts, only to quickly fall behind. The school has also struggled to attract and retain female professors. So in 2010, the Times reports, Harvard’ first female president, Drew Gilpin Faust, appointed Dean Nohria, who pledged to address the gender relations issue head on. Two years in, the school reports remarkable gains among women, though some of the changes implemented by the administration have met with opposition and hostility. Read more

Published: September 5, 2013

Wharton Start-Up Expands to Lend to MBA Students at 20 Top Schools

A company launched last fall by students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School experienced success in its pilot phase, during which it served as a lender to Wharton MBA students and recent graduates, and so this fall will launch nationally to lend to MBA students at 20 top MBA programs in the United States, the Financial Times reports. Wharton student David Klien is chief executive and co-founder of CommonBond, which last year lent $2.5 million to 40 MBA students and recent graduates from Wharton using funds raised primarily through crowdsourcing. Now, the start-up has raised more than $100 million through debt financing and selling equity. It will expand to offer low-interest loans to MBA students at business schools throughout the country, including Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Columbia Business School and others. Read more

Published: September 3, 2013

U Michigan Alumnus Gives an Additional $200 Million to Ross School of Business, Athletics

Real estate developer and alumnus Stephen M. Ross will give $100 million to the University of Michigan business school that already bears his name and another $100 million to U-M Athletics, the university announced today. His most recent gift is the largest in the university’s history from a single donor. With lifetime giving of $313 million, he is the third-largest donor to a United States business school. Ross, who earned his bachelor of business administration in accounting from the University of Michigan School of Business, as well as two subsequent law degrees elsewhere, made an earlier gift of $100 million in 2004 toward construction of a new building and endowed operations for the business school. That building, which was named in Ross’s honor, was completed in 2009. Read more

Published: September 2, 2013

UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business Appoints Former Dean to Serve Third Interim Dean Role

Jim Dean, former dean of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, was appointed in May to become UNC executive vice chancellor and provost, leaving the business school in need of a leader. Dean turned to Jack Evans (pictured), asking if he would serve as interim dean. With more than 40 years of experience at Kenan-Flagler, Evans came out of retirement to answer Dean’s call. In addition to holding the Kenan-Flagler deanship from 1979 to 1987, he served two subsequent terms as interim dean. He first came to Kenan-Flagler in 1970, as a professor of operations. Read more

Published: August 29, 2013

McDonough, ESADE, EBAPE Launch New Corporate International Master’s Program

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, together with Spain’s ESADE Business School and Brazilian Business School EBAPE/Fundação Getulio Vargas, has launched a new year-long master’s program with an international focus for experienced business executives. The new Corporate International Master’s (CIM) Program welcomed its inaugural class of 27 students to McDonough’s Washington, DC, campus earlier this month. Designed for experienced professionals and executives who want to obtain a master’s degree while continuing to work, the CIM program includes four in-person sessions at locations around the globe augmented by online classes in between. The internationally focused curriculum was created to help students expand their understanding of business practices in the United States, Europe, Latin America and China. Read more

Published: August 26, 2013

Consortium for Graduate Study in Management to Host MBA Application Preparation Seminars

Are you an African American, Hispanic American or Native American who is considering business school? If so, mark your calendars for the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management’s MBA Application Preparation Seminars (MAPS), which will take place in cities around the country over the next month. The Consortium is a nonprofit organization committed to increasing the representation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in American business schools and corporate management Through its MAPS series, the Consortium aims to provide prospective applicants with “insider” knowledge to help them navigate and excel in the admissions process for both the Consortium Fellowship and MBA programs at the Consortium’s 18 member schools. Read more

Published: August 25, 2013

Columbia Business School Hosts Two Fall Series for Prospective Applicants

Columbia Business School will launch two on-campus event series this fall for prospective MBA applicants looking to learn more about what CBS has to offer. The first series – “Why an MBA?” – will feature a panel of CBS alumni and students sharing what led them to pursue either a full-time or executive MBA. The second “Spotlight On:” series will convene professors, alumni and current students to provide a view of CBS and its opportunities in several different areas of study. The events, which will take place on CBS’s Morningside Heights campus, are free to all, but RSVP is required. Two “Why an MBA?” panels will be held as part of that series, each on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in CBS’s Uris Hall. The first will be held on September 17th and the second on September 24th. Read more

Published: August 22, 2013

MBA Graduates from U.S. Business Schools See Rise in Wall Street Job Offers

MBA graduates from U.S. business schools this summer are landing more interviews and more job offers from Wall Street firms – particularly investment banks – than in recent years, according to the newest survey by a company that provides corporate training to Wall Street firms and business schools. As part of its latest annual MBA Employment Survey, Training the Street (TTS) interviewed 200 students over the past few months, discovering that 19 percent of students had more than 10 first-round interviews. Another 12 percent of surveyed students had more than eight interviews in the first round, 40 percent had between four and seven interviews and 23 percent had between one and three, according to the TTS survey. Read more

Published: August 22, 2013

QS World MBA Tour Commences North American Fairs on September 7 in Toronto

In case you missed our earlier post, the QS World MBA Tour is kicking off its 2013 tour of North American cities in Toronto on September 7. During each of this year’s 21 fairs, attendees have the opportunity to meet admissions directors and alumni from top business schools around the world. Additional features of the QS World MBA Tour include: $1,200,000 (USD) of exclusive scholarships available for attendees Workshops designed to help improve GMAT scores Careers panel with MBA recruiters and alumni Women & leadership forum Here is the full schedule of September event dates and locations: Read more

Published: August 20, 2013

New Online Education Company Offers Free Stanford GSB Courses for Entrepreneurs

A new online education company founded by a Stanford University professor has launched a suite of entrepreneurial-focused courses from a range of U.S. business schools – many available for free – including several from Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), the Financial Times reports. Founded by Stanford professor of management and engineering Amin Saberi, NovoEd launched in April 2013, based on an innovative platform that supports both massive open online courses (Moocs) and collaborative, small group teaching. Between 70 and 80 percent of NovoEd’s courses are available free of charge, with the remainder offered at fees ranging from $150 to $1000. Read more

Published: August 19, 2013

Growing Number of Doctors Pursue Health-Focused MBA Degree at Fuqua School of Business

The number of doctors applying to the MBA Health Sector Management program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business is on the rise, in part a reaction to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the school reports. An average of 21 doctors has applied to the school’s fulltime healthcare-focused MBA program each year between 2010 and 2013, up from 13 per year, on average, in the six years before that. The number of doctors applying to the Executive MBA program has also increased, to an average of 25 per year between 2010 and 2013, compared to 17 per year between 2004 and 2009. Read more

Published: August 18, 2013

UPenn’s Wharton School Unveils New MBA Website

Earlier this month, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania launched a redesigned MBA website, featuring a new look, streamlined content and greater interactivity designed to enhance the experience for prospective applicants. Included among the new features are updated student profiles, a new events calendar and student discussion forums. “We hope that our new website provides you with clearer understanding of the Wharton Difference and how our program may be a good fit for you,” Wharton Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Ankur Kumar wrote in a post to her Notes from the Director blog. Read more

Published: August 15, 2013

Students from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business Return from Summer Work around the Globe

More than 150 Haas MBA students will return to campus this fall having traveled the globe over the summer putting their business school skills to work addressing real-world challenges. China, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Kenya and Israel are just a handful of the countries that played host to Haas students as part of the school’s summer international business offerings. As part of the school’s global management consulting course, International Business Development (IDB), almost 100 students in the full-time MBA program traveled overseas. Full-time students spent three weeks working in-country with 25 different clients. Projects ranged from examining potential funding models for the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund to creating a strategy for an innovation lab in Nairobi to helping a Silicon Valley tech firm develop team performance and fan engagement solutions for football leagues in England and Germany. Read more

Published: August 13, 2013

Registration Now Open for Three Fall Events for Prospective Applicants to Stanford Graduate School of Business

Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) will host three special events in October for prospective applicants to its MBA program. Participants will have an opportunity to visit the Knight Management Center, learn more about the MBA admissions process and sit in on class, among other things. Registration is open to any prospective student, although the events will be most helpful to candidates considering submitting an application in January 2014 or later, the school notes. The first event, “Many Voices: Perspectives on Diversity,” will take place on October 12th from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be hosted by the Stanford MBA Admissions Office with participation from the Black Business Students Association (BBSA), Hispanic Business Students Association (HBSA) and GSB Pride, the student club for LGBT students and allies. Read more

Published: August 8, 2013

UCLA Anderson School of Management Hosts Summer Institute for Emerging Managers and Leaders

UCLA Anderson School of Management last month hosted 50 top students from historically black and Hispanic-serving colleges and universities as part of a program designed to expose prospective future business school students to the principles of business development, entrepreneurship and management. The University of California Summer Institute for Emerging Managers and Leaders (UC SIEML) program rotates across six UC business schools, and participating students attend classes, workshops and networking events for two consecutive summers. Beyond the benefits provided to the students, the program also helps participating business schools connect with undergraduates before they graduate and head off in other directions. . “Take a look of other graduate degree programs,” says Linda Baldwin, Anderson assistant dean of diversity and 2013 UC SIEML director. “They have a pipeline from their undergraduate departments,” she said. “With the MBA program, there’s typically a break. The students get scattered.” Read more

Published: August 7, 2013

GMAC Commissions New Book on Challenges Facing Business Education

The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which owns and administers the GMAT exam, has commissioned a new book examining challenges confronting graduate management education, from technological advancements and globalization to how to measure program quality other than through rankings. Disrupt or Be Disrupted: A Blueprint for Change in Management Education, out this month, contains contributions from leading academics and thinkers such as Harvard Business School Professor Rakesh Khurana and Former INSEAD Dean Dipak Jain on how to reimagine curriculum content and delivery, student engagement, faculty development and more. Read more

Published: August 5, 2013

IE Business School Enters New Collaboration with Top Seeds Lab Startup Accelerator

Spain’s IE Business School last month inked an agreement with Top Seeds Lab, a Madrid startup accelerator supported by a range of top-tier technology corporations. As part of the new collaboration, IE entrepreneurial students working on projects through the school’s Venture Lab will be eligible to receive an additional boost from Top Seeds to help spur their ventures toward success. Under the terms of the new agreement, IE’s Venture Lab will be able to include up to two teams in the third edition of Top Seeds Lab’s Startup Acceleration Program, which will run from October 28, 2013, through February 28, 2014. Top Seeds Lab will also include a fast track for one or two IE student projects in future editions of its acceleration program. Read more

Published: August 4, 2013

At Duke’s Fuqua School of Business Many Roads Lead to Consulting

Consulting firms make up six of the 10 top employers of graduates from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and almost a full third (32 percent) of the 2013 class accepted consulting jobs this past year, the school announced recently. For three years in a row, Deloitte has hired more Duke MBAs than any other employer, hiring 26 graduates from the most recent class. Other consulting firms hiring multiple Duke MBAs include Bain and Company, McKinsey and Company, Boston Consulting Group, Accenture LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, according to data gathered by Fuqua's Career Management Center (CMC.) Read more

Published: August 1, 2013

2013 Forté Forums Begin August 19

The Forté Foundation has announced the tour dates for its annual Forté Forums, events geared towards women who are considering an MBA degree. This year, Forums are scheduled for eight U.S. cities, Toronto and London: Chicago: August 19 Boston: August 20 Washington, D.C.: August 21 Atlanta: August 22 Houston: August 26 San Francisco: August 28 Los Angeles: August 29 New York City I: September 3 New York City II: September 4 Toronto: September 5 London: October 2 Each Forum runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and includes a school fair and networking session, an MBA Alumnae Panel and an Admissions Panel*. While the panels have scheduled time slots, school and exhibitor tables are open until the close of each event. Representatives from top MBA programs in the U.S., including Chicago Booth, Columbia, Darden, Fuqua, Harvard, IESE, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, Ross, UCLA Anderson, Haas, Tuck, Tepper, NYU Stern, Wharton and Yale SOM, will be in attendance. Read more

Published: August 1, 2013

UC Berkeley’s Haas School Expands Evening & Weekend MBA Core Curriculum

Beginning in fall 2014, the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley will feature a revised core curriculum in its evening and weekend MBA program, the school announced this week. The changes, which include extending the core from two semesters to three and adding three new required courses, are designed to help students better learn and absorb the coursework. Jon Kaplan, executive director of the Haas evening and weekend MBA program, spearheaded the campaign to implement the curriculum update, and the Haas faculty approved the changes in May. Read more

Published: July 30, 2013

Kellogg School of Management Adds Video Essay, Alters Admissions Deadlines

Earlier this week, the Kellogg School of Management said that it will begin requiring a video essay as part of its 2013/2014 MBA application. The school will also revert to a one-part application, with a single set of deadlines, rather than the two-part process it has used in recent years. These and other changes were first reported Monday by PoetsandQuants. As part of the new video essay, students will be directed from the application to a landing page on a Skype-like platform where they will be asked a short question, according to a subsequent report in Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Applicants will have one to two minutes to collect their thoughts and one to two minutes to record an answer. They can replay their answer and start over up to two times is they are dissatisfied, receiving a new question on each subsequent try. Read more

MBA Applywire

December 20, 2024 5:17pm ET

Applying: Columbia, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Healthcare

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Bain , BCG

GRE: 332

GPA: 3.5

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: Florida

Post MBA Location: Consulting

Notes:

25F, lgbtq, 3 years as a registered nurse. also have started working for an early stage VC in the past several months.

December 19, 2024 4:44pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Stanford GSB

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Insurance

Post-MBA Target Industry: Entrepreneurship

GRE: 318

GPA: 3.59

Years of Work Experience: 3.5

Location: Georgia

Post MBA Location: Southeast

Notes:

Looking to launch a tech startup post MBA, without any background in tech. Come from a quant heavy background and undergraduate coursework. I regularly attended admissions events, in person and online at my schools. I hope that focusing energy on my few top schools and spending a lot of time on essays will help me overcome the less than average test score (164 quant 154 verbal) and GPA.

Serial entrepreneur with a history of profitable small businesses. Was promoted twice in 3.5 years. Involved in many extracurricular activities in and outside of work. My background is very centered around financial services/insurance, is this a red flag for a pivot to Tech Entrepreneurship?

Transferred between two state schools in the southeast. School I graduated from is a top 25 undergrad business program. Obtained a few professionals designations post grad.

December 18, 2024 11:38am ET

Applying: Michigan / Ross, UNC Kenan-Flagler, Vanderbilt / Owen

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Held various positions in Finance and Accounting in a healthcare institution

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Other Companies: BCG , Deloitte , Other

GPA: 3.0

Years of Work Experience: 11

Location: International

Notes:

I am passionate about healthcare enhancing patient quality care. So exploring in that field is what I would love. Got a 72k scholarship from Vandy and named Forte Fellow. UNC 50k. I'm having a hard time deciding though my heart is leaning towards Owen

December 18, 2024 10:23am ET

Applying: Arizona State / W.P. Carey, Indiana / Kelley, Ohio State / Fisher

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Facility management

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting

GRE: 309

GPA: 2.8

Years of Work Experience: 3

Notes:

Graduate GPA -3.869

December 18, 2024 2:57am ET

Applying: IESE, INSEAD, MIT Sloan, U. Chicago Booth

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Engineering

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Undecided Companies: Amazon

GMAT: 690

GPA: 3.26

Years of Work Experience: 4

Location: Chile

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MBA LiveWire

December 21, 2024 8:37am ET

Accepted to Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 1

Received via phone on December 11, 2024

GMAT: 675

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

December 21, 2024 2:38am ET

Waitlisted at Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 1

Received via phone on December 10, 2024

GPA: 3.27

GMAT: 760

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: CA

December 20, 2024 11:16pm ET

Accepted to Babson / Olin

Round: Round 1

Received via email on December 17, 2024

GPA: 3.9

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

Application Location: South Asia

December 20, 2024 7:50pm ET

Accepted to Columbia

Round: Round 1

Received via portal on December 10, 2024

GMAT: 750

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Application Location: India

Note:

$100k scholarship

December 20, 2024 3:21pm ET

Accepted to Yale SOM

Round: Round 1

Received via email December 20, 2024

GPA: 4.0

GMAT: 750

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Note:

100% scholarship

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