Weekly Columns

Keep up with the latest school facts and news from your fellow MBA applicants.

Published: March 10, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: HBS MBA Shares the Skinny on On-Campus Living

If you are heading to Harvard Business School in the fall, you’re thinking about where to live, yes? This week’s Fridays from the Frontline—from first-year HBS student Gil Gerstl—sheds light on why he chose to live on campus and the multiple advantages it has presented for him. Thanks to Gerstl for granting permission for us to share his views here! The following post has been republished in its entirety from its original source, “MBA Voices,” the HBS Admissions Blog. Living in an Apartment at HBS HBS is 40-acre residential campus, one that was built on the understanding that Read more

Published: March 8, 2016

MBA Admissions Mashup: Recommendations, Careers, and Off-Campus Housing

Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from admissions blogs at the top business schools. As Round 2 interview invitations are being finalized, we turn our focus to Round 3 admissions tips as well as what MBA admissions blogs are posting regarding preparing for housing for the year(s) ahead in addition to how b-schools prepare their MBAs for the career search. In her admissions video update, assistant dean of admissions Sara Neher expressed excitement about the makeup of the Round 1 candidates who have already submitted their deposits to attend UVA / Darden: “Class as Read more

Published: March 3, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: Kellogg Student Reflects on MBA Recruiting Process

This week’s Fridays from the Frontline comes to us from Kellogg School of Management second-year MBA student Rohan Rajiv, a regular contributor to Kellogg’s full-time MBA student blog. In a series called MBA Learnings, Rajiv has chronicled his progress through Kellogg’s MBA program. In today’s post, he shares candidly about MBA recruiting, which he says “is probably the single hardest piece of the graduate school puzzle.” Peer pressure and self doubt can combine to make the process of landing a post-MBA job fraught with stress. Read on to learn some of Rahiv’s tips for staying cool under pressure. Read more

Published: February 25, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: Goizueta MBA Student Shares Emory’s Many Healthcare-Focused Opportunities

Earlier this week, we featured an article highlighting some of the best MBA programs for students interested in the intersection between business and healthcare. In reporting that piece, we came across a terrific recent blog post by a student working concurrently toward her MBA at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and her Master of Public Health (MPH) at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health. Claire Cooper (MBA/MPH ’17) with classmate on a trip to visit Genentech That student, Claire Cooper, has generously given us permission to republish her piece here for the Clear Admit audience. Read Read more

Published: February 23, 2016

MBA Admissions Mashup: Diversity & Inclusion

Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from admissions blogs at the top business schools. This week’s MBA Admissions Mashup takes a look at what business schools and MBAs are doing to promote diversity and inclusion on campus and we’ve sprinkled in several admissions tips...just in time for your MBA interview or a Round 3 target deadline. Read more

Published: February 18, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: Ross MBAs Get Investment Tips from Warren Buffett

How would you like to trade investment tips over lunch with Warren Buffett? A group of MBA students from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business had just that opportunity last month. Two of them, Cazzie Palacios Brown (MBA/MS ʼ18) and Michelle Gross (MBA/MS ʼ17), shared their experiences and some of what they learned from the value investing giant in a recent post on the Ross Student Voices blog. They have generously allowed us to repost their piece here for the benefit of Clear Admit’s readers. Read on to learn how Buffett classifies investments, his views on social impact investing, Read more

Published: February 11, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: An MBALauncher Shares Her Round 2 Application Process

Today’s Friday from the Frontline features an interview with Lisa Atufunwa, a 29-year-old Denver native who submitted applications to five schools as part of Round 2. Business school has always been a part of her plan, and she’s hoping the MBA will help her pivot her career. Currently working in communications for a range of tech companies, startups and public holding companies, Atufunwa is targeting schools with strong programs in marketing. Her post-MBA goal is to become an assistant brand manager in the personal beauty sector, working for a company like L'Oréal, Sephora or Estée Lauder. “That’s always been a personal passion of mine,” she says. Read more

Published: February 4, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: Kellogg MBAs Gear Up for Super Bowl Ad Review

It’s time for the Super Bowl—and at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, that means it’s also time for the Super Bowl Ad Review. Brands spend more than $2 billion each year to advertise their products through Super Bowl commercials, some more effectively than others. For the 12th year running, Kellogg marketing students will apply their unique framework for evaluating an ad’s brand-building potential as part of the 2016 Kellogg Super Bowl Ad Review. As the players take the field on Sunday, more than 50 Kellogg MBA students will team up with marketing professors Tim Calkins and Derek Rucker to determine the winners and the losers in the battle of the brands. They’ll us the ADPLAN framework to evaluate each ad according to six critical criteria: Attention, Distinction, Positioning, Linkage, Amplifications and Net Equity. Read more

Published: January 28, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: Yale SOM MBA Student Tests His Mettle on Shark Tank

This week in Fridays from the Frontline we’re featuring an exclusive interview with Shaan Patel, a 26-year-old, second-year MBA student at Yale School of Management (SOM) who tonight will appear on ABC’s Shark Tank. Patel, who is taking a two-year leave of absence from medical school to get his MBA, also runs a company on the side that helps high school students prepare for the SAT and ACT college entrance exams. The Las Vegas native launched the company—called 2400 Expert SAT Prep—to teach others the strategies that helped him achieve his own perfect 2400 SAT score. In the interview that follows, he shares how business school prepared him for Shark Tank and why he thinks the MBA is a valuable path for entrepreneurs. He also offers tips for business school students who want to try their hand at getting on the show. (Even thought he had to wait in line for nine hours for the casting call—missing a pitch competition taking place back on campus as a result—he thinks it was worth it.) Read more

Published: January 21, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: Triumphant Reapplicant Gains Admission at UCLA Anderson

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Our Fridays from the Frontline contributor this week took these words to heart, reapplying in fall 2015 after an unsuccessful application process the year before. A young female Indian engineer, she had relatively strong scores and grades, but not a ton of experience under her belt. Read on to learn some of the steps she took to strengthen her application the second time around—gaining admission at UCLA Anderson. While happy to share her story with the Clear Admit audience, she wants to remain anonymous until she actually matriculates. So until then, we’ll just refer to her as the Pull That MBA Trigger blogger. Read more

Published: January 14, 2016

Fridays from the Frontlines: Kellogg MBAs Take Silicon Valley

Welcome back to Fridays from the Frontlines, where each week we feature the perspectives of current MBA applicants, students and recent alumni wherever they are in the trajectory of business school. Today we’re pleased to feature a post from Luke Murphy, a first-year MBA candidate at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, who recently led a group of fellow students on a trek to San Francisco startups. He was a good one to help organize the trip, having grown up in the Bay Area and worked there for years before business school, most recently as director of business development at Nasdaq in San Francisco. But as you’ll see in the post that follows, even he was surprised by some of what the trip revealed. 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: January 7, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: Juggling Motherhood and the MBA at HBS

How many times have you heard someone liken pursuing an MBA to drinking from a fire hose? Between the coursework, student clubs, networking, recruiting—there aren’t enough hours in the day. Now imagine doing it as mom to a three-year-old. Katie Colgary is a second-year student doing precisely that—juggling motherhood and the MBA at Harvard Business School (HBS). She graciously agreed to share this recent blog post with Clear Admit’s readers, in which she reveals how she does it, as well as what resources are in place at HBS to help make doing it possible. Read more

Published: December 31, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: The HEC Paris MBA Experience with Footnotes

Happy 2016 everyone! Today in Fridays from the Frontline, we’re featuring a post submitted to us by Prashant Khorana about his HEC Paris MBA experience. On Twitter, Khorana (@prashantkhorana) describes himself as a data scientist/mathematician who is passionate about analytics, economics, finance, leadership and investing and who hates unproductive activities. Titled “Brief Notes on the HEC Paris MBA Experience,” the post is nonetheless longer than we generally publish here—especially with the footnotes, which Khorana doesn’t want you to miss. So we’ve offered you a taste to whet your appetite and encourage you to follow the link below to read the post in its entirety. He covers everything you’ve ever wondered about HEC Paris, from getting in to settling in, from learning French to surviving St. Cyr and triumphing at MBAT. Many thanks to Khorana for sharing his experience with the Clear Admit audience. Read more

Published: December 24, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: Forté MBALauncher Shares Her Round 1 Application Experience

Natalie Neilson learned about the Forté Foundation’s MBALaunch program—a 10-week, hands-on workshop for promising female applicants to business school—in a somewhat backwards fashion. It all began with an interest in looking into business schools abroad, with the MBA program at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School sparking her curiosity. After researching, she realized that Oxford did not come to many events in DC, but she saw that the school would be participating in an upcoming Forté Forum, and so she went. At the forum, she saw people wearing name tags with a special ribbon that said “MBALauncher,” so she asked to learn more. Before long she would be wearing an MBALauncher ribbon herself. Read more

Published: December 17, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: A Successful Round 1 Applicant Shares His Tips on Managing the Process

This week we are delighted to feature the following post from Preston Landers, a senior consultant for Deloitte Digital who has just completed the application process for business school. As you’ll read, he applied to seven leading MBA programs, got interviews at six and has now been admitted at three. He humbly calls himself an amateur, but we think the advice he offers is spot on. Our thanks to Landers, whose frequent posts on Reddit’s MBA thread spurred us to ask him to contribute something here on Clear Admit. And a hearty congratulations for a job well done! We Read more

Published: December 10, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: A Wharton Alum Takes Issue with Fellow Alum Donald Trump

Presidential candidate Donald Trump has continued to grab headlines in the past week, most recently for his call for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." His comments have drawn strong reactions, including from opponents such as Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who said in an address to the media Tuesday, “We have no place for that kind of ignorance and tolerance and lack of understanding of what our country is about.” Trump’s supporters, too, have also been quite vocal, and his popularity in the polls continues. In a national telephone poll conducted December 4th through 10th by the New York Times/CBS News, seven in 10 voters likely to vote in the Republican primary felt Trump was well equipped to respond to the threat of terrorism, with four in 10 saying they were “very confident” in his response. In this category, Trump led all other candidates, both Democratic and Republican. Read more

Published: December 3, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: MIT Sloan Student Scrutinizes Her MBA Balance Sheet

Is the high cost of an MBA worth it? This question gets bandied around frequently, most often by skeptics on the sidelines who have never set foot in a business school classroom. This week in Fridays from the Frontline we are pleased to share a recent post from a current MIT Sloan MBA student who gives us her take on whether the significant funds she’s invested into her two years at Sloan was money well spent. Erica Zendell is a Sloan MBA who will graduate this spring and a self-proclaimed “bargain-hunter.” She wants to feel like she’s gotten value for her investment—be it when she buys a piece of clothing or commits six figures and two years to business school. Read more

Published: November 26, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: Kellogg First-Year Reflects on the Talent of Her Classmates

As those of us here in the United States attempt to work off hearty Thanksgiving meals, some are still reflecting on the things for which we're thankful. In that spirit, our Fridays from the Frontline post today comes from Nikita Sunilkumar, a first-year MBA student at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. Sunilkumar, a California native who worked as a production engineer at Boeing before business school, entered Kellogg as part of a record-breaking class made up of 43 percent women. As she shares here, she took part in an eye-opening exercise as part of the school's Women's Business Association led by Kellogg Professor Victoria Medvec, one designed to help participants recognize and appreciate the remarkable talent of their classmates. Our thanks to Sunilkumar for sharing her thoughts—and for business schools across the globe working toward gender parity. Read more

Published: November 19, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: An INSEAD Student in Asia Mourns for Paris, Holds Hope for the World

INSEAD student Edouard Chehade was not in Paris one week ago today. But he knows Paris well, having spent part of his MBA studying just southeast of the city in Fontainebleau on INSEAD’s Europe Campus. Today he is in Singapore on INSEAD’s Asia Campus, finishing up the final weeks of his MBA program. Paris, though, has been a topic of every moment’s discussion since the November 13th terrorist attacks that killed 129 and injured more than 350, he says. In the post that follows, Chehade mourns for the victims, those in Paris but also those who have survived or succumbed to similar events in Bombay, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Algeria, Pakistan and countless other countries. The remarkable diversity of the INSEAD class—where students represent more than 80 nationalities—means that he has friends who have lived in many of these very places. Read more

Published: November 12, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: Conquering FOMO at INSEAD

Watching LiveWire, we’ve seen lots of INSEAD interview action in the past few weeks, including this disappointed but determined post from an India applicant in Malta who didn’t get an invitation: “Spent all of summer in pursuit of INSEAD,” he or she wrote. “Heartbroken but not Fallen yet!!” Cue a collective “aww” in the Clear Admit office. Keep calm and stay positive! In today’s Fridays from the Frontline, we hear from someone who did make the cut at INSEAD only to arrive on campus and confront a challenge of a whole new sort: FOMO, or fear of missing out. Read more

Published: October 29, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: MBA Mama on Pitching as a Female Entrepreneur

This week in our Fridays from the Frontline series, we are delighted to have as our contributor Divinity Matovu, a first-year MBA student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Matovu, whose focus at Wharton is on entrepreneurial management and finance, also happens to be a mother of two and the co-founder and president of MBA Mama, an online platform where millennial moms can find the products, services, tools and inspiration they need to pursue an MBA. Her passion for start-ups (she’s launched four of her own) and women’s empowerment shines through in the following post, where she shares a recent experience she had pitching to an all-male panel as part of Wharton’s Venture Initiation Program (VIP). Her spirit and pluck are evident as well. Even amid everything else she’s doing, she finds time to blog regularly—check out her posts to learn more about some of her other passions, including technology, financial inclusion and African affairs. We’re grateful to Divinity for lending her voice and perspective to our series. Read more

Published: October 27, 2015

MBA Admissions Mashup: Breaking News from HBS, Value of Alumni Networks, and the Importance Balance

Every Wednesday, we share a round-up of the latest news from admissions blogs at the top business schools. In this week’s edition of MBA Admissions Mashup, we take a look at some breaking news from HBS, the value of a vast alumni network, careers and internships, work-life balance, on-campus conferences as well as some last minute admissions advice. This morning, Harvard Business School Managing Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, Dee Leopold announced that she will be stepping down from her post in May 2016. In the post, she assures all of you Harvard Hopefuls Read more

Published: October 22, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: MBA Data Guru Analyzes Interview Acceptance Rates

This week, we’ve had the pleasure of connecting with Wayne Atwell, a second-year MBA student at NYU Stern School of Business, who is perhaps better known as the MBA Data Guru. In January 2014, while in the midst of applying to business school himself, he launched a website with that name after crunching numbers to figure out his own chances of getting into the various schools where he had applied. (Atwell is pictured above, far right, with his Stern block and their strategy professor, Sonia Marciano.) In using data to answer his own questions about the MBA application process, he realized he was also answering the questions of other MBA applicants, and so www.mbadataguru.com was born. As for why and how he’s kept updating it, even now amid the hectic pace of a full-time MBA program? “Mainly I like playing around with data,” he says. “I find it fun.” But he’s also gotten to chat with lots of MBA applicants, learned a bit about web development and managed to grow an audience, he adds. “Still, it’s more of a hobby than anything else." Read more

Published: October 15, 2015

Fridays from the Frontline: Duke / Fuqua Alum on How Team Fuqua is Central to Duke Culture

Happy Friday! We’re back again this week with another edition of Fridays From the Frontlines. This week we bring you Steven Ma, Duke / Fuqua Alum (Class of 2015). Prior to Fuqua, Steven graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Biology – not your traditional MBA applicant. When Steven made the leap into the MBA world, he found that the resources just weren’t there for him. His blog, From Bench to Board, aims to chronicle his experiences and learnings with the aim of helping those who are interested in earning an MBA without the Read more

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MBA Applywire

February 18, 2025 9:55am ET

Applying: Columbia, NYU Stern, UCLA Anderson, USC / Marshall

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Brand Consulting

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

GRE: 319

GPA: 3.47

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: California

Notes:

I applied to my programs via the Consortium.

February 17, 2025 9:03pm ET

Applying: All Schools, Arizona State / W.P. Carey

Intake Year: 2028

Pre-MBA Career: LC

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Private Equity Companies: Wells Fargo Securities , Other

GMAT: 624

GPA: OO

Years of Work Experience: 1979

Location: Netherlands, Aarle-Rixtel

Post MBA Location: Netherlands, Aarle-Rixtel

Notes:

I want forgathering useful information, this post has got me even more info!

February 15, 2025 7:12am ET

Applying: Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, UCLA Anderson

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Tech

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

GMAT: 705

GPA: 8.23

Years of Work Experience: 6.5

Location: Pune

February 14, 2025 6:41pm ET

Applying: Duke / Fuqua, HEC Paris, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, Oxford / Saïd, Toronto / Rotman, UNC Kenan-Flagler, USC / Marshall

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Consulting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology, Pharmaceutical, Entrepreneurship Companies: Microsoft , Amgen , Johnson & Johnson , Pfizer

GRE: 292

GPA: 3.0

Years of Work Experience: 2.5

Location: DC

Post MBA Location: NYC or Canada

Notes:

I am looking to start MBA in Fall 2026, so by then I would have 4 years of work experience. I am thinking about receiving a dual-degree, but haven't looked much into the admissions process of the second degree in healthcare. Mainly, I am debating and need help deciding if Fall 2026 is the right timeline to start an MBA, and I'll be fully prepared as a candidate, or if I need gain more experience to improve my resume.

Your help is greatly appreciated !! :)

February 14, 2025 7:44am ET

Applying: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Private Markets

Post-MBA Target Industry: Private Equity

GRE: 331

GPA: 2.99

Years of Work Experience: 8

View or Submit Entries

MBA LiveWire

February 23, 2025 12:59am ET

Interview Invite to Carnegie Mellon / Tepper

Round: Round 2

Received via email on February 17, 2025

Standardized Test: GMAT

GMAT: 675

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Application Location: East Asia

February 23, 2025 12:36am ET

Interview Invite to Northwestern / Kellogg

Round: Round 2

Received via email on February 17, 2025

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 3.2

GRE: 321

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

February 22, 2025 8:48pm ET

Interview Invite to Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 2

Received via email

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 3.7

GRE: 322

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Healthcare

February 22, 2025 8:46pm ET

Interview Invite to USC / Marshall

Round: Round 2

Received via email

Standardized Test: GRE

GRE: 322

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Healthcare

Application Location: United States, San Diego

February 22, 2025 8:45pm ET

Interview Invite to Berkeley / Haas

Round: Round 2

Received via email

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 3.7

GRE: 323

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Healthcare

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