Jonathan Pfeffer
Fridays from the Frontline: How Kelley Prepared Me – First-Year to Internship
For MBA students, the coveted summer internship is a stepping stone to the career of their dreams. The internship may help get your foot in the door, but the lessons from the first-year of business school can inform a stronger impression on a potential future employer. Current Indiana / Kelley MBA student Whitney Hamilton took to the Kelley blog to unpack exactly how her first year at Kelley helped set her up for success as Brand Intern at Conagra. How Kelley Prepared Me: First-year to Internship Whitney Hamilton, MBA’20 This time last year, I was preparing to start a new... Read more »
Real Humans of UVA Darden’s MBA Class of 2021
In this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students, we head to a rigorous, close-knit MBA program in Charlottesville, Virginia. MBA candidates who choose The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business can expect to review more than 500 case studies during the two-year program. Darden also emphasizes experiential learning, including international hands-on opportunities like the Darden Worldwide Course, the Global Consulting Project, and the Exchange Program. Domestic field experiences include the Leadership Ride: Lessons in Leadership, a course exploring leadership styles, systems of authority as evidenced in the Battle of Gettysburg; the elective, Markets in Human Hope, designed to help the disadvantaged... Read more »
Real Humans of Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA Class of 2021
Known for its intimate class size and rural setting, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business attracts candidates seeking an immersive educational environment. Tuck’s Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Luke Anthony Peña, has written at length how Tuck students are smart, accomplished, aware and nice. In this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students, we see just how all of these elements come together for the Class of 2021. The 284 students of the Class of 2021 are a diverse group. Women represent 42 percent of the class. Nearly a quarter of the class identify as U.S. minorities and 38 percent... Read more »
Admissions Director Q&A: Berkeley Haas’s Morgan Bernstein
In this edition of our ongoing series, Admissions Director Q&A, we stop by the Bay Area of California. Morgan Bernstein is the executive director of full-time MBA admissions at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and a 2009 alumna of the program. Bernstein is deeply passionate about helping prospective students navigate the business school landscape, and brings an authentic, compassionate, and transparent approach to her admissions processes. Bernstein is inspired daily by Haas students and carefully curates a community that demonstrates curiosity, self-awareness, resilience, and optimism—among other leadership attributes. Before joining the Haas admissions team in 2011, Bernstein primarily worked in... Read more »
Fridays from the Frontline: A Day in The Life @ MIT Sloan
The life of an MBA student is a hectic one, academically and socially. It may be hard to imagine cramming multiple classes, extracurricular activities and personal health into a single day. So, what does it look like? How does the daily schedule shake out? In this edition of Fridays from the Frontline, we find out from a current MIT Sloan MBA student. Isaac Santos MBA ’20 took to the Sloan blog to offer a play-by-play of an average day in the life of a Sloanie. A Day in the Life @ MIT Sloan by Isaac Santos Hi everyone! My name... Read more »
Real Humans of Oxford University’s Saïd Business School MBA Class of 2020
In this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students, we visit Oxford University’s Saïd Business School in England. The one-year MBA program employs an interdisciplinary and global approach to business education. Students learn through a blend of the case study method, lectures, simulation and team projects. Courses are taught in partnership with industry practitioners to ensure material is relevant to real-life situations. As part of the emphasis on applied learning, students must complete a one-week Entrepreneurship Project. Those who attend Saïd Business School enjoy the benefits and traditions of the larger university. Oxford University was ranked #1 in the Times Higher... Read more »
Real Humans of London Business School’s MBA Class of 2021
For this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students, we catch up with the new class at London Business School (LBS). When you hear “London,” architectural icons like the Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Big Ben or Globe Theater may spring to mind. London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, is also a global financial and tech hub. Indeed, the city is only second to San Francisco in its concentration of fintech companies. Not surprisingly, many members of the incoming Class of 2021 arrived at LBS with backgrounds in finance, tech and consulting. While some of these candidates are... Read more »
Fridays from the Frontline: Kia Ora! New Chicago Booth MBA Students Travel to New Zealand
There has been plenty of digital ink spilled in these virtual Clear Admit pages about the virtues of study abroad programs as a critical component of the MBA experience. What is less often discussed is the value of study abroad experiences that aren’t tethered to internships, experiential learning, or even business at all. Case in point: Chicago Booth’s Random Walk orientation trip in which second-year students lead roughly a dozen incoming first-years to 35 locations at home and abroad. Current second-year Boothie Kate Nimmo took to the Booth Experience blog to offer a play-by-play of the first Random Walk New... Read more »
Admissions Director Q&A: UCI Merage’s Taylor Martini
For this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we hear from Taylor Martini, who serves as the Executive Director of UCI Merage School of Business’s Full-Time MBA Program. He oversees total operations of the Full-Time MBA Program, including financial and strategic management, academic programming and supervision of the admissions and student services teams. Before moving into his current role, Martini supported the recruitment and admissions function of the program office for four years. Martini joined the Merage School in June 2015, soon after graduating from the UCI Paul Merage School of Business Full-Time MBA Program. During his time in... Read more »
Real Humans of Indiana Kelley’s MBA Class of 2021
In this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students, we head to the Midwestern U.S. There, known as a research stronghold with outstanding faculty, Indiana’s Kelley School of Business offers top-notch degree programs with campuses in Bloomington and Indianapolis. U.S. News and World Report ranked Kelley #21 in Best Business Schools (tie), #9 in Part-time MBAs (tie), and #1 in Online MBAs. In 2018, the Princeton Review named Kelley #10 Best Professors, based on student feedback. Kelley is home to world-recognized centers and institutes for research in the following domains: Brand Leadership Business Analytics Center for Excellence in Manufacturing CIBER Data... Read more »
Real Humans of INSEAD’s MBA Class of 2020
With campuses located in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, INSEAD is known for its international orientation, academic rigor, and consistently high rankings. One of INSEAD’s unique features is that its standard course of study is an accelerated 10-month MBA. Students can begin their studies in either January or September. Combined with its stellar reputation, this timeline makes it an obvious choice for up-and-coming business leaders looking to step up on the international stage quickly. When asked, “Why INSEAD,” one member of the Class of 2020 underscores this by saying, the “1-year intense MBA program provides a time and opportunity cost... Read more »
Admissions Director Q&A: Sue Oldham of Vanderbilt Owen
You may have already seen the Real Humans of Vanderbilt Owen’s MBA Class of 2021, and now we are back to hear directly from the admissions office. In this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A, we head back to Nashville for an interview with Associate Dean Sue Oldham. Working closely with colleagues in the dean’s office, faculty, staff and student leaders, Oldham strives to enhance the end-to-end student experience from the moment a prospective MBA student becomes interested in Owen until they graduate. This includes oversight of Admissions, Academic Programs and Student Life, Shared Services, Extracurricular Learning, and the Career... Read more »
Fridays from the Frontline: A Dartmouth Tuck Internship at the Intersection of Strategy & Business – MetLife
Internships are golden opportunities for MBA students to put theory into practice, and to get a taste of what their post-MBA careers may be like. Dartmouth Tuck second-year MBA student Sneha Nagarajan T’20 took to the Tuck 360 blog to discuss her thoroughly intersectional business experience as a MetLife intern. A Dartmouth Tuck Internship at the Intersection of Strategy & Business: MetLife by Sneha Nagarajan T’20 I came to Tuck knowing I was choosing the generosity, commitment, and kindness of the people of this community over everything else. When I was choosing my internship, that remained just as important to me.... Read more »
Admissions Director Q&A: Dibyendu Bose of the Indian School of Business
For this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we hear from the Indian School of Business (ISB). An ISB alumnus and MIT Sloan Fellow, Dibyendu Bose is currently the Director of Admissions & Financial Aid (AFA) at ISB. He also heads the Office of Alumni Engagement and works closely with Dean Rajendra Srivastava in driving different strategic initiatives. Earlier he has worked in India, United Kingdom and USA primarily in the corporate sector and also has had an entrepreneurial stint working in the Boston ecosystem. Read on the learn more from Bose about ISB’s Post-Graduate Program in Management (PGP),... Read more »
Real Humans of IESE’s MBA Class of 2021
This edition of Real Humans: MBA Students takes us to Spain. Located in the heart of Barcelona, IESE Business School offers exceptional opportunities and resources for MBAs. IESE embodies a global approach to the MBA experience with campuses and alliances in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Offerings include a bilingual MBA Diploma and a Business Spanish Program. Programs run 15 or 19 months in length and boast a 90 percent post-graduate placement in top jobs within three months. In 2018, The Economist ranked IESE the #1 MBA in Europe. The Financial Times ranked IESE #1 in Executive Education five... Read more »
Real Humans of The Wharton School’s MBA Class of 2021
We continue with our Real Humans: MBA Students series at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 1881, The Wharton School at Penn has been an innovator in business education, pioneering schooling in accounting, business law, finance, industrial management, insurance, marketing, transportation and more. American entrepreneur and industrialist Joseph Wharton established the world’s first collegiate business school, transforming business from trade-based training to an institutionalized, respected profession. Wharton boasts business school “firsts,” including the first business school research center to open in 1921 and the first MBA program in Health Care Management. Today, Wharton maintains an impressive network of 99,000 alumni and 77... Read more »
Admissions Director Q&A: Rebekah Lewin of the University of Rochester Simon Business School
We are back for another edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series. This time, we stop in New York’s third largest metropolitan area of Rochester. There, Rebekah Lewin is assistant dean of admissions and financial aid for the full-time MBA and MS programs at the University of Rochester, Simon Business School. She has over twenty years of undergraduate and graduate admissions experience, primarily at the University of Rochester. In her current role, she oversees strategy related to recruitment, admissions, financial aid, and on-boarding for these programs. Rebekah also provides leadership to several other key areas, including Academic Operations, the Registrar’s... Read more »
Real Humans of Cornell Johnson’s MBA Class of 2021
Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management set a record this year for their all-time highest representation of women in their Two-Year MBA class: 35 percent. This benchmark stems from an ongoing commitment to diversity and equity, as the school is also celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Office of Diversity & Inclusion this year. Altogether, this leads us to a special all-women edition of Real Humans: MBA Students. Johnson’s support for women leaders in business is clear. The incoming class is offered a Women’s Welcome Retreat, Women’s Faculty Reception, and the school hosts the annual Johnson Women... Read more »
Fridays from the Frontline: Benefits of Duke Fuqua’s MBA Exchange Program
The study abroad experience is a major draw for prospective b-school students. Foreign exchange programs not only allow students to immerse themselves in new business cultures and expand their networks beyond continental confines, but also provide a global lens through which to understand their professional interests. This includes everything from the curriculum at international management programs to the challenges that face the local startup ecosystem. It is for these reasons and more that Duke Fuqua MBA student Bonnie Kong shipped off to the Netherlands to study at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) as part of the Outgoing Exchange Program.... Read more »
Real Humans of Vanderbilt Owen’s MBA Class of 2021
We turn our attention to Nashville, Tennessee, for this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students. Beyond being a mecca for music, this glowing city is home to Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, which has been a stronghold of MBA talent in the American South. The 147 students who comprise the incoming Class of 2021 hold median GMAT scores of 680 and undergrad GPAs of 3.36. They arrived on campus with professional work experience averaging 5.3 years. International students comprise 14 percent of the class, including permanent residents and dual citizens; 25 different countries are represented. Women hold a... Read more »
