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Consortium 2012 MBA Application Questions, Deadlines, Tips

October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Consortium 2012 MBA Application Essay Questions

My comments are in blue. This year’s core application questions are identical to last year’s, and I’ve posted their guidelines from 2009 as well below:*

The following essay questions provide us with an opportunity to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, experiences, and any other traits and abilities that are considered relevant to your educational goals and long-term career objectives. Please include your full name and essay number or subject on each page. Type your essays in a standard size 8 1/2? x 11? MS Word document. Please limit each essay to no more than two double -spaced pages.

Core Essay #1 (Required): Please describe your short and long term goals post-MBA. How has your professional experience shaped these goals and influenced your decision to pursue an MBA degree?

This is a straightforward MBA goals question. Connect the dots between your past and your dreamed of future; show how the MBA is the bridge between the two.

In discussing your professional experience, don’t regurgitate your resume. Highlight specific, influential, and impressive events or projects in your career to bring out both what you like and are good at.

Core Essay #2: Is there any other information you would like to share that is not presented elsewhere in the application? You may also use this essay to provide further explanation of employment gaps, test scores, etc. (Optional)

This is a question with a split personality. On one hand, it is open-ended. On the other, the Consortium says that this is the place to provide context for anything that might need explaining. Use it for that purpose. If you are one of the lucky ones who doesn’t need to “provide explanation,” then you can use this optional essay to provide a different perspective on your candidacy by revealing something new, something not present in the required MBA essays.

If you would like professional guidance with your Consortium application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our Consortium Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the Consortium application.

Consortium 2012 MBA Application Deadlines

Application Deadline November 15 January 5
GMAT® and/or GRE Taken by November 1 December 20
Admission Decision Varies by school Varies by school
Fellowship Notification Mid March Mid March

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

If you would like tips like these for your non-Consortium schools, please see our 2012 MBA Application Tips

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Why Use an Admissions Consultant?

September 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This blog post originally appeared on AIGAC’s blog.

There are endless and frequent discussions on forums and message boards questioning the value of admissions consulting. One of the more common arguments against using a consultant runs something like this:

“Everyone I know that’s been accepted and is attending top schools did so without …an admissions consultant…. Is [using a consultant] crucial to top-school acceptance? Absolutely not.”

I’m sure if you took a poll of AIGAC members, the overwhelming majority would have attended grad school without the aid of a consultant. Many, including me, would not have taken a test prep course before applying to graduate school. However, over the last thirty years test preparation went from being an act of desperation, to a competitive edge, to a mainstay of the application process. Today, to maximize chances of a top score and acceptance at the best possible school, virtually all applicants take a test prep course.

The same phenomenon is occurring to admissions consulting, but educational advising is currently at the “competitive edge” stage. At this point, using a consultant is not crucial for some. It is extremely helpful for all.

The question is not whether one can get accepted to business, law, or medical school without a consultant. Many are accepted without professional advising. The question is: Are the advantages of using a consultant worth the cost?

First let’s discuss the ways in which a consultant can help you. We bring:

  1. Experience that you lack.
  2. Objectivity to a subject that is difficult to be objective about: You
  3. Editing skills. Professional writers have editors because their writing benefits from a knowledgeable, critical eye. The same is true for the writing of non-professionals.

How do these benefits justify the cost and provide a critical competitive edge?

Using an admissions consultant can:

  • Enable your acceptance to a “better” school. “Better” implies more professional opportunity, increased earnings, and an educational experience more to your liking. Just looking at dollars and cents, “better” represents potentially tens of thousands of dollars in your pocket during your career.
  • Help you snag a fellowship or scholarship. Savings: tens of thousands of dollars.
  • Save you the cost of reapplication. Applying to medical, law, business school or any other graduate program including application fees and travel expenses can cost several thousand dollars. When you apply one time, you save.
  • Reduce the time, stress, and frustration you (and those close to you) experience during the admissions process. We can guide you so you don’t go down tangents and useless paths or flounder for weeks as you struggle to learn what we know.

So can you gain acceptance to a graduate school without using an admissions consultant? Certainly. Should you try? Only if you don’t value the experience, objectivity, and skill that can provide you with returns many times the cost.

By Linda Abraham, AIGAC‘s vice-president, Accepted.com’s founder and president.

exemplary-report

Filed Under: Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Featured, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions Tagged With: , , , ,

Last Day: Special Savings for Residency/Fellowship Seekers

August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

  

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Reminder: Special Savings for Residency/Fellowship Seekers

August 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

  

Don’t forget to take advantage of our 10% off all residency and fellowship essay editing services during the month of August.

Take a look at our catalog of residency and fellowship services to find the service that best suits your needs. If you are looking for someone to guide you in developing your essay, edit your personal statement, or provide you with one-on-one advice on your CV or interview, we have a service with your name on it.

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Special Savings for Residency/Fellowship Seekers

August 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

  

The last year of medical school or residency can be so overwhelming that it’s difficult to prepare for what comes next. But applying to residencies or fellowships is not something to do at the last minute.  Now is a great time to start work on your personal statement.

Take advantage of our editing skill and take a look at our catalog of residency and fellowship services to find the service that best suits your needs. If you are looking for someone to guide, you in developing an essay strategy, edit your personal statement, or provide you with one-on-one advice on your CV or interview, we have a service with your name on it.

To help you take that first step, Accepted is providing an incentive for you to get an early start on your residency and fellowship applications. We’re offering 10% off all residency and fellowship essay editing services during the month of August.

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A New Army of Public Interest Lawyers

July 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

  

While “public interest” law used to be a dirty word amongst corporate-minded law school students, there has been a noticeable shift in perception. In fact, more and more law school graduates are choosing jobs in public interest law. The percentage of law school graduates taking public interest jobs grew to 6.7% in 2010 from 2.1% in 1990, according to the most recent data from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP).

An article in The National Law Journal (“Second-Class Careers No More”) offers some insight into this trend. Part of the field’s growth is due to more clinics and internship opportunities being offered on campus.  But there has also been an increase in the number of financial programs that help public interest lawyers cope with their law school debts. Several organizations and groups have opened up to help fund public interest careers. The largest of these organizations, Equal Justice Works, finances 700 summer public interest internships, 170 post-graduate fellowships, and has a budget of $11 million. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom also launched the Skadden Fellowship Foundation that annuallyfunds 25 two-year public interest law fellowships.

While public interest law is still not the most lucrative choice (the average national starting salary at corporate law firms is nearly $103,000, whereas the average public interest law job salary is $42,000), the many fellowships and loan-forgiveness programs now available may have made public interest careers a more popular option.

5flaws-law

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Save 20% on June Featured Ebooks for Medical Residency and Fellowship Applicants

June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

  

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  • 7 mistakes not to make in your personal statement.
  • 5 criteria for choosing recommenders.
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  • 16 steps to an exceptional personal statement.
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Both of June’s featured ebooks contain vital tips, advice, and sample essays for medical school students who are ready to take their educations—and their careers—to the next level.

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Filed Under: Medical School Admissions Tagged With: , , ,

Columbia 2012 MBA Application Questions, Deadlines, Tips.

May 24, 2011 By 1 Comment

  

This Columbia MBA Application tip post is one of a series of posts providing MBA application and essay advice for applicants to top MBA programs around the world. Check out the entire 2012 MBA Application Tips series for more valuable MBA essay advice. 

Columbia’s instructions and question are in black below; my comments and tips are in blue:?

Columbia Business School

Columbia 2012 MBA Essay Questions

In addition to learning about your professional aspirations, the Admissions Committee hopes to gain an understanding of your interests, values and motivations through these essays. How you answer these essays is at your discretion, there are no right or wrong answers and we encourage you to answer each question thoughtfully.

Dual Degree applicants: Please address the following questions within your response to Essay 1: How will the Dual Degree enhance your post-MBA and long-term professional goals?

Reapplicants: If you have applied to Columbia Business School within the past year, you are required to answer the “What is your post-MBA professional goal? ” question and submit the reapplication essay. If your last application was more than one year ago, you must answer Essays 1, 2 and 3.

Short Question

What is your post-MBA professional goal? (200 Characters)

Note the character limit. This response must be short and sweet. What do you want to do professionally in which industry? You may want to provide a geographic location if you have one and it is important to your MBA goal.

Warning: This question is not asking about intended area of study while in business school or a non-professional goal.

Essay 1

Considering your post-MBA and long term professional goals, why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your career? Additionally, why is Columbia Business School a good fit for you? (Maximum 750 words)

This question is slightly different from last year’s #1, which was “What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals?” Since you will have stated your post-MBA professional goal in the previous answer, you can use this question to explain why you want to pursue the degree now. What experiences convinced you that you need the education provided at Columbia?

CBS is looking for fit and thought here. How will Columbia’s program — not its reputation or ranking — help you achieve your goals? Which of Columbia’s strengths and assets are necessary for you to achieve your goals and fill in the gaps that motivate you to pursue an MBA now?

Essay 2

Describe a life experience that has shaped you. The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally. (Maximum 500 words)

Do you have any defining moments? What was a seminal experience in your development and maturation? What happened? What was the impact upon you? What do you do differently as a result? This is an excellent place to provide a glimpse into the non-professional side of you.

Essay 3 (Select and answer one of the below) 

Option A: The annual A. Lorne Weil Outrageous Business Plan Competition is a student initiative managed and run by the Columbia Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO). The competition encourages Columbia MBA students to explore creative entrepreneurial ideas that are sufficiently ambitious in scope and scale to be considered “outrageous.” Students explore these ideas while learning firsthand what goes into the development and presentation of a solid business proposal.

Develop your own “outrageous” business idea. In essay form, compose your “elevator pitch.” (Maximum 250 words)

Option B: Columbia deeply values its vibrant student community, the building of which begins at orientation when admitted students are assigned to clusters of 65 to 70 fellow students who take most of the first-year core classes together. During the first weeks of school, each cluster selects a Cluster Chair. Further strengthening the student community are the nearly 100 active student organizations at Columbia Business School, ranging from cultural to professional to community service-oriented. Leadership positions within the cluster and/or clubs offer hands-on management and networking opportunities for students as they interact with fellow students, administrators, faculty members, alumni, and practitioners. 

You are running for either Cluster Chair or a club leadership position of your choosing. Compose your campaign speech. (Maximum 250 words) 

Option C: Founded nearly three decades ago, the Executives in Residence Program at Columbia Business School integrates senior executives into the life of the School. Current executives in residence include more than a dozen experts in areas ranging from media and investment banking to private equity and management. A hallmark of the program is one-on-one counseling sessions in which executives advise students about their prospective career choices.

Select one of the current executives in residence with whom you would like to meet during your time at Columbia. Explain your selection and tell us how you would best utilize your half hour one-on-one session. (Maximum 250 words)

Choose the option that will be easiest for you to answer and that will add the most value and insight to what you have already written. It will probably be related to your goal. Columbia wants to again see that you have given real thought to what you will do and how you will use the opportunities at Columbia Business School. What will you contribute?

And be succinct. These essays have 250-word limits.

Optional Essay

Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.  (Maximum 500 words)

Clearly you can use this optional essay question to address a weakness in your profile or qualifications, but in my mind, this question is also open-ended enough to allow you to discuss a diversity element in your personal background or simply some unique area of interest. Also, tucking a weakness explanation somewhere else would allow you to end the application with a strength and not a flaw.

Don’t use this essay as a grand finale or wrap up. And definitely don’t use it to rehash your reasons for wanting to attend Columbia; they should be perfectly clear from the required essays. If you decide to respond to this essay, use it to educate the reader about another talent, interest, or commitment of yours. As always try to show leadership and impact. In short, give them more reasons to admit you.

Reapplicant Essay

How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? Please detail your progress since you last applied and reiterate your short-term and long-term goals. Explain how the tools of the Columbia MBA will help you to meet your goals and how you plan to participate in the Columbia community. (Maximum of 750 words.) This essay should be inserted into the text box designated “Essay 1.”

This question gives clear instructions as to what Columbia is interested in. Your answer, like all MBA reapplicant essays, should focus on how you have improved yourself since you last applied. Why are you a better candidate this year than last year?  And don’t forget to answer the Columbia community part of the question.

If you would like professional guidance with your Columbia  MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our Columbia Business School MBA Packages.  

Columbia September 2012 MBA Deadlines

August 2012 Entry:

Early Decision: October 5, 2011

Merit Fellowship Consideration: January 4, 2012

Regular Decision: April 11, 2012

January 2012 Entry:

October 5, 2011

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

 

 

Filed Under: Columbia, MBA Admissions Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

MBA Admissions: UC Berkeley Haas and Entrepreneurship

May 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

  

This post about Haas and entrepreneurship is part of a series of interviews of top MBA programs called “MBA Career Goals and the Bschools that Support Them.” Please subscribe to our blog to ensure that you receive all the interviews exploring the elements at each school that support career goals in finance, consulting, general management, entrepreneurship, marketing and more.

  1. What kind of background and skills do you like to see in applicants expressing interest in an entrepreneurial career?

    The Berkeley MBA Program is delivered from a general management perspective, and thus attracts applicants with a diverse range of backgrounds and interests. We seek candidates who have solid professional experience and leadership potential, and who possess the Berkeley values of confidence without attitude and a willingness to look beyond the status quo.

    Entrepreneurship at Berkeley-Haas is ranked among the best in the world. Candidates who wish to pursue a post-MBA career in entrepreneurship should demonstrate at least one of the following pursuits through their application: previous entrepreneurial or start-up involvement, professional experience in business model evaluation, or progress towards a specific business concept with demonstrated passion in the field. Candidates who are making a career-switch into entrepreneurship should also be able to clearly articulate how they intend to leverage their skill set and work experience to date to successfully make this transition.

    Learn more general admissions criteria or download the Haas Student Guide to Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

  2. What aspects of your curriculum do you feel are best suited to students who want to pursue entrepreneurship?

    Berkeley-Haas is one of the world’s leading centers for the study and practice of entrepreneurship.  Through academic and experiential learning, the Berkeley MBA Program offers students the skills and knowledge to launch fast-growth, high-potential enterprises and teaches them how to start careers in venture capital.

    Students interested in entrepreneurship have access to elective courses in entrepreneurship designed to assist them across all stages of the innovation process.

    Some in-demand entrepreneurship courses include:

    In addition to entrepreneurship-focused courses, the Berkeley MBA Program’s general management curriculum teaches students fundamental business concepts – from accounting and finance to marketing and strategy.  Through core and elective courses, experiential learning and a global focus, the Berkeley MBA Program helps students develop skills to become innovative leaders.

  3. Which school clubs and extra-curricular events are most relevant to people interested in entrepreneurship?

    Providing students with hands-on exposure to real-world business situations is a key strength of the Berkeley MBA Program. Experiential activities are required for graduation, and numerous out-of-the-classroom initiatives give students the opportunity to build on their entrepreneurial skill set.

    The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship in Innovation is the primary locus at Berkeley for the study and promotion of entrepreneurship and new enterprise development, both inside and outside of the classroom.  Students can take advantage of numerous experiential learning opportunities through the Lester Center, including:

  4. Since “entrepreneurship” is a very broad term, can you break down some of the some of the sub-categories in the field that Haas excels in?
    • Technology-Based Entrepreneurship – Exploring the innovative potential of versatile and scalable technologies to solve customer needs.
    • New Venture Financing – Addressing the full range of funding sources and roles that entrepreneurs may need to involve over the lives of their ventures.
    • Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration – Organizations that strive to develop entrepreneurial ecosystems that create innovative opportunities for their citizens. Countries from Brazil and Spain to Russia, India and China have made this agenda a top priority.
    • Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Established enterprises recognize their futures depend on continual innovation in creating value for customers and investors.
    • Social Entrepreneurship - A new breed of entrepreneurs is tackling some of the world’s most urgent challenges – from global poverty to global warming – through sustainable ventures that do not rely on private philanthropy, corporate social responsibility or government support.

  5. What percentage of the class joins a start-up or starts their own company upon graduation? Within approximately 5 years of graduating Haas?  What companies did they start or start-ups did they join?

    Berkeley-Haas remains one of the world’s leading centers for the study and practice of entrepreneurship.

    Some companies with their roots in the Berkeley-Haas community include Revolution Foods, Carsala, TubeMogul, Aurora Biofuels, Yardbarker, Mozes, Acumen Medical, World of Good and BrightSource Energy.

    Learn more about successful entrepreneurs and leaders in the Haas community, including alums, faculty and distinguished professionals.

    The Lester Center also hosts the Startup Board of Mentors, themselves entrepreneurs and investors,whose goal is to guide companies to success.  Learn more about careers post-MBA, view an employment snapshot of recent graduates or see a list of firms that recently recruited on campus.

By Morgan Eckles, Assistant Director, Haas Full-Time MBA Admissions.


Filed Under: MBA Admissions, UC Berkeley Haas Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Welcome to the Family!

May 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

  

The team at Accepted.com is happy to extend a warm welcome to two new editors this month, Dr. Sheryl Neuman and Nancy H. Evans.

Sheryl is a former admissions committee member for UCLA Medical School and the Cedars Sinai Internal Medicine Residency program. She herself has applied (and gotten accepted) to top medical schools, as well as residency and fellowship programs. The experience she brings to her job as editor and consultant is invaluable—Sheryl knows what works and what doesn’t from the perspective of the applicant and the admissions committee.

Nancy is a former college-level writing teacher who worked for 20 years in medical text and reference editing. Her writing and editing expertise is evident by the numerous books she has worked on. In addition, she is a master at helping others tell their personal story.

Both Sheryl and Nancy are passionate about helping you tell your story and gain admission to the medical school of your dreams!

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