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Last week, Harvard Business School’s Executive Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, Deirdre Leopold, held a much-anticipated online chat with BusinessWeek.

Highlights of the interview include:

1. After many years of six to seven mandatory essays, HBS will be changing its approach, requesting two mandatory essays and a selection of three others from six choices.
2. HBS will be more transparent in its decision-making process, keeping candidates up to date on when interviews are sent out.
3. HBS does not frown upon repeated GMAT attempts and only looks at the score reported in the application.
4. HBS received 7,400 applications last year, an increase of approximately 11% from the previous year.
5. Re-applicants start ‘fresh” at HBS; when a new application is read, the candidate’s previous status is unknown. If the candidate advances to an interview a previous application may be read in order to get a more full picture.

A full transcript can be accessed via the following link: Admissions Tips From Harvard

Well, it appears that an ugly chapter in Fuqua’s history is at its end. Recently, a Fuqua appeals panel upheld its Honor Committee’s decision to discipline thirty-four of the schools 400+ students. Of the thirty-four, nine were expelled, fifteen were suspended for one-year and got a failing grade in the class; the remaining ten got failing grades.

One first year student at Fuqua told MBA Mission, “We, in Fuqua, put a high emphasis on the honor code. One may think that it would have been better to ignore evidence of violations, and not get the bad publicity, but I do think that this action – causing 24 of my peers not to return to the class next year, is a strong signal to everyone that the school develops ethical leaders and kicks out any member that does not follow the rules. I am just looking forward to putting this behind us.”

Duke Cheaters’ Penalties Stand

Throughout this series, we have repeated a simple mantra – get anything and everything (class visits, coursework, GMAT exams, etc.) done now so that you can focus on your applications come July. Your resume can be constructed now, and the final update to your most recent position can be added in October during the latest stages of the process. Aside from the obvious timing benefits in completing your resume now, you will also benefit from reflecting on your accomplishments, a process that will help you brainstorm essay ideas and enable you to remind your recommenders of your major achievements.

As you strive to write a standout resume, you should think to yourself, “What are my accomplishments?” not “What were my responsibilities?” By rehashing your responsibilities, you will essentially be offering only the most basic information about your position. Many candidates choose to write something like: “Responsible for managing $10M media campaign, supervising staff of five junior brand managers, monitoring daily sales volumes and ensuring consistent supply of product from five production facilities in three countries.” The problem with simply stating responsibilities is that the reader has no understanding of whether this individual was effective in his/her position. Was the media campaign successful? Did the staff of five progress? Did sales volumes increase? Did the supply of products reach its destination?

By breaking each of these bullet points down, elaborating on each task and then showing the clear consequences of these actions, the reader learns of decisive maneuvers and, more importantly, results.

Instead of “responsible for managing $10M media campaign,” offer more details on the task:

• Initiated $10M television/internet “Island Vacation” promotion to introduce new Shine brand detergent…

Then, offer clear results of your efforts_

• …surpassing first-year sales targets in three months.

By following an action/results formula, you will offer the reader a consistent record of success and show that you have excelled in your work, which is, of course, your goal for your resume.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.

While we are not adherents to GMAT hysteria, a high score is certainly better than a low score. BusinessWeek recently reviewed the GMAT prep offerings from four major firms, one of which was Manhattan GMAT, the firm that we recommend to our clients. We were amused to see Businessweek, suggest that Manhattan GMAT might be too rigorous for some.

GMAT: Paying for Points

MBA programs are far more forgiving of previous academic problems than virtually any other graduate discipline. For most, candidates’ academic experience is far in the past and their GMAT, references and work experience are better indicators of their potential for success. This is not to suggest that poor grades don’t matter; this is to suggest, however, that poor grades can be mitigated.

If your academic performance is worrisome to you, you should certainly consider enrolling in some additional coursework immediately. In particular, if you did poorly in math courses (even if your overall GPA is quite high), this will raise concerns about your ability to manage a heavily quantitative workload. Thus, you should consider a calculus, statistics or linear algebra class. Furthermore, in order to show an aptitude for management studies, you might want to consider taking an accounting, economics or corporate finance class. Needless to write, it is quite important that you get As in these courses to show not only that you have the aptitude but also that you have matured and take your academics quite seriously.

It is important to remember that additional coursework is not solely the domain of the “academically challenged.” Even those who did quite well in their undergrad classes might explore the option of taking additional coursework. Liberal Arts majors with 4.0s and no quantitative background can benefit from two As — one in a math discipline and one in a management discipline – which will enable them to make strong statements about their competencies for their coming studies.

Again, you do not want to be going to classes while writing essays and applying to a variety of schools. So, it is important that you understand what is available to you and do your utmost to get these courses done before the applications become available in July, if that is still possible in your area.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.