Alex Brown
Understanding the MBA Admissions Interview – Part I
Yale SOM has already released some Round 2 interview invites, according to MBA LiveWire. Michigan Ross released its first wave on Friday of last week. Harvard plans to release its invites in two waves, January 28 and January 31. the MBA admissions world is buzzing about one thing: INTERVIEWS. With so much interview anxiety in the air—and knowing that it only stands to build from here—we’ve decided to devote this week at Clear Admit to all things interview, introducing a series we ran during the last two admissions cycles. We’re getting the ball rolling with the first part of a multi-part... Read more »
The Week Ahead: MBA Deadlines & Decisions – 1.21.19
Welcome back to the series, The Week Ahead. In this weekly series, we provide a brief rundown of what we know is happening in the week ahead, as far as admissions related MBA deadlines and decisions are concerned at the top business schools. MIT Sloan is the final leading MBA Program to have its Round 2 deadline. Tuesday, January 22, MIT / Sloan has its Round 2 deadline. ESADE is scheduled to release its Round 2 decisions. Friday, January 25, Michigan Ross is scheduled to release its second wave of interview invites for its Round 2 candidates. INSEAD and Emory / Goizueta... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Letters of Support
While business schools require candidates to submit anywhere from 1-3 recommendations as part of the regular admissions process, we’re devoting this admissions tip to a lesser known relative of the formal recommendation: the letter of support. The letter of support is very different from a typical letter of recommendation, in ways that we will detail below. In fact, we’ll use this admissions tip to share the following information: • What is a letter of support? • Who can author and submit such letters? • When should a letter of support be submitted? • What should a letter of support cover in... Read more »
The Week Ahead: MBA Deadlines & Decisions – 1.14.19
Welcome back to the series, The Week Ahead. In this weekly series, we provide a brief rundown of what we know is happening in the week ahead, as far as admissions related MBA deadlines and decisions are concerned at the top business schools. A few leading MBA Programs continue to have application deadlines this week. Monday, January 14, UNC / Kenan Flagler has its Round 3 deadline. Tuesday, January 15, NYU / Stern and ESADE have their Round 3 deadlines. Maryland / Smith has its Round 4 deadline. Smith is also scheduled to release its Round 2 decisions. Thursday, January 17, Washington... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Background Checks
With a slew of schools releasing their R1 notifications just before the holidays, we know that many of our readers will be asking about the background checks conducted by leading programs. Here are some quick facts to help explain the process: 1. What are background checks? Background checks involve the verification of information that a candidate has provided in his or her MBA applications. Although the process varies from school to school, it usually includes checking that an applicant attended the undergraduate (or graduate) school(s) that he or she claims to have attended, received the grades indicated and earned the... Read more »
The Week Ahead: MBA Deadlines & Decisions – 12.10.18
Welcome back to the series, The Week Ahead. In this weekly series, we provide a brief rundown of what we know is happening in the week ahead, as far as admissions related MBA deadlines and decisions are concerned at the top business schools. Many leading MBA Programs are releasing their Round 1 decisions. Tuesday, December 11, Harvard and Babson are scheduled to release their Round 1 decisions. Wednesday, December 12, Kellogg, UVA Darden, and CMU Tepper are scheduled to release their Round 1 decisions. Thursday, December 13, Stanford, UPenn / Wharton, Berkeley / Haas and Duke / Fuqua are scheduled to release... Read more »
Admissions Tip: The Waitlist
Last week was marked by Round 1 decision releases from a couple of the schools we cover, and in the coming weeks, nearly all the remaining Clear Admit schools are scheduled to release R1 decisions. Clear Admit’s MBA LiveWire has captured a lot of this news, including quite a few candidates recently reporting that they’ve been waitlisted at places like London Business School and INSEAD. For better or for worse, waitlisting is rather popular with top schools in the first round of admissions. As such, we’re devoting this week’s admissions tip to guidance for candidates who find themselves placed on a waitlist. Before we get to that,... Read more »
The Week Ahead: MBA Deadlines & Decisions – 12.03.18
Welcome back to the series, The Week Ahead. In this weekly series, we provide a brief rundown of what we know is happening in the week ahead, as far as admissions related MBA deadlines and decisions are concerned at the top business schools. Most leading MBA programs are in the process of interviewing their Round 1 candidates; results will be due in mid-December. Things are generally quiet this week. Tuesday, December 4, IESE is scheduled to release its Round 1 decisions. Wednesday, December 5, Yale SOM and Boston College / Carroll are scheduled to release their Round 1 decisions. Thursday, December 6,... Read more »
The Week Ahead: MBA Deadlines & Decisions – 11.12.18
Welcome back to the series, The Week Ahead. In this weekly series, we provide a brief rundown of what we know is happening in the week ahead, as far as admissions related MBA deadlines and decisions are concerned at the top business schools. Last week MIT / Sloan released its final batch of invites, as reported on LiveWire, Duke / Fuqua released its Round 1 interview invites. Other programs, including UCLA Anderson, Yale SOM, Dartmouth Tuck and Northwestern Kellogg, also released some Round 1 interview invites, on a rolling basis. Wednesday, November 14, INSEAD has its Round 2 deadline. Thursday, November 15,... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Interview Etiquette
As interview invites continue to roll out, and candidates prepare for their interviews, we wanted to continue our theme of providing interview advice and share a few very basic pointers on MBA interview etiquette. Though the content of your application materials and comments during the interview are of paramount importance, it’s also crucial to put one’s best foot forward and make a positive initial impression. Here are a few guidelines for interviewing applicants to keep in mind: Be early. Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of your interview. This will help remove the stress you will experience if you... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Visiting the B-School Campus
As we approach the middle of September, many leading MBA programs are ramping up their visit programs, in order to encourage candidates to gain first-hand experience of their offerings. We wanted to share with you our five tips for your campus visit, in order to help you make the most of your visit experiences. We also want to make sure you are aware of our new admissions tool, MBA VisitWire, where you can read experiences and tips from your fellow MBA candidates. We hope you will then share your visit experiences on MBA VisitWire. Make yourself known. Putting forth the effort... Read more »
MBA Deadlines 2018-19 – Round 1 / Early Action / Early Decision
Many of the top business schools have already announced their MBA deadlines for the upcoming admissions season. So, to help you stay organized, we’ve compiled all of the earliest deadlines all in one place. For schools that have announced their essay topic(s), we’ve provided a corresponding link to our Essay Topic Analysis. We will continue to update this table as more deadlines and essay topics are announced. Good luck! Last updated: September 5, 2018 School Deadline Decision Notification Essay Released? IESE Early Decision 9/4/2018 10/19/2018 Yes Harvard Business School 9/5/2018 12/11/2018 Yes UVA / Darden Early Action 9/7/2018 10/17/2018 Yes Oxford 9/7/2018 10/19/2018 Yes Cambridge... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Addressing Unemployment or Gaps in Employment
Given the emphasis that schools place on a candidate’s work experience, it is important to be proactive in addressing unemployment or gaps in employment. When applying to business school, many candidates worry about how the adcom might perceive gaps in employment. We would like to take some time to discuss strategies for addressing this issue. It’s not unheard of for an MBA candidate to have a gap in employment, and this will not necessarily make a negative impact on someone’s candidacy. Gaps might be due to anything from lay-offs to periods of travel. As a rule of thumb, applicants should... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Visiting the B-School Campus
As many applicants are finding out at this time of year, conducting thorough research on MBA programs is an essential step in formulating a list of target schools and crafting convincing essays. Surfing the web and speaking with friends and mentors are great starting points in identifying programs of interest. However, to really get a feel for a school and determine whether it’s a good fit for one’s goals and personality, applicants need to dig deeper and gain some firsthand experience with the program and the people. Visiting the campus is a great way to gather this kind of information,... Read more »
Admissions Tip: How to Write a Résumé That Will Get You Into Business School
Your résumé is not only an important component of your MBA application, it’s also a great place to start when crafting your overall positioning strategy. This document forces one to distill a candidacy into a concise summary, focusing on key aspects and themes. With that in mind, here are a few simple tips to get you started: First things first Because you’re applying to graduate school, it makes sense to lead this document with a section detailing your academic history. This is also the format that many business schools’ career offices instruct students to use when applying for internships or... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Crafting the MBA Essay
With several of the leading schools having already released their MBA essay questions for this admissions season, we’re sure that quite a number of early birds are eager to get a jump on the process in order to complete as many applications as possible by Round 1. As applicants find themselves brainstorming for their MBA essays, we wanted to offer a few tips on presenting yourself and your experiences as advantageously as possible. Take time to reflect. Before diving in and beginning work on a draft of any one essay, it’s often fruitful to think carefully about all of the... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Selecting & Preparing Recommenders
As we continue our focus on those of you who are applying for next year’s admissions cycle, we wanted to offer some basic tips on a critical variable in the MBA admissions equation: recommender selection. When choosing your recommenders, remember that it can be seen as a test of judgment – selecting a recommender whose letter is ineffective or who appears dubious about your qualifications may raise doubts about your ability to judge your interactions with others or to select the right person for a job. You also want to select people that you can rely on to deliver the... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Considering the Campus
Continuing our series of admissions tips geared towards those individuals who are just beginning to think about their MBA applications, we wanted to offer some advice on factors to consider with respect to a school’s facilities and location. Whether speaking with current students or touring the campus for yourself, it’s helpful to approach these information-gathering experiences with as clear a sense of what matters to you as possible. Here are a few broad categories to consider: 1. Facilities Are state-of-the-art classrooms and impressive new architecture a priority for you? Would you prefer a school that is headquartered in a single... Read more »
Digging Deep with Your Target B-Schools: Anecdotes & Advocates
Today we continue our focus for our admissions tips for those of you who are just embarking on the admissions cycle for the 2018-19 season. In this post, we turn our attention to engaging the community of one’s target b-schools. Communicating with business school insiders can be beneficial for a number of reasons: In addition to learning about a given school and your potential fit, you’ll also generate material for your essays, demonstrate your interest in the program, and perhaps even make an ally or two. In your efforts to go beyond the schools’ websites and promotional materials, we recommend reaching... Read more »
Admissions Tip: Volunteer Experience
It’s the time of year when MBA applicants aiming for Fall 2019 intake are beginning to think about the admissions process, which is why we wanted to focus this week’s admissions tip on one element of the application that candidates often underestimate: volunteer experience. In order to understand why this category is important, candidates should keep in mind that the adcom is responsible for crafting a dynamic class each year. The aim is to admit individuals who will support a vibrant campus community and step into leadership positions. In other words, as admissions officers consider each applicant, they ask themselves “what’s in... Read more »
