Posts by Alex Brown

About

Alex Brown brings 14 years as an MBA admissions officer to his work advising applicants. He spent seven of those years as a senior associate director of MBA admissions at UPenn’s Wharton School, where he read thousands of applications, interviewed hundreds of candidates, and delivered feedback to denied applicants. During his admissions career, he also spent seven years training new admissions officers through the Graduate Management Admissions Council’s Professional Development Program.Today, Brown is a subject matter expert and community manager at Clear Admit, where he began as a senior admissions counselor. He is the author of Becoming a Clear Admit.Brown has also taught marketing at the University of Delaware for more than 20 years and has delivered digital marketing and transformation programs for London Business School, Columbia Business School, and Stanford GSB.

Published: August 31, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 445: 685 GMAT, South Korea. Take or waive the GMAT. 330 GRE, Product Manager.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming new MBA admissions season. This week, Duke / Fuqua, UVA / Darden and Notre Dame / Mendoza have their Early Action deadlines. Harvard, UPenn / Wharton, Columbia and London Business School have their round 1 deadlines, and Oxford / Said has its Stage 1 deadline. Graham highlighted the upcoming September series of admissions events, where Clear Admit will host the majority of the top MBA programs to discuss Round 2 application strategy. The first session is on Wednesday, and includes Dartmouth Read more

Published: August 24, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 444: Low GPA, from India. 740 GMAT, first generation. 332 GRE, from Nigeria

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the upcoming new MBA admissions season. Cambridge / Judge leads the way with its first-round deadline next week! Graham and Alex plan to host monthly AMA-style webinars, as this new admissions season gets underway. The first is scheduled for this Tuesday, on YouTube; here’s the link to Clear Admit’s YouTube channel so you can subscribe and not miss any of the streaming: https://bit.ly/cayoutubelive. Graham also highlighted the upcoming September series of admissions events, where Clear Admit will host the majority of the Read more

Published: August 17, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 443: Wealth Management to VC. Mechanical Engineer, from India. 625 GMAT, retaking

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing upcoming webinars that Clear Admit is hosting. Graham and Alex will be hosting an AMA-style webinar on August 26th via YouTube, as the new admissions season gets underway! Here’s the link to follow us on YouTube and join the livestream: https://bit.ly/cayoutubelive. Graham also highlighted the upcoming September series of admissions events, where Clear Admit will host the majority of the top MBA programs to discuss Round 2 application strategy. Signups for this series are here: https://bit.ly/cainsidemba Graham then noted an admissions Read more

Published: August 10, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 442: Comedy to MBA, Data scientist to MBA. 331 GRE, 2.75 GPA.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing a couple of webinars that are in the works. Graham and Alex will host an AMA-style webinar, as the new admissions season gets underway on August 26. More details to follow, but it will be livestreamed on YouTube! Graham also highlighted the September series of admissions events, where Clear Admit will host the majority of the top MBA programs to discuss Round 2 application strategy. Sign ups for this series are here: https://bit.ly/cainsidemba Graham then noted a few new publications on Read more

Published: August 3, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 441—Super GMAT, poor GPA. Indian candidate, non-US programs. Super profile, small firm.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by highlighting the upcoming webinar on Thursday, hosted by Alex, which will cover the application process for those targeting the M7 MBA programs and feature admissions coaches from our friends at Leland. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/m7clearadmit Graham then noted the weekly refresh series that Clear Admit publishes during this time of year, which is designed to keep MBA applicants updated with admissions-related updates at the leading MBA programs. Graham also discussed a new admissions tip which focuses on all the standardized tests that Read more

Published: July 27, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 439—655 GMAT, MBB consultant. 332 GRE, undecided goals. Targeting HSW.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began with a wonderful review of the podcast, from an industry professional! Graham highlighted Clear Admit’s ongoing summer series of webinars, which focuses on top MBA programs’ admissions essays, and is attended by more than 20 of the top MBA programs. The final event is on Wednesday of this week, and includes CMU / Tepper, Chicago / Booth, MIT / Sloan, Texas / McCombs and UVA / Darden. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/mbaessay0725 Graham then discussed a new webinar focused on M7 MBA admissions, scheduled Read more

Published: July 20, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 437—695 GMAT, enlisted. MBA and Sustainability. 331 GRE, Startup founder.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing some of the recent activity on LiveWire, recognizing that we are now moving into the new application cycle. Graham highlighted Clear Admit’s ongoing summer series of webinars, which focuses on top MBA programs’ admissions essays, which will be attended by more than 20 of the top MBA programs. The third event is on Wednesday of this week, and includes Columbia, Georgia Tech / Scheller, Insead, London Business School and Washington / Foster. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/mbaessay0725 Graham then noted two admissions tips. Read more

Published: July 13, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 435—705 GMAT, private equity. Architect in London. Enlisted military, 332 GRE.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing some of the recent activity on LiveWire; we followed this by highlighting a new article published by Clear Admit that summarizes the current situation for international students seeking visas to study in the United States. Graham noted Clear Admit’s summer series of webinars, which focuses on top MBA programs’ admissions essays, which will be attended by more than 20 of the top MBA programs. The second event is on Wednesday of this week, and includes Georgetown / McDonough, Michigan / Ross, UNC Read more

Published: July 6, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 433—Entrepreneur to Investment Banking. Waive the test or submit 312 GRE. Engineer, passion for dance.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing some of the recent activity on LiveWire, which did include more waitlist movement last week. There is still some considerable uncertainty with respect to enrollments of international students who are waiting for their visa interviews. Graham highlighted Clear Admit’s summer series of webinars, which focuses on top MBA programs’ admissions essays, which will be attended by more than 20 of the top MBA programs. The first event is on Wednesday of this week, and includes Berkeley / Haas, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Read more

Published: June 29, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 432—329 GRE, Biotech sector. 3.86 GPA, Hospital administration. 685 GMAT, AI and robotics.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing some of the recent activity on LiveWire, which is now becoming quieter as we move into the summer season. We then continued our discussion on the recent U.S. Government decisions as they pertain to international MBA students; Harvard appears to have won a recent decision in their fight with the U.S. Government in terms of being able to enroll international students. Graham highlighted Clear Admit’s summer series of webinars, which focuses on top MBA programs’ admissions essays, which will be attended by more Read more

Published: June 22, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 431—Japanese in the US. 326 GRE, consider retake? LBS vs INSEAD.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing some of the recent activity on LiveWire, which includes a little movement on wait lists. We then continued our discussion on the recent U.S. Government decisions as they pertain to international MBA students; visa interviews are now available again. No doubt this whole situation is causing great anxiety. Graham highlighted Clear Admit’s new summer series of webinars, which focuses on top MBA programs’ admissions essays, which will be attended by more than 20 of the top MBA programs. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/mbaessay0725 Read more

Published: June 15, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 430—337 GRE, 2.96 GPA. 327 GRE, 3.8 GPA. Booth vs Darden.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing some of the recent activity on LiveWire, which includes some movements on wait lists. We then continued our discussion on the recent U.S. Government decisions as they pertain to international MBA students, and the consequences for U.S. citizens who remain on the summer waitlists. Graham then noted a deep dive article, published last week by Clear Admit, that summarizes the sequence of events that has led to where we are with international students seeking an MBA in the United States. Graham highlighted Read more

Published: June 8, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 429—Part-time vs Full-time. Reapplying, from India. Judge vs LBS.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the recent U.S. Government decisions as they pertain to international MBA students, and specifically those who are applying and are admitted to Harvard’s MBA program. Graham then discussed the recent Paris-based MBA admissions event he helped moderate, which brought 10 of the best U.S.-based MBA programs to Paris. Graham noted three articles that have been recently published on Clear Admit. The first focuses on a program CMU / Tepper offers that places Tepper MBA students with non-profit boards in the Pittsburgh area. Read more

Published: June 1, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 428—From China, 675 GMAT. From Africa, 333 GRE. Columbia vs Yale.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the recent events and activities in the news; specifically, we discussed the recent U.S. administration’s decisions around visa interviews for international MBA students. These are, frankly, very disturbing times, which can seriously harm the MBA experience at for all candidates at top MBA programs in the United States. We are hoping that good sense will prevail, in the near future. Graham highlighted an admissions event he is helping to moderate in Paris this upcoming week, which includes ten of the top MBA Read more

Published: May 25, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 427—Entertainment goal, 695 GMAT. Consultant, no GMAT yet. Kellogg vs HBS.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the recent events and activities that Clear Admit has been involved in, including our MBA Fair in Boston, and virtual admissions events that wrapped up last week. More than 600 attendees participated in our most recent virtual event, which included admissions representatives from UPenn / Wharton, Stanford, Texas / McCombs, Columbia and Yale SOM. Graham noted two articles that have been recently published on Clear Admit. The first focuses on the different teaching methods that are used in top MBA programs. The Read more

Published: May 18, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 426—Investment banker, 325 GRE. Argentinian Strategist. Booth vs Ross.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 3 activity on LiveWire; interview invites and final decisions continue to roll out for this shortened application round; next week Chicago / Booth and Imperial Business School are scheduled to release final decisions. Graham noted the Clear Admit promotion, where for every new entry we receive on DecisionWire, that maps out a candidate’s entire application journey, Clear Admit will donate $10 to the Forte Foundation. Graham highlighted the remainder of Application Overview events series that will be hosted this week on Read more

Published: May 11, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 424—First Gen, Civil Engineer. 337 GRE, 2.99 GPA. Johnson vs Darden.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 3 activity on LiveWire; interview invites and final decisions continue to roll out for this shortened application round; next week UPenn / Wharton, Northwestern / Kellogg, IESE, MIT / Sloan, Yale SOM, Minnesota / Carlson, Columbia, Washington / Foster, UCLA / Anderson and Washington / Olin are scheduled to release final decisions. Graham noted a new Clear Admit promotion, where for every new entry we receive on DecisionWire, that maps out a candidate’s entire application journey, Clear Admit will donate Read more

Published: May 4, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 423—695 GMAT, in Australia. Targeting 330 GRE, in India. Booth vs Haas.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 3 activity on LiveWire; interview invites and final decisions continue to roll out for this shortened application cycle; next week Emory / Goizueta, Berkeley / Haas and Duke / Fuqua are scheduled to release final decisions. Graham noted a new Clear Admit survey, where we are trying to understand the issues and concerns that international students may have, with regards to coming to the United States for an MBA. The survey link is here: https://bit.ly/mba25usa Graham highlighted Clear Admit’s Application Read more

Published: April 27, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 422— Peruvian female, 675 GMAT. 330 GRE, from Central Asia. Tepper vs Wait.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 3 activity on LiveWire; interview invites continue to roll out for this shortened application round; next week several schools are scheduled to release final decisions. Graham noted Clear Admit’s Application Overview May series of events. These online events will be hosted on May 6 and 7, and May 20 and 21. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/appoverview25 Already, we have hundreds of signups for each event! Sandwiched in the middle of this series is Clear Admit’s MBA Fair in Boston, on May Read more

Published: April 20, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 420—Potential degree collector. Darden vs wait. INSEAD vs Stern’s Tech MBA.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 3 activity on LiveWire; interview invites are now starting to roll out for this shortened application round. Next week Harvard and UPenn / Wharton have deadlines for their deferred admissions programs. Graham noted Clear Admit’s Application Overview May series of events. These online events will be hosted on May 6 and 7, and May 20 and 21. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/appoverview25 Sandwiched in the middle of these events is Clear Admit’s MBA admissions fair in Boston, on May 14th. This Read more

Published: April 13, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 419— Non-traditional, 16 years of experience. Haas vs Kellogg’s MBAi. Darden vs Stern.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 3 activity on LiveWire; interview invites are now starting to roll out for this shortened application round. Graham then announced the recent partnership Clear Admit has now established with Leland, which will now become our partner for MBA admissions coaching, test prep, and career counseling. Graham noted Clear Admit’s Application Overview May series of events. These online events will be hosted on May 6 and 7, and May 20 and 21. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/appoverview25 Sandwiched in the middle Read more

Published: April 6, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 418—710 GMAT, Brazilian banker. Booth vs Kellogg. Ross vs Kelley.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 2 activity on LiveWire; Stanford, UPenn / Wharton and MIT / Sloan were among the top MBA programs releasing decisions last week. For this upcoming week, Round 3 admissions deadlines are rolling on, while Oxford / Said and Ohio State / Fisher have decision deadlines. Graham noted Clear Admit’s Application Overview May series of events. These online events will be hosted on May 6 and 7, and May 20 and 21. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/appoverview25 Sandwiched in the middle of Read more

Published: March 30, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 417—3.1 GPA, health issues. Electrical engineer, Product manager. Tuck vs Fuqua.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 2 activity on LiveWire; Harvard, Northwestern / Kellogg, Chicago / Booth, Berkeley / Haas, Washington / Foster, UCLA / Anderson, Texas / McCombs and London Business School were among the top MBA programs releasing decisions last week. For this upcoming week, Stanford, UPenn / Wharton, MIT / Sloan and Cornell / Johnson are scheduled to release their final decisions. Graham highlighted the Spring Survey that Clear Admit conducts each season. These surveys are important to understand the decisions of each applicant-cohort. Read more

Published: March 23, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 416—Tuck vs Fuqua and Darden. Judge vs Booth’s EMBA program. Johnson vs Tuck and Ross.

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 2 activity on LiveWire; UNC / Kenan Flagler, Yale SOM and Georgetown / McDonough were among the top MBA programs scheduled to release Round 2 decisions last week. For this upcoming week, IESE, Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, Columbia, Chicago / Booth, Berkeley / Haas, UCLA / Anderson, Texas / McCombs, Washington / Foster, Boston College / Carroll, Michigan State / Broad, Imperial College and London Business School are releasing their final decisions. Graham highlighted the Spring Survey that Clear Read more

Published: March 16, 2025

MBA Wire Taps 415—Military, GRE 331. Arizona Carey vs Marshall. Haas vs Kellogg

Weekly Roundup for Clear Admit’s MBA Podcast In this week’s MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 2 activity on LiveWire; Dartmouth / Tuck, Emory / Goizueta, UVA / Darden, Michigan / Ross, Rice / Jones, Indiana / Kelley and Vanderbilt / Owen were among the top MBA programs releasing Round 2 decisions last week. For this upcoming week, UNC / Kenan Flagler, Yale SOM, Georgetown / McDonough and INSEAD are releasing their final decisions. Graham highlighted the Spring Applicant Survey that Clear Admit conducts each season. These surveys are important to understand the decisions of each applicant Read more

MBA Livewire

August 14, 2026 12:56pm ET

Applied to Michigan / Ross

Round: Round 1

Received via portal

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 3.39

GRE: 327

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Post MBA Career: Consulting

Application Location: United States, Chicago

Juno Member: Not yet

August 14, 2026 12:55pm ET

Applied to Northwestern / Kellogg

Round: Round 1

Received via portal

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 3.39

GRE: 327

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Post MBA Career: Consulting, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, EY Parthenon, Kearney, Oliver Wyman, PWC Strategy&

Application Location: United States, Chicago

Juno Member: Not yet

August 14, 2026 12:53pm ET

Applied to Chicago Booth

Round: Round 1

Received via portal

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 3.39

GRE: 327

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Post MBA Career: Deloitte, Oliver Wyman, McKinsey, Kearney, EY Parthenon, BCG, Bain, Consulting

Application Location: United States, Chicago

Juno Member: Not yet

August 14, 2026 12:49pm ET

Applied to Michigan / Ross

Round: Round 1

Received via portal

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 3.39

GRE: 324

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Post MBA Career: Consulting, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, Kearney, LEK Consulting, McKinsey, Oliver Wyman, PWC Strategy&

Application Location: United States, Chicago

Juno Member: Not yet

August 8, 2026 11:54am ET

Rejected at MIT Sloan

Round: Round 2

Received via portal on February 23, 2026

Standardized Test: GMAT

GPA: 3.2

GMAT: 645

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Post MBA Career: Technology

Application Location: South Africa

Juno Member: Not yet

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