In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 2 activity on LiveWire; Harvard, Northwestern / Kellogg, Chicago / Booth, Berkeley / Haas, Washington / Foster, UCLA / Anderson, Texas / McCombs and London Business School were among the top MBA programs releasing decisions last week. For this upcoming week, Stanford, UPenn / Wharton, MIT / Sloan and Cornell / Johnson are scheduled to release their final decisions.

Graham highlighted the Spring Survey that Clear Admit conducts each season. These surveys are important to understand the decisions of each applicant-cohort. Here is the link for this season’s survey: https://bit.ly/casurvey25

Graham noted Clear Admit’s Application Overview series of events scheduled for May. These online events will be hosted on May 6 and 7, and May 20 and 21. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/appoverview25 Sandwiched in the middle of these events is Clear Admit’s MBA admissions fair in Boston, on May 14th. Twenty-four of the top 25 U.S.-based MBA programs are planning to attend. Signups for this event are here: https://bit.ly/mbafair2025

Graham noted a Clear Admit article that shines the spotlight on ESADE and their work to become carbon neutral. He then highlighted the first in a series of Clear Admit career trends articles, focused on Class of 2024 consulting placements at leading MBA programs. As we have reported over several episodes this season, consulting placements are generally down across the top MBA programs. However, consulting remains a critical industry for top MBA graduates - with most schools sending a third of their class into the domain. Graham then noted a Fridays-from-the-Frontlines feature that focuses on MBA students from London Business School who traveled to Singapore and explored sustainability efforts.

Graham highlighted four Real Humans alumni spotlights, alums from Duke / Fuqua working at McKinsey, Indiana / Kelley working at Microsoft, Michigan / Ross working at JP Morgan and Columbia working at Netflix.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is from the UK and now lives in the US. They have a 675 GMAT score, and a 3.1 GPA undergraduate degree, followed by a 3.8 GPA master’s degree in finance. Their focus is on real estate.

This week’s second MBA candidate is an electrical engineer who also has a master’s degree. They work in the semiconductor industry as a product manager; they also have a 675 GMAT score.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua (with a $40,000 scholarship), and Georgetown / McDonough. They are seeking a consulting career.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 2 activity on LiveWire; UNC / Kenan Flagler, Yale SOM and Georgetown / McDonough were among the top MBA programs scheduled to release Round 2 decisions last week. For this upcoming week, IESE, Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, Columbia, Chicago / Booth, Berkeley / Haas, UCLA / Anderson, Texas / McCombs, Washington / Foster, Boston College / Carroll, Michigan State / Broad, Imperial College and London Business School are releasing their final decisions.

Graham highlighted the Spring Survey that Clear Admit conducts each season. These surveys are important to understand the decisions of each applicant cohort. Here is the link for this season’s survey: https://bit.ly/casurvey25

Graham noted that we have now nearly finalized the line-up for our Application Overview series of virtual events in May. These events will be hosted on May 6 and 7, and May 20 and 21. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/appoverview25 Sandwiched in the middle of these events is Clear Admit’s MBA admissions fair in Boston, on May 14th. Twenty-four of the top 25 U.S.-based MBA programs are planning to attend. Signups for this event are here: https://bit.ly/mbafair2025 May truly kicks off the new season of MBA admissions at Clear Admit!

Graham mentioned a recently published admissions tip that offers a primer on the Executive Assessment test. This article is a result of the queries we are seeing on the Ask Clear Admit AI bot tool. Graham then highlighted a Real Humans alumni spotlight, an alum from NYU / Stern working at PepsiCo.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected three DecisionWire entries:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is choosing between Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, and UVA / Darden. They want to work in consulting on the west coast after business school.

This week’s second MBA candidate is choosing between Chicago / Booth’s EMBA program and Cambridge / Judge’s full-time program. They are from Japan and wish to begin a career in the United States.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, and Michigan / Ross. They want to work in tech in New York City. They have a $100k scholarship offer from Ross, and a $30k offer from Johnson.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the Round 2 activity on LiveWire; Dartmouth / Tuck, Emory / Goizueta, UVA / Darden, Michigan / Ross, Rice / Jones, Indiana / Kelley and Vanderbilt / Owen were among the top MBA programs releasing Round 2 decisions last week. For this upcoming week, UNC / Kenan Flagler, Yale SOM, Georgetown / McDonough and INSEAD are releasing their final decisions.

Graham highlighted the Spring Applicant Survey that Clear Admit conducts each season. These surveys are important to understand the decisions of each applicant cohort. Here is the link for this season’s survey: https://bit.ly/casurvey25 Graham also mentioned an AMA event that Clear Admit is hosting with NYU / Stern this week, on Wednesday. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/nyusternama

Graham noted that Clear Admit now has several admissions-related events for the month of May available on the website; this includes the MBA admissions fair Clear Admit is hosting in Boston, on May 14th. Twenty-four of the top 25 U.S.-based MBA programs are planning to attend. Signups for this event are here: https://bit.ly/mbafair2025

Graham mentioned two recently published articles by Clear Admit that focus on fellowships and community for women targeting business school and a similar piece highlighting support and funding options for minorities at the leading MBA programs. These articles also address the wider political context, in the United States, that makes these efforts more important. Graham then noted an admissions tip that focuses on choosing between MBA program options, post admissions decisions.

Graham also highlighted four Real Humans alumni spotlights, alums from Emory / Goizueta working at Deloitte, Rice / Jones working at Pfizer, Berkeley / Haas working at JP Morgan and UCI / Merage working at Microsoft.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected one ApplyWire entry and two DecisionWire entries:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is a military candidate who has a 331 GRE score. Their overall profile looks very strong; we want them to focus a little more on their short-term goal.

This week’s second MBA candidate is choosing between Arizona / Carey and USC / Marshall. They have a better scholarship offer at Carey.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Northwestern / Kellogg and Berkeley / Haas. They are looking to a career in consulting or tech.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; CMU / Tepper was among the top MBA programs releasing Round 2 decisions last week. For this upcoming week, Rice / Jones, UVA / Darden, Emory / Goizueta, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, Vanderbilt / Owen, Notre Dame / Mendoza, Georgia / Terry and Indiana / Kelley are releasing their Round 2 decisions. Minnesota / Carlson is releasing their Round 3 decisions.

Graham noted that Clear Admit now has several admissions-related events for the month of May; this includes the 2025 MBA Fair Clear Admit is hosting in Boston, on May 14th. Twenty-four of the top U.S.-based MBA programs are planning to attend. Signups for this event are here: https://bit.ly/mbafair2025

Graham mentioned two recently published articles by Clear Admit that focus on leading MBA programs’ efforts to support students who are focused on sustainability and social impact, both really important fields in the world in which we now live. Graham then highlighted a Real Humans alumni spotlight on an HBS alumni who is now working at American Express. He notes the real value of all the case studies he was exposed to during his MBA.

Graham also highlighted two Real Numbers features, that focus on average GMAT scores for European MBA programs, and average GRE scores for U.S.-based MBA programs. Graham then mentioned the publication of an admissions tip that focuses on Welcome Weekend events that top MBA programs host, once they have released their Round 2 decisions.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is a military veteran who is looking to transition from the military after 20 years of service. This led us to discuss which is the right format of MBA to pursue.

This week’s second MBA candidate is still in college and is applying via the deferred admissions process. They have outstanding credentials, despite their 48th percentile in the verbal reasoning section of the GMAT.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Duke / Fuqua and Indiana / Kelley. They have a Forte Fellowship and are pursuing an MBA in health care.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; a few MBA programs are still releasing a few interview invites, but we are getting closer to the end of the Round 2 cycle; CMU / Tepper, Johns Hopkins / Carey and Ohio State / Fisher are scheduled to release final decisions for R2 candidates this upcoming week.

Graham highlighted the MBA Fair Clear Admit is hosting in Boston, on May 14th. Twenty-four of the top 25 U.S.-based MBA programs are planning to attend. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/mbafair2025

Graham then mentioned the publication of an admissions tip that focuses on strategies for those on a waitlist. Graham then discussed a new Real Humans piece that focuses on students at Harvard Business School.

Graham also highlighted two Real Numbers features, that focus on average GMAT scores at leading b-schools and the percentage of international students in MBA programs. We then discussed the Class of 2024 career report released by Texas / McCombs. They did see an uptick in recruiting for tech-related jobs, which bucked a trend we are seeing with other top MBA programs. This may be a function of another recent trend - tech firms moving to Texas.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is applying next season, and had experience in the military in special operations, as well as more recent role as a financial advisor. They have a total of 13 years of experience, but we worry their current GRE score of 315 is a little low.

This week’s second MBA candidate applied in Round 2, is from India and works in the tech space. Despite being potentially over-represented, they have received several invitations to interview, including from Stanford.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Northwestern / Kellogg, with a scholarship, and UPenn / Wharton.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; UPenn / Wharton and MIT / Sloan released their interview invites last week; Washington / Olin, Georgia Tech / Scheller, SMU / Cox and Oxford / Said are scheduled to release final decisions this upcoming week.

We then discussed the “user behavior” of Ask Clear Admit, Clear Admit's new AI chatbot. The bot has received nearly 1,500 prompts since its launch.

Graham then highlighted the webinar series for Master’s in Management candidates; the final webinar in this series is on Wednesday, and features Chicago / Booth, Emory / Goizueta, Indiana / Kelley, Duke / Fuqua and London Business School. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham noted the continuation of Clear Admit’s articles about great podcast, where we place the spotlight on podcasts from the leading MBA programs. This final spotlight features podcasts from leading business schools in Europe.

We then had an animated discussion on the recently published Financial Times 2025 global MBA rankings. One key point we made is that a ranking of top MBA programs really does need to include Stanford...

Graham then mentioned the publication of two admissions tips that focus background checks and applying to MBA programs as a couple, as well as two Adcom Q&As, from INSEAD and Babson / Olin.

Finally, Graham highlighted a Real Numbers feature on US minority representation at top MBA programs, and a recently recorded podcast episode featuring the GM of the Philadelphia Phillies, who is doing an Executive MBA at Wharton.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is planning ahead but needs to retake the GRE (score of 292) and also consider taking additional coursework to counter their 3.0 GPA.

This week’s second MBA candidate is also planning ahead in terms of their applications, is a first-generation college graduate, who appears to have a strong career and activities record. They will also need to perform well on the standardized test.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between USC / Marshall, Texas / McCombs and Washington / Foster, with very similar scholarship offers.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; interview invites continue to roll out for Round 2 candidates; UPenn / Wharton and MIT / Sloan have yet to release their Round 2 interview invites.

Alex discussed the release of a “Prompt Guide” for Clear Admit’s new Ask Clear Admit admissions bot. This guide is designed to help candidates get the most out of their engagement with the chat bot. So far, we have seen more than 1,000 prompts.

Graham then highlighted the upcoming webinar series for Master’s in Management candidates; the first of these webinars features Michigan / Ross, CMU / Tepper and Georgetown / McDonough.  Signups are here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham noted the continuation of Clear Admit’s series of articles about podcasts, where we place the spotlight on podcasts from the leading MBA programs. Graham then mentioned the publication of an admissions tip focused on post interview activities. This led to a plea for MBA interview reports, in order to support Clear Admit’s comprehensive MBA interview archive.

Graham then highlighted two real numbers stories, focused on female enrollment (very well done, Johns Hopkins / Carey!) and tuition costs for European-based MBA programs.

Finally, we discussed one more MBA career report from London Business School. Their career statistics generally follow similar patterns we have identified with prior career reports that we have published this season, although they were able to gather data from an impressive 100% of the graduating class.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is from Brazil and is looking ahead for the MBA applications. They have still to take the GMAT, and they are seeking other areas they can strengthen before they apply.

This week’s second MBA candidate has a 334 GRE and strong legal experience from London. They also appear to have interesting activities outside of work and could be a very strong candidate.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Chicago / Booth and Northwestern / Kellogg, with very similar scholarship offers.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; interview invites continue to roll out for Round 2 candidates; last week, Chicago / Booth, Columbia, and Michigan / Ross released interview invites, along with those programs which trickle out invitations across several weeks (e.g. Stanford, Yale, et al). This week, INSEAD is scheduled to release their Round 3 interview invites.

Graham highlighted the second webinar for Deferred Admissions candidates, scheduled on Wednesday, which includes CMU / Tepper, Chicago / Booth, Columbia, Yale SOM and UVA / Darden. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/de0225 Graham then mentioned the upcoming webinar series for Masters in Management candidates, taking place later this month, with signups here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham mentioned several MBA news stories: London Business School is launching a Smart EMBA, which takes a blended learning approach. Clear Admit published two podcast-related posts; the first focuses on podcasts from some of the top-16 MBA programs, and the second looks at UPenn / Wharton’s Ripple Effect podcast. Finally, Clear Admit also published a story regarding Duke / Fuqua students doing a career trek in Silicon Valley.

Graham then highlighted two admissions tips. The first focuses on the versatility of the MBA, the second looks at questions a candidate might want to prepare, ahead of their MBA interview. Clear Admit’s Real Numbers series is now back; the first two articles in this series focus on class sizes across the top US MBA programs, and the yearly cost of attendance at American b-schools.

Finally, we discussed one more MBA Class of 2024 career report from Berkeley / Haas. Their career statistics follow similar patterns we have identified with prior career reports that we have published this season.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is applying through the deferred admissions process, so is still an undergraduate student. They have a 3.9 GPA and a 730 GMAT score.

This week’s second MBA candidate is planning to apply either next season, or the season after. They have a 3.2 GPA, with a positive upward trend. They have a 322 GRE, which we think they might want to retake. They are also still determining between post-MBA goals in finance or consulting.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Dartmouth / Tuck and Berkeley / Haas, and they are seeking a short-term goal in private equity.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; interview invites continue to roll out for Round 2 candidates; Harvard was one of the top MBA programs to release their interview invites last week. This week, London Business School is scheduled to release their Round 2 interview invites.

We then had a quick discussion regarding our new admissions bot, “Ask Clear Admit”. It is very interesting to be able to see what types of prompts MBA applicants are using for the bot, some of which are a little unexpected. We are now planning to write a prompt guide, to help users get the most out of their bot experience. You can find the chat bot here: https://ai.clearadmit.com

Graham noted two upcoming webinar series. The first is for Deferred Admissions candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/de0225 The first webinar in this series, on this Wednesday, features Berkeley / Haas, UPenn / Wharton and Stanford. Next week we have CMU / Tepper, Chicago / Booth, Columbia, Yale SOM and UVA / Darden. The second webinar series is for Masters in Management candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham highlighted two MBA news stories. The first story covers the best business school podcasts, focusing on podcast from M7 programs. The second looks at an entrepreneurial program at Georgetown / McDonough called “Bark Tank”.

Graham then mentioned three admissions tips, each focused on the MBA admissions interview process.

Finally, we discussed two more MBA career reports from Cornell / Johnson and INSEAD. Both MBA programs show the same resilience as other top MBA programs, while facing the headwinds of a tighter employment market. That said, it’s clear that top European-based MBA programs, like INSEAD, have a lower starting salary than their peer programs in the United States.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected one ApplyWire entry and two DecisionWire entries.

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is from India and has a strong GMAT score of 715. They also have solid work experience, but are worried that they have a lower GPA and few outside activities. We were also concerned that they were only able to target Round 2.

This week’s second MBA candidate is choosing between CMU / Tepper and Texas / McCombs. They have a decent sized scholarship from Tepper. They want to move into tech product management.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Columbia and Kellogg. They are targeting consumer-packaged goods and marketing, but they have a preference for New York City.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!