Posts by Christina Griffith

In this Admissions Director Q&A, we welcome back Eric Askins, Executive Director of Admissions at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Eric leads the admissions and enrollment efforts at Berkeley Haas, having spent over a decade in higher education with a mission of advancing access and opportunity. At Haas, he partners with students, faculty, and staff to recruit a diverse student body. Read on to get Eric’s insight into MBA admissions this year, including what to expect from interviews, how to put your best essay forward, and more. Eric Askins, Executive Director of Read more

The NYU Stern School of Business has announced its new Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-Year Full-time MBA Program. The program, a partnership between Stern and NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), is the first full-time MBA offering from a top U.S. business school in the Middle East. It is designed for early-career professionals interested in building a career in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.  In the school’s press release, Dean of NYU Stern School of Business Raghu Sundaram stated, “The introduction of this full-time MBA to the MENA region Read more

Bill Boulding, Dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business It’s a well-documented truth that diversity is critical for business. More diverse teams consistently outperform homogenous ones. The collision of differing perspectives stimulates fresh ideas and fuels innovation, making it a vital driver for success in today’s business landscape. For Bill Boulding, Dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, the national conversation about admissions policies in higher education underscores the direction Duke Fuqua has taken in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Boulding wrote about Duke Fuqua’s continuing effort to Read more

In this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we visit Seattle’s University of Washington Foster School of Business with Director of Admissions Brent Nagamine.  Brent Nagamine, Director of Admissions, Washington Foster Brent currently oversees marketing, recruitment, selection, and scholarships for the Full-Time, Evening, and Global MBA programs. He has been working in the higher education sphere since 2013, when he graduated from the University of Washington. He started his career working in undergraduate admissions and eventually pursued his M.S.Ed from the University of Pennsylvania. After joining the Read more

HEC Paris and Columbia University Climate School have launched a double degree masters program to prepare students for the ecological realities awaiting them in the business world and beyond. Students earn two degrees: the Master in Management (MiM) from HEC Paris and the Master of Arts (MA) in Climate and Society from Columbia University. The program, which begins in the fall of 2023, recognizes that dual skills in management and climate science are necessary for leaders of companies, NGOs, and governments to address the climate crisis. The program offers students a systemic understanding Read more

In this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we welcome Shelly Heinrich, associate dean of MBA admissions and director of marketing at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Heinrich leads the MBA Admissions team in both its marketing and operational strategy to build awareness, recruit, yield, and retain the Full-time and Flex MBA programs. She also develops the integrated marketing strategy for the team and manages the internal marketing team and external marketing firm in its execution. Heinrich is a Read more

In this Admissions Director Q&A, we welcome back Danielle Richie, Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions & Recruiting at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Danielle brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her role as the leader of the Full-Time MBA Program admissions and student recruitment team at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. With over 15 years of professional recruiting experience in both graduate and undergraduate business programs, she is well-versed in identifying top talent and creating a diverse and talented MBA student community. Her educational background in communications with Read more

In this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, Bailey McChesney, Director of MBA Admissions at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, sheds light on the MBA admissions process and more. With over a decade of recruiting and admissions experience, Bailey focuses on the admissions side of the Vanderbilt MBA Recruiting and Admissions Team, managing the application evaluation process and incoming student onboarding. She also co-leads the MBA Recruiting & Admissions Fellows. Bailey began with Vanderbilt Business in March 2011 and has served in several roles on the Recruiting & Admissions Team, managing Read more

The UCLA Anderson School of Management‘s MBA Class of 2025 profile reveals a globally diverse and experienced class of accomplished professionals. The school selected 300 students for the new cohort out of 2,180 applicants (last year, the program received 2,471 applications).  Academic and Professional History Business and engineering degree holders make up the bulk of the new class, with 26 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Fifteen percent each majored in economics or humanities/social sciences. Another nine percent had studied math/computer sciences during their undergraduate years, and five Read more

In this edition of our MBA Admissions Director Q&A series, we welcome back Rodrigo Malta, Managing Director of MBA Marketing, Recruiting & Admissions at the Texas McCombs School of Business. Rodrigo is originally from Brazil and immigrated to the United States during high school. He earned his MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business (2007), and his bachelor’s degree in management from Missouri State University (2000). Before and after his MBA, Rodrigo worked for Fortune 100 companies in internal audit and marketing in the telecom and technology Read more

Sustainability is critical for companies to remain competitive through the 21st century’s increasing environmental challenges. The next generation of leaders and changemakers must be prepared to develop innovative solutions and strategies.  Addressing these issues is the INSEAD Consulting Club, which, in partnership with global consulting firm Accenture, hosted a sustainability strategy competition this past spring for MBA students. The event was the first nod to the recent launch of INSEAD’s renewed MBA curriculum, which has embedded sustainability into its core courses to ensure graduates integrate sustainability Read more

In this Admissions Director Q&A, we welcome back Justin Aier, Assistant Dean of Graduate Recruitment & Enrollment at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. Justin has been a part of the Carroll School Graduate Admissions team for over five years, and has taken on roles from marketing and communications to recruitment and enrollment management. His favorite part of the admissions process is personally working with applicants to determine how the BC MBA can help them achieve their academic and professional goals. Read on for his Read more

This edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series takes us to Athens, Georgia, to learn all about the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business from Leigh Britton, Associate Director of Admissions for the Full-Time MBA and MS Business Analytics Programs.  Leigh began her UGA career in 2018 as a student services coordinator working with admitted MBA and MSBA students and on the admissions committee for the MSBA program. She transitioned to full-time admissions in 2022. Leigh is a seasoned higher education professional serving multiple intuitions across 3 different states Read more

Emory University’s Goizueta Business School has unveiled a new educational opportunity designed for graduates with non-business backgrounds: the Master in Management program. Designed to elevate the value of their undergraduate degrees by equipping them with essential business knowledge and skills, this program stands as a stepping stone for those seeking to broaden their career horizons. Students complete a dynamic curriculum in just ten months, setting the stage for accelerated professional growth through a fast track for students to gain a valuable business education and expand their career options. With 12 of Read more

In this installment of our Admissions Director Q&A series, David Simpson, the Recruitment and Admissions Director for the MBA and Masters in Finance (MiF) programs at London Business School, joins us to talk about admissions. David has been with the School for over 25 years, starting in admissions, moving through various roles in marketing and business development, before returning to admissions. His undergraduate degree is in business, majoring in international marketing. In his time at London Business School, he has enjoyed travelling the world to Read more

In this Admissions Director Q&A, we welcome back J.R. McGrath, Executive Director of Masters Admissions at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. J.R. has been at Tepper for the past 2.5 years and accepted the role of Executive Director in October 2022. He has previously served in leadership roles at SMU Cox, TCU, and Syracuse. In addition to his professional responsibilities, JR and his wife have a young daughter that keeps them busy. J.R. also enjoys running, golf, and anything to do with Pittsburgh sports teams. Read on for his take on MBA Read more

For this installment of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we welcome Liam Kilby, Associate Director of MBA Recruitment and Admissions at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. Liam attended the University of Sheffield, studying for a BSc in Computer Science and Mathematics. He started working in finance after leaving University and joined Barclays Global Wealth in the UK before deciding on a career pivot and a move into education several years later. He spent time working at Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press, before a relocation back to Oxford and Read more

In this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we welcome two members of the Cornell University Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management leadership: Eddie Asbie, Executive Director of Admissions & Scholarship for the Two-Year MBA program, and Vishal Gaur, the newly appointed Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean and Emerson Professor of Manufacturing Management. Asbie has spent the past 18 years of his professional career in higher education, primarily within admissions, and has called Ithaca and the Johnson School his home for the last 11 years. He graduated from Read more

In this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we welcome back Mikale Elliott, Associate Director of Recruiting at Washington University’s Olin Business School.  Mikale spent her undergraduate career at the University of Missouri–Columbia studying business communication and gaining experience recruiting underrepresented minorities. After graduating, she took a non-traditional pathway working as a flight attendant for a few years. Eventually, she returned to higher education to work on an HIV prevention research project. Through all these pivots, the thing that brought her back to admissions was her passion for others from diverse backgrounds Read more

In this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we meet Stephanie Kluth, the Director of Admissions at ESMT Berlin. Stephanie has been working for ESMT since its founding in 2002 and has been heading the Admissions office since 2005. Prior to joining ESMT Berlin, Kluth worked at the Aspen Institute Berlin and the Jewish Museum Berlin. Berlin has been her home for many more years, so she knows the city inside and out. She knows every full-time MBA alumnus/a who has studied at ESMT, and she and her rescue Read more

The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania presents its profile of the MBA Class of 2025, a cohort that embodies diversity and achievement. The 874 enrolled students were selected from a pool of 6,194 applicants, a slight drop in application volume from 6,319 last year.  Academic and Professional Achievement The Wharton MBA Class of 2025 brings with it an average of five years of professional experience. A wide range of careers are represented. Twenty-seven percent hailed from consulting, the most popular industry. Private equity and venture capital Read more

We welcome Blair Mannix, the Director of Admissions of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, to this installment of our Admissions Director Q&A series. Blair has over 16 years of experience in selective admissions at the University of Pennsylvania. She was made Director of MBA Admissions in 2018. In 2020, Blair was instrumental in delivering the Class of 2022 through pandemic lockdowns. She created a homegrown virtual platform, called Wharton HQ, to communicate with admitted students. Wharton HQ was home of virtual tours, webinars, FAQs, and a direct line to Read more

For this installment of our Admissions Director Q&A, we welcome back Melissa Rapp, Associate Dean of Graduate Admissions for the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. Melissa leads the teams responsible for the recruitment, evaluation, and matriculation of students across the portfolio of graduate business programs including a One-Year MBA, Two-Year MBA, Evening MBA, Executive MBA, Master of Science in Business Analytics, and Master of Analytical Finance, Master in Management, and the Master in Business for Veterans. A longtime higher education professional with more than 18 years of experience, Melissa Read more

In this edition of our ongoing Admissions Director Q&A series, we have Chris Healy, the Head of MBA Marketing & Recruitment at Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) at the University of Manchester, returning to bring us his insights into the culture at AMBS, what to expect during the MBA program, and more about their admissions. Chris has 15 years of experience in graduate management education and a passion for GME that has only grown over time. He’s implemented and developed marketing and recruitment strategies both domestically and internationally, to meet the academic and commercial Read more

Goizueta Business School at Emory University has launched an innovative new program designed for active-duty military, veterans, National Guard, and Reserve personnel. The Master in Business for Veterans is an 11-month degree program focused on improving and accelerating the transition from military service to a successful civilian business career.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States is home to approximately 18.4 million veterans as of 2022. Despite historically low unemployment rates, many veterans still view employment as a top challenge during their transition Read more