The GMAT Club Blog

2009 MBA Application News

A few 2009 MBA applications have recently been made public:

• Haas' 2009 MBA essay questions and deadlines are now on its web site.  I will comment on Haas essay questions later, but here are the deadlines: Round 1 --November 4, 2008; Round 2 -- December 9, 2008; Round 3 -- January 30, 2009; Round 4 (Final) -- March 11, 2009
• Kellogg published its 2009 essay questions, but has not released its deadlines yet. I will provide tips in a later post.
• Harvard Business School, which previously posted its 2009 questions and deadlines, just announced that its online application is available.

In addition to our regular menu of services, Accepted offers a few extras to those ready to start the MBA admissions process now:

• Early Bird Special: 10% off Accepted's regular (non-rush) essay services and school packages if purchased on or before July 31, 2008.
• The last MBA Admissions Telethon for 2009 applicants will take place on Tuesday July 15.  During the 2009 MBA Admissions Telethon, Accepted.com MBA admissions consultants will be available to provide free, 15-minute consultations.
  

One would think that after responding to thousands of posts on the BW Forum, Accepted forum, Facebook, and this blog, not to mention hosting  approximately 200 chats and several telethons, I would be keenly aware of the importance applicants attach to asking questions of impartial, experienced admissions professionals, like the members of Accepted's staff who will take your questions during the telethon.

But the value of such opportunities was brought home to me once again during  my recent evening at Manhattan GMAT in Santa Monica where I presented "Bold and Brilliant Essays" to a group of roughly 55 applicants. They then peppered me with questions for about 90 minutes first in a sweltering room where the air conditioning had broken and later on a much cooler and pleasanter patio. If the airless room was uncomfortable, why was the evening enjoyable? I enjoyed interacting with a really nice group of applicants, and they stuck it out both through the presentation and the Q&A until their questions were all answered.

I hope that wherever you are on July 15, it will be at a agreeable temperature so that you will have your free, mini-consultation in comfort. Sign up for the free MBA Admissions Telethon to reserve your spot.

And if you are ready to start work on your applications and want Accepted's assistance, don't delay. Take advantage of the Early Bird Special. Save money and gain the competitive edge inherent in starting your applications early.

Interview News and Resources

I checked my email this morning and found several informative MBA interview reports that had arrived over the weekend from applicants interviewing at HBS, Wharton, Columbia, London Business School, INSEAD, and other programs. Consequently, I decided it would be timely to post a mini-round up of MBA admissions interview news and resources.

• The HBS blog announced last week that HBS has issued most of its round 2 interview invitations. In Dee Leopold's words, "While interview invitations will continue to be issued up until notification date, it is fair to say that the vast majority have been sent."
     
• Wharton has completed posting its round 2 interview invitations. Those round 2 applicants who did not receive an interview invitation are denied.  Those who have received the precious invitation can jump in the air, dance for joy, and then check out the resources provided later in this post.
• The Darden Student Blog has a post outlining Darden's reasons for going to an "invitation only" interview policy. According to Bill Gray, the student author,  Darden previously required all domestic applicants to interview in Charlottesville, and just this year switched to invitation-only because the previous policy increased costs to  the school and the applicant, and  meant that domestic and international admissions processes differed. He also pointed at global warming, which I found a little disingenuous, but the other reasons make complete sense. A member of the Class of '09 who applied under the old policy,  Bill also wrote " I personally found it helpful to visit Darden before writing my essays.
• Haas presents a great series of tips for MBA interviews in its monthly admissions newsletter. Check out "How to Ace the Admissions Interview", by Peter Johnson, Director of Admissions, Full-time MBA Program

Now for the resources:

• MBA Mock Interviews and Coaching.
     
• MBA I.V.: Mainline to Top MBA Programs MBA Interview Questions and Tips. We can barely keep this ebook in stock, ;-), and we have received fantastic feedback on it, which we haven't even posted yet. Here is a sampling:

"Concise and to the point, great"

"It truly is a great book. I learned so much about different programs in this one book. thank you!"

"The guide provides very useful interview tips, on a school to school basis. Would recommend to anyone preparing for interviews with the top MBA schools."

• MBA Interview Feedback Database. The perfect source for the preparation Peter Johnson recommends in his tip article, the searchable database contains hundreds of interview reports from MBA interviews organized by school. Free.
• MBA Interview Prep. A five-day, email mini-course. Free.

Take advantage of the resources your wallet, sense of confidence, and general interview preparedness dictate.

And finally, a couple requests:

1. After you interview, please share your MBA interview experience so the database will continue to grow and provide value.  Doing so automatically enrolls you in Accepted's It's a 10! contest . Winners received an Amazon gift certificate of up to $20.
2. When visiting b-school campuses, take a few pictures of any school (or its environs) listed in the Accepted B-school Zones page and send them in to Accepted's Beautiful B-School Photo contest . In addition, we will soon add pages for UNC, Notre Dame, Emory, and Georgetown so feel free to send in pictures for those schools too.  All honorable mentions receive a gift, and the three winners will take home up to a $200 gift certificate from Amazon. Right now, we only have one submission, so your chances of winning are outstanding. The contest ends April 30.

Ross, Haas Tips

Michigan Ross' The Monroe St. Journal  and both have articles worth reading for MBA applicants:

In "Ross MBA Class of 2009 Taking Shape" Ross Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh lays out the Ross admissions process.  Recruiting, evaluating, and interviewing prospects, and then convincing admitted students to come to Ross is the function of the admissions office. It's busier than ever too. Ms. Koh writes "This year, our Round 1 application volume increased more than 50% over last year. Peer business schools across the country appear to be experiencing growth as well, though in varying degrees."

In "How to Ace the Admissions Interview" Jett Pihakis and Peter Johnson, Co-Directors of Admissions, Full-time MBA Program, provide tips to help you ace your MBA admissions interview. It doesn't surprise me that the first tip is "Think through the kinds of questions you are likely to be asked, and think about your responses. Practice interviews can be very helpful, but be sure not to over-rehearse your answers." The article is also available as a podcast.

Accepted.com's MBA Admissions Interview Feedback Database exists so that you can anticipate the questions you will be asked at Haas and dozens of other MBA programs. Take advantage of it before you interview and please share your MBA interview experience afterwards. If you would like to have a practice interview with an MBA admissions professional, please consider Accepted.com MBA Mock Interview

MBA Interview Resource

Dr. Lois Frankel is a nationally recognized "career coach." In a recent radio spot she advised managers about to interview a potential employee: "Preparing in advance – not winging it – is the secret to good interviewing." The same is true for the interviewees, including MBA applicants facing admissions interviews.

To those of you who will soon receive interview invitations, you can prepare in advance by taking advantage of the MBA Interview Feedback Database (MBAIFDB) which is a treasure-trove of valuable feedback from previously interviewed applicants organized by school. You can also filter for specific areas of interest and other criteria.

The MBAIFDB has:

• 1485 total interview reports
• For 103 schools with entries
• 160 entries for interview this application cycle.

Users of the MBAIFDB have rated the feedback so you can see which reports are most valuable.

Here are the totals for most of the schools in the database:
 
161 Northwestern (Kellogg)
115 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
82 California at Berkeley (Haas)
75 University of Chicago
74 Columbia
72 Duke (Fuqua)
61 Dartmouth (Tuck)
59 University of Michigan
57 UCLA (Anderson)
52 Carnegie Mellon
49 Harvard
46 NYU (Stern)
46 University of Virginia (Darden)
43 UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
38 INSEAD (France and Singapore)
37 Yale University
35 Stanford Graduate School of Business
22 Cornell (Johnson)
22 Emory (Goizueta)
22 University of Texas -- Austin
19 Georgetown (McDonough)
19 Indiana University
18 MIT (Sloan)
14 London Business School (UK)
14 Oxford
13 USC (Marshall)
11 Maryland (Smith)
10 University of Rochester (Simon)
9 Michigan State (Broad)
9 Notre Dame (Mendoza)
9 Babson College
8 California at Irvine
8 Vanderbilt University
7 University of Washington
6 Boston University
6 North Carolina State University
5 Penn State
5 Southern Methodist (Cox)
5 Boston College (Carroll)
5 Indian School of Business (ISB)
5 HEC Graduate Business School
5 Toronto (Rotman), Canada
5 University of Colorado at Boulder
4 University of Western Ontario
4 IMD (Switzerland)
4 Cranfield University (UK)
4 Manchester Business School
3 The University of Navarra (IESE)
3 Ohio State University
3 Fordham University
3 Instituto de Empresa (Spain)
3 Arizona State
3 Baruch College (CUNY)
3 Washington University (Olin)
2 Wake Forest (Babcock)
2 University of Minnesota (Carlson)
2 Thunderbird Graduate School
2 University of Phoenix
2 American University (Kogod)
2 Brigham Young University (Marriott)
2 Rotterdam School of Mgmt
2 Texas A&M University (Mays)
2 Other
2 University of Arizona (Eller)
(all others w/ 1)

Here is the number of reports organized by school that have been provided since August 1, 2005, mostly reports for this application cycle:

30 Northwestern (Kellogg)
9 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
8 Columbia
8 University of Michigan
7 Dartmouth (Tuck)
7 Emory (Goizueta)
7 Stanford Graduate School of Business
7 UCLA (Anderson)
7 UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
6 Harvard
6 Carnegie Mellon
5 Duke (Fuqua)
5 Yale University
4 INSEAD (France and Singapore)
3 London Business School (UK)
3 University of Virginia (Darden)
3 Georgetown (McDonough)
3 California at Irvine
2 Boston College (Carroll)
2 Indiana University
2 University of Chicago
1 Toronto (Rotman), Canada
1 University of Washington
1 Vanderbilt University
1 Wake Forest (Babcock)
1 Maryland (Smith)
1 MIT (Sloan)
1 Notre Dame (Mendoza)
1 NYU (Stern)
1 Oxford
1 Penn State
1 HEC Graduate Business School
1 Indian School of Business (ISB)
1 Fordham University
1 George Washington University
1 Boston University
1 California at Berkeley (Haas)
1 AGSM
1 Babson College
1 Cornell (Johnson)

 

So for those of you about to interview, please prepare in advance and take advantage of the MBAIFDB.  After you interview, please share the experience by filling out the the MBAIFDB questionnaire. No registration required. In addition, all those who submit an interview report are eligible to participate in Acceptedcom's It's a 10! contest.

A final bit of wisdom from Dr. Frankel:  “Chance favors the prepared mind.” Prepare for your MBA admissions interview using the MBA Interview Feedback Database.

If you want one-on-one interview coaching or a mock interview, consider Accepted.com's MBA Interview Prep.