• Round 3 MBA Special: Save $100 on all orders over $1,000 placed by February 22, 2010. Can be used for MBA essay editing, waitlist letters, and mock interviews. Use coupon code R3100.

• In the State of the Union address, President Obama urged colleges to “get serious about cutting their own costs.” To assist in the goal of making higher education more affordable to the greatest number of students, Obama plans to increase federal support for education by 6% in 2011. Obama also supports the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act which, if passed by Congress, would eliminate bank-based federal student loans. This bill, according to the presdient, “will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that go to banks for student loans.”A more lenient payback plan is also being discussed. (The Chronicle)

• According to The Chronicle last week college endowments have declined by about 23% in the last two years. In fact, the investment return for 2009 was the worst return recorded in the history of the endowment study, at -18.7%. According to John D. Walda, president of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, however, “the picture for endowments is a lot cheerier than it was a year ago.” Optimism for the future, though, doesn’t help the fact that certain schools that had been dependent on endowments are now in pretty bad shape, especially considering the sizable loans they’re now forced to take out. The only reason why these schools didn’t go under was because of fortunate investment returns from previous years.

• The Moscow Times reports that “Russia’s business education market was among the world’s worst hit in 2009.” In some cases, admissions fell about 50% from last year. Some schools are even dipping into their own funds to create lending programs for students in order to maintain adequate student enrollment. Besides the fact that students (or their sponsoring companies) can no longer afford to pay for business schools, students in general seem to have lost interest in pursuing an MBA, at least for the time being. However, despite the decrease in MBA program enrollment, interest in EMBA programs in Russia is on the rise.

• Women are equally represented in medical and law schools, but still lag well behind in numbers in the b-school sphere. “Business Schools Sweeten Lures for Women,” a recent article from WeNews, suggests that in order to increase female enrollment in America’s business schools, MBA programs are forced to lure women in by their sweet teeth, both figuratively and literally. Recruitment events for female MBA prospects are popping up all over the country, including a private party at New York City’s Dylan’s Candy Bar.

• Do students benefit from being in a diverse educational climate? Is affirmative action, or "race-conscious admissions," justified? Will diversity improve education? These are questions raised by Peter Schmidt, author of a recent Chronicle article on campus diversity. The answer: It depends (of course). If situations are handled optimally then educational benefits will increase and the inherent problems of affirmative action will decrease. Most agree that affirmative action is not a policy that can be accepted on its own, but most be implemented along with other educational and diversity initiatives and even at that, with caution. Still, many universities are skeptical of the educational benefits derived from race-conscious admissions and believe that accepting more qualified students will benefit the students and the school, both long- and short-term, more than were they to focus on boosting classroom diversity.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Due to a massive snow storm The MBA Tour's Washington DC event has been cancelled. It was originally scheduled for Sunday February 7 and then postponed to Tuesday February 9. It is now cancelled.

  By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

NYU Stern was hit particularly hard during the financial crisis, mainly because of its proximity (both in location and in interests) to NYC's Wall Street. Now, according to a recent article in BusinessWeek, Dean Peter Henry (the new NYU Stern Dean as of January 15), is working towards creating a more global educational profile with a lower dependence on investment banking.

In short, Dean Henry is attempting to remove Stern's reputation as a "finance school" and instead transform the school (and its reputation) into a more diverse program that doesn't just churn out students for careers in finance, but for a wide range of other career fields as well.

In 2007, 44% of Stern graduates entered investment banking. In 2008 that number was down to 37%. In 2009, only 32% entered that same field.

In 2008 only 8% of Stern graduates did not receive a job offer three months after graduating. In 2009 that number jumped up to 18%.

Relying on investment banking is just not as wise as it once was.

The challenge of transforming the Stern class profile is a twofold challenge: First, restructuring the career services department—this will require the addition of many new resources as new recruiting relationships need to be forged in new industries. The second challenge is more difficult—the restructuring of the academic program itself. These changes will require getting new faculty members and shifting around management duties, in addition to the actual changes that need to be made in the curriculum.

Students for the most part are welcoming these changes with open arms. Stern graduates are somewhat notorious for taking jobs in North America alone and perhaps look forward to the program's forthcoming global footprint expansion.

The new dean makes it clear that despite his ambitious plans to expand Stern's program and diversity, one should not conclude that he plans on severing relationships with Wall Street. In fact, Henry says "he will continue to strengthen relationships with Wall Street and the finance sector in general."

Thomas Cooley, Professor of Economics and former Stern dean reflects on Stern's past and present situation. He explains that this is not the first time that Stern was faced with such a challenge. In the last decade, he explains, when everyone was turning towards the dot-coms, Goldman Sachs actually had trouble recruiting.

Cooley ends by making two final points: First, he says, "[w]hatever you think the world is right now, hold on because it can change very quickly. And second, "Stern will always tilt slightly toward Wall Street, but then again most business schools do.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Reviewing this week's blog post on Korner Talk regarding the poster's MSU phone interviews, reminded me of the number of phone interviews I used to conduct as Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Cornell. And of course, Korner Talk made some valid points.

Phone interviews are a great resource for candidates who have already traveled to visit the campus or whose location prohibits them from having an alumni or on-campus interview.   Ithaca was not the easiest place in the world to visit, so we did present the phone option after offering an on-campus interview.  All interviews were weighted the same.

From a candidate’s standpoint, the phone interview should be treated the same as an in-person interview.  I do recall one candidate telling me she couldn’t believe she was interviewing in her pajamas.  I couldn’t believe she told me she was in her pajamas and from that moment on, I couldn’t take the interview seriously.  We ultimately denied admission to this candidate.

I do advise my mock interview clients to dress appropriately for our mock interview and for their phone or in-person interview.  Wearing business attire helps you prepare for your big day with the interviewer.  In fact, I usually prep my clients using skype so I can help them with eye contact, hand gestures, and interview skills. 

While I don’t necessarily agree with Korner Talk's conclusion regarding phone interviews, if you are not a morning person, don’t schedule the interview first thing in the morning.  I do agree with Korner Talk that you should practice, practice, practice, and Accepted.com is happy to help you with your MBA interview preparation.

Finally, some advice for Korner Talk: If you feel you blew your interview, you can always contact the admissions director and ask for another interview.  I had a number of candidates -- for whatever reason: poor reception, weak interview rapport, illness, etc. -- ask for a “do-over.”  We usually granted the request.  Every school has its policies, but it never hurts to ask.

Related Resources

• MBA Interview Feedback Database
• MBA Interview Prep Course
• MBA I.V.: MBA Interview Questions & Tips, an ebook

By Natalie Grinblatt Epstein, former Admissions Dean/Director at 3 top business schools. Natalie would be happy to prepare you for your MBA interview.

In my non-admissions life, I recently went to a lecture given by a biographer whose work I admire. In the course of his talk he mentioned that while writing about genius has merit, writing about typical folks and their extraordinary achievements is more valuable. The compelling story -- the inspiration, and attention grabber -- resides in the tales of "ordinary people who made a difference."

Bingo! That's relevant to applicants. One of the most commonly asked personal statement questions I see on Twitter is "What should I write about?"

You need to write about when YOU made a difference.

So if you are a Michelangelo, Einstein, Gates, or Buffett, you may be able to write about your incredible talents and how they propelled you to achieve, although you may appear arrogant if you take this approach. In any case, you geniuses can stop reading this post.

For the rest of you, please continue.  Think about those times when your participation in a project, organization, business, team, or club made a difference.

• What was the situation? the problem? the challenge?
• What was your role in meeting that challenge?  What did you do?
• What was the result?

You may or may not want to tie this story explicitly to your educational and professional goals. That decision will depend on many factors, but one evergreen topic for your personal statements and application essays remains: times when you made a difference.

Related Resources:

• "PAR" or "CAR" Anyone?
• MBA 5 Fatal Flaws
• Med 5 Fatal Flaws
• Law 5 Fatal Flaws
• Grad 5 Fatal Flaws
• College 5 Fatal Flaws

  By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.