Weekly Columns
Keep up with the latest school facts and news from your fellow MBA applicants.
Published: October 30, 2014
Fridays from the Frontline: Anticipation, Excitement, and Heartbreak
Welcome back to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly summation of posts from business school applicants and students. This week, some applicants are beginning to receive admissions decisions, while others have just finished their interviews and are eagerly waiting for news. Current business school students are excited to discuss the opportunities they’re encountering in business school.
Among current applicants, Ellie from Coffee Beans and Tea Leaves just received word that she was admitted early decision to Fuqua! Unfortunately, Pullingthatmbatrigger received word that she had been dinged from Fuqua after interviewing at the school—she’s still waiting to hear back from Yale SOM.
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Published: October 27, 2014
Trivia Tuesday: Experiential Learning at Tuck
Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, where we explore the special programs and opportunities that differentiate the leading business schools. Today we’re featuring an except from the Clear Admit School Guide to Dartmouth Tuck School of Business about the school’s experiential learning opportunities.
“All Tuck students have an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in business through the required First-Year Project, through which teams of students complete a consulting project for a business or nonprofit organization. Some students choose to pursue this type of learning in more depth, taking advantage of Tuck’s second-year experiential learning programs.
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Published: October 23, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Interview Season
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit’s weekly summation of posts from the business school blogosphere. In his second book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell argues that first impressions are often more accurate and influential than conscious and deliberate judgments. This week, applicants strive to make good first impressions in their MBA interviews, while current students do the same while meeting classmates and during job interviews.
Among current students, Scottgduncan practices interviewing by recording his responses on his webcam and then watching them back. Also, he details the questions he was asked during his Kellogg interview.
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Published: October 16, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: In the Thick of It
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit’s weekly summation of posts from the business school blogosphere. This week, applicants are in the thick of things, submitting their applications, doing interviews and even hearing back about their results, while current students offer thoughtful takes on their time in business school.
Among current applicants, Pullingthatmbatrigger lets us in on his approach to writing business school essays, and also reports that his interview at Fuqua went smoothly. Along the same lines, Roadtomymba enumerates the criteria he used to select his recommender, while Grantmeadmission shares individual thoughts on his five different applications to top business schools. Also completing an interview this week, Scottgduncan summarizes his experience taking the Kellogg video essay, and received word that he was deferred to round 2 at Harvard Business School.
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Published: October 9, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Some Kind of MBA Madness
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit’s weekly summation of posts from the business school blogosphere. Author Sherrilyn Kenyon once said, “I don’t suffer from insanity – I enjoy every minute of it.” This week, applicants continue wading through the craziness of the business school admissions process, while current students discuss the opportunities and challenges facing them in business school.
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Published: October 2, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: the Light at the End of the Tunnel
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit’s weekly summation of posts from the business school blogosphere. Biologist Barry Commoner once said that "if you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, you are looking the wrong way." This week business school applicants begin seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for their application process, while current students and alumni update us on their recent endeavors.
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Published: September 25, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Defeating Giants
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit’s weekly summation of posts from the business school blogosphere. Author and journalist Michael Lewis once said that "the pleasure of rooting for Goliath is that you can expect to win. The pleasure of rooting for David is that, while you don’t know what to expect, you stand at least a chance of being inspired." This week in the business school blogosphere, applicants face off with the giant that is the business school application process, while current students juggle the many opportunities available to them in business school.
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Published: September 18, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Overcoming Perfectionism
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit's weekly summation of posts from the business school blogosphere. Author Brene Brown once said that "perfectionism is self-destructive simply because there is no such thing as perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal." This week, applicants seek to overcome their tendency towards perfection by submitting their applications, while current students offer sneak peeks into their respective programs.
In the applicant corner, Scottgduncan submitted his Harvard application after some last-minute editing and plans to submit Kellogg and MIT Sloan soon. Also pulling that MBA trigger, Pullingthatmbatrigger just applied to Fuqua and Yale, with two more schools to go. Meanwhile, Efessays, known as Old Faithful to family and friends, gives a virtual lesson on logical fallacies to help us evaluate arguments on the writing section of the GMAT.
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Published: September 11, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Tackling the Info Session
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit’s weekly summation of posts from the business school blogosphere. This week, current applicants attend MBA-related events, while current students discuss the insights they've gained during business school.
In the applicant corner, Texaswannabecali broke down the myriad discussions that took place at a McCombs info session. She also went to another MBA event which she describes as “handshake, smile and nod on repeat.” On the other hand, Efessays, or Old Faithful as he is known in the business, offers a virtual lesson on the essay section of the GMAT.
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Published: September 8, 2014
Trivia Tuesday: INSEAD’s Wharton Exchange Program
Welcome to this week’s Trivia Tuesday, in which we examine special offerings that differentiate the leading MBA programs from their peers. Today we’re taking a look into the Clear Admit School Guide to INSEAD in order to share with you an excerpt about the school’s exchange opportunity with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
“Through an alliance with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the leading MBA programs in the U.S., INSEAD students can also spend one period in the city of Philadelphia taking elective courses at Wharton."
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Published: September 4, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Douglas Adams on Deadlines
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit's weekly summation of posts from the business school blogosphere. Douglas Adams once said, "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." But business school applicants aren't planning to let that happen. This week, current applicants put the finishing touches on their applications, while current students reflect on the application process, travel the world and praise their respective schools.
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Published: August 28, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Einstein’s Dilemma
Fridays From the Frontline is Clear Admit's weekly summation of the business school blogosphere. Albert Einstein once said that "the only reason for time is so that everything does not happen at once." Yet there is one month every year when time does not seem to fulfill its purpose. Yes, we are speaking of business school deadlines. This week, applicants kick it into high-gear as the deadlines close in, while current students enjoy the many exciting opportunities open to them at business school.
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Published: August 21, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Crunch Time
Welcome to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly summation of the business school blogosphere. This week, applicants are closing in on their application deadlines, while current students enjoy the academic, professional and extracurricular dimensions of business school.
Among current applicants, Efessays gives us a virtual lesson on sentence-correction questions, while Grantmeadmission outlines how to get a perfect 6.0 on the writing section of the GMAT, and updates us on his own GMAT progress. When it comes to school selection, Pullingthatmbatrigger visited Fuqua and fell in love with the school. She has decided to apply early decision. Also, Naijambagal spoke with the Stanford admissions team and offers some specific strategies for getting into Stanford. Scottgduncan and Grantmeadmission both address another section of the application, explaining how to brief your recommenders in order to obtain the best recommendations possible. Finally, after weeks of “radio silence,” Topdogmba fills us in on his progress on his application essays.
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Published: August 7, 2014
Fridays From the Frontline: Standardized Stressing
This week in the business school blogosphere, current applicants seek out unconventional ways of improving their GMAT scores and other aspects of their applications, while current students give us a sneak peak into their time in business school.
In the applicants' corner, Grantmeadmission is preparing for the GMAT and shares his list of “exam lifehacks” which include taking study breaks, changing scenery, chewing gum to help concentrate and coming up with his own answers before looking at the answer choices. He has also been improving his GMAT score by taking practice tests on The Economist website.
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Fridays From the Frontlines: Test Obsessed
Welcome to this week's Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly summation of the business school blogosphere. We check in with applicants who are in the final, feverish stages of GMAT preparation, as well as with current students who let us in on their comparatively less stressful post-GMAT lives.
In the applicant corner, Naijambagal tells the shocking story of how an eye problem sent her to the hospital and made her miss the GMAT! She also explains how she studied for the test for about an hour everyday while in traffic on the way to work. Meanwhile, Grantmeadmission brings insights from brain science to bear on GMAT prep strategies. As he explains, the process of forming a memory comes in three stages--encoding, reinforcement, and retrieval--and there are things we can do to facilitate each stage. Meditation and eating foods like parsley, berries and dark chocolate improve encoding, whereas caffeine, sleep, and taking breaks boost the process of reinforcement.
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Fridays from the Frontline: It was the best/worst of times
This week in the business school blogosphere, MBA students travel the world and embark on promising business ventures, while applicants continue wading through the complex and often mysterious process of applying to business school.
Many applicants are doling out advice about how to navigate the MBA admissions game. First, Texaswannabecali recommends getting “behind the scenes info” on your target schools by contacting alumni, current students, and visiting campus. She also stresses the importance of researching your schools before visiting: “Don’t you just hate the person who asks a question in class that the teacher LITERALLY just answered 3 seconds ago? Yeah, don’t be that person.”
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Trivia Tuesday: Public Management and Social Innovation at Stanford GSB
This week in Trivia Tuesday, in which we highlight the distinguishing aspects of top business schools, we’re opening up our Stanford School Guide for a closer look at their Public Management and Social Innovation Program.
"The Public Management Program (PMP) was founded in 1960s by then-dean Arjay Miller to promote communication and collaboration between leaders of government and business. His experience as president of Ford Motor Companies provided the impetus for this initiative; in this role, he witnessed firsthand the misunderstandings between politicians and those in the private sector. The PMP became part of the Center for Social Innovation in 2000, and today the Center has the broader mission of preparing students to address social and environmental problems.
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Fridays from the Frontline: GMAT Anticipation and Regret
This week in the business school blogosphere, applicants are gearing up to take the GMAT or contemplating what went wrong for them last time. Meanwhile current students prepare to enter the business world, and alumni look back on their time in business school.
Scheduled to take the GMAT next week, Naijambagal shares his advice on GMAT test-taking, which comes down to knowing the material, doing practice questions, reviewing your mistakes and not getting nervous. The last one is easier said than done!
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Fridays From the Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays from the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly exhaustive enumeration of the enterprising entries in the b-school blogosphere. This week, current applicants are in full GMAT prep-mode, contemplating choice of schools and full versus part-time programs, while the Class of 2016 is looking forward to starting their MBA programs in just a few short weeks, and all the life and career changes that will bring. This week we also welcome blogger QuietTiger81, who is sharing his perspective as a second year student at Oxford.
MBAonMyMind has added YaleSOM to the tally board, given the school's focus on social impact businesses, and with three weeks into GMAT prep, all is going according to plan. With a GMAT prep plan of his own, GrantMeAdmission is gaining on his 760 goal with three life hacks to help him stay focused and positive. GrantMeAdmission also takes some time to discuss the pros and cons of doing a part-time MBA, and why he chose to go the full-time route.
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Fridays From the Frontline – News from the B-School Blogosphere
Hello and welcome to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly roundup of the ruminations of the b-school blogosphere. This week, we continue to meet UCLA Anderson's entering class of MBA bloggers, welcome a new applicant blogger to the weekly round-up, as well as check up on the hard-working current applicants already kicking off round 1 applications, even as summer is just beginning to heat up. Zubin Davar '15 is a second year Anderson student, who is sharing his experience as a summer intern at Google. Despite his first day nerves, Zubin is relying on key takeaways from his first year. Those who are looking forward to their first year at Anderson include Mike Leve who recounts the true cost of an Anderson acceptance letter, of which the actual application fee is a very small part. Piyush Jain shares his excitement at joining the Anderson community, and explains his unique international perspective, as he prepares to leave his current location in the Middle East for California's West Coast.
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Trivia Tuesday: Master Classes at Columbia Business School
This week in Trivia Tuesday, where we highlight the distinguishing aspects of top business schools, we’re opening up the Clear Admit School Guide to Columbia Business School to learn more about Columbia's Master Classes.
“In the fall of 2006, Columbia introduced Master Classes, a new type of elective course. Each Master Class is organized around a theme, such as Operations Consulting or Private Equity & Entrepreneurship in Africa, and incorporates a semester-long experiential project. The projects are designed in conjunction with partner companies or organizations and conclude with students making a managerial recommendation to the partner organization. The Master Class program utilizes alumni and practicing professionals as teachers and mentors to ensure that students are exposed to both theory and practice within the MBA curriculum….
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Fridays From the Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly summation of the best of the b-school blogosphere. This week, UCLA Anderson welcomes a group of incoming MBA students and bloggers, and current applicants discuss what's involved in staying focused on the admissions process during the summer.
Zafeer Khan Anderson '16 shares his journey from Bangladesh to pursuing the MBA in Sunny California. Classmate Asher Kurland is enjoying happy hours with fellow admits in Brooklyn. Nikhil George Punnoose '16 is moving away from living on oil rigs, to learning about the business side of production, and James Huntington rounds out the introduction of Anderson '16 bloggers by describing his reasons for selecting Anderson. Chief among them are the school's family friendly policies, and the Joint Ventures Club. We wish all of these new student bloggers all the best as they embark on their MBA journey together!
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Fridays From the Frontline
Hello and welcome to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit's weekly summation of the best of the b-school blogosphere. As the school year has finished, current students have taken the opportunity to reflect on the experience of first year, while MBA hopefuls are putting together a plan of action to ensure a successful application process. Those Round 1 deadlines are not that far off! (Check the Clear Admit blog for up to date deadlines and essay information.)
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Trivia Tuesday: Tuck’s Pre-Term
Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, where we highlight special programs and policies at top business schools. This week, we're opening up the Clear Admit School Guide to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth to learn about the school's pre-term:
"Tuck offers two weeks of diverse pre-term programming, both academic and non-academic, before the start of orientation. Incoming Tuck students, particularly those from non-business backgrounds, may be invited to enroll in a one-week Pre-Enrollment program, affectionately known as “math camp,” that provides classroom instruction in finance, accounting, statistics, decision science and other quantitative topics.
"As part of the online MBA Math course, students must complete at least the eight lessons designated as mandatory among the 24 lessons offered. These include topics such as Basic Descriptive Statistics, Income Statement, and Excel Basics, and incoming students are typically given access to their accounts in the January prior to their matriculation. Developed by Professor Peter Regan, the math course includes pre- and post-quizzes on each topic so that students can best determine the kind of progress they need to make before their fall classes begin.
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