The Fuqua School of Business has announced its upcoming application deadlines for the Duke MBA program.

Early Action
Deadline: September 18, 2013
Notification: October 30, 2013

Round 1
Deadline: October 21, 2013
Notification: December 20, 2013

Round 2
Deadline: January 6, 2014
Notification: March 13, 2014

Round 3
Deadline: March 20, 2014
Notification: May 9, 2014

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The school notes that the new application will be available in mid-to-late July, so stay tuned!

The Yale School of Management has posted its MBA application deadlines for the upcoming admissions cycle.

Round 1

Deadline: September 25, 2013

Notification: December 9, 2013

Round 2

Deadline: January 9, 2014

Notification: April 4, 2014

Round 3

Deadline: April 24, 2014

Notification: May 22, 2014

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According to the school, the application for the Class of 2016 will be live in mid-July. For more information, visit the Yale SOM admissions website.

The Johnson School at Cornell University has announced the following application deadlines for both the two-year and accelerated MBA programs.

Also, in a recent update to the admission’s blog, Christine Sneva shares that Johnson will be changing the essay portion this year by requiring applicants to submit a candidate profile, so stay tuned for more details, coming soon.

Round 1

Deadline: October 2, 2013

Notification: December 11, 2013

Round 2

Deadline: December 4, 2013

Notification: February 5, 2014

Round 3

Deadline: February 12, 2014

Notification: March 26, 2014

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Applications need to be submitted by midnight EST on the day of the deadline. The new application is set to go live August 1, 2013.

New York University’s Stern School of Business has announced the application deadlines and essay topics for the upcoming MBA admissions season.

This year’s four deadlines are:

Round 1

Deadline: October 15, 2013

Initial Notification*: December 15, 2013

Round 2

Deadline: November 15, 2013

Initial Notification: February 15, 2014

Round 3

Deadline: January 15, 2014

Initial Notification: April 1, 2014

Round 4

Deadline: March 15, 2014

Initial Notification: June 1, 2014

*Applicants will receive one of three initial notifications: invitation to interview, waitlist offer, or denial of admissions.

The essay topics are as follows:

Essay 1: Professional Aspirations (750 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)

(a) Why pursue an MBA (or dual degree) at this point in your life?

(b) What actions have you taken to determine that Stern is the best fit for your MBA experience?

(c) What do you see yourself doing professionally upon graduation?

Essay 2: Choose either Option A or Option B

Option A: Your Two Paths (500 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)

The mission of the Stern School of Business is to develop people and ideas that transform the challenges of the 21st century into opportunities to create value for business and society. Given today’s ever-changing global landscape, Stern seeks and develops leaders who thrive in ambiguity, embrace a broad perspective and think creatively about the range of ways they can have impact.

(a) Describe two different and distinct paths you could see your career taking long term. How do you see your two paths unfolding?

(b) How do your paths tie to the mission of NYU Stern?

(c) What factors will most determine which path you will take?

Option B: Personal Expression

Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use almost any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative. If you submit a non-written piece for Option B  (i.e., artwork or multimedia) or if you submit Option B via mail, please upload a brief description of your submission with your online application.

Guidelines for Option B:

• Your submission becomes the property of NYU Stern and cannot be returned for any reason.
• If you submit a written essay, it should be 500 words maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font.
• If you submit a video or audio file, it should be five minutes maximum.
• If you prepare a multimedia submission, you may mail a CD, DVD or USB flash drive to the Admissions Office. These are the only acceptable methods of submission.
• Please do not submit an internet link to any websites or to a video hosting service such as YouTube.
• The Admissions Committee reserves the right to request an alternate Essay 3 if we are unable to view your submission.
• Do not submit anything perishable (e.g. food), or any item that has been worn (e.g. clothing).

Essay 3: Optional

Please provide any additional information that you would like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee. This may include current or past gaps in employment, further explanation of your undergraduate record or self-reported academic transcript(s), plans to retake the GMAT, GRE and/or TOEFL or any other relevant information.

If you are unable to submit a recommendation from your current supervisor, you must explain your reason in Essay 3.

If you are a re-applicant from last year, please explain how your candidacy has improved since your last application.

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Stay tuned for Stacy Blackman’s NYU Stern MBA essay tips, coming soon!

The UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School has posted the application deadlines and essay prompts for the upcoming MBA admissions cycle.

Deadlines

Early Action Round
Deadline: October 18, 2013
Notification: December 13, 2013

Round 2
Deadline: December 9, 2013
Notification: February 3, 2014

Round 3
Deadline: January 13, 2014
Notification: March 17, 2014

Round 4
Deadline: March 14, 2014
Notification: April 28, 2014

Essay Questions

UNC Kenan-Flagler has three required essays and two optional essays. The essays for the 2013-2014 application season are:

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

Essay Two (Required)
Please describe your short and long term goals post-MBA. Explain how: your professional experience has shaped these goals; why this career option appeals to you; and how you arrived at the decision that now is the time and the MBA is the appropriate degree. (500 words maximum)

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

Essay Four (Optional)
If your standardized test scores are low, or if you have not had coursework in core business subjects (calculus, microeconomics, statistics, financial accounting), please tell us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative rigor of the MBA curriculum. (300 words maximum)

Essay Five (Optional)
Is there any other information you would like to share that is not presented elsewhere in the application? (300 words maximum)

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Because of heavy demand and UNC Kenan-Flagler’s small class size, the school strongly recommends applying as early as possible. For more information, visit Kenan-Flagler’s admissions website.

The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia Business School has announced the creation a new space designed to support student entrepreneurs across the entire campus. Known as Columbia Entrepreneurs Lab, this cooperative working space will be available free of charge to students accepted into the new program.

More than a dozen entrepreneurs will serve as the inaugural class for the Lab. Participants will have access to practical resources and mentorship opportunities that will help them launch new ventures in a variety of fields—from healthcare to environmental protection, to media and entertainment.

One of the proposed ventures uses cutting-edge language processing combined with a 3D graphics engine to create a rendering of any scene based purely on a person’s words.  Dubbed WordsEye by its creators, the technology recently claimed the $100,000 grand prize in the fourth annual New York Business Plan Competition.

“The Entrepreneurship Lab is a collaboration between multiple schools across campus and an important milestone in Columbia University’s efforts to prioritize the importance of entrepreneurship programming for all Columbia entrepreneurs,” says Professor Murray Low, director of the Lang Center.

“Our goal in launching the lab was to provide a cooperative space that could serve as an incubator to some of the many impactful ideas housed in the minds of Columbia community members.”

Columbia Business School alumnus Derek Lee ’08 is one of the lead facilitators of the program.  “I think this class of entrepreneurs provides a solid start to the CEL initiative,” he says.  “Our goal is to provide them with skills and perhaps more importantly, experiences they can bring with them into the fall.”