MBA Application Volume May Have Hit its Peak

According to statistics released from GMAC, GMAT registrations during the first quarter of 2009 rose only 2% from the same period last year, compared to 11% the year before and 9% the year before that. It is the first time since 2005 that GMAT registration volume hasn’t been growing at breakneck speeds. While we don’t know yet if MBA applications will actually start to fall, many believe that application volume has reached its peak and will start plateauing. Good news for all those considering an MBA in the coming years!

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/blogs/mba_admissions/archives/2009/05/mba_application_1.html

Stanford GSB Names a New Dean

Stanford GSB announced a couple of days ago that they have named economist Garth Saloner as their new dean:

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/gsb_dean_release.html?cmpid=news

Stanford Graduate School of Business Essay Questions and Deadlines 2009-10

The structure of the essay set is the same as last year (same number of required questions with the option to choose from among the shorter essays). However, most of the short questions have changed. As always, Stanford places high priority on genuine stories that are written authentically. All schools do, but Stanford seems to be the most vocal about it. In a future post I will talk about what that authentic “voice” means in essay writing.

Below are the deadlines, questions, and my analyses.

For further details from the school’s website, please go to: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/admission/essays.html

Deadlines (all 17:00 PT)

Round 1: October 7, 2009

Round 2: January 6, 2010

Round 3: April 7, 2010

Essay Questions

1. What matters most to you, and why?

This is Stanford’s all-time classic question as many of you know. It is designed to get to know you as well as possible: what you believe in, what values have driven you so far, what life achievements you have accomplished. Think of this is as the bigger picture, all-encompassing essay question rather than one that is focused on your work achievements, which you will have an opportunity to respond to in the short questions below. For this question, think about what you want the admissions committee to know about you as a person. In particular, if you have experienced hardship or overcome any personal obstacles, this is the place to talk about how those experiences have impacted you.

My advice for this essay: brainstorm the various key experiences that you have had in your life and find the common theme or value that underlies those experiences. That theme or value should be the answer to “what matters most to you.” It is far easier (and more natural) than to think of the value first and then try to squeeze or force personal examples to fit it.

2. What are your career aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them?

This is the standard goals question. Stanford, like HBS, wants you to talk not just about specific career goals (e.g., specific type of position you want to obtain) but the hopes and vision that surround them (your mission, the ultimate big picture contribution you want to make).

Be sure to be very specific when discussing how Stanford’s program can help you. Stanford has a unique curriculum (which is constantly being updated), philosophy, student body, and geographic location. How will these resources provide you with what you need to learn? They want to make sure you’ve researched their program thoroughly.

Finally, one last word about this essay. I have seen people feeling compelled to start their essays with “I want to change the world.” This is because of Stanford’s slogan “Change Lives. Change Organizations. Change the World.” which is quite lovely. However, I believe it sounds a bit hokey to quote or incorporate their words into your essays. As writers always say, “Don’t tell; just show.” Discussing your realistically ambitious goals and real experience of having implemented change will be the most convincing way to show Stanford that you want to “change the world.”

3. Answer two of the four questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years.

• Option A: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations.

They want to know about a successful leadership experience in this question. They want to know how your leadership of your team members produced better-than-expected results. This also shows the standard Stanford is holding you up to: they don’t want just good results, but results that went above and beyond.

While this is a leadership question, please be mindful of its particular focus: your ability to build or develop a team. This question is not necessarily looking for your talents in developing a plan, crunching numbers, or negotiating with outsiders. They want to know how you were able to motivate, guide and nurture your team members to deliver an impressive outcome.

• Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization.

This question also shows what Stanford is looking for: your ability to leave a mark on an organization. Even more importantly, they are looking for an example of an impact you have made that has lasted over time. They are not interested in short-term effects but long-term ones. Perhaps you invented a specific model for a product in your company which to this day is still being sold, or being modeled by other companies. Or maybe you restructured a team who continues to benefit from those changes even years later.

• Option C: Tell us about a time when you motivated others to support your vision or initiative.

This is similar to the type of question that MIT typically asks, which has to do with your ability to persuade. This question is looking for a combination of interpersonal and intellectual skills.

Do you have an experience in which you needed to convince people to support an idea that you had? If so, how did you do it? Notice that Stanford doesn’t use the words “persuade” or “convince” but “motivate” instead. They’re looking for people who do not force or push others to see from their points of view, but rather try to inspire them into believing the same thing.

• Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected.

This is the only short question that they kept from last year. This is a question about innovative and pioneering abilities. When have you gone above and beyond? Appropriate examples could be doing something unconventional that has not been done before, creating something for the first time, performing at a level that is highly unusual because of your age, rank, etc.

Further instructions from Stanford’s site:

Essay Length

Your answers for all of the essay questions cannot exceed 1,800 words. Each of you has your own story to tell, so please allocate the 1,800 words among all of the essays in the way that is most effective for you. We provide some guidelines below as a starting point, but you should feel comfortable to write as much or as little as you like on any essay question, as long as you do not exceed 1,800 words total.

• Essay 1: 750 words
• Essay 2: 450 words
• Essay 3: 300 words each

Formatting

• Use a 12-point font, double spaced
• Indicate which essay question you are answering at the beginning of each essay
• Number all pages
• Upload all four essays as one document
• Preview the uploaded document to ensure that the formatting is true to the original
• Save a copy of your essays

Curriculum Changes at Berkeley’s Haas MBA Program

Anyone considering Haas should be aware of the new curriculum changes that have recently been approved by the Haas faculty. Actually, perhaps these changes will attract those of you who have not yet seriously considered applying to Haas. Among the innovations will be those in their core leadership course, a new experiential initiative, and increased focus on international business. Please click on the following link for further details:

http://www2.haas.berkeley.edu/News/Newsroom/090511curriculum.aspx

Harvard Business School Essay Questions and Deadlines 2009-10

HBS released their 2009-10 essay questions and deadlines a few days ago.  There have been some changes in both the deadlines and essay questions. For anyone who’s been following the HBS applications, you’ll notice that their Round 1 deadline is earlier this year and their Round 2 deadline is later than usual (great news for me as a counselor!). As for the essays, some of the questions have changed and the new questions, I believe, reflect the information HBS wants given the current economic situation we’re in. For example, for the first time HBS asks for a “cover letter” essay which is the standard document you send to employers when looking for jobs.

While you may still be working on your GMAT and/or TOEFL, you should start thinking about these essays whenever you can.  HBS is not an easy application to work on first and so I recommend that you get your feet wet by working on some other schools before starting on HBS. This means that, for first round applicants, you’ll need to start early.

What follows below are the deadlines, instructions and questions, alongside my analyses.

Deadlines (all 17:00 EST)

Round 1: October 1, 2009

Round 2: January 19, 2010

Round 3: April 8, 2010

Essays (text from HBS website http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/writtenapplication.html)

Essays should be single-spaced. Please limit your response to the length indicated.

All applicants must submit answers to four essay questions. The first two questions are required of all applicants. The remaining two essays should be in response to your choice of the next five sub-questions.

Joint program applicants for the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School must provide an additional essay.

Essays:

• What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)

Analysis:

The classic HBS question. Accomplishments mean achievement and impact. In what ways have you stretched yourself, gone above and beyond, and made an impact on others? The examples you choose should represent you well, meaning, as much as possible, combine professional examples with an academic, community or personal example. However, your own combination will depend on your own experiences. Do not force a weak example simply to diversify your stories. Try to find a balance between quality and diversity.

• What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)

Analysis:

HBS wants to know how self-aware you are and how willing you are to learn from your mistakes. That is the main point of this question, not how badly you have messed up. So be honest in the mistake you choose and don’t be afraid of showing a weakness. The bigger the mistake, the better in many cases. Describe what you did wrong, but show how you handled it and what you learned from it.

• Please respond to two of the following (400-word limit each):

1.  What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?

Analysis: This is a question designed more for recent graduates who have fewer professional experiences to talk about. If you had a rich undergraduate life and you didn’t attend university too long ago, this may be a good option for you. I often get asked if it is okay to talk about non-academic experience. My answer is yes, as long as you are not talking only about your club and sports activities. That is, your answer needs to discuss your academic and intellectual work even if you want to talk about other activities as well. Questions to think about: What kind of a student were you? Were you intellectually curious? What kinds of intellectual pursuits did you have? If you were also active outside the classroom, talk about that too: leadership, community involvement, etc. Your experience as an undergraduate student will give the admissions board an idea of what kind of HBS student and leader you might be.

2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.

Analysis: They are interested in knowing about the “team” or “people” person in you. If you were on a sports team, university club, or other community activity, this may be a good question for you to choose. The key expression here is “engaged with” which implies interaction and involvement.  Be careful not to write an essay that simply focuses on leadership and achievement and what you did to or for others; they want to know how you involved yourself with the target community or group. Did you motivate people? Coach them? Teach them? Inspire them?

3. Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision.

Analysis: They want to know the logic and self-awareness you employ when making important decisions. In hearing about the process that you went through to make this decision, they can also learn about your maturity and personal values, which ultimately would form the basis of your decision making. Talk about the decision and elaborate on how you went about making that decision. The example you choose could be professional, community or personal.

4. Write a cover letter to your application introducing yourself to the Admissions Board.

Analysis: This is a clever essay idea that has long been the staple MIT essay question. Here you’ll need to know the conventions of writing a business/professional cover letter which is your self-marketing piece. Traditionally, employers read cover letters before moving on to resumes when looking for people to hire. They are more likely to move on to the resume if they like what they read in the cover letter. Therefore, you need to promote yourself in this essay and make the admissions board interested in you. Points to address: Who are you in a nutshell? What are the highlights of your background? What achievements and impact have you made? Why are you seeking a place in the MBA program at HBS and why are you a good fit/how would you add value? This is the place where you try to “stand out” from the rest of the applicant pool.

5. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

Analysis: This is more or less the standard goals essay, although many people ask me why HBS uses the expression “career vision” instead of “career goals” which is used by most other schools. HBS wants to know more than just the concrete things that you plan to do after graduation (e.g., become Director of Marketing); they want to know what your mission and career plan and path are (e.g., serve consumers in developing countries through a position as Director of Marketing). “Vision” is what you see for your future: what do you hope to do, what are the steps you will take to get there, what fundamental value, belief or desire is driving this career path for you? However, don’t get overly anxious about this essay question; if you write all your essays well, this goals essay should not be any different from the goals essays you write for other schools. The one difference between HBS’s goals essay and that of other schools, though, is that you don’t need to spend a lot of time convincing them why HBS is your top choice.

Joint degree applicants:

• How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400-word limit)

Analysis:

This is a straightforward question asking you to talk about why you need the joint degree/joint degree experience. They want to know how studying for both degrees will help you professionally and personally.

2008-09 出願結果公表

2008-09出願シーズンも終盤を迎えました。このシーズンも競争が厳しい年でしたが、Reveメンバーの皆さんは2009年5月10日現在で以下のように素晴らしい結果出してくれています。

どんなに苦しい時でも諦めずに自分を信じて努力を積み重ねてくれた結果です。私たちカウンセラーは彼らのそんな姿勢を誇りに思っています。「本当におめでとう！」 

2008-09 (as of May 10, 2009)

MBA

• Cambridge (UK)
• Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
• Duke (Fuqua)
• Emory (Goizueta)
• ESADE (Spain)
• Georgetown (McDonough)
• Harvard
• Keio (Japan)
• University of Manchester (UK; multiple)
• Northwestern (Kellogg)
• Stanford
• University of CA, Berkeley (Haas)
• UCLA (Anderson; multiple)
• University of Michigan (Ross-GMBA)
• University of Pennsylvania (Wharton; multiple)
• University of Rochester (Simon; multiple)
• University of Texas, Austin (McCombs)
• Vanderbilt (Owen; multiple)
• Washington (Olin; multiple)

Master of Law

• Columbia (multiple)
• Georgetown (multiple)

Other (Engineering)

• Cambridge (UK)
• Imperial College (UK)