Archive : Business School

Yesterday the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University announced that Soumitra Dutta, a professor of business and technology and founder and faculty director of a new media and technology innovation lab at INSEAD, will become the eleventh dean of the school. Dutta will step into the new role on July 1, 2012, replacing Joseph Thomas, who will return to the classroom after five years of leading the school.

Aside from being news because it’s a leadership change at a top MBA program, Johnson’s announcement is also notable since this marks the first time top-ranked business school in the U.S. has hired a dean from a business school outside the country. Last year INSEAD plucked a graduate management leader from the U.S., when it announced that former Kellogg dean Dipak Jain would run the school. Now, the U.S. has struck back and brought a top business mind to this side of the pond.

What do you know… Another year has already gone by. We’re so full of opinion and points of view here at Veritas Prep that we thought we should commit ourselves to another round of prognosticating about what the coming year will bring in the worlds of standardized tests and grad school admissions. It will be fun to check in at the end of the year to see how we did.

Without further ado, here are six things that we predict will happen in 2012:

Every year we get countless inquiries from applicants about Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. Given the school’s tight-knit community and its successful track record in placing grads in high-paying careers, it’s no wonder that so many applicants are drawn to Tuck every year. What does surprise us, though, is how many Tuck applicants don’t really know whether the school is good fit for them. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they begin the application process.

Are you thinking about applying to Tuck? If so, why? How do you know if it’s really is a good fit for you? More importantly, how do you know the Tuck admissions team will think you’re a good fit for the school? Today we present four things that make the Tuck School of Business unique among top-ranked MBA programs:

Happy New Year! Hard to believe a whole year has already gone by again. At this time last year we laid out six predictions for 2011. We exhibited restraint by avoiding predictions about flying cars and holographic teachers, but we did stick out our collective neck on a few matters. Now it’s time to see how we did.

More Schools Will Adopt Video and Other Less Traditional “Essay” Questions
We were at least partly correct here. While at least one school actually backed away from utilizing video response (UCLA Anderson, we’re looking in your direction), other programs embraced Twitter and experimented with ultra-short essay responses. In other cases, schools made iPads an official part of the application review process, paving the way to allowing them to view multimedia responses in coming years. We expect this trend will only continue in the coming year.

It’s hard to believe that 2011 has already come and gone. Why do these years seem to keep going by faster and faster? As we at Veritas Prep wind down the year, we thought we’d share some of our most popular posts and most interesting topics from the past 12 months.

We hope that this blog has provided you with some useful insights as you’ve studied for the GMAT or slaved over your grad school applications. Sometimes we have a little fun, and sometimes we veer off topic to talk about what interests us, but everything written here comes from the same place: We want to help you be successful in your pursuit of grad school and in your career overall!

We work with dozens of UCLA Anderson applicants every year. Given the school’s strong community and its strength in a number of academy departments, it’s no wonder that so many applicants aim for Anderson every year. What does surprise us, though, is how many UCLA applicants don’t really know whether the school is good fit for them. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they start crafting their Anderson applications.

Are you thinking about applying to UCLA Anderson? If so, why? How do you know if it’s really is a good fit for you? More importantly, how do you know the Anderson admissions team will think you’re a good fit for the school? Today we present a few reasons why Anderson might be a good fit for you:

We work with dozens of Kellogg applicants every year. Given the school’s sterling reputation in marketing, its ability to turn out well-rounded general managers, and its high-energy culture, it’s no wonder that so many applicants aim for Kellogg every year. What does surprise us, though, is how many Kellogg applicants don’t really know whether the school is good fit for them. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they start crafting their Kellogg applications.

Are you thinking about applying to Kellogg this year? If so, why? How do you know if it’s really is a good fit for you? More importantly, how do you know the Kellogg admissions team will think you’re a good fit for the school? Today we present five things that make the Kellogg academic experience unique:

Earlier this month we announced that Veritas Prep has partnered with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) to donate 50 scholarships to qualified IAVA Member Veterans — 25 for GMAT prep courses and 25 for graduate school admissions consulting services. Since then, we have talked to many applicants (and would-be applicants) with military experience who wonder if they’ll fit in at business school. And, they want to know if business schools are really looking for applicants like them.

The short answer is a resounding YES!!! Business schools constantly seek leaders and young professionals with exceptional decision-making ability. Just because you don’t come from a business background, don’t fool yourself into thinking that MBA programs won’t be interested in you. You may have exactly the type of experience and temperament that MBA admissions officers want to see.

It’s already been almost a year since we wrote about MIT Sloan’s announcement that the admissions office would move to an entirely paper-free, all-iPad system for reviewing applications. Now, more is being written about this as the company that makes the iPad app makes a publicity push and announces that the UCLA Anderson admissions team has also signed on to use the app.

The key takeaway that we wrote in January still holds: While the fact that admissions officers will read your application on an iPad is interesting, the real fuss should be about what this could mean for the future. It’s not hard to imagine video and audio responses becoming a much more common part of business school applications, as admissions officers can move from your written app to a video to something else all with the click of an icon. We think this is inevitable.

One of the most common questions we get from applicants is, “How strict are schools about word limits in their admissions essays and personal statements?” While the answer itself is rather straightforward, we often encourage applicants to stop focusing on the number, take a step back, and consider what admissions officers are really communicating when they put forward a word limit.

First, we’ll answer the question directly: Schools are not out to reject you for going over a word limit by a small amount. Okay, okay… “What’s a small amount?” you’re asking. One rule of thumb that is frequently tossed around is 10%, although it’s worth noting that admissions consultants tend to promote this rule more than any admissions officer does. However, if you can stay within 10% of the word limit for an essay, you probably are okay.

Every year we work with dozens and dozens of clients who target Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Given its tight-knit culture, growing global footprint, and strength in academic areas such as marketing, it’s no surprise that Fuqua is on many applicants’ short lists. We are often surprised, however, by how many applicants apply to Fuqua without really knowing whether or not it’s a good fit for them. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they start crafting their Duke applications.

Are you thinking about applying to Fuqua this year? If so, why? How do you know if Fuqua really is a good fit for you? Today we present five reasons why Duke may be a great place for you to spend two years as an MBA student:

Despite a U.S. economy that has been mostly sluggish for more than three years now, there may be reason to believe 2012 will be when the job market finally turns the corner. A new year-end poll of hiring managers by GMAC revealed that most of them plan to increase or maintain their number of new hires in 2012 vs. 2011.

The GMAC poll covered 229 hiring managers at 216 companies worldwide. The poll compares these companies’ actual hiring in 2011 to their expected level of hiring in the coming year, including hiring of MBA graduates as well as grads from other master’s-level business programs. While the results don’t paint a 100% rosy picture, the news seems better than it has been in the past couple of years.

Late last week Harvard Business School broke ground on Tata Hall, the new facility that will house HBS’s executive education program. Tata Hall is named in honor of Ratan Tata, whose cluster of companies and nonprofit organizations (all of which bear his name) donated $50 million toward construction of the new building.

In some respects, Ratan Tata is uniquely qualified to help steer the construction of the new building, since he is a 1975 graduate of Harvard’s Advanced Management Program for senior executives. As one of India’s (and the world’s) most successful businessmen, he no doubt was eager to leave a lasting legacy at Harvard.

When clients talk to us and list the handful of MBA programs to which they’re applying, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business is often on the list. Given the school’s strong academics, impressive alumni reach, and strength in multiple academic disciplines, it’s no wonder that so many people apply to Ross each year.

If Ross isn’t on your list, then perhaps you should take a step back and research the school more closely. It’s a personal favorite of many of us here at Veritas Prep headquarters (and not just among those who went to school in Ann Arbor), and it’s one that we frequently recommend that our clients research in more depth. If any of these descriptions below apply to you, then Ross should also be on your MBA radar:

Among Veritas Prep admissions consulting clients, Columbia Business School attracts more applications than all but several other schools. It’s no surprise, given how many grads Columbia places into high-paying Wall Street jobs every year. What may surprise you, though, is how many applicants apply to Columbia without really knowing whether or not it’s a good fit for them. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they start crafting their Columbia applications.

Are you thinking about applying to Columbia Business School? How do you know if Columbia really is a good fit for you? Today we present five reasons why Columbia may be the perfect school for you to target for your MBA experience:

To celebrate its tenth anniversary, the Indian School of Business (ISB) has announced its new ISB@10 International Scholarship, which the school award to 10 applicants from 10 different regions around the world.

No school in recent memory has risen in prominence as quickly as ISB has. While the school has already become one of the premier (if not THE premier) MBA program in India, the school has been very clear about its plans to boost its international profile, and to attract many more top-tier MBA candidates from around the globe. The SB@10 International Scholarship is the newest part of this effort.

Among top MBA programs, MIT Sloan stands apart for its reputation for producing grads with strong quantitative skills. But there’s a lot more to Sloan than spreadsheets and operations models. If you’re aiming for the top business schools, you will want to take a long, hard look at Sloan. But how do you know if Sloan is a good fit for you? Today we dig into six things that make MIT Sloan different than other top business schools. If you like the way these sound, then Sloan should probably be on your short list of MBA programs:

Technology
Given the strength of MIT and engineering, it’s no surprise that Sloan has a superior offering in the area of tech ventures and IT. Innovation is a buzzword at many top business schools, but Sloan embodies it, particularly in the area of high tech. Support for an entrepreneur in launching a new venture at business school is stronger at MIT than almost anywhere else (schools like Berkeley Haas and Stanford also have extensive resources and are good choices for those wanting to pursue a technology career).

Admissions interviews are underway for Round 1 applicants at the top American business schools. If you were lucky enough to receive an invitation to interview with a top-ranked MBA program, this thought has almost certainly gone through your head recently:

“Great! I made the first cut! Now, I wonder what my chances are?”

This thinking is correct. You did make the first cut. And by “cut,” we mean that admissions officers looked at the whole applicant pool and, seeing that some applications were just too weak for those people to stand any chance of getting in, let those people that they were no longer being considered. No reason to interview those applicants if they’re clearly not getting in, right? So, yes, you did make the first cut. The admissions committee at least thinks there’s a decent chance that you’ll be admitted. Congratulations!

Here at Veritas Prep we’re approaching that time of year when MBA applicants start to ask us, “Should I apply in Round 2 with what I’ve got, or should I work on [fill in the blank] and apply later?” Or, the other way the conversation happens is that an applicant comes to us with grand plans for applying in Round 2, but with a profile that contains at least one thing that really concerns us. In these cases, we often bring up the idea that the applicant should take a step back and work on improving his profile before charging ahead with his applications.

Before you read any further, let’s get one thing out of the way: Applying to business school in Round 3 is NOT automatically a bad idea. MBA programs always go to great lengths to let applicants know that they have three rounds for a reason, and that they do indeed accept people in Round 3. Yes, the numbers do support the argument that, all things being equal (which they never are), you’re better off applying earlier, but GREAT applicants always get in to every top business school every year. And if you’re not a GREAT applicant, then should you apply? Or keep working at it until you are one?

In terms of reputation, Chicago Booth is one of the fastest-rising MBA programs in the world. More and more top-tier candidates now consider applying to Booth than ever before, making getting in to Booth tougher. Over the past several years, we have probably seen inquires about Booth increase more than those for any other school. Booth is hot, and people want to go there. If you’re reading this, then odds are that you’re considering Booth, too.

But how do you know Chicago Booth is a good fit for you? Today we dig into five things that might make Booth an especially good fit for you. Not all of these need to apply to you, but the more these things sound like you, the more likely you are to fit in at Booth and excel in its rigorous learning environment:

Last month we introduced a new service for our blog readers and Facebook fans: Live online profile evaluations of MBA applicants’ profiles, done in real time in front of an online audience. Over the course of an hour we did a deep dive into three applicants’ profiles, uncovering their strengths and weaknesses and giving them an honest assessment of their chances of gaining admission to a top MBA program. The event was such as success that we’re announcing our second one, which will run on Wednesday, November 16! This event will be accessible to everyone, no matter where you live.

If you’ve spent any time in online forums (including ours), you’ve seen discussion threads in which applicants post their “stats” and admissions experts comment on their chances of success. This is the same thing, but done live online in real time, with the applicant being able to ask followup questions, and the admissions officer digging far deeper than she normally can in a static online setting.

Today we share an insider’s perspective from a current first-year Columbia Business School student. We asked him to share his thoughts on Columbia, the school’s culture, and whether or not the impression that some people have — that it’s a commuter school for many students — is true.

His guest blog post provides a terrific, candid take on what life is really like at Columbia. Read on!

For the past two years Yale University has offered a three-year joint JD/MBA degree, offered between Yale Law School and the Yale School of Management. Now, after a nearly year-long review, the Yale Law School faculty has voted to make the joint degree a permanent offering. While the SOM faculty has yet to vote, it is expected that it will also vote in favor of making the program permanent.

Yale’s JD/MBA program is only six semesters long, with no summer component, making it one of the shortest such programs in the country. Students spend two academic years in the Law School and one year in the School of Management. While Yale’s accelerated JD/MBA is not the first such program in the nation — Northwestern, Duke, and Penn also offer similar programs — the fact that Yale Law School has finally embraced this model is big deal, and it could mean that more top universities will soon follow.

Without a doubt, a Wharton MBA is one of the most sought after graduate degrees in the world. And every year we at Veritas Prep certainly get our share of applicants who want to spend two years in Philadelphia. It’s no wonder — very few schools can match its reputation in finance, and in recent years Wharton’s pace of curriculum innovation actually seems to be accelerating.

But how well do you really know Wharton? Today we dig into three things that contribute to Wharton’s unique, high-energy learning environment. If reading about these attributes make you even more excited Wharton, then the school might be a good fit for you:

It’s one the the more frustrating conversations an MBA admissions consultant can have with his or her client, but it’s one that takes place regularly. It goes something like this:

“I plan on applying to Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton. And for my safety schools, I’ll add Columbia and MIT Sloan.”

“Okay, that’s an ambitious list for any applicant. Tell me where you are in the process. What do you do for work now?”

“For the past three years I’ve been part of an engineering team. I haven’t managed anyone, but I presented to our direct of product management once. He said I did a good job. In another year I may get promoted to team lead.”

“I see. Well, how about your undergraduate experience?”

With some popular outlets recently reporting that your odds of getting into a top-ranked MBA program have improved since last year, we want to revisit an idea that we wrote about more than a year ago. In a nutshell, whether application numbers are up or down barely affects your chances of admission.

Yes, most top-ranked business schools reported that their application numbers were down in the 2010-2011 admissions season when compared to the previous year. This certainly isn’t bad news if you hope to get into one of these MBA programs this year (assuming that the trend continues; this is a reasonable assumption, but not a trivial one), but the problem with all of this is that statistics are very useful in the aggregate, but using them to judge an individual case can lead to some off-base conclusions.

Who conducts your business school admissions interview depends on a few things. Where you’re applying obviously matters a lot: Some schools only have admissions personnel conduct interviews, while others rely on a mix of admissions officers, students, and alumni. Where you live also impacts how you’re interviewed — if you’re applying to a school on another continent, that school will normally be more willing do your interview by phone or by Skype.

Every school’s policy is different, and MBA programs’ policies can change over time. For instance, earlier this year Wharton announced that its alumni will no longer conduct interviews, and that all interviews will instead be conducted by admissions representatives or students (“Admissions Fellows,” in Wharton parlance). So, as you research your target business schools, make sure you’re preparing with the latest information.

In Veritas Prep’s GMAT prep courses, we teach students the difference between a piece of information being a necessary condition and it being a sufficient one, to support an argument. A fact may be necessary (e.g., X > 0), but it may not be sufficient (e.g., If the question is whether or not X is greater than 10, we don’t yet have sufficient information).

That lesson, as abstract as it may seem, can also be applied to the letters of recommendation you submit in your business school applications. While some things are necessary ingredients in your recommendations, they are not necessarily sufficient by themselves. Taken together, they can all help you get into a top-ranked business school, but each one by itself is not enough to get you in. Here’s an example:

Every business school application requires you to submit at least one letter of recommendation, and usually more than one. These letters corroborate your admissions story, providing additional evidence of the leadership skills, analytical abilities, teamwork skills, and maturity that you have highlighted in the rest of your application. The best person to do this is normally your direct supervisor, but what if you can’t (or don’t want to) tell your boss yet that you’re applying to business school?

Don’t despair. MBA admissions officers know that many applicants face this situation, and they won’t penalize you for it. Particularly in a rough economy, when job security seems to matter even more than usual, they know that you may take a serious risk by telling your boss, “If all goes according to plan, in a year I won’t be here anymore.” So, they’re willing to accept recommendations from other sources, as long as they give admissions officers what they need.

Last week the Chicago Booth MBA admissions team posted helpful advice for applicants who are rushing to meet the school’s Round 1 deadlines, on October 12. They present some very helpful tips, but — as is often the case — many of the the tips they share can be misconstrued or taken too far. It’s just like dieting: Make sure you don’t overdo it with the fats… but cutting fat out of your diet completely isn’t a good idea. Or investing: Stocks historically have represented your best chance for long-term gains that outpace inflation… But you don’t necessarily want a portfolio that only contains stocks.

With that in mind, we dig into a few of Booth’s tips and present the rest of the story where it’s appropriate. Again, we think the advice they provided is quite helpful, but here’s more for you to chew on before you click the “submit” button on your application:

As we round out our coverage of the admissions essays and deadlines at the world’s top business schools, today we dig into the Fuqua School of Business’ application. There are very few changes this year, so our advice remains mostly the same. Let’s dig in:

Duke (Fuqua) Admissions Deadlines
Early Action: September 29, 2011
Round 1: November 1, 2011
Round 2: January 4, 2012
Round 3: March 8, 2012

These deadlines are virtually the same as last year’s. Note that, while most schools use the term “Early Action” to indicate that the decision is non-binding, Fuqua considers it to be binding. So, we only recommend applying in this round if you’re 100% certain that you want to attend Fuqua. If you’re waiting to hear back from some other schools before applying to Fuqua in Round 2, you’ll need to at least get the ball rolling on your Fuqua application before you know your fate at those other schools, since you won’t have a lot of time between mid-December and Duke’s January 4 deadline. Duke’s Round 3 deadline is the same as it was last year.

Veritas Prep has just released the results of its 2011 MBA applicant survey! Part of the work we do in monitoring admissions trends is staying current on what applicants are thinking, which is why we call call our new white paper, “Inside the Minds of MBA Applicants.” Some of the results this year are very interesting!

The survey of prospective and current business school students was conducted in June and July of 2011 and included responses from 867 individuals. One quarter of participants are currently enrolled in an MBA program; the rest plan to apply to business school in the future. A breakout of select findings:

Today’s post is a guest feature by Darren Kowitt, one of Veritas Prep’s most experienced MBA admissions consultants and essay editors.

New York Times Columnist Frank Bruni wrote in his August 20th 2011 piece “Humble Service with a Side of Swag”a bout the disingenuous arguments that politicians use in public about their ambitions for office. His arrows are spot on about the credibility problems faced by adults when there is a gap between their actions and their utterances. It’s a great read — if perhaps at first glance seemingly partisan. But move beyond that and you’ll observe that he’s criticizing methods & modes of argument. (Side note: This is why the GMAT tested your comprehension and reasoning skills. GMAC responds to the expectations of the schools, and the schools expect you to be able to evaluate what you read.)

He ends the article with a withering conclusion, which I’ve quoted with a modified ending to demonstrate its relevance to the MBA admissions process:

The Yale School of Management has released its MBA application essays and deadlines for the Class of 2014. Yale has made some tweaks this year, and we’ll dig into each of them below. Here are the school’s deadlines and essays for the coming year, followed by our comments in italics:

Yale SOM Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 6, 2011
Round 2: January 5, 2012
Round 3: April 12, 2012

Yale’s Round 1 and Round 2 deadlines are virtually unchanged, but Yale has pushed back its Round 3 deadline by almost a month this year. Perhaps the school recognizes that very few North American MBA programs have deadlines past late March, and wants to keep its doors open for as long as possible so that strong candidates don’t have to turn to European programs (which tend to have later or different deadline cycles than U.S. programs). We still advise that you aim for Round 1 or Round 2, but this is a subtle signal that Yale truly does consider applications that come in after Round 2.

The Graduate Management Admission Council has just released new survey data showing that business school application volume declined yet again this past year. As the worldwide economic malaise drags on, it seems as though more applicants are holding back, being unsure about what kind of job prospects will await them when they complete their degrees. According to the new survey results, more than two-thirds of responding MBA programs reported a decline in applications in 2011 compared with 2010.

Interestingly, as application volume declined, applicants’ academic quality actually improved over the past year. In fact, 91% of full-time two-year MBA programs reported seeing equally or better qualified applicants in the past year. So, with quantity down a bit but quality improving a little, which macro trend should you focus on more, as an applicant?

NYU’s Stern School of Business has released its MBA admissions essays and deadlines for the Class of 2014. Here they are, followed by our comments in italics:

NYU Stern Admissions Deadlines
Round 1: November 15, 2011
Round 2: January 15, 2012
Round 3: March 15, 2012

These deadlines are identical to last year’s. Note that, unlike many other top business schools, Stern has kept its Round 1 admissions deadline firmly in the middle of November. The good news for you is that, if you’re applying to Stern along with a few other schools in Round 1, this gives you a chance to get those ones done in October, catch your breath, and then give your Stern application your undivided attention. The downside is that Stern won’t notify Round 1 applicants until as late as February 15, 2011, so you will have to make choices about your Round 2 applications (which mostly have January deadlines) before you receive your final decision from Stern.

Last week the Wall Street Journal published an interesting piece about some new methods top MBA programs are using to evaluate applicants. Over the past few years we’ve seen business schools introduce PowerPoint “essay” questions and invite video responses, but now schools are stretching even farther outside the traditional boundaries of the MBA application.

Not surprisingly, a lot of chatter has been devoted to Columbia Business School’s introduction of a question (“What is your post-MBA professional goal?”) that must be answered in no more than 200 characters. As Columbia and other schools try to get a handle on Twitter, Facebook, etc., it’s only natural that they experiment with question formats like this one. Plus, 200 characters don’t leave much room for fluff, so they may end up getting some useful responses.

While we consider that an idea worth trying, we’re far more skeptical of another idea mentioned in the WSJ piece: group interviews.

UCLA’s Anderson School of Management recently released its admissions essays and deadlines for the Class of 2014. At first glance, there are not a lot of changes this, but what’s most interesting with Anderson’s essays this years is something that’s not included. Let’s dig into the school’s deadlines and essays, followed by our comments in italics:

UCLA Anderson Admissions Deadlines
Round 1: October 26, 2011
Round 2: January 11, 2012
Round 3: April 18, 2012

All three of Anderson’s admissions rounds have been pushed back by close to a week. Keep in mind that, if you apply to Anderson in Round 1, you may not receive your final decision until late January, meaning that you won’t know where you stand with Anderson before most other top business schools’ Round 2 deadlines come and go.

The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business recently released its application deadlines and essays for the Class of 2014. After making big changes to its essays last year, Ross has only made small tweaks this time around. We’ll dig into the school’s essays and deadlines below, followed by our comments, in italics:

Michigan (Ross) Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 10, 2011
Round 2: January 4, 2012
Round 3: March 1, 2012

Darmouth’s Tuck School of Business recently published its application deadlines and admissions essay topics for the Class of 2014. You may notice that Tuck’s questions have changed very little since last year, suggesting that the school’s current batch of essay topics works well for the admissions committee. By “works well,” we mean that the essays help admissions officers get to know applicants better, and helps them separate out the great candidates from the merely good ones.

Also, note that Tuck does not have hard word limits for its essays, but the school does provide some rough guidance: “Although there is no formal restriction on the length of your response, most applicants use, on average, 500 words for each essay and you should work hard to try to keep your answers around that length.”