Bolstering leadership skills is a critical component of almost any MBA program. A recent article in U.S. News offers a glimpse at some unique courses that build such skills—with a twist.

“Leadership and Theatre: Ethics, Innovations and Creativity”

This course at Darden School of Business forces students, many of whom have never participated in theater before, to unleash their inner thespian. Actors, like business leaders, need to be true to themselves before they can persuade an audience, course instructor Ed Freeman says.

The class teaches its two dozen participants that, as in business, effective leadership is crucial for actors. The notion is put to the test in the finale to the course, when students put on a community performance.

“There is probably not any class that I look back on, in all my education, which has taught me more about leadership,” Darden graduate Akanksha Manik Talya tells U.S. News. “I am much more conscious of the things that you should be thinking while you’re working with people.”

“Getting Along and Getting It Right: Consequential Leadership in Action”

This mandatory program for full-time MBA students at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business is an intense week-long conference that kicks off the students’ second year of school.

According to the article, class activities include improvisational leadership sessions, interactive theater performances on business issues, and an elaborate, scripted court hearing complete with costumed students playing the prosecutors, defendants, judges and jury.

Second year students are put on trial for “failure to use their graduate experience for developmental purposes” and must develop plans to enhance their education. One plan may ultimately be funded and implemented by the school, the article reveals.

Strengthening one’s leadership ability is key to driving employees to deliver. “You can have the best spreadsheet in the world, but unless you can get others to work with it as a leader, that plan isn’t going to go anywhere,” says Darden instructor Lynn Isabella. “Those financials aren’t going to leap off the page and bring themselves to life.”

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You already have a pretty good idea of which are the top B-schools around, but haven’t you also wondered which programs are the hardest to get into?

According to the 2010 Vault Business School Student Survey, here is the list of the top five MBA programs that scored the highest when Vault.com asked students, on a scale of 1 to 10, “How selective is your school?”

• Columbia Business School: 10
• University of Chicago, Booth School of Business: 10
• IMD: 9.5
• Yale School of Management: 9.29
• New York University, Stern School of Business: 8.8

Any surprises here? Shocked that Harvard Business School didn’t crack Vault’s top five? Now that you’ve filed away this little nugget, time to get back to work on those essays, GMAT prep, recommender requests….

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Spain’s IESE Business School has released its deadlines for the 2010-2011 MBA admissions season. The six rounds are as follows:

Round 1
Deadline: October 25, 2010
Notification: December 3, 2010

Round 2
Deadline: December 7, 2010
Notification: January 28, 2011

Round 3
Deadline: January 17, 2011
Notification: February 25, 2011

Round 4
Deadline: February 28, 2011
Notification: March 25, 2011

Round 5
Deadline: April 11, 2011
Notification: May 20, 2011

Round 6
Deadline: June 6, 2011
Notification: June 21, 2011

Applicants should note that rounds 4, 5 and 6 are provisional and subject to change. IESE Business School recommends that all non-EU citizens apply by the R5 deadline in order to assure time for visa procedure.

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Who doesn’t love a Top Ten List? They’re Short. Easy to Digest. Informative. Fun. On that note, take a look at this top ten list for incoming students posted recently by Tony on the Berkeley MBA Evening and Weekend blog at Haas School of Business.

We’ve condensed his advice here, so click on the link for the complete scoop.

1. Accept your offer. If you haven’t accepted the offer yet, what are you waiting for?!
2. Keep up with your school emails. They are few and far in between, but each provides critical To Do lists before classes begin.
3. Consider testing out of core classes. If you feel you don’t need one of the core classes that you are able to test out of, and there are other classes of more interest to you, do consider the option.
4. Take care of those pesky math and statistics requirements. It’s best to take care of this sooner rather than later.
5. Outline your finances. Tuition is expensive. At the new rate of $2,387, you’re going to be writing checks for $19K when July and December roll around. That’s a hefty chunk of change, one that really puts a dent into any pocketbook.
6. Sign up for financial aid. Consider taking advantage of student loans, if only to accept the subsidized version.
7. Prepare your work-place for your new commitment to school. It will be the rare employer that will not accommodate your decision to pursue an MBA. However, part-time school is a massive commitment, and everyone should be on the same page responsibility-wise.
8. Clear your Saturdays for the fall semester, and not just because it’s football season. Many classes hold very helpful Saturday study sessions, others require group work in which you will need to meet in-person. Pretty much assume that you’ll need to be on-campus at least a few Saturdays a month.
9. Prepare your family and friends. Full time work and part-time school is a massive time-commitment. For your family, it will require an understanding that you will not be as available as you once were.
10. Go on a vacation. Who knows when you’ll have the chance to do so again!

As you can see, there’s a lot to before the fall program kicks off. So get busy, but remember to enjoy the rest of your summer!

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