At MBA Tour events you can:
*Meet one on one with Admission Directors
*Participate in interactive panels with alumni
*Attend individual B-School presentations and match your interests to program options
*Mingle with business school representatives and alumni
*Identify the advantages of pursuing your MBA and creating a global network

Participating schools include:
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth Tuck
Duke Fuqua
MIT Sloan
NYU Stern
UVA Darden
UC Berkeley Haas
UCLA Anderson
U Michigan Ross
UNC Kenan-Flagler
Wharton
Yale

Upcoming MBA Tour dates:
Chicago, Sept 4
Houston, Sept 6
Los Angeles, Sept 8
San Francisco, Sept 9
Washington, DC, Sept 11
New York City, Sept 15
Boston, Sept 16
Atlanta, Sept 18

Register online here

Chicago changed their essays this year to include a question requesting a response in power point. For years NYU has given candidates the option to present themselves outside of the traditional essay structure. BusinessWeek.com covers these schools and others in their post Applying Oneself, Creatively.

The article explores this trend and the mixed reactions of applicants. While at first some applicants are intimidated by the option, according to the executive director of NYU’s MBA admissions office, eventually they appreciate the opportunity to think outside of the box. Candidates have submitted “essays” as varied as cakes, photos of a tree house, and a Chinese scroll.

Mlive.com comments on Chicago’s inclusion of power point as an indication of this medium’s pervasiveness in the business culture. But notes that Chicago is hoping power point moves applicants away from a traditional frame of mind:

“We wanted to have a freeform space for students to be able to say what they think is important, not always having the school run that dialogue,” said Rose Martinelli, associate dean for student recruitment and admissions. “To me this is just four pieces of blank paper. You do what you want. It can be a presentation. It can be poetry. It can be anything.”

About.com recently featured a posting on top MBA application mistakes citing representatives from Ross, McCombs, NYU Stern, and Chicago.

Here’s a quick list of top mistakes:
1. Submitting generic essays
While there are certainly opportunities to leverage essays from school to school (for example HBS’s mistake essay and Wharton’s failure essay), you need to careful to answer the specific question each school is asking.

2. Neglecting to research schools
Schools need to know why you want to get an MBA, and it is equally important to explain why each specific school is the right fit for you. See our essays tips for Chicago, Wharton, and Stanford for more tips on how to answer these types of essay questions.

3. Not thinking through career goals
You need to articulate how you have prepared through your career to seek an MBA at this time. See our essay tips on Wharton to address discussing your career path.

4. Trying to be someone else in order to impress the admissions committee
As we stressed in the Wharton essay tips, follow Wharton’s advice to “be yourself.”

Business Week recently reported that the MBA Bull Market Has Legs. According to the article, recruiters plan to increase hiring of MBAs by 18%. This is the second consecutive year of rising MBA hiring rates. Of course, with increased competition for MBAs, comes increased salaries. Business Week reports that recruiters will offer “base salaries that are 28% higher than what they will offer to candidates with other types of graduate degrees.” MBAs earn 84% more than individuals with just an undergraduate degree. The rise in demand for MBAs comes from employers seeking individuals with managerial and team experience.

You can get a sense of how recruitment works at your schools of interest by visiting their websites. HBS career services page gives information on their job search tools and workshops. Columbia shares a list of select recruiters. Stern has a very comprehensive career services page on their website as well. Reading through the career services section of school websites can provide you with inspiration for your future, and subsequently help you articulate your career vision in application essays.