MBA admissions consultants

A San Francisco judge has ordered the University of California system to reimburse past students to the tune of $38MM, after the school promised not to raise tuition, but nonetheless did so. Between 1994 and 2003, UCLA had verbiage on its website and in its official guides telling some graduates students, including those in MBA programs, that their fees would not be raised. However, the school did raise tuition during the years and immediately after it removed the language from its website and guides. The UC system, largely funded by the State of California, has been struggling under cutbacks, as the state has struggled as well.

It seems that an apeal of this judgement is imminent.

As we all know, Kellogg is just a marketing school. No, a quick glance at its website reveals that a whopping 41% of its class went into consulting and 20% went into marketing, its second most popular field. Yes, McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Delloite and Booz were the school’s top hirers in 2009, followed by JNJ, a healthcare/marketing firm, in sixth.  Kellogg students credit their management labs —  where first year students work on a consulting project and are mentored by consultants from leading firms prior to their summer internships – with preparing them for success in their internships and full time positions. Meanwhile, a variety of other hands on experiences, including the “Global Lab” (students work with an international firm), “Advanced Topics in Marketing” (students analyze a marketing issue and present it to management) and “Leading the Mission Driven Organization” (students offer management expertise to nonprofits).  Not to worry though, if you are interested in marketing, Kellogg still has ample resources for you.

Each week Manhattan GMAT posts a GMAT question on our blog and follows up with the answer the next day. Are you up for the challenge?

Answer: C

The average of the three numbers is 44, so they must add up to 132.

We know the median is 42, so the numbers, arranged in order, look like:

x, 42, y

We want the smallest number that the largest number can be, meaning, we want the smallest value of y.

To get the smallest value of y, we need x to be as large as it can be.  42 is the median, which means it’s in the middle, but it does not mean that the largest x can be is 41.  x can be 42 as well.  If that is the case, then 42 + 42 + y = 132, or y = 48.

Each week Manhattan GMAT posts a GMAT question on our blog and follows up with the answer the next day. Are you up for the challenge?

The average of three positive integers is 44 and the median is 42.  What is the least possible value of the greatest of the three numbers?

A) 6
B) 42
C) 48
D) 89
E) 128

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

You have taken a course, studied hard and finally “nailed” the GMAT. However, you soon learn that your score on the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), the essay portion of the GMAT, is low. Is it time to panic?

In short, the answer is… no! While we always encouraged candidates to try as hard as they can on the AWA, the truth of the matter is that we have never been told by an admissions officer, nor has a candidate been told in a feedback session, that the AWA score was a factor in an admit/reject decision. Generally, the AWA is not used to evaluate candidates, but to detect fraud.

If, hypothetically, you had tremendous difficulty expressing yourself via the AWA essays, but wrote like a Pulitzer Prize winning writer in your application essays, the school would get suspicious and begin to compare the two. Not to worry — the schools are not punitive and are not acting as fraud squads. It is expected that your AWA essays will be unpolished, so no one will be seeking out your file if you did your best in both areas. However, in cases of enormous discrepancies between the two, the AWA serves a purpose.

So, if you did well on the GMAT and have a low AWA, it is a shame, but it is not going to be THE difference. Rest easy….as long as you wrote both!

This morning, the New York Times wrote a piece that is bound to encourage aspiring and graduated MBAs alike, declaring that the MBA job market has stabilized. The Times profiled students at the University of Virginia (Darden), Duke and UNC, describing their struggles in finding jobs and some of the harassment they have experienced working in the tarnished banking field. Although Darden did not offer a base from which the statistics it offered can be judged, the school told the New York Times that it has seen a 20% increase in banks interviewing on campus this year and a 33% rise in job offers. UNC reported that offers are up 67%, but like Darden, offered no base statistics. Still, with a rebound on Wall Street and a return of bonuses, it seems that the mutual love affair between investment banks and MBA students will continue.

Many candidates choose to take a straightforward, historical approach to their personal statements. While this can be an easy way to organize an essay, this approach may also lead candidates to ignore possibilities for a more focused and gripping introduction. Although nothing is fundamentally wrong with taking a historical approach, under certain circumstances, an anecdotal approach can better maintain the reader’s interest. (This all comes down to execution—a strong writer could effectively execute either approach.)

Example 1: Historical

“When I graduated from NYU with a Finance Degree, I eschewed Wall Street and pursued my own distinct path; I opened a flower shop in midtown New York, never imagining the challenges I would face as I strived to bring in new customers and locate products around the world. With time, I learned to advertise selectively (on billboards in local office buildings) and developed relationships with suppliers, particularly one in Peru, with whom I obtained an exclusive on Heliconia flowers. After one year, we started to specialize in foreign flowers and, with a niche identified, we developed a strong client base. My firm stabilized and I was no longer bleeding cash to support my 11 employees; we were cash flow neutral and contemplating a new location.” This introduction, which is historical in nature, is very direct and informative, but involves very little drama or emotion. To be more effective, the writer might instead consider positioning him/herself as “the hero” and drawing the reader in with some anecdotal tension.

Example 2: Anecdotal

“My hand quivered as I signed a lease for 1,000 square feet of retail space in midtown New York. Two months later, I flung open the doors to my flower shop and was stunned when I did not make a sale until my third day. Admittedly, I began to question the wisdom of entrepreneurship and wonder if I should have joined my peers from NYU’s finance program as an Analyst on Wall Street. However, each day, a trickle of customers came in, and more often than not, they commented on the colorful and rare flowers in my window, like the Peruvian Heliconia, exclusive to my shop. Within weeks, I had core customers picking up scheduled orders and referring friends; I bolstered this ‘word of mouth’ with select advertising on electronic billboards in the four 50-story office towers surrounding the shop. Soon, I noticed a surge of customers and was no longer bleeding cash. After one year, we were cash flow neutral, and I was even contemplating another location.” In this version, the same information is conveyed, but the tension inherent in the “quivering hand” and the empty store act as a “hook” that draws the reader in. By taking this more personal, emotional and indeed anecdotal approach, the writer allows the reader to identify with his/her struggle and thus maintains the reader’s interest.

Again, this is not a case of right or wrong. Each candidate should decide what works best in his/her own essays.

On March 1, Brown University and Madrid-based IE Business School announced the establishment of the IE Brown Executive MBA Program. A 15-month program that combines online modules with five in-person sessions taught in both Madrid and Providence, R.I., the program is designed for senior managers with at least ten years of experience who want to develop their entrepreneurial mindset and enhance their understanding of the global business environment. The program positions itself as a one-of-a-kind offering that integrates IE Business School’s innovative approach to management education with Brown University’s excellence in social, biological and physical sciences. Although participants will graduate with a degree only from IE Business School, the program draws from both institutions in terms of faculty, content and teaching style.  The program, which will launch in spring 2011, is Brown University’s first foray into MBA programs.  Are more to follow?

The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration—aka Tuck—is located in the quaint town of Hanover, New Hampshire. Hanover has a population of only approximately 20,000 and is thus considered a small college town, but Tuckies have no shortage of access to global learning opportunities. Students gain hands-on international experience through the Tuck Global Consultancy, which gives second-year students the chance to put their education into practice worldwide. Since 1997, students have consulted with more than 90 global organizations on more than 135 projects in more than 45 countries. On-site consulting projects are led by small teams of students working under the supervision of Tuck professors with extensive consulting backgrounds. A high percentage of the second-year class participates in this elective, and at the end of the program, students present their findings to their clients from around the globe.

A recent article in Canada’s Financial Post Magazine questions the value of MBA program rankings, claiming that their influence is shrinking as applicants start to rely more heavily on the schools’ own websites.   The sheer number of and variation among rankings – different magazines and websites use different methodologies, and rankings are further subdivided by full-time, part-time, Executive MBA, and MBAs by specialty – is causing “ratings fatigue” among both applicants and employers.

The ranking popularity began in 1988 when BusinessWeek first published its ranking in the popular press…and other major publications began to follow suit.  Business school deans are mixed on the value of the rankings, understanding that they have significant public relations value, and yet also realizing that there are ways to emphasize different subjective criteria in order to climb in the rankings, which may have little to do with the quality of education.  Various proposals suggesting criteria like alumni happiness levels at various points after graduation, or employers’ happiness with hires from the schools are floated, albeit with little chance of being implemented.

The bottom line is, whatever your opinion is of rankings, the most important way to assess whether a program is right for you is not to look at where it lands on various lists, but to do your research thoroughly and determine which program has the best fit…for you.