Journey to my MBA

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

What's New

1. Ross tends to attract people who focus on not-for-profits, corporate social responsibility, environmental issues, and other issues of that nature. It's also collaborative and is characterized by teamwork
2. How does one stand out when applying? First and foremost, the background is very important -- what have they been doing before they got here?
3. Ross applications has been increasing about 3% year to year. A reason for the steady increase in applications is Ross's improvement in rankings and recent 100 million alumnu donation to the school.
4. During interviews, they look at the quality of the work experience. Have they had the opportunity to work in teams, lead teams, and have the opportunity to advance in their career? Applicants need to show me that they're focused on a particular goal. They want to know why they want to get their MBA from Ross and if they've been involved in the community

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Francesca Di Meglio at Business Week writes:

The premise of the article is that grades have become rather meaningless. However, some schools that are adding value to grades are mentioned. Some good points to take away from this article are:

1) Columbia is essentially Pass or Fail in grading. Essentially P=MBA.

2) Although the article is focused on B-School, applicants who apply from IVY league schools have it much easier when applying to top B-Schools. This is because schools like Harvard are known to inflate undergraduate grades. This evidenced by the articles mention of how 90% of the Harvard undergraduate class graduated with Honors. Not cool!!!!!!!

3) In some instances, B-Schools have removed grades completely. At HBS, 15% to 20% of the top students are placed in Category I, 65% to 75% in Category II, and the bottom 10% of the class in Category III. Students rarely receive Category IV, which designates failure.

4) Not surprisingly, it's pretty easy to conclude that just getting into Ivy league or top schools is the hardest part. Graduating is nearly guaranteed.

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Easing B-School's Financial Pain
Bonnie Lack of Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School talks about the fine points of financial aid, and she dishes some advice

posted by Dave | 1:47 PM