Now looking forward to finish the draft for UVA essays before this weekend so that i can spend some quality time one rephrasing and editing the essays i have written.
Essay questions for duke are out. Started working on my essays with a target to create the first draft of essay for duke is before august 15th. I still need to put together the points on formatting the essays.
Below are the questions.
Short Answer Essays - Answer all short answer essay questions.
What do you hope to gain from The Duke MBA? How does it fit into your short- and long- term goals? If you are interested in a joint degree or the Health Sector Management program, please address in this response.
How will you contribute to the overall experience of your peers at The Duke MBA?
Discuss a person, event or experience that has significantly shaped your life and explain why. Note: The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally.
Long Essay - Answer the long essay question below.
Today, companies must navigate through complex and interdependent issues. They must deal with health and security matters, environmental impact questions, and diversity and cultural concerns. Leaders need adaptability, imagination, and emotional intelligence as well as business acumen.
Upon graduation, a Duke MBA will be a leader of consequence - able to deal simultaneously with complex matters and engage skillfully with colleagues, clients, and community. What impact do you hope to have as a leader of consequence?
UVA / Darden Deadlines 2008-2009
Round 1
Application Deadline: October 28, 2008
Interviews Conducted: December 5-19, 2008 and January 5-9, 2009
Decisions Release Date: January 30, 2009
Round 2
Application Deadline: January 7, 2009
Interviews Conducted: February 16-March 2, 2009
Decisions Release Date: March 25, 2009
UNC / Kenan-Flagler Deadlines 2008-2009
Round 1 (Early Action)
Application Deadline: October 24th, 2008
Interview Completed by: November 7th, 2008
Decision Release Date: December 15th, 2008
Round 2
Application Deadline: December 5th, 2008
Interview Completed by: December 19th, 2008
Decision Release Date: February 9th, 2009
MIT Sloan Deadlines 2008-2009
Round 1
Application Received by: October 28th, 2008
Decisions Released on: February 2nd, 2009
Round 2
Application Received by: January 13th, 2009
Decisions Released on: April 6th, 2009
NYU / Stern
Round 1
Application Received by: November 15, 2008.
Application Link
Duke/Fuqua
Early Action
Application Deadline: October 15th, 2008
Decision Release Date: November 14th, 2008
Round 1
Application Deadline: October 27th, 2008
Decision Release Date: December 19th, 2008
Michigan / Ross Deadlines 2008-2009
Round One
Application Deadline: October 10th, 2008
Decision Notification: January 15th, 2009
Round Two
Application Deadline: January 2nd, 2009
Decision Notification: March 15th, 2009
After putting together lot of stats,considering lot of suggestions from experianced applicants and from critics i could finalize on factors based on which i selected my B-Schools.I always thought going to a B-school which is primaryly based on case-study model makes sense ,as this would help leverage the advantage of studying in American B-schools better.So couple of important factors i thought important are international student body and case study model and of course the most important thing is the school that would be interested in taking me in with the skills i am strong in esp. quantitative.So here goes the list of the schools.
1)University of Virginia,Darden(R1)
2)UNC,Kenan Flagler(R2)
3)Duke(R1)
4)MIT,sloan(R1)
5)NYU,stern(R1)
6)University of Michigan-Ross(R2)
Guys please let me know your suggestions.
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/bschools/06/mba_main.asp
Loan Options:-
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Which are likely to offer the best rates? Ask your school’s financial aid office whether it has negotiated any special deals. Then check with state-affiliated nonprofits, such as South Carolina Student Loan Corp. The credit crisis has driven several lenders to suspend at least some student loan operations. But those still offering private loans tend to offer competitive rates and fees.
Students without a co-signer may want to consider a private loan that does not depend on credit scores. One of the few such offerings, MyRichUncle’s (UNCL) PrePrime product, uses criteria including a student’s college and GPA (or high school records) to assess the risk of a default. Another way to scout for relative bargains: Look for lenders that offer low rates to applicants with unblemished credit. Then zero in on those with narrow spreads between their best and worst rates. FinAid.org publishes the range for various lenders at finaid.org/loans/privatestudentloans.phtml. “If the spread is narrow and the lender’s best rate is attractive, it increases your odds of getting a good deal,” says Kantrowitz.
Amid the credit crunch, lenders are triming the discounts they offer on fees and rates. But borrowers who agree to make payments while in school may still qualify for a lower rate. Finally, given a choice between two loans with the same overall interest rate, favor those pegged to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) that banks charge each other over the prime rate U.S. banks give their most creditworthy customers. (Your lender will disclose which index serves as the basis for your loan.) For years, the gap between prime, now 5.25%, and three-month LIBOR, now 2.92%, has grown. If the trend continues, “over the long term, a loan based on LIBOR will be less expensive,” says Kantrowitz. With rates rising on these already costly loans, every bit of savings counts.
1. Essay Formatting - See the Business Week Forum for numerous examples of people stressing out about this. At the basic level, all that matters is whether or not the AdComm can read your application. If you stick with sensible fonts (Arial, Times, Tahoma, etc.) in sensible sizes (10-12 pt) and follow the spacing they ask for (most apps are double, a few were single), you’ll be fine. I.e. follow the guidelines for good business writing.
2. Timing the Rounds - Personally, I still believe that the whole Round 1 versus Round 2 is a red herring, and I still believe you should apply when you feel the time is right. I pushed hard to apply to many schools in Round 1, mainly because I felt pressure to know the outcomes soon enough to sell my property (if accepted). As it turns out, I’ve had enough time after the R2 decision to sell the property (albeit under a bit of pressure), so this was a slight miscalculation on my part. Still, if I had it all to do over again, I would have submitted several apps in R1 because [I felt] they were ready to be submitted.
The reason I think this is a red herring is that your applications are not judged in isolation, and I think it’s impossible to “time the market”–to know how strong the other applicants will be for each round, for any particular school. Save yourself the mental gymnastics, focus on your essays, and submit the application when it’s ready.
3. School Visit
This is a half red herring. In retrospect, I do think it is useful to visit as many schools as possible prior to applying. Let’s be honest: all schools look pretty much the same, if you’re only going by their websites and online brochures. Sure, Wharton is “strong in finance” and Chicago gives students “acadmic freedom” and Kellogg “focuses on teamwork”, but those are just very general marketing slogans. Visiting a school helps you personalize (remember that word: personalize; I think it’s one of the keys to successful apps) why you want to attend a program, which is good.
On the other hand, the issue of whether or not to visit a school can be a red herring in the sense that it isn’t a decision point for AdComms. I think very few schools track whether you have visited or use that information in a final decision, except in all but the most borderline cases. So if you’re stressing about whether you “have” to visit a school, you don’t. In my opinion.
4. GMAT 700+ - If you get around the school’s average GMAT (about 700 for most top programs), you’re fine. I absolutely believe that spending time to push a 690 to a 720+ is a huge waste. I believe that spending time to push a 690 to a 790 will result in very, very little difference in admissions outcome (unless you’re trying to compensate for a very low GPA). I am certain that schools will take an interesting candidate with great essays and a 690 over an interesting candidate with okay essays and an 800, any day of the week.
Of course, the lower the GMAT, the more serious an issue it becomes, but I think that most applicants need to remember that the GMAT is not used to judge the quality of the applicant, but only whether or not they can handle the academic rigor. That’s it.
5. Optional Essays - Look it up in the dictionary. Optional means optional. If you don’t have a good answer to give, don’t waste space (and reader time) with an essay.
6. Recs from Current Bosses - Based on my experiences, talking to others, and the feedback I received, there is no problem getting recommendations from former colleagues and managers rather than your current manager. Especially in the current economic climate, schools don’t penalize you for not jeopardizing your job. All the schools want is to get a personal view of what it is to work with you. Plus, the recs don’t matter that much, anyway.
7. Career Success - This is an odd thing to put for a red herring, but since I feel it tripped me up, I included it. From my perspective, schools undervalue career success (and overvalue introspection–but that’s another post). That is, in retrospect I think that they would choose an essaist who’s had a failing career so far, reflected on his failures a lot, and decided to jump ship to a different career, over an applicant who’s put together a string of successes and not had to change much to do it. In one sense, the former is preferrable–it demonstrates that the candidate is flexible and can learn from their experiences. But on the other hand, what if they’re just learning the things that the second candidate already knew (i.e. how to be successful, how to deliver results, etc.).
I don’t want to go off on a screed here, because obviously I would much lean towards the latter candidate, but anyway, I’ve made my point.
8. Extracurricular Activities - I think applicants stress out waaay too much about these. If you have many of them, great, that’s a moderate plus in your direction. If you’ve only done a few, don’t sweat it, they’re really not that big a deal.
Let me put it this way: I did two minor extracurricular activities during college, and one or two since graduating. From the feedback I got (and my gut sense) that was not considered a negative in my app. I think substantial extracurriculars are only critical if you do not have any management experience on your job (in which case, they’re an acceptable avenue for demonstrating leadership).
Don’t stress about not having fed the homeless, sheltered the poor, or whatever. If you have done those things, first, pat yourself on the back, and second, understand they don’t count for a lot by themselves.
That’s about it. If you find yourself stressing about any of the above points, take a step back and ask yourself “will this really affect the outcome of my app?”
Source www.mbawire.blogspot.com
Nevertheless, over the past few weeks I’ve put together a list of advice that I’d like to share with future applicants. You all know my background well enough: not in a “feeder” career, mid-twenties, male (and how!), American, high GMAT, good GPA, good undergrad, strong work experience, good writing skills, etc., etc. If you fall into a similar category, these might be more worthwhile than if you’re don’t.
Note that below, when I talk about “top schools”, I’m referring to a vaguely defined group of MBA programs in the US that would be considered top 10, unless otherwise specified. In no particular order:
You Are Not A Lock
…for any school. Unless you’re the CEO of a large corporation or president of a small country, you’re not a lock for any top school. You can have a sterling resume, perfect stats, a great career, and write very well, but if you don’t hit each shot in the application, you’ll be dinged. At least as long as b-school admissions stay as competitive as they’ve been the last 5 years, this is true.
It’s Not Luck
On the other hand, you shouldn’t head into the process thinking that it’s pure luck or random chance that gets you in. I truly believe that well qualified candidates, if they hit all the right notes, have a strong chance of being accepted to each top school. It’s very, very difficult to hit all those notes, but the important thing is that it’s not really out of your control.
For me (and ego aside, I do think I was/am a strong candidate, as was pretty much confirmed by the school feedback), I just missed one or two notes in each application, and hence, I just missed getting into several schools. Knowing what I know now, I probably could have hit a few more notes and gotten into a few schools, but a) I’m ready to go to b-school now, and didn’t want to waste a year; b) getting in next year would not be a certainity; and c) Michigan rocks.
Anyway, the power is yours. You are at bat. Go for it.
Essays are King
If I had to estimate, based on my experience and feedback, how big a part in the decision essays make, I’d say 65%+, with interviews and recommendations making up another 25% and stats making up the rest. That’s just my gut feeling, but it fits with everything I’ve read and heard. In the feedback sessions I’ve had, I’ve spent a total of maybe eighty seconds talking about non-essay matters. Yeah.
Obvious Advice
The obvious advice that is included in all the books and websites is “make a coherent story”, “choose some themes”, “address your weaknesses”, etc. These are all really so obvious and so general as to become meaningless. Is there any candidate who won’t be thinking about themes and weaknesses?
School Visits
If you’re going to visit a school, be sure to 1) do it before submitting your app (it’s not worth much afterwords); 2) stay at least a whole day; 3) attend classes, lunch with students, do everything the school offers; 4) ask the students about their experiences applying.
The main benefit of visiting is to personalize your “why this school” essay. If you’re truly interested in attending a program, there will be something unique during your visit that catches your eye, and will provide a good anecdote for that essay.
Resumes: One Page Only
Okay, take this advice with a grain of salt, since this is my pet peeve. I don’t think it will make or break an application. Buuuut, resumes should only be one page long. A resume is supposed to be a concise summary of your top selling points, not a summary of your entire career or (even worse) life. To me (and maybe only to me), an inability to edit down a resume demonstrates an inability to prioritize things and follow business protocols.
And if you take a look in any top b-school’s resume book, you’ll see 99% one pagers. Prioritize. Summarize. Edit.
Timing
Personally, I think it is ridiculous to try to “time the market” in applying to business school (i.e. trying to guess whether the job market will be hot when you graduate and only applying then). Leaving the workforce for two years, paying tens of thousands of dollars, and learning about management, marketing, strategy, and finance is a very big life decision, and shouldn’t be left to crapshoot hunches about where the world will be in two years.
I am a firm believer that if now is the right time for you to get an MBA, then you should apply. If not, you shouldn’t.
For the Young Ones
If you’re considering applying to business school in a few years, great–now just stop thinking about it. The only advice I’d have is to get involved in an extracurricular activity or two that you enjoy.
I really don’t think it has to be a “community service”, in the sense of feeding the homeless or mentoring disadvantaged youths. If you like that, all the better. If not, join a trade group or your undergrad alumni association or something. But not a single school mentioned to me a lack of charity work/community service as a compelling factor. I firmly believe that the schools look to extracurriculars solely to make sure 1) you have some interest outside of work and 2) if you don’t do any management/teamwork on your job, the extracurricular can make up for it. That’s it. They care very little (in my opinion) whether or not you have a Mother Theresa-like care for the poor.
The real importance of doing something you like is that you’re more likely to continue doing it. It’s like an excersize routine. I know that doing the stairmaster in the morning for 30 minutes burns more calories than riding the reclining bike. But because I enjoy the reclining bike more (I can read while doing it), I’m more likely to go down to the gym for the bike. And over the long run, I’ll burn more calories following a biking regimen than a stairmaster regimen, because that’s what’ll get me down to the gym.
There’s plenty of other advice sprinkled throughout the site, so if you want more, browse away!
SOURCE:- www.mbawire.blogspot.com
Location: are you a city person or do you want to live somewhere quiet? Is the school close to where you want to live afterwards, so you have easy access to target companies for recruiting?
Career Services: Where do your target companies recruit? How many students are placed in careers within 6-12 months? What careers do students typically pursue?
Academics: What is the teaching method (case, lecture or a combination)? Are the professors rewarded for teaching or research? What subjects are the school’s strength (e.g. Wharton for Finance, Kellogg for Marketing)? How big will your classes be? How competitive is the registration process for popular classes?
Alumni: How big is your class (and by extension, alumni network)? What industries are the alumni most active in? Are the alumni engaged with the school and students?
Social: Are the students younger or older? Single or married? Do they socialize together, or disperse into the city to make friends outside of school?
*Source www.beatthegmat.com
Most of the content is taken from web either in forums or from bussinessweek assuming none of information is copyrighted.Please intimate me if you think any part of infomation need to be removed from this blog.
