The chat will take place in the Accepted chat room.

During our most recent MBA admissions chat, we hosted a busy event with the Consortium. Here are a few excerpts from the transcript.

Linda Abraham (Oct 20, 2009 7:05:14 PM)
To all the school reps, does the applicant ranking influence the evaluation of the application?

WendyHuberUVA (Oct 20, 2009 7:06:22 PM)
Linda, applicants should apply as if the schools do not see the ranking. Rankings are only looked at when we are deciding fellowships, they are not used in the admission decision.

JacquelynnDayROCHESTER (Oct 20, 2009 7:09:08 PM)
Linda: While we do consider an individual's rankings, we look at the application as a whole, therefore we encourage students to focus on submitting an overall competitive application

RTorres (Oct 20, 2009 7:05:50 PM)
What happens with applicants that apply to the Consortium and to the specific MBA programs at schools when they are not accepted into the fellowship? How are their MBA applications handled? Are they still considered by the schools?

ErinNicklesburgWISCONSIN (Oct 20, 2009 7:07:59 PM)
RTorres: Each applicant is evaluated independently by each school in terms of both admission and Fellowship decision. An offer of admission does not indicate a guaranteed Fellowship offer, as they are separate. The admission offer will stand regardless of the Fellowship offer. If a Fellowship offer is not given, the applicant will go into the general merit-based aid pool.

AmyPR (Oct 20, 2009 7:12:34 PM)
What is the difference between the November application date and the January application date? Do chances of acceptance increase one date vs. the other?

LaurieShunneyCORNELL (Oct 20, 2009 7:15:21 PM)
AmyPR- Competitiveness for admission and scholarship may increase in later rounds. In general, we recommend submitting the strongest application possible. If you are prepared to apply during the November round, it may help.

• Tepper
• Darden
• Emory
• NYU Stern
• Wisconsin
• Yale SOM
• Washington
• Rochester
• Kelley
• Cornell
• Marshall

If you are interested in the Consortium, its missions, simplified application process, and fellowships, be sure to participate in the chat in Accepted's chat room.

I also want to let you know that we posted the transcript of last week's NYU Stern Admissions Director Chat with Anika Davis Pratt, Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid; Isser Gallogly, Executive Director of MBA Admission; Paula Steisel Goldfarb, Senior Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid; and Emily Zwanziger, NYU Stern Class of 2010. Check it out in full, but for now, here are a few excerpts.:

naman (Oct 14, 2009 11:13:19 AM)
Isser: Stern MBA is traditionally renowned for finance, probably due to its location in NY. This is also supported in the recruitment profile for the last few years. How competitively are Stern MBAs (in other areas, specifically, consulting) viewed by the recruiters when compared with other top business schools?

IsserGalloglyNYU (Oct 14, 2009 11:17:16 AM)
Naman - Stern is great across the board. In consulting, we had recruiters from Bain, McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte & Booz plus many others hire students. In fact, McKinsey and BCG were two of our top recruiters this year for the class as a whole.

IsserGalloglyNYU (Oct 14, 2009 11:19:31 AM)
Naman- Another reason we do so well in Consulting is the students IQ+EQ. Not only are our students really smart, but they have superior interpersonal skills. Part of the reason we do the interview process the way we do is to get people with great EQ (emotional intelligence quotient). Recruiters really notice and appreciate that aspect of our students.

lcpink12 (Oct 14, 2009 11:18:58 AM)
Anika: What % of students does a term abroad on exchange? How much does this affect recruiting/interviewing on campus?

AnikaPrattNYU (Oct 14, 2009 11:24:16 AM)
LcPink12: Over 300 full-time and part-time students participate in our international programs each year. This includes semester exchange, our popular Doing Business in (DBi) program, and short-term opportunities in the summer. About 60 participated in semester exchange, 250 participated in the DBi trips, and 9 participated in short-term study. Students typically choose their semester to go abroad based on the recruiting schedule for their career of interest. If you want to immerse yourself fully in NYC, the DBi program is ideal because it is a one to two week format.

Linda Abraham (Oct 14, 2009 11:20:04 AM)
Isser what is unique about NYU's interview process that hones in on EQ?

IsserGalloglyNYU (Oct 14, 2009 11:29:04 AM)
Linda-There are a few things that are unique about our interview process. It is by invitation only - we only ask to meet you if we are very serious about you after reviewing the application. About 60% of those interviewed are admitted, about 30% of those who apply are selected to interview. The interviews are almost always here in NYC at Stern and conducted by a trained admissions professional. You have 30 minutes to make your case in person to the committee. The interview is not blind. The interviewer will have studied your application and ask you deeper and more specific questions. While you are at Stern, you may visit a class and have lunch with a student (depending on the time of year). If you apply to Stern, save some vacation days and money to fly here for your interview. We take the interview very seriously and it's a unique part of our process.

AnikaPrattNYU (Oct 14, 2009 11:29:09 AM)
Naman: NYU Stern is a great place to be if you want a career change into Consulting. Typically, over half of our incoming class plans on making a career change. At Stern, programs like the Industry Mentoring Initiative (IMI) partner with lead consulting firms and senior executives to mentor students changing careers into consulting. In addition, our student club - the MCA - has a rigorous casing training and prep leading up to consulting interviews -- just to mention a couple of the great resources here at Stern.

If you are interested in NYU Stern, review the chat transcript. The Stern representatives provide meaty, specific answers to a broad range of applicant questions.

My comments are in red.

A. What are your short-term and long-term goals? How will a Tepper MBA help you to achieve these goals? (Please include any information regarding what steps you have taken to learn more about the Tepper School.

Straight-forward goals question. What do you want to do immediately after earning your MBA? What do you want to do 5-10 years down the road? Yes your longer term goals can be fuzzier, but you should be able to show clear direction. Then discuss how Tepper's program (not ranking, reputation, or other generalities that apply to all top programs) will help you achieve your goals.

As you do your research, attend info sessions, and visit campuses, look for the distinctive pieces to any MBA program that appeal to you. Then use that data to demonstrate how well you know the program and what a great fit you are for the given school.

At CMU, you may want to refer to its mini-semester structure or its MBA tracks and cross-campus curriculum . Explain how any or all of these elements will help you achieve your goal. If Tepper professors are prominent in your area of interest, discuss how their research jives with your professional interests. Your ability to connect these details and your goals contributes to a stellar goals essay.

B. The Tepper School’s culture relies on all members to be active contributors to our community. With your values, experiences, and interests, how will you make a unique contribution to the Tepper community? Your examples may include: classroom interaction, student activities, career development, community service, etc.

Tepper changed this question slightly this year, but the fundamentals are the same: Show how you have contributed actively in the past to your team at work or on the field, to your community, club, class, or church. Did your suggestion enable the team to finish the project on time? Did you inspire and unite your teammates and lead them to unprecedented victory in college? Then, how will the qualities, values, and interests you developed or utilized during this experience enable you to contribute to Tepper's community?

C. Please answer two of the following three questions or statements. Please clearly specify which questions you are answering. Your two answers should equal a total of two pages or less.

1. Describe an obstacle you have faced in your professional or academic life. How did you overcome this obstacle and how did it foster your development?

2. Describe a time in which your ethics were challenged. How did you deal with the situation and what did you learn from it?

3. One thing people would be surprised to know about me is . . .

Choose the two questions that will best allow you to present yourself while complementing the required questions. You want each essay to present a different perspective on you and your talents.

D. Is there anything additional that you think we should know as we evaluate your application? Note: if you believe your credentials and essays represent you fairly, you should not feel obligated to answer this question. This essay is intended to provide a place for you to add information that you think is important but is not covered elsewhere in the application.

Use this optional essay,  or lose a great opportunity to provide even more reasons for Tepper to admit you.

If you would like help with your CMU Tepper MBA application, please consider Accepted.com's MBA essay editing and admissions consulting or a CMU Tepper Comprehensive Package.

CMU Tepper 2010 MBA Deadlines

*April 26, 2010 deadline reserved for U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents, as well as FlexTime and FlexMode candidates. International applicants for the FullTime MBA program must apply by March 08, 2010.
**June 01 deadline reserved for FlexTime and FlexMode candidates.

You will find in the special report articles on:

• Applying while or after a layoff.
• The series "MBA in Finance: Forget It?"
• The disappearance and reappearance of financial aid options.
• The wisdom of applying during times of financial uncertainty.

Please feel free to download and share Applying to Business School in Times of Crisis.

Please also use the comments to share your thoughts on the topics discussed in this special report.

As a member of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), we are conducting a survey to help us better understand MBA applicants’ goals and needs.  If you are or will be an MBA applicant, we invite you to share your priorities and views on the MBA application process. 

This online survey should take just 10 minutes to complete.  We would love to receive as many responses as possible before the closing date of Friday, March 20, 2009 - and AIGAC will be giving away an iPod Touch and two iPod Shuffles as a token of our gratitude! 

Thanks in advance for your participation!

Simply click here to begin. 

A survey by the MBA Career Services Council, an association of business school career offices, reveals:

• 56% of surveyed career office representatives -- a significant jump over the fall figure of 12% -- say on-campus recruiting has declined by more than 10% this winter.
• About 50% of career service offices report a 10% or more drop in full-time postings, up from 19% in the fall.
• 62% foresee at least a slight decline in internships this summer. 

The bright spots: health care, alternative energy, nonprofits, and government. Unfortunately, these industries tend to be less lucrative than the traditional MBA employers like financial services and consulting.

At the risk of being Pollyannaish, I find the hysterical tone of this article more depressing than the actual data. I am somewhat surprised that the threshold of decline is only 10%. I would expect bigger declines considering the recession and general economic carnage. I also find it interesting that Carnegie Mellon reports that 61% of its graduating class has lined up full-time jobs as of January, as opposed to 81% last January. That figure certainly represents a decline, but it still means that 61% have lined up jobs months before graduation.

Let's hope the data doesn't get worse. In the meantime, this article serves as reminder that we need to evaluate the facts in an article and not merely react to the tone.

Looking ahead to 2009, we plan to make this web site and our services even better. We will roll out changes on the site throughout 2009.

We are currently wrestling with a question:  Whether or not to continue publishing recent posts from this blog on the Accepted.com home page.  What do you think?

We would really appreciate your taking a minute to answer a quick, 3-question survey and help us design this site in a way that suits you -- or at least a majority of you. Thank you very much for your time.

Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

Coming up next Monday: London Business School Chat on Dec. 8, 2008 at 10:00 AM PT/ 1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT.

We also have posted in the last several days three transcripts from recent chats.

• 2009 Consortium MBA Career Chat with Jackie Olden
• 2009 MIT Sloan MBA LGBT with Deirdre Kane
• 2009 MIT Sloan MBA Military with Barry Reckley

A few other items I want to note: Anderson's MBA Insider's Blog has a succinct, informative post "Tips for Early Career (EC) MBA Applicants," by Admissions Director Mae Shores. Although the advice is intended specifically for Anderson, it really applies to most applicants with less than three years of experience to top programs that encourage EC's to apply. Chicago Booth also provides guidance specifically geared to early career applicants.

Finally, I feel remiss if I don't even mention the Mumbai massacre considering its cruel brutality and devastating impact.  Our sympathy goes out to all victims of this barbarism and our best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery to those injured by the terrorists. Clear Admit provides a round-up of the cancelled MBA admissions events in India as a result of the attack.

I am sure that some of our readers are personally affected or know someone who is. And of course there are people around the world who have lost loved ones. Terrorism is an international plague knowing no boundaries, using murder and mayhem as an obscene form of political expression.

I don't know anyone personally hurt in or affected by the attacks. My family and I do have a couple of good friends who knew the Holzbergs, the young rabbinic couple butchered by the terrorists. One friend was travelling in India and spent the Sabbath before the attack at the Chabad Center (formerly known as the Nariman House), in which several people perished. Another friend, who had lived in Mumbai for a year, found herself last Thursday helping her sister on her wedding day  -- and worrying about Rabbi and Mrs. Holzberg, who ran the Chabad Center and with whom she had enjoyed many a meal and chat.

At the end of a moving and terribly sad email, she writes "And to all of you reading this email, I ask that you do something good—something so kind, so good, and so loving, that it can in some way make the world hurt less. Because, little Moishe (the Holzberg's two-year-old son rescued by his nanny)  should not know the hate-filled world that his parents were murdered in."

Several schools have made it clear that they will still be offering no-cosigner loans to international students. For instance, HBS's MBA Admissions Director, Deirdre Leopold, stated outright on her Director's Blog that "International students at HBS will continue to have access to need-based loans without needing to find a US co-signer."

Rose Martinelli, Admissions Director at Chicago Booth, also stated unequivocally in her response (similar to her own blog post): "Chicago Booth is committed to providing financing options for our international students who do not have a US cosigner. I can assure our international students that we will have a new loan program in place by the time students enroll." International applicants considering HBS and Chicago can press onward with renewed optimism.

Rod Garcia, MIT Sloan's Admissions Director, made it clear that Sloan is committed to geographic and economic diversity in the class. Interestingly, Sloan was actually already in talks with other private lenders before Citi ended its Global Assist no-cosigner loan program, putting Sloan ahead of other MBA programs that didn’t anticipate the loan's demise. He expects that the details will be solidified and public by the end of January and that the new arrangements may even be better than the previous ones.

On the other hand, other schools are keeping their cards close to their chests; Stanford and Wharton both would only refer me to their websites. Stanford's site: "Loans offered to international students typically do not need a US co-signer" makes no mention of the sweeping changes in the US credit markets to reassure international applicants. Similarly, Wharton, in its reply to my inquiry, simply states that the school "is exploring a variety of options for making loans available to international students."

Some schools shared particularly appealing information with me. For instance, Tuck will be continuing with its own loan programs – one, DELC, allows a guarantor from outside of the US to guarantee the loan and another, The Tuck 5% loan, requires no co-signer at all. Beth Flye of Kellogg confirmed that Kellogg's no-cosigner loan (Option B of the NU International Loan Program), which it offers to international applicants from the University's own funds, will continue to be offered to all international students who demonstrate the need for it. In contrast, CMU Tepper told me that they haven't offered a no-cosigner loan for years.

In addition to the reassurances that these schools are providing, some schools are increasing the volume of aid they will be offering. Haas notified me that they will be distributing $3.2 million – an increased amount – in aid this year. Tuck has actually doubled the volume of aid they've provided since 2005 and Tepper has doubled the amount of aid it offers over the past five years.

All of the respondents encouraged international MBA applicants to pursue funding and scholarships from within their own countries – from private foundations (for instance, Brazil's Fundacao Estudar and Ling Foundation, Spain's Fundacion Rafael del Pino, La Caixa Scholarship, and Fundacion Ramon Areces, and Mexico's Brockmann Foundation) plus government-sponsored programs that provide loans and financial assistance to students attending graduate programs outside of their home countries.

My research is ongoing, and I hope other programs will provide more information in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime applicants considering applying to HBS, Chicago, Kellogg, Tuck, and MIT can rest assured that their loan options remain open. Applicants to Haas may have a higher chance of receiving a grant  covering a good portion of their educations and not requiring repayment, and Tepper applicants are no worse off than they were last year!

If there's one thing that became clear from my research, it's this: the top MBA programs will do whatever necessary to keep a high percentage of international students in their classrooms. As one admissions director told me, "This is keeping the deans awake at night!" Astute international applicants will take advantage of that determination and submit their applications this year while others wait for the smoke to clear.

Jennifer Bloom has been helping Accepted's international clients earn admission to the top MBA programs for the past 10 years. She is available to help you with your MBA application too.

• MBA Admissions Telethon for Round 2 and 3 applicants on Wednesday Nov. 19. During the 2009 MBA Admissions Telethon, Accepted.com admissions consultants will be available to review your resume, take your call, and answer your questions. Free.
• Consortium Chat on Nov. 19, 2008 at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET with Jackie Olden, the Consortium's Director of Recruiting, and representatives from NYU Stern, CMU Tepper, USC Marshall, and UNC Kenan Flagler.
• In honor of National MBA Interview Month, Accepted is offering 20% off MBA I.V.: Mainline to Top MBA Programs. And don't neglect the free MBA Interview Feedback Database when preparing for your interview.
• Manhattan GMAT is hosting a mixer on Thursday November 20 for young professionals in Silicon Valley. Here's the scoop:

"Learn the ins and outs of the GMAT, while mingling with fellow young professionals working at top companies in and around Silicon Valley. Enjoy drinks and appetizers as one of our expert Instructors helps clarify the myths that have surfaced about this challenging exam. We'll separate fact from fiction – you'll walk out knowing how the GMAT works, what it tests, how business schools interpret scores, and why short-cuts and tricks will only get you so far."

• The Toigo Foundation launched a new Facebook page for "young professionals of color who share a common interest in pursuing an MBA and a career in finance."