Jason McAlpin, UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA student and Consortium member

Accepted.com is continuing a blog series featuring interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at top MBA programs. We hope to offer you a candid picture of student life, and what you should consider as you prepare your MBA application.

Here’s a talk with Jason McAlpin, a UNC Kenan-Flagler student who offers insights into the admissions process, student life in Chapel Hill, and his experiences at Coca-Cola. Thank you Jason for sharing your thoughts with us!

Accepted: First, can you tell us a little about yourself – where are you from? What and where did you study as an undergraduate and when did you graduate?

Jason: I’m originally from Greensboro, NC but attended HS and college in Maryland. I attended high school in Silver Spring, Maryland and completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland in College Park in May of 2008. I graduated with a business degree in Marketing from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at UMD.

Accepted: Why did you decide to attend UNC Kenan-Flagler? What attracted you to the program and is it living up to your expectations?

Jason: I decided to attend KFBS for a number of different reasons, ranging from academic rigor to location to full-time placement statistics to financial aid package. However, the top three reasons for attending KFBS were 1) The Leader Initiative, 2) The welcoming student body and staff, and 3) The school’s proficiency and reputation in both marketing and entrepreneurship.

Accepted: What are some of your favorite things about living in Chapel Hill? Do you think it is a good setting for pursuing a business degree?

Jason: Probably the best thing about living in Chapel Hill is that it is the ultimate college town. With that comes a ton of friendly people and pride in the school and the town. I think Chapel Hill is an excellent setting for pursuing a business degree because you’re in the middle of the East Coast and get recruiters all along the East recruiting at the school. As well, if you’re interested in entrepreneurship, the Research Triangle Park is one of the best areas for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Accepted: What’s your favorite class so far?

Jason: My favorite class that I’ve taken to date is Intro to Entrepreneurship. Every class was a different case study on a new startup and the professor really did a great job of pushing his students to look past the obvious in an effort to truly assess the viability of new ventures and new ideas.

Accepted: Did you find the transition back to student life difficult after being out of school for a few years?

Jason: It wasn’t particularly difficult because I was used to working hard and long hours before school. In business school it’s just a different kind of working hard – it’s much more trying to master concepts and studying material versus racing against a clock to execute an initiative.

Accepted: I see you are concentrating in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Are you planning on starting your own business once you receive your MBA? Or do you have another job lined up for next year? If so, what role did KFBS play in helping you secure that position?

Jason: I don’t plan on starting a new business immediately once I graduate from KFBS, but I do hope to have my own business someday. I have played around with an idea for a while but I have no immediate plans to pursue. Instead, I’ve been gearing up for an opportunity that I’m very excited about – an associate brand marketer position at The Coca-Cola Company.

Accepted: Can you tell us about your internship at Coca-Cola?

Jason: My internship at Coca-Cola was fantastic but a ton of hard work. The structure was set up around one major capstone project. For me, I was to work with two new projects under the one of the company’s brands. Additionally, the summer was split up into three different parts:

The first four weeks, I was to conduct a situation assessment of both categories that holds each new product to determine who the consumer was, why they buy, when they buy, trends in the market, major players, etc. In the fifth week I made a formal presentation to the brand floor and major stakeholders of my project.

The middle week was a chance to shift off of your capstone project and work on a completely different project with other brand interns from the Coca-Cola offices in Atlanta, NY and Texas.

Lastly, the last five weeks I spent creating a comprehensive integrated marketing communications plan surrounding the launch of one of the two new products.

In short, it was a great summer with amazing people and an amazing support system around you the entire summer.

Accepted: Do you have any advice for some of our applicants who will be applying to UNC Kenan-Flagler?

Jason: While there’s a ton of different pieces of advice that I would love to give each potential applicant, my main piece of advice would be to not underestimate the quality of the people and environment in your search criteria – this is one of Carolina’s biggest assets and has made for an unforgettable two years.

Accepted: I see that you are a member of the Consortium. Can you share some application tips for other students applying to business school through the Consortium?

Jason: My main advice here would be to think long and hard about the Consortium’s mission and to illustrate how you have supported this mission without knowing it in the past, how you continue to do so now, and how you plan on furthering this commitment in b-school and once you graduate.

Please visit our UNC Kenan-Flagler and Consortium Zone for more McCombs- and Consortium-specific advice. For complete, soup-to-nuts guidance on the MBA admissions process, please purchase Linda Abraham’s new book, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools – now available in paperback and Kindle editions!

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Poets and Quants (“GMAT Scores Slip At Many Top Schools”) did an analysis of the median GMAT score at the top 25 US business schools and discovered that median scores are slowly dropping. MIT Sloan, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Carnegie-Mellon’s Tepper School, North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and the University of Southern California’s Marshall School all reported a 10-point drop in their median GMAT scores.

Poets and Quants analysis also reveals that a larger percentage of students were accepted to some b-schools this year than in 2010. USC’s Marshall School accepted 38% of applicants, in comparison with 22% last year, Georgetown’s McDonough School accepted 49% of its applicants, up from 42% last year, and Michigan’s Ross School accepted 32% of its applicants, up from 25% last year.

Implications for MBA applicants:

This is an excellent year to apply to business school.

While you still can’t slap together a mediocre application and expect to get accepted to a top-tier MBA program, if you know why you want an MBA and where you would like to get it, now is the time to apply. If you are competitive at your target schools, invest the time in your MBA essays, work with your recommenders, and submit for the round 2 deadlines.

You may also want to apply to an additional “reach” school or two. However, don’t get too cocky. This data does not imply that all your target programs should be “reaches” or that the GMAT no longer matters.

There is just a little less competition to enter the MBA class of 2014, especially for those not coming from super-competitive cohorts in the applicant pool.

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Look no further – the MBA book of all books is here, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools, written by Accepted.com founder, Linda Abraham, and editor Judy Gruen. And now, for a very limited time only (Monday, Dec. 5 – Tuesday, Dec. 6) you can purchase this must-have book for $10 OFF the cover price by using coupon code SMARTIES at checkout. That’s almost 2/3 off the list price!

In MBA Admission for Smarties you will learn how to:

• Determine “fit” with a program.
• Establish your post-MBA goals and present them in a compelling goals essay.
• Write dazzling, memorable application essays.
• Secure winning letters of recommendation.
• Optimize your MBA application resume.

…and much, much more!

So what are you waiting for?

Be smart. Buy MBA Admission for Smarties now!

(Non-U.S. residents should buy MBA Admission for Smarties from Amazon.com where international shipping is available. Sorry – no coupon available to ship outside the U.S.)

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This UNC Kenan Flagler 2012 MBA Application tip post is one of a series of posts providing MBA application and essay advice for applicants to top MBA programs around the world. Check out the entire 2012 MBA Application Tips series for more valuable MBA essay advice. 

UNC Kenan Flagler 2012 MBA Essay Questions

Some applicants seek the MBA as a career enhancing tool to accelerate advancement in their current field. Career switchers want the MBA to help launch new career paths. UNC Kenan-Flagler recognizes each of these motivations as legitimate reasons to pursue the MBA, and we encourage both types of candidates to apply.

UNC Kenan-Flagler encourages you to assess your known talents and potential skills, understand your personal style, and confirm your values and interests. If you do this prior to beginning your MBA studies, you will be better equipped to navigate the many options the MBA program will provide. There is not enough time to do all the activities and take all the courses that will be available to you. It is important, therefore, to make your choices based on your own development plan. Think of the UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA application as a first step toward uncovering the unique attributes and goals that will inform your development plan. Please be thoughtful and reflective in your answers.

Essay One (Required)

What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? What are the other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words maximum)

Rather than list Strength 1, Strength 2, and Strength 3, I recommend you start with one brief story that illustrates 2-3 or your strengths and shows you as a contributor and doer. Then analyze how those traits have contributed to your career success. Remember to describe your accomplishment in terms of impact and to quantify as much as possible.

Remember to weave into your essay the response to the second questions — a trait that you would like to take advantage of in the future.  

Essay Two (Required)

Please describe your short and long term goals post-MBA. Explain how: your professional experience has shaped these goals; why this career option appeals to you; and how you arrived at the decision that now is the time and the MBA is the appropriate degree. (500 words maximum)

What do you see yourself doing immediately upon graduation and what would you like to do ten years from now? Describe why this path attracts you. What experiences have convinced you to pursue it? Why do you need an MBA, especially one with UNC’s approach to business education, to proceed down your chosen path. For more tips on writing about post MBA goals, please see MBA Goals 101.

Essay Three (Required)

What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to UNC Kenan-Flagler? (500 words maximum)

Everyone has a story. What’s yours? What makes you tick? What would you like the admissions committee to know about you — you the human being, the individual? What hobbies and experiences will differentiate you from the IT guy, consultant, real estate developer, or banker that the adcom just read about? How will your perspective contribute to the classroom and community at Kenan-Flagler?

Essay Four (Optional)

If your standardized test scores are low, or if you have not had course work in core business subjects (calculus, microeconomics, statistics, financial accounting), please tell us how you plan to prepare yourself for the quantitative rigor of the MBA curriculum. (300 words maximum) 

This is pretty straightforward. Just answer it. You may also want to highlight professional preparation that you have already had in quantitative areas.

Essay Five (Optional)

Is there any other information you would like to share that is not presented elsewhere in the application? (300 words maximum) 

My favorite: The optional essay. A gift allowing you to give the adcom one more reason to admit you.

UNC Kenan Flagler 2012 MBA Deadline

If you would like help with your Kenan-Flagler MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our UNC School Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the Kenan-Flagler MBA application.

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

• Michelle Rogers was recently appointed to oversee full-time admissions at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business on an interim basis, reports a Kellogg press release. Starting April 29, Rogers will replace Beth Flye, former assistant dean of admissions for the last eight years. The permanent position is likely to be filled in early fall 2011.
• Meanwhile, a UNC Kenan-Flagler press release reports that Beth Flye will become the new director of admissions at MBA@UNC, the school’s new online MBA program. “I have loved my work at Kellogg, but the opportunity to help build an innovative new program for UNC Kenan-Flagler was totally compelling,” said Flye. “MBA@UNC has enormous potential and I am excited to be a part of this trail-blazing program.”
• In a recent press release, Belgium’s Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School announced the launch of its new English language international executive MBA program in Moscow. The 17-month program will have a strong emphasis on business in Russia today and will consist of 4-day monthly modules in Moscow and at MIT. Prof. Dominique Heau, director of the new EMBA program, explains: “In designing this programme for the Moscow business world we recognised the need for bringing up-to-date business theory and practise into the Russian business environment today. We will do this in a variety of ways to enhance the learning experience. A particular focus of our education will be the coaching and leadership development we deliver to our participants.”

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• Following in the trend of curriculum overhauls, Cornell Johnson will be making significant changes to its executive MBA program to allow for more elective classes. According to a Financial Times b-school new bulletin, the top EMBA program will also be ramping up its career services resources.
• Another recent Financial Times article, “Kenan-Flagler: Maximum flexibility for unconventional MBA students,” discusses the ways in which UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School has reached out to students who, in the past, have had trouble matriculating, mainly by creating an online business program known as MBA@UNC. The program will begin in July and is geared towards students “who require maximum flexibility.” This includes out-of-state or international students, people with extensive job commitments, members of the military, people with young children, and other non-conventional MBA students.
• According to “The changing face of Executive MBA,” a BusinessReviewEurope.eu article, the “EMBA is no longer about spreadsheets and business plans,” but rather “the scope of the EMBA qualification has changed dramatically thanks to the introduction of a range of new teaching techniques.” Cambridge’s Judge Business School, for example, has implemented a number of electives geared towards entrepreneurship; other programs are focusing on building a global marketplace by emphasizing cultural sensitivity and networking. Leadership, of course, is still a main focus, but schools are teaching leadership skills “in more imaginative, if not downright, quirky” ways, like with HEC Paris’s “no-holds barred” MBA boot camp run by the French navy. Warwick Business School in the UK is putting its creative touches on its MBA program by introducing students to acting and directing techniques.
• A GMAC press release reports that the number of women GMAT test takers is at an all-time high. You can download the report on women in management education here.

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U.S. News & World Report just released its annual Execute MBA rankings, which we’ve posted below.

Top 10 Best Executive MBA Programs

1. University of Pennsylvania Wharton

2. Chicago Booth

3. Northwestern Kellogg

4. Duke Fuqua

5. Columbia

6. NYU Stern

6. UCLA Anderson

8. Michigan Ross

9. UC Berkeley Haas

10. UNC Kenan-Flagler

You’ll see that this list varies only slightly from the Poets & Quants best EMBA list that we posted yesterday. You can also compare this list to U.S. News‘ list of best business schools and you’ll find that if a school is regarded as the best for its MBA program, then it likely offers a top EMBA program as well. 

(Please see U.S. News‘ “Business School Rankings Methodology” for details on how these programs were chosen.)

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BusinessWeek‘s 2011 ranking report reveals that more than ever, college applicants are seeking a global experience, especially those who plan on pursuing an undergraduate degree in business. Undergraduate business programs are responding by creating more immersion options, overseas internships, and business-related study abroad opportunities. Some schools are even offering business courses that require students to go abroad. Many schools are implementing international experience requirements, maintaining that global exposure is essential in today’s market.

For example, Notre Dame Mendoza, BW‘s top pick for the second year in a row, offers study abroad options in Haiti, Egypt, and South Africa, among many other places, and encourages students to pursue business research projects abroad as well.

Below we have posted BW‘s top 20 undergraduate business schools.

Top 20 Best Undergraduate Business Schools 2011 (Last year’s position is in parentheses.)

1.      Notre Dame Mendoza (1)

2.      UVA McIntire (2)

3.      Emory Goizueta (7)

4.      UPenn Wharton (4)

5.      Cornell (5)

6.      Michigan Ross (8)

7.      Villanova (20)

8.      UNC Kenan-Flagler (14)

9.      MIT Sloan (3)

10.  Georgetown McDonough (23)

11.  Brigham Young Marriott (11)

12.  Richmond Robins (15)

13.  UC Berkeley Haas (6)

14.  Washington Olin (13)

15.  NYU Stern (12)

16.  Boston College Carroll (9)

17.  Texas McCombs (10)

18.  Indiana Kelley (19)

19.  Wake Forest (18)

20.  Babson (17)

You’ll notice there were quite a few significant shifts this year. Three new schools made it into the top 10—Villanova, UNC Kenan-Flagler, and Georgetown McDonough—ousting UC Berkeley Haas, Boston College, and Texas McCombs from their top 10 positions of last year. The only school new to the top 20 list this year is Georgetown, taking a slot away from Miami Farmer.

For more information on methodology, please see BW‘s article, “How We Ranked the Schools.”

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Top executive MBA programs in America are charging an arm and a leg —is it worth it? That’s the topic of a recent CNN Money Fortune/Poets & Quants article, “Executive MBAs: Great, if you can foot the bill,” which reports that if people are willing to pay the sky-high prices for an EMBA degree, they’ll likely graduate with a high paying salary and a positive attitude towards their educational experience.

Top programs, like those at Wharton, offer very similar curriculums to their regular MBA programs, yet are charging almost $65,000 more (for a total of more than $160,000). (Other top 10 EMBA programs charge slightly less, with Booth at $142,000, Kellogg at $153,900, and Columbia at $148,320.)

Studies show that 97% of EMBA graduates are “overwhelmingly satisfied” with their educations, despite the high tuition, and that the programs “met or exceeded their expectations when it comes to impact on their careers and their organizations.” According to the latest Executive MBA Council study, one-third of EMBA graduates received promotions at work; 44% received more responsibilities at work; and EMBAs in general reported an average 11.4% salary increase, from $127,955 to $142,534. And this is just following the great recession!

The article refers readers over to the new Poets & Quants for Executives website that ranks the 50 best executive MBA programs in North America based on a combination of ratings from The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and U.S. News & World Report. You can view a summary of P&Q ranking methodology on the bottom of this page.

You should read the full Fortune/P&Q article and review the full rankings for more information. In the meantime, here are the top 20 EMBA programs according to the new Poets & Quants for Executives website:

Top 20 Executive MBA Programs in North America

1.      Wharton

2.      Chicago Booth

3.      Northwestern Kellogg

4.      Columbia Business School

5.      NYU Stern

6.      Michigan Ross

7.      UCLA Anderson

8.      Cornell Johnson

9.      Texas McCombs

10.  USC Marshall

11.  Duke Fuqua

12.  UNC Kenan-Flagler

13.  Berkeley/Columbia

14.  Washington Olin

15.  Emory Goizueta

16.  Boston University

17.  Georgetown McDonough

18.  Thunderbird

19.  Rice University Jones

20.  Southern Methodist Cox

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U.S. News just released its 2012 MBA rankings just a few hours ago, and with them, a number of good articles and resources. First we’ll give you the top 20 best U.S. business schools, and then we’ll direct you to some of the meaty articles.

2012 Best Business Schools

1. Stanford GSB

2. Harvard Business School

3. MIT Sloan

3. Pennsylvania Wharton

5. Northwestern Kellogg

5. Chicago Booth

7. Dartmouth Tuck

7. UC Berkeley Haas

9. Columbia

10. NYU Stern

10. Yale SOM

12. Duke Fuqua

13. UVA Darden

14. UCLA Anderson

14. Michigan Ross

16. Cornell Johnson

17. Texas McCombs

18. CMU Tepper

19. UNC Kenan-Flagler

20. Washington Olin

For more information please see:

• “The Sustainable MBA” – This article highlights the ways in which the MBA degree has gone green. Courses that used to focus on finance and profit now focus on those things as well as on how they relate to larger social and environmental issues. A number of programs have sprung up around the country that focus on sustainability. Buzzwords include “impact investing” and “social entrepreneurship.”
• “Reinventing the MBA” – This article is about the goals business educators are working to bring about, mainly “to de-emphasize traditional discipline-based courses like marketing and finance in favor of a focus on leadership skills, innovation, social responsibility, and a global perspective.” Many top schools are introducing new curricula that focus more on leadership development.
• “Business School Ranking Methodology” – Please see this article for details on how the business school rankings were determined.

For a better understanding of why the data behind the rankings is much more valuable than the rankings themselves — a view I have espoused for years — please see “Winners and Losers in the 2011 US News Rankings.”

Discover the answers you need to interpret the MBA rankings and learn how to use them to evaluate top MBA programs around the world by downloading Accepted.com’s FREE special report MBA Rankings now!

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