The University of Southern California announced Tuesday it has received a $10 million gift that will create expanded scholarship opportunities for military veterans, with additional support for those studying in the USC Marshall School of Business, as well as the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

The Schoen Family Scholarship Program for Veterans Endowment, established in 1986 by USC trustee William J. Schoen (MBA ’63) and his wife, Sharon, adds crucial support for veterans at a time when members of the U.S. armed forces are returning home in large numbers.

“I believe that our veterans deserve an excellent education at an outstanding university,” says Schoen, a U.S. Marine veteran. “Our support for veterans goes back to when I went to USC. The reason that I was able to go to USC was that I applied for a scholastic scholarship and was awarded one.”

Schoen is chairman of the board of Health Management Associates (HMA), a Florida-based hospital corporation that owns and operates hospitals primarily in the southeastern and southwestern United States. Prior to his retirement, Schoen was HMA’s president, chief executive officer and chairman of the corporation.

With the most recent gift, the Schoen family has contributed a total of $16 million, and to date the endowment has provided $1.2 million in financial support to 173 students at the university.

Full-time MBA students at the USC Marshall School of Business are eligible for the Schoen Family Scholarship Program. For Aren Nazarians, a Marine veteran who earned his MBA from Marshall in 2010 and received support from the Schoen endowment, the scholarship fund represents the importance of the lasting legacy the Schoen family is creating.

“My education at USC would not be possible without the generosity of my benefactor, William Schoen,” Nazarians says. “The unique thing about a scholarship is the personal connection between the donor and the recipient. As students, we know that a scholarship is not a handout, and we owe it to our donors to make that investment count.”

Business education is about to flip, says Indian School of Business Professor Arun Pereira, who predicts the days are numbered in which MBA students sit passively in lecture halls, soaking up (or not) the brilliance of their professors as it emanates from behind the lectern.

In a recent Economic Times piece, Pereira writes that advances in technology and new research on effective learning practices are ushering in more effective methods for getting tomorrow’s business leaders to synthesize the material and attain deeper levels of learning. Traditional lectures are passe, says the ISB professor, who notes that more and more of his colleagues are recording short lecture clips with voice-overs that students view prior to class so they arrive primed for active learning activities—a flip of the traditional classroom model.

As MBA programs increase the flexibility of their curricula and offer joint courses across disciplines, business students in the future may find themselves sharing coursework with others who have no interest in management. Pereira believes this mix in the classroom will require greater innovation to meet the needs of such diverse groups.

Citing the commonly accepted wisdom that the best way to learn something is to teach it, Pereira says more business school classes should be taught using role-playing and prototyping so that students teach key concepts more organically than exams and quizzes might.

“Questions in exams that require students to simply reproduce information are generally not valuable in ensuring impactful learning,” says Pereira. In order to go beyond the expected, or the status quo, students should be expected to pose questions as part of the answer to indicate that they’ve reflected on the issue sufficiently to ferret out complexities that might not be immediately obvious.

This approach works far better, he explains, because “It molds students into thinking and questioning managers, and builds a constant thirst for knowledge that is the foundation for life-long learning—critical for any manager or executive.”

*Please note that no client details are ever shared in SBC Scoop or otherwise without complete sign off from client.

In this tough global economy promotions can be hard to come by. To show leadership without clear career progression, look to your extracurricular activities. If you have been involved in an activity as a member, think about taking on a leadership role. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you can run a project and motivate a team.

Our client George was concerned that he had no demonstrated title changes through his four years at a defense contracting company. Because he worked in an engineering function increase in responsibility was marked by a raise instead of a title increase. George was concerned that though he was well respected at work and had demonstrated increasing skills over time, there was nothing he could indicate on his resume. To address this deficit in proof of his leadership, we took a look at what George did outside of work to see if there was an opportunity for greater leadership.

George had been involved in an annual charity bike ride for the past five years. He was dedicated to the mission of the organization, which raised money to provide medical care for autistic children. George had a personal connection to the organization because his younger brother had autism. It seemed like the right fit for George to become more involved. We suggested that he volunteer to lead the coordination of the next ride. George stepped up to manage the next event. His responsibilities included the recruitment of volunteers to assist the day of and coordination of the vendors and collection of funds. George’s leadership of the team ultimately helped to increase the amount raised in the ride by 14%.

With this experience George was able to write a strong leadership essay for each of his target schools. Along with his strong academics, career skills, and recommendations this demonstration of leadership helped him gain admission to MIT Sloan.

If you are applying to NYU Stern keep in mind the admissions criteria that will be used to consider your application. As the website states, “we seek students with strong intellectual ability and superior interpersonal skills (IQ + EQ)” The individual components of your application will be academic ability, professional achievements and career aspirations, and personal characteristics. While your academis will be evaluated mainly through your GMAT and GPA, the essays are a crucial tool to communicate who you are to NYU Stern.

NYU Stern’s set of MBA admissions essays has remained consistent for the past several years. The admissions committee has provided significant guidance on the essays that is worth reviewing before you approach this set of essays.

Make sure to review the admissions committee tips on these essays, and check your deadlines, before you get started.

Essay 1. Professional Aspirations
Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Answer the following:
(a) What choices have you made that led you to your current position?
(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
(c) What is your career goal upon graduation from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career goal?
While many MBA career goals essays imply these questions, NYU Stern specifically requires an understanding of your career path thus far, why MBA, and both short- and long-term career goals.

Choices are often the moments that change your path or your approach to your career. Think about the pivotal moments in your life that led you to the career you have and your future goals. Perhaps it was a class you had in college, an activity that sparked your interest, or even a childhood passion. The key to answering this section of the question is to demonstrate both how you make choices and what motivates you.

Why MBA is an important question to answer. While many people seek the degree, NYU wants to invest in those who can use it most effectively. Perhaps you’re seeking an MBA for networking or professional credibility, or maybe you want an MBA to learn specific skills to change careers. Whatever your own personal reasons may be, make sure you can point to specific aspects of the MBA education both generally and specifically at Stern that are necessary to achieve your goals.

Your short and long term goals should be both achievable and aspirational. An MBA from NYU Stern will open professional doors for you, and you should demonstrate that you are ready to take advantage of those opportunities. Think about your past work experience, MBA education, and future career goals as a trajectory that flows logically in order.

Essay 2. Your Stern Experience
We take great care to shape the Stern community with individuals who possess both intellectual and interpersonal strengths. We seek individuals who are highly intelligent, collaborative and committed to flourishing as Stern leaders. Please answer the following questions:
(a) What is your personal experience with the Stern community? Tell us what actions you have taken to learn about us.
(b) Describe what most excites you about Stern from both an academic and extracurricular perspective.
(c) How do you anticipate making your mark on the Stern community? Be specific about the roles you will take on and the impact you hope to achieve.
This essay is your opportunity to tell the admissions committee a bit about yourself. As the admissions committee requests, “be genuine in your essays – tell us about the real you.” When you are discussing the NYU Stern community, you are also discussing you and your interests and personality.

This essay is the place to demonstrate your fit with NYU Stern and describe why NYU Stern is the right place for you to spend the next two years of your life. Certainly personal experience of the campus through visits or student touch points would be ideal, but even if you are halfway around the world you can illustrate the many ways in which you learned about the NYU Stern experience. The activities that most excite you academically should be logically related to your career goals explained in essay 1. The activities you are involved with might be professional, or could be personal hobbies or interests. This essay is your opportunity to describe who you are outside of work, and discussing the hobbies and extracurricular interests you have pursued thus far will be an important data point.

Making your mark on the NYU Stern community it is an opportunity to write about what you will bring to the school personally and to recount some of your past community experiences. Explain what you are involved with today, and how you anticipate bringing that interest and passion to the NYU Stern community.

For all three questions in this essay, be specific and provide specific examples that show who you are, how you think, and what you will uniquely bring to NYU Stern.

Essay 3. 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.

While you have likely hit professional experiences in essay 1, and community experiences in essay 2, essay 3 seeks to understand who you are as a person. Open-ended essays like this one can be intimidating. You are allowed any method to introduce yourself to your classmates, and you’re probably wondering what the best medium for your message is.

However, your content is king in this essay. As advised for a similar essay, the Chicago powerpoint question, the best first step is to brainstorm the information you want to convey. Reflect upon your unique personal qualities and what is valued most by your friends and family. How would you want your classmates to see you? What are some of the personal stories you would share with a new friend?

Once you have established the content you want to use for the NYU Stern essay 3, it’s time to consider the medium. If you are a visual person you may chose a drawing, painting or photo series. If you are a creative writer perhaps it’s a poem or short story. If none of the “creative” approaches feel right to you, feel free to write a standard essay where you explain who you are and introduce yourself to your classmates. The medium is not the most important aspect of this essay, rather the message and content of your composition will demonstrate who you are to the admissions committee.

NYU Stern Essay 4. Additional Information (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 4.
If you are a re-applicant from last year, please explain how your candidacy has improved since your last application.
If you are applying to a dual degree program, please explain your decision to pursue a dual degree.
NYU Stern is quite clear about who should use the optional essay and who should not. Like many other schools, NYU Stern provides this opportunity for you to explain a low GPA, GMAT or TOEFL. If you are in that situation, avoid excuses. Focus on the facts, and explain why this performance is not indicative of your future performance at NYU Stern.

If you are a re-applicant it will be important to establish what has changed from last year. Have you earned a promotion? Improved your GMAT score? Whatever you have been able to develop since last year, highlight why you are a stronger candidate now.

If you are not submitting a recommendation from your current employer, this is the place to explain the situation. A few valid reasons may include a brief tenure working for your current boss, that you are not sharing your MBA plans with your supervisor, or that you work more closely with other members of the team.

Maybe you think you’re too old, or too young for an MBA. Maybe you need more extracurricular activities or to increase your quant skills. Or maybe the stars are aligned and you are ready to apply this year for entry in Fall 2012. Regardless of your situation, if you’re starting your application now one of your first decisions is whether to try for Round 1 deadlines or aim for Round 2.

Michael was working with one of our experienced consultants on his Stanford and HBS applications, and I was asked to take a look at his essays and provide a second opinion with approximately two weeks left before his Round One deadlines (learn more about the SBC process). Michael had several great stories about his achievements at work, his unique family background, and his extensive volunteer activities. He had a lot of great raw material in his essays, but needed a bit more work on polish. After conferring with Michael’s primary consultant we decided that though Michael strongly preferred to apply in Round 1, our professional advice was to apply in Round 2.

If you can apply in Round 1 there are definitely advantages for you personally. You have more time to prepare for school. You have less uncertainty around winter vacation time. And you can start networking with your classmates early. If you have a solid application ready to submit in October it’s an excellent time to do so. One advantage we don’t necessarily see is an increase in your chances of admission. It’s true that less people are ready to apply in Round 1. At the same time, the most prepared applicants are applying in Round 1. These are the people who beat the GMAT months ago and have been prepping their recommenders all summer. Or, they might be reapplicants who have already been through the process once. In our experience these factors tend to balance themselves out, and so we advise that our clients apply in the round that allows them to put together their best possible application.

Michael took our advice and spent another three weeks polishing his essays and preparing his recommenders to write great letters for him. The extra preparation paid off when he was admitted to HBS in Round 2.

*Please note that no client details are ever shared in SBC Scoop or otherwise without complete sign off from client.

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