Happy Memorial Day!  On this episode of WireTaps, Alex and Graham officially open BBQ season with a look at what's been cooking on LiveWire, including waitlist decisions and final decisions from Rounds 3 and 4. Alex reminds listeners that we also should see final decisions coming out for Georgetown / McDonough, Cornell / Johnson and CMU / Tepper (for its Future Leaders program) in the coming week.  Alex also pointed out that new deadlines and essay topics are starting to be unveiled by the top MBA programs for next season; this led to a discussion regarding Clear Admit’s Essay Topic Analysis series. Graham highlighted two recently published stories from Clear Admit; the first is about Northwestern / Kellogg’s new healthcare course that focuses on biomedical marketing, and the second story looks at Chicago / Booth’s initiatives targeting disadvantaged youth. Graham then discussed four Real Humans Alumni stories: a Stern/Tech MBA grad at Google, a Booth grad at Accenture, a London Business School grad at BCG and a Duke / Fuqua grad at Google. Graham then highlighted a Real Humans event, where Clear Admit brings together students and alumni of top programs for a discussion regarding their experiences. This event is scheduled for June 20th, and registration is at https://bit.ly/RealHumansMBA

As usual, WireTaps features three candidate profile reviews - this week they were selected from three recent ApplyWire entries:

First up is candidate is from Nigeria, working in the UK. She is a lawyer who is also active outside of work, building an online community for African females. She is targeting 330 on the GRE, and with a score like that, and a strong academic record from a Russel Group university, Alex and Graham think there’s a lot to like. Graham did question some of the school selection, given her goals of returning to the UK, or Nigeria. This week's second candidate appears to have an outstanding military career, and decent numbers. In short, he would appear to be a typical high-profile candidate from the military, with lots of options. Alex and Graham did question some of the school selection for the first round, but it's clear that a solid plan is taking shape. This week's final candidate is applying to Booth and Kellogg, because her partner has started a Ph.D. at U. Chicago. She has some decent work experience, but already has two degrees, which means there will be an increased focus on having a strong post-MBA goal. She also has some concerns over her verbal score on the GRE, which Alex and Graham discussed.

This episode was recorded in Cornwall, England and Paris, France. It was produced and engineered in 'always sunny' Philadelphia by Dennis Crowley. Please remember to rate and review this podcast wherever you listen and to 'stay safe everybody'!