B

Blog: Admissions Consulting

2014 AIGAC MBA Applicant Survey Now Available

May, 30, 2014


The 2014 AIGAC MBA Applicant Survey is now available. The full version of the survey analysis is here.   I want to thank my clients and readers who made application in 2014 for contributing to the survey results.  Those making application for 2015 admission will find the survey worth reviewing in order to understand the […]


READ MORE

Adam in P&Q’s “What MBA Admission Consultants Charge”

May, 28, 2014


My perspective on why hourly rates instead of per school packages are fair was given extensive coverage in Poets & Quants.


READ MORE

Beating the Competition, Gaining MBA Admission: Averages & the 80% Range

May, 17, 2014


 This is the second post in a series. In the first post, I looked at competition from the macro-level of Acceptance Rates, Number of Applicants, Number of Enrolled, and Yield.   Given the global nature of my client base and my experience over the past twelve and half years, I am able to assess the competition […]


READ MORE

Columbia MBA Essays for January and August 2015 Admission

May, 16, 2014


Whoever designed Columbia Business School’s The MBA Application Process webpage deserves a design award. If you have not done so, take a look at that page. It does a really nice job laying out the admissions process in a visually appealing way. Columbia Business School has modified their MBA application essay set, but only one question has […]


READ MORE

Columbia Business School MBA Recommendation for January and August 2015 Admission

May, 16, 2014


In this post I analyze the Columbia Business School MBA recommendation MBA for January and August 2015 admission.  For my analysis of the MBA application essays and whether to select J-term Class of 2016 or August Class of 2017, please see here. For my analysis of Columbia Business School application interviews, please see here.   Before reading my […]


READ MORE

GMAT or GRE? Both?

May, 11, 2014


While I have had very few clients apply to MBA programs with a GRE rather than a GMAT score,  as Poets & Quants’ John Byrne reports in “GRE Gaining Ground On The GMAT“, it is clear that is GRE becoming a real alternative to the GMAT. GRE is now important enough that US News & World […]


READ MORE

Beating the Competition, Gaining MBA Admission: Macro-Numbers

May, 09, 2014


Clients frequently ask me to assess their chances for MBA admission.  They want to know how they compare with their competition. They want to know how to beat their competition.  This is an extremely reasonable request.  After all, admission to top MBA programs or other competitive graduate programs is a zero sum game: You get […]


READ MORE

On travel, visiting MBA programs, and other things

May, 08, 2014


In this post, I discuss a number of things mostly relating to me.  I don’t do this sort of thing often, but now seemed to be a good time. Since June of 2013, my wife and I have been living in different cities in order to expand our perspectives and live (not just travel) in […]


READ MORE

Advice for Family Business MBA Applicants

May, 07, 2014


Amongst the many different types of clients I work with, applicants whose careers and/or future goals are related to their family businesses have special advantages and challenges. My family business clients have come from very diverse backgrounds.  I have had applicants whose families controlled businesses that were quite small, $1 million or less in annual sales, […]


READ MORE

The “Hidden Essays” in Recent MBA Applications

Apr, 29, 2014


One marketing gimmick, used the world over, is tell potential customers/applicants/survey test takers how easy it is to complete an application for whatever.  I can’t prove that the Business School Admissions offices that I mention in this post had car insurance ads or membership card applications or “Please Take this Survey” requests in mind when […]


READ MORE


Latest from the Blog