Monthly Archives: January 2009

MBA Essay Topics: How Racy Can You Get?

Posted on January 31, 2009 | Leave a comment

I recently heard from an applicant who was writing an MBA admissions essay that could be construed by some to be a little controversial. Basically, it contained a “dirty phrase” that was actually helped him describe a hobby that’s very important to him. He asked me if I thought it was a bad idea.

My advice is that you should always show the real you in your essays, but you also need to exercise some common sense. You simply don’t know who will give your essay a read in the admissions office. While in a perfect admissions office, everyone reads every application exactly the same way, free of their biases, opinions, political views, etc., that’s never going to be the case.

Don’t water it down and make your business school application essays bland, but don’t give an admissions officer, who may not have your same sense of humor, an easy reason to ding you.

For some great MBA essay samples, take a look at our book, Your MBA Game Plan.

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Posted in mba essays

Haas MBA Admissions Interview Tips

Posted on January 29, 2009 | Leave a comment

Peter Johnson, the Director of Admissions at the Haas School of Business, recently posted a message on the Haas blog to answer some questions and soothe some nerves regarding Haas’s admissions interview policies.

On the blog, Peter writes:

Contrary to popular belief, there is no fixed percentage of applicants who are interviewed, and chances of admission for those who do interview are based on the strength of the entire application package and the interview. In the past few years, between 25% and 30% of all applicants have been selected to interview–but keep in mind that this percentage has varied each year. It’s simply a reflection of the strength of the candidates in a specific round.

Although it’s a positive sign to be invited to interview, it doesn’t mean you’ll get an offer–but it does mean that the Admissions Committee saw enough strengths in your application to be seriously considering your candidacy, so it’s always a good sign!

Note that those percentages are just historical norms. You can consider them rough guidelines in terms of trying to determine your chances this year, but the number will always bounce around. So, spare yourself the insanity and just focus on nailing your admissions interview, rather than trying to calculate your chances! To that end, be sure to listen to the school’s admissions interview tips podcast.

If you would like more assistance in preparing for your MBA admissions interview at Haas or at any other top business school, take a look at Veritas Prep’s MBA admissions interview assistance package.

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Posted in Admissions Interviews, Haas

Financial Times MBA Rankings for 2009

Posted on January 27, 2009 | Leave a comment

The Financial Times has just released its 2009 business school rankings, with Wharton and London Business School sharing the top spot.

(Note: The Financial Times MBA Rankings for 2010 are now out!)

There were a couple of notable milestones in this year’s FT rankings. LBS reached the #1 slot for the first time, breaking Wharton and Harvard Business School’s joint stranglehold on the #1 slot. Also notable was that for the first time an Asian business school cracked the top ten — Shanghai-based China European International Business School (CEIBS) came in at #8. Joining CEIBS in the top twenty were two other schools from Asia: The Indian School of Business ranked at #15, and the Hong Kong UST Business School was ranked #16.

You can see the full Financial Times rankings here. For more updates on business school rankings and MBA program news, subscribe to this blog and follow us on Twitter!

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Posted in Rankings