This year, Tuck slightly changed the wording of its essay prompts in an effort to be very clear and precise about what the adcom wants to hear from applicants. The maximum length of the essays also changed, from 300 words to 2,000 characters. Ready to work on your Dartmouth Tuck application? Read on. 

Dartmouth Tuck application essay tips

Essay #1

Why are you pursuing an MBA and why now? How will the distinct Tuck MBA contribute to achieving your goals and aspirations? What particular aspects of Tuck will be instrumental in your growth? (2000 characters)

First, why do you think you need an MBA? What is it that you cannot do without an MBA? You should be able to answer this question easily. If not, you shouldn’t be applying to business school yet. The second part of that question is why now? Can you discuss a specific event that made you realize that the time has come to make this move? 

Reflect on your current skills, and then look at job descriptions for the post-MBA position you are targeting. Note what new skills you need to acquire. Do you have a longer-term goal that motivates your short-term one? Briefly discuss that, too. You really need to understand the industry or functional area you wish to enter to be able to answer this question succinctly and clearly. This assures the adcom that you have done adequate research on your intended career path and know what obstacles you might need to overcome to get where you want to go.

Next, what distinctive aspects of the Tuck MBA experience will help you realize your post-MBA goals? What offerings and opportunities are available at Tuck that you do not see at other schools? Look at the school’s resource centers, student clubs, and conferences, as well as the research that faculty are working on. You will need to associate those elements of the program with your aspirations in this essay. This is a critical part of the answer that applicants often overlook. Don’t generalize here; be specific! Saying that Tuck has a strong general management program and great faculty is a waste of your character limit! What does the program offer that will specifically help you move forward?

Essay #2

Tell us who you are. How have your values and experiences shaped your identity and character? How will your unique background contribute to Tuck and/or enhance the experience of your classmates? (2000 characters)

This is a very direct and personal question and is designed to show your self-awareness and your accomplishments. Think about what makes you you. What are the values you have developed, and how have you exhibited those values in your work or community? Give one or two specific examples that aren’t reflected in other parts of your application, including your other essays. Your answer in this essay will give the adcom a good idea of your fit for their program – and the elusive “fit” is one of the most important criteria at Tuck. The program has a very tight-knit, collaborative, and intensely loyal community, so based on your hobbies, interests, and accomplishments, how will you be involved in that community, and what would you share with your classmates that might be special? 

Here you need to think about how you have made an impact on your company or community.  Reflect on any challenges you’ve faced while trying to push through a problem or formulate a new way of doing something. Think about what drives and motivates you and where that motivation came from. How do your personal values or knowledge guide your decisions, and how do you motivate others to join you? Getting all of this into only 2,000 characters can certainly be a challenge. I suggest doing some brainstorming, and then decide which example will best reveal why you are unique. You might first state the problem or goal, add why it was important to you, and finally, state the result of your action.  

Essay #3

Describe a time when you meaningfully invested in someone else’s success without immediate benefit to yourself. What motivated you, and what was the impact? (2000 characters) 

The Tuck adcom wants to understand how you would both support and challenge others, especially if there is no direct benefit to you. This question asks you to discuss an experience that shows how you directly contributed to someone’s success. Tuckies support and encourage others, while always remaining respectful of different points of view and ways of thinking. Your example could come from a work or a social context. Keep it specific and concrete, or you will blend in with others who write in generalities. Your empathetic, helpful response to the other party’s situation is key.

A CAR (Challenge, Actions, Result) approach will work well here:

• What was the challenge the other person faced? What motivated you to take action?
• What specific action(s) did you take to make that person feel confident and valued? Did you provide access to specific resources, draw upon your experience or your network to add value?
• What was the result of this experience for your colleague? What did you learn about yourself? How did you feel when the person was successful? 

Optional Essay 

Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere (e.g., atypical choice of evaluators, factors affecting academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application. (2000 characters)

If you have any of the elements mentioned in Tuck’s question, by all means, address them here. You do not want the adcom guessing or assuming wrongly when they come across something anomalous.

If you feel your application represents your candidacy well, don’t feel compelled to submit an optional essay. If you believe, however, that your application is missing key elements of your story, then briefly include them here. Whether it’s a challenge you’ve faced, a hardship you’ve overcome, or some other context for what you’ve achieved that will help the adcom fully appreciate your candidacy, share it in this essay.

However, you don’t want to waste the adcom’s time with unnecessary text or material that’s already covered elsewhere in your application. Doing so would reveal a definite lack of judgment – or in Tuck terms, awareness.

Reapplicant Essay 

How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally. (2000 characters)

This is the question for reapplicants. Why should the school admit you this time around? How are you better than you were the previous time you applied? Have you reassessed your goals so that they are more feasible? Have you retaken the GMAT/GRE? Did you receive a promotion or award for work you’ve done, or did you change jobs to get you started on the path you intend to follow? Have you completely changed course because of economic or political realities? You must show the school how you are better equipped for the MBA program now than you were the previous time you applied. And no, just retaking the GMAT/GRE isn’t quite enough if your goals are still generalized and vague or if you cannot demonstrate your understanding of Tuck. Do some research on the career you want to pursue, and explain how you have the qualities needed for your post-MBA job and understand both the industry and what you need to learn to be successful.   

 Dartmouth Tuck application deadlines

Source: Dartmouth Tuck website

Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. ET.

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with Dartmouth Tuck directly to verify its essay questions, instructions, and deadlines.***

Dartmouth Tuck class profile

Here is a look at the Dartmouth Tuck Class of 2026 (data taken from the Dartmouth Tuck website):

Students: 296

U.S. minorities: 29%

International: 30%

Women: 44%

Students with partners: 32%

Students with children: 4%

LGBTQ+: 7%

First-generation college graduate: 15%

U.S. race/ethnicity (Federal guidelines reporting)

• White: 67%
• Asian: 13%
• Hispanic or Latinx: 10%
• Did not report: 4%
• Black or African American 3%
• Multi-race/ethnic: 3%
• American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander: 0%

Countries represented by citizenship: 41

Countries represented by birth: 43

Countries represented by professional experience: 38

Citizenship (counts dual citizens in both countries)

• U.S.A. and Canada: 71%
• Asia: 14%
• Latin America: 11%
• Europe: 7%
• Middle East and Africa: 4%
• Oceania: <1%

Unique undergraduate majors: 63

• Arts, humanities, social sciences: 45%
• Business: 26%
• Science, technology, engineering, math: 26%

Unique undergraduate institutions

• Domestic: 107
• International: 71

Previous advanced degrees: 13%

Average GMAT: 727 

GMAT range: 650-780

Average Verbal GMAT: 42

Verbal GMAT range: 32-51

Average Quant GMAT: 48

Quant GMAT range: 42-51

Average IR GMAT: 7

Average Verbal GRE: 161 

Verbal GRE range: 150-169

Average Quant GRE: 161

Quant GRE range: 148-170

Percentage of applicants submitting GRE: 46%

Average GPA: 3.6

GPA range: 2.95-3.99

Industry experience

• Consulting: 25%
• Financial services: 23%
• Technology: 13%
• Nonprofit, government: 10%
• Health care, pharma, biotech: 9%
• Consumer goods, retail: 5%
• Media, entertainment: 3%
• Other: 3%
• Energy: 2%
• Manufacturing: 2%

Average months of work experience: 69

Related Resources

• Should You Apply to MBA Programs in Round 1 or Round 2?
• Four Ways to Show How You’ll Contribute in the Future
• Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for MBA Applicants

The post Dartmouth Tuck MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2025-2026], Class Profile appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Our consultants receive a lot of questions from clients about applying to MBA programs through The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. I’ve heard myths that suggest that applying to one (or more) of the 22 Consortium schools through The Consortium’s application is disadvantageous. But as the former director at two Consortium schools, I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth — provided you meet The Consortium’s minimum qualifications.

Though the requirements, participating schools, and corporate partners have changed over The Consortium’s 57-year history, not only is the organization the best deal in town but it also gives its members an alumni network that extends throughout the 22 member schools.

The Consortium history and mission

Initially, The Consortium provided opportunities for young African-American men to have a fair chance at rising up the corporate ladder via the MBA. Later, The Consortium added Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and women to its mix. Membership came along with the fellowship.

However, after the Supreme Court decided the Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger cases, The Consortium opened its doors to offer membership to selected applicants that further The Consortium’s mission to promote the “inclusion in global business education and leadership . . . of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans.” Members do not need to belong to one of these groups but must demonstrate the mission through community and professional action and impact. Thus, membership is no longer race based but rather mission driven. Applicants must also demonstrate the ability to succeed in a Consortium member school’s MBA program.

Consortium member benefits

Like the undergraduate Common App, candidates can apply to up to six schools with only one application for a fraction of the cost that the candidate would incur by applying to each school separately. The Consortium membership grants the candidate access to the orientation and corporate partners. Many members receive internship offers before the start of school.

To summarize the benefits:

1. Applicants can use a single application for up to six schools at one low cost.
   
2. Members gain access to a vast alumni network of 22 schools, including mentorship from among the approximately 9,000 Consortium alumni (formal or informal).
   
3. Students gain access to corporate sponsors at orientation if selected as a member.
   
4. If selected as a fellow, students receive full tuition and a stipend.

READ: The Consortium Application: Tips for Your CGSM Essays >>

Consortium member schools

* School’s class profile presents a score/GPA range rather than an average.

To learn more about applying through The Consortium, please contact me for a consultation.

By Natalie Grinblatt, the former admissions dean/director at three top business schools. Natalie has reviewed more than 70,000 applications, interviewed more than 2,500 candidates, and trained nearly 700 admissions directors and alumni volunteers to select outstanding candidates for admission. Her clients gain admission to top programs, including those at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Cornell, Columbia, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, and NYU. Natalie holds an MBA from Michigan Ross. Want Natalie to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Top MBA Application Essay Questions: How to Answer Them Right
• The Consortium Application: Tips for Your CGSM Essays [2022 – 2023]
• What the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Can Do for MBA Applicants – podcast episode 395

Can the Consortium Help You Get Accepted and Fund Your MBA? [Episode 532]

[powerpress]

In this episode, the Director of Recruiting at CGSM details the benefits – and opportunities! – available to Consortium members, what it takes to become a member, and why applying in Round One may not always be an applicant’s best strategy.  [SHOW SUMMARY]

There’s an organization that can help U.S. citizens and permanent residents get accepted to top MBA programs, fund their MBA, and even provide career support post-MBA – provided the applicants support the organization’s mission. Let’s learn all about it from the Consortium for the Graduate Study of Management’s (CGSM) Director of Recruiting.

An interview with Bianca Keys, director of recruiting at the Consortium for the Graduate Study of Management. [Show Notes]

Welcome to the 532nd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. 

Sometimes I’m asked, is the MBA worth it? And my answer is, it depends on your individual circumstances. But I’ve got good news. We’ve developed a tool that will help you evaluate whether an MBA is worth it for you and your individual circumstances and by how much. Just go to accepted.com/mbaroi and check how much you’re likely to benefit, or not, from earning an MBA. And using it won’t set you back even one cent, it’s free. 

I’m delighted for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk to talk with Bianca Keys, Director of Recruiting at the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. Bianca earned her bachelor’s degree from Lindenwood University and her master’s in Business Management and Leadership from Webster University. She has worked in enrollment management, DEI training, and admissions in different capacities since 2008. She became CGSM’s Director of Recruiting in September 2022. 

Bianca, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:53]

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

I’m delighted to do so. Now let’s start with something really, really basic. What is the Consortium? [1:59]

All right. So, the Consortium, we are pretty much an alliance of top graduate business programs and also top corporate partners, and we’re supported by alumni and students. We were founded in 1966 by Washington University’s professor, Sterling Schoen. And his one driven mission was actually inspired by him noticing a lack of African American men in leadership in American corporations.

So, with the partnerships of some corporate partners and some founding schools, they were able to pretty much create this alliance to give African American men the business skills to be able to secure positions in American corporations. So, now we’ve grown.

And I assume it’s no longer limited to African American men. It’s now African American men and women, right? [2:59]

Yes, men and women. And our target pops are African American men, Native American and Hispanic American, but our applications are open to all.

How does one become a CGSM member? [3:16]

In order to become a member, you would have to, of course, apply. And three of our requirements are that you must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident of any race or ethnicity, you must demonstrate a commitment to our Consortium’s mission, and hold a four-year bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in the U.S. or equivalent. So, to be approved for Consortium membership, an applicant must demonstrate the commitment through their resume, our essay, and their letter of recommendation.

I have in front of me your mission, so I’m just going to read it off. “The mission of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, an alliance of leading American business schools and some of our country’s top corporations, is to enhance diversity in business education and leadership by helping to reduce the serious underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in both the member schools’ enrollments and the ranks of management.” 

So, again, there’s no racial requirement in terms of membership as long as you support and identify with and support and have supported that mission in the past. [3:59]

Yeah.

All right. So, one of CGSM’S benefits is the ability to apply through CGSM and pay one application fee, and I think it goes to a maximum of six schools, correct? [4:33]

There’s no max anymore.

There’s no max anymore, ooh! [4:44]

So, two things, two updates. We’ve removed rankings. So, there are no rankings, and you can apply to as many member schools as you would like. So, from one to two schools is $150, up to six schools which is $300, but each additional program is $25. Yeah, so they can apply…

And so, in the past with our ranking system, the top ranking school, they were the only school that was able to offer a fellowship opportunity. And now if you applied to all six schools or more, they have the opportunity to offer you… they each have an opportunity to offer you a fellowship. And we empower the student to be able to make the better choice of what school best fits them.

Wow, that’s a big change. When did this change take place, like last year? [5:38]

This last application.

Last cycle. Should’ve interviewed you then. No, I’m teasing. That’s great news. I somehow missed that announcement. Okay, good to know. Good to know. So, there’s no more ranking and there’s no more maximum, and multiple schools could offer a fellowship. [5:43]

Yes.

Now you apply for membership at the same time that you submit your application, correct? [6:00]

Yes. It’s a one stop shop,

It’s a one-stop deal, one application. So, it is possible to use the CGSM application process and ultimately not be approved for CGSM membership, is that correct? [6:09]

Yes, that is possible. But the application is still considered an application, so you won’t get rejected from the member school just because you didn’t get membership. They still go through their standard process of admissions. And a lot of times they’ll offer you other fellowship opportunities or scholarship opportunities that they may have available at the schools.

And the schools don’t even see your decision in terms of CGSM membership. They don’t see the membership essay, correct, the membership application essay? [6:46]

They don’t see any of the membership application essays or letters of recommendation. All they see is the decision once we’ve made it.

Now I saw on your website that Stanford partnered with CGSM last year and became the 22nd school to become a partner school. Have any other schools partnered since then? [7:02]

Yes, I’m excited to say that…

Well, you got lots of news today. [7:17]

Yeah, I do. I do. Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, they are our newest, our 23rd school, which we are so excited to have them. They will begin July 1st, actually, and they will be on our application this upcoming cycle. And this upcoming cycle is for students fall 2024, that will begin fall 2024.

What is the benefit of applying through CGSM as opposed to just using the school’s portal? Portals, I should say. [7:45]

We, one, save you money. An average application for any grad program can be up to about $300 for one application, where six applications is $300 applying through us. So, it’s definitely a win for the students. Whether they get membership or not, it’s saving them money and they are allowed to go by our application deadlines as well. So, if maybe Columbia or one of the schools, maybe their application deadline may be September 15th, they still would recognize the application on our deadline, which our Round One is October 15th.

And I believe it’s also easier to apply. Aren’t there fewer essays required or is it pretty much the same at this point? [8:50]

Right, so it is the core essay which asks the applicants to discuss their MBA goals, and then there’s a second core essay that the applicants are able to detail any additional information that they may want to add that they weren’t able to explain in the application.

Right. And is there typically a supplemental per school essay, or do the schools ask for their own essays in addition to the Consortium essay? [9:20]

Sometimes they ask for their own supplementals that are added in addition. We are going through that process of application updates as we speak.

But it’s not all schools that do that? [9:38]

No, no. No, no.

Usually the student has the mission essay and then the two GMAC format essays.

Are you worried about CGSM’s applicants using ChatGPT and preparing their essays? [9:51]

Oh, the ChatGPT.

You got it. I’m asking everybody this question. [10:03]

And that’s a good question. So, with it being such a newer phenomenon right now, I just want applicants and students to be mindful that there are advantages and disadvantages to using ChatGPT, because what we’re looking for is consistency in their demonstrated commitment to the mission. And I doubt it if they’ll be able to convey that in an interview based off of a ChatGPT essay.

So, a lot of the admissions advisors and committees, they’re looking for authenticity. They’re looking for unique perspectives and their applicant’s ability to be able to express themselves. So, I don’t know if they can… It probably is a good tool to help guide them in forming their essay, but I don’t think it should be something that can express exactly your commitment.

I’ve played with it a little bit, and sometimes there are outright errors in it. It’s wrong. [11:09]

Right, right.

And other times it’s just very generic, and it has to be generic. You’re not going to get a lot of authenticity. But it does sometimes help. [11:17]

Yeah, yeah.

But to rely on it blindly I think is a big mistake. [11:28]

Yeah. Yeah. Especially if you don’t check.

Absolutely. Absolutely. [11:35]

Attention to detail.

Are there other elements to the CGSM application? We discussed you pay a fee. You have the core essays. You might have supplemental essays. Are there short answer essays or anything like that or is it pretty straightforward? [11:40]

Yeah, it’s pretty straightforward. If the school has any changes or supplements to each essay, that may be the different shift or change. But pretty much transcripts, resume. We always advise students to make sure that your experience, if you’re a part of organizations like Forte or MLT, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Teach for America, making sure that that’s actually on your resume. That definitely helps. Your test scores, GRE, GMAT or Executive assessment, letters of recommendation. One for the mission, and then there are two for the schools. Yes. And making sure you get the right recommender.

What makes a right recommender? [12:41]

Someone who can explicitly… Especially for the Consortium mission letter of recommendation, somebody who can explicitly pretty much show your demonstrated commitment to our mission and they know about that.

They’ve observed it. [13:01]

Yeah, they’ve observed it, and they can actually speak to it. And they’re not saying, “Well, I don’t know about their demonstrated commitment, but Jane is a great person and we love her personality. She’s very professional.” It’s like, what?

That’s not the question. [13:17]

So, definitely communicate with your recommender about expectations. And with us, it doesn’t have to be your supervisor with the Consortium mission letter of recommendation. It can be as long as it’s not a family member. It could be anyone who can speak to it.

That you’ve somehow supported that mission. Makes sense [13:40.

Yes.

What are the non-admissions benefits of being a CGSM member or fellow, and what is the difference between being a CGSM member and fellow? So, there’s really two questions there. Why don’t we start with the non-admissions benefits of membership, and then we’ll get to the difference between being a member and a fellow. [13:46]

So, the non-admission benefits are pretty much the early access to corporate partners. A lot of our students, we just had OP, our orientation program this past June, and it was amazing. It was amazing.

I know you’re working very hard on it. [14:20]

Yeah. Oh man, it was definitely a job, but it’s worth it. And just to see all of the students that we worked with from the beginning up until that point, from all their stress points, their pain points, to see them, they made it, and they’re at the orientation program. So, them having early access to our corporate partners.

They also have access to our system that is… We have a platform that is called Hello Fellow that allows them to join different groups that are industry groups. And our corporate partners have access to them as well, and they’re able to apply to positions that are open to those corporate partners.

Also, at our orientation program, we had a corporate open house that’s not like your traditional job fair. All of our corporate partners actually already had our students’ resumes, they already had a student look book, they’ve already seen the students and they already know the students prior to them even coming to the expo.

So, they definitely have a great advantage by being a Consortium fellow. And then the camaraderie, the support that they have with each other, there’s nothing like it. I love how each campus had… they call themselves CFAM.

Campus family, yeah. [15:53]

Yes. Each campus, each Consortium cohort on each campus, they’re so close. A lot of our alumni mention that the connection, that’s like a trending thing with us here at the Consortium is connection. Being able to connect students with not only each other, but also with our corporate partners and with our top MBA programs.

So, they have lifelong connections with all three of those different entities, and they enjoy being able to talk with someone who understands them, someone who may be going through the same even issues at their jobs or anything like that, and that connection. And if there’s a job loss or anything like that, we do provide the support to help those students to be able to reconnect with corporate partners and find another opportunity.

So, just to clarify, the orientation program is open to all Consortium members, not just fellows, correct? [16:54]

So, Consortium fellows, you’re applying for membership, but the membership allows you to become a Consortium fellow. So, whether you received a fellowship or not, you are considered a Consortium fellow.

So, you’re a Consortium fellow whether you get a scholarship or not? [17:16]

Right.

Got it. And all the fellows/members can go to the orientation program. How long is the orientation program? [17:26]

So, it’s a four-day conference, and it consists of a lot of hands-on career development. We have diversity theater, which is amazing. A lot of our corporate partners, they have private interviews with a lot of the students. So, a big portion of our students leave with internships or career opportunities.

For next year, for next summer, or for this summer? For next summer? [17:56]

Yes. For this upcoming year –

For summer 2024, let’s say? [18:03]

Yes.

And what is diversity theater? [18:06]

Oh my goodness, diversity theater. This was actually my first year to experience it. Hearing it from other coworkers and staff was not the same as experiencing and seeing those difficult conversations displayed on stage.

So, there’s actors that are on stage, and they may act out a scene where some coworkers that may deal with microaggressions or different challenges that you may face at work and how to address that, and just having those conversations amongst your peers. And it really was eye opening for not only the students, but for staff, for a lot of our corporate partners and admissions representatives as well. So, it was pretty amazing, and we have it annually as well.

And it seems like the orientation program is very much career oriented. Is there any prep for the actual study of the MBA, or is that assumed that the schools will handle that? [19:09]

So, the schools, the admissions representatives and career services representatives are present. So, they do have an advising session that they get to work with them and meet with them one-on-one for prep with the corporate partners, but also any questions that they have about the upcoming program that they’re about to start in the fall. They have all of that one-on-one time, a lot more one-on-one time than they would normally get during the school year.

Sounds like a very busy four days, very full. [19:54]

Yeah, it is very full.

Okay. How does CGSM help its fellows in career placement, both during and after the MBA? [20:00]

So, during the MBA, again, we have the Hello Fellow and our annual program, our annual orientation program and career forum. Like I mentioned before, they have the opportunity to interact with the corporate partners. The corporate partners get to review their resumes and their backgrounds early on before even meeting them face-to-face. Our alumni network, our Hello Fellow system, allows them to, again, engage with these corporate partners.

And then our student and alumni relations department, they are amazing with connecting with the students. They engage with student liaisons as well in providing that support that they may need throughout the year. And if there’s a student, like we just had tech layoffs recently. And our alumni development department, they were able to help and assist with reengaging with those students or those alumni to be able to help them to get placed in other career opportunities.

A few weeks ago you had the OP. It was mostly geared towards people starting the MBA in 2023, but it also had people who started the MBA in 2022. Is that correct? [21:18]

We had some second year. Like if something happened last year, I know dealing with the pandemic and other issues, some students were not able to attend last year, and so they were given the opportunity to attend this year.

But it’s usually just for the people about to start the MBA, the OP? [21:48]

Right, it’s usually first year students.

What do you see coming down the pike for the Consortium? [21:54]

Oh my goodness. Continued growth, continued engagement with a lot of the students. We’re working on increasing our exposure and engaging. This year we shared a lot of our OP activities on our social media and got a lot of good feedback and engagement. So, definitely I think we have a good momentum right now to be able to get all of the good things that we do at the Consortium out to the public and to the world.

What advice would you give to someone applying to apply via the Consortium in this, the 2023-2024 application cycle? [22:34]

Definitely begin your MBA journey. And beginning your MBA journey does not start with the application. It starts with the preparation.

Yes, that’s right. [23:13]

Definitely starts with the preparation. So, researching a lot of the schools that you’re interested in, finding out if you’re interested in the Consortium, finding out what that Consortium culture looks like on each campus to see what best fits you. Also, looking into preparation for GRE, GMAT, or the Executive Assessment and finding out what the class profiles are for each school that you’re interested in so you can have a good idea of where you stand. And don’t rush your application. Don’t rush it.

Yay! [23:54]

I always have some overzealous students that want to, “I’m getting it in for Round One.” Wait a minute. Make sure that you’re submitting the strongest application and that this is the right time for you to start a program. There’s no rush. There’s no rush. There’s no rush. Make sure you have the strongest application. Utilize all resources that you need to support you through your application process.

We always advise students to attend our events. We have member school webinars that are… We actually have one coming up on July 10th, which will have Washington University, University of Rochester Simon, and UCLA Anderson. And they will be talking about their MBA programs, but also talking about their Consortium cohorts on their campus as well.

And we also have our MBA application preparation seminars, which is MAPS, which will be in person this year. So, we will be in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, and DC.

Wow. You’re getting around. [25:16]

Yes.

Not all Consortium schools require a test score. Does the Consortium require a test score even if the school does not? [25:21]

So, for membership we don’t require a test score. But if you are applying and they offer a test waiver, we would need to have that test waiver submitted, or you would need to submit that in the application. And then we just confirm it with the member school whether that test waiver was actually approved. Yeah. And then if it wasn’t approved, then they would have to submit a test score.

Are any of the programs or any of the partner schools entirely test optional? Do you know off the top of your head? I wasn’t sure as I was thinking about it. [26:03]

I don’t think so. Well, it depends on the school and what policies they have in place this upcoming school year.

I think most of them have a test waiver option, and I also would have to go through each one. [26:19]

Yeah. I always advise students to talk with them early about it, because last year I ran into the issue of students who just missed it. It was like they just missed the test waiver window. So, definitely talk with your school of interest to find out when that test waiver timeframe is and get that in if that’s an option for you.

Wonderful advice even if you’re not applying through CGSM, by the way. [26:51]

Right, absolutely.

What would you have liked me to ask you? [26:56]

These were all great questions.

What would you like to share that I haven’t asked? [27:02]

I would like to share just my… In my position as Director of Recruiting, what my passion and desire and vision is for the Consortium moving forward is to be able to expand our exposure to those who definitely need the opportunity, to be able to expand our exposure to those areas, because sometimes we are in this collegiate bubble.

Aacademia. [27:37]

Yeah, absolutely. And to be able to… We do so many great things.

You do. [27:45]

And just being able to see just the energy that I get from the students, just being around them, and just the positive nature of it all, being able to give that to others who don’t know about the Consortium. So, that’s my mission and goal is to increase exposure and to really share about the great things we’re doing here at the Consortium.

Well, today in this podcast, you did it. [28:14]

Thank you. Thank you, Linda.

You’re very welcome. Bianca, I want to thank you so much for joining me today. Where can listeners and potential applicants learn more about CGSM? [28:21]

They can check us online at www.cgsm.org or on our LinkedIn page and our Instagram page and on Twitter.

Relevant Links:

• The Consortium for the Graduate Study of Management
• Applying For Your MBA Through The Consortium: Best Deal In Town
• MBA ROI Calculator   

Relevant shows:

• How to Get an MBA at Columbia Business School – a podcast Episode 528
• How to Get Accepted to NYU Stern – a podcast Episode 525
• How to Get into Dartmouth Tuck – a podcast Episode 514
• How to Get Into Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Program – a podcast Episode 512
• How to Get Accepted to UNC Kenan-Flagler Full-Time MBA Program – a podcast Episode 496

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The post Applying for Your MBA Through The Consortium [Episode 532] appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

[powerpress]

In this episode the Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth discusses what the Adcom expects from applicants. [SHOW SUMMARY]

Would you like to attend an MBA program with a tight-knit community and a strong foundation in general management, but with enough breadth that you can still do a deep dive into a specific area of interest?  Dartmouth Tuck may be the perfect program for you, and today’s guest is its Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid.

An interview with Lawrence Mur’ray, the leader of Tuck’s admissions and financial aid teams. [SHOW NOTES]

Welcome to the 514th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you ready to apply to your Dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted’s MBA Admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you’ll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus it’s all free. 

It gives me great pleasure to have for the first time on Admissions Straight Talk, Lawrence Mur’ray, Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Dartmouth University’s Tuck School of Business. Lawrence has been in higher ed since he graduated high school. He earned his BA and MPA at the University of Arizona and began his career in admissions there. He then became Assistant Director of MBA Admissions at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, followed by a stint at UNC Kenan-Flagler where he rose to become the Director of the Undergraduate Business Program. He then served as Senior Assistant Dean of Graduate Business Programs at Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business for over six years and joined Dartmouth Tuck as Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid just this past August. 7;’/

Lawrence, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:00]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m excited to be here.

And I’m delighted to speak with you. Now let’s start with a basic question, which is typically how I open these interviews. Can you provide an overview of Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA program? [2:06]

Yeah. Great. Thank you. Again, I’m excited to be here. Thank you for having me. The Tuck School of Business is at Dartmouth College here in Hanover, New Hampshire. We are an extremely rigorous, two-year, Ivy League MBA, nestled here in the Upper Valley, which provides an  opportunity to reflect and focus while you’re here. It’s an opportunity for students to really connect with one another. Again, it’s a rigorous academic program. I think sometimes people think that coming to a small school means there’s limited opportunities, but there are boundless opportunities here with a culture of collaboration and community. You can do almost anything you want to do in terms of your career aspirations. We have a culture of co-investment, so we see the students as partners along all dimensions of their journey, whether it’s the admissions journey, whether it’s the student services journey, or the career journey, and so that co-investment serves as the cornerstone of the Tuck ethos.

And in terms of the opportunities, some of the opportunities that struck me in preparing for the call, one of them was the Global Insight Expeditions. Could you touch on that? [3:20]

Yeah. Our Global Insight Expeditions are a great opportunity for the students to focus on a particular area of the country with a particular faculty member. They’re typically two to three weeks, and it’s an opportunity for them to learn about a particular element of a faculty member’s research, which is anchored in a particular area. It’s also an opportunity for them to learn and understand the culture of doing business wherever they’re going. So for this winter, we sent students to Denmark, we sent students to Israel, and we sent students to Vietnam. So it’s an opportunity to build their network and also it’s an opportunity for them to engage in global teams.

And when they graduate from business school, they will be placed on the global map and working with global teams, it’s an opportunity for them to practice that on their GIXs. It’s a credit bearing class, so the students get credit for that, but it’s a wonderful opportunity. We had four GIXs in the winter, and I’m still getting used to being on a quarter system, so forgive me. We have four GIXs that went off in the winter, which for us is sort of December and January, and then we have four that are going out in the spring.

And again, you mentioned one point in the country, but is it really global? [4:39]

Absolutely. We do have a couple of domestic GIXs, but the majority of them are global. And actually one unique element during the pandemic when we weren’t able to travel, one of our faculty members actually developed a virtual GIX working, he’s from India, and so was working with some NGOs in India. And the students on both ends were using AR and VR to help execute a series of projects through that GIX, and we actually will continue to do a virtual GIX as we move forward.

Now you mentioned again, the breadth of opportunities at Tuck, and of course there are concerns sometimes that students or potential students voice about going to New Hampshire, and is that going to limit them? So where are Tuckies finding jobs both in terms of geography and industry or function? [5:16]

Yeah, so that’s a question that pops up a lot. I’d like to first point to our employment statistics, and I think that the perception of it being a disadvantage is aligned with the career opportunities. But if you look at our employment statistics, the numbers speak for themselves. About 98% of our students have a full-time offer at the time, usually it’s three months post-graduation. We are well represented in consulting and finance. And then after that, it’s a wide range: product management, marketing, operations, logistics, technology. About 11% of our students go into technology. That’s a growing area for us. Healthcare is a growing area for us. We have a growing area of intersection points, so we’ve got financial analytics, we’ve got healthcare analytics, we’ve got marketing analytics. So there are a lot of intersection roles that students are taking and industries that they’re going into.

Tuck is famous for the amazing degree of alumni loyalty as expressed in alumni financial support. I know this past year in 2022 you had a $52 million donation from an anonymous donor. That’s obviously a standout, but I know that the percentage of alumni participation is extremely high. I think the highest of any MBA program by far. [6:34]

It is. I don’t know the exact number. It’s north of 70%.

But I don’t know the exact number. One of the things, and again, I’ve been here for six months, but one of the things that is clear, there’s one attribute that all Tuck students share. And again, I’ve been in this business for quite some time now. I’ve worked at several different schools, and it’s rare to be in a situation where all of the students experience one exact same situation. And that is for Tuck, they all had to move here and they all had to pick up their lives from wherever they were and had to move to Hanover, New Hampshire. And that single shared experience helps form the foundation of that community and that collaboration, that forms that comradery with students when they’re in the program and then that alumni loyalty when they’re out of the program.

It is spectacular to see how these students come together knowing that they’re all in the same boat. They all have to figure out their living situation. They’ve all got to figure out how do I now navigate the next two years where I’m not working and I’ve got to refocus on school, I’ve got to refocus on an internship search, I’ve got to refocus on a job search. And they get to do that all together. And again, that’s a little different from other schools. And I’ve worked at business schools that are top ranked, that are in different geographies where there’s definitely a benefit to being in New York City. That’s my last experience. But New York also presents, as much as there are opportunities in New York, sometimes that can be a little bit of a distraction. So there are lots of things to do, and I have to be honest, I’m always surprised that how little students take advantage of the things that New York City, for my former job, but it’s still a distraction.

The other part of it is in New York, a lot of time is spent commuting to school, and so you spend a lot of time, you’re either running late and starting late, or you’re leaving early trying to catch the train. So on those tail ends, that doesn’t happen here. And students, really more than half of our students live on campus in their first year, so they’re together a lot of the time. And then in the second year they live off campus. But our location is small, our school is small. Community matters. Students will come in and they will know their classmates, they will know their faculty members. When we talk about careers, one of the things I continue to be amazed with is how many alums come back to Tuck all the time.

I mean, you are walking in the hallways. It’s spring break now, so nobody’s here, but any other time, I’m being introduced to alums in the hallways or the alums are here working with the student club or organization or the alums are here serving as alumni mentors with the career services team. It’s a lot of engagement and activity, and that also means something. You have to be very intentional to come to Hanover, and you can get here by plane, trains, automobile or drive, but it’s intentional to come here. And the fact that so many alums come back and play a part in the development of the class of students below them, I think that says a lot about the culture and the community and again, that ethos of co-investment.

That was a very fascinating comment you made that everybody at Tuck has moved. They take initiative, it requires initiative. [10:28]

Absolutely.

What don’t people know about Tuck that you would like them to know? Or is there a common misconception that you’d like to dispel other than what you already talked about? [10:46]

Yeah, I think when you, again, I’ve been in this business for a while now, and I think that sometimes people think that regardless of the location, there are disadvantages to a small program. They think the bigger the program, the better. There are lots of benefits to some of our peers that are significantly bigger, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a better experience. One of the things that I like to tell students or that we like to tell students, consulting is a very popular industry and function for MBAs, no matter what school you’re going to. That really serves as consulting and finance really are the anchors of career services at most notable MBA programs. So when a company like Deloitte comes, and so Deloitte came for our consulting symposium in the fallthey brought a number of people with them.

Again, you have to be very intentional to come here, so you can’t come for a morning or an afternoon or just a single day. Most of the time, our employer partners come for multiple days. So wherein students in larger programs, maybe in bigger cities, they’re getting the career services partners, the alumni that are representing companies that hire students to come in for a couple of hours. When Deloitte came to visit us, they were here for three days, and so they hosted coffee chats, they were guest speakers in classes, they hosted dinners, they had some social events. So it was an opportunity for students to really engage with partners from Deloitte in a fully immersive experience that I don’t think is easily replicated at other schools.

Tuck posts its criteria, and the transparency is wonderful. It posts its criteria for admissions, and it boils down to four qualities: smart, accomplished, aware, and encouraging, which I guess kind of goes along with the co-investment theme that you’ve mentioned a couple of times. Where do you typically find each of those qualities in the application? [12:35]

Yeah, we take a lot of pride, and this is one of the reasons why I chose to come to Tuck: the spirit of transparency. There aren’t very many schools that are transparent in sort of telling the prospective students exactly what it is that we’re looking for. We’re not trying to hide anything. 

So when we think about smart, smart is a broad category, it’s not just what I think people think that it is, which is the numbers. The numbers are there. We are definitely, in the smart category, are looking at some of those quantitative metrics like your standardized test score, your academic background. In the academic background we’re looking for your overall GPA, but also the types of courses that you took, your grade trends and how that aligns with what you’re doing now.

We’re also looking at your professional work experience and what you’re doing. Was there a bridge between what you did at university and how you’re deploying that in your job? What exactly are you doing in your job? The scope and depth of your work experience, sort of the quantitative rigor of your work. Not everybody has that, but we are looking for that sort of analytic and technology element of work as an element of smart.

We are also looking at certification. So we have a lot of students that are coming with CPAs, with CFAs and other additional professional certifications that help indicate their level of expertise in a particular area. So those are some of the dimensions that we are looking at and that we are finding when we’re looking for smart.

When we’re looking for accomplished. Again, academics play a part in that. And so again, your academic record, your ending GPA, whatever the GPA was in your major, we’re looking at that. We’re looking again at the scope and depth of your professional work experience and growth and how you’ve moved forward and progressed in your career. So those are elements of accomplished that we can find both sort of in your academic transcript as well as on your resume and in our conversation with you during an interview.

When we are looking at aware, aware is pretty broad and it’s broad by design. Again, I mentioned this culture of co-investment a few times. And so when you have the culture of co-investment, everyone is working together towards the common good, and that means that people have to respect one another, that means people have to learn how to be vulnerable, that means people have to learn how to look inward to understand what some of those vulnerabilities are and what their strengths are, and how do they balance those or establish a harmony as they’re sort of moving forward with the teams that they work in in business school, with the communities or the organizations that they’re going to work for in their internship or full-time. And then the communities that they serve as sort of outside of work. So aware is an element that we find in your essays. We find that in the interview. We find that also in well-written letters of recommendation, and we find that to some extent in the resume as well.

And then encouraging, and again, this aligns a little with our culture of co-investment thinking through mostly around the interview, how do you deal with ambiguity? How do you deal with leading teams and managing teams and managing projects? How do you manage or navigate giving and receiving feedback? You may not be someone, there are a lot of people who come to business school and they haven’t had an opportunity to be the formal leader, but they’ve had an opportunity to lead. And sometimes that’s in work and sometimes that’s outside of work. But that element of encouraging, we can lift from, again, the essays, we can lift that from the interviews. And again, we can lift that from well-written and very thoughtful letters of recommendation.

Can you go into a little bit of what you mean by a culture of co-investment? How does that manifest itself? [16:52]

Yeah, absolutely. So that manifests itself in we see the students as partners in everything that we do. So if you like for example, our Women in Business Conference, that is a big conference. We bring in probably 150, 160 prospective students to campus. It’s full of guest speakers, panels. It’s a 3-day event. The students put that on all by themselves with some guidance from the faculty and staff. But really the leaders of this are the students.

We have a new mental health and awareness initiative, although again, I’ve been in this business for a long time. That’s always been a thing. It’s only recently become a notable thing that people are talking about. But for those of us that have been around for a while, this has always been an issue that we’ve had to deal with. But our students played a big part in helping us come up with our approach for our mental health and awareness initiative. Part of that was serving on a university-wide committee to bring in a telehealth service, and then they helped design our peer mental health advisors, that entire initiative, the students helped co-design it. And so they literally went from start to finish and we just rolled it out. We just finished the elements of the design just before the winter break, and we will roll it out in earnest here after spring break.

And so there’ll be a number of different peer counselors that are deployed throughout the first year class and the second year class to help us really keep our ear to the pulse of what’s going on with the students, and to serve as a sounding board for students who might be struggling, and to serve as a first alert for when we might need to escalate things to a higher level to ensure that someone is getting the help and the resources that they need.

So by co-investment, kind of like the school is investing in the students and you’re hoping the students will be active participants, initiators, whatever in the campus community as well. [18:54]

Absolutely.

And that initiative that they show by coming to Tuck will continue while they’re there? [19:05]

Absolutely. And that’s born out, again, in our annual giving rate as well as our level of engagement, not just the giving, but level of engagement just across the board with the business. So again, I think in any given week there’s probably 15 or 20 alums that are on campus doing something.

What accommodations has Tuck made in light of the recent layoffs that have caused many business schools to do different things. What’s Tuck done? [19:31]

So we announced back in January that we were deploying a GMAT GRE test waiver option for those who were negatively impacted by those economic and employment disruptions. Of course, this started notably in the tech sector, but very quickly went beyond the tech sector. So our initiative was for our round three applications, and it was industry agnostic. But it was an opportunity for folks to submit an application to be considered for a GMAT GRE test waiver. And we were looking at, number one is you had to be unemployed.

And then if you submitted the application, you were unemployed and you met a few other top line criteria, then we would look at your academic background. So we were looking for an undergraduate academic background that was steeped in technology, quant, analytics. Then we were looking at advanced coursework, graduate coursework or maybe certificate programs or something, again, that was steeped in technology, quant or analytics.

And then the third category that we were looking at was your professional work experience and whether that professional work experience was steeped in sort of quantitative work data or analytics.

So we had those three buckets. The more of those buckets you could check off, the more likely you were to be granted the waiver. The fewer of those buckets you check off, the less likely you were to be granted the waiver. And again, we did it for our round three. The deadline for that was actually March 1st. So that gave us plenty of time to do all the evaluation of the applications for the fee waivers. And then for those folks who weren’t granted, not a fee waiver, but a test waiver, it gave them the opportunity to study and sit for the exams.

Do you think the test waiver policy will be extended to next year? [21:32]

We’ll have to see. We’ll wait and see what it looks like at the end of this year. We’ve still got quite a ways to go. We’re getting ready to release round two on Thursday, and then we are still knee-deep in round three, so we’ll have to see what this looks like at the end.

What advice would you have at this point in time for somebody thinking of applying in the 2023- 2024 cycle? [21:54]

A lot of people think that the third round or the later rounds are bad rounds and that they put you at a competitive disadvantage. I’ve never really fully understood that, but I do understand that there are some of our peers that the bulk of their enrolled classes are coming from early deadlines, but that’s only a handful of schools. I think most of us do have to rely on the full breadth of the admission cycle. So that’s all rounds of the admission cycles. I think schools will be hard-pressed to turn away strong candidates that come in in later rounds. Again, there are some exceptions, there are some of our peers where with the bulk of their enrolled classes are built off of round one and round two. And some of those peers, they don’t even have really a third round, they only have two admission cycles. But I think schools will be hard-pressed to turn away any strong candidates that come in later in the admission cycle.

Obviously when we’re talking about seats in classes and the dollars that are left, that really is the same calculus that you have to think about whether you are applying round one versus round two, and round two versus round three. As more students come in and submit their enrollment deposits and commit, schools are looking at a finite number of seats available in a class. And so that’s just something that you have to take into consideration. I will say that people shouldn’t rush. So I know a lot of people right now because I think Microsoft or one of the tech companies just said that they were … No, Meta.

Meta slashed 10,000 more jobs. And so I would definitely caution folks about rushing into the application process. The reason why most schools have multiple deadlines is to provide students with the opportunity to present their application when it’s at the strongest that it can possibly be. For some folks, that may mean multiple attempts at a standardized test. For some, the self-reflection or the self discernment piece and finding which schools I’m going to apply to takes a little bit longer. So they may apply in round two, round three or round four. I know there are several schools now, so several of our peers have extended their third deadlines and added a fourth deadline.

I was just going to ask if you have any plans to do that. [24:31]

We don’t have any plans to do that. Students just need to be thoughtful about that. So whether you apply now or wait and apply early, I think that depends on how you assess your readiness and competitiveness in the application process.

What can those invited to interview at Tuck expect if they’re lucky enough to be invited? [24:50]

Yeah, I think you can expect a conversation, not low intensity, but low risk I should say. I think a lot of people get wound up and they think that we’re trying to trick you with, and this is for any school, that the schools are trying to trick you with trick questions in the interview, and that’s going to be a grilling. This is not. We want to have a very civil conversation just to learn a little bit more about who you are, what makes you tick, why you’re interested in the Tuck School, why you’re interested in pursuing an MBA, and how all of that fits into your short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals and objectives. And along the way, we’ll ask you some questions about how you handle stress and adversity, how you communicate, how you give and receive feedback, and just some of the other elements of you that make you you, that you might want to share with us.

Tuck last year had three essay questions. Why are you pursuing an MBA? And why Tuck? Tell us who you are. I’m summarizing here. And describe a meaningful experience in which you exemplified one or more of these attributes. Attributes being encouraging, collaborative, and empathetic. Do you anticipate any changes to those questions? [25:50]

That’s a good question, and we will start thinking about what the next application looks like here in late April or early May. So we’ll see. I think that the industry that we’re in is that a little bit of a crossroads when it comes to MBA applications, and we just talked about ChatGPT and its impact on a lot of different things. So we are going to be very thoughtful and deliberative in thinking through what the application for the next cycle looks like.

Also this’ll be, I guess, your first full application cycle at Tuck. [26:45]

Absolutely.

Have you played at all with ChatGPT? [26:52]

I have. I’ve played a lot with it. The output is only as good as the input.

What question would you have liked me to ask that I haven’t asked? What would you like to answer? [27:13]

What would I like to answer? I think, again, sort of going back to the advantages of being in a small New Hampshire town, you get to know your classmates. One of the other elements that I’ve always thought very highly of Tuck about, and again, I’ve been in this business for a long time and I’ve known the folks here at Tuck for a long time. Back when I worked at Indiana University, I worked with a lot of folks from Tuck, and I’ve always been impressed with just the level of engagement across the board. And I think that part of that is when you come here, and again, we talked about everyone has to pick up and move but this is a place where you can’t hide. And that’s not a bad thing.

It’s getting to know your classmates and getting to know the faculty and getting to know the staff. And with that high engagement of alumni, the thing that has impressed me, one of the things that has impressed me the most is I went to South America and met up with about 15 alums and the age range was about 10 years, class years. And you would’ve never known that they were in different class years. They were just talking as if they all sat in their finance class together or their GIX to Denmark together, and that was amazing. Again, a 10-year gap. And then that was replicated. I went to London, had a chance to meet with some of the folks and again, a wide range of years, class years, but they all got along as though they were sitting in the class together just yesterday. So that level of camaraderie I think is something that adds to that element of fit and in how you can thrive in your time during an MBA.

Might also be something to show that you want to be a part of and that you’ve provided comradery and participation and co-investment in the past if you are applying successfully at Tuck. [29:18]

Yeah.

All right, Lawrence, I want to thank you so much for joining me today. I’ve really enjoyed learning about Tuck’s MBA program and admissions process and community. Is there a URL you’d like to share? [29:29]

Sure, tuck.dartmouth.edu will take you right to our main landing page.

Relevant Links:

• Tuck360 blog
• Dartmouth Tuck MBA Admissions
• MBA Admissions Quiz
• Dartmouth Tuck MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2022 – 2023], Class Profile

Related shows:

• What Does 2022 Mean for Applicants in 2023 [Episode 505]
• The Questions You SHOULD Be Asking – ANSWERED! [Episode 500]
• How to Get Accepted to MIT Sloan MBA [Episode 498]
• How to Get Accepted to Cornell Johnson MBA [Episode 488]
• Approaching Your MBA Application [Episode 487]

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The post How to Get into Dartmouth Tuck [Episode 514] appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

U.S. STEM MBA Programs: An Overview

STEM certification programs have proven application bonanzas for top business schools. STEM certification may have begun pre-pandemic as a way to alleviate uncertainty in the visa process, but the programs have proven to be a robust inducement for MBA applicants, particularly from foreign countries. According to Poets & Quants, “At Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, the move to designate its entire MBA program STEM in early 2021 paid dividends this year. . . Its applications rose by an incredible 21%, an increase of 450 to 2,555, even though Cornell presumably felt the same domestic squeeze as its peer schools.”

[List of top STEM OPT U.S. Business Schools >>]

Cornell’s new MBA class has students from 43 countries, a dramatic rise from 30 countries from 2021. Cornell is receiving roughly double the number of international applications as domestic applications. Poets & Quants also reported strong upticks in foreign student enrollment among 27 B-schools surveyed: “In the top 10, the average gain was 10.2 percentage points, or 36.6%, with Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business the biggest by points — 18, or 72%, to 43% — and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania the biggest by percentage: 84.2%, or 16 points, to 35%.

“Across all 27 schools, the average gain from 2020 to 2022 was 14.6 percentage points, or 69%. The biggest gain was at CMU Tepper, which doubled its total from 28% to 56%; notably, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School gained 23.5 points, or more than 200%, to 35%. Three other B-schools more than doubled their international ranks in two years.”

Are you an international MBA applicant? We’ve helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to top MBA programs! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT HOW WE CAN HELP YOU GET ACCEPTED >>

The GMAC’s survey from 2019 was the first to inquire about a program’s STEM-certification, and found that these programs were more likely to report growth in international applicants. A total of 195 of the 804 U.S. programs responding reported that their programs were STEM-certified (24%). Among them, the most common program types were Master of Data Analytics (28%); Master of Finance (22%); and Master of Information Technology (14%). And while a majority of both STEM-certified (53%) and non-STEM (57%) programs reported declines in total applications during this period, STEM-certified programs fared better among international applicants. In the 2019-2020 academic year, 43% of STEM-certified programs grew their international applications, compared with 26% of non-STEM programs.

[xyz-ihs snippet=”MBA-selectivity-index-avg-GMAT”]

Given ongoing concerns over visa status and one’s ability to work in the U.S. after business school, programs that are STEM-certified are sure to be more appealing to this applicant pool.

While some MBA programs – such as Chicago Booth, Wharton, Virginia Darden – now offer specific concentrations that qualify international students for STEM OPT, others – such as Berkeley Haas, Carnegie Mellon Tepper, and Rochester Simon – qualify MBA graduates of all majors in their MBA programs for this extension.

During 2021, MBA programs have seen a rebound in international applicants, and many schools (NYU Stern, Darden, and Yale) are touting this return. Still, they are maintaining their STEM certifications because it will pave the way for their graduates to get jobs and stay in the U.S. long enough to pay off or pay down their loans. Despite its cost, the MBA degree continues to pay robust dividends right off the bat. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article: “At about 98% of universities that offer master’s of business administration programs, graduates typically made more money two years out of school than they had borrowed, a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal student loan data for nearly 600 programs found.”

STEM MBA Programs

Name of MBA Program	Majors That Are STEM Designated	MBA Essay Tips
Arizona State Carey	All MBA Platforms	Tips
Babson MBA	1) Business Analytics and Machine Learning 2) Quantitative Finance	Tips
Berkeley Haas	All Majors	Tips
Brigham Young Marriott	Management Science and Quantitative Methods	Tips
Carnegie Mellon	All Majors	Tips
Chicago Booth	All MBA programs	Tips
Columbia Business School	MBA and EMBA programs	Tips
Cornell Johnson	1) Two-Year Management Science MBA 2) One-Year Management Science MBA 3) Tech MBA 4) MPS in Management 5) MPS in Management - Accounting Specialization	Tips
Dartmouth Tuck	STEM track	Tips
Duke Fuqua	Second Major in Management Science and Technology Management (MSTeM)	Tips
Georgetown McDonough	Management Science major	Tips
Harvard Business School	Management Science track	Tips
Indiana Kelley	Accounting, Business Analytics, Finance, Marketing or Supply Chain and Operations	Tips
Lehigh University College of Business	Business Analytics (a concentration within 1-MBA)	Tips
Michigan Ross	STEM track	Tips
MIT Sloan	MBAn	Tips
New York University	Tech MBA Two-year full-time MBA	Tips
Northwestern Kellogg	Management Science MMM Program for Dual Engineering/MBA Degrees	Tips
Notre Dame Mendoza	MBA/Master of Science in Business Analytics Dual Degree	Tips
Pace University	MBA in Information Systems	Tips
Purdue Krannert	MBA-STEM	Tips
Rice Jones	All MBA Programs	Tips
Rochester Simon	All Specializations	Tips
Rutgers	STEM designation	Tips
Stanford GSB	1) All MBA majors 2) MSx	Tips
Syracuse	FT MBA, M.S. in Business Analytics, MS in Finance, MS in Marketing and MS in Supply Chain Management	Tips
Texas McCombs	14 of the 22 concentrations for the full-time MBA program	Tips
University of California, Davis	All Majors	Tips
University of California, Irvine	Analytics in Digital Leadership concentration	Tips
University of California, Los Angeles	All Specializations	Tips
University of California, Riverside	All MBA Programs	Tips
University of California, San Diego	1) Full-time MBA 2) FlexEvening 3) FlexWeekend	Tips
University of California San Francisco	1) Financial Analysis, MS 2) Information Systems, MS 3) Full-Time MBA 4) Marketing Intelligence, MS 5) Energy Systems Management & MBA 6) Environmental Management & MBA (4+1), BS/MBA 7) Financial Analysis & MBA (4+1), BSBA/MS	Tips
University of Connecticut	1) Business Analytics 2) Digital Marketing Strategy 3) Financial Analysis and Investments	Tips
University of Delaware Lerner	Major in Business Analytics	Tips
University of Georgia Terry	Only open to U. of Georgia undergraduates; includes 45 majors	Tips
University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler	All MBA Programs	Tips
University of North Texas Ryan	MBA in Business Analytics	Tips
University of Washington Foster	Management Science	Tips
University of Wisconsin - Madison	1) Specialization in Operations and Technology Management 2) Supply Chain Management	Tips
USC Marshall	Specialization in Management Science	Tips
Vanderbilt Owen	Finance Concentration	Tips
Wharton	1) Business Analytics 2) Business, Economics & Public Policy (BEPP) 3) Business, Energy, Environment & Sustainability (BEES) 4) Operations, Information & Decisions (OID) 5) Quantitative Finance 6) Statistics	Tips
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)	Full-time MBA	Tips

We’re going to do our best to keep this table current. However, please do not rely on this table; confirm the STEM designation yourself to make sure that the MBA programs you apply to really have that designation. And if you find out a school has attained STEM certification and is not on the list, please let us know by emailing blog@accepted.com.

If you would like to learn how to get into top MBA programs that offer STEM OPT eligibility and are a good fit for you, register for a free consultation with me. 

At Accepted, we’ve helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to top MBA programs and look forward to helping you too! CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED.

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By Jennifer Bloom, admissions consultant at Accepted for 20 years and Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW). She is an expert at guiding you to produce application materials that truly differentiate you from the rest of the driven applicant pool. If you would like help with your application, Jennifer can suggest a number of options that work with any budget. Want Jennifer to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• STEM Applicants: Why Your Statement of Purpose is So Important
• Top MBA Application Essays: How to Answer Them Right (school-specific essay tips)
• The Questions You SHOULD Be Asking – ANSWERED!, a podcast episode

The post Top STEM MBA Programs: A Comprehensive STEM-OPT Eligible List appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Distance learning and unstable market conditions due to the Covid pandemic have not hurt the fortunes of MBA grads from top programs. The 2022 employment reports released in recent weeks from top schools, including NYU Stern School of Business, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business, MIT Sloan, Harvard, and other peer programs have all announced record-breaking starting salaries for grads. 

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NYU Stern MBA Salaries Soar

Median base salaries for NYU Stern were $170,000–the highest ever–up $15,000 from the previous year. Median signing bonuses of $35,000 were on par with 2021, and average total compensation rose by $14,340 to an unprecedented $196,143. 

Within three months of graduation, 94.1 percent of Stern graduates had accepted job offers; 86.6% had accepted job offers by graduation. Top hiring industries remained consistent: consulting (31.2 percent), investment banking (27.2 percent) and tech (17.0 percent). 

Brian Ruggiero, Associate Dean of Career Services, boasted that the Class of 2022, which had begun their MBA studies during the pandemic, “adapted quickly to the resulting paradigm shifts. The demand for these skills is clear,” he said, pointing to the high acceptance rates for jobs three months after graduation being on par with pre-pandemic levels, as well as the highest compensation on record. Early data for the Class of 2023 also show “strong demand for Stern talent,” he added, evidenced by a 100% success rate among seekers of internships. 

Michigan Ross MBA Class of 2022 Almost at 100% Employment

Similarly, University of Michigan Ross School of Business reported that an eye-popping 99% percent of their 2022 grads were offered jobs within three months of graduation, landing median salaries of $165,000 and a $192,270 median salary package. Both salary figures reflect a $21,000 increase over the previous year.

The B-School Selectivity Index:
Are You Competitive at Your Dream School? >>

UC Berkeley Haas, Dartmouth Tuck, and Georgetown McDonough Report Great Employment Outcomes

On the West Coast, the 2022 class at UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business had a 93.8% job offer rate, up 4% from the prior year, returning that figure to among the highest of the pre-pandemic years. The median base salary for Haas MBAs was $155,000, up by 3.7% from the previous year.

Dartmouth Tuck’s employment data released November 22 for the Class of 2022 showed that 98% of Tuck grads had job offers within three months of graduation, with median base salaries rising by 16.7% to $175,000 from $150,000 in 2021. Ninety-three percent of grads received a median signing bonus of $30,000, bumping median total compensation to $202,900, up more than 15% from last year.

Georgetown MBAs enjoyed average base salaries of $138,552, up from $126,107 last year, and an average signing bonus of $36,342. A statement from their website noted that “96% of students received a job offer within three months of graduation and 95% accepted their offers – tying last year’s placement records as the highest levels ever achieved by Full-time MBA graduates. The record-setting average salary marks a 10% increase from 2021, with bonuses increasing by 6%. 

“The outcomes presented in this report are a testament to the extraordinary talent in the Class of 2022,” said Christy Murray, associate dean and managing director of career services at Georgetown McDonough. “These students began their MBA journey amid ongoing disruptions and uncertainty from the global pandemic, yet through their hard work, perseverance, and commitment to excellence, they were well positioned to secure impactful roles in business across a wide range of industries and sectors.” 

Wharton MBAs pocketed their highest-ever median base salary of $175,000, a jump of 12.9 %. Salaries had been flat at $150,000 in 2019 and 2020, rising only to $155,000 in 2021. Within three months of graduation, 98.7% of Wharton’s MBAs seeking jobs received offers. Wharton’s 20222 employment report, released November 17, also revealed that more grads than ever found jobs in tech, despite the current flurry of layoffs and hiring freezes at tech giants Meta, Amazon, and Twitter. 

However, an article in Poets&Quants cautioned that Wharton’s impressive results in landing tech jobs may be a bit of an outlier: 

“. . . techies should be wary of seeing Wharton’s success in tech as a sign of rebound. While the raw number of Wharton MBAs finding jobs in tech is higher than ever, the percentage of the class in the industry is down slightly, as the number of job-seeking graduates in 2022 (633) is 8.2% more than in 2021 (585) as a result of Wharton enrolling larger classes at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Moreover, Whartonites’ success in landing tech gigs runs counter to many of their peer schools, where tech hiring is down — and in some cases down big — and likely points to a very different tech landscape graduates faced this summer as they rounded out their offers.”

Other MBA 2022 Jobs and Salary Stats

The following data is from Poets&Quants and underscores that whatever hardships and uncertainties students experienced while applying and earning MBAs during such a volatile period, their investments are paying off handsomely now.

• Harvard Business School grads saw a 16.3% year-to-year increase in median salary to $175,000 and median performance bonuses increase to $40,000 powered a leap in total median compensation to $223,100, a one-year jump of 17.5%.
  
  
• Virginia Darden School of Business MBAs made a median $175,000, up 21% from the Class of 2021;
  
  
• At MIT Sloan School of Management, average base salary increased 7.6% from the previous year, to $159,391, and median base salary grew 10% to $165,000; total median compensation was $204,700, up 4.7% from $195,600 last year;
  
  
• At Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, median salary for the class jumped $15,000, to $165,000, and is up 18% since the last pre-pandemic graduating class in 2019; bonuses stayed at a median $30,000, and with 87% receiving them, median total pay came out to $191,100, up 8.7% from $175,800 last year.

Soaring MBA Salaries’ Significance for Applicants

These stats reflect several factors: 

1. The enduring value of the full-time two-year MBA degree from top MBA programs.
   
   
2. Inflation, which increases salaries and will allow most of those who borrowed their tuition to pay off their debt with cheaper dollars.
   
   
3. A tight labor market in which businesses – even if we are in a recession – are willing to pay for top talent.

Many of the 2022 MBA grads applied to business school in winter and spring 2020 at the height of COVID lock-downs, social isolation, and distance learning. Unemployment hit 14.8% in April, 2020 and remained above pre-COVID levels until Fall 2021. These grads looked at the dismal events of the time, swallowed hard, and concluded that the environment is paving the way for them to obtain their MBA. As you consider whether to apply at a time of rising layoffs, possible recession, and general instability, consider the payoff that these grads have experienced by taking the plunge when they did.

Are you considering an MBA to maximize your earning potential? The stats show that the investment is worth it, but it takes an outstanding application to impress the elite schools. Our experienced MBA admissions consultants work with you one-on-one, throughout the process, to help you get ACCEPTED!

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For 25 years, Accepted has helped business school applicants gain acceptance to top programs. Our outstanding team of MBA admissions consultants features former business school admissions directors and professional writers who have guided our clients to admission at top MBA, EMBA, and other graduate business programs worldwide including Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, INSEAD, London Business School, and many more. Want an MBA admissions expert to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related resources:

• Starting Salaries for MBA Grads Climbing
• M7 MBA Programs: Everything You Need to Know in 2022
• Is an MBA Worth It, or Is the Sky Falling Down on the MBA Degree?, a podcast episode

The post Class of 2022 MBAs Earn Bullish Starting Salaries appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Chicago Booth and Wharton (University of Pennsylvania) share the #1 spotlight in U.S. News’ Best Business Schools of 2023 rankings, released March 29.

The metrics for the rankings are based on career placement success, student excellence and qualitative assessments by experts. MBA rankings are studied voraciously by applicants, students, and alumni but remain controversial. 

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Notable changes this year

• Chicago Booth’s rise reflected improvements on several metrics: a class GMAT score up by six points to 730; an acceptance that fell by five points to 22.6%; a higher score by corporate recruiters that now matches Harvard and Wharton; and a spike in average salary and sign-on bonus for last year’s MBA grads of $7,300 to a record $180,144–the second-highest of any business school. (NYU Stern had the highest of all schools at $181,803.) Placement for the Class of 2021 jumped five points three months after graduation, at 96.4%. 
  
  
• Wharton’s acceptance rate dropped by 4.9 percentage points to 18.2% and their average GMAT score rose by one point. Wharton MBAs enjoyed a jump in average salary and signing bonuses by $6,600 to $179,692, the second-highest of all schools behind only Booth. Job placement three months after commencement moved up by 3.3 percentage points to 96.8%.
  
  
• Top-ranked schools continued to jostle for position, with some flagship programs rising and others falling. Stanford’s GSB dropped by three notches, tying with Kellogg (Northwestern) for #3. Harvard and MIT Sloan remain tied at #5–no change from last year. Yale University’s SOM notched its highest ranking ever at #7, with Columbia and Haas (UC Berkeley) nipping at its heels, sharing the #8 ranking. Yale’s rise stemmed from a six-point rise in its average GMAT score to 726; a drop of six percentage points on its acceptance rate to 23.6%; and a dramatic 8.8 percentage improvement on its placement rate three months after graduation to 94.1%.
  
  
• Harvard Business School’s fifth-place showing reflects a surprisingly low employment at graduation of 69.0%, lower than any other Top 10 school. Its placement rate three months after graduation was 92.3%, the second-lowest for a Top 10 program. And the average salary and bonus for Harvard’s MBAs last year was $172,774, lower than seven other U.S. business schools. Harvard lost out on other metrics as well, including a higher admit rate of 12.5%, up from 9.2% last year, and average GMAT and undergrad GPAs that were lower than many other competitors. 
  
  
• Ross (University of Michigan) ascended into the Top 10 from #13, while Tuck (Dartmouth College) dropped to #11. Stern (NYU) and Fuqua (Duke University) share the #12 spot. Many other programs in the top 25 leaped forward, including Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, rising five places to #21 and Mendoza College of Business (Notre Dame) gaining 11 places to rank 25th. 
  
  
• Outside the Top 25, Washington University’s Olin Business School in St. Louis rose seven spots to #29 and the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business rose eight positions to place #47.

While U.S. News had dropped standardized test scores from its online MBA ranking earlier this year, it kept the average class GMAT and GRE scores in its formula for the full-time program rankings. 

The rankings were based on a survey of all 493 institutions with master’s-level business programs in the U.S. accredited by AACSB International. A total of 363 survey recipients responded; the final rankings are based on 134 business schools that provided enough data on their full-time MBA programs and had large enough 2021 graduating classes seeking employment for valid comparisons. The rankings also include some programs conferring degrees such as Master of Science in Management and Master of Science in Industrial Administration.

U.S. News 2023 Top 10 Full-Time MBA Programs

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U.S. News 2023 Top 10 Part-Time MBA Programs

Hoping to start business school in 2023 at one of these top-ranked programs? Check out our MBA Admissions Consulting & Editing Services and work one-on-one with an expert consultant to create an application that will get you ACCEPTED!

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Related Resources:

• Do MBA Rankings Matter?
• Top 10 or Bust: Dispelling 2 MBA Myths
• Is an MBA Worth It, or Is the Sky Falling Down on the MBA Degree?
• Financial Times Ranks Wharton as #1
• M7 MBA Programs: Everything You Need to Know

The post U.S. News MBA Rankings 2023 [Full-Time & Part-Time] appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

The Financial Times has released its global rankings of the best MBA programs and has considerably shuffled the deck. Several top-ranked programs fell several notches, while others rose considerably. For the first time since 2011, Wharton has returned to its status as #1 in FT’s list. 

Other programs that made giant strides in the rankings include Columbia Business School (ranked 8th in 2020), and Kellogg (Northwestern), now #5 (11th place in 2020). One reason for such huge fluctuations was that five of the top U.S. programs (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, and Columbia) were not listed at all last year at all, skewing that year’s results. 

Other highly rated programs that suffered serious tumbles in the rankings include London Business School, Tuck (Dartmouth), and UVA Darden. In fact, 69 of the 91 schools ranked fell in the rankings, many of them by double digits.  

Compared with last year, many of these schools’ rankings looked like riders on a roller coaster, with some plunging far below and others rising by as much as 20 points to unprecedented heights. 

As we have cautioned before, it’s vital to keep these rankings in perspective. They are based on many variables that have little or nothing to do with the quality of the curricula per se.

Do you see yourself in one of these top programs? Find out how working one-on-one with one of our Admissions Consultants can help get you ACCEPTED!

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Related Resources:

• Top 10 or Bust: Dispelling 2 MBA Myths
• Top MBA Programs Get STEM-Certified to Attract Int’l Students
• B-School Selectivity Index: Discover the Schools Where You are a Competitive Applicant

The post Financial Times Ranks Wharton as #1 in 2022 Rankings appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Looking for the best possible admissions advice?

How about admissions advice from the admission committee members themselves?

Linda Abraham, founder of Accepted and host of the Admissions Straight Talk Podcast has a collection of highly enlightening interviews with directors of admissions and adcom members of top business schools!

Listen in as Linda asks her adcom guests pointed and to-the-point questions about the schools, the admissions process, how to get in, and…how to get rejected.

Listen, enjoy, and apply successfully!

For a varied menu of thought-provoking and informative conversations with business leaders, entrepreneurs, MBA students, and more, check out the Admissions Straight Talk Podcast:

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The post From the Mouths of MBA Adcom Members: How to Get Accepted appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

A number of the most selective colleges in the US are reporting near-record numbers of students applying for early admission, the Wall Street Journal recently stated. 

Applications for both binding early-decision, and the more flexible early-action option increased last year at elite schools including Harvard University and Brown University. Many schools have canceled their testing requirements and campus visits due to the COVID pandemic and are still trying to decide if students who deferred admission last year would take spots from this year’s applicants. 

Early-decision applications were down this year at the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, and Columbia University from fall 2020. However, the numbers were still higher than those reported by the schools in other recent admissions cycles. 

Columbia’s early-decision applications were down an insignificant 2% this year at 6,305 applications, but that figure is still 40% higher than the previous record. Dartmouth received a miniscule 1% fewer early-decision applications, while Penn received 2% fewer. 

In contrast, Brown University reported 11% more early-decision applications. This may be due to the school’s expanded financial aid program.

The number of applicants for Yale University’s restrictive early-action program was marginally lower than last year, but was higher than 2019. Yale does not allow applicants to apply to additional private colleges in the early-admissions round. Students can submit applications to other schools in the regular application round and need not commit until spring. 

Yale had 7,288 students apply through the early-action program. Of these, 11% were admitted. 

Harvard had 9,406 students apply through early-action, and admitted 7.9%. This represents a marginally higher admit rate and lower applicant rate than last year.

Changes in testing and reporting

COVID continues to affect college admissions requirements. Harvard will extend its test-optional policy for a minimum of four years, as some students have difficulty accessing test sites due to the pandemic. 

Hundreds of other colleges, including the most selective, have stated that they will remain test-optional for at least the next couple of years. Some are permanently abandoning testing requirements. According to FairTest, a nonprofit that encourages less reliance on standardized tests, nearly 80% of undergrad programs are not requiring current high school seniors to take either the SAT or ACT. Other top-tier schools will likely join Harvard in moving to a test-optional model as they compete for the same applicants.

Princeton University stated that it would stop releasing application or acceptance numbers for early or regular admission cycles.

According to Princeton’s admissions website, “We know this information raises the anxiety level of prospective students and their families and, unfortunately, may discourage some prospective students from applying.”

Stanford was the first to stop reporting this data in 2018, when it stated that they it would de-emphasize the apparent value of low acceptance rates. Cornell University has also said it would stop publicizing such detailed data. 

The early bird catches the acceptance letter?

Applicants in the early admissions rounds usually have a much higher chance of being accepted than those who wait for the regular decision cycle. 

Early admissions applicants tend to come from wealthier families – and are therefore less likely to need to wait for competitive financial aid offers – and attend high schools with more vigorous college counseling services. FairTest reported that nearly 60% of students who submitted the Common Application through November 16 lived in the most prosperous 20% of nationwide ZIP codes, compared to 5% of applicants from the least prosperous 20% ZIP codes. 

As each student submits more college applications, the schools are having a more difficult time predicting the yield, that is, how many students will go on to enroll. A close approximation of the yield is crucial in making decisions regarding how many students to accept and, in turn, enrollment numbers determine a school’s allocation of resources. Accepting too many students can cause a school to run out of housing or classroom space, whilst too few can lead to lack of revenue.

Many schools have mitigated this level of unpredictability by offering binding admissions decisions, thereby guaranteeing a portion of their enrollment. Some of these schools – including the most selective – are now filling half of their freshman classes with early commits.

Early action, early decision, or regular admission – which is best for you? Our Admissions Consultation Experts are experienced in assessing the pros and cons and determining which admissions cycle best suits your needs. Let us help you navigate the options to get you ACCEPTED!

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Related resources:

• Ivy League Colleges Accept Record Low Number of Students
• College Admissions: Mining Identity for College Essays, Personal Statements
• Sample College Application Essays

The post Ivies: Number of Early-Admission Applications Near Historic High appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Most grad students take out student loans to finance their higher education and can end up saddled with debt running into hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time they graduate. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal student loan data for nearly 600 programs, graduates of approximately 98% of universities that offer MBA programs usually made more money two years after graduation than they had borrowed. Contrast this with law schools, where approximately 6% of programs had grads with higher median salaries than debt for the same time period.

There are many reasons that students pursue an MBA – the promise of a significantly higher salary, the ability to enter a new industry, or the pursuit of an executive track to name a few. However, the high cost of getting an MBA, which can range from $100,000 to $250,000 or more after living expenses are added to tuition and fees, can be enough to change many potential students’ minds. Despite the relatively low-interest federal loans available to grad students, the amount that students can borrow is fixed at $41,000, leaving some students with no choice but to take out additional higher-interest (but unlimited) Grad Plus loans. So it is encouraging to potential MBA applicants to see that what has long been thought of as a “no-brainer investment” does essentially pay off.

However, there are other factors which skew the data somewhat. There have been efforts to diversify the applicant pool for business schools, yet a significant proportion of MBA applicants still enter programs with professional experience, often in finance or other high-earning industries, thereby accelerating their career paths and making the post-MBA cohort a financially healthy group. Moreover, the data in the Wall Street Journal’s analysis reflects federal government loan programs and does not include private loans.

Not everyone who graduates with an MBA sees significant increases in salary. According to Paulo Goes, dean of Tulane business school, 2020 grads have had an especially difficult time since a lot of companies stopped recruiting MBA graduates during the pandemic. The impact of this slow-down is seen in graduates’ placements and salaries.

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For-profit business schools had a lower rate of students who repaid their loans after two years. Strayer University in Washington, DC had 2% of students fully repay their loans during the two-year period following graduation, with about 33% asking to temporarily stop payments. Strayer students borrowed a median of $74,000, but half of the grads earned less than $57,000 two years post-graduation.

Approximately a dozen other business schools revealed median debt loads that were greater than grads’ median salaries. Several schools stated that this is because students attended their expensive dual-degree programs. Roseman University of Health Sciences reported the highest debt to earnings of any program, with students borrowing a median of $172,000.

Even so, there is much to be gleaned from the data that would make an MBA worth the time and investment. Analysis shows that at several elite programs, including Harvard Business School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the median starting salary after graduation permitted more than half of grads to pay off their federal student loan debt within two years. 

Interestingly, some of the most expensive MBA programs had some of the lowest debt load. Graduates of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business borrowed a median of $41,000 in federal loans without turning to more expensive Grad Plus loans. Harvard Business School graduates had a median of $41,000 in debt, and median salaries of about $172,000. According to Chad Losee, Harvard’s managing director of MBA admissions, approximately 56% of the class of 2020 graduated with some debt, averaging $79,000 in combined federal and private loans. 

As Poets & Quants points out in its analysis of the Journal’s article, earnings are a reflection of the graduate’s chosen industry and the job’s location. Harvard reported a record pay year with 7% of the latest class taking positions in hedge funds and investment management jobs. The median total compensation for last year’s grads was $203,307, including a median salary of $152,682, sign-on bonuses of $27,500 reported by 54% of grads, and $132,500 in other guaranteed compensation reported by 27% of grads.

It is also worth noting that business schools have been increasing the number of scholarships they award to students over the last decade. Harvard distributes scholarships to defray the cost of its MBA program, distributing $40 million in fellowships to its MBA students last year. Approximately half of the enrolled students received scholarships averaging more than $42,000 per student in fiscal 2020.

P&Q top 10 business schools debt-income ratio

There seems to be much reassurance in the data that an MBA from a top school will indeed open doors to a lucrative career and allow one to pay off debts sooner than other programs.

Are you considering an MBA to maximize your earning potential? The stats show that the investment is worth it, but it takes an outstanding application to impress the elite schools. Our experienced MBA admissions consultants work with you one-on-one, throughout the process, to help you get ACCEPTED!

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Related Resources:

• Is an MBA Worth It, or Is the Sky Falling Down on the MBA Degree?, a podcast episode
• Top MBA Application Essays: How to Answer Them Right
• Top 10 or Bust: Dispelling 2 MBA Myths

The post MBA Students Pay Off Student Loans Faster Than Other Grad Degrees appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

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Are you smart, accomplished, aware and encouraging? Dartmouth Tuck may be the MBA program for you. [Show summary]

Pat Harris and Amy Mitson, co-executive directors of the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at Dartmouth Tuck, share all about the Tuck experience including its close-knit community, amazing alumni network, and unique location while offering guidance to those seeking to attend. 

What the Tuck adcom looks for in applicants, and how to show you’ve got it [Show notes]

Welcome to the 430th episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Accepted’s podcast. Thanks for tuning in. 

One of the questions applicants sometimes ask is, “Are Accepted’s services worth the money?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” at least in my opinion. If you’re curious as to why that’s so, or why I’m convinced it’s true, check out the MBA consultant ROI calculator and find out for yourself how much not teaming with an Accepted consultant could cost you. Use the calculator and you’ll see three different scenarios that you can try out. 

It gives me great pleasure to have, on Admissions Straight Talk, Pat Harris and Amy Mitson co-executive directors of the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Amy joined the Tuck admissions office in 2000. An attorney by education, Pat joined the Tuck MBA admissions office in 2004. Both have assumed increasing responsibilities over the years and became co-executive directors in September, 2020 — in the midst of the pandemic. I believe I met both of them way back when Tuck hosted a conference for admissions consultants in 2005 and probably had them on our typing-only chats way back when. 

Now it’s my pleasure to have you both on for the first time. Amy and Pat, Welcome to Admissions Straight Talk.

Can you give an overview of the full-time program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:36]

Amy: The Tuck program starts with an expanded orientation for students to establish a firm foundation so they can jump into a very rigorous academic experience during their time at Tuck. It was several years ago when we redesigned the orientation program to now be called Tuck Launch and there are several components of that: integrated programming in Tuck Launch, experiential learning, as well as very specific opportunities for reflection.

We believe this sets a stronger foundation as people jump into the core curriculum. The core curriculum at Tuck begins and weaves its way through the first year at Tuck with expanded fall term opportunities and new data analytics courses. We made some changes to the winter term to try to optimize student academics as well as recruiting, and we’ve gotten some very positive feedback on that. When students head into the spring term of the first-year, a distinct element of the Tuck experience is the first-year project. Many MBA programs will have a capstone project in their first year. The uniqueness of Tuck is that students have total choice of the team that they want to work with and the project that they want to work on. It could be something consulting, non-profit focused, entrepreneurial where you’d present to investors at the end of the project. Sometimes students are working with alumni, local projects, global projects – the sky’s the limit. At that particular point in the curriculum, students definitely have the relationships built and have met all of their classmates and start to bring teams together. It’s a great opportunity to apply the skills that students learned throughout the first-year core. 

Then heading into the second-year curriculum, it is all elective-based with incredible opportunities for experiential learning, working with faculty in very small scale electives. Or, of course, some of our larger, more popular electives like investments and negotiations, some leadership and communications courses. And the list goes on. The Tuck MBA is also a STEM-designated MBA program. Students have the opportunity to follow a selection of courses that gives them that stem designation at the end of their two years so that’s something that we’ve done for the last few years as well. 

But the distinctive element is definitely the choice that students have to create the learning experience as they maneuver through the core curriculum and into the elective curriculum during their two years.

Of course, the internship is in the middle of it. We can talk more about that later, but that’s something where a distinct element of the Tuck experience is definitely one-on-one career coaching. Whether students have an eye on exactly what they want to do or an exploration for their job search, we have 100% placement for our students when it comes to the summer internship and a whole ecosystem of resources to help them get there. The connectedness there and the opportunities when it comes to recruiting and summer internships and full-time offers – all of that weaves its way together and those are some of the things that I feel in response to that question.

Pat: I think the only thing I would add is I think what makes the Tuck program distinctive from many of our peers is the scale, the focus, and the access. On a personal scale – it is one of the smaller programs of our peer institutions with approximately 285 students per class, where you really have the opportunity to get to know your classmates very, very well. And also develop personal relationships with the faculty and the administration.

Then it’s combined with being in a location like Hanover, New Hampshire, where you’re away from the distractions of a big city. So it becomes this very immersive program. It is a 24/7 all-in program. What this creates is a personal, connected, and transformative experience for the students and they will go on and transform the world as a result.

How have pandemic restrictions affected the MBA experience at Tuck? [7:08]

Amy: I’d love to begin and just say pandemic restrictions have absolutely been in effect, and there have been some limitations, but I’ll start with the silver linings first. The career services team in the last year when there were many restrictions, had the opportunity to develop even more corporate relationships than they had in the past. Students had even more opportunities than they did in a prior, what we’d maybe call “a normal,” year. So the career services team definitely did a lot of development there. And it was easy to set up a conversation with a recruiter over Zoom and students reap the benefits of that.

Increased access and connection with alumni – we have alumni who are always visiting campus, but in the year when people weren’t able to travel, our Dean, Matt Slaughter, really led the way in launching conversations from the top. For prospective applicants listening out there, you can see some of those recordings on our website, but that was conversations with senior alumni across the world, in different industries, just having a conversation with the Dean about leading during the pandemic.

These were opportunities for the entire community, not just students, but also alumni and faculty and staff to engage in these conversations, so bringing alumni to everyone. There was also increased conversation on the admission side. We reached candidates all over the world at all times of day. So increasing that access for candidates and for us was definitely a silver lining. Even when we go back to travel, we won’t let go of that opportunity to connect with people virtually, because it kind of decreases any kind of barrier for investment of time or resources to connect with the admissions committee or with any students.

We really enjoyed meeting a lot of people. There were some pauses when it came to the global opportunities at Tuck, and we will be slowly rolling back into those global opportunities for students this year, carefully and thoughtfully, but we did have to put a pause on those this past year. But the results on the career side were incredible.

The opportunities that faculty developed, once they got really comfortable in the classroom with all the technology, and, man, they ramped it up quickly. They were having that case discussion and then bringing the CEO in, or bringing the alumni into that classroom discussion for 10 or 15 minutes over Zoom, which they might not have done in the past. That was definitely a benefit to the students. I think that also helped keep the faculty inspired to bring really meaningful, relevant content and communication, even when things were limited because people couldn’t travel to campus.

Pat: One aspect of COVID that I hear from a lot of applicants is this concern that so many people were deferred because of COVID that there won’t be space going into the next year’s class. That was not the case at Tuck. We accommodated all of our international students who were delayed with visas. We’re doing it again this year if there are any with visa delays. We came up with hybrid solutions. They were able to attend. So we did not have this mass deferral of a large number of students. We have the same number of seats going into the class of 2023 and 2024. Neither was impacted by large scale deferrals so I want to assure people that is not going to be the case.

What don’t people know about Tuck that you would like them to know, or perhaps a common misconception that you’d like to dispel? [10:55]

Pat: We are located in a small town in New Hampshire, and I think people are worried that we’re in this remote location, either there’s nothing to do or recruiters aren’t going to come, whatever impact it is. That’s absolutely not the case. I think our location is what makes Tuck so special. It’s a beautiful place to be. I hear about research into your ability to learn when you’re more in a peaceful, natural setting, and you definitely have that at Tuck. But I think that the focus that it brings is, I touched on before, it’s a very immersive environment and it creates access. So hitting on the recruiting question, recruiters absolutely come to Tuck. They want our students, our placement stats are a great demonstration of the marketability of our students.

When those recruiters come, they’re a captive audience. They, too, are away from the distractions of big cities. So the entire focus of their visit is on recruiting Tuck students and connecting with them. To put the size of the student body in perspective, the number of people you are competing with for face time with recruiters or connections with them is reduced.

When they come up, they’ve put in more effort to get to Hanover so they tend to stay longer. Recruiters as well as visiting executives, CEOs that are coming to campus, they’ve made this investment to come so they really spend time with our students. They are meeting them for drinks at Murphy’s. They’re taking small groups of students out to lunch or dinner. They’re holding open office hours. Our students have the opportunity to connect one-on-one with recruiters or connect one-on-one with CEOs from leading companies and really get personal access and are able to learn from them in a one-on-one or a very small group setting. I think that’s a unique aspect and such a value of being in an environment like Hanover.

And our students are never lacking for anything to do. They make their own fun. They’re not going out clubbing until 2:00 AM in the morning. But who wants to do that? They are creating memories. They’re hiking together, they’re canoeing, they’re skiing, they’re hosting parties, they’re cooking dinner for each other. Yes, we’re a small town in New Hampshire, we’re also an Ivy League college in New Hampshire. So there are arts opportunities and a world-class museum. There’s a lot going on. Because it’s a small town, you really have that opportunity to take advantage of everything that Tuck and the Upper Valley have to offer.

Amy: Just to echo something that Pat said, I led a virtual information session last night where five alumni joined me on a panel. And before all the prospective students came into the session, the very first question that the two different alums asked when joining the session, “Will recruiting be in-person? Because I want to come back to campus and recruit for my company.” So they were very enthusiastic about that.

I echo everything Pat said and will also say a common misconception is that students graduating from Tuck are just getting jobs in the Northeast. West Coast, East Coast, Midwest, and globally, student placement is incredibly strong and very diverse. I think, again, because of the strong connection with alumni who are all over the world and are very interested in the next group of Tuckies – they want to hire them or talk to them about their company or share their experiences. That helps with student recruiting and it helps with placement and wherever students want to go.

In addition to the full-time career services team that we have in Hanover, we also have a dedicated career services person on the West Coast. That’s been pivotal for students, especially with tech recruiting. 

Tuck lays out pretty clearly it’s four criteria for acceptance: Smart, Accomplished, Aware, and Encouraging. Can you unpack those criteria a little bit? [15:27]

Pat: Absolutely. I would love to. We came up with those criteria by looking at what made successful Tuck students, who are now successful Tuck alum and they demonstrated those four qualities. That’s what we came at as we were creating or revising our criteria. 

Smart – pretty straightforward. We are looking for people who were successful in their undergraduate or graduate programs. We’re looking at test scores. We’re looking at undergraduate GPA performance. That one’s kind of obvious, but that’s kind of the academic smart aptitude. We’re also looking for smart in their attitude. We want people who are curious and engaged. Tuck students have confident humility about what they know and what they don’t know. We’re looking for those qualities on top of the academic performance and the test scores.

In terms of Accomplished – we’re looking for impact and advancement in your careers. We’re also looking for accomplishment in extracurricular activities, community involvement, and personal accomplishments. All of that comes into the accomplishment factor, kind of what’s on your resume.

Awareness is kind of in two directions. We’re looking for awareness – applicants who have taken time to reflect and really think out who they are, where have they come from, how their experiences have shaped who they are, shaped their character, and how that will contribute to the Tuck community. And then also in terms of awareness, it’s more forward-thinking of what are the applicants’ goals? What did they set forth that they want to do in this world? How will an MBA help them achieve those goals and how will an MBA from Tuck, specifically, help them achieve those goals? So that’s what we’re looking for in terms of awareness.

And lastly is encouraging which I think is truly quintessential Tuck. This is the Tuck community at its finest. Our students are encouraging, collaborative, and empathetic. They are great team players. This doesn’t mean that they’re pushovers. They are willing to stand up, to push back. But when they do so, they do it respectfully; they do it in a constructive way and in a positive method.

I think that the key thing here is that Tuck students recognize that my success and your success are not mutually exclusive and they work to build each other out. It is not a place where you’re only looking out for number one. Though that describes our Tuck students, that also describes our alums, and that’s what we’re looking for in our applicants.

Can you be accomplished without being smart and aware? [18:24]

Pat: That’s interesting. I think, yes. Of course, there’s going to be overlap with all four of these criteria. If you’re going to be a successful person, you’re good with people, you’re smart, you’re thoughtful. When we come back to it as admissions criteria, I think it’s important to remember it as a holistic evaluation process. Strengths in one criterion or criteria can balance out weaknesses in other areas.

Someone could be very accomplished in their career and bring amazing impact to the table, but maybe the GPA and the GMAT are not quite as competitive as others in the applicant pool. Those things balance each other out. Of course, there’s going to be overlap, but we don’t have to see all four. There’s going to be varying. People are going to shine for different reasons on different criteria.

Amy: I agree, and different applications are running through my mind and people shine for different reasons. We know the things that may not be as strong, they can fine-tune at Tuck, but they have everything that they need to jump into the program and to be successful and to grow.

It also seems like your four criteria, they’re not what you’re going to teach, right? You’re not going to teach somebody to be smart. You could perhaps teach them to be accomplished a little bit, but you’re not going to teach them, necessarily, to be aware, to start with. [19:48]

Amy: I think the application process and people coming into the MBA program have a lot of aspirations and desires for growth. They present to us in the application where they are. And then, because these things are woven into the community in ways, I think people can grow along that journey, even though it’s not  “here’s the 101 on how to be aware.” No, it’s by being in that community that you then can strengthen that capacity.

Do you have any plans to accept Executive Assessment or other exams? Any thought to consider waiver requests or go test optional? [21:19]

Amy: At this moment in time, we’re not considering going test optional. We do still require a GMAT or a GRE. For applicants out there, please know that while this is an important data point that we consider, it’s just one in that holistic review that Pat mentioned. So we do still require the test. It’s one piece of the bigger puzzle that you present to us with your candidacy.

Now, I know that Tuck takes an applicant’s highest score when evaluating the application. I vaguely recall that there was a time that you actually took the highest verbal and the highest quant. Do you still do that or did I make a mistake? [21:58]

Amy: We love to see all of the test scores, but we’re not creating a new kind of super score for the individual applicant. We definitely consider the progress people have made on the tests and the highest scores in the overall evaluation.

Tuck has three required 300-word essays and one optional, and then an additional required essay for re-applicants. What do you hope to learn from the essays, especially this year’s new essay, that you don’t get from the transcript resume and application boxes? [22:30]

Pat: Each part of the application maps to a different criteria. We’re getting Smart from your test scores and your transcripts. We’re getting Accomplished from your resume and your answers to the work history and extracurriculars. The Aware and Encouraging criteria are harder to quantify from those kinds of documents. So the essays specifically track to aware and encouraging.

Essay one, where we’re asking, “Why an MBA and why Tuck?” gets to that forward-thinking part of awareness that I talked about before. Essay two of, “Tell us who you are,” that’s getting to the reflective part of awareness that I was discussing. And then essay three is getting at that encouraging part. We changed that slightly this year and made it broader because we wanted to give people more opportunity to share how they might satisfy the encouraging criteria.

This opens up the opportunities applicants may choose to provide a similar example, how they help someone achieve success, like last year’s question was, but this also gives them the option instead to talk about a time where maybe they had to push back or a time that they dealt empathetically with people who were different than they were. So we wanted to broaden the opportunities to share encouraging with us. That’s what we’re hoping to get out of those essays.

And I’ll put in a pitch for our blog – the Tuck 360 Blog on our website goes into detail about what we are looking for in each of our essay questions – What do we mean by Smart, Accomplished, Aware, and Encouraging? What can you expect through the interview? What are we looking for in the letters of reference? So I encourage applicants to Tuck to take a look at that because it is a good one.

What is the most common mistake or mistakes that you see applicants make in the application process? [24:56]

Amy: I guess I’ll start and say, as we are reading applications, we’re really reading with an eye on the positive and not looking for mistakes. We’re looking for reasons to admit candidates. We’re looking for strengths. I come into reading an application believing and ready to be enthusiastic about someone’s candidacy. And so I’m not looking for those mistakes. I’m just really enthusiastic and reading in a positive manner. And our committee moves forward in that way.

Sometimes we see candidates who maybe miss an opportunity, right? So missing an opportunity to share with us, less so, what they’ve done, but the reasons behind why they have taken a certain course of action. Why was there this particular transition in their background? When people are answering the essay questions, the detail of what you have done, I often will see in your resume, but sometimes they miss the opportunity to connect with the excitement of the committee, by sharing a little bit about their motivation behind the things that they’be done and the impact that they’ve had. 

Pat: I will add, making sure that you never leave us guessing about anything. This goes a little bit with Amy’s point of, if you have a job gap, be sure to explain it. Or if you have an unusual choice of recommender or your grades took a dip, don’t ignore it. We see it. So ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. Be straightforward, tell us what happened, but don’t make us guess, because we get too creative in what we guess. And we often get it wrong. So fill in those blanks for us. Help us understand how you’ve gotten from point A to point B.

What will interviews be like this year at Tuck for the upcoming cycle? [27:19]

Pat: This past year all of our interviews were virtual. We will continue to have virtual interviews going forward. We will also continue to offer interviews by invitation. So after you’ve applied, we’ll review your application and invite you to an interview.

In the past, one of the things that we loved about Tuck was the opportunity to have an open interview policy for candidates who came to campus. In light of COVID, that hasn’t been possible. So we’ve had to move to the invitational interview, but to somewhat replicate that open interview policy. What we have is an opportunity for a guaranteed interview. So if applicants for round one submit their application by the early deadline of September 1st, they can guarantee themselves an interview. If they get it in – the complete application with the app fee paid, letters of reference done, GMAT and GRE scores in, then you’re guaranteed an interview. For round two, as long as it’s in by December 1st, same thing, you can guarantee yourself an interview that way. That’s been our compromise since we’re not able to bring people to campus for open interviews.

Would you like to have in-person interviews again? Or do you see yourself kind of doing it both ways in the future? [28:48]

Pat: I’d love to be able to have them in person again but kind of back to Amy’s silver lining, it has opened up lots of opportunities. In the past, if we had candidates who couldn’t come to campus, we interviewed them virtually. So it’s not totally new for us. What was totally new for us this year was that 100% of our students coming in in two weeks, were interviewed virtually.

What candidates do you not see enough of in the applicant pool or would you like to see more of in the applicant pool? [29:26]

Pat: That’s a hard one. As soon as you say I want to see more of this candidate, everybody else who doesn’t fit that profile says, “Well, you don’t want me!”

So what do I want more of? I want more candidates who are excited about the MBA, who know where they’re going in life, are excited about Tuck and recognize the opportunities that our unique program has to offer and are ready to jump in with both feet and contribute to the program and make Tuck an even better place.

Amy: I agree. I think applicants can come from so many different types of backgrounds and be a great fit for the program. I support that path for sure.

Some applicants have specific elements of their background that they’re really worried give them grave concern. How do you view applicants who had a dip in grades or perhaps a period of unemployment due to a mental health issue, depression, anxiety, etc? [30:47]

Amy: On that, we encourage you in the application process to give us a chance to get to know you and understand the full picture of your candidacy. If there was a major life event like that, it’s certainly going to impact other things and if it’s not explained, then we see that there’s a disconnect somewhere and something feels like it’s missing when we read the application. So the best is that the candidate can kind of bring their confidence and know that we are reading openly and with positivity. As a candidate, tell us what happened, tell us what you learned from that. And nothing is going to disqualify you from being fully considered for the program. We have heard a lot of stories over the years and much more serious than, “Oh, I failed Chemistry freshman year.” We understand this is a whole life you have lived in some capacity prior to applying for the MBA. You’ve had a lot of experiences. So please be open and know that we are receiving it, and we just respect your candidacy and your ability to share something difficult with us. So tell us what’s happening and share it in whatever way you’re most comfortable with. We accept in advance.

So in other words, that would not automatically disqualify them? [32:27]

Pat: Not at all. I think people are much more open about sharing mental health issues. I feel like in the 17-some years that I’ve been doing this, I hear about it much more in applications. I think applicants are more comfortable sharing it and that’s a great way to help us understand the full picture.

What about somebody who wants to apply and maybe they have an academic infraction or a misdemeanor or some actually criminal blot on their record? How is that viewed? [32:54]

Amy: We have seen some of that before. It probably won’t be the first time that there is a blemish there. We’ve been able to put it into context in the past and admit a candidate with something like that in their past. If there is a clear demonstration with behavior after that point in your personal history, where we see that you have rebuilt, that you have taken the steps to just be open and move forward from that particular time with more maturity and awareness – talking about that journey can be incredibly compelling in an application.

What advice do you have for applicants wanting to join the class of 2024? [34:20]

Pat: Get to know us. Explore Tuck. Talk to Tuckies. Tuckies love to talk about Tuck. So reach out to our students. We’ve got on our website a student ambassador page, where you can find somebody with a similar background to you, or similar career goals to you, or involvement in clubs. Reach out to them and talk to them and find out about Tuck.

We’re not traveling this fall, but we have all kinds of online events, small coffee chats with admissions officers and students to larger Tuck presentations with alumni panels. Lots of opportunities to learn about the program. Do take advantage of that and really learn about Tuck. Make sure Tuck is the right place for you and really help yourself and help us see how Tuck matches with the goals that you’ve set for yourself.

Amy: And I will add to that – take a look at the different backgrounds of students that have come through the program. We have something called Tuck Pathways and you can see the student journey of where they started, what their key learnings were at Tuck, and then where they went when they graduated.

Sometimes for an applicant to see that someone made this transition or that someone did this, it can help that applicant get to know the opportunities at Tuck, alongside understanding the criteria and the application process. But as Pat said, exploring those different opportunities for engagement to help you understand your connection to the program.

Because, thinking about a question that you asked earlier, Linda, when people are talking about their candidacy and their connection with Tuck, it’s not about how much you love Tuck as a candidate, right? It’s also about how much you know about Tuck and the connection that you have to then be able to grow in the environment, that it’s a place where you can thrive.

All of the top MBA programs are going to offer you the absolute best of every opportunity, but how is Tuck special in that way of all of these choices that you might have? It’s great that you love the outdoors or you love a certain aspect of the program, but knowing it and demonstrating how you know the program and your connection with it is important.

Also talking to people in the program, talking to the alumni and the things that Pat highlighted is a critical piece. Just don’t miss that opportunity to do that. Even if you’re just opening the application now and the deadline is eight weeks away, or you’re just opening it in September or October and you’re thinking about round two, you have time to talk to somebody about Tuck. As you can tell from me, it’s easier to get somebody to start talking about Tuck than it is to have them stop talking. So be prepared for that. You can reach out to alumni on LinkedIn or ambassadors on our website, and you will receive a positive response. And that conversation will help you get to start to know Tuck and get a feel for it, even if you have yet to visit.

What advice would you give to someone thinking ahead for, let’s say a fall 2022 or later application? [38:22]

Amy: I occasionally will receive inquiries from folks who have just graduated from college. You pick up the phone and it’s someone who is getting ready to graduate and then they’re thinking about applying in the fall. I say, “Okay. Well, have you thought about this? Wait a minute.”

I will often recommend, for people who are thinking ahead, to take a look at the first essay, right? You can see the essay questions for this year. And take a look at that first essay and try to answer, “Why an MBA?” Just take a minute with the essays and start thinking about that. And you can start that answer and it will evolve as you get closer to your application process in a year.

Also during that first job out of college or those very early positions, keep a record of your accomplishment. Keep a record of the times when you made a mistake or somebody really gave you a pat on the back. You’ll forget all those great things that happened, and you’ll forget some of the mistakes, too, but try to keep track of it. Even if you just jot it in your phone like your notes for your future application, keep track of the things that you’re doing in that year or two before you apply, because those will be great experiences to draw from in an essay or in an interview conversation, potentially.

Pat: Develop relationships with supervisors and mentors. These are going to be your future recommenders. Working with them so they know you well, not in an opportunistic way, will help you learn from them and you’re going to grow because you’re working closely with them. But then those are going to be the people that can write thoughtfully about you going forward. And you want people who know you really well.

Take stretch assignments. Really push yourself in those couple years to have an impact. Try something where you’re going to have an impact with your employer, stay involved in the community, and be thoughtful. Really take the time… This is whether you’re applying now or whether you’re applying in a couple of years. Take the time to reflect. Figure out what it is that you want to do.

Do informational interviews with people from the kinds of careers that you’re thinking about and see how they got there. Maybe they didn’t get there with an MBA. Maybe they did. But try and explore the various pathways for yourself. So when it is time to apply, you think through all of this, and you’ve got a good understanding of what you want to do, what you want out of an MBA and where you want to go.

Where can listeners and potential applicants learn more about Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA program? [42:40]

Amy: For people wanting to explore more about the MBA program, you can go to Tuck.dartmouth.edu. You can also visit ​​https://tuck.dartmouth.edu/admissions for admissions and online events. And please join us. Whether you’re applying this year or in a future year, you’re welcome to join the robust opportunities that we have for virtual events, whether it’s conversations with admissions or with some of our current students. We also mentioned the Tuck 360 Blog – that’s a great space to hear directly from the admissions committee, as well as students who will be talking about their summer internship experiences and from incoming students as they start orientation in just two weeks at Tuck.

Related links:

• Dartmouth Tuck’s website
• Tuck 360 blog
• Dartmouth Tuck MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines [2021 – 2022]
• Dartmouth Tuck MBA Class Profile: Class of 2022
• Why MBA? a free guide
• Accepted’s MBA Admissions Consulting Services

Related shows:

• An Interview with Dartmouth Tuck’s Former Admissions Director, Luke Pena
• How to Get a CMU Tepper MBA
• All About Becoming a Georgetown McDonough MBA
• What’s New at MIT Sloan’s Competitive Full-Time MBA
• MBA Life at UC Berkeley Haas, From Its New Executive Director of Admissions

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The post How to Get an MBA From Dartmouth Tuck [Episode 430] appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

One of the key pieces of an MBA application is the letter of recommendation. This letter, usually written by managers, gives the admissions committee an insightful perspective on the MBA candidate. However, since each program has their own unique form, and candidates are often hesitant to ask managers to fill out multiple recommendations, applicants often limit the number of programs to which they apply. Recommenders frequently cannot dedicate enough time to such letters, resulting in less thorough and perceptive recommendations.  

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the Common Letter of Recommendation was born out of the need to save recommenders and alumni time by enabling them to complete one, common, set of questions. Since the questions stay embedded in each school’s existing application system, few major changes are necessary. The Common LOR was developed by a group of leading business schools in conjunction with GMAC. These programs are leading the way, with the support of GMAC, to collaborate, collect information from industry professionals, and collate information from candidates worldwide.   

Benefits of the Common LOR 

• Delivers deeper understanding of candidates by applying the best practices from top programs and using the most up-to-date science in executive assessment 

• Allows for a wider diversity of prospective students and a greater number of applicants by enabling them to ask for multiple LORs. 

• Reduces recommenders’ time demands so they can devote more consideration to crafting a thoughtful and attuned letter. 

Common LOR sections 

The Common LOR is comprised of the following four sections: 

1. Personal Information About the Recommender 

2. Leadership Assessment Grid: Made up of 12 competencies and character traits that lead to successful leadership. They are divided into these five groups: 

• Achievement 
  
  
• Influence 
  
  
• People 
  
  
• Personal Qualities 
  

• Cognitive Abilities 

3.  Recommendation Questions (Open-Ended Questions for Recommenders) 

• Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant, and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization. 
  
  
• How does the performance of the applicant compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? (e.g., what are the applicant’s principal strengths?). 
  

• Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. 
  
  
• Is there anything else we should know? (Optional) 

Schools currently using the Common LOR form 

The widespread uptake of the common LOR is due in part to the longstanding lobbying of admissions professionals. Anna Ivey, former president of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), welcomed the development of more schools embracing the shared LOR model: “Applicants have for years found themselves in quite a pickle because they have had to dump so much work on their recommenders. In some cases, their recommenders have had to write more words than the applicants do in their essays. That has created all kinds of distortions, despite good intentions. 

“Any convergence around common recommendation questions not only makes the application process easier for applicants and their recommenders, but also helps preserve the integrity of those recommendations and the application process. Cutting down on the duplication and extra work for recommenders will make it more likely that recommenders write their letters themselves, and that’s a great outcome.” 

We can help you take advantage of the common LOR to get the most from your recommenders and supercharge your application. Our experienced consultants also work with recommenders to provide guidance in crafting compelling letters that will set you on the road to getting ACCEPTED! 

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Related Resources:

• Navigate the MBA Maze, a free guide
• MBA Recommendation Letters: 10 Tips for Writing them Right
• Ingredients of a Great MBA Letter of Recommendation

The post The MBA Common Letter of Recommendation (LOR): An Overview appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

The U.S. News 2023 ranking is now live! Click here to check it out >>

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U.S. News has just released its 2022 rankings of the best full-time and part-time MBA programs. The rankings are based on surveys sent out to the 486 business schools with master’s-level business programs in the US, accredited by AACSB International. 

According to Poets & Quants, unlike the Economist and the Financial Times, only the U.S. News list ranks all the major U.S. business schools. All the M7 business schools opted out of the Economist’s ranking, and five of the M7 chose not to participate in the Financial Times ranking. 

Of the 486 business schools that received surveys, 364 replied, and 143 supplied sufficient data and had large enough 2020 graduating classes looking for employment for valid comparisons. Schools were ranked in eight areas. The data collected was standardized in order to compare them with the mean and standard deviations of other schools. U.S. News weighted and added the indicator standardized scores (z-scores) and gave the top school a score of 100. The remaining schools received a percentage of the highest score. The final ranking is in descending order based on these scores. MBA specialties were also ranked again this year.

[Read: Do MBA Rankings Matter?]

Highlights of the 2022 MBA Ranking

These were some of the significant changes in the full-time MBA rankings: 

• Stanford University and University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) retained their first and second place rankings this year. Stanford was able to do this despite dropping in four of the specialty MBA rankings. 
  

• Harvard Business School crept up to fifth place from last year’s sixth, which was its lowest position ever in the U.S. News ranking. 
  

• Dartmouth College (Tuck) advanced two spots and unseated New York University (Stern) to take the number ten spot.
  

Part-time business school rankings also showed some movement:

• University of Chicago (Booth), University of California, Berkeley (Haas), and Northwestern University (Kellogg) maintained their leading spots in the top three positions. 
  

• Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) (eighth last year) and University of Texas, Austin (McCombs) (seventh last year) exchanged places and share the seventh spot.
  

• Indiana University (Kelley) is a newcomer to the top ten this year, taking the spot from Emory University (Goizueta).

U.S. News 2022 Top 10 Full-Time MBA Programs

U.S. News 2022 Top 10 Part-Time MBA Programs

Hoping to start business school in 2022 at one of these top-ranked programs? Check out our MBA Admissions Consulting & Editing Services and work one-on-one with an expert consultant to create an application that will get you ACCEPTED!

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Related Resources:

• The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Competitive MBA Applicant, a free guide
• Business School Selectivity Index [Can I Get Into My Dream School?]
• Do MBA Rankings Matter?

The post U.S. News MBA Rankings 2022 [Full-Time & Part-Time] appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

With the unprecedented reality of a worldwide pandemic, it is reasonable to be concerned about the MBA admissions process. Universities have emptied out their campuses, and both students and teachers are rapidly trying to adjust to remote learning and a host of other modifications in traditional education. Additionally, job prospects are dwindling as the economy dips and layoffs begin. The lack of clarity around MBA programs with deadlines in summer 2020 or fall 2020 can be anxiety-provoking, so here at Accepted, we want to provide you with the best guidance possible as you consider your application options.

You’ll find below a roundup of MBA deadline extensions and changes. Check back soon for more advice and insight into pursuing an MBA during the current health crisis.

<< How Will COVID-19 Impact Your Admissions Journey? [Watch the Webinar] >>

Surveying the deadlines

Here’s what you need to know: [Please note that this list is not all-inclusive, and that the schools listed below may change their policy again in response to change circumstances; please check school websites for updates.]

Chicago Booth

The Chicago Booth Round 3 deadline remains April 2, 2020. However Booth will continue to accept applications through May 31, 2020 with decisions released on a rolling basis.

For all Round 3 applicants, test scores can be submitted as late as July 1, 2020. Admissions decisions will not be made until the score is received.

Check out Chicago Booth’s website for more information.

CMU Tepper

CMU Tepper is waiving application fees through July 31st and is accepting applications on a rolling basis from June 1 – July 31, 2020. They are also allowing applicants with “robust quantitative backgrounds” to apply without a GMAT or GRE. (They will need to meet other requirements to start and stay in the program.)

Check out CMU Tepper’s website for more information.

Columbia Business School

The deadline for August admission at CBS has been extended to June 1, 2020. The deadline for submitting test scores has been extended to July 1, 2020.

Check out Columbia Business School’s website for more information.

Cornell Johnson

Johnson is maintaining its application submission deadlines, but allowing applicants to submit test scores later.

• One Year MBA Applicants: Application deadline is April 15, 2020. Test scores must be submitted by April 30, 2020. If not, your application will be moved to the 2020-2021 application cycle.

• Two-Year MBA Applicants: The application deadline is April 8, 2020. You will have until June 1, 2020 to submit your test scores. If you are unable to do so, your application will be moved to the 2020-21 application cycle. 

Check out Cornell Johnson’s website for more information.

Dartmouth Tuck

Tuck is maintaining its Round 3 deadline and adding a Round 4 this year for applicants who need additional time. Round 4 will work on a rolling basis, and applicants can submit any time between April 1 – June 1, 2020.  The applications will be processed as they come in, and Tuck will provide decisions within “several weeks” from submission from May 11 – July 1, 2020.

Tuck’s criteria and required materials, including required test scores, are unchanged.

Check out Dartmouth Tuck’s admissions blog for more information.

Duke Fuqua

Duke Fuqua’s new Round 4 application deadline is May 19, 2020.

Duke has also postponed the orientation start-date for the Class of 2022 by approximately one month in response to the pandemic.

Check out Duke Fuqua’s website for more information.

Georgetown McDonough

Georgetown has relaxed its testing requirements and added a rolling admissions deadline of June 24 (following it’s Round 4 deadline of April 27th).

Check out Georgetown McDonough’s website for more information.

Harvard

The deadline for Harvard Business School’s 2 + 2 Round was postponed to June 1, 2020 in light of COVID.

Accepted Harvard Business School students have the option to request a deferral to start their full-time MBA studies later than this fall. Deferral requests must be made between May 15th and June 1st.

Check out Harvard Business School’s website for more information.

Indiana Kelley

Kelley will accept applications from domestic candidates on a rolling basis after its April 15th deadline.

Applicants who were unable to take the GMAT or GRE are welcome to submit their applications. Final admissions decisions will be made once test scores are received by the school.

Check out Indiana Kelley’s website for more information.

Kellogg

There are currently no delayed start dates for any of Kellogg’s programs. Decision release dates are similarly unchanged. Day at Kellogg for newly admitted students will take place virtually instead of in person.

While Kellogg’s Round 3 deadline of April 8, 2020 still stands, it will accept applications on a rolling basis through June 1st. (Applicants who submitted by the Round 3 deadline will receive admission and scholarship decisions on May 13th.)

Updated April 14: Kellogg is waiving the GMAT/GRE/TOEFL/IELTS requirement for those applying to Round 3.

Those who were either waitlisted or denied in Rounds 1 or 2 will be able to submit an appeal to have their application reconsidered.  Kellogg will provide instructions on how to file the appeal “in the coming days.”

Check out Kellogg’s website and admissions blog for more information.

Michigan Ross

Ross is extending its Round 3 deadline. Soojin Kwon wrote: 

“The priority deadline will remain March 30, but we will accept applications until May 29. Applications received after the priority deadline will be evaluated on a rolling basis. International applicants are highly encouraged to apply by the priority deadline.”

Applicants taking advantage of the extended deadline are reminded that scholarship funds are still available.

Ross is accepting applicants without test scores, though scores must be received by the program before a final admission decision can be made.

Check out Michigan Ross’s website for more information.

MIT Sloan

MIT Sloan has added an Extended Round 3 Deadline and will accept applications until June 15, 2020 on a rolling basis.

Check out MIT Sloan’s website for more information.

NYU Stern

The March 15 deadline has been pushed to May 1st, 2020. International applicants should strive to apply sooner to allow time for visa arrangements.

Check out NYU Stern’s website for more information.

SMU Cox

SMU Cox is waiving the GMAT/GRE requirement for all graduate programs beginning May 2020 and August 2020. It’s also extending its deadline to August 2, 2020 .

Check out SMU Cox’s admissions blog for more information.

UC Berkeley Haas

Haas is opening a new Extended Deadline of May 4, 2020. Applicants for this deadline will receive decisions on June 4. 

Haas has also announced the launch of The Cal Advantage Program, which will enable UC Berkeley seniors and alumni of all undergraduate and graduate programs to apply to Haas for fall 2020 entry. Cal Advantage applicants will enjoy a shortened application process, featuring one essay, one recommendation and optional test scores. Applicants to this program must apply in May or June of 2020 (click here for more info).

Check out UC Berkeley Haas’s admissions blog for more information.

UCLA Anderson

UCLA Anderson extended its application deadline to June 1, 2020.

Check out UCLA Anderson’s website for more information.

UNC Kenan-Flagler

UNC Kenan-Flagler will delay start of its full-time MBA program to August 31, 2020. It has also extended the Round 4 deadline through July 13th. Decision will be made on a rolling basis. 

Check out Kenan-Flagler’s website for more information.

UVA Darden

Darden is transitioning to rolling admissions for the 2019-20 application cycle with a final deadline of July 15, 2020. The sooner you apply, the sooner you will receive Darden’s decision.

UVA Darden already accepted any graduate admissions exam including the GMAT, GRE, LSAT, and MCAT. In light of COVID19 and closed testing centers, it will evaluate your application with an ACT or SAT or country-specific university entrance exam.

It encourages you to apply even if you are missing one or two elements in your application. Darden will begin the evaluation process, but hold your application until all elements are submitted. 

Check out UVA Darden’s admissions blog for more information.

Wharton

Wharton extended the Round 3 and Advance Access application deadlines to:

– Round 3: April 15, 2020

– Advance Access: May 27, 2020

Round 3 and Advance Access applicants can submit applications without having sat for a standardized test. However, if you do have scores to report, please do so.

Check out Wharton’s website for more information.

Yale SOM

Giving Round 3 applicants an extra ten days to submit their test scores. So if you submit your application by SOM’s Round 3 April 14 deadline, you will have an additional 10 days to submit your GMAT/GRE scores (until April 24). You will receive an answer by May 19.

In addition, Yale SOM is adding a Round 3 Extended deadline of May 27, 2020. You will receive an answer in the second half of June.

Check out Yale SOM’s admissions blog for more information.

We’re going to do our best to keep the changing deadline information current. However, please do not rely on this post; confirm the deadlines yourself because the situation is so fluid.

In addition, if you find out a school has changed their deadlines and is not on the list, please let us know by emailing blog@accepted.com.

The consultants at Accepted are here and ready to help guide you! All of our experts are available to work remotely and business is in full swing in spite of the current global circumstances. Check out our services and let us help you get accepted!

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With 30 years of career/admissions experience at four universities, including Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Business and College of Engineering, Dr. Karin Ash has met with thousands of recruiters seeking to hire the best students from leading schools. She has served as a member of the admissions committee, ensuring that the applicants who ultimately enroll are a good fit for the program and prime candidates for employers. Karin has been a Consultant with Accepted for 8 years and has facilitated students’ entry into top engineering, data science, MBA, and other STEM graduate MEng, MS, and PhD programs. Her clients have been accepted into MIT, the University of Chicago, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, UPenn, and USC. Want Karin to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Get Your Game On: Prepping For Your Grad School ApplicationGet Your Game On: Prepping for Your Grad School Application, a free guide
• How to Write Your Master’s in Engineering Statement of Purpose
• How This Student Got Accepted to MIT’s Engineering Program and Landed a Job at Apple, podcast Episode 460

Related resources:

• School-Specific MBA Application Essay Tips
• How Will Coronavirus Impact Testing? [GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, ACT, SAT, TOEFL]
• 7 Steps to MBA Acceptance in 2021, free webinar

The post MBA Deadline Updates: How Will COVID-19 Affect the MBA Application Process? appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Harvard Business School has taken the top spot away from Stanford Graduate School of Business in the Financial Times 2020 global MBA ranking. 

Although the Financial Times ranking is designed to favor non-U.S. programs, 15 of the top 25 MBA programs are based in the U.S. This result comes despite the decline in applications to U.S. MBA programs – now in its sixth straight year.

The 2020 top 5 schools have not changed since last year, although their rankings have. Following Harvard are: #2 – University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School (up 2 spots); #3 – Stanford Graduate School of Business (down 2 spots); #4 – INSEAD (down 1 spot); and #5 CEIBs in Shanghai, China (unchanged). 

Volatile rankings

Financial Times global ranking methodology is based on 20 different metrics, including some that are inclined to favor non-U.S. schools. Some metrics that add to a school’s position include the percentage of students, faculty, and trustees who possess passports from a country where the school is not located, whether students and alumni worked in foreign countries, whether students had international class experience, and whether the school has a requirement to learn an additional language before graduation. 

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A new metric was added this year – Corporate Social Responsibility. This metric has a weight of 3%, and is based on the percentage of teaching hours from core courses devoted to CSR, ethics, social, and environmental issues.  

The FT’s most heavily weighted metric is salary data (40%). its use of “purchasing power parity”, or PPP  favor schools whose grads go to work in countries with lower cost of living. This hurts U.S. schools since most grads of U.S. MBA programs want to live and work in the U.S. 

The ranking does not take incoming student quality into account. GMAT and GRE scores, as well as undergraduate GPA’s, are ignored. 

<< Watch: Linda Abraham and Marco De Novellis of BusinessBecause discuss the value of MBA rankings >>

FT’s ranking is known to be volatile, which reduces its credibility because there are few year-to-year changes at schools that explain big changes in the rankings. This means that there were big winners and big losers again this year. 

Twenty-seven of the 91 returning b-schools had double-digit increases or decreases in their standings. Fully half of the MBA programs ranked by FT five years ago (39 of 78) have felt double-digit changes, and 23 of those changes have been adjustments in 20 or more spots.

Top 25 International MBA Programs

2020 Rank	School	2019 Rank	Y-O-Y Change
1	Harvard	2	+1
2	UPenn Wharton	4	+2
3	Stanford GSB	1	-2
4	INSEAD	3	-1
5	CEIBS	5	---
6	MIT Sloan	8	+2
7	London	6	-1
8	Columbia	9	+1
9	HEC Paris	19	+10
10	Chicago Booth	7	-3
11	Northwestern Kellogg	14	+3
12	UC-Berkeley Haas	10	-2
13	IESE	12	-1
14	Yale SOM	11	-3
15	Nat’l Univ. of Singapore	17	+2
16	Dartmouth Tuck	15	-1
17	Duke Fuqua	19	+3
18	Virginia Darden	23	+5
19	Cambridge Judge	16	-3
19	Hong Kong UST	18	-1
21	Oxford Said	13	-8
22	New York Stern	25	+3
23	Cornell Johnson	27	+4
24	ESADE	21	-3
25	IMD	22	-3
25	UCLA Anderson	26	+1

Do you see yourself in one of these top international programs? Find out how working one-on-one with one of our Admissions Consultants can help get you ACCEPTED!

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Related Resources:

• Navigate the MBA Application Maze: 9 Tips to Acceptance, a free guide
• Top MBA Programs Get STEM-Certified to Attract Int’l Students
• B-School Selectivity Index: Discover the Schools Where You are a Competitive Applicant

The post Financial Times Ranks Harvard as #1 in 2020 Global MBA Ranking appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Poets & Quants just released its 2019-2020 rankings of the top 100 U.S. MBA programs.

There were some minor changes in the top 10  – most prominently is Stanford GSB climbing two spots, passing Harvard Business School and UPenn Wharton, to claim the #1 position. It’s the second time in 10 years that Stanford has claimed the top slot.  

Other highlights include:

• Yale School of Management just barely broke into the top 10 by securing 10th place. 
• Purdue’s Krannert School of Management dropped 10 spots from last year, from 38th to 48th.
• Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business jumped 12 spots from 62nd place last year to 50th.
• UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management experienced a massive jump, from 94th to 71st place.

P&Q ranking methodology

P&Q’s rankings are based on the rankings of five highly-influential business publications, and are weighted based on P&Q’s assessment of each ranking’s methodology and credibility. The five included in P&Q’s ranking are U.S. News (weight of 35%), Forbes (25%), The Financial Times (15%), Businessweek (15%), and The Economist (10%). Combining the rankings in this way lessens the irregularities that are frequently seen in a given year. This allows applicants to get a better idea of a school’s overall reputation, which typically changes little from year to year.

Top 25 U.S. MBA Programs

2019 Rank	School Name	2018 Rank	Index
1	Stanford GSB	3	100.0
2	Chicago Booth	4	99.6
3	Harvard Business School	1	99.2
4	UPenn Wharton	1	98.8
5	Northwestern Kellogg	5	96.2
6	Dartmouth Tuck	9	96.1
7	MIT Sloan	6	96.0
8	Columbia Business School	7	94.8
9	UC-Berkeley Haas	8	94.4
10	Yale SOM	11	91.1
11	Virginia Darden	12	90.8
12	Michigan Ross	10	89.7
13	Cornell Johnson	13	89.6
14	Duke Fuqua	14	89.5
15	UCLA Anderson	15	88.1
16	New York Stern	16	87.6
17	Carnegie Mellon Tepper	17	84.5
18	Texas-Austin McCombs	18	82.8
19	Southern California Marshall	22	82.5
20	North Carolina Kenan-Flagler	19	82.5
21	Washington Foster	21	81.0
22	Emory Goizueta	20	80.6
23	Indiana Kelley	25	80.1
24	Georgetown McDonough	23	76.9
25	Rice Jones	24	74.6

Watch: Linda Abraham and Marco de Novellis discuss MBA rankings

Do you want to be a member of a top-tier MBA program? Explore our MBA Admissions Consulting Services and work one-on-one with an expert advisor who will help you GET ACCEPTED!

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Related Resources:

• The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Competitive MBA Applicant, a free guide
• Business School Selectivity Index [Can I Get Into My Dream School?]
• Highlights of Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2019 MBA Rankings

The post Poets & Quants Announces 2019-2020 MBA Rankings appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Chicago’s Booth School of Business remaining at the top of The Economist’s ranking of the world’s top MBA programs for the second year in a row is only one of a few stable things in this year’s ranking, according to the Poets & Quants website. This is the seventh time Booth has taken the top spot in The Economist ranking in the past nine years.

This year’s ranking shakeup is widespread. Nineteen of the top 100 MBA programs faced leaps or falls of at least 10 spots since last year. Seven schools have dropped out of the ranking completely, leaving room for seven new schools.

The biggest winners and losers

HEC Paris made the biggest gain in the Top 10. It jumped 10 places to #3, behind just Chicago Booth (#1) and Harvard Business School (#2).

UVA Darden (#9 in 2018) and Columbia Business School (#10 in 2018) are no longer found in the Top 10 (they’ve dropped to 16th and 15th, respectively).

University of Maryland (#81 in 2019) and Northeastern University (#82 in 2019) are no longer ranked in the Top 100.

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Why are these rankings so volatile?

The Economist looks at 21 different metrics to determine their rankings. This is the most metrics of any ranking. They place heavy emphasis on compensation and career placement, including salaries, pre-MBA versus post-MBA pay increases, and the percent of grads who find jobs through the career management center. These comprise 45% of the methodology.

The Economist also relies quite a bit on student satisfaction, which is determined by an annual survey of current MBA students and recent alumni. These survey results comprise 20% of the ranking and are composed of:

• New career opportunities (35%)
• Personal development/educational experiences (35%)
• Increasing salary (20%)
• Potential to network (10%)

The Economist’s Top 25 MBA programs

2019 Rank	School	YOY Change	2018 Rank
1	Chicago Booth	-	1
2	Harvard Business School	+1	3
3	HEC Paris	+10	13
4	Northwestern Kellogg	-2	2
5	UPenn Wharton	-1	4
6	UCLA Anderson	+2	8
7	UC Berkeley Haas	+4	11
8	Stanford GSB	-3	5
9	Michigan Ross	-2	7
10	IESE	-4	6
11	Duke Fuqua	+4	15
12	Dartmouth Tuck	-	12
13	SDA Bocconi	+11	24
14	Cornell Johnson	+6	20
15	Columbia	-5	10
16	Virginia Darden	-7	9
17	New York University Stern	-	17
18	USC Marshall	+10	28
19	MIT Sloan	-3	16
20	Washington Foster	+2	22
21	Yale SOM	-7	14
22	INSEAD	-3	19
23	Georgia Tech Scheller	+8	31
24	Warwick	-6	18
25	London Business School	+2	27

Is a top MBA program in your future? Learn what these rankings mean for you and how you can secure your spot at your top choice b-school when you work one-on-one with an expert Accepted advisor. Explore our MBA Admissions Services for more information on how we can help you get ACCEPTED.

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Related Resources:

• Are You a Competitive Applicant at Your Dream School? [The MBA Selectivity Index]
• Do MBA Rankings Matter?
• Are You a Good Fit for Your Target MBA Programs?

The post Big Changes in Economist 2019 MBA Rankings appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

[powerpress]

Interview with Kenton Kivestu, CEO of RocketBlocks [Show Summary]

Kenton Kivestu is CEO of RocketBlocks, a firm that provides tools to help you prepare for and nail your Product Manager interviews at high tech firms. In today’s episode, he and Linda discuss the unique challenges of breaking into a product management career in high tech, and how to overcome them. He provides the inside scoop on big name companies like Amazon and Google.

Kenton Kivestu describes the role of a product manager, and offers insight on how to break into this exciting field [Show Notes]

I’d like to welcome back to AST Kenton Kivestu, who was previously a guest on Admissions Straight Talk in episode 188 a little over two years ago. Kenton graduated from UVA with a BA in economics and history in 2006. Upon graduating he joined Google in product development and worked there for 3 years until he moved to Hanover New Hampshire to attend the Tuck School of Business and earn his MBA. He interned at BCG, but returned to mobile product development when he graduated from Tuck in 2011, working in product management at both Zynga and Flurry following his MBA. For the last several years, he has been full-time CEO of RocketBlocks, which has helped applicants land consulting jobs and has expanded into prepping applicants for product management positions.

Since our last interview focused on landing a consulting job, this show is going to focus on product management positions in high tech.

What are the key qualifications in terms of work experience and personal qualities that high tech companies are looking for in PM candidates? [2:32]

Candidates for a PM role tend to run the gamut – could be someone with a computer science degree straight out of undergrad, or an English major coming into the role. Ultimately when you look at what tech companies like Google, Amazon, or Facebook want from a PM, they tend to look at the same set of skills. They want to know that people have a good product sense, and passion and excitement for a product. You need to be excited about what a product looks and feels like, and that you can think about deeply. Some level of tech fluency is important as well since you are working day in and day out with tech people – you need to be able to communicate effectively with them. Some firms like to hire people already with a tech background, but a lot of companies have realized that just because someone has a great tech background doesn’t necessarily mean they will be a great PM. You just need to be able to communicate effectively with software engineers. The third thing is similar to what a lot of companies are looking for. They want people who have strong leadership skills and know how to lead a team, and who can collaborate.

You had a degree in history. How did you prepare for this role? Did you take classes? [5:52]

The Project Manager role has really come into being in the last 20 years. If you did a study of job titles, a small amount would have been PM before then, but now there are thousands of PMs at places like Amazon or Google. I didn’t even know what a PM was until just before my 4th year at UVA – I found out about it from some friends. The job sounded incredible, and what I learned was that to get that job you needed to have a computer science degree. I was bummed that I couldn’t do that with the time remaining, but I wondered if there was another way to make the transition. I had a friend at UVA whose older sister was an early PM at Google. She said if you don’t have a CS degree it’s a nonstarter. However, she encouraged me to join another team and get my foot in the door at Google. So I looked at some other teams that hired people without CS degrees. I joined an operations-focused team and then transitioned.

What was so exciting about the product management role to you? [8:32]

I think product management was really appealing because it felt like it had a really good mix of skill sets that you could apply and be able to see and help something develop from concept stage all the way through building and launching it. The full lifecycle experience was really compelling to me. I had an early inkling that I would like to run my own business someday, and this seemed to have certain aspects of that.

What kind of education is required for a PM position? What’s recommended or preferred? [10:17]

A bunch of different routes are feasible. An MBA is a really good route. Amazon is the most salient example. I think they are the largest hirer of MBAs in the U.S. It’s a good route if you are coming to PM without a tech background. Obviously individuals with a technical background are valued because they understand the basis of how things fit together and how things work, and presumably can learn the more subtle softer skills to succeed in PM. MBAs have the broader business perspective. The majority of people use the “foot in the door” strategy like I did. Take a role that gives you some exposure to PM, build some credibility, and then make the transition within the company.

What is the product management hiring process typically like? [15:09]

It is almost always a three-round process. With bigger companies they start with a phone screen with a recruiter, not someone within the PM staff. They will screen candidates for credibility – do you have the right type of experience on your resume, will you fit into the company culture, and if they send you on to the next person will they think so too. Round 2 is usually two phone interviews or video interviews, and those will be more content-focused, so a place like Amazon will ask about leadership principles. They will be more product-oriented questions to see if you have good natural intuition. The interviews are typically about 45 minutes to an hour specifically with PMs. The final round is on-site, and with maybe 4-6 interviews. You will get a spectrum of folks to talk to – a glance across the core team – talking to PMs, engineers, designers, evaluating how you would interface with people in these functional areas. They will be checking for your product sense, product strategy, and whether you can back that up with analytics, your tech skills, and culture fit.

You’ve used the term “product sense” several times. Can you explain what that is? [20:06]

Someone will say, “Tell me what Google’s strategy is for chat applications.” It is essentially having strong intuition with product but also business strategy. There is typically a product-oriented question, where they want to suss out if people like thinking about products and thinking about them in an intuitive way – do they understand the consumer, design, colors used, are there too many buttons, or not enough buttons. Essentially, do they have a “Spidey-sense” of what a good product is. Steve Jobs is the quintessential example of this.

What do you think is key to successfully navigating this hiring process, other than what we have already discussed in terms of education, experience, and qualities? [22:24]

The biggest thing aside from the demonstrated core skills is that industry-specific knowledge expected goes up the smaller the company is. With Google, Amazon, or Facebook, they want to hire generalists that will rotate around. If you are interviewing at a smaller company like AirBnB, though, you can’t show up to an interview for a PM and not have much interest in the travel space or hotels/lodging. Those areas are so core to the AirBnB business that it would be a red flag.

What kind of interviews can a job applicant expect for a PM position? [24:58]

You see three types of interviews. The first is a product case interview, similar to consulting, but the orientation and depth is more around building/launching a specific product vs high level business strategy. For example, “We are thinking about bringing Lyft scooters to the Austin market. How would you do it?” The second type is a fit interview, trying to suss out the fuzzier skills – leadership, team, behavioral, and fit questions. The third type is a hybrid of fit and mini-product questions, like, “What is your favorite mobile app and why?” They want to test you lightly.

What are the most common mistakes wannabe product managers make in the application process in general and in the interviews specifically? [27:39]

In the recruiting process recruiters are looking for people who are going to be able to navigate the weird vagaries and challenges of going through this whole life cycle – good at high level strategy and tactical execution. You should see that in the resume, but instead you often see someone trying to prove super deep ability in a technical sense.

Among the leading tech firms, on a high level, how does hiring differ at Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix? [31:34]

There are a few big differences. Google has the most technical bias in their process. One of the first PMs they hired was not an engineer, and it didn’t work out. They saw the issue as the lack of a technical background, and so decided to stick with tech people. It has changed a bit, but the bias is still there. Facebook used to care more about technical stuff, then they officially said it’s not a key requirement. They tend to hire people with an entrepreneurial mindset. If you don’t have demonstrated experience in that type of area it will be really tough to get a job.

Amazon is the most MBA-friendly of the large tech companies. They approach a lot of problems with here’s a business opportunity, how do we market it, how do we approach it, and then other things fit in below that. If you look at Google’s current product strategy, a lot of it will be around how will we take strengths in AI learning and bake it in. With Amazon, we were a book store, now we have movies, and we do infrastructure for startups – they find a market and see if they can make something work. I am exaggerating a bit, but I think you know what I am saying.

Netflix, has a bias against newer talent. They generally hire folks who already have industry experience, as they believe it leads to a more mature, confident talent base they don’t have to spend time training.

Companies like AirBnB, newer consumer-focused companies, care that PMs have a stronger design sense and can make a product that looks and feels intuitive.

For a long time Apple didn’t have the role of PM. They had people building the product and people selling the product, and the PM is in between, so what is the PM really doing. Historically they had engineering managers and marketing managers. Only recently have they had true product managers.

What is RocketBlocks and how can it help an applicant for a product management position? [38:44]

It is a platform to help people build and hone skills they need to succeed in job interviews. We have a management consulting vertical and product manager vertical. We take the skills companies are testing for and build drills around them to allow students to come in and practice. The whole idea is to be basically a digital gym preparing for your interviews. The driving force is interactive drills, like, “Here is an interview scenario, how would you react,” “Prioritize a roadmap,” or, “Here are two competing user interfaces, compare them, what is good, what’s not.” The idea is to provide organic scenarios you would face in the interview and on the job.

We also facilitate a market of expert coaches who can run you through an hour-long mock interview. We vet and curate that list of experts.

Rocketblocks is a subscription model like a gym. You pay $35/month to use the resource as long as you need it to prepare.

What are your plans for RocketBlocks going forward? [44:56]

We are always adding and curating existing drills on the platform to make better scenarios to prepare. Eventually we will add some new verticals. Other work we will do is refining and going deeper on the type of content and how you interact with the content. The core of what’s there is really helpful to students and we can augment it to provide an even better user experience. The platform can now be used on a tablet or mobile so you can study on the go.

It’s now 8 years since you earned your MBA at Tuck. How has your perspective on that experience evolved? Are you still glad you did it? [47:18]

High level answer is still the same (yes). The value of the network compounds over time as your classmates progress in their careers, and the amount of great people you have access to and can help you out is incredible.

What do you wish I would have asked? [48:01]

Maybe, “What is the most interesting product management interview question you’ve ever heard?” Best I’ve heard recently, is a Google PM walked in with a duffle bag full of physical products and the candidate would have to reach into the bag, pull one out at random and critique it, the deficiencies, how you could make it better. It’s a great test of overall product sense, but maybe a bit intimidating with someone walking in with a giant duffle bag!

Related Links:

• RocketBlocks for Product Management
• RocketBlocks for Consulting Interviews
• Tuck MBA Application Essay Tips
• Get Accepted to Chicago Booth, a free webinar
• Accepted’s Admissions Consulting Services

Related Shows:

• Building Your Consulting Career, and a Look Back at a Tuck MBA
• An Interview with Dartmouth Tuck’s Admissions Director, Luke Pena
• From Tuck MBA to Stand-Up Comic and Author

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The post How to Launch Your Career in High Tech Product Management [Episode 332] appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

Forbes has released its 2019 rankings of full-time MBA programs in the U.S. and one-year programs internationally. These rankings are based on responses from more than 100 schools and 17,500 alumni around the world. Graduates’ earnings in their first five years after graduation from business school were compared to their opportunity cost, which gave Forbes a five-year MBA gain – the basis for the final rank.

The alumni survey reveals that an MBA from one of the top schools continues to be very valuable, and pays for itself in approximately four years. Alumni from the class of 2014 at the top 25 U.S. programs boosted their salaries from an average of $73,000 before their MBA to $193,000 last year. Salaries have gone up on average 10% each year since graduation.

Top 10 U.S. business schools

Rank	School	Location	5-Year MBA Gain	Years to Payback	Pre-MBA Salary	2018 Salary	Tuition	GMAT
1	Chicago Booth	Chicago, IL	$94.4K	3.9	$83K	$245K	$149K	730
2	Stanford	Palo Alto, C	$90.8K	4.2	$86K	$250K	$144K	732
3	Northwestern Kellogg	Evanston, IL	$89.6K	3.9	$76K	$215K	$150K	740
4	Harvard Business School	Boston, MA	$86.5K	4.1	$88K	$230K	$161K	730
5	Pennsylvania Wharton	Philadelphia, PA	$84.7K	4.1	$92K	$230K	$158K	732
6	Dartmouth Tuck	Hanover, NH	$82.7K	4	$84K	$233K	$153K	720
7	Columbia Business School	New York, NY	$80.9K	4.1	$82K	$230K	$160K	740
8	MIT Sloan	Cambridge, MA	$80.9K	4.1	$80K	$215K	$154K	730
9	Cornell Johnson	Ithaca, NY	$78.3K	4	$68K	$195K	$142K	700
10	Michigan Ross	Ann Arbor, MI	$78K	3.9	$72K	$180K	$140K	720

Top 10 one-year international programs

Rank	School	Location	5-Year MBA Gain	Years to Payback	Pre-MBA Salary	2018 Salary	Tuition	GMAT
1	IMD	Lausanne, Switzerland	$168.9K	2.7	$82K	$200K	$85K	680
2	INSEAD	Fountainebleau, France; Singapore	$154.7K	2.6	$79K	$195K	$90K	710
3	Cambridge Judge	Cambridge, United Kingdom	$153K	2.4	$67K	$183K	$65K	700
4	SDA Bocconi	Milan, Italy	$135.5K	2.5	$60K	$165K	$57K	665
5	Oxford Said	Oxford, United Kingdom	$127.3K	2.8	$76K	$177K	$71K	690
6	IE Business School	Madrid, Spain	$104.3K	3.2	$58K	$149K	$79K	686
7	Indian School of Business	Hyderabad, India	$90.5K	2.4	$15K	$62K	$37K	710
8	Warwick	Coventry, United Kingdom	$83.8K	2.9	$53K	$139K	$48K	660
9	Mannheim	Mannheim, Germany	$83K	3	$51K	$125K	$42K	680
10	ESMT Berlin	Berlin, Germany	$86.2K	3.4	$49K	$118K	$49K	650

Do you need help choosing the best business school for you? Get matched with an Accepted advisor today who will guide you through the process of finding, applying to, and getting accepted to the ideal MBA program for you. Explore our MBA Admissions Consulting for more information.

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Related Resources:

• Navigate the MBA Application Maze: 9 Tips to Acceptance, a free guide
• A Conversation About Today’s MBA Marketplace, a podcast episode
• Do MBA Rankings Matter?

The post Forbes 2019 Best Business Schools: Booth Tops the List appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.

AIGAC (the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants) recently released their 2019 MBA Applicant Survey, which substantiates the idea that today’s applicants continue to consider human interaction to be a competitive advantage. More and more, applicants see the importance of talking to current MBA students when selecting schools and making decisions. Current applicants continue to view growing in their careers as a priority, but not at the expense of making a positive impact on the world.

Additional survey findings include:

• Applicants applied to more schools this year: 4.5 schools this year compared to 3.8 last year.
• Due to the standardization of letters of recommendation, fewer candidates are being asked to write their own letters of recommendation.
• Working with an admissions consultant boosts self-awareness and improves communication skills prior to entering an MBA program.
• Selected social media outlets are being used more by applicants. More than 50% of applicants used LinkedIn as part of their school research this year. The use of Instagram increased from 19% last year to 25% this year.
• Female applicants expressed that schools got to know them less well than did males. With a score of 5 representing a school that got to know them best, females rated schools at 3.07 while males rated them at 3.20.
• The schools that ranked highest in getting to know applicants are:

1. 1. Vanderbilt University – Owen Graduate School of Management
   2. Cornell University – Johnson Graduate School of Management
   3. UVA – Darden School of Business
   4. Dartmouth College – Tuck School of Business
   5. UNC – Kenan-Flagler Business School
   6. Duke University – Fuqua School of Business
   7. Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School of Business
   8. Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management
   9. UT Austin – McCombs School of Business
   10. Georgetown University – McDonough School of Business

The survey was completed by almost 1,000 applicants between March 16 and April 7, 2019. Of these, 778 applied to at least one school. Females made up 37% of the respondents. 58% of survey respondents reside outside the U.S.

Are you applying to a top MBA program? Not sure what your next step should be? Explore our MBA Admissions Consulting Services and work one-on-one with an expert advisor who will help you get ACCEPTED.

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Related Resources:

• Choosing an MBA Admissions Consultant, a free guide
• MBA Selectivity Index, discover the schools where you are competitive
• How Can an Accepted MBA Admissions Consultant Help You?

The post AIGAC 2019 MBA Applicant Survey Results Released appeared first on Accepted Admissions Blog.