December 2007
GMAT Registration Volume Up
According to the GMAC, world-wide GMAT Registration through
October 31 of this year shows a 12 percent increase over the
number of registrations recorded during the same period last
year.
The number of GMAT registrations in the US increased nearly
8 percent over last year. Outside the US, volume increased
over 20 percent.
Typically, GMAT registration volume tends to reflect the
number of MBA admissions sent in during the same year. It is
reasonable to assume that MBA applications are seeing an
increase across the board.
MBA Graduates to See Hiring Increase Next Year
According to a report released yesterday by the Collegiate
Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University,
large companies plan to hire more graduates in 2008 than
they did in 2007, with MBA graduates seeing an increase of 7
percent.
Companies with over 4,000 employees are expected to increase
their hiring over 2007. Those graduates with degrees in
engineering, business, social sciences and humanities will
fare especially well with these large employers.
Also expected to benefit are those with
information-technology and computer-related bachelor's and
business degrees, as the labor market remains strong for
these areas of employment.
Overall, total hiring of new graduates (bachelor's and
post-grad degrees) will increase by a modest 2 percent.
Limited hiring will occur mainly with small to midsize
companies, due to worries about the economy. The exception
to this are companies with fewer than 100 employee; these
small businesses plan to increase hiring by 12 percent.
Salaries are also expected to rise as well, with a 5 percent
expectation that is double the increase over the last two
years. Bonuses will still be offered, though many companies
now plan to pay graduates such benefits after they have been
employed for one year.
The report is available for review at http://www.ceri.msu.edu/
November 2007
Military and MBA Experience Shows Later Payoff
According to Military MBA's recent recruitment survey of military-friendly
business schools, the number of students with military backgrounds enrolling in
MBA programs is increasing, along with the annual compensation they receive
after graduation. The survey found that candidates who combine their military
background with a graduate business degree are realizing greater career gains,
including earnings that are higher on average than their MBA peers.
MBA graduates with a military background are commanding an average annual
compensation of $109,720, representing a 6.8 percent increase since the last
time employment data were gathered in August 2004. This compares favorably to
statistics from the Graduate Management Admission Council, which reported in May
2006 that new MBA graduates in general were earning $92,360 in first-year
compensation.
The ability to increase earnings potential and career opportunity, is leading
many current, retired and reserve military personnel to pursue a graduate
degree. Business schools that participated in the Military MBA survey reported
on average, a 48 percent growth in enrollments of students with military
backgrounds between 2006 and 2007, while two schools -- the
University of Virginia, Darden School of Business and
Vanderbilt University's
Owen Graduate School of Management -- reported the largest growth in
military student enrollments.
Top MBA schools seek diversity in many forms, and recruiting candidates from the
military sector offers an attractive student population that's rich in ethnic
diversity. The leadership and management skills developed through military
service also make these candidates well prepared to succeed in an MBA program.
Exchange Program Links MBAs from Stanford and Bangalore, India
Stanford MBA students who took part in an intense week of living, learning,
and bonding with peers at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (IIMB)
last summer got to expand their understanding of the rapidly developing Indian
nation beyond the usual statistics included in books and PowerPoint
presentations.
The 16 students who made the program’s inaugural trip to India in September said
the exchange offers the sort of intense cultural immersion that is often missing
from international exchange programs where U.S. students may spend more time
with fellow Americans than with the locals in the country they are visiting.
Some of the surprising strengths students observed included a culture that was
not only highly diverse but also highly tolerant, and a rapid reversal of the
longstanding brain drain that had more locals and foreigners interested in
starting their careers in India rather than in the United States.
On the downside, Stanford students noticed a stubborn gap between the haves and
the have-nots and a cultural aversion toward risk that led most Indian business
students to favor careers in banking and consulting over the more
entrepreneurial ventures that are so popular among Stanford MBAs.
As part of the exchange, students form teams with two members from each school
to collaborate on a project during fall quarter. Work began on the IIMB campus
and continues long distance during fall quarter. It will conclude when the
Indian MBAs visit Stanford in December with all participants making
presentations describing their work. The project offers two credits for the
course work.
October 2007
New Book Critiques Value
of MBA Education
Rakesh Khurana, an associate professor of organizational behavior at HBS,
recently authored a new book that sees current MBA programs as largely failing
to have lived up to their founding ideals of creating management as a profession
(such as doctors and lawyers). Instead, he charges, "business schools make a
'value proposition' to students, who are now commonly described as 'customers.'"
He continues, "There seems to be a growing sense among students, faculty, and
administrators, that business education needs to change and that business,
itself, may be at an inflection point with respect to its societal
responsibilities. One source of the change is the increasing debate about the
relationship between business and society." Rather than entering a profession,
such as a lawyer or doctor does upon completion of their degree, "graduates from
our business schools go on to influence more people’s lives than perhaps any
other profession today." Their involvement in the workforce “makes up the whole
cloth of society’s economic welfare, and impacts other issues such as
inequality, distribution of political power, etc." So what quantitative
qualities can do justice to their position of influence? "This leads to a
question that goes to the heart of the university and business schools: What
kind of person should an M.B.A. graduate be if she is ultimately going to help
shape the direction of our world’s most powerful organizations and
institutions?"
He further elaborates that the core issue isn't one about any individual school,
but one facing the institution of the b-school. "Business schools, unlike
medical schools or law schools, do not speak in a single voice. They often see
each other as competitors rather than as collaborators. This needs to change."
Khurana's book is entitled From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social
Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of
Management as a Profession.
Economist Intelligence Unit Full-Time MBA Ranking 2007
Rankings for the 2007 Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) were released late last
week. IESE Business School, which had held the top spot for the last two years,
was displaced on this year's list by the University of Chicago's Graduate School
of Business. Other surprises include the IE Business School's move into the top
ten, and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business falling off
the top twenty.
The EIU's methodology for their list considers four factors. New career
opportunities, personal development and educational experience, increase in
salary , and networking potential are all evaluated from data gathered from the
schools as well as surveys from students and recent alumni. The ratings also
factor in the school's rankings from the last three years, which tempers the
effect of any dramatic changes of policies or resources. It also reflects a more
gradual increase in quality as a student would experience them.
The full list is on the EIU site in a very functional interactive chart (http://mba.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=2007rankings)
that compares different schools and their criteria. The top ten are:
-
-
-
-
-
IMD -
International Institute for Management Development
-
-
University of Cambridge Judge Business School
-
-
IE Business School
-
Henley Management College
September 2007
More B-Schools Coming to Middle East
More than just an exotic location, the Middle East is fast becoming an alluring
draw for European business schools. When Insead opens up a research and
executive-education center in Abu Dhabi this month, it will be one of several
international business schools entering the region over the last few years.
Schools like Insead see a growing demand for management training as businesses
expand in the area. With U.S. visas more difficult to obtain since 9/11,
international b-schools have become a more viable alternative.
Most b-school growth has been in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with Cass
Business School (part of City University in London) and London Business School
also launching EMBA programs this fall in Dubai. France's Lille School of
Management has also announced plans to open a campus in the region.
U.S. b-schools are also reaching out to the region. Berkeley recently teamed
with a local school in Dubai to develop a joint "total quality management"
program. The Sloan School of Management is currently studying possible ventures
in the Middle East, and the Tepper School of Business created a nine-month
part-time executive-entrepreneurship certificate program that began earlier this
year.
Despite the recent rapid growth, many schools still remain cautious. IESE
Business School in Barcelona is assessing the market in Dubai, but retains
reservations. As associate dean Eric Weber stated: "The question for us is
whether this is just a bubble with a few years of opportunity, or can we set up
something longer-term?"
WSJ Releases Recruiter Choice Rankings
The Wall Street Journal recently disclosed their 2007 rankings of top MBA
schools, as based on corporate recruiter surveys. The seventh annual survey
finds Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business on top for the second time,
joined by BYU's Marriot School of Management, which placed first for the first
time in the Regional US ranking. Barcelona's ESADE Business School topped the
list in the International ranking for the second year in a row.
This year's survey had over 4,400 recruiters participate, rating full-time MBA
programs on 21 different attributes, including students' leadership potential
and strategic thinking, their previous work experience, the faculty and
curriculum, and the career-services office. Of all the attributes, recruiters
stated that interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork, personal and work
ethics, and problem-solving abilities were what mattered most to them.
You can read more on the WSJ/Harris Interactive survey
here.
August 2007
Deadlines and Essays for 2008 Admissions
Northwestern's
Kellogg School of Business, MIT's
Sloan
School of Management, and the
London Business School released their essay questions for 2008 admissions in
late July. For more information about b-school essays and application deadlines
see the list of links in our July 2008 section, below. We're keeping this
list updated as new information becomes available.
GMAT Volume Rises
The total number of GMAT tests given so far this year, worldwide, is up by
almost 12.5 per cent compared to last year. The number of tests given in the
U.S. during the first half of 2007 increased by 8.3 per cent, while the number
of tests given overseas increased by over 21.5 per cent. Test registration
volume – which means the number of GMATs exams scheduled to be taken in
the future – is also on the rise.
July 2007
'08 Application Deadlines for HBS, Stanford, and MoreThe top business
U.S. and international business schools have begun releasing their deadlines for
Fall 2008 applications. Click on the following links to see information for the
schools indicated:
Northwestern University's
Kellogg
School of Management has not announced its deadlines for 2008 yet, but it
has published its 2007-2008
essay questions.
Schools Report Increases in MBA Application Volume
Several top business schools reported significant increases in the number of
applicants to their full-time MBA programs this year.
Harvard's application volume is said to have increased by around 11 per
cent, while
Cornell's Johnson School saw its application volume grow by as much as 30
per cent. Other schools reporting increases were the
Chicago GSB
(20 per cent), the
Yale
SOM (over 20 per cent), and
Vanderbilt's
Owen School (10 per cent).
HBS, Haas, Darden MBAs Graduate With Job Offers In Hand
Nearly 95 per cent of
Harvard's MBA Class of 2007 had received at least one job offer by
graduation day, according to an HBS press release. At the
University of
Virginia's Darden School, the figure for MBAs graduating with at least one
job offer in hand was 93 per cent, an all-time high for that school. Recruitment
was active at
UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, too, where 87 per cent of full-time
MBA program graduates had received one or more job offers before graduation.
Haas grads reported a median base salary of almost $103,000 and an average
signing bonus approaching $21,000.
June 2007
Need Help Finding Your Best-Fit B-Schools?
If you're like many b-school applicants, you understand that targeting the right
schools for your background and career interests is a crucial part of the
application process – but you're often frustrated when you try to find the information
needed to identify your best-fit schools. We can help! Our archive of exclusive interviews
with admissions directors from the top MBA programs is an excellent source of
information on the differences between schools and programs, as well as for
insights to the admissions process at different schools. Access to the
transcripts of our interviews with admissions directors from
Wharton,
Columbia,
Yale,
Darden,
Haas, and
other top schools is completely free. Just click
here to go to
our interview archives!
MBA Hiring on the Rise, GMAC Survey
Says
A recent Graduate Management Admission
Council (GMAC) survey of corporate employers found that most companies hope to
increase the number of business school graduates they employ this year. On
average, employers planned to recruit 18 per cent more MBAs this year than they
did in 2006. That trend appears to be confirmed by reports from the b-schools of
significant increases in on-campus recruiting. The number of employers who
interviewed at Dartmouth's
Tuck School
is reported to have grown by 30 per cent this year, while at the University of
Virginia's Darden
School, over 90 per cent of this year's graduates had a firm job offer in
hand by Commencement Day.
GMAT Volume Is Moving Up
GMAC data shows that over 8 per cent more
GMATs were taken in the U.S. during the first 4 months of 2007 than were taken
during the same period a year earlier. Worldwide, GMAT volume for the same
timeframe grew by over 13 per cent. Test registration volume is also on the
rise, both in the U.S. and overseas.
May 2007
New Dual Degree Options at HBS & Stanford
The
Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government have created
two new dual degree programs, one awarding a Master of Public Policy (MPP)
degree along with an MBA, and the other awarding a Master of Public
Administration - International Development (MPA-ID) degree together with an MBA.
Both programs will take 3 years to complete. HBS and KSG will begin taking
applications for these new dual degree programs this year.
The
Stanford GSB has also created 2 new dual degree programs. One program,
offered in partnership with Stanford University's
Interdisciplinary Graduate
Program in Environment and Resources, will award an MBA and a master's degree in
environment and resources. The other program, offered in partnership with the
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, will award an MBA and a
Master's in Public Policy (MPP) degree. To be considered for either of these
dual degree options, applicants must first be accepted into Stanford's MBA
program.
USN&WR Rankings for 2008
US News & World Report recently released its graduate and professional school
rankings for 2008. The business schools that made it the top of that category
were:
1.
Harvard Business School
2.
Stanford GSB
3. University of Pennsylvania – Wharton
4. MIT – Sloan
5. Northwestern University – Kellogg (tied for 5th)
5. University of Chicago GSB (tied for 5th)
7. Dartmouth – Tuck
8. UC Berkeley – Haas
9.
Columbia Business School
10. New York University – Stern
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