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.

The Top 10 per Aspen:

1. York (Schulich)
2. Michigan Ross
3. Yale SOM
4. Stanford GSB
5. Notre Dame (Mendoza)
6. UC Berkeley (Haas)
7. RSM Erasmus
8. NYU Stern
9. IE Business School
10. Columbia

If you are not the least bit interested in the topics Aspen is highlighting, then this ranking is irrelevant to you. However, if you are interested in sustainable development or social entrepreneurship, then you will want to review the profiles contained in Beyond Grey Pinstripes.

On deck: London Business School on September 16.

Turning to chats past, we already posted the transcript form last week's Yale School of Management chat with:

• Bruce Delmonico, Director of Admissions
• Michelle Vitali, Associate Director of Admissions

It was a very informative chat and will teach you a lot about Yale's MBA program, but you can judge for yourself. Here is an excerpt:

Tconigl1 (Sep 2, 2009 12:10:27 PM)
Do members of your career services sit on the admissions committee?

MichelleVitaliYALE (Sep 2, 2009 12:11:35 PM)
Tconigl1, we do have career services folks who sit on the admissions policy committee.

MichelleVitaliYALE (Sep 2, 2009 12:18:25 PM)
This year about 4% of our class is from Europe, although we would love to increase that number. About 5-7% of our students pursue international jobs post MBA, but that number will likely increase. We just hired a relationship manager in the career development office who is focused on international positions.

aspirant (Sep 2, 2009 12:18:35 PM)
Michelle: How will you convert the average grade 7.0 (out of 10) to the GPA? Is it equivalent to 3.0? Do you have minimum requirement for the GPA?

MichelleVitaliYALE (Sep 2, 2009 12:19:29 PM)
Aspirant, You don't need to convert your GPA. Just enter it into the application as 7/10.

Linda Abraham (Sep 2, 2009 12:19:54 PM)
Bruce, are you looking at the raw GRE score or the percentile? If the latter, what would you like to see, while acknowledging that the score is just one element in the application and is not viewed in a vacuum?

BruceDelMonicoYALE (Sep 2, 2009 12:22:06 PM)
Linda, the same raw score on each test may indicate something different. We look more at the percentile to get a sense of the applicant than the raw score. One advantage of the GRE (other than it's cheaper) is that it's more widely used across graduate programs so it has broader applicability. Conversely, it doesn't have universally acceptance among business schools, so that's a drawback. And certainly for applicants who have taken the GRE, we want to make sure they're serious about business school and aren't just throwing their hat in the ring lightly.

For more great insight into the Yale MBA Admissions process, please click on the link.

The application is identical to last year's application, and I have only tweaked my suggestions from last year.

Although Ross' questions may appear superficial or generic, don't be fooled. Ross does not want generic answers. Your answers need to connect to Ross' multi-disciplinary action projects and commitment to action-based learning. You need to show the admissions readers why you belong at Ross, not at Top B-School.

The remainder of my tips are in red below. Since the questions haven't changed, neither have my tips. Or at least, not by much.

Required Questions:

You must answer the following four questions:

Long Answers: (500 word max)

1) Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals. Why is an MBA the best choice at this point in your career? What and/or who influenced your decision to apply to Ross?

2) Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization.

Clearly your most significant professional accomplishment should reveal leadership and show how you have had impact on your company. What challenges did you face as a leader? How did you handle them? If you can, quantify the impact of your accomplishment.

Short Answers: (300 word max)

3)  If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1, what profession would you pursue instead? (for example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternate interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multi-disciplinary problems?

Maybe you are someone who struggled with your career choices. You had a close second before you chose your current professional goal. Then you should have a relatively easy time answering this question.

If you always seemed pretty directed and haven't wavered since you decided against being a firefighter in first grade, then you may have a little more difficulty with this question. In the latter case, use the question to reveal another side of you. Perhaps you would be a professional basketball player and your team skills would be relevant at Ross. Or you would work as a serial entrepreneur and bring your entrepreneurial pizzazz to Ross.

4. Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it.

Challenge comes in so many shapes and sizes that it is very difficult to give general advice on this one. You have to be on the other side of the challenge to know how you grew as a result. You may have conquered the challenge. You may not have entirely overcome it, but you will be changed and usually strengthened by having faced it. Describe the challenge, how you handled it, and how you grew as a result.

For most applicants, this will be a non-professional essay. 

Optional Question:

Is there anything else you think the  Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy?

Do not use this essay like a storage room, my son's bedroom closet, or even a large salad: a place to put everything.  Focus on one facet of your life or an experience that is important to you,  reveals the human being you are, and isn't described in other parts of the application. Write about it here.

You can of course also use this essay to "explain" a weakness, but I hate to end your application on that note if it can be avoided. So weigh your options. If you have something to explain, do so. If you can tuck the explanation somewhere else in the application, more power to you. If the  best place for the explanation is this last essay, so be it.

If you would like help with your Michigan Ross MBA application, please consider Accepted.com's MBA essay editing and admissions consulting or a Michigan Ross Comprehensive Package, a package of editing and consulting specific to Ross.

MICHIGAN ROSS 2010 MBA ESSAY DEADLINES

We encourage you to apply in the first two rounds since these are the only rounds in which applicants are considered for scholarships. In addition, only students admitted from the first two rounds will be able to attend Go Blue Rendezvous, our admitted student weekend in April. We also recommend international students apply in Round 1 or Round 2 because of visa requirements and to ensure consideration for scholarships. Deadlines follow: 

Required Questions:

You must answer the following four questions below.

Long Answers: (500 word max)

1. Briefly describe your short-term and long-term career goals. Why is an MBA the best choice at this point in your career? What and/or who influence your decision to apply to Ross?

2. Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization.

Short Answers: (300 word max)

3. If you were not pursuing the career goals you described in Question 1 what profession would you pursue instead? (For example, teacher, musician, athlete, architect, etc.) How will this alternative interest contribute to your effectiveness in solving multidisciplinary problems?

4. Describe your experience during a challenging time in your life. Explain how you grew personally, either despite this challenge or because of it.

Optional Question

Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you to evaluate your candidacy?

Ross 2010 MBA Deadlines

Certain terms came up in almost every presentation. Co-author with me of MBA BlastOff: 45 Terrific Tips to Launch Your MBA Application to Acceptance and MBA I.V.: Mainline to Top MBA Programs MBA Interview Questions and Tips, Maxx Duffy, has a useful term for words that tend to be overused in admissions because they represent important values: "umbrella words." As a consequence of this overuse, qualities like leadership are best broken down and demonstrated than talked about in their umbrella form.

Similar treatment is appropriate for umbrella-words-in-training -- the terms that came up over and over again in connection with almost every school at the conference. It's important for you to know how to relate to the latest and greatest buzz on the MBA scene. Merely parroting it won't do. Like the school representatives, you need to go deeper. Let's examine the most common of these terms:

• Experiential learning. Almost every school touts its experiential learning opportunities. So don't write or talk about "experiential learning." Discuss how each school's particular experiential program is right for you. Reveal how Haas@Work will help you achieve your goals in your Haas application; or why Stern's Industry Mentoring Initiative is the perfect program for you because you are a career changer committed to a particular direction; or how Columbia's Master Classes represent the ideal opportunity to put theory into practice, a process you have enjoyed on a previous, specific occasion. Understand the nuances and points of difference between these programs to show that you have done your homework and really belong at your target schools.
• Sustainability. Green is the color of the day, and I'm not just talking about Twitter avatars in sympathy with Iranian demonstrators. Don't write vaguely about "sustainability." Will you participate in INDEAVOR, The Energy Club, The Africa Initiative, or all the above at INSEAD to further your interest in renewable energy and entrepreneurship? Which of the almost twenty courses that study sustainability at Darden are you most interested in? How will you take advantage of the Batten Institute's resources as you dive into sustainable development in emerging markets?
• Global. Global everything was everywhere at the conference. Ross sends roughly 50% of its MAP projects outside the US to roughly 30 countries. Yale has a required International Experience in its core and hosts a Global Leadership in Healthcare Conference with other professional schools at Yale. Which aspects of your target schools' global offerings are relevant to your goals and interests? If they are relevant, don't talk about study abroad or international projects; talk about the particular programs that are attractive to you, and why they appeal.
• Flexibility. Several programs emphasized the increased flexibility of their programs. Both Tuck and Columbia have decreased the number of required courses and introduced mini-courses or seminars. Stern gives you a wide range of options in terms of designing your program. Yale allows you to take almost all second-year electives outside of SOM. How does your school's flexibility assist you in reaching your MBA goals? What level of flexibility is important to you?

These terms reflect important concepts in graduate business education today, but if you write about them superficially, you will appear .... superficial. Don't reflect merely the shallow buzz in your application. Study and understand the points of difference by scouring school web sites and attending presentations. Just as the AIGAC presentations went beyond the superficial to the substantive, so will your receptions and presentations.  

Ensure your applications reveal a profound grasp of the distinctive currents among outstanding MBA programs, like those that presented to and hosted AIGAC last week. 

Business School Rankings and methodology

1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Northwestern Kellogg
3. Wharton
5. MIT Sloan
5. Univ. of Chicago
7. UC Berkeley Haas   
8. Dartmouth Tuck
9. Columbia
10. Yale

Law School Rankings and  Methodology
1. Yale
2. Harvard
2. Stanford
4. Columbia
5. NYU
6. UC Berkeley
6. Univ. of Chicago
8. Penn
9. Univ. of Michigan
10. Duke
10. Northwestern
10. University of Virginia

Medical School Rankings (Research) and Methodology
1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
3. Penn
3. Washington U (St. Louis)
5. UCSF
6. Duke
6. Stanford
6. Univ. of Washington
6. Yale
10. Columbia

A few caveats: My strong recommendation is to use the rankings as a library of raw data conveniently compiled in one location and not as a tried and true guide of educational quality. They are not the latter. They are the former. To the extent you are going to use the rankings as a guide to school reputation and brand value, you must understand the methodology behind them and what they are measuring. Be cognizant of the differences between what is important to you and what is important to the rankings.

A few observations on the rankings themselves:

1. There are many ties in the rankings, which implies that the differences in reputation are almost imperceptible when talking about closely ranked programs. For example the difference between being "in the top ten" and out of the top ten (i.e. #11) for medical (research) programs is 1 point, for the top law and business schools it's  2 points. Don't get hung up on these differences.
2. The "top ten" changes little from year to year. In most cases, if you compare these rankings to the 2009 version, it looks as if US News just reshuffled the deck a tiny bit.

For more on rankings, please see:

• The Rankings (Part 1 of 5) A multi-part series that just concluded.
• Rankings: Controversy and MagazineSales
• Thoughtful Dean Looks at Rankings
• Law School Admissions: Study Says Rankings Influence DecisionMakers

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.

Maverick refers to a "waitlist appointment" in his post.  If you are lucky enough to be waitlisted at a school that provides feedback to waitlisted applicants, then by all means follow the advice he gives. Review your application for weaknesses, discuss how you can address them during your appointment, and follow the meeting with appropriate action.

However, many if not most, top schools do not provide such feedback.  They rely on you to do your own self-assessment and act on it.  In that case:

1. Follow the instructions provided by the school.
2. Review adcom blogs and chat transcripts for additional tips for waitlisted applicants. Accepted has 25 chat transcripts devoted to MBA waitlist topics going back to 2000, including several so far this year. In addition, you may find tips for waitlisted applicants in recent general MBA admissions transcripts.
3. If you believe there is a weakness in your application, let the school know what you have done to improve in that area. Have you raised your GMAT score? Have you taken a class in math or writing to prepare for b-school and address a weakness? Have you taken a leadership position in community service, which you had neglected since college?
4. Inform the school of recent positive developments like a promotion, new project, published article, community service initiative or success, etc. The schools want to admit dynamic, growing individuals.
5. Show fit and interest -- provided the school is interested in hearing from you.
6. Be considerate of the adcom's time. Send in relevant, meaningful, and succinct information. You are not paid by the word to write, and they aren't paid by the word to read. If you send in reams of garbage -- a cross between spam and junk mail -- you will earn yourself a ding. 

We are hosting several chats devoted to the MBA waitlist in the next several weeks:

• Accepted's MBA waitlist chat is this Thursday March 19 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT. Natalie Grinblatt Epstein will join me in responding to questions. Natalie served previously as Director of Admissions at Michigan's Ross School of Business, Cornell's Johnson School of Business, and Arizona State's W. P. Carey School of Business.
• Cornell MBA Waitlist Chat with Randall Sawyer on March 25, 2009 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT.
• Michigan Ross MBA Waitlist Chat with Soojin Kwon Koh on March 30, 2009 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT .
• MIT Sloan MBA Waitlist Chat with Jennifer Burke Barba on April 7 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT.

Please feel free to join us on Thursday if you are on an MBA waitlist and for the school-specific chats if you are waitlisted at any of these programs.

You can obtain more detailed advice in The Nine Mistakes You Don`t Want to Make on an MBA Waitlist, our bestselling ebook ever. And of course, Accepted's experienced staff is available to help you one-on-one with your MBA waitlist strategy and correspondence.