MBA ZoNe - B-School Blogger

A Shrewd Undergraduate's Guide to HBS Admissions

By PRATEEK KUMAR
Crimson Staff Writer

"1. Try to have a high GPA and do not fall for the canard that the admissions committee is aware of hard courses, and will give you a break. They are aware of A, B, and C. They have no idea if Post-Modern Feminist Approaches to Derivative Trading is a hard course or a gut. Take a lot of guts, and use the extra time to explore extra activities. Do not innocently engage in learning for 'learning sake' --although certainly say you do. Do not take introductory Arabic or Chinese because they sound contemporary and important, especially when most kids in those classes will be native speakers looking for guts. Do not take some super-duper math course because it sounds 'interesting.'..."
read entire article

Source: The Harvard Crimson

Re-Applying to Business School After Being Rejected: How to Transform Your Application to Get Accepted

"There's been an uptick of MBA applications and that means more competition. As more candidates are vying for the same number of seats at business schools, more applicants are unfortunately getting rejected. Some schools encourage you to reapply while others don't. This time, we'll learn from admissions officers about the re-application process, where you can find feedback, and how you can recover from rejection and re-energize your application to get accepted next time. ..."
download podcast/transcript

Source: MBA Podcaster

Surveying the Executive MBA Landscape

"Applications are up but acceptances are down among executive MBA programs surveyed by the Executive MBA Council, which also found that individuals and organizations alike are getting a faster return on investments made in higher education than in previous years..."
read entire article

Source: Clear Admit

Admissions Pointers for MBAs Around the Globe

The QS World MBA Tour offered a chat recently on navigating the MBA admissions process. Here are some of the highlights of that session, led by Zoya Zaitseva, manager of the European leg of the world’s biggest international MBA fair.

Decision-Making in an Imperfect World

by Stacy Blackman Consulting

In response to a growing number of employers complaining that many MBA graduates lack crucial decision-making skills, Dean R. Glenn Hubbard of Columbia Business School has created a new twist on the classic teaching format known as the case study. Invented by Harvard Business School nearly a century ago, most B-schools use this device to some extent, which relies on a narrative arc, protagonist and clear story line to illustrate typical scenarios one might encounter in the business world.

According to MBA Toolbox, however, this model can deprive students of an authentic learning experience because the teacher is too much of a star and the students are too passive. As a result, the students fail to develop important skills that they need for success in their business careers.

FT Releases 2008 Global MBA Rankings

by Stacy Blackman Consulting

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business claimed the top spot for a fourth year in the Financial Times 2008 Global MBA rankings, released earlier this week. Rounding out the upper echelon we have the usual suspects: Columbia, Stanford, Harvard and the London Business School, which jumped from fifth to second place this year—the highest position ever for a European business school.

See the complete list of Financial Times rankings here.