Four Things that Make the Yale MBA Program Unique

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we look at four traits that make the Yale School of Management unique among top business schools. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Yale SOM research.)

The Yale School of Management discovered that the "silo" approach to teaching -– where each discipline is compartmentalized into the traditional areas of Marketing, Finance, Economics, Operations, and so on –- does not fully prepare students for the realities of 21st Century business needs. The silo approach was successful in the past when careers were developed by vertical movement within one specialized discipline. However, in today's environment, successful management careers no longer have boundaries, as they require expertise in each discipline in a cross-functional manner.

What follows are four things you need to know before you apply to Yale SOM:

1. Organizational Perspectives. In light of the program's philosophical shift, SOM has completely overhauled its core curriculum to allow for the complete integration of the disciplines in a manner more representative of the problems managers will face in the world of business. The core curriculum is now broken into eight multidisciplinary areas referred to as Organizational Perspectives. These perspectives focus on issues encountered both inside and outside the firm in a relevant context.


2. Increased International Focus. In addition to the new core, first-year students are now also required to travel to one of several destinations in the world as part of the International Experience Destinations program. These trips allow students to study their businesses of interest within another culture and setting. The trip is linked to the spring course State and Society and the year-long Leadership Development Program. This furthers SOM's long-standing history of maintaining a global perspective. The diverse student body is celebrated in October of each year through International Month as presentations are given by members of each parts of the global community. The culmination of the month-long celebration is the pot-luck dinner where students provide dishes that represent their cultures and styles of cuisine.


3. Hands-on Instruction. The faculty has embraced a hands-on teaching philosophy to augment SOM's new curriculum. Instructors routinely solicit student contributions in the classroom, rather than just delivering rote lectures. They also address social responsibility and corporate governance issues to maintain the school's long-held commitment to ethical behavior. Classes run the gamut from case method and lecture to student-oriented projects and presentations. Business leaders from all sectors often lead class discussions and interact with students to discuss real-world problems and potential solutions. It is commonplace to see team project competitions judged by the very business leaders who faced the same issues in real life.


4. "Raw Case" Approach. Yale SOM offers a unique version of the popular case method teaching style, known as the "Raw Case" approach to management education. Most case method programs use what are commonly referred to as "cooked" cases (or "closed" cases) that are packaged and synthesized before use. Yale SOM has developed its own set of cases which are housed on a multimedia platform and feature the types of open-ended, "fuzzy" source materials that a professional might encounter while analyzing a problem. It requires Yale students to sift through all the data and information to find what is pertinent and what can be ignored. Distilling information is often one of the most challenging aspects of real world problem solving and Yale SOM is attempting to teach its students how to jump over this hurdle before diving into an analysis.

Today's blog post was clipped from our Yale SOM Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Yale or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Six Terrific Professors at Michigan (Ross)

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we look at six of the Ross School of Business' most popular professors. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Ross research.)

The Ross faculty is populated with many prominent business leaders, researchers, and teachers. Among Ross students, there are a handful of professors who are considered a "must" to have for a class, due to their reputation both as educators and as experts. This list isn’t merely a collection of famous names, but rather the instructors that Ross students deem to be essential for the full experience.

These notable professors include:

• Aneel Karnani, Associate Professor and Chair of Strategy. Known among Ross students as a "tell it like it is" straight shooter, Professor Karnani is most notorious for his ongoing academic battle with fellow Ross faculty member C.K. Prahalad. The two have been going back and forth about a concept known as "bottom of the pyramid" (exploring the market potential of the world's poorest people) for years.
  What students appreciate most is how candid Professor Karnani is about his work and his viewpoints and how willing he is to discuss somewhat controversial positions in class. All of this takes place as part of his interest in global competition – one of his two chief areas of research and instruction, with the other being basic strategic management.


• M.P. Narayanan, Professor and Chair of Finance. Professor Narayanan teaches in both the full-time MBA and EMBA programs at Ross and specializes in capital management and strategic growth. Known to pick up a racket and swing it with some of his students, Professor Narayanan is known and loved for making finance as simple and easy to understand as possible. His stated goal is to help students "connect the dots" between simple concepts and complex outcomes and he often does that through clever and entertaining metaphors.


• Christie Nordhielm, Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing. Recruited away from Kellogg in 2004 after being one of students' favorites there year after year, Professor Nordhielm is well known for her "Big Picture" method for strategically breaking down marketing problems. In fact, she was one of the first pieces in Dean Robert J. Dolan's vision for the school, which was to teach students how to be thought and action leaders in every segment of business. Having known about Professor Nordhielm's revolutionary framework (formally known as The Big Picture: Integrating Marketing Strategy and Execution), Dolan made it his first order of business to nab Kellogg's 2003 Professor of the Year. At Ross, Professor Nordhielm is teaching her marketing framework to not only individual classes and sections (as she did at Kellogg), but also to the entire faculty. With a style suggestive of her early career in advertising (at Leo Burnett), Professor Nordhielm is a engaging speaker who also presents seminars to top companies as well as to the Ross Executive Program (run through the Marketing Center for Excellence, which she also heads up). Finally, she is also a singer and songwriter who often has friends over to her house for an evening of singing. While she is extremely available to students, she draws the line at the singing parties.


• Andrew Hoffman, Holcim Professor of Sustainable Enterprise. Professor Hoffman teaches at both Ross as well as the School of Natural Resources & Environment, and also serves as the Associate Director of the Erb Institute. He has published seven books and over 70 articles on sustainability and is a thought leader in every conceivable area of environmental impact on business. That said, Professor Hoffman's actually most popular for his Bargaining Behavior and Influence Skills course which almost always has the highest "market clear" price under the Ross bidding system. In some years, it will take more than half of a student's bid points to land a spot in Professor Hoffman's class.


• Gautam Ahuja, Professor of Strategy. A much decorated professor at the University of Texas, Ahuja has continued to rack up awards since coming to Michigan in 2003, where he was named the best professor in the entire PhD program in 2004. He is often cited by Ross students as a favorite professor despite his broad involvement in multiple programs and his research on innovation and technology as it relates to strategy has been groundbreaking.


• Linda Lim, Professor of Strategy. Often described as "plugged in," Professor Lim is a foremost expert on Southeast Asia and aims most of her research at that area of the world. Known for bringing her research to the classroom, Professor Lim's students enjoy looking at multinational problems from multiple angles, and often find themselves discussing her op-ed pieces or interviews from major publications. Her World Economy course is a very popular option for those students seeking to complete one of Ross' unique strategy requirements for graduation.

Today's blog post was clipped from our Ross Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Ross or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Chicago Booth to Eliminate PowerPoint Essay Question

A new BusinessWeek article titled Business Schools Revamp the Application investigates how some schools are breaking with tradition and exploring new approaches to the MBA admissions process. In some cases it's a matter of moving deadlines earlier or accepting the GRE in addition to the GMAT, while in others cases some schools are replacing traditional written essays with audio and video responses.

All interesting stuff, but what we actually found most intriguing was the fact that Chicago Booth will drop its PowerPoint question this coming admission season (2010-2011). This questions had been a staple of Booth's application for the past couple of years, but apparently it wasn't doing what the school had intended, so they put it out to pasture.

According to the article:

For the past few years, Booth has asked candidates to provide a PowerPoint presentation to show another side of themselves to the admissions committee. Although the committee has decided to eliminate the PowerPoint presentations starting with applications for the 2010-11 academic year, a new component -- as yet undisclosed -- will likely be in place this summer, says Rosemaria Martinelli, associate dean of student recruitment and admissions at Booth. The new addition to the admissions process may be something that MBA applicants will have to do after they get through an initial screening process, says Martinelli.

The PowerPoint slides didn't work, Martinelli says, because they became rote and entirely too easy to predict, They didn't showcase the applicant's personality and help the admissions committee determine who is and isn't a good fit, she said, adding that she hopes the new application procedure will do just that. "It's hard for us, especially when so much of the applicant pool is admissible," says Martinelli. "It comes down to who fits the life, spirit, and culture of an institution."

When a school adds or changes or deletes an essay question, it's a sign that the admissions office isn't quite getting what it needs. When reviewing every application, two main questions that goes through an admissions officer's mind are, "How well does this applicant fit with the school?" and "What about this applicant makes me want to choose him over other, similar applicants?" If a question generates similar answers from hundreds of applicants, or doesn't add anything new to most applicants' stories, then it's not getting the job done.

We suspect that many applicants' PowerPoint slides were nothing more than recaps of the rest of their applications, offering not much in the way of personality or useful information. This definitely wasn't the case for everyone -- some of our clients got into Chicago Booth this year with terrific PowerPoint slides -- but odds are that not enough applicants took full advantage of the medium, so Booth will move on.

Still, kudos to the school for trying something new. Also, we're very intrigued by the "may be something that MBA applicants will have to do after they get through an initial screening process" comment... The natural move would be for Booth to follow schools such as UCLA Anderson and offer a video or audio component. But, maybe it will be something else entirely, and maybe it will be something used as the admissions interview is used -- to get to know an applicant better after the school likes what it initially sees. We'll find out this summer, when Chicago Booth releases its application for the 2010-2011 admissions season.

For more advice on getting into Chicago Booth and other top business schools, download our Annual Reports, 15 completely free guides to the world's top MAB programs. And, as always, be sure to subscribe to this blog and to follow us on Twitter!

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Four Important Characteristics of the Duke MBA Program

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top MBA programs, this week we investigate a few things that make Duke's approach to graduate management education unique. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Fuqua School of Business research.)

Like most elite business schools, Duke is focused on providing hands-on learning opportunities, global perspective, and a flexible curriculum. What makes Duke somewhat different is that the school is focused most of all on collaborative leadership. Other than Kellogg and perhaps UCLA Anderson, few business schools can cite that as the program's most distinguishing feature to the degree that Fuqua can.

With that in mind, the following are the key elements of the Duke Approach:

• Collaborative Leadership. Teamwork and leadership are common in every aspect of the Duke MBA experience from inside the classroom to clubs and activities. Each class includes group projects as a learning tool, so the ability to lead and work in a group environment is essential for success at Fuqua. Outside of the classroom, students are encouraged and almost expected to assume a leadership role in a club, activity, or Fuqua-related event. Fuqua is truly a student run program, which generates numerous opportunities to lead projects or even create new ones.


• Global Perspective. "Global" is a major MBA buzzword in this day and age, but few schools boast an international emphasis and flavor that rivals that of Fuqua. Each incoming MBA class begins with "Global Institute," a one-of-a-kind program that runs for three weeks prior to the first term and introduces students to the global business environment and the world economy structure. Students discuss current global business issues and are exposed to diverse backgrounds and perspectives while also gaining exposure to more traditional "orientation" concepts such as leadership and team building. Fuqua also offers study abroad programs and the increasingly popular "Global Academic Travel Experience," a course where students study international business trends from select regions and then travel to designated locations for hands-on experience.


• Diversity of Instruction. As has become increasingly common among innovative business schools, Duke's courses feature a blended teaching approach that includes an almost equal distribution of case studies, lectures, and team projects. Each class is typically two hours and fifteen minutes long, allowing ample time for a highly interactive case discussion, followed by a course lecture. Duke professors conduct leading research and are adept at integrating relevant and topical business issues into every class. Team projects are absolutely an integral part of each course, and select groups are called upon to present insights and strategic recommendations as a way to launch a class discussion. Class participation is expected and is a prominent grading criterion.


• Experiential Learning. While Duke does not boast of an experiential learning program as robust as that of Ross or Tuck, Fuqua does offer numerous courses which help students convert theory into application. These classes provide knowledge and experience by assisting real-world businesses in such areas as consulting, strategic planning, marketing strategy and business plan development. Faculty members guide and participate in strategy sessions with the students to reinforce the translation of academic concepts to real world solutions.

Today's installment was clipped from our Duke (Fuqua) Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Fuqua or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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INSEAD's Two-Campus Approach to Business Education

The final deadline for INSEAD's September, 2010, intake is still is still a month away, and there's still plenty of time for you to craft a successful INSEAD application. Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we take a closer look at life on each of INSEAD's two main campuses. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free -- all you have to do is register to access all of them -- but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your INSEAD research.)

As part of INSEAD's commitment to providing an MBA education with a truly international perspective, the 10-month MBA program is run concurrently on two campuses, located in Europe and Asia:

• European Campus: Fontainebleau. The town of Fontainebleau -- referred to by INSEAD students as "Fonty" -- has been a fashionable weekend getaway for the French aristocracy since the 16th Century due the town's location in the middle of one of Western Europe's largest forests. The forest provides extensive opportunities for walks, running, biking and rock climbing. The INSEAD campus contains 28 lecture halls, two restaurants, a bar, a bookshop, a gym, squash courts and extensive library resources. Additionally, INSEAD is just a ten-minute walk from the center of town. Fontainebleau itself is dominated by the massive Chateau de Fontainebleau, which served as a "hunting lodge" for French rulers from Francois I to Napoleon, who was escorted from the Chateau's grand horseshoe staircase into exile on Elba (from which he would eventually return).
  
  MBA students in Fontainebleau must make their own arrangements for accommodation, which range from apartments in the town itself to rented country houses and private chateaux that dot the surrounding countryside. Most INSEAD students rent a car during their stay, which is virtually a necessity. When you tire of French country living, Paris is only 40 miles away to the North and provides everything you would expect from one of the world's global capitals. If you have never visited, prepare to be dazzled. Given the amount of traffic, the trip typically takes about 90 minutes.
  
  Paris can be difficult to navigate by car unless you are a native, so don't forget your GPS. Train service to Paris is available from the neighboring town of Avon. During breaks, MBA participants in Fontainebleau explore France's wine regions, lay on the beach in St. Tropez, ski at Courchevel or go on shopping trips to Milan, where there are many bargains to be had. Barcelona and London are also popular weekend and holiday destinations.



• Asian Campus: Singapore. In contrast to INSEAD's European campus, the Asian campus in Singapore is located in one of the world's most highly urban settings. The campus accommodates 950 students and includes lecture halls, a library, meeting rooms, extensive workspaces and a fully equipped fitness center. As in Europe, MBA students in Singapore make their own accommodation arrangements, which range from modern condominiums with swimming pools and tennis courts, to government-subsidized apartments. The MBA office has a listing of local real estate agents and landlords who can assist with the housing search.
  
  Singapore is a bustling, modern city-state that combines Chinese, Indian, Malay and British culture. It is known for its fantastic shopping, a wide array of culinary experiences and an impressive selection of cultural events. Sentosa Island is a popular island resort that includes a dizzying selection of recreational facilities including volleyball, inline skating, cycling, canoeing, miles of tropical beaches, two golf courses, a butterfly park and an oceanarium, to name just a few. After dark, Singapore has a lively nightlife. Fortunately it is all a breeze to explore—getting around Singapore is both easy and cheap thanks to the city's excellent public transportation system. The INSEAD campus is located a short distance from the subway, buses run frequently and taxis are plentiful and cheap.
  
  MBA participants take advantage of their breaks and weekends to explore South East Asia, with visits to Bali, Angkor Wat and Bangkok being the most popular. The Indonesian island resort of Bintan is only a 45-minute ferry ride away.

This week's installment was clipped from our INSEAD Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for INSEAD or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Six Must-Have Professors at Chicago Booth

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we take a look at six professors who have earned Chicago Booth students' love. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Booth research.)

Among Chicago Booth students, there are a handful of professors who are considered "must-haves" during one's time in Hyde Park. Note that, while Booth is best known for finance, some of the school's most popular professors come from other departments:

• Sanjay Dhar - Professor Dhar primarily teaches the basic marketing strategy class and is very active in all Chicago Booth MBA programs. Professor Dhar makes this list because his passion in teaching is infectious. He makes the effort to truly know his students and it is not uncommon for Professor Dhar to have all 65 (or more) students in his class remove their name cards so he may recite their names back on the first day of class. Dhar is the recipient of several awards such as the McKinsey Award for Teaching Excellence in 2000, and was cited among the outstanding faculty in BusinessWeek's Guide to the Best Business Schools.


• Steven Kaplan - Professor Kaplan primarily teaches entrepreneurial finance and private equity. A quarter does not go by without students complaining that they were unable to get into his class prior to graduation. His courses are highly completive choices during the bidding process and students are only able to take his courses late in their program, when they have accumulated enough point "wealth." Professor Kaplan consistently attains top scores in Chicago Booth's internal faculty rankings by students over the last decade.


• Eugene Fama - The percentage of students who take Professor Fama's class is relatively small, but the reason for this is that his course content is highly specific, highly rigorous, and has a scope that may go beyond the average Booth student's interest. Professor Fama has been called the "father of modern finance." Professor Fama is highly respected both in academic circles and in the outside investment community. Taking a "Fama course" and doing well does wonders for the credibility of a Booth graduate in the field of finance, but truth be told, only highly skilled Booth students with an interest in analytical finance tend to enjoy his classes.


• Art Middlebrooks - Art Middlebrooks is a prime example of a great adjunct faculty member. His teaching method of "learning by doing" is appropriate in his services marketing and product marketing classes. As a Booth alumnus, he really connects well with his students and continually gets top marks in faculty evaluations. Mr. Middlebrooks is also the current Executive Director of the Kilts Center for Marketing and is the coauthor of Innovating the Corporation and Market Leadership Strategies for Service Companies.


• Harry Davis - Harry Davis is the type of professor who brings balance and perspective to the MBA experience. His Business Policy course is not at all the typical Chicago Booth fare.
  While most courses at Booth tend to dominate the left brain, Professor Davis focuses more on right brain activity: being intuitive, holistic, and metaphorical. Part of the Chicago Booth faculty since the mid-1960s, Professor Davis was once co-dean of the program and was integral to Booth's push to establish campuses in other countries. Booth is not really known for emphasizing leadership topics, yet Professor Davis does just that.


• James Schrager - James E. Schrager's New Venture Strategy is another highly sought-after course at Chicago Booth. His credibility in the business community equals his reputation as
  a faculty member at Booth and his expertise is on display in multiple mainstream media formats, such as the Wall Street Journal and various major television networks. Booth students across the board absolutely love taking his class.

Today's blog post was clipped from our Chicago Booth Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Chicago, Harvard, Kellogg, or any other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions consultant today!

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Five Things That Make UCLA Anderson Unique

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top MBA programs, this week we investigate a few things that make UCLA Anderson's approach to graduate management education unique. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Anderson research.)

UCLA Anderson's methodology is composed of a multi-faceted approach primarily delivered through lectures. The following are five key aspects of a UCLA Anderson education that comprise the framework of the MBA experience:

• The UCLA Anderson Culture. The emphasis on teamwork inside and outside of the classroom is the hallmark of the UCLA Anderson experience and the foundation for the rest of the school's approach. Student collaboration and leadership within teams is the attribute that ties everything together at UCLA Anderson. There are several schools with great student cultures – NYU Stern is known for the way students look out for each other during the job search process and Duke Fuqua is legendary for the enthusiasm on display from the various student groups – but Anderson's culture is largely unmatched, save perhaps for Kellogg. In fact, Anderson and Kellogg can often seem very similar in this one area of true collaboration and a spirit of teamwork that runs through the entire program.


• Diversity of Coursework within a Generalist Approach. The classroom approach at UCLA Anderson mirrors its general curriculum. While students may focus on a certain subset of course work, there are no declared specialties or designations. With the 10 core classes, students are expected to collaborate with other team members, each from differing professional backgrounds and skills sets. By putting everyone on the same page, the core offers a base of skills that are as much lessons in human relations and cooperation as they are on a given subject matter. Beyond the core, students will gravitate towards a multitude of electives in eight specialty areas. These eight areas include Consulting, Entertainment and Media Management, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, Operations, and Real Estate.


• A Practical Approach to Learning. Many elite business schools offer its students the chance to study in the field and to get real world experience, but few incorporate the mantra of "learning by doing" to the degree of UCLA. The crux of this approach is the Applied Management Research project (AMR). The AMR project is conducted in teams of 4-6 students during the second year and represents a capstone to the UCLA Anderson experience. From the number of students who participate in business plan competitions to unique classroom opportunities to creating and test new technologies, UCLA Anderson allows every student to find a way to put their theoretical learning to the real world test. The school offers a nearly unparallel variety of courses and labs that focus almost entirely on learning by doing.


• Leadership and Social Responsibility. As mentioned above, UCLA Anderson puts a great deal of focus on leadership and a commitment to community. This applies to the admissions process, but also to the coursework and educational experience as the school attempts to elevate good leaders to great ones. Specific leadership courses and a pre-term orientation course, Leadership Foundations, bring this approach to the curriculum. Prominent programs and organizations such as the Riordan Programs and Challenge for Charity offer students the opportunity to explore concepts surrounding social responsibility.


• A Global Perspective. Like many top business schools, UCLA can boast an increasingly global approach to its learning environment and coursework. The student body is comprised of students from 40 different countries and the school has focused coursework and experiential learning opportunities specific to the global landscape, such as the Global Access Program, Advanced International Exchange Program, and Special Topics in Management courses that focus on emerging economies.

Today's installment was clipped from our UCLA Anderson Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for UCLA or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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A Closer Look at Tuck's Academics

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we look at a few of the distinguishing characteristics of academic life at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Tuck research.)

The Tuck School combines theoretical and experiential learning with a focus on leadership, teamwork and globalization. These elements inform each and every aspect of the Tuck academic experience as well as the type of recruitment that occurs on campus. Many come to visit the school or even begin the program expecting to find a laid back "summer camp" atmosphere, but while the culture is uniquely close-knit, the academic workload is actually very intense and focused.

Below are a few things that you should know about Dartmouth's academics before applying:

Teaching Philosophy
Tuck is one of the few business schools (along with HBS and Darden) that uses the case method teaching style as the predominate method, especially for core courses during the first year. Sixty percent of the core is taught via the case method, with the balance of the classes featuring the usual business school alchemy of straight forward lectures, experiential learning, and group projects.

One of the most interesting things about Tuck is that while it is a fairly case method-heavy school, it is also at the forefront of experiential learning, as discussed in the Tuck approach. An entire term of the first year is devoted to the First Year Project, which is experiential learning at its finest.

Class Organization
Each incoming class at Tuck is divided into four sections of approximately 60 students each. These sections are randomly assigned, although Tuck makes sure that each section has a balanced mix of backgrounds. Every term, the sections are reassigned so that at the end of the first year, students have worked closely with everyone in their class. Study groups in the first year are also assigned by the MBA Program Office to ensure a balance of professional expertise and background diversity. One twist on the typical section model is that during first year, study groups change each term. In the second year, students can pick their elective courses and their study groups.

Core Classes
Tuck provides a solid general management curriculum in the first year to prepare its students for any role in business. Recognized for its academic rigor, Tuck's 32-week first year core is longer than at other schools. In addition to the core classes below, first year students participate in the aforementioned group project and can select two elective courses in the Spring Term.

In some instances, students who can prove a level of proficiency in a specific subject may receive an exemption from a core class. These waivers are granted on a case-by-case basis by the Tuck faculty after review of any relevant certificates of proficiency (e.g., a CPA can opt out of accounting) or tests administered by the faculty and discussion.

Course Enrollment
At the end of the first year, Tuck distributes a list of upcoming electives for the second year. Students can rank courses in which they are interested. Based on interest levels, Tuck will sometimes provide a second section of a popular course. While Tuck can guarantee that students will get to take the courses that interest them the most, they cannot guarantee a specific professor. This is one of the huge benefits to Tuck's small size and personalized approach, as students are not forced to run through the bidding gauntlet or lottery systems present at so many other top schools.


Today's installment was clipped from our Tuck Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Tuck or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions consultant today!

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Six Must-Have Classes at Stanford GSB

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we take a look at six classes that are universally popular among Stanford GSB students. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Stanford research.)

Among Stanford GSB students, there are a handful of courses that are considered a "must" in order to have the full GSB experience. Not surprisingly, many of the top courses are related to entrepreneurship and venture capital, although there are a few that fall outside of that scope:

• Entrepreneurship and Venture Capitalwith Peter Wendell, Andrew Rachleff, and Eric Schmidt. Peter C. Wendell is the founder and a Managing Director of Sierra Ventures and has been recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the top 100 technology venture investors in the United States. The class is co-taught by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Andy Rachleff, founding General Partner of Benchmark Capital. This is one of the top classes at the GSB and provides an opportunity for second-year MBAs to learn about all aspects of the venture capital business from industry giants. This is a class known for its strong guest speakers and engaging class discussion. Also, the all-star faculty of entrepreneurship and Venture Capital is often willing to go to lunch with students after class.


• Managing Growing Enterprises with Professor Harold Grousebeck. Professor Grousebeck founded Continental Cablevision, where he served as Chairman until 1985, has served on numbers nonprofit and corporate boards, and is a principal owner of the Boston Celtics. His course places MBA students in the role of CEO and challenges them to deal with difficult managerial situations through a process assessment, prescription, and execution, including frequent role-playing. He brings a mixture of industry credibility and an engaging teaching style to the class, which sets the tone and brings out the best in his students. Grousebeck is well-known for coldcalling in almost every class. This course is a common "Round Zero" pick for Stanford students.


• Entrepreneurship and the Formation of New Ventures with Professor Garth Saloner and Professor Jim Phills. Professor Saloner is one of only two faculty members to twice win the Distinguished Teaching Award at the GSB, first in 1993 and again in 2008. He was recently named as the GSB's new Dean and was instrumental in designing the new curriculum. His focus is e-commerce, entrepreneurship, strategy and strategic management. He teaches the Entrepreneurship course with Jim Phills, who is the Director of the Center for Social Innovation at the GSB. There is another section of this course taught by Andrew Rachleff (another GSB favorite) which is more "tech heavy," but Garth Saloner is one of the best teachers at Stanford. Professors Saloner and Ellis are known to bring in a formidable line-up of speakers, many of whom are "GSB traditions" who visit year after year.


• Investment Management and Entrepreneurial Finance with Professor John McDonald. Professor McDonald is known internationally for his work on investment in the context of global equity markets. He is one of the first professors to serve as vice chairman of NASDAQ, and also represented the public's interest on the Board of Governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers in Washington, D.C. His private equity, venture capital and principal investing courses are some of the best at the GSB and provide insight into the grown of Silicon Valley and other venture capital hotbeds. This is not a technical finance course, but an opportunity for students to listen some of the best financial minds in the industry. It has been described by some students as one of the best finance speaker series in the world.


• Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability with Professor James Patell, Professor David Beach, and Professor David Kelly. This relatively new course, offered in conjunction with the Stanford School of Design ("d.school"), is quickly becoming one of the top course offerings at the GSB. It is difficult to get into and requires an application. However, the professors teaching the course are very enthusiastic and this helps create a great classroom atmosphere. Professor Patell is one of the seven core founding faculty of the d.school. He also served as the GSB's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1985 through 1991, and was Director of the MBA program from 1986 through 1988. The class takes place over two quarters. While the coursework is exceptionally demanding, it is known to be one of the most rewarding classes at the GSB because the work results in a tangible output and
  students get the experience of working on a project with a multidisciplinary team. Each year, several class projects are taken forward and have real-world impact. In 2006, a team won the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Challenge and $250,000. They launched their company, d.light designs, in June


• Interpersonal Dynamics. While its name marks it as one of the "softer" classes at the GSB, Interpersonal Dynamics (aka "Touchy-Feely") is a perennial favorite of GSB students. Almost all MBAs take this course at some point during their second year, with most taking it during the spring. If you have ever heard a GSB alumnus talking about their "t-group", then you know it is a not-to-be-missed part of the Stanford GSB experience. Interpersonal Dynamics is offered as part of the Stanford GSB's leadership curriculum and is focused on improving the way managers and individuals communicate.

Today's blog post was clipped from our Stanford GSB Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, or any other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions consultant today!

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Four Things That Set MIT Sloan Apart

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we look at four things that make MIT Sloan's MBA program unique among top business schools. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your MIT Sloan research.)

To help you get started with your Sloan application strategy, our MBA admissions consultants have pulled together five things you really should know about the school before you apply. Take these all into account when you start planning your Sloan application:

The MIT Sloan approach to the business school education can be summarized with the Institute's motto, "mens et manus", or "mind and hand." Both in and out of the classroom, it is very much a part of Sloan culture to learn by doing. MIT Sloan wants its students to not only possess a deep understanding of business management theories, but to also be well equipped to execute the practical application of these concepts. Below are some of the key elements of the MIT Sloan experience:

• Action-based Learning: While case studies and lectures have their place in the Sloan curriculum, there is an emphasis on action-based learning (commonly referred to at other programs as "experiential learning") as being one of the best ways to learn important business management lessons. Sloan offers a host of project based "lab" classes focused on global entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability, which pair student teams with companies and organizations around the world. The faculty also embraces the idea of learning by doing, whether piloting experimental classes to share their ground-breaking research, or making significant adjustments to flagship courses based on student and partner feedback. Going beyond theoretical discussion to take action is a deeply engrained aspect of the MIT Sloan culture.


• Collaboration: A lesser-known fact among many potential applicants is that MIT Sloan enjoys a deeply collaborative culture. From the first moments of the intense "Core Semester" experience, to the launch of fledgling start-ups upon graduation, the desire to work with and help out fellow students is shared by most Sloan students throughout their MBA experience. Sloan views the art of developing high-performing teams as crucial to addressing today's business challenges, and strives to cultivate effective teams and leaders through action-based learning in the field.


• Entrepreneurship and Self-direction: The MIT Sloan MBA program is customizable, allowing for each student to focus on developing specific leadership and analytical skill sets, while pursuing unique set of interests. Following the rigorous and intense experience of the first-semester Core, students are given the remaining 75 percent of their time at Sloan to craft their own curriculum. Sloan students tend to be proactive, creative, and comfortable with ambiguity. These entrepreneurial traits are all helpful in this environment, where each individual student has a higher degree of responsibility of making the most of their time at Sloan.


• Global Focus: The school boasts a well-respected global curriculum and actively seeks to further expand the MIT Sloan name and network around the world. Over the course of the two-year MBA program, most students will travel internationally as part of a Sloan sponsored project or trip, or on a student-organized event.

Today's installment was clipped from our MIT Sloan Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for MIT Sloan or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Five Things that Make Haas Unique

The third round deadline for UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business is still a few weeks away, but there's still plenty of time for you to craft a winning application. Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we look at a few of Haas's distinguishing characteristics. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free -- all you have to do is register to access all of them -- but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Haas research.)

• The Haas Culture: An emphasis on collaboration inside and outside of the classroom is the cornerstone of the Haas experience. Small groups are formed in practically all classes, allowing students to exercise different team roles based on their interests and areas of expertise. Versatility is often a prized attribute of Haas students in the eyes of employers, and is one reason why the school tends to enjoy such success placing graduates into a broad range of industries and functions.


• Technology: One of Haas' truly distinctive elements is the school's focus on technology and its ability to place students into the tech industry. Haas sends 30% of each graduating class into the tech sector, which is not only the highest percentage among elite business schools, but is also twice that of the next closest programs (Ross and MIT Sloan). This emphasis, combined with Berkeley's tradition for innovation, leads to truly unique programs such as the school's latest push for the commercialization of clean technology. Student members of the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative have teamed up with scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) to create a program called Cleantech to Market (C2M) which sends five student teams out each year to study the commercial opportunities that might arise out of the various clean energy technologies under development at LBNL.


• Leading Through Innovation: One of the principles that a visiting student is likely to encounter at Haas is the idea of "Leading Through Innovation." Born out of current dean Rich Lyon's time as the Chief Learning Officer at Goldman Sachs, the Haas approach to developing leadership is to establish confidence without breeding attitude. The school accomplishes this by providing a combination of theoretical and experiential learning opportunities that develops strong confidence and judgment for real-life situations. The experiential learning offerings at Haas range from the "Haas@Work" program, which puts student groups into actual company projects, to the International Business Development (IBD) program, a global management consulting initiative. Overall, Haas provides students with two overlapping skill sets: an ongoing emphasis on leadership and a toolkit of knowledge and relationships that provide the foundation for effective decision making.


• Social Responsibility: Haas prides itself on being the preeminent educational institution for research, teaching, experiential learning, and community outreach in areas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Woven into the core curriculum, Haas offers more than a dozen different programs and initiatives around social responsibility and business sustainability.


• Global Reach: Nearly every business school currently espouses a "global perspective," but Haas is one of the few that combines its international focus with its emphasis on experiential learning. IBD places students (the number of spaces in the program is set to double, from 80 to 160 per year) in all corners of the world for a three-week consulting project. This program allows students to confront and solve business challenges in unknown business settings, forcing the students to apply innovative thinking and problem solving skills while developing a global business mindset.

This advice was clipped from our Haas Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Haas or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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A Closer Look at Wharton's First-Year Core Classes

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we take a closer look at Wharton's first-year core MBA curriculum. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Wharton research.)

Like most top business schools, The Wharton School aims to lay a strong foundation in general management that will prepare students to face a range of business issues throughout their careers. First-year students are required to attend a one-month "Pre-Term" session prior to the official start of the school year. Pre-Term, which begins in late-July or early-August each year, features several introductory and review courses in financial accounting, microeconomics, statistics, and financial analysis. There is also an optional math review course offered to those students whose math skills are rusty or who never took a college level calculus or statistics course.

The idea of Pre-Term is to level the playing field and ensure that there is a common knowledge base on which to build over the course of the program. In addition to the academic elements of Pre-Term, there is also a two-day, off-campus retreat designed to introduce students to members of their learning team and to begin the practice of leading in a peer environment.

Beyond Pre-Term, The first year is defined by the core curriculum, which all students are required to take. Wharton operates on a quarter system, with most courses lasting only a quarter and some the full semester (combination of quarter one and quarter two, or Q1 and Q2). The core-curriculum is divided into three areas: Leadership Essentials, Analytical Foundations, and Core Business Fundamentals.

Earning a Wharton MBA requires a minimum of 19 credit units (referred to as "cu's" around Wharton) of graduate-level courses. There is flexibility within that requirement to take up to 4 cu outside of the Wharton program and students may also waive out of most (although not all) of the core courses on the basis of prior coursework or experience in a given subject. Students can waive course in one of two ways: by waiver application and through the waiver exam process. All waived credits, however, must be replaced by electives to meet the minimum 19cu requirement. Roughly 65 percent of first-year students waive out of at least one core course, which allows them to take advantage of one of over 200 electives offered.

In addition to the core courses, first year students can also pursue the optional Global Immersion elective, which is a four-week immersion experience in one of several different regions of the world immediately following the spring semester of the first year. Once all core course requirements have been satisfied, students can begin to explore the roughly 200 elective offerings across 19 different majors. This typically begins in the second year, but should a student waive out of courses in the first year, those credit units can be satisfied with electives.

Today's blog post was clipped from our Wharton Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Wharton or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Six Professors You Should Know at Columbia Business School

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we look at six of Columbia Business School's most popular professors. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Columbia research.)

Every top-tier business school has its list of star faculty whom the students adore. The Columbia faculty is populated with many prominent business leaders, researchers, and teachers. Among Columbia students, there are a handful of professors who are considered a "must" to have for a class, due to their reputation both as educators and as experts:

Must-Have Professors at Columbia Business School

• Bruce Greenwald, Robert Heilbrunn Professor of Finance and Asset Management. Among Columbia's luminaries, few professors have reached the rock star or guru level of Finance Professor Bruce Greenwald. In addition to being the leading authority on value investing -- or, as the New York Times put it, "the guru to the wall street gurus" -– Professor Greenwald is an expert on productivity and information economics. The titles of his classes suggest the range of his interests: Value Investing; Economics of Strategic Behavior; and Globalization & Markets & the Changing Economic Landscape. Not only is he well versed on multiple subjects, but he's also a great teacher in the Socratic method -– students who are unprepared for class should be on high alert. Year in and year out, Professor Greenwald's classes are significantly oversubscribed, but about 650 students annually find a way into at least one of them.


• Michael Feiner, Professor. Michael Feiner, whose area of expertise is leadership and organizational behavior, embodies Columbia's emphasis on practice. Professor Feiner was a Columbia MBA who rose to become the top HR executive of Pepsico, before being lured to Columbia to captivate students with his insightful blend of theory and practice. Professor Feiner possesses a fearless ability to delve into disastrous, painful situations precisely because such negative object lessons can teach so much about how to manage people effectively. His book, The Feiner Points of Leadership, is a must-read on campus, as well as among alumni of the program.


• Laura Resnikoff, Senior Lecturer. Professor Resnikoff has a reputation for no-nonsense, focused courses that give students incredible access to leading players in the private equity field. She takes these relationships seriously, and instills that ethic in her students: if a class member is so much as a few seconds late to the appointed gathering time in the building lobby of a private equity firm, that student is out of luck, and might as well head back to campus. Those students who manage to make it on time are star-struck by the people they meet, and the ease with which student ideas are evaluated by experienced players in the field –- some of those ideas being nicely validated; others quite summarily shot down. Though not for the faint of heart, it is a situation many students clearly value, for competition to get into her classes is tough.


• Murray Low, Associate Professor of Management and the Director of the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center. Professor Low stands as one of the school's most adored teachers. Having started several successful companies himself, Professor Low now devotes himself to studying the context in which entrepreneurship occurs -– searching for causal links and debunking supposedly common sense links. He has helped to bolster the schools' reputation for turning out entrepreneurs who graduate both with viable business plans and funding, and who in turn circle back to help stoke the cauldron of creativity and process management back on campus.


• Gita Johar, Meyer Feldberg Professor of Business Professor Johar proves that not all beloved Columbia professors teach finance. She teaches courses on consumer psychology and cognition, and how these can be factored into marketing, branding, and advertising activities. Her seminars can entail highly specific "field trips," such as a trek to the Calvin Klein store on Madison Avenue to look for subtle design clues and consistencies than enable Calvin Klein to charge 10 to 20 times the price of a utilitarian garment. Her youthful, low-key style is a large factor in her growing popularity on campus.


• Laurie Simon Hodrick, A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics. Professor Simon Hodrick has a distinguished career bridging theory and practice. Selected as "One of Forty Under Forty" by Crain's Chicago (while she was a professor at Kellogg), Columbia lured her to New York both for her many prestigious fellowships and for her approachable, if demanding, teaching style. She has been awarded the Columbia University President's Medal for outstanding teaching, and students rave that what they learned about corporate finance and the market for corporate control from her has proved valuable over the course of their careers.

Today's blog post was clipped from our Columbia Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Columbia or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Five Things You Should Know When Applying to the Kellogg School of Management

The Kellogg School of Management's Round 2 deadline is a little more than a month away, but there's still plenty of time for you to craft a winning application. Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we look at a few factors that make Kellogg unique among top business schools. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free -- all you have to do is register to access all of them -- but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Kellogg research.)

To help you with your planning, our MBA admissions consultants have pulled together five things you really should know about Kellogg before you apply. Some are more obvious than others, but all are important things that mark the Kellogg experience:

• The Kellogg Culture. The emphasis on teamwork inside and outside of the classroom is the hallmark of the Kellogg experience, and is the foundation for the rest of the school’s approach. Student collaboration is the common attribute that ties everything together at Northwestern.


• Diversity of Coursework. Kellogg offers perhaps the most blended teaching approach of any of the top business schools, dividing its course styles into three nearly equal parts: case method, lectures, and team projects – all bolstered by the schools commitment to experiential learning. The classroom approach at Kellogg can often mirror the probing, theoretical approach of a top law school, as distinguished professors push MBA students to go beyond the rules of business by testing theories and assumptions. Classroom participation is one thing that all of Kellogg's class formats have in common.


• Experiential Learning. Many elite business schools offer their students the chance to study in the field and to get real world experience, but few incorporate the mantra of "learning by doing" to the extent that Kellogg does. From the number of students who participate in business plan competitions to unique opportunities to create and test new technologies, Kellogg allows every student to find a way to put their theoretical learning to the real world test. The school offers a nearly unparalleled variety of courses and labs that focus almost entirely on learning by doing.


• Leadership and Social Responsibility. As mentioned above, Kellogg puts a great deal of focus on leadership. This applies to the admissions process, but also to the coursework and educational experience as the school attempts to elevate good leaders to great ones. Specific leadership courses (Leadership in Organizations and Values and Crisis Decision Making) bring this approach to the curriculum, while a residence series brings in high-level executives as part of a speaking program to discuss leadership issues and concepts surrounding social responsibility. Additionally, the Business Leadership Club and the Kellogg Student Association rank among the most popular and important student groups at the school, and the Social Enterprise at Kellogg (SEEK) program was launched in 2005 to promote social development.


• Global Perspective. Like many top business schools, Kellogg boasts an increasingly global approach to its learning environment and coursework. A typical Kellogg class is composed of students from 40 different countries, and the school has focused coursework and experiential learning opportunities specific to the global landscape, such as the Global Lab, Global Initiatives in Management, and a requirement that every student take at least one course with a global focus.

Today's installment was clipped from our Kellogg Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Kellogg or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Three Things that Harvard Business School Looks For

Harvard Business School's Round 2 deadline is still almost two months away, but we know that thousands of applicants are already gearing up for their Round 2 HBS applications. We thought this would be a good time to share some snippets from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools. Our Annual reports are absolutely free -- all you have to do is register to access all of them -- but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your HBS research.

Today we break down the main characteristics that HBS looks for in its applicants. Obviously, HBS is highly selective and can afford to look for "perfect" candidates. In addition to the common metrics such as GPA and GMAT score, the school specifies a handful of qualities and traits that it seeks in an applicant.

Three things that HBS looks for may seem obvious, but are all extremely important in successfully applying to the school:

• Habit of Leadership. As mentioned in the HBS Approach, the business school is highly focused on leadership. Professional leadership experience is the most common and transferable, but extracurricular, personal, and community leadership accomplishments and qualities are recognized as well.


• Capacity for Intellectual Growth. This is the portion of the HBS admissions process that puts a candidate’s undergraduate performance (reputation of institution, major, course work, GPA, trends, and so on) and GMAT scores under a microscope, to ensure that the candidate can thrive in the demanding case method-based courses. While HBS does not state a preferred major or career path, it demands a comfort with and aptitude for quantitative, analytical, and communication skills.


• Engaged Community Citizenship. This element is as simple as it sounds: HBS is looking for people who have shown the ability to impact their communities and who will continue to do so both as a student and an alumnus. While this can be demonstrated in a host of settings and ways, paramount is a sincere commitment to helping others, viewed as an integral component of the responsibilities of leadership.

While demonstrating all three of these attributes won't guarantee that you'll earn a spot at Harvard Business School, NOT demonstrating these traits is a sure way not to gain admission. Think carefully about how persuasively you can demonstrate all of these attributes when you build your HBS application.

Today's installment was clipped from our HBS Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own candidacy, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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HBS Dean Jay Light on Harvard's Class Size

On Monday The Harbus ran an interview with HBS Dean Jay Light, covering a variety of important topics ranging from the school's push abroad to Harvard's reaction to the recent financial crisis. Most interesting for business school applicants, though, was Light's answer to a question about whether or not HBS plans to increase its class size any time soon.

A question about rumors that HBS will add another section and expand to 1,000 students per class seemed to touch a nerve with Light:

So facts-so let's talk some facts. Typically, we target 900 to 910 students. I don't see the class size increasing to anywhere near 1,000. This year the target was 2% higher, and we have about 937, for a few reasons:

First of all, the number of applications we had was up, with great quality applicants. The first round last year was up 25%. So we said wow, our admit rate is going to be one of the lowest we've had; does that make sense?

Secondly, we needed to because of what was going on in the financial markets and the endowment, to cut back on expenditures in the budget. So the question is, how do you reduce the net expenses of the MBA program while still holding fellowships steady? And our solution was to admit a few more students, and that allows you to keep the fellowships. In fact, we increased fellowships by $1 million last year. It was not necessarily an easy thing to do.

We appreciate the fact that he acknowledged that increasing the class size (and bringing in more tuition-paying students) helped HBS cover some budget issues. This is something that was widely assumed, and even given Harvard's financial might, there's no shame in admitting that the school needed to make some moves to improve its financial situation, as long as the product doesn't suffer.

Light went on to say that it's unlikely that HBS will add an 11th section any time soon, but he acknowledged that it's something they "talk about all the time." He even added that they in fact did consider adding a section, but decided against it this year.

Light explained that a classroom with 80-100 students is in fact more ideal than one containing 60 students. While Harvard Business School certainly knows the case study method better than anyone, this argument does seem a bit self-serving... If the school ever were to drop its class size, we could see them easily rolling out a new argument that they've found that 60 students is in fact the ideal size for a case-oriented classroom.

Ultimately, given the addition of the HBS 2+2 Program students and the continued growth in applicants to all top business schools, we expect that HBS will eventually add an additional section. 1,000 students is probably a mark that HBS will reach sooner rather than later.

For more information on applying to Harvard Business School, download Veritas Prep's free HBS Annual Report, which gives you in-depth information on life at HBS. And, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

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Five New Annual Reports Available!

Two weeks ago we introduced Veritas Prep Annual Reports, in-depth insider's guides to the world's most competitive MBA programs. We started out with ten Annual Reports, and at the time we said that there were five more on the way. Those five are now available for free download!

The new reports cover:

• Duke (Fuqua)


• Berkeley (Haas)


• INSEAD


• Dartmouth (Tuck)


• Yale

To access all 15 reports, just visit the Veritas Prep Annual Reports page and register for free. You'll receive an email including your download link, which you can use to access the reports.

For more help in the MBA admissions process, visit veritasprep.com or call us at 800-925-7737 and speak with an admissions expert today!

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Why We Created Veritas Prep Annual Reports

This past Friday we announced the launch of the best free resource that we've ever created for business school applicants: Veritas Prep Annual Reports, in-depth guides to ten of the world's top business (with five more soon to follow).

Response has been phenomenal so far, with hundreds and hundreds of reports already downloaded. While we thrilled with (and humbled by) how quickly they've taken off, we've received these questions a few times already: Why did we create our Annual Reports? How are these different from what's already "out there," on school web sites, in brochures, etc.? The answer is simple: When you research multiple top schools, pretty quickly they all start to sound the same. And, believe it or not, the schools themselves often unwittingly contribute to this problem!

In the MBA admissions process, a lot of emphasis is placed on knowing yourself -- your personal beliefs, your philosophy in how you approach your work, and your post-MBA plans and dreams all contribute to the case that you build in your MBA applications. This emphasis is well placed, since there's no way to truly show admissions officers who you are (and make them want to admit you) without first understanding what makes you tick.

While many applicants fail to demonstrate enough self-awareness, the challenge that you're even more likely underestimate is building a deep enough understanding of each of the business schools in which you are interested. Think about it: You have had more than 20 years to get to know yourself, and although self-reflection is challenging and sometimes uncomfortable exercise, you have plenty of material to work with. When researching business schools, though, you're probably starting from scratch.

Perhaps you start your research by looking at U.S. News & World Report's or BusinessWeek's business school rankings. Then maybe you ask around and see what your friends and family members think about the schools –- their opinions will usually either mirror the rankings ("Columbia? I've heard of that. You should go there."), or be shaped by their own person experiences ("Go to State. I did!"). Then you might cruise around some online message boards, where you can read hundreds of posts from other applicants who will tell you, "Harvard/Stanford/Wharton are the only schools worth going to." Before long, you'll realize that these folks don't know much more than you do, and it becomes yet another case study in the blind leading the blind.

So how can you break this cycle and dig deeper to get to know your target schools better? No doubt, many business schools' online resources (including virtual tours, admissions officer or student blogs, Twitter feeds, and chats) have come a long way in the past few years, and they provide no shortage of information on each school. There are also opportunities to meet with admissions officers at school-specific events and larger events such as the MBA Tour, Forte Foundation events, and QS World MBA Tour, where you can interact one-on-one with admissions officers and hear what the school looks for, straight from the horse's mouth. And, we still believe that the absolute best way to get to know an MBA program is to visit the campus -– doing a campus tour, sitting in on a class, and meeting some students are the most effective way to get to know a school.

While these resources are all valuable tools that you should use as you prepare your applications, the problem is that –- even when you hear directly from the schools -– many MBA programs start to sound the same. Pick up a brochure or visit the web site of any top-20 MBA program, and you will almost certainly see most of these mentioned: "A global perspective... An innovative, forward-thinking curriculum... Opportunities for hands-on learning..." Uh oh. You're getting this information straight from the source, and now they're really starting to sound the same. But that can't really be, right?

The reality is that these programs are indeed very different from one another, but each school's admissions officers, based on the pressure they're under to appear innovative and plugged into headline-making business trends, need to hit many of the same notes when marketing themselves. No top business school (that is trying to attract top business school applicants) wants to appear as if it doesn't have an answer to the question of "How do you give your students practical learning opportunities?” or "How has your school evolved its curriculum to give your students a more global view of business?" Hence the pressure for schools to touch on many of the same messages in their marketing, leaving you with the challenge of being able to tell one program apart from another.

Without a doubt, visiting a school and talking to its students is one effective way to overcome this challenge. Aside from that approach, which is obviously costly and time-consuming, your best bet is to go to a source that knows all of the top programs well and have the ability to separate mere marketing messages from what matters most at each program – both in terms of how the program is run and what admissions officers look for in applicants.

To meet this need, the admissions consulting team at Veritas Prep created Annual Reports, in-depth insider's guides to each of the top business schools. We have dug deep into 10 (soon to be 15!) of the world's most competitive MBA programs to identify what makes each school unique, helping you to determine how well you fit with each one. We've drawn upon our tens of thousands of combined hours of school research and admissions consulting -– and pulled in other recent graduates and current students where necessary -- to help you easily identify what matters, what doesn't, and how this information can help you get into your target MBA programs.

All of our Veritas Prep Annual Reports are absolutely free to anyone who visits the Veritas Prep Annual Reports page and registers. We recommend that you download them and use them as a starting point for your school research. If you're already well past the starting point, then use your Annual Reports to cross-check your facts and to make sure you're on the right path.

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Introducing Veritas Prep Annual Reports!

Today we introduce an important new resource for business school applicants: Veritas Prep Annual Reports, in-depth insider's guides to the world's top MBA programs, available free to everyone.

While there's no shortage of available information about the most competitive business schools, what we've found is that most of these schools tend to talk about the exact same things: "A global perspective... An integrated curriculum... Leadership... Hands-on learning..." Read any school web site or brochure, and you're sure to come away with at least two or three of the same traits or features. But they can't all really be the same, right?

That's where our new Annual Reports come in.

We've put our entire admissions consulting team to work to dig deep and find what makes each school unique: What are the school's strongest academic programs? What kind of student tends to thrive there? Who are some of the program's most popular courses and professors? And, maybe most importantly if you're an applicant trying to get into one of these schools: What qualities does the admissions office look for in its applicants?

Each report contains the combined knowledge of multiple admissions experts, current students, and recent alumni from a top business school. We've named them "Annual Reports" to demonstrate their timeliness -- every year we will update each report to reflect the latest news and trends at each school.

Today we launch our Annual Reports for ten top MBA programs:

• Chicago Booth


• Columbia


• Harvard


• Kellogg


• MIT Sloan


• NYU Stern


• Michigan (Ross)


• Stanford


• Wharton


• UCLA Anderson

... And five more will soon follow!

All you need to do is visit the Veritas Prep Annual Reports page and register for free. You'll receive an email including your download link, which you can use to access the reports. As we add more reports, check back and you will be able to access all of them.

For more help in the MBA admissions process, visit veritasprep.com or call us at 800-925-7737 and speak with an admissions expert today!

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