Stacy Blackman’s Weekly Roundup of B-School Intelligence

The path to a high-powered career in investment banking suddenly is full of roadblocks for MBA students who have seen Wall Street drastically reshaped while they sit in the classroom.

The Haas School at UC Berkeley will host its first-ever Asia Business Center Conference and Gala Dec. 1 in Singapore, spotlighting the family businesses that power Asia’s economy. The day-long event will bring together Haas faculty and top Asian business, academic, and political leaders to learn from each other and network.

MBA students are taking stock amid troubling times, USA Today reports. For many attending business school, this crisis has refocused their priorities and has many feeling like they want to be part of something they believe in…in other words, overt greed is out.

The faculty at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business has approved changes in the school’s curriculum that will add flexibility to an MBA program already known for allowing students wide latitude in course selection.

Babson College has joined up with France’s EM Lyon Business School and tax specialists KPMG to organize the first World Entrepreneurship Forum. The three-day annual forum, which was founded by EM Lyon, is intended to become a worldwide think-tank dedicated to entrepreneurs and their role in society.

With the banking industry in crisis, many job-seeking MBAs—especially those who once dreamed of lucrative careers in investment banking—are rushing to broaden their options by applying to consulting firms, BusinessWeek reports.

Advanced management programs aim to give elite executives high-end crash courses on crucial topics, Wall Street Journal reports. These programs eschew most of the basics offered in traditional or executive MBA programs because, say administrators, these students are well beyond that fare; most have more than 15 years of management experience.

The Robert H. Smith School of Business brings the “Global Week of Entrepreneurship” to China, where learning, connections and leadership underscore the school’s ongoing presence in the world’s fastest growing economy.

This week’s edition of The Harbus offers a discussion on what the financial crisis means to HBS. Dean Jay Light reduced the entire crisis we’re facing to three letters: LTL. Too much Leverage and too little Transparency resulted in drying up of Liquidity.

Ten teams of graduate students will tackle a real-world challenge that illustrates the link between people and strategic business issues in the second annual National MBA Human Capital Case Competition on Oct 16-18, hosted by the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management and sponsored by Deloitte and GE.

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For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.

Late last month, UCLA’s Anderson School of Management announced the launch of The Accelerate Campaign, which aims to raise private funds for the school’s strategic priorities: to accelerate the impact of management thinking, develop future leaders, form global partnerships and strengthen the connections to alumni and friends.

In support of these goals, the school is raising funds for faculty chairs, endowed research centers and student fellowships, faculty research, teaching excellence, and global initiatives.  The campaign will conclude in 2010, the year of the school’s 75th anniversary.

“The complexity of the demands for business and organizational leadership is especially evident in these times of global market turbulence.  UCLA Anderson is committed and obligated to preparing our graduates for the challenges of leadership in business and financial institutions, non-profits and communities all over the world,” said Dean Judy Olian, speaking at a kickoff event hosted at UCLA Chancellor Gene Block‘s residence.

“As a public institution, we must bridge the funding gap to assure our excellence, and to preserve the special mission of the school.  For this, we rely heavily on the extraordinarily generous support of our alumni and friends, who are actively engaged in shaping the bold plans for our future.” Olian announced that $46 million has already been raised toward the $100 million goal.

Chancellor Block described the ambitious campaign as essential for UCLA Anderson to remain among the world’s top management schools. “UCLA Anderson is outstanding in faculty, students and innovative programs that extend around the world. The school’s leadership has outlined a bold strategic plan for the future. The campaign will ensure that their vision can be realized, despite shrinking public funds, and that UCLA Anderson will continue to be a leader in contemporary management education.”

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For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.

The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan will present a panel discussion on the financial crisis from 3-4:30 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 10, 2008.

Panelists include:

• Sreedhar Bharath, assistant professor of finance
• Amiyatosh Purnanandam, Bank One Corporation Assistant Professor of Finance
• Paolo Pasquariello, assistant professor of finance
• Jerry Davis, Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Professor of Management; professor of management and organizations
• Maggie Levenstein, executive director of the Michigan Census Research Data Center; associate research scientist at the Institute for Social Research; adjunct professor of business economics
• Joel Slemrod, Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy; director of the Office of Tax Policy Research at Ross; professor of economics

They will discuss the financial markets, federal bailout, and the ways in which the larger economic and business landscape will be affected. The event also will be webcast live, so log on Friday at 3 p.m. to check it out.

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We are now on Facebook – please join the Stacy Blackman Consulting group, or become a friend of Stacy Blackman. I am posting news about MBA related events, job listings, and of course MBA news.

I am on Twitter too…click to follow me on Twitter! www.twitter.com/stacyblackman

For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.

The Kelley School of Business at the University of Indiana features a brief core and a significant amount of time where you can design your own educational experience. Continuing to rise in prominence, the program attracts high achievers from around the world.

Kelley’s set of essays offers the opportunity for you to demonstrate your personal, professional and extracurricular achievements and interests. Use your application strategy as a guide to choose the right set of essays to answer, and focus on demonstrating clear results and introspection.

Mandatory:

Please discuss your post-MBA short- and long-term professional goals. How will your professional experience, when combined with a Kelley MBA degree, allow you to achieve these goals?

This is a fairly standard career goals essay, similar to that of Kellogg, Wharton and Columbia. When answering the question about your goals, be specific and draw in examples from your career progress thus far to illustrate your skill set and interests. In addition, linking your short and long term goals together will help you create a compelling and logical narrative thread.

Your need for an MBA in general should be very clear when linking your career progress thus far with your short and long term goals. Spend a fair amount of time on why you want to attend Kelley specifically. Research the program through studying the curriculum and understanding the specific classes you need. Do not limit your inquiry to facts and spend time reaching out to members of the Kelley community either in person through visiting campus, or online through emailing club leaders in the areas you are interested in.

Choose two of the next three:
2. Describe an ethical dilemma that you faced in your professional career. How was it resolved and what did you learn from the experience?

Ethical dilemma questions can be quite tricky. If you choose to answer this question, make sure your example is both real and difficult, and something that will reflect favorably upon your own ethics. Situations that rest in the grey area are most effective with this sort of question, as those are the situations that require leadership, nuance and maturity.

Address clearly what you learned from the experience, and if you have time to illustrate how you used that learning in a subsequent experience you will have a compelling ending to your essay.

3. Suppose you had to choose three people—people alive now or people from another era—to travel with you on a cross-country automobile trip. Who would you choose and why? What would you hope to learn from them? (Think carefully about the company you want on those long stretches through Nebraska or Kansas.)

This is a fun question that allows you to bring in almost any area of your professional, personal or extracurricular interests. Choosing people who are interesting and well rounded will obviously result in the most interesting company on the long stretches through Nebraska or Kansas, but you certainly want to also choose people who will teach you something about yourself or your goals.

In a way, this essay gets to similar material as Stanford’s “What matters most” essay and could be used to paint a holistic picture of who you are and what you value. In discussing the people you choose make sure you are expressing as much about yourself and your motivations as you are about them.

4. Describe what there is about your background and your experiences that will contribute to the diversity of the entering class and enhance the educational experience of other students.

Similar to the Kellogg, Tuck and UNC essays, you have a gift in this essay to differentiate yourself from other similar applicants. Explore anything that sets you apart from other people you know in your industry or demographic. In choosing the areas of diversity think carefully about what will enhance the educational experience of your classmates, not just the community or social life.

Optional:
5. Is there anything else that you think we should know as we evaluate your application? If you believe your credentials and essays represent you fairly, you shouldn’t feel obligated to answer this question.

This is the area of your application to discuss any issues in your academic record, gaps in work experience or a lack of recommendation from a current supervisor. In all essays of this type it is important to be straightforward and offer explanations rather than excuses.

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We are now on Facebook – please join the Stacy Blackman Consulting group, or become a friend of Stacy Blackman. I am posting news about MBA related events, job listings, and of course MBA news.

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For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.

UNC Kenan-Flagler rise in the rankings in recent years comes as the program continues to invest in the MBA program and drive innovation through focusing on what actual recruiters want in MBA recruits. Recently Kenan-Flagler announced the new Luther H. Hodges leadership center, which is a great opportunity for students to learn leadership principles and practice them. Kenan-Flagler’s full time MBA program was recently ranked #6 on the WSJ rankings and is in the top 20 for the other major periodicals.

Essay One:
What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? Do you have other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words maximum)

This question is similar to other inquiries about your strengths and weaknesses, except for the key difference that it optimistically focuses solely on strengths. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to either self-assess or seek feedback from others. When brainstorming ideas for this essay it may help to take a self-assessment test or to refer to the reviews you have received throughout your career. What are the themes? Where have you excelled the most?

The other aspect of this question is to demonstrate your accomplishments. Rather than listing out strengths, you will want to provide the real world examples of where you have used these strengths in your career and the results you have achieved.

In answering the question about the strengths you would like to use in the future, think about your extracurricular activities and hobbies. Perhaps you are exceptionally creative in your personal life and would like to apply that strength to your career. If you are involved in teams outside of work but are an individual contributor professionally, this is the perfect opportunity to highlight that strength and communicate how you plan to develop it as you rise in your career.

Essay Two: Briefly describe the career path you intend to pursue immediately after b-school. Explain why this career option appeals to you and why an MBA is appropriate at this time. (500 words maximum)

Ideally this question fits in well with the assessment of your strengths you presented in Essay One. Similar to a standard career goals essay, you need to discuss your plans after business school and why an MBA is the correct next step for you. The question implies a “Why Now” inquiry, so you will need to clearly outline where you are at this point in your career and why this is the right time to return to school.

This question focuses on the short term, asking for a very clear link between your short term career path and your MBA. Due to Kenan-Flagler’s focus on the perspective of recruiters, this focus on the short term is logical. However, you may want to add perspective and bring in your long term goal if it fits smoothly with the other goals you outline in this essay and does not require significant explanation.

Essay Three: What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to Kenan-Flagler? (500 words maximum)

This question is a gift to any applicant who needs to differentiate his or her story. Similar to the Kellogg and Tuck essays with the same theme, think about what is unique about your background or perspective. If you have an interesting and diverse background you will certainly have enough material and the task will be to link your background clearly to a contribution you will make to the Kenan-Flagler community. Think about clubs or activities you will join and what you will bring that is unique.

If you are someone without a particularly unique background you will want to focus on personal qualities. What personality trait helps you stand out in a group? What do people often tell you about yourself? And how will this trait contribute to the community at Kenan-Flagler?

Essay Four: What do you expect from your MBA program? How and when will you measure the return on your investment in the MBA? (500 words maximum)

This question is a great opportunity to address why you want to attend Kenan-Flagler at length. Think about the areas you hope to enhance through an MBA. There are skills you will obtain, people you will meet, and opportunities to enhance your teamwork and leadership skills. Outline what you are expecting to gain from the MBA program, both while you attend and afterwards.

When addressing the second half of the question, avoid a direct discussion of monetary awards (which is likely your first instinct!) and focus on the qualitative benefits you will gain through increased skills, improved leadership qualities, and enhanced network. Also discuss what length of time is meaningful to you. Is this an investment for the long-term?

Be sure to work in many references to the benefits of the Kenan-Flagler program. To research the school, go beyond the website and network with students and alumni. The admissions office is currently on a world tour, offering many opportunities for personal interaction.

Essay Five: If your GMAT quantitative score is low, or if you have not had coursework in calculus, microeconomics, statistics and financial accounting, please tells us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative MBA curriculum (300 words maximum)

This optional essay is straightforward and simply requires you to outline your preparation for the program. If you do not have the requisite coursework you may have gained training through work that will result in the same preparation. If you do not have the preparation through work or courses, it may be worth registering for continuing education classes and informing the admissions committee in this essay.

Essay Six: Is there anything else you think the Admissions Committee should know about you in order to evaluate your candidacy? (300 words maximum)

This optional essay can be used to explain anything unusual or problematic about your application, from poor undergraduate GPA to choice of recommenders. In addition, because it is so open-ended, you may use it to communicate any additional information that may be beneficial to your candidacy. If you did not have the opportunity to communicate one of the areas of your application strategy, this may provide the space to do so.

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We are now on Facebook – please join the Stacy Blackman Consulting group, or become a friend of Stacy Blackman. I am posting news about MBA related events, job listings, and of course MBA news.

I am on Twitter too…click to follow me on Twitter! www.twitter.com/stacyblackman

For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.

Read on for real stories from MBA applicants, students…and the occasional AdCom staff.

Chicago GSB’s To MBA or Not received less than helpful advice last week when she shared with a non-finance/accounting professor some of her frustrations over having on-again, off-again entrepreneurial ambitions.

Awake at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday, Iday celebrated the completion of his first classes for this quarter and offers his first impressions for prospective students.

The Teacher has the lowdown on a recent stop of the MBA Tour in Hyderabad, India. Although he wished his dream schools had participated, the overall experience was a good one. Also, check out his MBA admission inspiration from watching Indian Idol.

Maxwriter is reveling in glory this week after sharing the news that he’s been admitted to Columbia Business School. Congratulations!

MBA for HairTwirler had a great time in southern Maryland filming a group of “aware” consumers on their thoughts on organic food with her consumer behavior classmates.  It wasn’t all work and no play, though. Having crabcakes for lunch is what her Consumer Behavior class calls “self-rewarding,” and is a typically American behavior.

The BS Applicant checks in with a full GMAT debrief and random advice and observations.

Berlin of the Berkley MBA Student Blogs has a great entry about Professor Bill Sonnenschein’s “Storytelling Workshop.” Show, don’t tell, a mantra typically reserved for writing, applies equally well to giving good speeches.

Anand offers guidance based on his experience in post that’s a must read for business school applicants.

MBA Veggie celebrated his birthday with a visit to Yale SOM, which included meeting up with HappyBunny and her friend, also a fall 2009 hopeful. Although he says the Q&A with Adcom was actually quite boring, MBA Veggie learned that applicants can actually use another school’s essay for Yale’s “create your own question” option!

Deidre Leopold, Harvard Business School Director of Admissions and Financial Aid,  posted a graphic breakdown last week of when the Class of 2010 graduated from college/university by class year. The bar graph clearly shows that work experience prior to b-school is trending at two to five years, not the standard minimum of five in years’ past.

The Manhattan GMAT blog encourages prospective B-school applicants in the New York area to attend an MBA Workshop at New York Center on October 16 with speaker Katie Malachuk of Stacy Blackman Consulting. Space at the free event is limited, but you can find more details and sign up here.

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We are now on Facebook – please join the Stacy Blackman Consulting group, or become a friend of Stacy Blackman. I am posting news about MBA related events, job listings, and of course MBA news.

I am on Twitter too…click to follow me on Twitter! www.twitter.com/stacyblackman

For a concise, thoughtful guide that will help you navigate the MBA admissions process with greater success, order our NEW book, The MBA Application Roadmap.