Archive for the ‘Admissions’ Category
Friday, April 26th, 2013
Let me set the scene… You just completed your MBA admissions interview, the end to a very long day that has also included a class visit and lunch with a student ambassador. You know you rocked the interview because a) you were well prepared, b) you had the right responses to the questions asked, c) you knew all about the entire MBA program and d) you prepared a good list of follow-up questions. Your admissions application had no grammatical errors and you did not make the mistake of calling this school by another business school name to which you are also applying. One month later, you receive your anticipated package from the business school. You hurry with excitement to open it, only to find out that the school has denied you admission into their fall cohort class.
While there are many factors that contribute to students not gaining acceptance into the business school of their choice, I thought I would outline a few items that often get overlooked by many prospective students. While the information presented here might seem logical, I have witnessed the occurrence of at least one of these items more than once during my time here in the UST MBA Admissions office. Realize that while you might have a formal interview on campus at a specified time, the interview process begins once you first connect with the school of your choice. (more…)
Tags: Ambassador, Class visit, etiquette, interview
Posted in Admissions, Admissions | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
![interview[1]](http://blogs.stthomas.edu/opusmagnum/files/2013/04/interview1-300x214.jpg)
Applying to business school can be a time consuming process. Many prospective students wonder about the “black box” of the admissions evaluation process, which often not only includes taking the GMAT, writing essays, and completing various application requirements, but an interview with admissions team members as well. Interviews can be nerve-wracking for prospective students, but as one of the Assistant Directors of Admissions in the Full Time MBA program here at the Opus College of Business, interviews are one of my favorite parts of the job. Why? Meeting applicants in person is an important part of getting to know candidates on a personal level and assessing fit with our MBA program, which overall, is the goal of most admissions interviews. Admissions directors want students to be successful, and meeting applicants in person to learn about what they will uniquely contribute to their MBA program is an important part of the evaluation process.
That said, interviews do not have to be the anxiety-producing event that some applicants believe they are! From an admissions insider’s view, here are some tips to prepare for – and ace – your MBA admissions interview (p.s. These tips can also apply to interviews for MBA-level internships or full time positions): (more…)
Tags: admissions, essay, interview
Posted in Admissions, Admissions, Career Services | Comments Off
Monday, February 4th, 2013
Having trouble opening new career doors? Consider the ways an MBA can help. (We had a great post titled “Why You Should Get Your MBA.”) The upcoming UST MBA Forum, featuring Kaplan, helps MBA candidates learn more about opportunities to open new doors in their careers and personal lives and take the first step in preparing for the GMAT.
With a few weeks of winter still left ahead of us, it may seem like the fall semester lies far in the future. However, now is the time to begin working on your application if you’d like to enroll in one of the Opus College of Business graduate programs this fall.
The UST MBA Forum is designed to help you learn about the graduate business options available at St. Thomas and provide insight into the application process. (more…)
Tags: application, career, fourm, gmat, kaplan, open new doors, test
Posted in Admissions, Admissions, EveningMBA, Events, FTMBA | Comments Off
Wednesday, November 7th, 2012
Deadlines are approaching–and in some cases passed–for B-school applications. The Evening UST MBA‘s priority deadline for Spring 2013 admissions was November 1, applications are still welcomed and reviewed once the file is complete. So, as you’re working on your application, how can you stand out (in a good way) to get a spot in the class?
We’ve got an old series of posts here on Opus Magnum with application and admissions advice called “Take it From Me” with some of the bad examples and recently, Business Insider published a great list of 4 Ways To Make Your MBA Application Stand Out.
One of the biggest mistakes candidates make is that “they act on what they perceive the committees want rather than reveal what’s interesting within themselves,” says Jeremy Shinewald, author of “The Complete Start-to-Finish MBA Admissions Guide“ and founder of mbaMission, a consulting firm for business school candidates. ”They try to become something that they’re not to impress the committee.” (more…)
Tags: admissions, advice, application, business insider, essay, tips
Posted in Admissions, Admissions, EveningMBA, Executive MBA, FTMBA, Health Care MBA, UST MBC | Comments Off
Friday, October 5th, 2012
By Ujin Han, M.B.A. ’12
I can tell—you’re excited. You’ve scheduled your GMAT. You have a list of schools you are applying to. You have a list of all the items they want you to send. But as you fill out the application, write the essays and get the letter of recommendations…do you really have what it takes to get in? What should you avoid and what should you do?
What You Should Avoid: The “7 Deadly Sins of Business School Applications”
Dr. Don Martin, who was the dean of admissions at the Booth School of Business for 11 years, listed “7 Deadly Sins of Business School Applications” in an US News and World Report article. Avoid these like the plague:
Sin 1. Misrepresenting the facts
Sin 2. Rude or arrogant behavior
Sin 3. Too much contact
Sin 4. Not following directions
Sin 5. Sending wrong or unproofed information
Sin 6. Asking questions you could answer yourself
Sin 7. Leaving something unaddressed or making excuses
These sound like very simple things to avoid, yet we see many applications with these sins—and trust me, they are noticed and flagged (never to be seen again).
What You Should Do: Four Simple Things
- Avoid all the seven deadly sins listed. These sins could cost you your admission.
- Go to admissions events (such as the UST MBA Forum tomorrow). These events are your chance to meet the admissions representatives and faculty, and make yourself known. If you make a great first impression and you follow through with that admissions rep, you have just recruited an insider to fight for you.
- Write stellar admissions essays. We read them carefully, so you should write them carefully. Triple check your work for spelling and grammatical errors, and word limit—then have others proof read them again. (More tips on essays and how to rock them.)
- Ask thoughtful questions during the interview: admissions interview isn’t different from any other job interviews you’ve had. Come prepared (and dressed professionally). Ask questions that tell us you’ve researched and know the program, such as details on study abroad opportunities, their teaching method and curriculum details, recent news about the program, etc. (More tips on preparing for an admissions interview.)
If you follow these simple dos and don’ts, you will increase your chances to get into the program and start making your dreams a reality.
Posted in Admissions, Admissions, EveningMBA, Events, FTMBA | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
By Dan Jackson, M.B.A. ’12
I was nervous, and did not know what to expect as I walked from the 11th and Harmon Parking Lot into Schulze Hall. As I descended the stairs towards the Schulze Hall Auditorium, excitement started to build as I saw members of my MBA class (the Class of 2012) being greeted by the full-time MBA faculty and staff, obtaining the necessary packet of information, name badges and name plates that were needed for the week ahead and introducing themselves to each other. It was a moment that I will never forget and continues to be one of the vivid memories of my full-time MBA experience.
Working in the MBA admissions office, I had an opportunity to re-live this experience recently as members of the full-time Class of 2014 began their 21-month journey at the Opus College of Business during Launch Week. Being on the other side of the table this time, I could relate to what many students in the Class of 2014 were feeling on Monday morning. It was great being able to greet students and put them at ease, ensuring that they had everything they needed and all of their questions answered.
While most MBA programs have orientation sessions of various lengths, we at the University of St. Thomas host Launch Week. Launch is a time to get acclimated to the expectations of MBA life as well as get to know the group of people with whom you will spend the next few months. Outside of the traditional welcome activities that are completed during an orientation session. Students are fully engaged in what to expect in their classes and are led by professors down the pathway towards a productive and successful MBA experience. (more…)
Tags: 2014, admissions, class of 2014, launch
Posted in Admissions, FTMBA, Student Life | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012
Poets and Quants, a favorite B-School-related blog, recently broke down the news that some schools aren’t strongly considering the new Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT…yet. Their post did this using techniques from the GMAT’s Critical Reasoning (which makes up a third of the verbal section).
Brian Galvin held this issue up to the Critical Reasoning precision-in-language standard to see which conclusions we can legitimately draw.
Generalization – this [news] is attributable directly to Stanford GSB, and a few other quotes have emerged with similar language from admissions officers at Harvard, Wharton, and INSEAD. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that all other top schools will feel the same way. On a Critical Reasoning question, the conclusion “Integrated Reasoning does not matter for the 2013 business school intake” isn’t fully supported, as there are plenty of top business schools and the current evidence doesn’t apply to all of them. In more colloquial GMAT speak, we know “some,” but a lot of the conclusions being drawn these days suggest “all.” Be careful with generalization. (more…)
Tags: gmat, integrated reasoning, IR, poets and quants
Posted in Admissions, Admissions | 1 Comment »
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
By Dan Jackson, M.B.A. ’12
Thinking about an MBA? Wondering about some of the first steps in the application process? If you have not yet started to research specific business schools, a good place to begin is by taking the GMAT Exam. The GMAT is required as part of the admissions process at most MBA schools in the U.S. and is composed of four different sections, Quantitative, Verbal, Analytical Writing, and Integrative Reasoning. The Graduate Management Admission Councils’ (GMAC) website states that the purpose of the GMAT Exam is to predict the success of students in the first year of graduate management education. It is also a consistent and objective way to compare aspiring students worldwide.
Each section of the test will require you to brush up on material that you may or may not have learned at some point during your formative education years, but in the event that you are a little rusty or have no clue where to begin, especially in the quantitative section, consider checking out Khan Academy.
(more…)
Tags: gmat, khan academy, quant, youtube
Posted in Admissions, biztube, EveningMBA, FTMBA | Comments Off
Monday, July 16th, 2012
Image from "MBA for Better Future"
Graduate Management News, from GMAC, the creators of the GMAT recently had a post about how they work to reduce bias on the exam. Often, for international and also minority students, hidden biases can really add an additional layer of challenge to an already difficult test.
Check out a few of the things the GMAT creators take into consideration regarding bias…these are things they attempt to eliminate from the exam:
-
Use vocabulary, idioms, and constructions that are not universal. My favorite example is skimmed milk. You might expect all educated individuals applying to a graduate level English language program would know skimmed milk. But in India, toned milk and double toned milk are common, and skimmed milk is rare. Vacation and holiday, and quite and very, are other examples. Also under this category are the use of double negatives (The GMAT is not unfair), contractions (should’ve), abbreviations (for example, e.g.), imperatives, possessives, and some sentence structures (Do you have a pencil? Have you a pencil?).
(more…)
Tags: bias, exam, gmat, international
Posted in Admissions, Admissions | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 11th, 2012
A pair of recent Wall Street Journal articles (linked at right) highlighted the efforts top business schools around the country are making to boost their diversity numbers. Despite those efforts, many are finding it difficult to make sustained progress. Even the most elite schools find it difficult to attract applicants from traditionally under-represented groups, specifically African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. As a result, these under-represented groups, which represent 28% of the national population, show up in top business programs at less than half this rate. Historically, the challenge of building a diverse MBA student population has been even greater in the Twin Cities. In the past three years domestic minorities have averaged about 5 percent of the last three incoming Full-time MBA classes; of that number roughly half have been under-represented minorities. There are several factors which motivate St. Thomas to seek to increase under-represented minority representation in our program: (more…)
Tags: diversity, L2L, Multicultural Forum on Workplace Diversity, naaahr, NBMBAA, NSHMBA, outreach scholarship, scholarship
Posted in Admissions, Commentary, Environment, FTMBA, leadership, Media | Comments Off
What B-Schools (including UST) are Doing to Boost Diversity
Wednesday, July 11th, 2012July 4, 2012
Want a Diverse C-Suite? Start at B-School
interview with Peter Aranda
July 5, 2012
A pair of recent Wall Street Journal articles (linked at right) highlighted the efforts top business schools around the country are making to boost their diversity numbers. Despite those efforts, many are finding it difficult to make sustained progress. Even the most elite schools find it difficult to attract applicants from traditionally under-represented groups, specifically African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. As a result, these under-represented groups, which represent 28% of the national population, show up in top business programs at less than half this rate. Historically, the challenge of building a diverse MBA student population has been even greater in the Twin Cities. In the past three years domestic minorities have averaged about 5 percent of the last three incoming Full-time MBA classes; of that number roughly half have been under-represented minorities. There are several factors which motivate St. Thomas to seek to increase under-represented minority representation in our program: (more…)
Tags: diversity, L2L, Multicultural Forum on Workplace Diversity, naaahr, NBMBAA, NSHMBA, outreach scholarship, scholarship
Posted in Admissions, Commentary, Environment, FTMBA, leadership, Media | Comments Off