HBS: Round 2 Interview Notifications

According to Harvard Business School Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Dee Leopold, Harvard Business School plans to begin sending out interview invitations on Friday, February 12. Dee informed in her blog post that the invitation will be an email from HBS MBA Admissions. The office will be closed on Monday, February 15 for President's Day. On Tuesday, February 16, HBS online interview scheduler will go live. Detailed instructions will be in the invitation email.

Dee informed that HBS plans to interview around 800 candidates in Round 2, including some Round 1 candidates on the waitlist who have not yet been interviewed. "Most, but not all, of these invitations will go out on February 12 so that all invitees have equal access to locations and dates. As always, we will continue to send some invitations up to and including April 6, the notification date for Round 2", added Dee.

She further clarified that interviews are by invitation only and school does not accommodates requests for interviews from candidates who are visiting campus.

Link: Round 2 Interview Invitations

LBS: Stage 2 Interview Notifications

Stage 2 candidates will receive notification of whether they have been selected for interview via email tomorrow i.e 09 February 2010

UCLA Anderson MBA Application: Applying to Round 3

According to UCLA MBA Admissions & Financial Aid Team, Round Three Still is a Terrific Time to Apply to UCLA Anderson. According to the admissions team contrary to the belief that the 3rd round of the application process is so vast and competitive that your chances of being admitted are significantly reduced, candidate should know that each round is evaluated independently. You only compete with other people in your round. If your application is reasonably strong your chances of being admitted to the UCLA Anderson full-time MBA program are as good as any other previous round.

Further, The UCLA Anderson MBA Admissions office runs weekly on-site and on-line information sessions with their experienced admissions officers and second-year student volunteers. If you haven't signed up for one of these sessions they encourage to you do so. Take advantage of these opportunities to learn more about UCLA Anderson MBA program, so your application is as good as it can be.

Link: Round Three Still is a Terrific Time to Apply to UCLA Anderson

UNC Kenan-Flagler Admissions: Inside look at what happens behind the scenes

This is the first video in a three-part series that gives you a peek into what happens behind the scenes when you submit your application materials to UNC Kenan- Flagler for MBA Admissions.

Oxford/ Said Essay Topics 2009-2010

Saїd Business School Essay Topics for 2009-2010 are as below:

1. Explain why you chose your current job. How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions? (Maximum 1,000 words)

2. Which recent development, world event or book has most influenced your thinking and why? (Maximum 2,000 words)

Links:
Deadlines

Admission Process

UT Austin / McCombs Essay Topics 2009-2010

The McCombs School of Business Essay Topics for 2009-2010 are as below:

REQUIRED ESSAYS

1. Describe how your experiences, both personal and professional, have led you to pursue an MBA at this time. What are your short- and long-term goals and how will a Texas MBA help you achieve them?
Limit: 900 words

2. Discuss a defining experience in your leadership development. What did you learn from this experience about your strengths and weaknesses as a leader?
Limit: 650 words

3. At the McCombs School of Business, you will be part of an active and diverse community. How will you use your personal strengths and unique experiences to enrich the McCombs community during your two years in the program?
Limit: 500 words

OPTIONAL ESSAY

* Please provide any additional information to the Admissions Committee that you believe is important and/or will address any areas of concern that will ultimately be beneficial to the committee in considering your application.
Limit: 350 words

Links:

Application Deadlines

Essay Topics

Chicago Booth’s Rose Martinelli advises on few Application Questions

In her recent blog post, MBA Admissions Director Rose Martinelli advised on how to approach one of the most common questions she received since past two weeks i.e Essay 3 (the slide presentation): In four slides or less please answer the following question: What have you not already shared in your application that you would like your future classmates to know about you?

Rose said, "this question allows you to portray parts of your candidacy that have not already been addressed in other parts of the application. We find this a useful tool in order to understand what you deem important in your personal and professional life. The Admissions Committee does not have any expectations about what we might learn in this section, so you have complete freedom in sharing what you think would be relevant for us to know about you." Rose further emphasized, "Committee is interested in content not your presentation skills. You don't need to be a graphic genius or an experienced consultant to be successful. You can use words, images, graphs, etc. to communicate your messages."

After explaining the philosophy behind the question, Rose recommended on few ways on how to approach this question. She said in case there are some key messages or activities that you want to communicate to the Committee, some information about yourself that you may not have been able to cover in other parts of your application Essay 3 is a perfect place to put them.

"I would start by putting a written description on each page of the presentation and then spend some time thinking about how you might convey these messages. Don't get bogged down by trying to be creative; focus on communicating effectively. " suggested Rose.

She said that this question gives you the freedom to communicate what's important to you beyond the questions we ask, and hope this post gives you one way of approaching it. Rose asked the aspirants to read the question thoroughly and be strategic about what they decide to include. She added make sure that the content you choose is relevant to your candidacy.

In her another recent blog post Rose advised on Questions regarding community service or extracurricular activities. She said that such questions try to get at your interests and passions beyond your work.These activities represent how well rounded you may be as well as how interested you are in the world around you. "At Booth, our focus is much more on your history of involvement rather than just recent activity.This is a chance for you to move beyond a simple list to helping us understand your contributions, leadership, time commitment and motivations for getting involved." stated Rose.

Rose said that while she understood that there are many differences across the world in terms of engagement in community service, she was fairly certain of the fact that each applicant has many interests other than work. Whether one is involved in formal programs or support programs informally, school is interested in learning what you do and why.

"For those of you that have jobs that require you to work long hours or travel extensively, we encourage you to focus on what you have done in the past and what you do now to stay involved (and sane)", advised Rose.

Rose stressed saying, "Remember, this is just ONE component in your application that gives us clues about who you are, what you value, and how you engage.We’re not looking for long lists, so take the time to structure how you wish to address the question, include enough information for us to understand your involvements and prioritize what’s most important."

At last Rose mentioned that if you think this area may be a bit light for you, you don’t need to worry as this is just one of MANY components of the application and the school takes each person’s unique circumstances into consideration while they evaluate their application.

Link: The Rose Report