2007 Application Deadlines for Fuqua

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business has released its application deadlines for 2007. They are:

Round 1 - Apply by November 1, 2006 and complete interview by November 23. Decisions are released on December 19.

Round 2 - Apply by January 8, 2007 and complete interview by February 23. Decisions are released on March 8.

Round 3 - Apply by March 21, 2007 and complete interview by April 17. Decisions are released on May 4.

Fuqua will publish its 2007 essay questions sometime in early August.

For more information, go to Fuqua's MBA application page:
http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/mba/daytime/apply/

Kellogg Application Deadlines & Essay Questions for 2007

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University has released its MBA application deadlines and essay questions for 2007 admissions.

To see the deadlines, go to this webpage:
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/admissions/
apply/deadlines.htm

To see the essay questions, go to this webpage:
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/admissions/
apply/FAQ.htm#Essays07

Writing Skills a Plus in MBA Hiring

CNN reports that a growing number of hiring managers are looking for something special when they interview MBAs for corporate positions. The extra 'something' they are looking for is writing skills.

Technology is one of the forces driving this trend. A recent report by Robert Half International found that 71 per cent of executives now use email as their primary means of communication. The increasing amount and importance of email requires business professionals to be able to write messages quickly, clearly, and accurately. The enormous amount of email that most professionals deal with each day requires professionals to be able to write concisely as well.

Earlier this year, a joint Wall Street Journal - Harris Interactive poll found that inadequate communication skills were corporate recruiters' most common complaint about MBA graduates. In another Robert Half International survey, over one in three recruiters said that grammatical mistakes and typing errors were the most common flaw they saw in resumes and cover letters.

Source: "Employers Want 'The Write Stuff,'" CNN, July 21, 2006

Kellogg Launches 'Post-MBA' Program for Seasoned Executives

The Kellogg School of Management has created a three-week, 'post-MBA' program designed especially for mid-career managers who earned an MBA prior to 1995. The program is meant to teach students material that has been added to MBA programs since the mid-1990s, such as managing with information technology, doing business in an increasingly globalized world, branding, and coping with non-business forces such as news media and political and social activism.

Brenda Ellington-Booth, academic director and principal designer of the Kellogg Renaissance Program, said in a Kellogg press release that the program's goal is to provide students with "a much deeper and critical background, especially focusing on research findings, the latest thinking, and how to apply these new ideas to their organizations."

The first session of the Renaissance Program will commence on September 17 at the Northwestern University campus. The three-week program consists of an initial two-week session, followed five months later by a final one-week session. To learn more about the program, see this webpage:
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/execed/
programs/MGMT08/index.htm

2007 Application Essays for Tuck

Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business has released its application essay questions for 2007.

To view the questions, go to this webpage:
http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pdf/app_essays.pdf

Wharton Releases 2007 Essay Questions

Wharton has published its application essay questions for 2007. To see the questions, go to:
http://adcomblog.wharton.upenn.edu/admissions
/2006/07/fall_2007_whart.html

Wharton's online application, including its recommendation forms, should be available online by September 1.

2007 Essay Topics for Stanford GSB

The Stanford Graduate School of Business has posted its essay questions for 2007 admissions to its website.

This year's application differs from last year's by asking applicants to write four essays instead of two. The two additional essays are both short -- 1 to 2 pages -- and require the applicant to describe a recent life experience that illustrates a point about his or her personal values, character, or interpersonal skills.

To read Stanford's essay questions, go to this webpage:
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/admission/essays_activities.html

LBS Essays for 2007

London Business School has released its application form, with essay questions, for 2007 admissions.

The application form is available online, at:
http://www.london.edu/assets/documents
/Word/Essay_Template_MBA2009.doc.

HBS's 'Working Knowledge' Website Showcases Faculty Research

The Harvard Business School has used its 'Working Knowledge' website to showcase published research by HBS faculty since late 1999. Beginning this summer, however, it will put more emphasis on works-in-progress, giving website visitors an early look at developing insights to business, entrepreneurship, management, finance, globalization, and other topics.

Faculty members presently featured on 'Working Knowledge' include:

Prof. Robert D. Austin, on "The Accidental Innovator." Austin, an associate professor in HBS's Technology, Innovations, and Management unit, discusses the serendipitous nature of many technological breakthroughs and how organizations can position themselves to recognize and exploit such fortuitous accidents.

Prof. Boris Groysberg, on "Why CEOS Are Not Plug-and-Play." Groysberg, an assistant professor in the Organizational Behavior unit of HBS, explains why CEOS need company-specific skills to succeed in some situations.

Stacey Childress on "Public Education Goes to School." Childress, a lecturer and senior researcher in HBS' Entrepreneurial Management unit, discusses the results to date of a joint HBS-Harvard School of Education program to apply new management concepts to 9 school districts across the U.S.

For more information, visit 'Working Knowledge' at http://hbswk.hbs.edu/.

Columbia Essays for 2007

Columbia Business School has posted its application essay questions for 2007 admissions. Applicants can read the questions on Columbia's online application site, which can be accessed by going to this webpage:
http://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mba/admissions/apply

Essays for MIT Sloan 2007 Admissions

MIT's Sloan School of Management has released its essay questions for fall 2007 applications. The questions are posted to this webpage:

http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/admissions/
applicationinstructions.php#essays

Note that applicants to the dual-degree Leadership for Manufacturing (LFM) and Biomedical Enterprise Program (BEP) options are asked to write several additional essays.

Chicago Releases 2007 Essays

The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business has released its application essay questions for 2007. The questions are posted to this webpage:

www.chicagogsb.edu/fulltime/admissions/essay.aspx

First-time applicants are asked to write five essays -- one 1,500-word essay on their reasons for wanting an MBA degree, particularly a Chicago MBA; one 500-word essay on either their personal development or on an issue of their choice; and three 100-word essays in response to specific questions ("What is the one thing that most people do not know about you?,"
"What book, play, or movie would you recommend to the admissions committee? Why?," and "It is your first day of business school and people are selecting study groups. How would you describe the value you will bring to a study group?")

Chicago's online application for 2007 is also now available. To access the system, go to:

admissions.chicagogsb.edu/admissions/app

2007 Application Deadlines for the London Business School

The London Business School has released its 2007 application deadlines. They are:

Stage 1: October 20, 2006 (w/interview decisions by November 17 and admissions decision by December 19)

Stage 2: January 5, 2007 (w/interview decisions by February 9 and admissions decision by March 23)

Stage 3: February 23, 2007 (w/interview decisions by April 3 and admissions decision by May 11)

Stage 4: April 27, 2007 (w/interview decisions by May 18 and admissions decision by June 22)

Applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. London time (GMT) on the deadline day.

LBS' online application, including essay questions for 2007, will be released later this summer.

"Reverse Brain Drain" Drawing Students to ISB, Admissions Director Says

The Indian School of Business is poised to become one of the top 10 business schools in the world by 2011, ISB's directors of admissions and financial aid said in an interview with Indian Web portal Rediff.

India's booming economy has created a huge demand for management talent in India and a 'reverse brain drain' that is attracting foreign students to the country's top management schools.

ISB Director of Admissions and Financial Aid I.V. Ranga Rao said that ISB has grown dramatically in the past few years and will continue growing in the future. The School has grown from 126 students in 2001 to 418 today and plans to expand to 560 students within a few years.

ISB already has international exchange programs with 26 schools in a dozen different countries, and is conducting a worldwide campaign to reach potential applicants from China, Korea, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka.

Mr. Rao said that ISB has received approximately 3,000 applications this year. The ratio of applicants to admits is usually about 5 to 1.

The qualities that ISB looks for in applicants are "intellectual strength, diverse background, good academic skills, leadership and, of course, good GMAT scores."

Diversity is "an ISB trademark," with students coming from a range of professional, educational, and geographic backgrounds. Current students include medical doctors, engineers, and a naval architect in addition to businesspeople.

Two of the School's current goals are to increase the number of women enrolling at the School and to attract more students from smaller Indian cities and towns where there is a strong entrepreneurial ethic based in the textile industry.

Overall, ISB's goal is to train managers whose skills will "build and nurture global companies." Given ISB's strong upward trajectory, it is not unrealistic to expect that "tomorrow's global companies will be shaped by ISB brains. "

Source: "ISB To Be in Top 10 Global B-List" - Rediff News, July 4, 2006

Owen Signs Top Faculty

Several top economic and business experts will join Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management as faculty members this fall. They include:

Robert Whaley, a world-renowned expert on derivative securities, who will leave Duke's Fuqua School of Business to return to Owen, his alma mater. Whaley will teach a course on fixed income markets at Owen.

R. Lawrence Van Horn, an expert on healthcare management, will leave his current position as director of the healthcare MBA program at Rochester's Simon School to join Owen as an associate professor. He will teach healthcare management and microeconomics at Owen and will serve as faculty director of Owen's Health Care MBA Program.

Steve Hoeffler, a consumer marketing expert now at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, will join Owen as an associate professor. He will teach core courses in marketing.

Corporate accounting expert and market analyst Richard Willis will leave Tulane University to join Owen as an associate professor of management.

Source: "Vanderbilt Scoops Faculty," by Della Bradshaw - the Financial Times, July 3, 2006

Fewer Employers Willing to Sponsor MBA Study

Fewer employers are willing to underwrite the full costs of an employee's MBA education, educators and MBA program administrators say.

The Charlotte Business Journal reports a steep drop in the number of MBA students with corporate sponsorship at Wake Forest University. In 2000, 38 per cent of MBA students at WFU's Babcock Graduate School of Management received full tuition reimbursement from their employers. This year, only about 20 per cent do.

A similar decline in employer sponsorship can be seen at the national level, the Executive MBA Council says. In 2000, 55 per cent of EMBA students were sponsored by the companies they worked for. In 2004, the figure was only 45 per cent.

Source: "Employer Sponsorship of MBAs Shows Decline," by Julie Bird - the Charlotte Business Journal, July 2, 2006

Stanford Students Describe International Internships

As we noted in a June 6 post, one of the upcoming revisions to Stanford's MBA curriculum will require all students to take part in an international internship or other learning experience at some point during their program.

Prospective applicants to Stanford might want to take a look at the May 2006 edition of Stanford Business, which includes a feature about several current Stanford students who participated in the GSB's Global Management Immersion Experince (GMIX) this year. The article gives an idea of the kinds of work that Stanford students can do through this program, and of the benefits they feel they get from it.

Michelle Chen, a second-year MBA student, did her internship with LinguaNet, a Paris-based translation services provider headed by a Stanford alumnus. She helped the company define its strategic positioning and researched whether it should try to market its services to Chinese companies. Chen, a native of China whose perspective as an Asian was especially valuable to LinguaNet, concluded that it was too early to enter the Chinese market because the price point for translation services is too low for the company to make a profit. She recommended that the firm instead target foreign companies hoping to enter the Chinese market.

Texas native Melissa Lopez interned for a small consulting firm in Sofia, Bulgaria. Lopez, whose work experience is in investment banking, was tasked with putting together an investment proposal to raise €10m for a new medical facility that will use laser technology for non-invasive treatment of cancers and other tumors. Lopez said the experience was similar to projects she had worked on for CitiGroup in the US, but involved "some interesting twists" because Bulgaria's venture capital industry is still taking shape.

Yoonyi Lee, a native of Korea, interned with the National Kidney Foundation of Singapore, where she was asked to analyze Korea as a potential fundraising venue. Lee researched the Korean legal system, public attitudes toward charities, media practices, and potential competitors for donors' funds. She described her internship experience as "invaluable," noting that it allowed her to "incorporate everything I learned at the Graduate School of Business and prior work experience into a well-organized plan for a fledgling charity fund with such a great lifesaving mission."

To read more about these and other Stanford students' international internship experiences, see "Hands Across the Water," by Theresa Johnston, in the May 2006 edition of Stanford Business
(http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/index.html).