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Our client Tariq had a tough decision to make. He had sorted out his options and felt strongly that Chicago Booth’s MBA program was the perfect fit. He loved the classes, the focus and the city, and could easily picture himself there. Unfortunately, his first attempt at the GMAT had yielded a 690, with a low quant score. Though Tariq and his consultant agreed that this was a nice first attempt, and possibly good enough for many schools, they knew that while this score made it into the range where 80% of Booth’s students landed, he was still somewhat below the average score.

The rest of Tariq’s application was strong and interesting, but added to the dilemma. After a strong undergraduate career at Amherst, where he compiled a 3.6 GPA, he returned to his native Turkey to work in arts management. Tariq transformed this experience into an essay and application that made his desire to bridge the gap between the liberal arts and business worlds clear and interesting. His consultant had few worries about his application outside of the GMAT score, and they discussed what to do. Since Tariq’s application was lacking in more day-to-day quantitative experience, and his first choice was a program with one of the highest average scores, they agreed that he should go ahead and retake the test.

Tariq’s consultant pointed him to Booth’s messaging regarding the GMAT, which he found reassuring. His school “looks favorably” on taking the test more than once. We see this fairly often as MBA programs consider working hard and improving your score as evidence of persistence. Tariq focused on doing the best he could to impress the admissions committee. Though it was too late for Round 1, he had enough time to work through an online class and retake the test before Round 2. His hard work and focus paid off with a thirty point bump in his score, a solid 720 with an even break between quant and verbal. Tariq and his consultant agreed that if Booth had not been on the top of his list, or if he had been further away from the average score, it may not have been worth it at all to retake, but in his case the costs were outweighed by the benefits.

Macro Risk Advisors (MRA), a leading provider of global market risk analysis and trade execution for institutional investors, announced Wednesday that it has established the Macro Risk Advisors Scholarship Fund at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Beginning in the 2012 academic year, the lifetime endowment will award a two-year scholarship of $25,000 annually to a student enrolled in the full-time MBA program. The scholarship will be awarded every other year. This endowment will support students demonstrating heightened aptitude and exceptional potential in the study of finance.

“Chicago Booth is one of the country’s foremost business schools with a best-in-class student body,” says Dean Curnutt, the founder and CEO of MRA and a 1996 Booth graduate, who received the Citibank Award for best performance in finance as a student. “My two years at Booth provided an unmatched foundation for my professional pursuits, generating the insight and network to launch an independent risk advisory firm.”

“It is always gratifying when our alumni give back to support our current students,” says Chicago Booth Dean Sunil Kumar. “We are very grateful to Macro Risk Advisors for financially assisting some of our most talented students.”

Waitlisted candidates at the Chicago Booth School of Business may be feeling some uncertainty regarding the next steps in the process right about now.  Associate Director of Admissions Carrie Lydon urges such applicants to take heart—the waitlist is a good place to be, she says—and attempts to clarify matters while highlighting some changes Booth has made to the process this year.

In the latest update to the MBA admissions blog, Lydon reveals that the school has introduced a waitlist enrollment form which allows candidates to immediately opt in or out of the waitlist. “This allows you to decide what is best for you,” Lydon says, “and helps us better understand who is genuinely interested in remaining on the waitlist.” The enrollment form isn’t binding and you can withdraw from it at any time by emailing admissions@chicagobooth.edu.

Those candidates who accept a place on the waitlist will have their application considered for admission again in Round 2 and will receive an updated decision on March 21, 2012, the final decision date for that round. Most applicants will hear a definitive answer by that point, though it’s possible to remain on the waitlist through Round 3, Lydon notes.

Chicago Booth invites candidates to submit relevant updates regarding their candidacy should these additional materials provide insight into their qualifications and strength of fit with the school. Another new, optional feature this year is the ability to upload a 90-second video for the admissions committee.

“In the age of digital media, we recognize that video is a common tool of communication, and want to provide any interested candidate with the opportunity to use it,” Lydon explains. This medium is ideal for candidates who would like to create a personal connection in lieu of visiting campus, and is completely open in terms of content.

While the waitlist may be a frustrating place to be, applicants should view it as a positive sign of the strength of their application. With patience, such candidates may be fortunate enough to receive final admission from their chosen program.

Are you banking on the belief that earning an MBA is the golden ticket for contentment? You may want to assess the satisfaction index of b-school grads that have gone before you, suggests a recent Forbes.com article on the most satisfied business school graduates.

Harvard Business School does top Forbes’s rankings when it comes to return on investment, but apparently, money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness—overall satisfaction with their MBA degrees ranks 20^th out of 50 U.S. b-schools, and their happiness level at their current jobs is ranked 31st. So just how does Forbes measure satisfaction?

Forbes reached out to 16,000 alumni that graduated in 2006 from more than 100 schools around the world to gauge satisfaction. We heard back from nearly 5,000 of them. We looked at satisfaction in three areas: MBA education, current job and preparedness relative to other MBA alumni. We averaged the three satisfaction ratings to put together our list of the most satisfied b-school grads.

Turns out, the most satisfied grads come from Stanford Graduate School of Business, which ranked in the top five among U.S. schools in all three areas of satisfaction in which alumni were surveyed, Forbes.com states. Stanford MBAs also ranked as the most satisfied two years ago when alumni were last surveyed. Stanford ranked second this year in the magazine’s ROI ranking.

Getting into über competitive Stanford GSB may kick-start the good feelings— 6,618 applicants competed for just 397 spots in the Class of 2013, Forbes.com reports. The second most satisfied b-school alumni are at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, and MIT Sloan School of Management, Chicago Booth School of Business, and Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business round out the top five.

Forbes separated out business schools located outside the U.S., so to learn who are the most satisfied MBA graduates abroad, follow this link back to the complete story.

The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine have announced their ranking of the Top 25 Entrepreneurial Colleges for 2011, with the number-one spot going to Babson College for the fourth year in a row. For the graduate program category, ranking second is Brigham Young University followed by the University of Virginia Darden School of Business  in the number-three spot.

In addition to teaching strong entrepreneurship fundamentals in the classroom and staffing departments with instructors who are successful entrepreneurs, criteria for the school rankings included excellence in mentorship, and providing experiential or entrepreneurial opportunities outside of the classroom.

“We’re deeply committed to our students and firmly support their passion to pursue entrepreneurship and innovation at any stage in their career and in any type of business environment,”says Philippe Sommer, director of Darden’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, adding that “This mindset inspires us to continuously innovate and advance our program.”

Top Five Graduate Entrepreneurial Colleges

1. Babson College
2. Bringham Young University- Marriott School of Management
3. Darden School of Business
4. Chicago Booth School of Business
5. UM Ross School of Business

“Behind the top ranked schools is not only a great formal classroom experience, but a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching entrepreneurship that embraces and encourages a student’s vision to build a successful business,” comments Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Senior Vice President-Publisher, and a nationally recognized expert on college admissions.

Franek notes many of the most successful programs have also emphasized curriculum that’s not exclusively related to business. “Schools like Babson, that require students to have at least 50 percent of their course work focused on the liberal arts, are breaking the mold when it comes to preparing future entrepreneurs,” he says.

“The right education enhances and reinforces curiosity and creative thinking in entrepreneurs,” says Amy Cosper, vice president and editor in chief at Entrepreneur. “This ranking provides a unique look at top schools that offer the type of training, encouragement and direction that nurtures entrepreneurial skills. It’s an excellent resource for those interested in academics as a pathway to their goals, and it can help tremendously in the discovery process to finding the right program.”

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business recently announced that it has expanded its scholarship support for U.S. military veterans who qualify for the Yellow Ribbon program to include students in the Evening M.B.A., Weekend M.B.A. and Executive M.B.A. programs.   In April, Chicago Booth announced an increase in scholarship support for students in the Full-time M.B.A. Program who qualify for the program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

As a result of the change, Yellow Ribbon awards will be available to all veterans in the Evening M.B.A., Weekend M.B.A. and Executive M.B.A. programs at Chicago Booth who qualify under VA guidelines, the school said in a statement.   Previously, those part-time students were not eligible for the awards.

The Yellow Ribbon Program is a supplement to the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.  Beginning in the 2011-12 academic year Chicago Booth will offer $10,000 per year in Yellow Ribbon scholarship support to all veterans who qualify.  The Veterans Administration will provide up to $10,000 in additional funding.  The Yellow Ribbon awards are in addition to other VA funding available to veterans.

“Veterans constitute a unique asset for society, with considerable leadership potential and we are pleased to offer this increased scholarship support to them as small payback for all they have done,” said Sunil Kumar, dean of Chicago Booth.   “We are grateful for the many sacrifices veterans have made to safeguard our country.”

To qualify for the additional scholarship support, veterans must have served an aggregate period of active duty after September 10, 2001, of at least 36 months.  Veterans also qualify if they were honorably discharged from active duty for a service connected disability and served 30 continuous days after September 10, 2001, or are a dependent eligible for Transfer of Entitlement under the Post-9/11 GI Bill based on a veteran’s service under the eligibility criteria.

More information on the Yellow Ribbon Program is available at http://www.gibill.va.gov/gi_bill_info/ch33/yellow_ribbon.htm