Top executive MBA programs in America are charging an arm and a leg —is it worth it? That’s the topic of a recent CNN Money Fortune/Poets & Quants article, “Executive MBAs: Great, if you can foot the bill,” which reports that if people are willing to pay the sky-high prices for an EMBA degree, they’ll…
How to Display Teamwork in MBA Essays
While charting his MBA application process, one MBA applicant blogger, KT, recently wrote in his blog, My Quest for Life, about hitting a snag when tackling Kellogg’s question on displaying teamwork. Teamwork, and its close cousin, leadership, are highly prized by MBA programs. But even if you have not worked in teams on any regular…
MBA Applicants: What McKinsey (and HBS) Wants
They were looking for four things. I didn’t know until I’d made it to the third and last round of interviews, but McKinsey and Company, the strategy consulting firm perennially ranked among the top “dream” employers of MBA students, was looking for four specific qualities in the candidates they hired. By my calculations, McKinsey made…
Interview with a Current Kellogg Part-time MBA Student
Accepted.com is continuing a blog series featuring interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at selected MBA programs. We hope to offer you a candid picture of student life, and what you should consider as you prepare your MBA application. Interview with current part-time Kellogg student (evening program) with an engineering background,…
Kellogg’s New Dean: What Does She Mean (for You)?
As discussed in an earlier Almanac post, Kellogg School of Management has a new dean, Sally Blount, who had served as Dean of NYU’s undergrad program and Vice Dean of the university’s Stern School of Business. This is good news for Kellogg on multiple levels—Blount is expected to help the program raise money and increase…
New “No-Co-Signer” Loans Aid Foreign MBA Students
According to BusinessWeek, Chicago Booth, Northwestern University, Rochester’s Simon School, and UCLA Anderson are among the six universities and 15 graduate programs that have joined the Affiliated Loan Program for Students (ALPS), a solution to the international student loan crisis. In 2008, just as admissions season was approaching, a few major international student loan lenders…
Digging Deep – 2: Kellogg’s MMM Program
Several weeks ago I posted about a hypothetical client –let’s call him Wonderman– with sterling stats, extra-curriculars and long-term goal. He wants to transition into Strategy Consulting as preparation for a VC or PE career. As an applicant from a developing economy experiencing a boom in infrastructure and manufacturing activity, Wonderman dreams of identifying local…
MBA Applicants: Conquer Kellogg’s Student Evaluation Essay
Assume you are evaluating your application from the perspective of a student member of the Kellogg Admissions Committee. Why would your peers select you to become a member of the Kellogg community? (600 word limit) That’s Kellogg’s Essay 3 this year. It’s the resurrection of an earlier essay, and one that effectively replaces the…
US News Grad Rankings Are Out!
The US News just released its 2009 Grad School Rankings. I’m going to list the top ten for business school, law school, and medical school (research) and provide links to the ranking methodology for each category. For other graduate specialties, please visit the US News site. Business School Rankings and methodology 1. Harvard2. Stanford3. Northwestern Kellogg…
HEC Tops in Marketing Outside US Per Princeton Review
Reuters reports: HEC in France has been voted the top business school outside the USA for the teaching of marketing by over 19,000 business school students in the latest survey by The Princeton Review. The school was one of only two non-US schools to feature in the complete ranking, which also covered subjects such as…
7 Signposts to Differences Among MBA Programs
After reading “Musings on Kellogg’s Differentiators” by Managing Magic, who describes well a few distinguishing characteristics at Kellogg, I decided to explore the factors MBA applicants should examine to uncover the differences between programs. Researching these elements will help MBA applicants as they start their school research. They may also be worth a second look…
MBA in Finance: Forget It?
In forums, chats, and emails I read a lot of speculation about the wisdom of declaring an interest in pursuing a career in finance after business school. With all the Wall St. carnage, does such a goal doom your application? Has the possibility of a career in investment banking, private equity, or hedge funds disappeared…
4 Tips for Proofing Your Prose
Tons of deadlines this month, and I meant to post these tips earlier in the week. Time got away from me. Please use these techniques for essays with upcoming deadlines. Give yourself a break. Put the application away for a day, overnight, several hours, or at least a coffee break. (More is better, but don’t…
MBA Admissions: Prepare for Probing Interviews
The interview was going great, my friend said, until they got to the “How can you contribute to our program?” This was just last month, at an interview for the MBA program at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Booth’s interviews are by invitation only, and my friend’s interviewer had a similar background…
MBA Admissions: No-Cosigner Loans for International Students
There has been a lot of talk about the sudden dearth of financing options for international students who would like to attend American MBA programs. Some applicants are questioning whether to apply if they will have no way of paying for the degree. I decided to research the situation and find out just how bad…
Highlight Your Kellogg Kontributions
(note: “contributions” is normally spelled with a ‘c’) Describe how your background, values, academics, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experience of other Kellogg students. That’s good old Question 2 on Kellogg’s MBA application. It’s a simple enough query, but one that stymies many of my clients, leading to several questions:…
Accepted Welcomes Natalie Grinblatt
It is with great pleasure that I welcome Natalie Grinblatt to Accepted’s staff. Natalie previously served as: Assistant Dean at Arizona State University’s W P Carey School of Management. Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Cornell’s Johnson School Director of MBA Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at the University of Michigan (where she also…
Approaching short essays
“I want to explain how lacrosse involves determination, sacrifice, never giving up, never losing confidence, grit, unselfishness, quick thinking on the fly, looking out for others, etc.” These were my client’s initial wishes for his 250-word Columbia “greatest passion” essay. My response: “Sorry! That’s too much… And even if you could fit all these points…
MBA Admissions Chat News: Columbia, Kellogg
I just want to update you about an exciting chat this week and a couple of MBA admissions chat transcripts that are now available. Linda Meehan, Columbia Business School’s Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, and Lauren Sickle, CBS MBA ’08, will be our special guests at a chat this Wednesday Sept. 26 at…
Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants
Two years ago I attended Tuck’s first Conference of International Educational Advisors. I went with the purpose of learning more about Tuck. And I did learn a lot about Tuck, as expected, but I discovered that I enjoyed meeting my competition and professional colleagues much more than I anticipated. The networking was great! I have…
