In this edition of WireTaps, Alex and Graham discuss the release of MIT Sloan interview invites (more or less accurately predicting their arrival - despite recording the episode prior to the release!). Your hosts also talked a little more about the UPenn Wharton team-based interview and recommended a previous episode of the podcast for those prepping. Graham noted the release of the Real Humans MBA Alumni series, featuring grads from Chicago / Booth and HBS, working at Bain and Amazon, respectively; there was also discussion about the release of the Real Humans of Wharton (apparently a series that has no end!). The big b-school news of last week was the announcement of Stanford GSB joining the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management; which Alex and Graham believe is a terrific step forward for the Consortium’s mission. Finally, Graham looked at the career placement report from CMU / Tepper, highlighting their strengths across many disciplines, including technology, computational finance and health care / biotech.

For the WireTaps portion of the show, Alex chose two ApplyWire entries and a DecisionWire entry. First up, is a candidate who has a career spanning Big 4 audit and corporate finance in the media and entertainment industry. Graham and Alex like the M&E experience, and think that might be a differentiator. Solid GMAT of 730 (for top programs) but a slightly lower GPA may raise small concerns. With goals that focus on being on the West Coast, there was some discussion about a reevaluation of their school selection. The second featured candidate this week has solid numbers (720/3.45 engr), and is a civil engineer in the government sector. They also has some decent leadership at work. As a “first gen” candidate Alex and Graham discuss those advantages, and there is also a nice focus on the future of mobility. Your hosts suggest perhaps adding 1-2 more MBA programs from the top 16 tier. Finally, from DecisionWire, Alex chose a candidate who is deciding between UCLA / Anderson with money, vs. Michigan / Ross or NYU Stern. They want to be in New York, post MBA, doing brand management. There’s a case for all three options. This episode of the podcast was recorded in Cornwall, England and Paris, France. It was produced by Dennis Crowley in West Philadelphia, USA. Please remember to rate and review this podcast wherever you may listen.