The GMAT Club Blog

Accepted.com News

A few miscellaneous items of interest:

*Our latest ebook, The Consultant's Guide to MBA Admission has just come out. If you are a consultant applying to business school this is your chance to obtain advice targeting your problems, issues, and profession. Plus, we are holding a Publication Week sale this week. You can purchase it at 25% off anytime between now and Oct. 29.

*We have posted quite a few new chat transcripts for from this year: Wharton, MIT, Haas, UCLA, NYU Stern are all online and available at MBA Admission Chat Transcript Index

*Please join us on Wednesday at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET/1:00 AM GMT, when Accepted.com hosts CMU Tepper's Admissions Director, Laurie Stewart, and other members of the CMU family. Tepper received one of the largest cash gifts in history last year along with a new name. Come to the CMU Tepper MBA chat find out what that cash infusion means to the student body at the program well-known for its rigor and tech focus.

MBA Recruiting Heads North

WSJ.com - Corporate Recruiting Picks Up At Many U.S. Business Schools

You gotta love the WSJ. It puts the most interesting and important stories on page B10! Imagine putting a story about the steel industry or Elliot Spitzer's investigation of insurance companies on the front page when it could have led with a story about improved job prospects for MBA's.

Yes folks, things are looking up. The luster is returning to the MBA degree. No not the luster of ethical purity. The luster of jobs (especially in consulting and IB), ROI, signing bonuses, and the list goes on and on. Here are few tidbits from the article:

Recruiting
* At NYU Stern, the number of scheduled interviews so far is up 55% over the same time last year.
* At Chicago the percentage increase in scheduled interviews is up 30%.
* At Dartmouth that figure for consulting firms is up 50% from last year.

Compensation
Investment banks are now paying base salaries of $95,000, up from the $85,000 of the last few years plus signing bonuses of up to $30,000 are "pretty universal," according to Gary Fraser of NYU Stern.

Hiring Plans
* Goldman Sachs plans to hire roughly 30% more MBAs than it did in 2004.
* Boston Consulting Group also plans to hire more MBAs, although the article did not provide a figure.

What does all this mean? Well it means that the MBA is once again a good investment, especially if you want to go into IB or MC.

Combined with the flat (at best ) application volume anticipated for this year. (See the Wharton Adcom blog on R1 numbers for one indication of this year's trend) these stats reveal that those who apply this year could be in excellent shape when they apply and when they graduate.

What are you waiting for?

HEC and Forte Foundation online chats

Two great MBA admission chats early this week:

HEC
Please join us for Accepted.com’s HEC MBA Admissions Chat on Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT when Joshua Kobb, HEC’s Development Director, and Arielle Quick and Wynn Davies, HEC students will participate in an admissions chat at Accepted.com.

Come and learn about this top international MBA program that is now ranked eighth among international MBA programs by Businessweek and has seen the percentage of international students increase from 54% to 80% since 1998.

Do you know what HEC seeks in successful applicants? What are the strengths of this top European school? How are its graduates doing in the job market? Come to the chat to get the answers to these and many other questions.

In addition, take advantage of this opportunity to ask your questions about this leading international business school’s admissions policy, student life, and program. Our guests will provide the answers.

The chat will take place at http://www.accepted.com/chat. For further information, please http://www.accepted.com/chat/schedule.aspx#mba10 or e-mail mbachat@accepted.com

Forte Foundation
Online Chat: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 – 5pm PST/ 8pm EST/1:00 AM GMT

Participate in our online Forte Forum from the convenience and comfort of your own home. Learn more about business careers and how business education and networks can help you reach your leadership, business, and personal goals. A panel of senior executive women in business will address career opportunities and career paths in business and how an MBA can be a valuable addition to your professional development. The panel will answer popular questions like,
• "Why should I get an MBA?"
• "Will getting an MBA be a good investment for me?"
• "If I'm going to take time off down the road to start a family, is it worth it to invest in an MBA now?"

No need to register, just click on the appropriate link (see info below) on the noted date & time – and benefit from this amazing career oriented information.

ONLINE CHAT
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Online, 5pm PST/ 8pm EST/1:00 AM GMT
Accepted.com Chat Room

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity – mark your calendar now!

PANELISTS FOR THE ONLINE CHAT INCLUDE:

Katherine Armstrong
Novelist/Entrepreneur/former Corporate Communications Executive
London Business School 1994

Kristin Berry
Managing Principal
The Legacy Network LLC
Michigan MBA 1994

Susan Estes
Independent Business & Marketing Strategy Consultant
Self-Employed
Yale MBA 2000

Chelsea Smith
Trader, Equity Investments
Allstate Investments, LLC
Kellogg MBA 1999

Thespina Spivey
Forecasting and Inventory Manager
Coca-Cola Company
Darden MBA 2001

Haas and NYU Stern Chats next week

Please join us. These schools have both had great chats in the past. Don't miss them.

Haas Happenings October 11, 2004 with Pete Johnson

Join us for Haas Happenings, an Accepted.com online chat, on Monday, October 11, 2004 at 10:00 AM PST/ 1:00 PM EST/6:00 PM GMT when Peter Johnson, Haas' Co-director of Admissions and Haas students will participate in this chat devoted to Haas' admissions policies, program, and student life. Find out what Haas seeks in its successful applicants. If you are applying to Haas, this is an outstanding opportunity to ask all your questions. Our guests will have the answers.

NYU Stern Chat October 13, 2004 with Isser Gallogly, Asian students

First round deadlines are approaching fast. Use this occasion to get solid, reliable answers to your important questions about NYU Stern's admissions policies, program, and student life.

And NYU Stern really wants to answer your questions! In addition to Isser Gallogly, Director of Full-time MBA Admissions; Margaret McKegney, Senior Associate Director of Admissions and Steve Nadel, Admissions Coordinator, Stern students from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India, and China representing both the full-time and part-time programs will be available to give you the inside scoop on Stern.

So if you have general admissions questions, questions on the experience of internationals at Stern, or concerns about the opportunities for Asians at the school closest to Wall St, please join us on Wednesday, October 13, 2004 at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET/ 1:00 AM GMT.

The chats will take place at http://www.accepted.com/chat.

For further information, please visit http://www.accepted.com/chat/schedule.aspx#mba6 or e-mail mbachat@accepted.com . To determine the chat time in your location, please visit http://www.timeanddate.com .