Lots of activity in MBA-dom.

• We have just started to receive this year's batch of excellent MBA interview feedback with recent posts reporting on Insead and UCLA  interviews. Both applicants provide honest and extensive feedback about their interview experiences that can help you develop realistic expectations for your interview. Feel free to use the database and after you finish your interview, please share your experience.
• "More Retailers Shop Business Schools for Talent" in The Wall St. Journal discusses retailers' growing demand for MBA's. Companies from Coach and Liz Claiborne to TJ Maxx are hitting the MBA recruiting circuit seeking number-crunchers and professional managers who can work with the creative, qualitative folks they already have on staff.  Schools mentioned in the article: Cornell Johnson, Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, NYU Stern, and Tuck.
  
• GMAT Registration Volume Turns North. GMAC reports that test registration through August 31 has increased worldwide by 3.99% -- 2.97% increase over 2005 in the US and a 5.94% increase outside the US. That is the highest level since 2002, since they began reporting in 2003. Test-taking for the first 8 months actually declined a modest 2.47% when compared to last year's levels.
  
• Yale Unveils Details of New Curriculum. You can obtain the details by following the link, but in broad strokes you will find a f 1) an impressive commitment to teach management as an integrated discipline. 2) a required 2-week international project. 3) Unlike Stanford's new curriculum, a highly structured first year. Businessweek also has a lengthy interview with Yale's new dean, Dr. Joel Podolny, the driving force behind Yale's new curriculum:
• Accepted.com's staff recently peppered new editor and former Michigan Ross Associate Director of Admissions Inge Miller with questions during a staff conference call/meeting. A few messages came through loud and clear: Clarity of goals is critical to a successful application as well as the ability to articulate how the school you are applying to will help you achieve those goals. No surprises here. I have been preaching the same message for years. But it is a message worth repeating.

One way to gather the information needed to make the connection between the school's program and your reasons for pursuing an MBA is know a lot about the school. Visiting the schools, when feasible, is the best way to gain that extra level of insight. It may or may not earn you a few brownie points, but you will uncover aspects of the program that you like and dislike. And stay tuned: Accepted.com will add an element of fun to your school visits in the next few days.