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Business School Admissions

Round I and Round II application dates have passed for a matriculation of Fall 2008. However, it's not too late to apply to most business schools, as Round III deadlines are still a few weeks away. See our school profile, application deadline, and application essay pages for the information you need to get started on your applications.

We continue to conduct and publish interviews with b-school admissions officials every so often, so check back frequently. Here is where you can view our growing list of business school admission interview archives.

February 2008

Financial Times Releases Rankings for 2008

The Financial Times released their new MBA program rankings for 2008 this week. Retaining the top spot is Wharton for the third year in a row. Surprisingly, in second is the London Business School, previously fifth on the list the last two years.

The top twenty programs are:

  1. Wharton (University of Pennsylvania)

  2. London Business School

  3. Columbia Business School

  4. Stanford University GSB

  5. Harvard Business School

  6. INESEAD

  7. Sloan (M.I.T.)

  8. IE Business School

  9. Chicago GSB

  10. Judge School of Business (Cambridge)

  11. Ceibs

  12. IESE Business School

  13. Stern (NYU)

  14. IMD

  15. Tuck (Dartmouth)

  16. Yale

  17. Hong Kong UST

  18. HEC Paris

  19. Saïd (Oxford)

  20. Indian School of Business

The complete rankings can be found at www.ft.com.

January 2008

Columbia Changes Up the Case Study

Responding to executive rumblings a few years ago regarding the quality of MBA graduates, Columbia Business School has created a new approach to the classic MBA teaching method of the 'case study.' The case study method was invented by Harvard business school nearly a century ago and is used by most b-schools. Columbia hasn't abandoned the method, but given it a new twist.

Concerned that today's MBA graduates were intelligent but ill-prepared to handle an important managerial responsibility - solving problems quickly with minimal information - Columbia's dean came up with the "decision brief" method. This offers less information than a standard case study and more importantly, doesn't provide a solution until after students have wrestled with all the issues on their own.

These days, the skill to frame a problem, finding the data and effectively analyzing it - often without all the information - is an important one. The method is blended with the more traditional method of case study and reflects contemporary issues while doing away with the traditional Harvard formula.

The standard case study formula presents a narrative arc, containing a protagonist and story line. Students are provided with a wealth of information ranging from the company's history, market share and other factors. The students are then guided along the decision-making process as the protagonist 'solves' the problem.

The Columbia decision brief breaks that mold. Students are given basic information and the protagonist's challenge, along with a few documents that enhance the background of the situation. Students then discuss possible solutions; afterwards, the group then sees how the protagonist handled the issue and their thought process. The students then debate whether or not it was the correct decision.

Columbia's new technique is still in its infancy, having been taught this year. It's first "field test" will be during the summer, when most MBAs head out to their various internships. It is hoped that these corporate recruiters encounter students who are more independantly-minded thinkers and decision-makers, more able to handle the complexities of today's growing markets.

Georgetown and ESADE Global EMBA Partnership

Georgetown University and ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, have partnered to create a new executive management program. Known as the Georgetown-ESADE Global Executive MBA, the program will be offered by Georgetown's McDonough School of Business and Walsh School of Foreign Service with ESADE Business School. It will be delivered in six 11-day modules on four continents, and is designed to meet the needs of accomplished executives whose scope of work is global.

The Global EMBA has been developed using the expertise of the McDonough School in inter-disciplinary teaching and international residencies, ESADE's know-how in executive leadership, social innovation and international business as well as the Walsh School's recognized leadership in the area of international relations and global policy. The result is an intellectual challenge and an academic experience that goes beyond classrooms, cases and textbooks. The program is believed to be the first of its kind to include a strong global policy dimension within an executive business degree.

"This program will give accomplished executives a chance to both crystallize their professional experience and better understand the complexities of global business in a world-class program that is adapted to their schedule," said McDonough School of Business Dean George Daly. "I am excited about this new Global MBA program, the result of our collaboration with ESADE Business School."

The Georgetown-ESADE EMBA program will begin in Washington, D.C. in June 2008, with subsequent modules in Barcelona, Buenos Aires/Sao Paolo, Bangalore, Barcelona/Moscow, and Washington/New York over a 16-month period.

Applications are now being accepted for the inaugural class. The three application deadlines are February 28, April 1, and May 15, 2008. Participants will be notified of acceptance within two weeks of their admissions interview.

GRE a MBA Admissions Option?

The Educational Testing Service (ETS), producers of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), is going after a new market - the business school applicant. Though nearly all b-schools require students to take the GMAT (owned and produced by the Graduate Management Admissions Council), the ETS is attempting to persuade some schools to consider the GRE as an alternative.

In 2006, both Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management quietly announced they would accept the GRE in lieu of the GMAT. However, according to some officials at both schools, the GMAC is pressuring them to keep such acceptance quiet, due to the contracts between the GMAC and the b-school.

Some schools do accept the GRE in place of the GMAT, but only on a case-by-case basis. Chicago GSB is one such b-school, where the GRE has been accepted if the applicant is located nowhere near a GMAT testing facility. All of these exceptions involve international applicants.

ETS has begun placing advertisements claiming that "MBA" can also mean "more business-school applicants," with the selling point being that a larger number of students are available in the GRE pool who are weighing grad school options. Many of these students would apply to business school if a separate test isn't required.

For the time being, ETS officials are working with schools such as Stanford to track the performances and successes of GRE-admitted students, in order to gauge the test's effectiveness in identifying promising applicants.

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