Ways to earn an MBA have evolved. In this special edition of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast, we explore the increasingly popular format of the Flex MBA Online. We are excited to welcome Sudipta Dasmohapatra, the Senior Associate Dean of the MBA Programs and a Professor of Business Analytics at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, to the podcast to dive into the school’s Flex MBA Online, its structure, duration and features.

Episode 312: The Flex MBA Online at Georgetown McDonough

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In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the latest application deadlines and decision releases for this season. This week Round 3 and 4 continue with several application deadlines; some programs are also releasing final decisions for Round 3, including UVA / Darden, Georgetown / McDonough, Dartmouth / Tuck, Berkeley / Haas, Texas / McCombs and Michigan / Ross.

Graham highlighted the May 15th event we are hosting in Chicago, which will be Clear Admit’s first in-person MBA candidate event. Signups are here: https://www.bit.ly/cachicagofair Graham also noted the Application Overview webinar series that Clear Admit is hosting. The first event is on May 8th, and includes Berkeley / Haas, Duke / Fuqua, Emory / Goizueta, Georgetown / McDonough and Texas / McCombs. Signups are here: https://www.bit.ly/caspringwebinars

Graham then mentioned two admissions tips that focus on MBA scholarship negotiation, and how important scholarship offers can be to a final decision.

Graham then noted four Real Humans Alumni pieces, alums from: Northwestern Kellogg at Google, Duke / Fuqua at Accenture, Rochester / Simon at Bain and Texas / McCombs at Tesla.

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 has a very strong GRE score of 332, and they graduated with a first class engineering degree, in India. Their career focus has been in software engineering in the non-profit sector. We like their overall profile, and recommend they target the first rounds.

This week’s second MBA candidate is planning several years ahead for their MBA experience. They need to overcome a very low 2.4 GPA. There are steps they can take to help mitigate this concern, and we detailed some of those steps.

The final MBA candidate for this week is deciding between Cornell / Johnson and UVA Darden, with a goal for MBB consulting. They are an international student and wonder whether the Ivy name from Johnson should be a factor.

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!

MBA Wire Taps 350—332 GRE, India Engineer. Overcoming 2.4 GPA. Johnson vs Darden

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we kick things off with our usual discussion of the latest MBA application deadlines and interview releases. This week, Round 3 continues with several application deadlines, including deferred admissions deadlines for Harvard (2+2) and UPenn / Wharton.

Graham then highlighted the May 15th event we are hosting in Chicago, which will be Clear Admit’s first in-person MBA candidate event (with 20 leading business schools!); signups are here: https://www.bit.ly/cachicagofair Graham also noted the Spring Online Webinar series that Clear Admit is hosting over the course of May, with signups here: https://www.bit.ly/caspringwebinars

Graham then mentioned that Stanford GSB has now appointed a new Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, after a year-long search following the departure of Kirsten Moss. Erin Nixon is a Stanford alumna of the MBA program, and an undergraduate alum. She will begin her new role on July 1.

Graham also noted a recently published tech careers piece, written by Clear Admit’s CEO, Eliot Ingram. While the tech sector is in a hiring squeeze for MBAs, it still represents one of the three major b-school employers.

Graham then noted four Real Humans Alumni pieces, alums from: Emory / Goizueta working at McKinsey, IESE working at BCG, Washington / Foster working at Microsoft, and Chicago / Booth working at Goldman Sachs.

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 has spent 8 years as a paralegal, and is now planning to use the MBA to transition over to the business side of deal making. They have a strong GRE score of 330, and are also heavily involved in additional activities. A potentially very decent profile, overall.

This week’s second MBA candidate appears to have a strong career in the venture capital sector in India. However, we worry about their overall numbers; their GRE score is 319. We recommend they retake this test, and target the first rounds.

The final MBA candidate for this week is deciding between Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua and Michigan / Ross. They are seeking a health-care related career. They have a partner, so they need to factor that into their decision-making.

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!

MBA Wire Taps 349—330 GRE, Paralegal. 319 GRE, Venture Capital. Tuck vs Duke vs Ross

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the MBA application deadlines and interview releases for this season. This week Round 3 continues with several application deadlines, and UPenn / Wharton and Duke / Fuqua are scheduled to release interview invite decisions.

Graham started with a story of his random meeting with a podcast listener (and current Wharton student), who he met at a car rental agency.

Graham then highlighted the May 15th event we are hosting in Chicago, which will be Clear Admit’s first in-person MBA candidate event. Signups are here: https://www.bit.ly/cachicagofair Graham also noted the Spring Online Webinar series that Clear Admit is hosting, with signups here: https://www.bit.ly/caspringwebinars

We then had a discussion about the recently published 2024 U.S. News MBA ranking of U.S. based MBA programs. For the second year in row, there is a significant emphasis on career outcomes in this ranking, rather than an emphasis on the quality of the incoming class. Some of the order of the ranking appears to be off, as a consequence of this.

Graham highlighted a recently published admissions tip focused on the waitlist, which also provides direct access to a video that we hosted for the Admissions Academy. This video is now freely available for all to watch.

Graham then noted three Real Humans Alumni pieces, alums from: Cornell / Johnson working at Amazon, Columbia working at Google, and Georgetown / McDonough working at Johnson & Johnson.

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. They have decent numbers, with a 3.72 GPA and 326 GRE. They have 3 years of work experience in consulting. We discussed what they might do to improve their overall profile, over the next several months.

This week’s second MBA candidate has recently left their work, to take a break, before starting business school. They appear to have a strong professional record at top tech companies, and a decent GPA. They have gained a test waiver to the programs they are targeting; we are not convinced that’s the right approach.

The final MBA candidate for this week is deciding between Northwestern / Kellogg, Duke / Fuqua (with money) and IESE. They also need to consider their spouse’s options, as they weigh whether to do an MBA in Europe or the United States.

This episode was recorded in Schenectady, New York, USA 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!

MBA Wire Taps 348—326 GRE, is that enough? Taking a break, before MBA. Kellogg, Fuqua or IESE?

As usual, this week's MBA Admissions podcast kicks off with a discussion of all the latest MBA application deadline and decision release news for this season. Last week, MIT / Sloan released its Round 2 final decisions. Cornell / Johnson also released some of their final decisions. This week Round 3 continues with several application deadlines.

Graham promoted the MBA applicant survey we now have in the field. We are trying to encourage as high a response rate as we can get. The survey is at https://www.bit.ly/caspringsurvey Graham also noted the May 15th event we are hosting in Chicago, which will be Clear Admit’s first in-person MBA candidate event. Signups are here: https://www.bit.ly/cachicagofair

Graham highlighted two recently published admissions tips focused on how candidates should decide between different MBA program offers, and how to get the most out of the admitted students events that many top MBA programs offer in the month of April. These events are very important to attend for two broad reasons: to help candidates make their final decisions, as well as to begin the process of transitioning to the new MBA adventure.

Graham then noted three Real Humans Alumni pieces, alums from London Business School working at Uber, Maryland / Smith working at Merck, and UPenn / Wharton working at General Mills.

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 applied to London Business School this season, but was rejected after the interview phase. They have a 319 GRE score and a 3.1 GPA. While they appear to have a strong professional background, we are encouraging them to retake the GRE, ahead of next season.

This week’s second MBA candidate also has a 3.1 GPA, but there GMAT is a little better, at 710. They also have a very decent professional background, as well as very interesting extra-curricular activities and interests. Their target is Duke / Fuqua’s early action round. We think there is a strong potential benefit from retaking the GMAT, if they can gain 20-30 points.

The final MBA candidate for this week is deciding between UCLA / Anderson with some scholarship and UNC / Kenan Flagler with a full scholarship. We think the decision really boils down to where they want to be, geographically, post MBA.

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!

MBA Wire Taps 347—319 GRE, reapplying. Targeting Duke / Fuqua. Anderson vs Kenan Flagler

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began with our usual rundown of MBA application deadlines and decision releases for this season. Last week we saw several top MBA programs release their final Round 2 decisions. This week, MIT / Sloan and Cornell / Johnson are among those releasing decisions. There are also several Round 3 application deadlines.

Graham highlighted the new Spring survey that Clear Admit is running, to get a better sense of how MBA candidates select their target programs. Answering this survey really helps Clear Admit better understand the MBA community, and provides great insights for top MBA programs. The survey is here: https://bit.ly/caspringsurvey

Graham then mentioned a new Clear Admit event, which is an in-person MBA admissions fair, to be held in Chicago on May 15. Most of the top MBA programs will be in attendance. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/cachicagofair

Graham highlighted three Real Humans Alumni pieces: alums from IMD working at Bain, Ohio / Fisher working at JPMorgan Chase, and NYU / Stern working at Hulu.

Finally we discussed the second in Clear Admit's series of post-MBA career reports. This one focuses on consulting careers, and not only which programs send the most candidates into consulting careers, but also which programs have a stronger focus on MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) consulting.

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 has very strong numbers, with a 334 GRE and a 3.83 GPA. They have four years of experience, most recently as part of the legal team at a Private Equity firm. They want to pursue the MBA to return to private equity, on the investment side. We think this is very doable, but might be worth looking at investment banking as a short term goal.

This week’s second MBA candidate has been a lawyer for eight years, and wants to use the MBA to pivot to consulting in the short term, then a strategy or general counsel role in the longer term. They have a strong GPA of 3.75, but perhaps are a little light on the quant side. They still need to take the GMAT, so a very strong score will help.

The final MBA candidate for this week is deciding between Berkeley / Haas and Texas/McCombs, with a $35k scholarship. They have free tuition based on the GI bill. They want to do consulting, post MBA. They also have additional personal reasons that makes this decision a little more complicated.

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!

Episode 312: The Flex MBA Online at Georgetown McDonough

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