Adam Markus: Graduate Admissions Guru

Duke Fuqua MBA Admissions Interviews

2012-02-09T11:01:00.003+09:00

In my experience, Duke interviews are all about fit. Frankly, I would not characterize the interviews for Team Fuqua as hard when compared to those of other top schools. In addition to my experience, I have reviewed reports of Duke University 's Fuqua School of Business interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com You need to know your resume completely as you will likely be

University of Michigan Ross MBA Admissions Interviews

2012-02-07T01:05:00.001+09:00

Interviews for the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business are not particularly hard. Based on my experience as well as the reports found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com, I can say that they are generally seem to be friendly, focused on fit, and require the applicant to discuss the basics. Please refer to my prior overall MBA admissions strategy interview posts( here, here, here, and

General Characteristics of Admissions Officers, Students, and Alumni Interviewers

2012-02-06T23:09:00.004+09:00

Clients frequently ask me, if they are given choice, about whether to choose an interview with an alumni, a student, and/or admissions officer. While my answer to such questions might be very school specific, at times I think it is really just a question of my client's preference. Still, for most applicants, I would suggest choosing an admissions officer if you can. Otherwise, between

Recovering from a bad answer during an MBA admissions interview

2012-02-06T16:34:00.002+09:00

In the midst of an MBA admissions interview, you think to yourself, "Did I just say that?" Knowing you just made mistake, you ... (A) ...become flustered and the interview just goes downhill. (B) ...ignore your bad answer entirely and hope your interviewer does too. (C)...just decide to directly ask the interviewer if you can expand on your prior answer... (D) The above all seem like bad

Adam's Global Top MBA Rankings 2012

2012-01-31T09:24:00.000+09:00

As I have been doing since 2008, I wanted to provide my Global Top 100 MBA Rankings for 2012. The rankings below should hopefully be of value for both those engaged in initial school application selection and for admitted applicants who have been accepted to multiple programs and need to determine where to go. Programs are ranked in many ways, so certainly look at other rankings lists. There

UC Berkeley Haas MBA Interviews

2012-01-30T12:07:00.002+09:00

My post on Haas MBA admissions essays can be found here. Before reading this post on UC Berkeley Haas MBA's admissions interviews, I suggest reviewing the former Director of Admissions for the Full-time MBA Program's excellent Tips for Acing the Admissions Interview. I also suggest that you listen to the short podcast on interviewing found at http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/haas/podcast/audio/

INSEAD MBA Essay Questions for September 2012 and January 2013

2012-01-30T11:25:00.002+09:00

Here I discuss INSEAD's essays for September (Class of July 2013) 2012 intake and the January (Class of December 2013) 2013 intake. The questions are taken from the PDF. INSEAD changed the essays for the first time in many years. In 2011, INSEAD changed the essays for the first time in many years. The deadlines for September 2012 and January 2013, can be found here. As of January 30,

IMD Essays for January 2013 Admission

2012-01-30T08:32:00.001+09:00

IMD (The Institute for Management Development), consistently ranked among the best MBA programs in the world, is a small intensive one-year program that starts in January. IMD, along with Columbia January Term and INSEAD (INSEAD has both September and January start dates) are three of the best options for those who want to start in January 2013 at a top MBA program. To learn about IMD,

10 Ways to Blow an MBA Admissions Interview

2012-01-29T16:29:00.001+09:00

In the post, I wanted to provide some overall advice about MBA admissions interviews, by focusing on what not to do. My advice is based on over ten years of experience helping clients prepare for admissions interviews to the world's most selective MBA programs. My prior overall MBA admissions strategy interview posts are here, here, and here. My school specific interview posts (At the moment

Chicago Booth: The Waitlist Movie

2012-01-19T15:13:00.000+09:00

In addition to general advice found here on waitlisting, I wanted to comment on Booth's new Waitlist Video. For those waitlisted at Booth, I suggest reading the December 20, 2011 Booth Admissions Insider Post. While their rival to the North, Kellogg, also is very waitlist applicant friendly, Booth now leads the pack when it comes to allowing those who are waitlisted to enhance their applicant

Waitlisted? Now what?

2012-01-19T13:46:00.001+09:00

This is an updated and expanded version of a previous post. For Chicago Booth's Waitlist Video see here, but read the post below first. Waitlisted MBA applicants most common question: "Why me?" Schools waitlist because.... ...they actually are uncertain whether their estimated yield- the percentage of admitted applicants who accept an offer of admision will be sufficient to fill their class

Dartmouth Tuck MBA Interviews

2012-01-16T22:17:00.000+09:00

My analysis of Tuck MBA admissions interviews has been significantly updated. My analysis of Tuck's essays for the Class of 2014 can be found here. For overall suggestions on interview strategy, see here, here, and here. The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth MBA interview is about fit, so make sure you can explain in great depth why you want to become a part of Tuck's small intensive

MIT Sloan MBA Interviews

2012-01-16T20:49:00.001+09:00

In this post, which is significantly updated from my prior posts, I discuss how to prepare for an MIT Sloan MBA admissions interview. I have been preparing applicants on MIT Sloan interviews for over ten years and the post below provides my overall perspective on how to best prepare this challenging interview. If you are interested in my interview preparation services, please see here. YOU

A graduate admissions consultant with 10 years of experience

2012-01-16T00:36:00.001+09:00

I was a bit too busy to mention it last year, but November 2011 marked my tenth anniversary as a graduate admissions consultant. It has been a great ten years, especially the last four since I went independent and began writing this blog. The job of an admissions consultant is a very cyclical one. It is a cycle that did not take me that long to get used to because it does involve a large

The 2012 MBA Admission Season So Far

2011-12-23T22:52:00.001+09:00

The 2012 admissions season has been great for my clients so far. Here are my select client results for 2009-2012 (Updated on 2/7/2011): MBA Comprehensive Service Client Select Results 2009-2012 School2012 (in progress)201120102009Total Cambridge 2237 Columbia635216 Cornell Johnson 2114 Chicago Booth344415 Duke 2226 HBS21025 IESE 2327 IMD 1214 INSEAD563216 Kellogg232411 LBS13239 Michigan (2Y,

Kellogg School of Management在校生・卒業生とのコーヒーチャット開催のご案内

2011-12-16T12:32:00.001+09:00

The Japanese students at Kellogg will be having a coffee chat in Tokyo. Details below. Cheers, Adam 【Kellogg School of Management在校生・卒業生とのコーヒーチャット開催のご案内】 Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern Universityを受験される皆さまへ今般、一時帰国する在校生の主催により、下記要領にて、受験生の皆さまとのコーヒーチャットを開催することとなりました。当日は、Kellogg卒業生も交え、学校生活、キャリア及びMBA受験等について、ざっくばらんにお話をできればと思っております。【日時】 12月28日（水）　19:00-20:00（予定）【場所】六本木近辺のカフェ

Haas MBA Fall 2012 Online Application's Stupid Word Counter

2011-12-02T11:46:00.001+09:00

It has been brought to my attention that the essay word counter on the Haas application for admission to Fall 2012 full-time MBA program is TOTALLY F%C&ED. I suggest ignoring said word counter and letting common sense be your guide. Unlike schools that allow for simple document upload, Haas has form for pasting in essays. Unfortunately the word counter in the online essay form does the

Wharton MBA Interviews for Fall 2012 Admission

2011-11-11T14:40:00.001+09:00

Fall 2012 Admission Wharton MBA Interview Preparation Updated on 11/17/11. There are now numerous public reports up on the Clear Admit Wiki and those additional reports have helped me further update this post on Wharton MBA interviews for the Class of 2014. My Wharton essay analysis can be found here. I will continue altering this post based on additional public interview reports, but I am

First Public Wharton November 2011 interview Report

2011-11-11T10:33:00.001+09:00

Update: My updated analysis of Wharton MBA interviews for Fall 2012 is now up. The first public Wharton Interview Report is now up on the Clear Admit Wiki: "I just had my interview with a 2nd year Wharton student today. The interviewer was very friendly and tried to keep things casual. We had a similar professional background (finance) and even shared the same past employer. The interview

Wharton has insufficient hub interviews for international applicants: WTF!

2011-11-10T01:14:00.002+09:00

My analysis of Wharton MBA interviews can be found here. This is my rant about their applicant unfriendly admissions committee. First, let me state that I generally find MBA admissions offices in the US, especially at schools like HBS, Stanford, Chicago, Kellogg, Tuck, and MIT to work really effectively at handling their interview processes. I guess that is why I find it so amazing that

Comments regarding BW Article on Technology in MBA Applications

2011-11-09T01:20:00.001+09:00

I just posted the following comment on the BusinessWeek article "MBA Admissions 2.0: Technology Makes Inroads": "This article is actually inaccurate regarding the specific questions discussed. It creates the misleading impression that technology is actually required when answering questions for NYU and Booth: 1. Booth's 4 page presentation question is in fact, not a test of Power Point as it

Chicago Booth MBA Admission Interviews

2011-11-04T23:58:00.001+09:00

If you are preparing for a Chicago Booth MBA interview for entry into the Class of 2014, read this post after you read my general post on interview strategy. If you are looking for my analysis of Booth's essays for Fall 2012 admission, you can find it here. In addition to receiving many reports from my clients, I have reviewed reports of University of Chicago Booth interviews found at

Kellogg MBA Admissions Interviews

2011-10-29T17:07:00.000+09:00

This post has been updated for admission to the Kellogg MBA Class of 2014. Just as with essays, interviews for the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management MBA applicant interviews are all about fit. My comments below are based on reviewing reports from my clients as well as those found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com (As I have mentioned previously, both companies

How to Prepare for Wharton MBA Behavioral Interviews

2011-10-27T09:11:00.000+09:00

NOVEMBER 2011 UPDATE: A NEW VERSION OF THIS POST CAN BE FOUND HERE. You should read that version as the version below was written before any Wharton interviews in November 2011 had taken place. -Adam Until after some interview reports come out, we will not likely know exactly what Wharton MBA interviewers (adcom and 2nd year students, no alumni interviews this time) will be asking. Based on

Wharton MBA Interview Chat 10/26/2011

2011-10-27T08:25:00.000+09:00

I just participated in Wharton's Chat on MBA Interviews held between 6pm and 7pm EST on October, 26, 2011. It was very useful. As I indicated in an earlier post this week, Wharton will be using behavioral questions. However, unlike last year, the questions will likely be wide like MIT asks and not narrow the way Wharton did last year. In addition, interviews will no longer be conducted by