Many an MBA applicant has fretted over their GMAT score. Some worry so much about it, that they retake the test time and time again. Before dedicating too much energy to this sort of stress, you need to ask—how important are GMAT scores in relation to business school admissions?
To get the answer for you, I asked several admissions representatives from top business schools. Here’s what they had to say: Read the rest of this entry »

For many MBA students, earning power is one reason, perhaps the main reason, for enrolling in B-school. So which programs really deliver the goods? Over the course of a career, what’s your MBA worth? The numbers will surprise you.

The slides that follow list the median cash compensation—base salary and bonus—for MBA graduates of each school who have less than two years’ experience, 10 years’ experience, and 20 years’ experience, as well as an estimate of total earnings over a career spanning two decades.

The upshot? According to data compiled for Bloomberg BusinessWeek by PayScale, a Wharton MBA has 90 percent of the value of a Harvard MBA. University of Chicago, 76 percent. University of Iowa? Forty-eight percent. Read the rest of this entry »

As part of Businessweek’s annual ranking of the top undergraduate business programs, senior business students from the 139 participating schools were asked to assign letter grades—from A to F—to their business programs in 12 specialty areas: quantitative methods, operations management, ethics, sustainability, calculus, microeconomics, macroeconomics, accounting, financial management, marketing management, business law, and corporate strategy. Based on those grades, scores were calculated for each of the ranked schools in each area.

Not surprisingly, the top-ranked schools in the overall ranking, published in March, have the most top-10 specialty rankings, as well. Notre Dame leads the way, appearing on eight top-10 lists, followed by Cornell University and Babson College —Nos.5 and 15 in the overall ranking, respectively—with six top-10 specialty ranks apiece.Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business (Goizueta Undergraduate Business Profile), the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School (Wharton Undergraduate Business Profile), and the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill each ranked near the top of five specialty lists. Read the rest of this entry »

Essay prompt: Describe a personal achievement that has had a significant impact on your life. In addition to recounting this achievement, please analyze how the event has changed your understanding of yourself and how you perceive the world around you. (3 pages, 1000 words) Read the rest of this entry »

Natalie Grinblatt, director of the office of admissions and financial aid at Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management, offers some tips for prospective applicants. She was interviewed by BusinessWeek Online reporter Mica Schneider. Following are edited excerpts from their discussion:

Q: Who’s the best candidate for Cornell’s B-school?
A: Someone who’s a leader. We look for a candidate who isn’t only going to succeed in our program academically, but who is going to lead. There’s a distinct leadership quality we look for: being able to assess a situation and seize opportunities or create new ones that have positive results for an organization. This requires independent thinking and collaboration. Both qualities are valued at the Johnson School. There are many people who can reach a goal, but we look for that extra something — the ability to make a difference.
Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Storer, director of admissions at the Boston University School of Management (Boston University Full-Time MBA Profile), has a decade of admissions experience to his credit, including a stint at the Harvard School of Public Health and four years at BU. In a conversation with BusinessWeek’s Rachel Z. Arndt, Storer talks about the great GMAT myth and why BU’s international diversity makes the School of Management stand out. An edited version of the conversation follows. Read the rest of this entry »