MBA admissions consultants

Dilemma: An argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives against an opponent (according to Merriam-Webster)

Over the years, we have found that one of the essay questions that gives candidates the most grief is the dreaded one about an “ethical dilemma.” Although most candidates clearly understand what is and is not ethical, the problem usually lies in the word “dilemma.” As you can tell from the definition provided, a dilemma occurs when two equally conclusive sides exist simultaneously—with the emphasis on “equally.” Here we offer two examples of responses to an “ethical dilemma” essay question. The first presents only one reasonable side, and the second offers two.

Example 1: “While I was working at ABC firm, my boss asked me to book our second quarter revenue in advance so that we could create the appearance of a great first quarter. I firmly told him that this was unethical and refused.”

In this example, the candidate is asked to do something that is clearly unethical. However, because the argument really has only one reasonable side—the reader would not want to hear the story if the candidate had agreed to book revenue ahead of schedule!—no ethical dilemma actually exists in this case.

Example 2: “As the marketing manager for a small pharmaceutical company, I had to set the price for our breakthrough drug. I needed to consider that on the one hand, a rock-bottom price would mean that our life-saving drug would be available to all. But on the other hand, even though a high price would serve a smaller market, it would make the drug far more profitable and would ensure that we could continue to conduct valuable research into additional life-saving compounds.”

In this second example, the candidate outlines a true dilemma. This applicant could be entirely comfortable telling the reader that he pursued either of the pricing strategies, as long as he walks the reader through his/her rationale.

The test to determine whether the experience you would like to discuss in your essay involves a true dilemma is fairly simple. Ask yourself, “Could I comfortably discuss the alternative to the path I chose?” If the answer is “yes,” you are clearly on the right track. If the answer is “no,” try again.

Designed by world-renowned architect Rafael Vinoly and completed in 2004 at a cost of $125M, the Charles M. Harper Center houses Chicago Booth’s full-time MBA program. The Harper Center’s Winter Garden—a towering atrium with six-story, glass Gothic arches—is at the heart of the building and serves as a central place where students can study, socialize and hold club meetings. With over 400,000 square feet of space, 12 classrooms (on the downstairs “classroom level”), offices for the entire administration and faculty (on the third, fourth and fifth floors, known as the “faculty floors”), 31 group study rooms, a 3,500 square foot student lounge and a 150-person café, the Harper Center helps shape Chicago Booth’s community and is part of the school’s bold new identity.

For more information on the defining characteristics of the MBA program at Chicago Booth or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

Yesterday, Manhattan GMAT posted a GMAT question on our blog. Today, they have followed up with the answer:

Let’s list out the product, using “dot-dot-dot” for missing parts in the middle.

Product = (x1/21) (x1/22) (x1/23)…(x1/30)

Since the bases are all the same, we just add the exponents to get the final exponent.

Exponent of product = 1/21 + 1/22 + 1/23 + … + 1/30 (ten terms in the sum)

Now, we are not asked to compute the exact value of this number (a brutal task that would require us to find a common multiple of every integer from 21 to 30!). Rather, we want to know what the product lies between.

One way to find simple upper and lower bounds is to replace all the different fractions with the same fraction that is definitely larger or smaller. Then compute these “fake” sums and see what you get.

Start at the small end. The real sum is definitely greater than this fake sum:

1/30 + 1/30 + 1/30 + … + 1/30

We’ve replaced 1/21, 1/22, etc. with 1/30 in each position. 1/30 is definitely less than 1/21, 1/22, etc. through 1/29, so the sum is definitely less.

Lower fake sum = 1/30 + 1/30 + 1/30 + … + 1/30 (ten terms) = 10/30 = 1/3

We have a good lower bound. Let’s set an upper bound by replacing every fraction in the real sum with 1/20, which is definitely larger than every fraction in the real sum.

Upper fake sum = 1/20 + 1/20 + 1/20 + … + 1/20 (ten terms) = 10/20 = 1/2

We now have bounds on either end. The exponent must be between 1/3 and 1/2, so the product in question must be between x1/3 and x1/2.

The correct answer is C.

When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school.

Nearly 30% of Harvard Business School (HBS) students have registered partners, and approximately 15% have children. Partners can register with MBA Student and Academic Services for the MBA Partner Program and/or join the Partners Club, which helps significant others integrate into life at HBS, providing opportunities to meet socially, attend HBS-sponsored partner events, join HBS clubs and enjoy campus services. HBS partners receive email accounts and identification cards as well as access to the Partners’ Web site and Career Services. A quote from an HBS graduate in Bloomberg Businessweek’s full-time MBA profile on HBS showcases the significant role partners play at the school: “HBS goes out of its way to attract and take care of students with families. All of the students with families at HBS formed a strong network and contributed significantly to the overall community feel.”

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at HBS and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

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?

Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand, but the educational experience itself is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we profile Antoinette Schoar from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Antoinette Schoar (“Entrepreneurial Finance”) won Sloan’s student-nominated Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005 and was described to us at mbaMission as having an amazing ability to explain complicated concepts in entrepreneurial finance in clear and simple terms, and as being “warm,” “easy to connect to” and someone who can keep her class on track while still encouraging interaction. A recent alumnus noted that her classes are “rigorous, with a steep learning curve” and that she has “high expectations and challenges students.” In January 2009, Schoar received the Ewing Marion Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship, which was established by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in 2005 to motivate and recognize scholars under 40 who devote themselves to contributing to the study of entrepreneurship.

For more information about the MIT Sloan School of Management and 15 other top-ranked MBA schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

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

Many MBA applicants express profound concern about the impact of being laid off. Will the admissions committee view a layoff as a sign of failure?

One thing to remember is that many candidates share this worry—thousands of MBA candidates worldwide, in fact. For the admissions committees to dismiss all such applicants outright is simply not practical. In addition, the MBA admissions committees know that the current global financial crisis and the subsequent recession are at the root of the problem, not necessarily the individual candidate’s performance. Indeed, layoffs and firings are not the same thing, so admissions committees will examine your application with that in mind, seeking your broader story of success.

If you have been caught up in this unfortunate mess, what is important is that you can show that you have made good use of your time since the layoff—studying, volunteering, seeking work, enhancing your skills, etc. Each candidate will react differently, of course, but you need to have a story to tell (whether you are applying in the late rounds or even for next year) of how you made the most of a difficult situation.

This week we offer an oxymoron of sorts: extreme humility. We suppose that one candidate could be more humble than the next, but one could never refer to oneself as “extremely humble,” because doing so would undermine the very claim to humility.

Our philosophy at mbaMission is that candidates should let their experiences—not just their word choices—captivate the admissions committees. Sometimes we find that instead, candidates attempt to emphasize their actions with “extreme” adjectives and adverbs, and this is an approach we strongly advise against.

Example: “As others withdrew their support, I remained remarkably dedicated to our crucial fundraising efforts. I dramatically increased my participation in our strategic planning meetings and insisted that we push forward with a wildly creative guerilla marketing plan, which brought forth tremendous results—$1M in ‘instant’ proceeds.”

In these two sentences, the writer uses the descriptors remarkably, dramatically, wildly and tremendous to make his impression. We find that a more effective approach is to eliminate these “extreme” descriptions and let the experiences do the “talking.”

Example: “As others withdrew their support, I remained dedicated to our fundraising efforts. I increased my participation in our strategic planning meetings and insisted that we push forward with a guerilla marketing plan that brought $1M in ‘instant’ proceeds.”

In this second example, we do not need to be told that the results were “tremendous,” because the $1M speaks for itself; we do not need to be told that the marketing campaign was “wildly creative,” because this is implied in the nature of guerilla marketing. In addition to truly showing a level of humility on the part of the candidate, this approach is also less wordy. Although the eight words saved in the latter example may seem inconsequential, we removed them from only two sentences. If we can remove four words from each and every sentence, we would be able to significantly (but of course humbly) augment your essay with other compelling ideas.