Items of interest to MBA applicants:

• Insead Admissions Chat Transcript Although connectivity issues plagued this chat, we did have a good conversation with Johanna Hellborg and Caroline Diarte Edwards who answered questions for those who managed to attend. We will host another Insead chat on January 18 at 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT . Please join us then. In the meantime, an excerpt:

CarolineDiarteEdwardsINSEAD (Dec 7, 2006 11:22:18 AM)
Linda: we are seeing a growth in application volume.

Linda Abraham (Dec 7, 2006 11:24:15 AM)
Any tips for applicants aiming for your next round deadline in January?

johannaHellborgINSEAD (Dec 7, 2006 11:25:42 AM)
Linda : don't rush into your application...........try to find something unique about you.................make sure you talk about your personal life too not only the professional one.....be honest !;-)

• Cornell Admissions Chat Transcript. Ann Richards and Lisa Pastrick answered questions during this informative chat. An excerpt:

AnnRichardsCornell (Dec 14, 2006 12:17:24 PM)
Linda, our applications are up this year. The volume has been robust! Our first round applications were up 55%, round two applications were up by about 15% over last year.

 BTW, all schools that I have asked are reporting higher application volume.

• PaGalGuy interview with Darden's Sara Neher, Director of Admission. Although the article has an Indian slant, natural considering PaGalGuy's market, every Darden applicant should read it.  An excerpt:

How much do you value work experience and what kind of work experience is best suited for a Darden admit, especially in the Indian context?

In all applicants not just Indian applicants, we are most concerned with the depth of work experience a candidate offers – both quality and range. Ideally we would see cross-functional experience with opportunities to manage people, budgets, and teams, plus international work experience. The goal is to find leaders and we do that by evaluating the experience and the leadership shown.

• The Harvard Crimson asks "Can Younger MBAs Measure Up?" in this article about HBS' courting of early-career candidate, a move imitated by an increasing number of top schools despite some concerns about recruiter acceptance. While a lot of attention is given to ECCs, their numbers are actually quite small. "Today, fewer than 20 college seniors a year are admitted directly to HBS, Leopold says. Last spring, she says, another 20 were offered admission to the school, but were asked to defer for two years before starting in the fall of 2008." Harvard's entering MBA class has well over 800 members.