As part of this study, MBA50 produced a Happiness Index, where 1 equals extremely unhappy and 10 reflects extremely happy. Respondents entering an MBA program averaged 5.98. Those students pursuing their MBA scored a 7.71 – and MBA graduates reached 8.53. In other words, happiness rose 2.55 points – or 25% — between the time students enter an MBA program and finish it.

Of course, this study didn’t measure happiness from the same sample over time. However, it does indicate that MBA programs offer intangible benefits that exceed the joy of mastering a curriculum. For example, MBA50 asked students which aspect of an MBA program made them happy. 42.2% of students cited self-development, while 19% answered career progression. Another 19.3% responded with either the pleasure of learning or learning from classmates. Networking came in at 9.3%. Despite the cliché of MBAs being money hungry, financial reward ranked #1 for only 2.7% of respondents.

Bottom Line: Students found happiness in learning, growing, connecting, and seeing their career options expand. According to Peter Rodriguez, Senior Associate Dean at Darden (A study participant), an MBA program provides “evidence of growth…It’s a bit like getting into shape and feeling that burst of confidence and knowing and showing that you’re strong, faster, and fitter than before.”

One more thing: The happiest MBA graduates came from Latin America (9.06). The largest increase in happiness goes to Africa (From 5.97 to 8.87). In the United States and Canada, students entered their MBA programs at 6.14, scored an 8.30 during their studies, and left school with an 8.84.

Source: Forbes 

Wedding Bells? Which B-Schools Are Producing the Most Brides and Grooms?

Love is in the air. And MBAs are not immune. That’s why MBAadmission.com published the B-school chart of the week: A ranking of which MBA programs are producing the most wedding announcements in the New York Times (we’ve taken to add the latest announcements of MBAs who marry at the end of every weekly report). The Times, which profiles only the most promising couples, has chosen 10 Harvard MBAs so far in 2013. Surprisingly, Wharton matched Harvard’s totals, while Midwestern powerhouse Michigan Ross placed 4. Of course, the year is young and laggards like Kellogg, Stanford and Yale have time to catch up.

For a listing of which schools made The Times wedding pages, feel free to click below. (Why do I get the feeling that pengyou and highwyre237 will have something to add to this conversation?)

Source: MBA Admission 

Ask the Neglected Questions to Find the Best B-School Fit

You’ve probably heard that the worst question is the one you fail to ask. That can be particularly true of business schools, where student performance can be influenced by variables ranging from class sizes and personalized attention to philosophy and  academic rigor. John T. Delaney, dean of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, would concur.

In a Huffington Post column, Delaney contends that school rankings, placement stats, and prestigious faculty may matter less than the concept of “fit.” For example, he cites faculty experience as one variable that can differentiate schools for prospective students. A school where faculty treats teaching as their second job may provide more real world know-how. However, this model could make it difficult for students to get one-on-one time from faculty. Similarly, Delaney encourages students to look beyond statistics like average salaries and examine placements in their field and support after graduation.

In short, Delaney encourages students to create their own rankings, based on their own career criteria, to find their match. In doing so, he believes students can formulate critical ‘fit’ questions to administrators, faculty, and fellow students that will inform their choice.

Source: Huffington Post

West Virginia University Sued in MBA Scandal

Favoritism. Fraud. Firings. No, this isn’t another story about Chicago politics (or a recap of Law and Order). Instead, it is the scandal that won’t die, playing out in the foothills of Morgantown, West Virginia.

This week, West Virginia University was sued by Stephen Sears, their former business school dean, and Cyril Logar, their former Associate Dean, for breach of breach of contract and denial of due process. According to Businessweek, the men are accusing the university of failing to restore their reputations, after the school’s investigation found no evidence of academic misconduct on their part.

The suit stems from the university falsely awarding an MBA degree to Heather Bresch, CEO of pharmaceutical giant Mylan, Incorporated. Bresch, who is the daughter of former West Virginia governor (and current U.S. Senator) Joe Manchin, received an MBA despite earning fewer than the required credits. During an investigation, an independent panel found that administrators had retroactively conferred an MBA to Bresch. Sears resigned from his post while Logar continues to teach at the school.

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Dillon House is where Harvard Business School makes all of its admission decisions.

Blast From the Past:

Is the Relationship Between B-Schools and Admissions Consultants Too Cozy?

They used to be treated as lepers in the b-school community. Some schools even banned students from using them. But now outside consultants are being welcomed as peers by business school administrators. What gives?

Two years ago, Poets examined why admissions consultants have grown so popular among candidates – and how their benefits extend beyond simply polishing essays and applications. Still, the growing reliance on consultants presents some ethical dilemmas.  Does using a consultant give well-off candidates an unfair advantage in admissions and financial aid? Could a consultant’s involvement potentially obscure a student’s true capabilities?

Check out this popular investigative report on consultants from Poets past. We’d love to hear your insights on the topic!

Source: PoetsandQuants.com

One Liners:

Ronald Perelman Pledges $100 Million to Columbia Business School (Apparently Ellen Barkin didn’t get everything in the divorce)

Source: PoetsandQuants.com

Does India Have the MBA Answer to the Khan Academy?

Source: New Indian Express

Former NFL Star Earns MBA at Emory

Source: MyFoxAtlanta

Is B-School Really Worth It? Jet Blue Chairman Joel Patterson Gives His Take

Source: LinkedIn Today

How to Prepare for Business School Over the Summer

Source: U.S. News and World Report

NJIT is Legit! New Jersey Institute of Technology Launches Online MBA

Source: PR Web Press Release

Prospective MBAs: B-Schools Must Address the Economic Crisis

Source: GMAT Club

Life at Kenan-Flagler Business School: A Student’s Perspective

Source: The University of North Carolina

MBA Admissions: Common Interview Mistakes

Source: TopMBA.com

Mergers

Sarah Pickard, 33, with an MBA from Yale School of Management, and Philip Michaelson, 31, with an MBA from Harvard Business School, were married Saturday, May 18. Pickard is a marketing manger at Betterment.com, an online investment management company in New York. Michaelson is a principal product manager for 1stdibs.com, a shopping website in New York. Source: NYT

Sarah Nam, 25, who will enroll this fall at the Harvard Business School as an MBA student, and Gordon Liao, 24, who will enroll at Harvard for a doctorate in business economics, were married Saturday, May 18. Nam is a consultant in the Boston office of L.E.K. Consulting and works with health care companies. Liao is a portfolio manager at the Harvard Management Company, which manages the university’s endowment. Source: NYT

Melody Calvo, 34, and Reeve Holt, 36, who received his MBA from Columbia Business School, were married Saturday, May 18. Holt is a senior manager in the retail business group at Apple, while Calvo is an operations manager in Apple’s onine store division. They both work in Cupertino, California. Source: NYT

Oscar Tang, 74, who has an MBA from Harvard Business School, and Hsin-Mei Hsu, 41, were married Saturday, May 18. Tang is a philanthropist and retired financier, while Hsu is an archaeologist and the host of History Channel Asai’s “Mysteries of China” series. Source: NYT

DON’T MISS: 

Weekly Roundup 1: THE BUDDHIST PRIEST AND THE MBA

Weekly Roundup 2: Yale’s New EQ Test for MBA Applicants

ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF WORLD’S BEST BUSINESS SCHOOLS

She’s an Ivy League grad who also boasts a master’s degree in arts history from one of Britain’s most prestigious universities. For the past five years, she has been working in merchandising analysis and strategy for an upscale retailer. Now, this 27-year-old Japanese-American woman is seeking an MBA to help her eventually start her own luxury label.

This 24-year-old Asian-American engineer applied to several top business schools in the past year with no success. So he plans on trying for a top ranked MBA again so he can leave his employer, a small biotech company, and work as a product manager for a Blue Chip firm in Silicon Valley.

Sandy Kreisberg, founder of HBSGuru.com

What these MBA applicants share in common is the goal to get into one of the world’s best business schools. Do they have the raw stats and experience to get in? Or will they get dinged by their dream schools?

Sanford “Sandy” Kreisberg, founder of MBA admissions consulting firm HBSGuru.com, is back again to analyze these and a few other profiles of actual MBA applicants who have shared their vital statistics with Poets&Quants.

As usual, Kreisberg handicaps each potential applicant’s odds of getting into a top-ranked business school. If you include your own stats and characteristics in the comments, we’ll pick a few more and have Kreisberg assess your chances in a follow-up feature to be published shortly. (Please add your age and be clear on the sequence of your jobs in relaying work experience. Make sure you let us know your current job.)

For the first time ever, a consultant who applied to Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Wharton and Booth this application cycle asks Sandy to guess his results. “Let’s see how close you get,” he wrote. Kreisberg rises to the challenge with a witty riposte.

Sandy’s tell-it-like-it-is assessment:

Ms. Luxury Brand

• 690 GMAT (will retake)
• 1490 GRE
• 3.4 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in political science from Harvard/Yale/Princeton
• 3.9 GPA
• Associates in fashion design degree from a New York fashion school
• Master’s degree in art history from Oxford or Cambridge
• Work experience includes internships in college at the derivatives desk of a top investment bank; after realizing she hated the field, she has been working merchandising analysis and strategy for the past five years at three upscale department stores and vertical retailers with roles of increasing responsibility
• Extracurricular involvement in collage as part of an elite music group that toured the U.S. and Europe; post-college volunteer in the arts for four years; volunteer supervisor for an after-school program that deals with underserved youth
• Goal: To work in luxury retail strategy and eventually start her own luxury label
• Fluent in Japanese
• 27-year-old Japanese-American female
•  “Sidenote: My older brother went to Stanford GSB and still keeps in touch with the faculty and program directors – not sure if that counts for anything however”

Odds of Success:

Columbia: 40%+
Stanford: 20%
London: 50%
INSEAD: 50%+
HEC Paris: 50%+
IMD: 50%+

Sandy’s Analysis: There is a place for luxury goods/arty chicks at schools like HBS, Wharton and Stanford, and man, you are close, with a classy H/Y/P education, elite music group experience, and jobs “in merchandising analysis and strategy for the past five years at three upscale department stores and vertical retailers with roles of increasing responsibility.”  Are those stores part of a brand?  Most luxury goods admits at top schools have worked for brands not stores, e.g. Vuitton, Chanel, Rolex, Prada, see this list (Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Gucci, Chanel, Cartier, Rolex, Hennessy, Moët & Chandon, Fendi, Burberry) all of which are billion-dollar companies and have analysts and strategists. I am assuming your “upscale department stores” and vertical retailers are also large enough in terms of sales and budgets to attract selective job applicants.

Your goal, “to work in luxury retail strategy and eventually start my own luxury label” sounds fine to me, but given the arts tilt to your story (masters degree in Art History, associate degree in Fashion Design) your desire to start a “label” can be misinterpreted as someone who really wants to be a designer and not a business executive. That is fine by me. Send me your first catalog, but schools may begin to wonder if you really need an MBA versus doing whatever designers do to get started. I would keep your goals real business-like, and stress the word “brand” not “label.” Being head of an innovative brand, which includes, clothes, watches, booze is actually better.

I don’t think you are getting into Stanford. There is not enough GPA/GMAT power here and not enough stardust besides to make them ignore your so-so GPA and GMAT. HBS would be a short reach and would depend on execution, strong recs, and the competition that year, to wit, the other 10-15 solid luxury goods applicants they consider strongly.

Wharton might feel that you would round out the class in terms of background and goals (the actual look and feel of the Wharton class is actually pretty luxe, stereotypes aside). You would need to be deadly serious and analytical in the app. Columbia might appreciate a higher GMAT if you retake it, and an early application, maybe even ED. You are in line there. Convince them you won’t have a problem getting a job.

“LBS, INSEAD, and maybe HEC Paris?” You should get into those schools on both numbers alone and the fact that your numbers come gift wrapped with a lot of interesting Euro-type jobs and extras plus the US luxury brand of an H/Y/P undergrad degree. To be honest, I am no expert in the ROI of attending those places. If you want a job with Vuitton, Chanel post graduation, that would be something worth looking into.

“Sidenote: my older brother went to Stanford GSB and still keeps in touch with the faculty and program directors – not sure if that counts for anything however.” Neither am I, but probably not much, unless you had some organized campaign to get into Stanford by leveraging your interesting extras and he was part of it, and involved some BFFs at the school, and you got lucky. Or unless he knows adcom director Bolton and gets him in a good mood, that could happen. Hint that a great scarf is in the offing.

Mr. Economic Consultant

• 780 GMAT
• 3.65 GPA
• Undergraduate degree from a top liberal arts school
• Work experience includes four years with a top economic consulting firm after spending one and one-half years with a relatively well-known clean tech firm
• Extracurricular involvement as a varsity athlete and teaching assistant in school, but minimal post-school experience
• Goal: To move into hedge fund investing
• Applied in Round Two in early January
• “Let’s see how close you can get?”
• White male

Odds of Success:

Harvard:  50% (if you did not blow the interview, the seeds of which are present in your note)
Stanford: 30% to 40%
Columbia: admit  (if you convinced them you wanted to come)
Wharton: admit (if you did not blow the group grope interview)
Chicago: admit (if you convinced them you wanted to come)

Sandy’s Analysis: Well, this is not going to prove ALL that much given that anyone with a 780 GMAT and a 3.65 from “a top-couple” liberal arts school is in the running for all of those schools provided that

1. You applied round 1, which you did not, which could be an issue at Columbia and Booth, which may see a late-ish app as proof that you were not serious.
2. You made sense of transition into HF investing despite not having a traditional IB or PE background, and also had non-A-hole reasons for doing so. versus saying venture capital, which is the go-to choice of savvy applicants and  more to the school’s liking as doing something useful.  You can mold a HF goal into helping companies grow, creating great products, blah, blah, but did you? Versus raking in the $$$$.  (See below.)
3. Economic consulting firm? Is that expert trial witnesses prep, litigation support, or advising governments of a BVC “Beloved Victim Country” how to maximize its deposits in the World Bank, if you get the idea. Working with BVC’s is more powerful to a school than working with expert witnesses for tobacco companies on how to minimize the payouts to lung-cancer victims.
4. “1.5+ years in cleantech” doing what????

“Let’s see how close you can get?”

Hmmmm, actually, let’s see how close YOU can get. Because on this record, with a properly executed application, one which was timely to Columbia and Booth (with proper reasons for wanting to go there) you certainly should have gotten in, assuming your HF dreams did not make you sound like a jerk — a possibility given the post, which is fine for the snarky back-and-forth of this forum but is not fine for an application. You seem like a smart guy, so I am assuming application had the right attitude.

If for some reason you did NOT get in there, it was because you never convinced them you were serious. Wharton should like this, and so under normal circumstances, so would  HBS, and Round 2 was probably not an issue there. Stanford goes for 780 GMATs but also likes to ding dudes like you, just based on limited info you provide, especially your desire to work at a hedge fund, out of the blue, which is not their cup of tea, versus a make-nice VC/PE. I am speaking loosely and broadly, which is justified by your barebones post, to the point that HF’s are more transactional and short-term vs. VC/PE, which CAN BE more co-investing, more long-term, more societal-impact oriented.

If anyone wants to hear the Stanford Business School mantra for PE/HF, in its pure form, I suggest watching this recent tape from their website, where the legendary John Doerr, a guy about as Stanford-y as you can get in terms of public outlook, and a general partner at Kleiner Perkins, discusses the importance of examining a company’s culture. Doerr claims to be “neutral” about whether a business culture is “opportunistic vs.  strategic,” “mercenary vs.  missionary,”  but he clearly favors strategic and value-creating companies to pay-day lenders,  as does Stanford.

My guess is, if you did not get in there, you misfired on that message. The fact you would list Hedge Fund as a goal, assuming it was not a quick shorthand for value investing and was explained in some Stanford-y way, is one clue that you could have PO’d them. At HBS, guys like you can flub an interview if your wise guy and predatory teeth emerge from behind  your cover-up smile.

Soooooo, in summary, you are not a natural Stanford fit, although you may have faked them out (or your short bio is deceiving), you may have blown the HBS interview, you may have not convinced Booth and Columbia that you were serious due to timing and other issues. The one outcome that would really surprise me is you getting dinged from Wharton, man, that actually IS the place for you.

Just for the record, economic consulting (NERA, Analysis Group, etc) is a solid place to apply from, although my guess is, not as solid in terms of percent admits as Goldman or Bain Capital.  Economic consulting plus Clean tech is something of an outlier profile that would have needed explaining. Your lack of extracurriculars and varsity athlete background, again, working with limited evidence, is a pattern that could also damage you at Stanford and HBS. To wit, real smart jock, goes into economic consulting, helps asbestos companies prove the stuff is great, wants to make a lot of money as some Hedge Fund guy  and buy a football team. . . that is a profile that could damage you. Those schools admit smart jocks but it is a real small team.

If you got dinged at HBS, something like that, or a whiff of that in the interview, is what did you in. If you got dinged at Stanford, well, anyone can get dinged at Stanford, especially a white guy from a non-feeder firm. At some point Stanford  likes to ding guys with 780 GMATs just to say they do it. Derrick Bolton, the Stanford adcom head, has bragged about that in the past. I think one year, all five applicants with a 800 were dinged. Bolton was thrilled. “Hey, no 800′s around here, we don’t care that much about GMATs . . . all we care about is what matters most to you and why . . . .”

Stanford applicants, put that Kool-Aid in a glass and drink it.
And also have a 780 for when the buzz wears off.

Mr. Marketing Engineer

• 710 GMAT (2^nd attempt after a 670)
• 3.69 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in industrial and systems engineering from a public university
• Work experience includes a two-year leadership program in technical marketing at a large international engineering firm; was promoted “off program” into a marketing consultant role, where he develops and executes strategies for an emerging vertical market
• “Have a high chance at an international assignment for three years in Europe starting in the summer of 2014…I lucked out and got the ear of the U.S. CEO, and I’m being prepared for a ‘leadership experience’ where I’ll be given team resources to manage a project”
• Extracurricular involvement as the founder of an Asian Employee Resource Group, “grew it from six members to 430 across five locations in Georgia, California, Tennessee, and Texas; also played trombone in a church orchestra for a few years; and have done two mission trips to help Kenyan orphans; avid runner, weightlifter, and won a regional table topics contest at Toastmasters
• “Although I’ve been blessed with a fast moving career, I want to continue to accelerate faster.
• Short-term goal: To move into strategy consulting
• Long-term goal: To gain a management position in a technology firm
• Mixed race Korean/Scotch Irish
• 25-year-old male, first generation college graduate

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 40% to 50%
Wharton: 50%
Northwestern: 50%+
MIT: 50%+
Duke: 50%+

Sandy’s Analysis: Lots to like, 3.69 B.S., 710 GMAT, what sounds like a real solid and special career at a “very very large international engineering firm’s two year leadership program in technical marketing.” Super-duper extras, to wit, “founded an Asian Employee Resource Group . . . and grew it from 6 members to 430 across 5 locations in Georgia, California, Tennessee, and Texas.”

That is a profile that most schools will feel warmly about. You note that your rotation program is in technical marketing, and your goals are based on you ‘lov[ing] the strategy side” and a desire to work in “strategy consulting for a few years, with the long term goal of moving into management at a technology firm, so I can do my engineering degree some justice.” That is all good, but don’t under-stress how much you use your engineering degree now since that is one of your real assets.

It sounds like you are working in a techie, STEM-type environment and you should keep it that way. I think all your target schools–Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, MIT, and Duke–would be open to this profile. It is just solid all-around. You note that you “have lucked out and got the ear of the U.S. CEO,” resulting in you “being prepared for a ‘leadership experience’ where I’ll be given team resources to manage . . .hopefully by September/October.”

That is also real solid. The issue is, what is that CEO going to think about you going to B-school? It sounds as if you have been groomed for internal promotion, often ahead of the formal deadlines of your rotation program. If your going to B-school is going to disappoint or shock your company, you really need to start working on the diplomacy of having them understand, now! You have only worked for one company and recs from there will be important.

You said, “although I’ve been blessed with a fast-moving career, I want to continue to accelerate faster. . . .” I am not sure what that means. You seem to be operating at a very fast clip already? Is it common for people from your “very very large international engineering firm” to attend U.S. business schools? It does not sound like it. That could be an issue. If your firm is well known and a feeder to US schools, well, I’d say your chances are real solid. This all checks out and you seem like a nice guy to boot. I don’t have any data, but I think church trombone players do well in the application game   So do certain Toastmaster types — earnest, communitarian guys who are not natural BS-artists but are  trying to learn the basics of public speaking and “group hugging” so as to become more effective leaders at work and  not because they foresee a career in stand-up comedy or local politics.   Just make sure your recs are solid and try to sound informed about what a career in leading a tech company would entail, who your heroes are, and how that follows from consulting, which is, as we never tire of saying, a good place to start.

Mr. Biotech Engineer

• 700 GMAT (projected)
• 160Q/161V/5.5AW GRE
• 3.4 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in engineering from UC-San Diego
• Work experience includes three years (at matriculation) as an engineer for a small biotech company
• “Incredible opportunities to show leadership and initiative . . . from setting up processes, establishing teamwork, and improving the culture.”
• Extracurricular involvement minimal; “I plan on starting something this summer, perhaps volunteering in a local basketball youth league. Also played piano back in high school and participated in a few community service-based engineering projects (think Engineers without Borders)
• Goal: To work as a product manager for a blue chip firm in Silicon Valley
• “Actually applied this year but had no success”
• 24-year-old, 2nd-generation Asian-American male

Odds of Success:

MIT LGO: 30%
Berkeley: 40%
Kellogg MMM: 40%
Michigan (Tauber): 50% to 60%
Duke: 50%+
Carnegie Mellon: 50%+
Cornell: 50%+
USC: 50%+

Sandy’s Analysis: You don’t mention what schools you were dinged at last year. You might add those in a comment once this gets published.
This is pretty simple: You got a GRE score of 160Q/161V/5.5AW.
Those are, by my lights, over 80 percent on both sides, and would be OK scores for the schools you are targeting. A similar GMAT score would also be OK, and I don’t think submitting GREs vs. GMATs made much a difference.

You report a GPA of 3.4 from UC San Diego, B.S. in engineering, which is a low-ish GPA in a hard field (Engineering) at a silver/bronze but not golden school.

You note that your work experience will be “3 years (if I matriculate ’14) working as an engineer at a small biotech company” where you have had “incredible opportunities to show leadership and initiative . . . from setting up processes, establishing teamwork, and improving the culture.” Well jeepers, that sounds real solid, and you have the right lingo. All you need is the details and the recs to make it real.

I do not think that your lack of extracurriculars was the issue this year. I think the issue was lousy execution, lousy recs, or that you applied to places like MIT or Stanford, where they just liked other techies better than you. One burden you have is that schools may not know your small biotech company so you need to be very clear about its size, revenue, and the credentials of its founders in your resume and other materials. You also need to make clear how much responsibility you have –that is one way that working for a small size company  can be an advantage. If the company only has 5 to10 professional employees, say that, and make it very clear what different hats you wore.

I got the impression from reading your original post that you may not be really familiar with how this game is played. I usually don’t say this but you should really think about hiring a consultant, someone who can give you a solid resume and who can make sure your recs are thorough and detailed.

Often leaders in small biotech companies are too busy or too inexperienced to write detailed recs but that is the part of the application where you can best explain the company, the culture and your various roles. You don’t need some super consultant, or, ahem, guru, just a real solid one who can sense what you need to convey to the adcoms in terms of basics about the company and your roles. I think if you do that, you got some positive odds at places like Michigan (Tauber), Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell and USC.

You have a solid job, OK enough stats, and realistic goals, to wit, “to eventually work as a product manager for a blue-chip firm in Silicon Valley.” I would make those goals more narrow– stick with biotech in your goal statement. You already have a solid background there and it will make you seem more employable to the schools.  At MIT LGO and Kellogg MMM, two programs focused on supply chain and fulfillment (the schools might state the goals more robustly), you are not as attractive a candidate because you don’t have solid supply chain background — well, reading your post that was not clear–and those schools are more selective to begin with.  They may favor applicants who have worked with larger companies.

Berkeley is a good choice for a small reach. Just get your act together as someone who is really interested in biotech/product management. You don’t need to be a biologist to do that, my guess, although if anyone knows differently, please chime in.

Mr. Corporate Finance

• 750 GMAT (projected)
• 3.47 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in finance from a good Midwestern private liberal arts school
• “Went to this school because I received its best scholarship, but it has held me back constantly in finance by not being known in NYC, and I need to get a brand name to advance”
• Work experience includes two years in corporate finance at a Fortune 100 company, analyzing and recommending debt issuances and stock buybacks
• Extracurricular involvement as a volunteer through the company, did more in undergrad; play a few instruments; am a novice in combat (jiu jitsu and boxing)
• Goal: To move to a hedge fund
• “Overall, my longer-term and legacy goal is to focus on US competitiveness I’ve always wanted to start a business to bring some manufacturing back to my hometown, which has been decimated by offshoring.”
• 25-year-old white male

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 35%
Stanford: 20%-25%
Wharton: 40%
Chicago: 40%-50%
Columbia: 40% to 50%
NYU: 50% to 60%

Sandy’s Analysis: Interesting case, you got a 3.47 at a “good Midwestern Private liberal arts school” which “held you back constantly in finance by not being known in NYC,” and you feel you need “a brand name to advance.” For the sake of argument, let’s give you that 750 GMAT.
You’ve had, over the past two to three years, amazingly intense “IB-type” experiences in your Fortune 100 company, to wit, “analyze and recommend debt issuances, stock buybacks and basically every other thing dealing with financials or markets for my firm…It’s basically an in-house DCM/ECM IB team with strategic input as well.”

Let me tell you something. I believe you about the experience, that is to say, in terms of what you have actually done, and exposure to finance, your experience does rival that of most bulge IB dudes creating pitch books and doing diligence.

You ask about H/W/S, Booth, NYU, CBS. Well, a 25-year-old white guy with your job and stats who plays musical instruments and is learning combat tricks and boxing, is not getting into HBS or Stanford. Not enough stardust in terms of background or anything special. A URM in your situation would have a real shot since that would present a strong, strong personal accomplishment set of stories. Similar to the URMs from Big Three (or Four) accounting firms who often make into Stanford.

At the other schools you mention, especially if you nail that 750, you are certainly in the running but here is the bad news. Keep your Hedge Fund dreams out of this story. That wet dream just crystallizes what you have already admitted, that you went to a Tier 2/3 college because you needed the big scholarship, that you have spent your post-college years pissed off at Ivy kids who are getting way more optical mileage out of doing a bit less than you, and that you want to even the score. Schools don’t like to even the score for guys like you. They like to even the score for URM’s.

For guys like you they like to keep the score exactly where it is. That does not mean they will not admit you. They may, but they want to see you say that you grew up in corporate finance, that you are going to B-school to become a leader in corporate finance, and that your superiors of birth and breeding can go into private equity and hedge funds, you just love corporate finance and want to become a leader in that, whatever that might mean. Once you get in, you can hustle for any HF or PE or IB job that comes up.

You may be the rare guy, given your super-solid finance background, who can actually jump the shark and get a PE or HF job after business school without prior IB experience. I’m rooting for you. Getting that 750 GMAT, especially at Wharton and Columbia, could make a real difference.

Handicapping Your MBA Odds–The Entire Series

Part I: Handicapping Your Shot At a Top Business School

Part II: Your Chances of Getting In

Part III: Your Chances of Getting In

Part IV: Handicapping Your Odds of Getting In

Part V: Can You Get Into HBS, Stanford or Wharton?

Part VI: Handicapping Your Dream School Odds

Part VII: Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Part VIII: Getting Through The Elite B-School Screen

Part IX: Handicapping Your B-School Chances

Part X: What Are Your Odds of Getting In?

Part XI: Breaking Through the Elite B-School Screen

Part XII: Handicapping Your B-School Odds

Part XIII: Predicting Your Odds of Getting In

Part XIV: Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Part XV: Assessing Your Odds of Getting In

Part XVI: Handicapping Your Odds of Getting In

Part XVII: What Are Your Odds of Getting In

Part XVIII: Assessing Your Odds of Getting In

Part XIX: Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Part XX: What Are Your Odds Of Getting In

Part XXI: Handicapping Your Odds of Acceptance

Part XXII: Handicapping Your Shot At A Top MBA

Part XXIII: Predicting Your Odds of Getting In

Part XXIV: Do You Have The Right Stuff To Get In

Part XXV: Your Odds of Getting Into A Top MBA Program

Part XXVI: Calculating Your Odds of Getting In

Part XXVII: Breaking Through The Elite MBA Screen

Part XXVIII: Handicapping Your Shot At A Top School

Part XXIX: Can You Get Into A Great B-School

Part XXX: Handicapping Your Odds of Getting In

Part XXXI: Calculating Your Odds of Admission

Part XXXII: Handicapping Your Elite MBA Chances

Part XXXIII: Getting Into Your Dream School

Part XXXIV: Handicapping Your Shot At A Top School

Part XXXV: Calculating Your Odds of Getting In

Part XXXVI: What Are Your Chances Of Getting In

Part XXXVII: Handicapping Your Business School Odds

Part XXXVIII: Assessing Your B-School Odds Of Making It

Part XXXIX: Handicapping MBA Applicant Odds

Part XL: What Are Your Odds of Getting In

Part XLI: Handicapping Your Odds of MBA Success

Part XLII: What Are Your Chances Of Getting In

Part XLIII: Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Part XLIV: Can You Get Into A Top MBA Program

Part XLV: Assessing Your Odds of Getting In

Part XLVI: Handicapping Your Dream School Odds

Part XLVII: Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Part XLVIII: Assessing Your Odds of B-School Success

Part XLIV: Handicapping Your B-School Odds

Part XLV: Your Odds of Getting Into A Great School

Part XLVI: Handicapping Your Shot At A Top MBA

Part XLVII: Your Chances Of Getting Into An Elite School

Part XLVIII: Handicapping Your Personal MBA Odds

Part XLIV: Handicapping Your Elite School Chances

Part XLV: Handicapping Those Tough MBA Odds

Part XLVI: Your Chances Of Getting In

PartXVII: Handicapping Your Elite MBA Odds

PartXVIII: Handicapping Your Shot At An Elite School

Part LXIX: What Are Your Odds Of Getting In?

Part L: Handicapping Your Odds Of Getting In

Part LI: Assessing Your Odds Of Getting In

Part LII: Handicapping Your Business School Chances

Part LIII: Your Chances Of Getting A Top MBA

Part LIV: Handicapping Your Shot At A Top MBA

Part LV: Calculating Your Odds of MBA Admission

Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria (Photo by Susan Young. Courtesy of Harvard Business School)

Being the dean of the world’s most prestigious business school isn’t going to make you as rich as the chief executive of a major corporation, but it’s not a bad gig, either.

According to the student newspaper The Harvard Crimson, Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria was the university’s highest paid dean in 2011 with a total compensation package worth $662,054. That sum includes his base salary plus benefits.

Nohria, who may well have made more as a professor due to his consulting assignments, was followed by Medical School Dean Jeffrey S. Flier at $621,373 and Public Health School Dean Julio Frenk at $606,612. Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith received a total of $509,613 in salary and benefits.

THE HIGHEST PAID B-SCHOOL DEAN IN THE WORLD? PROBABLY.

In all probability, Nohria’s comp package makes him the highest paid business school dean in the world. He’s also in charge of the largest budget of any business school as well, with $546 million of revenue and nearly $3.5 billion in assets in 2012, including

Still, he’s a piker when it comes to the compensations received by officials at the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the University’s $30 billion endowment as well as its other investments.

The Crimson reported that HMC President and CEO Jane L. Mendillo took home $5,323,753 in 2011, while the company’s Head of Alternative Assets Andrew G. Wiltshire received $6,608,581 in total compensation, making him the top earner at HMC that year. HMC’s Head of Public Markets Stephen Blyth, who is also a statistics professor, made $6,161,489.

Harvard University President Drew G. Faust received $899,734 in salary and benefits in 2011.

Dillon House is where Harvard Business School makes all of its admission decisions.

Harvard Business School said today (May 17) that 9,315 applicants sought admission to the school during the 2012-2013 admissions cycle, a 3.9% increase from the previous year. The increase, occurring after HBS made major changes to its MBA application process, reverses two consecutive years of application declines.

In the 2011-2012 season, applications fell 4% to 8,963. Two years ago, applications to Harvard’s MBA program also had fallen by 4% to 9,331. The peak year for HBS applications was back in 2004 when the school received 10,382 applications.

This year’s increase came in an admissions cycle that saw the most significant changes to Harvard’s MBA admit policies since 2002 when the school required interviews for all admitted candidates. Dee Leopold, managing director of admissions and financial aid, cut in half the number of required essays for most applicants to Harvard’s full-time MBA program. Instead of requiring applicants to write four separate essays, for a total of 2,000 words, MBA candidates had to turn in just two essays, for a total of 800 words (see Behind Harvard’s Big Admission Changes).

The two questions that formed the basis of the new essays also were more direct and simple than the previous menu of questions. Harvard asked candidates to “tell us something you’ve done well” and to “tell us something you wish you had done better,” both in no more than 400 words.

The school also added a novel twist for MBA candidates who make the first cut and are invited to an interview with the school’s admissions staff. Those applicants were asked to write an additional “written reflection of the interview experience” within 24 hours of the interview. Harvard also moved up its round one deadline for applicants to the earliest date ever, Sept. 24.

Commenting on the increase, Sanford Kreisberg, an admissions consultant and founder of HBSGuru.com, said, ”Could be that the essays are less, that Dee Leopold is more (inviting than most adcoms), that the shellac outer coating of the economy (where the applicants live) is pulsing bright once more, and that hey, people are tired of gloom and doom and just want to party.  That sure sounds like HBS.”

Leopold partly explained the move by saying that essays had become too large a part of the admissions process. “I’ve been saying that admissions is not an essay writing contest and that is where a lot of the anxiety (among applicants) is,” Leopold told Poets&Quants. “When we never met anyone, essays were the only way we had for applicants to get some form of personalization of the application. But since the Class of 2004, we’ve been interviewing all admitted applicants. The interviews are a big investment of our time, money and assessment energy, so I think it’s time to have a corresponding reduction in that initial (essay) hurdle.”

Initially, some applicants had been relieved to hear they had only two essays to write this year, explained Linda Abraham, founder and president of Accepted.com. “Others were frustrated because they felt they couldn’t really tell their story,” she said. “And sometimes the relief combined with a feeling of being cheated and overly constrained in the same individual.”

Whether Harvard will stay with its new application process for next year is anyone’e guess. The school is expected to announce its new application by the end of May.

HARVARD IS LATEST OF TOP SCHOOLS TO REPORT APPLICATION INCREASES

Because the changes essentially lowered the initial burden of applying to Harvard, the school and admission consultants expected to see more HBS applicants. Harvard joins several other highly ranked schools in reporting applications increases, reversing several years of declines. While most business schools have yet to officially report their numbers, the largest single percentage increases so far are at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School, up 12.6%, and at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Applications to Johnson’s two-year MBA program have risen 12% following the school’s news to open a New York City campus. Several other schools have reported healthy increases. They include  the University of Virginia’s Darden School, up 11%, and the University of Chicago’s Booth School, up 10%.

As previously reported by Poets&Quants, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management had a 9% increase in applications for its two-year MBA program and a 30% rise for it’s one-year MBA program for students with undergraduate business degrees.

For many of the schools, the increases represent something of a rebound. The University of Michigan’s Ross School, which is reporting an 8% increase in MBA applications, saw its application volume fall by 16.8% a year ago. That drove up the school’s acceptance rate to an unusually high 40.6%, 8.4 points more than the  32.2% acceptance rate for the school in 2011. Columbia Business School, which saw applications fall 19% last year, says it is up 7% over the same time last year.

“Coupled with what we’re hearing from our peer schools, there seems to be a significant uptick of interest industry-wide,” said Christopher Cashman, a spokesman for Columbia.

The rising volume of applicants is not entirely unexpected because it follows an 11% increase in GMAT testing volume for the year-ended last June.

DON’T MISS: MBA APPLICATIONS UP AT MANY TOP SCHOOLS or DOUBLE-DIGIT INCREASE IN APPS AT KELLOGG

Better yet, work at a start up that’s disrupting the student loan market for the benefit of future MBA students such as myself.

That may not be your answer, but, hopefully through sharing with you how I have decided to spend my pre- business school honeymoon, I can help you think about what you would like to do with your time before business school.

After getting into business school, you enter a unique phase of your life. The initial reaction is a sigh of a relief, a sense of catharsis, as all the hard work that was put into getting in has finally paid off. This is quickly followed by the excitement of what’s to come, the endless opportunities for learning, meeting new people, and once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences.

Blazing this new trail begins well before the first day of school. For some, it starts a month before the first day of class with a whirlwind trip across the globe. For others, it begins in the spring as they leave jobs they dislike to recharge and reset.

My personal journey has put me in a position to think about these questions earlier than most, a solid seven months prior to the start of school. With so much time, there were lots of options to consider.

1.      The Staycation

I could stay put and just take some time to enjoy life. Italian classes. Perfecting the double shot from a La Marzocco espresso machine. Lazy afternoons in Central Park and Kale Margarita fueled nights in the East Village.

2.      The Globe-Trotting Adventure

Or, I could just sublet my apartment and take off. I could embark on a slow-travel trip around the world, bouncing from hostel to hostel – I’ve been eyeing Patagonia and New Zealand for a while. Or I could undertake one of the epic North American hikes such as the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT), Appalachian National Scenic Trail (AT), or Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT).

Both of these options sound pretty amazing, but before I got started mapping out a six-month trip around the world – it hit – that all too familiar itch. It’s an itch I believe that a lot of us feel more often than not, yet never seize the opportunity to scratch. It’s the entrepreneurial itch to create something disruptive. When the itch hit this time, I found myself in a place where I could take the risk of working at an early-stage start up trying to do big things while at the same time having the security of business school on the horizon. To me, this represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity the same as does an extended staycation or a globe-trotting adventure.

3.      Scratching the Itch

I ultimately decided to seek out an opportunity that has always intrigued me. I’ve long thought that one of the shortcomings of business school was that there was only time for one summer internship. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for iteration to figure out in which direction you want to pivot your life as you launch from business school. By “scratching the itch” before business school I may find my dream job or realize that early-stage start ups are not the place for me. Either realization would be extremely valuable. To get experience in a potentially unrelated field, you may have to be a bit flexible when it comes to compensation. However, the experience can effectively turn into a pre-business school internship, adding more leverage to the business school experience.

I chose to scratch the itch and see where it led. For the past few months, I have been working at CommonBond, an innovative company with great people who are fixing the student loan market by offering lower rates than available through traditional channels and creating a community designed to drive borrowers’ professional success.

I really enjoy what I’m doing and am glad I chose this path. Do I want to travel for a bit before business school? You bet. And I probably will. But by pursuing my passion for start-ups and disruption, I feel like now my business school experience will be that much more enriching (and valuable).

Rex Carazo

Rex Carazo is a Community Developer at CommonBond, a social lending platform that connects student borrowers and alumni investors to lower the cost of education for students and improve financial returns for investors. CommonBond is also the first company to bring the “one-for-one” model to education. This is the first in a series of “I’m in… Now What?” posts for prospective and incoming MBA students.

UCLA Anderson’s new logo aims to capture the school’s forward-thinking spirit, says Dean Judy Olian

A task force of UCLA Anderson faculty, board members, students and alumni faced a unique challenge. How do you restructure a mega-business-school brand with a 75-year history to make it ring with the modern MBA?

The tagline needed to be catchy, accurate and attractive to top students. The diverse group, which included Susan Wojcicki, Google’s senior vice president of advertising, and Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed, contemplated this challenge for some 18 months – testing out different positioning slogans in surveys and focus groups. How could they set UCLA Anderson apart in a few words and, most importantly, attract potential students?

They finally distilled the quintessential UCLA Anderson student down to a “creative pioneer.” The tagline grew from here and the “Think in the Next” campaign was born.

So what exactly does it mean? The school’s alumni magazine Assets Digital paints a picture of a nimble, adaptable MBA ready to take on challenges yet unknown: “The Next idea will speak every language. The Next game changers may not wear ties. The Next dream career has not yet been invented. And though no one knows precisely what the Next will bring, we believe anything is possible. We will give you a foundation to be ready for it, to understand it, and to lead change by it.”

DETERMINING THE SCHOOL’S DNA

But that leaves the question of why the school embarked on a campaign to rebrand itself in the first place. For starters UCLA lost some of its competitive edge when it opted out of public funding for its masters’ programs in 2012.  Then, tuition cost roughly $48,000 per year for California residents. For the 2013-2014 school year it’s closer to $52,000. In the highly competitive field of MBA degrees, UCLA recognized it couldn’t fall back on price to set itself apart.

When many B-schools are shouting buzzwords like  innovation and leadership – individual institutions have to capture what makes them unique, says Anderson Dean Judy Olian.  She is quick to add that  the new slogan is not an attempt to rebrand the university. “I view it as saying let’s make sure there is a crystal clear image of what differentiates us so that we can express the DNA in a relatively concise way to these prospective students,” she says.

Dominique Hanssens, professor of marketing at UCLA, says the economic crisis also prompted the school to take a tough look at repositioning their brand. “We’ve just come out of this horrible financial crisis, which is not even over, and some fingers have been pointed at business schools as being part of the problem,” he says in an interview with Asset Digital. “Of course, we disagree with that, but the challenge and opportunity is on us to demonstrate how our educational products create value to students and organizations alike.”

The process for developing a new brand is never a straight and easy path – especially when it comes to an ever-changing entity like a business school.  The team originally proposed to play up the school’s LA location, but they didn’t want to be pigeonholed into the South California stereotypes, says Andrew Ainslie, senior associate dean of the full-time MBA program.  ”We worried people would associate Los Angeles with a beach school – a place where everyone goes to lay in the sun and have fun, a slacker school. Our students are the exact opposite of that.” So they opted for a more regional focus, emphasizing California’s innovation and the West’s free spirit.  As alum Robert Eckert, chairman emeritus of Mattel, explains to Assets Digital, “We have all the academic rigor, but there’s also a freedom here that people associate with the American West,” he says. “UCLA Anderson offers this free spirit, if you will, that an old-line East Coast school really doesn’t offer.”

‘THERE’S AN ASPIRATIONAL ASPECT’

For Ainslie, the slogan is a metaphor that carries widespread appeal.  “The Think in the Next brand name resonates with any MBA because anybody that’s choosing to take two years off from very successful careers to come and spend with us…they’re thinking about what they’re going to do with their lives. So there’s a sort of aspirational aspect,” he says.

It’s also assumed that Think in the Next captures the school’s curriculum, which focuses heavily on instilling frameworks and methodologies to find answers – skills Olian says translate well over time. As part of several major changes to the curriculum, the school also began offering industry specializations, such as data analytics, which are updated to reflect current career trends.

Ainslie is also confident that the brand can help shape the school’s future by drawing in students who share the university’s values. Already the promotion of forward thinking has prompted the school to partner with TED and to host entrepreneurial conferences and competitions.

To jump-start the brand and student interest,  Anderson held a Think in the Next Commercial Challenge and put up $10,000 in cash and prizes for student videos promoting the new slogan. Entries ranged from a catchy Glee-esque sing-and-dance number to an apocalyptic movie trailer that features UCLA students as heroes.  The first place commercial by team Underwater Robots features a series of companies who claim ties to UCLA, including Kickstand, Enso, Foundero and EventSorbet – a vivid illustration of just what it means to “Think in the Next.”

DON’T MISS: ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF WORLD’S BEST BUSINESS SCHOOLS

A visualization of Yale SOM’s new courtyard.

As if it isn’t hard enough to get into a good school…

The Yale School of Management is launching an online assessment to measure the emotional intelligence of applicants. The test is designed to predict future success based on candidates’ abilities in areas like self-control, adaptability, and empathy.

Unlike similar tests given at Dartmouth and Notre Dame, Yale’s 141 question test was developed by their own researchers. Currently, the results aren’t being factored into admissions decisions. However, Yale is collecting the data to determine if scores foreshadow exceptional or poor performance among students. The researchers also plan to use the results to better tailor curriculum to address soft skills.

Students shouldn’t fret if they score low. The test is voluntary. According to David Caruso, co-creator of the test, most leaders who have taken the test have scored low. Somewhere, Dilbert is smiling and nodding his head.

Source: Business Insider

Microsoft Names Harvard MBA as CFO

Harvard MBA Amy Hood gets Microsoft CFO job

This week, Microsoft named Amy Hood, a Harvard MBA, as its first female Chief Financial Officer.

Hood joined Microsoft in 2002 after working in investment banking and capital markets for Goldman Sachs. Most recently, Hood has managed the Business division of Microsoft, their most profitable arm.  She helped transition Microsoft to cloud-based services and subscription-driven pricing. Hood was also involved in Microsoft’s acquisitions of Skype and Yammer.

Hood joins other high ranking MBAs at Microsoft, including Kurt DelBene (University of Chicago), President of Microsoft Office;  Sayta Nadella (University of Chicago), President of Servers and Tools; Lisa Brummel (UCLA), head of human resources; Kirill Tatarinov (Houston Baptist University), President of Microsoft Business Solutions; and Tami Reller (St. Mary’s College of California), chief marketing and financial officer for Windows.

Source: Seattle Times

Nearly Two-Thirds of Midas List Venture Capitalists Own an MBA

Forbes calls it the Midas List for a reason: Everything these venture capitalists touch seemingly turns to gold. Sure, some venture capitalists dismiss b-school programs as out of touch. But you might be surprised to learn that 63% of Midas List investors earned an MBA (with Stanford and Harvard leading the way). More strikingly, only a quarter of Midas List investors hold just a Bachelor’s Degree.

Click on the link below to learn where these Midas Listers earned their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Source: Forbes

Are America’s MBA Programs Irrelevant?

The sky is falling. America is in decline. An MBA is a waste of time and money. Yes, you can hear the critics all the time. They claim MBAs don’t prepare students to launch ventures, work digitally, customize offerings, and compete globally. Sure, they’re pointing out some painful truths. But are they ignoring the benefits of an MBA degree? The Atlantic recently provided a more nuanced take on the shortcomings of stodgy b-school models…along with the flaws inherent to the cult of entrepreneurship.

Most advocates concede that b-schools have been slow to adapt to the helter skelter pace of a volatile marketplace. But companies can only innovate and pivot for so long. At some point, organizations must deliberately nurture cultures, establish structures, implementing models, and build brands. That’s where b-schools excel. They deliver tools like critical thinking skills, finance acumen, and leadership development to manage complex organizations.  This piece’s e final paragraph is among the best arguments for a b-school education:

“Speed, agility and adaptability have become requirements for businesses of all sizes. No matter how lean or innovative they are, though, most entrepreneurs still fail, most small businesses never get big and most big companies have a hard time sustaining growth. So business education can’t disappear. In fact, it’s now more important than ever.”

Source: The Atlantic

Big Ten Schools Collaborate to Offer a MBA in Agriculture Management

Purdue and Indiana universities may be rivals on the gridiron, but they’re collaborating in the classroom. In August, these universities will offer a MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management. Here, 30 students will participate in the only MBA program that focuses exclusively on agribusiness. During this 27-month program, students will study how MBA concepts like marketing and finance can be applied to the agriculture industry. 85% of the coursework will be provided online, though students will serve week-long residencies at Indiana, Purdue, and internationally.

Source: AG Professional

One Liners

Want to know which B-schools secured the top commencement speakers this year?  Check out this list:

Source: Businessweek

How do you position yourself to become a CEO in India? Get an engineering degree to go with your MBA

Source: The India Times

Four questions to ask before applying to business school

Source: U.S. News and World Report

Mergers

Maria Taft, 36, and Todd Swanson, 38, met in 2003 at Stanford Graduate School of Business when they were studying for their MBA degrees. Taft, owner of Goodman Taft, an art advisory firm, and Swanson, chairman of of Xinergy, a coal company in Knoxville, Tenn., married Saturday. Source: NYT

Juliette Wallack, 30, an MBA from Columbia Business School, and David Metz, 29, an MBA from New York University, were married on Saturday. Wallack works in marketing for Bloomberg, the financial news service, while Metz is a consultant for ZS Associates in New York. Source: NYT

Shoshana Parker, 32, and Ari Fridman, 29, an MBA from Boston College, were married on Sunday. Parker is a senior research manager in the public affairs and corporate communications department of GIK, while Fridman is counsel for oversight and investigations at the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C. Source: NYT

Susan Chapman, 44, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, and Christopher Hughes, were married on Saturday. Chapman is a senior vice president at American Express, while Hughes is a career advisor at Monroe College. Source: NYT

Michel Fox, 28, and Brandon Blum, 33, an MBA from Fordham University, were married on Saturday. Fox is a product manager for Departures, the magazine, while Blum is an associate director for Joy Construction Company in New York. Source: NYT

Jennifer Lewis, 29, and Christopher Buell, 29, an MBA from Northeastern University, were married Saturday. Lewis is a senior policy analyst at Abt Associates, while Buell is a bond fund analyst at Wellington Management in Boston.

Alan Koenigsberg, 45, an MBA from Nova Southeastern University, and John Dotto, 41, an MBA from Pace University, were married on Saturday. Koenigsberg is a managing director at JPMorgan Chase in New York, while Dotto is a vice president for American Express in charge of digital marketing for Open. the small business division.

DON’T MISS: Weekly Roundup 1: THE BUDDHIST PRIEST AND THE MBA or  ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF WORLD’S BEST BUSINESS SCHOOLS

Each year, the graduating class at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business gathers on the front steps of Tuck Hall, the B-school’s iconic building, for the taking of a formal class photograph. The picture then joins the many photos of all the graduating classes that line the walls of Tuck Hall.

Always a memorable event, it’s a cause for celebration. In a salute to the graduating class, first-year MBA students put on a music and dance extravaganza. These are goofy, entertaining tributes that provide a glimpse of the school’s close-knit, collaborative culture.

This year’s T13 class photo, taken on May 9, was no exception. Freeform dancing, raps and a heart-felt rendition of Bill Wither’s Lean on Me were highlights.

While most business schools have yet to officially report their numbers, the largest single percentage increase so far is at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Applications to Johnson’s two-year MBA program have risen 12% following the school’s news to open a New York City campus.

According to a survey by BusinessWeek today (May 9), several other schools are reporting healthy increases. They include  the University of Virginia’s Darden School, up 11%, and the University of Chicago’s Booth School, up 10%.

As previously reported by Poets&Quants, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management had a 9% increase in applications for its two-year MBA program and a 30% rise for it’s one-year MBA program for students with undergraduate business degrees.

For many of the schools, the increases represent something of a rebound. The University of Michigan’s Ross School, which is reporting an 8% increase in MBA applications, saw its application volume fall by 16.8% a year ago. That drove up the school’s acceptance rate to an unusually high 40.6%, 8.4 points more than the  32.2% acceptance rate for the school in 2011. Columbia Business School, which saw applications fall 19% last year, says it is up 7% over the same time last year.

“Coupled with what we’re hearing from our peer schools, there seems to be a significant uptick of interest industry-wide,” said Christopher Cashman, a spokesman for Columbia.

The rising volume of applicants is not entirely unexpected because it follows an 11% increase in GMAT testing volume for the year-ended last June.

Dean Idie Kesner of Indiana’s Kelley School attributed the 11% increase in MBA applications to improved rankings. “We have had a real run-up,” she told PoetsandQuants. “That is in contrast to most MBA programs which I believe will be flat this year. We’ve had a very good year. The rankings are up. When you’re No. 1 in student satisfaction, career services and faculty you get student attention. They care about those things,” she added, referring to last year’s Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranking. BW ranked Kelley 15th in the U.S., up from 19th in 2010.

Kelley’s underlying numbers show especially strong growth: Kesner said that domestic full-time MBA applications, which have especially been down in recent years for U.S. schools, are up 30%. International applications increased 4%. MBA Consortium applications rose by 10%. Perhaps most impressive of all, applications to the school’s online MBA program, Kelley Direct, are up 55%.

But not every school is experiencing an uplift. UCLA’s Anderson School of Management also saw a decline in applications this year on the heels of its impressive 22% leap in applications last year. “This year we’re down from that peak 7%, but we’re up quite a bit relative to two years ago,” says Judy Olian, Anderson dean.  At the University of Southern California’s Marshall School the story didn’t change much. “Applications are okay but not setting the world on fire,” says James Ellis, Marshall dean. “There is so much written on the negativity of the MBA, but it is still the most valuable degree in the business world.”

DON’T MISS: DOUBLE-DIGIT INCREASE IN APPS AT KELLOGG or TOP B-SCHOOLS BECOMING LESS SELECTIVE

Students participating in The MBA Tour and similar programs have the opportunity to meet with admissions representatives from top B-schools

What if you could meet all the top MBA admissions representatives at once and in your home city to boot? Imagine sauntering into a single location, cruising through a series of panel discussions and signing up to meet with your top-choice schools – for free.  Welcome to the world of MBA tours.

High-achieving students and top business schools worldwide are eager to connect, and increasingly companies are providing the space, resources and knowledge to link the two together.  Take, for instance, three of the most popular programs – QS World MBA Tour, Access MBA Tour and The MBA Tour. Although they vary in their portfolio of services, all host a series of large-scale conferences in cities across the globe that allow students to mix and mingle with representatives from choice business schools, such as those at Harvard, Northwestern, MIT and Columbia.

Students sign up for sessions online and, because schools generally foot the bill, the conferences are typically free of charge – a few require nominal fees to weed out non-serious candidates. Each tour operator also offers a slew of auxiliary services, ranging from QS’ personalized MBA ranking tool to The MBA Tour’s one-minute video series with B-school advice. P&Q has pulled together information from three of the top MBA tours to help you select one that might work for you. We’ve also compiled a nifty little calendar to help you keep track of when each tour will visit your region.

QS World MBA Tour

Arguably the largest and oldest of the MBA tour providers, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) was founded in 1990 by Nunzio Quacquarelli while he was still an MBA student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.  Initially QS set out to provide guides and advice to connect top schools with suitable candidates. QS’ extensive research into the topic found that face-to-face time was a top priority for both students and B-schools, so the company introduced tours in 1994, Quacquarelli says. “The face-to-face interactions are extremely important in the applicant’s decision-making process,” he adds. “Candidates refer to websites, but they want to go that next step. They want to have that personal contact to make sure they’re making the right choice.”

QS’ World MBA Tour has grown year over year and now runs 112 events in 82 cities annually. The tour hosts early-stage, information-gathering sessions for students to develop their short list of schools, Quacquarelli says. Students can connect with B-school representatives and alumni at school booths during the fair portion. The conferences also includes GMAT seminars, admissions and expert panels and interactive classes to give students a taste of the B-school atmosphere. Interested female applicants have the option of signing up for Women in Leadership forums, which proceed the fair, where senior MBA alumnae speak about their experiences. QS also runs some 50 Connect 1-2-1 events, where consultants advise candidates on their B-school choices and arrange for personal interviews with top schools. Most recently QS launched registrant wristband technology that provides candidates’ information to the school representatives instantaneously – the bracelets will come to New York in May 2013.

QS prides itself on going beyond event organizing to provide primary research for MBA candidates, Quacquarelli says. For instance, the QS Global 200 Business Schools Report surveys MBA employers around the world to determine which schools are most popular with employers. They also offer a scholarship scheme that has awarded some 100 students with funds for post-graduate education.

• Founded by Wharton MBA Nunzio Quacquarelli in 1990
• Hosts 112 QS World MBA Tour events in 82 cities annually – 30 of those in North America
• Runs the QS Women Leadership Forum
• Releases an annual report on the world’s top 200 business schools according to employers
• Launched registrant wristband program to provide schools with students’ data
• Between 80 and 140 business schools participate in events

The MBA Tour

Founded in 1993, The MBA Tour is unique in that it doesn’t cling to the booth-after-booth, career-fair format, according to CEO Peter von Loesecke. “We’re finding that format is becoming less and less effective for candidates because the numbers are getting higher and the information schools are trying to convey to candidates is not as individualized as it would be in a career fair,” he says. The fair portion accounts for only one-third on average of the entire conference – the primary portion focuses on  panel discussions, which tackle specific topics such as how admissions officers evaluate applications.  In addition, individual B-schools host receptions, essentially information sessions, for interested applicants -  smaller or lesser known institutions offer small group discussions. Select schools also have the option to browse through registrants to find and contact students they feel would be a good fit for their MBA programs.

For the 2013-2014 recruiting season The MBA Tour will host 54 events in cities ranging from Chicago to Shanghai.  Last year more than 20,000 people registered on The MBA Tour’s website globally, with attendance ranging from 200 to 500 candidates per event.

• Founded in 1993
• For 2013-2014 recruiting season the tour will host 54 events in 28 different countries
• Emphasis on panel discussions, which  range from application information  to career advice from alumni
• Individual school receptions and small-group meetings
• Select schools have the option to browse registrant pool and contact strong candidates for individual meetings

Access MBA Tour

Christophe Coutat founded the Paris-based Access MBA Tour in 2004 after visiting several MBA fairs during his own B-school search.  He found the experience impersonal and overwhelming. ”I did not like being lost in the middle of 50 schools and being pushed randomly from one famous brand to another,” Coutat says. “I felt that most candidates attending this type of event were probably missing the right schools for them, going back home with a couple of brochures feeling more lost than before.”  So he launched the Access MB Tour, which emphasizes one-on-one interviews and selectivity.  The tour arranges 20-minute interviews between candidates and schools.  It also screens applicants and exhibitors in advance – typically only one-third of the preregistered candidates are selected to participate in the event, he says. Applicants are generally required to hold a bachelor’s degree, be fluent in English and have three years of experience to be admitted.

This year the tour will visit 66 cities across the globe.  Each event draws an average of 400 registrants – roughly 133 of these students will be selected to participate. Coutat says the tour matches 20,000 candidates per year to 120 MBA programs for 20-minute meetings with admissions directors. The tour also includes workshops – intimate round tables with B-school representatives – and panel discussions. Coutat is confident the method is an effective one: “This is a unique experience, and most of the candidates come to choose their program with us, and they usually leave our event knowing which MBA to apply for.”

• Launched in 2004
• Matches 20,000 candidates per year to 120 MBA programs for personal interviews
• Will visit 66 cities in 2013 and host 121 events
• Emphasis on 20-minute, one-to-one meetings between selected schools and candidates
• Average 400 registrants per event – one-third are typically selected to participate
• Participating candidates should be fluent in English, have three years of work experience and hold a bachelor’s degree

Regardless of which event or tour company you choose, they all offer an opportunity to get a little face-time and glean information to help wheedle down your MBA choices.  Sounds like a win-win for everyone.

DON’T MISS: A REPORT ON THE MBA TOUR’S STOP IN NEW YORK CITY