Planning Tips

Tips on how to structure your time and tackle the challenging process of applying to business school.

Published: March 4, 2018

Applying in Round 3? Get a Profile Review and Check Out the Stats of Fellow MBA Candidates

With just about a month to go to Round 3 deadlines for the leading MBA programs, applicants for this round should be finalizing school selections and drafting essays. We know that acceptance rates during this round can make things tougher for applicants than in earlier rounds, so we’re using this post to highlight a tool that can provide you with a little extra help. Clear Admit’s ApplyWire allows you to create a basic profile of your candidacy while sharing the schools to which you are considering applying. Once posted, your entry will allow admissions experts from both Clear Admit and Veritas Prep, as well as fellow candidates, to provide you feedback on your school selections and application strategy. Read more

Published: December 10, 2017

Admissions Tip: Round 2 Deadlines

Anyone who’s familiar with the MBA application process knows that December moves forward at an accelerated pace, mixing work, with holidays and application preparation. Come the New Year, Round 2 application deadlines come swiftly. To help this year’s Round Two applicants avoid the classic time crunch, today’s blog post offers some basic advice on how to approach the Round Two MBA deadlines at a reasonable pace. Let’s start by taking a quick look at a handful of the earliest deadlines for the top MBA programs: January 2, Michigan Ross January 3, Harvard, UPenn Wharton, Chicago Booth, Read more

Published: September 19, 2017

Choosing the Best Business School for Consulting

If you are a prospective MBA applicant looking to business school as a way to enter or accelerate your career in the consulting industry, you are certainly not alone. According to the 2017 Prospective Student Survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), consulting is once again the most sought-after postgraduate industry, with 33 percent of applicants surveyed citing consulting firms as their destination of choice. The consulting function, too, is a top draw. One in four indicated it as their chosen job function, after just marketing/sales (30 percent) and finance/accounting (28 percent). With so many MBA graduates vying for roles in the consulting field, one of the best ways to distinguish yourself is by going to one of the business schools best known for training top-notch consultants. Of course, this requires thorough research and a deep knowledge of individual school programs. Lucky for you, Clear Admit has done some of the legwork. Read more

Published: September 17, 2017

An Insider’s Guide to the GRE ^® General Test

Sponsored Content Are you getting ready for the GRE® General Test? The test has several smart features that can help you do your best, but you’ll still have to do your part. The more prepared you are, the more confident you will feel on test day. This overview of the test with tips and strategies is a good place to start. What’s on the GRE® General Test? The GRE® General Test assesses the skills you need to succeed in master’s, MBA, specialized master’s in business and doctoral programs. It includes the following sections: Analytical Writing You will start the Read more

Published: August 27, 2017

MBA Admissions: Tips for International Students

Sponsored Content A large number of MBA students across the globe intend to pursue their degree outside their home country. Are you thinking of studying abroad? The United States, Europe, and Canada are home to many of the world’s top-ranked business schools. Consider these tips if you’re hoping to make one of them your degree destination. Create Your Short List You’ll want to spend some time researching schools in your target country to find the ideal one for you. Some questions to address: What specific kind of program are you looking to attend? Which schools rank highest for Read more

Published: August 20, 2017

Should I Apply in Round 1 or Round 2 to My Top Choice School?

This is the second in a two-part series on MBA application strategy. In case you missed the first, check it out here. In terms of application strategy, one of the biggest questions prospective MBA applicants wrestle with is whether to apply in Round 1 or Round 2 to the school they most want to attend. As you might imagine, based on our years of advising applicants to top-tier business schools, Clear Admit has some thoughts on the matter. Overall, if you are an outstanding candidate and have had adequate time to prepare your candidacy, then you should apply as part of Read more

Published: August 15, 2017

Admissions Director Q&A: Rodrigo Malta of the University of Texas’s McCombs School of Business

Rodrigo Malta, a native of Brazil, moved to the United States for high school and college and ultimately graduated from the McCombs School of Business full-time MBA program in 2007. While a student at McCombs, he was highly involved in admissions activities, and after graduation he remained in Austin, accepting a marketing position with Dell. A little over a year later, when then-Director of MBA Admissions Tina Mabley contacted him about a job opening with her team—as associate director of admissions focused on diversity recruiting—he jumped at the chance to return to campus and work on something he was really passionate about. Later, when Mabley was promoted to assistant dean for the full-time MBA program, Malta applied for and got the admissions director’s position in 2010. Prospective applicants may be happy to learn that Malta understands their position on such a personal level. This empathy might also be why he’s so forthcoming with useful tips and advice. Read on to learn what he has to share—including exciting plans for the new home of the Texas MBA, the many experiential learning opportunities that complement classroom time, and more. Read more

Published: August 8, 2017

GMAT Tip: 5 Things Undergrads Should Do to Prepare for Business School

As summer starts to wind down, many college students are frantically trying to squeeze in a few more weekends at the beach before heading back to the dorms and classrooms. But for anyone thinking about business school or a graduate management degree, there are 5 things you can do before graduation to help you prepare for business school (or any graduate program). 1. Consider enrolling in “free” quant. Take a look at your current transcript and course load. If you’ve managed to make it through your undergraduate experience (intentionally or not!) without setting foot in the math department, you might Read more

Published: August 7, 2017

[GIVEAWAY] Download Becoming a Clear Admit: The Definitive Guide to MBA Admissions Free!

If you’re planning to apply to business school this admissions cycle, look no further. We have the book for you! To celebrate the one-year anniversary of its release, we’re giving you the must-read admissions book, Becoming a Clear Admit: The Definitive Guide to MBA Admissions, for free! Just use coupon code CLEARFREE2017 at checkout DOWNLOAD IT TODAY Its author, Clear Admit’s own Alex Brown, brings nearly 25 years of experience in the MBA admissions industry as a consultant, admissions officer, and teacher, including seven years as senior associate director of admissions at the Wharton Read more

Published: August 6, 2017

Your Business School Application: Four Things to Do Right Now

Sponsored Content Congratulations on the decision to pursue a professional business degree! Are you wondering where to start? Applying to MBA and specialized master’s programs requires careful planning and preparation. Checking these first tasks off your list can help put you on the path to success. 1. Know your strengths. Make a list of things you do well, outstanding professional accomplishments, what you’ve learned from your successes (and failures), and your most ambitious goals for the future. These are all items you’ll want to talk about in your essays and interviews. You’ll also want to start to identify Read more

Published: July 17, 2017

MBA ApplyWire Spotlight: Applying to Business School for Brand Management

This week’s MBA ApplyWire Spotlight takes a look at a particularly unique applicant, with a background heavy in nonprofit experience. This candidate has set their sights on six potential business schools: Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Georgetown / McDonough, NYU Stern and UCLA Anderson. Read on for more details about the candidate’s background. Even with so many potential target schools, the first responses suggested an even wider pool of Read more

Published: July 10, 2017

MBA ApplyWire Spotlight: Applying to Business School for Consulting

With the launch of Applywire, Clear Admit’s latest tool to aid in your admissions process, we're setting this week’s spotlight on a candidate considering nine MBA programs. This week, we take a closer look at a post from an applicant considering Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke /Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, MIT / Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, Chicago Booth and the Wharton School. Read on for more details about the candidate’s background. Initial feedback tried to steer towards a timeline: Read more

Published: May 1, 2017

New Clear Admit Chat Series Offers Valuable Free Primer for the MBA Admissions Season

Note: You can join the chat in progress here https://www.clearadmit.com/chat/mba-admissions-series/ If you are planning to apply to business school in the coming year, listen up: We’re rolling out a brand-new series of 10 free expert-led chats that together offer a comprehensive overview of the steps successful applicants take in the MBA admissions process. Hosted by Clear Admit’s own Alex Brown—author of Becoming a Clear Admit: The Definitive Guide to MBA Admissions and former senior associate director of admissions at Wharton—each chat in the series will focus in on an individual component of the MBA admissions process. Read more

Published: December 15, 2016

Admissions Tip: Planning for Round 2

Now that the bulk of Round 1 decisions are in, we wanted to take the time and look ahead to Round 2. The advice here is relevant for both Round 1 candidates who are considering additional applications in Round 2 as well as for those looking ahead to a later round. As most applicants are targeting multiple schools and still working to narrow down their school selection for Round 2, we wanted to take some time today to stress the importance of taking a deep breath and a step back in order to formulate a general timeline for the coming weeks. Establishing a set Read more

Published: October 11, 2016

MBA Admissions Mashup: Round 1 Next Steps

Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from MBA admissions blogs at the top business schools. MBA applicants around the world have hit submit on their Round 1 applications or are planning ahead for Round 2. Several of you have already heard back from the likes of HBS, Chicago Booth, LBS, Yale, and more. This week we’re devoting the mashup to those of you that are anxiously waiting on some news — may it be good or bad (because closure). In a week and a half Read more

Published: August 21, 2016

Savvy MBA Application Strategy: How Many Apps, Which Schools, When to Apply

You’ve decided the MBA is the next stop on your career path. What now? The smartest applicants are those who take the time to create an informed MBA application strategy—a well thought-out game plan that can help you obtain your goals as efficiently and effectively as possible. One of the first challenges you’ll face is school selection—strategically choosing which schools to target, bearing in mind the competitive mix of those schools. In recent years, MBA applicants appear to be trending downward in terms of the total number of schools to which they apply. Where applying to five to seven Read more

Published: August 14, 2016

The MBA Application: Know Your Audience

As Round 1 deadlines approach, applicants are coming to understand that applying to business school is an incredibly demanding process. In addition to taking the GMAT, assembling academic transcripts and providing recommendation letters, candidates are required to draft multiple essays, job descriptions, lists of activities and more. With the obvious incentive to save time wherever possible, it’s understandable that many applicants simply cut and paste content from an existing resume and write about their work in the manner that comes most naturally. However, in doing so, countless candidates each year assemble their materials without ever asking a Read more

Published: July 24, 2016

3 Ways To Convince The MBA Admissions Committee That You Only Have Eyes For Them

With August soon approaching, it’s the time of year when many applicants are beginning to work on their application essays and learning more about their target programs in the process of rounding out their “why are you pursuing an MBA/why [insert school name here]?” discussions. Keeping this important component of the MBA admissions process in mind, we wanted to take the time today to offer some advice on how to convince the MBA admissions committee of your love for them and get the most mileage out of this section. MBA Admissions is Personal Schools look for applicants who seem genuinely excited about Read more

Published: March 22, 2016

MBA Admissions Mashup: Admissions Tips & Career Services

Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from admissions blogs at the top business schools. The past couple of weeks on MBA LiveWire and MBA DecisionWire revealed admissions decisions, interview notifications, and enrollment decisions, in addition to a focus on R3 applications. As such, we’re featuring a couple MBA admissions tips and advice on the career search. Today is Northwestern / Kellogg’s decision day (there’s a sea of green on MBA LiveWire) and the Kellogg adcom is really excited (understatement)! They posted a welcome on their blog as well as recalled their Read more

Published: February 28, 2016

Everything You Need to Know About Applying to Business School in the Final Rounds

Is it worth applying to business school in Round 3 or any of the late rounds? This is the question that MBA applicants have asked time and time again. With final round deadlines roughly a month away, we thought it would be worth exploring this topic in detail. Why Do Schools Have a Final Round? Why do schools bother to have a final round of admissions when the acceptance rate is typically so low? Why not just have two rounds of admissions deadlines and call it a day? Before we write off the final round or suggest that it should Read more

Published: January 24, 2016

Admissions Tip: MBA Interview Prep

With MBA interview invitations from a number of programs already on their way out to Round Two applicants, and more anticipated in the days ahead (Harvard Business School will release its first batch of interview invites on Wednesday, January 27), we wanted to offer some advice on this element of the admissions process. The following are some steps one can take to prepare for the interview itself. Know what to expect. This might go without saying, but MBA interview types and duration vary across programs. For instance, nearly all invited Stanford applicants interview with alumni, while on-campus Wharton interviews Read more

Published: January 17, 2016

Admissions Tip: 4-Part Comprehensive MBA Interview Series

Interview season for Round 2 candidates will soon be in full swing. In fact, some candidates have already interviewed with schools that offer ‘open’ interviews, such as Dartmouth / Tuck and Northwestern / Kellogg. Soon enough, schools that interview via invitation only (like Harvard Business School, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, and more) will begin doling out those coveted invites. While we know that many of you won’t give the interview a second thought until you have an invitation in hand (or start seeing invites crop up on MBA LiveWire), we think it’s Read more

Published: January 12, 2016

MBA Admissions Mashup: Admitted Students Weekends

Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from admissions blogs at the top business schools. Congratulations to all Round 1 applications who have received positive news from their target schools! (Needless to say, we urge you to head on over to MBA LiveWire to share the good news!) Now that you’ve been admitted, you’re surely receiving invitations to attend Admitted Student Weekends where you’ll have plenty of opportunity to mix and mingle with other future MBAs. Your future classmates await! With this in mind, we’re taking a look at schools hosting admit weekends as Read more

Published: November 29, 2015

Understanding the Early Decision Round at Columbia Business School

The last couple of weeks have seen a flurry of activity on MBA Livewire regarding decisions for Columbia Business School’s Early Decision (ED) round. This makes Columbia one of the first MBA programs in the United States to get decisions out for the 2015-16 cycle – despite having a deadline for ED (October 7th) that falls after a number of other top schools. That Columbia is able to get decisions out in a shorter timeframe than many of its peers is commendable. With that said, many applicants and admissions consultants Read more

Published: November 22, 2015

Admissions Tip: How Round 1 Applicants Should Approach Round 2

For many applicants who have applied in Round 1, now is a time of great stress and uncertainty that is likely testing your patience. This is because any of the following scenarios might apply to you: You have been denied by schools without the opportunity to interview You have interviews scheduled with schools, but not yet completed You have completed interviews with schools and are awaiting a decision You have been told that your file is competitive but will be pushed into R2 for further review (a sort of mid-season waiting list, if you will) And of course, many of Read more

MBA Applywire

November 5, 2024 10:15am ET

Applying: Wisconsin

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Accountant

Post-MBA Target Industry: Other

GPA: 2.5

Years of Work Experience: 4

Location: Illinois

November 5, 2024 4:02am ET

Applying: Columbia, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Georgetown / McDonough, HEC Paris, Imperial, INSEAD, Manchester / AMBS, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern, Oxford / Saïd, Rochester / Simon, U. Chicago Booth, UNC Kenan-Flagler, UPenn / Wharton, USC / Marshall, UT Austin / McCombs, Vanderbilt / Owen, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Project Management

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , AT Kearney , Bain , BCG , Deloitte , Ernst & Young , KPMG , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , Microsoft , Tesla

GMAT: 695

GPA: 3.4

Years of Work Experience: 9

Location: India

Post MBA Location: USA

Notes:

I want to pivot into traditional Project/program or Product Management role.

November 4, 2024 6:49pm ET

Applying: Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Financial Auditor - Public Accounting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Non Profit/SI Companies: Accenture , Bain , BCG , Deloitte , McKinsey

GRE: 326

GPA: 4.0

Years of Work Experience: 2

Location: Florida

Notes:

I graduated with dual degrees in accounting and business analytics with minors in economics and writing from a local school. I currently work for a Big 4 firm in financial audit, and I'll have three years of full-time work experience when I apply in 2025. I work on multiple clients throughout the year so I've sat through multiple busy seasons. I'm a high performer at my firm and will have strong recommendations, but I don't plan on getting my CPA license. Post MBA, I would like to work in consulting for a few years and then transition full time to nonprofit and social impact work.

Outside of work, I serve as a program manager or lead in initiatives that provide pro bono services to local nonprofits, work with diverse students from low income areas to encourage them to pursue college and careers in business, and volunteer at an animal shelter. I'm very involved with new hires and students, and frequently facilitate trainings, serve as a coach and advisor, and participate in recruiting events for the school I graduated from. I was also heavily involved during undergrad.

November 4, 2024 6:32am ET

Applying: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Consulting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: AT Kearney , Bain , BCG , Deloitte , Ernst & Young , McKinsey

GMAT: 720

GPA: 3.33

Years of Work Experience: 6

Notes:

Have been working in public sector consulting for four years, with two additional years of experience in public policy.

Looking to transition to commercial management consulting with the big 3.

November 4, 2024 2:27am ET

Applying: Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Georgetown / McDonough, Georgia / Terry, Georgia Tech / Scheller, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UCI Merage, UCLA Anderson, Vanderbilt / Owen

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: FinTech, Entrepreneurship

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Family Business, Entrepreneurship Companies: AT Kearney , Bain , Booz Allen Hamilton , Deloitte , KPMG , PWC , Amazon , Google , Hewlett Packard , Oracle , Tesla

GMAT: 720

GPA: 6.18

Years of Work Experience: 4

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MBA LiveWire

November 5, 2024 5:10pm ET

Interview Invite to U. Chicago Booth

Round: Round 1

Received via portal on October 17, 2024

GPA: 3.9

GRE: 338

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Healthcare

Note:

email received prompting me to check portal, then scheduled interview (selected on campus, 10/31) and got instructions for video essay submission

November 5, 2024 4:35pm ET

Interview Invite to USC / Marshall

Round: Round 1

Received via email on November 03, 2024

GPA: 3.75

GRE: 317

Target Career: Healthcare

Application Location: Los Angeles

Note:

MBA.PM program

November 5, 2024 3:28pm ET

Interview Invite to Emory / Goizueta

Round: Round 1

Received via email

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Healthcare

November 5, 2024 1:34pm ET

Interview Invite to UNC Kenan-Flagler

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 5, 2024

GPA: 3.73

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: Raleigh, NC

November 5, 2024 10:22am ET

Interview Invite to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 5, 2024

GPA: 3.8

GRE: 327

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Marketing

Application Location: Italy

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