Admissions Tips
Published: August 12, 2018
Savvy MBA Application Strategy: How Many Apps, Which Schools, When to Apply
You’ve decided the MBA is the next stop on your career path. What now? The smartest applicants are those who take the time to create an informed MBA application strategy—a well thought-out game plan that can help you obtain your goals as efficiently and effectively as possible. One of the first challenges you’ll face is school selection—strategically choosing which schools to target, bearing in mind the competitive mix of those schools. In recent years, MBA applicants appear to be trending downward in terms of the total number of schools to which they apply. Research we have undertaken on data
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Published: August 5, 2018
Admissions Tip: Applying to Business School as a Younger Applicant
As many of our readers know, it has become increasingly common for younger individuals to apply to MBA programs. Whereas the average age and years of work experience at the leading business schools has traditionally hovered at around 28 and five respectively, many programs are now carefully considering the more youthful end of the applicant pool. Of course, the fact that admissions officers are taking a closer look at younger applicants does not mean that getting accepted to a top program is easy for this group. In fact, it may be difficult for younger applicants to present themselves as fully
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Michigan Ross Adcom Shares New Twists in 2018 MBA Application
The Michigan Ross School of Business MBA application for fall 2018 is now live! MBA candidates can start applying ASAP, and for the most part, it’s the same as last year. However, there are a few notable changes and things that applicants should be aware of before they start the application process. Soojin Kwon, managing director full-time MBA admissions and program, outlined the changes and a few other general tips in a post on the Ross MBA Admissions blog earlier this week. Here’s what you need to know.
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HBS Adcom Director Launches Application Tips Blog Series
Clear Admit had the pleasure of sitting down with Harvard Business School (HBS) Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Chad Losee a few weeks ago when we were in Boston for the annual Graduate Management Admission Council conference. Losee shared then his plans to launch an Application Tips series on his blog. True to his word, he kicked things off earlier this month. HBS Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Chad Losee “When July hits, I know from personal experience that applying starts to feel ‘real’ when you are planning to apply to HBS in Round
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Summer Reading: 10 Not-to-Miss Biographies of Great Business Leaders
For successful admits in the most recent MBA admissions cycle, the date to arrive on campus at business school is fast approaching. If you’re looking for ways to spend your remaining summer leisure time, check out this list of not-to-miss business tycoon biographies. From tech titans like Elon Musk and the late Steve Jobs to the Oracle of Omaha and cosmetics empire entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash, the titles below promise to provide inspiring insights for soon-to-be MBA students of every stripe. 10 Not-to-Miss Biographies of Great Business Leaders Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator
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MBA ApplyWire Spotlight: Trouble with Tests
As new MBA applicants look for admissions assessments, many are posting to Clear Admit’s ApplyWire, a platform for feedback from our community of top-tier applicants to help inform your final choice of schools and approach to admissions.
In this edition of MBA ApplyWire Spotlight, we take a closer look at two recent posts from new candidates for the Class of 2021. We start with a candidate who wants to retake the GRE:
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Ready for Your MBA? Register for Free to Meet Top B-Schools at The MBA Tour This July!
Summer is in full swing! While you may be enjoying the time to travel, hit the beach and spend time with family and friends, it’s also the best time to prepare for your MBA admissions journey. As such, we wanted to let you know that our friends from The MBA Tour are hosting their U.S. Tour throughout July. If your located close to one of the following events, don’t miss out on this great opportunity to meet with admissions directors from Columbia, MIT, UC Berkeley, Chicago Booth, IE, Northwestern Kellogg and more top business schools. You’ll be able to attend admissions panels,
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Tuck School of Business to Host Free Webinar on August 8th – “A Walk Through the Tuck Application”
The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth has made some exciting innovations to the application process. Join Clear Admit and Tuck for a free webinar taking you on an in depth, exclusive walk through the Tuck MBA Application. Whether you’re planning on applying or just beginning to consider an MBA and wonder if Tuck is a good fit for your aspirations, this is your opportunity to gain valuable insight into applying to Tuck. Bring your questions! Kristin Roth, Associate Director of Admissions with the Tuck MBA Admissions Team will host the event, following an introduction by
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Kellogg Admissions Director Shares Insights on 2019 MBA Application
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management is one of several leading business schools to release its 2019-2020 MBA application online within the last week. At Kellogg, deadlines for the upcoming admission season are as follow: September 19, 2018 January 9, 2019 April 10, 2019 To help you get started, Director of Admissions Melissa Rapp provided insight into the 2019 MBA application along with some great advice on how to prepare. We’ve shared some of the most pertinent details below. Written Essay Questions Remain Unchanged The Kellogg written essay questions remain the same this year as last. Applicants will need to
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Leading Business School Admissions Directors Share Pro Tips for Applicants in Unique May Events
Admissions directors from seven leading business schools convened last month for MBA admissions events in San Francisco and Washington, DC, giving prospective applicants an unusual opportunity to learn more about how to navigate the admissions process directly from the people who know best. Clear Admit Editor-in-Chief Jeanette Brown peppered representatives from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, Duke’s Fuqua School, Michigan’s Ross School, NYU Stern School, UVA’s Darden School, and the Yale School of
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These Four Attributes Will Help You Get into Tuck’s MBA Program
Nice guys finish last? Not so if you’re an applicant to the MBA program at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. Tuck’s admissions director yesterday outlined new, simplified criteria for evaluating MBA applicants—part of the school’s continuing commitment to being as open and transparent in its admissions process as possible. When it comes right down to it, Tuck wants students who are a combination of the following four attributes: nice, smart, accomplished, and aware. As part of a news story on the school’s website outlining the new evaluation criteria, Tuck Executive Director of Admissions and
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Get and Give Inside Advice for Great Business School Campus Visits
We’re hard at work on our next new applicant resource—the Clear Admit VisitArchive—which is designed to help MBA candidates learn more about their target schools by reading about the campus visit experience of others. Though VisitArchive is still only in beta testing—look for an official launch later in the 2018-2019 admissions cycle—we have already received great responses from early users sharing tips guaranteed to inform future visits. For example, one visitor who took an Uber to Georgetown’s McDonough School campus offered this advice: “On a hot day, do not let them drop you at the main gate. It’s a
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MBA ApplyWire Spotlight: Profile Feedback for Business School Admissions
As a new crop of applicants set their sights on the 2018-2019 admissions season, many are wisely turning to Clear Admit’s ApplyWire, a tool that supports MBA application strategy. As an applicant, by posting the business schools you are considering applying to, along with a little information about your credentials and goals, you can get feedback from our community of top-tier applicants to help inform your final choice of schools.
In this edition of MBA ApplyWire Spotlight, we take a closer look at two recent posts from new candidates for the Class of 2021. We start with a consultant who has a lengthy list of schools:
Clear Admit’s resident admissions expert (and newlywed!), Alex Brown, kicked off the feedback:
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Admissions Tip: Time-Saving Tools for School Targeting
A critical key to success in the MBA admissions process is targeting the right MBA programs for application. When commencing the MBA admissions process, it can be difficult to immediately identify which programs might be most suitable and where you might be most competitive. A quick survey of MBA rankings may provide clues – and our own tiered ranking system provides additional guidance in terms of which programs are similar from a competitive standpoint – but beyond those basic resources, Clear Admit also has two unique tools to help you quickly arrive at your list of target MBA programs: MBA
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Meet Leading Admissions Directors, Clear Admit Editor-in-Chief at May 16th Event in Washington, DC
Admissions directors from seven leading business schools will convene for a second multi-school MBA admissions event on Wednesday, May 16th, in Washington, DC. Moderated by Clear Admit Editor-in-Chief Jeanette Brown, the DC event will feature representatives from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Cornell’s S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, Duke’s Fuqua School, Michigan’s Ross School, NYU Stern School, UVA’s Darden School, and Yale School of Management (SOM).
The first event, which took place in San Francisco on May 10th, filled up completely. Dozens of alumni from participating programs now working in the Bay Area were also on hand to share their first-hand experiences as students with participants.
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Admissions Tip: Round 3 Results
With the MBA programs releasing their final round notifications in the upcoming weeks, the 2017-2018 admissions season is coming to a close for the vast majority of MBA aspirants. We’d like to offer our congratulations to all those who have gained admission to one of more of their target schools and wish good luck to waitlisted applicants whose fate is presently a bit less certain. For all those who submitted their applications in the final round and received an unfavorable decision, we’d like to share a few tips that we hope will make the process of facing rejection as productive
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Our Latest Podcast: Reapplying to Business School
If your dream of attending a top-tier business school was dashed by a rejection this year, we know how hard that can be. To work so tirelessly toward a goal that you don’t achieve can be spirit-crushing. And yet, we’re here to tell you that it does happen. You are not alone. We’re also here to tell you that you might want to think about reapplying. Did you know—one out of every 10 students in most Harvard Business School MBA classes applied more than once and was rejected the first time. That’s right. On average, a tenth of the HBS
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Published: April 24, 2018
Our Latest Podcast: Clear Admit’s 12-Step Program for Early Bird MBA Applicants
Looking to get an early start on your MBA applications for the 2018-2019 application season? Don’t miss our latest podcast episode, in which Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond outlines a 12-step program for early bird MBA applicants. By getting the ball rolling this far in advance, you’re already setting yourself up for success. Richmond’s suggested steps can help ensure that you stay on track and take full advantage of your great head start. Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast Episode 11: Clear Admit's 12-Step Program for Early Bird MBA Applicants Play Episode Pause Episode 1x 00:00 /
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Published: April 23, 2018
Your Essential Guide to Pre-MBA Diversity Conferences, Boot Camps, and Forums
Several organizations are focused on helping increase the pipeline of underrepresented demographics—such as women, LGBTQ students, and those from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds—to business school and the larger business world. As part of these efforts, many host pre-MBA conferences, boot camps, and forums providing recruiting and networking opportunities to diverse admitted students headed off to business school in the fall. For eligible participants, these opportunities, designed to provide a head start for students in the MBA recruiting process before they even arrive on campus, are well worth pursuing. Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference The Forté Foundation, a non-profit
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Financing Your MBA, Part 4: International MBA Student Loans
In our previous post on financing your MBA, we covered loan programs for MBA students from the United States. Today, we’ll take a look at loans through the lens of international students, who face some different restrictions but who are also eligible for special programs tailored to their unique requirements. By law, federal loans can only be distributed to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. This means that international students must put extra work into finding financial aid and loan programs to support their education if they choose to pursue a U.S. MBA program.
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Financing Your MBA, Part 3: Loans for U.S. MBA Students
Moving right along in our multi-part series on financing your MBA, we’ll take a look today at some of the options prospective MBA students have for obtaining loans to finance their time at business school. For the purposes of this post, we will focus primarily U.S. MBA student loan programs. International students, stay tuned for subsequent posts that will go into greater detail about loan programs tailored for your needs. Of course, because loans must ultimately be repaid—unlike scholarship or fellowship aid—deciding how much you should borrow is as important as understanding how much you can borrow. To make an
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Financing Your MBA, Part 2: Where to Look for Funding
In the first of our multi-part series on financing your MBA, we took a look last week at the costs involved in attending a top-tier business school. Now, with a better handle on how much money you’ll need, let’s start looking at where that funding will come from. Students typically rely on a mixture of savings, fellowships and scholarships, employer or outside assistance, and loans to meet the cost of an MBA program. According to the GMAC 2017 Prospective Student Survey, the most recently surveyed group of prospective students expected to finance almost half their education
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Thanking Your MBA Recommenders—Our Guide to Gift Giving
The process of applying to business school is a complicated beast with numerous steps to consider along the path from application to acceptance. As Round 2 decisions roll in, many applicants may find themselves approaching one of the final steps in the process: Finding an appropriate gift for thanking your MBA recommenders. While this step might seem insignificant on the surface—or at the very least merely symbolic—make no mistake: Experts hold this one in especially high esteem. Clear Admit’s DecisionWeek is brought to you by HBX. HBX brings the dynamism of the Harvard Business School classroom to online
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Published: March 29, 2018
Fridays from the Frontline: HBS Student Shares Why Applying in Round 3 Made Sense
Fridays from the Frontline Better late than never? For b-school hopefuls who for one reason or another let the Round 1 and Round 2 deadlines pass them by, conventional wisdom has often been to wait until next year. But most schools do feature a Round 3, and for the right applicants, applying in this late round can work out just as well. To be sure, applying to MBA programs during Round 3 has its challenges—classes have largely been filled and scholarship aid is at its most scarce. That said, Round 3 can actually have more of a strategic function than
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