Report on the hottest MBA networking event in Tokyo

On Saturday the 31st of January, my colleague Vince Ricci (center) held a "fireside chat," which was by far the best gathering of MBA applicants and alums that I (right) have ever attended. In addition to 30 MBA applicants, 19 alums (HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago, Tuck, Berkeley, Duke, UCLA, Michigan, Cornell, Darden, INSEAD, LBS, IESE, and IE), Vince, Steve (my guest blogger), and I attended. As I have mentioned previously, Vince, Steve, and I have an interview referral program for our clients, so this was a good chance for our clients to do some networking, not only with alums, but with each other. It was also really great to see former clients who were kind enough to attend.

I asked Vince to tell my blog readers a little about this event as well as explain why he organized it. Below are his comments:

I started these "fireside chats" because I heard from many of my clients that they preferred smaller more intimate gatherings. There is no shortage of information on MBA programs. Thanks to frequent adcom visits, alumni panels, and great blogs (like this one!), applicants can now access school-specific data and insights easier than ever. Still, I felt that there was a lack of "quality face time." I attended larger MBA events for years and sometimes felt that it was hard to connect or have meaningful conversations while worrying that others are still waiting in line to ask their questions.

We had our first event in August 2008. About 20 people came to a nice little spot in Shimbashi, including 3 of my former clients representing HBS, Stanford, and UCLA.

I spent the next five months building momentum for a slightly larger event. (I expected 35-40 people, but more than 50 came!) This time, I wanted to maximize alumni participation. On 1/31, we enjoyed a nearly 3:2 applicant to alumni ratio, better than any other MBA networking event in Tokyo, perhaps in the world.

Because I believe in the power of human-to-human communication, I want to maintain our small size and customized approach. I am already scouting new locations for our next "fireside chat."

ADAM:
I am looking forward to Vince's next event. As he keeps these things small, they are basically open to our current and former clients, with others joining on a case-by-case basis.

For more details about utilizing our services, please contact:
Vince Ricci (http://vinceprep.com/)
H. Steven Green (http://hstevengreen.com/home.html)
Adam Markus (http://adammarkus.com/)

-Adam Markus
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ビジネススクール MBA留学 カウンセリング

HBS 2nd Round Invites are coming on 2/9

HBS second round invites will be coming on 2/9:
On February 9 we will send out invitations to interview. The invitation will come in an email from HBS MBA Admissions and will contain detailed instuctions about how to sign up for interviews both on campus and in hub cities. Please be assured that if we see you haven't signed up for an intervew by the end of the week, we will contact you by phone...thus there's no reason to be anxious about lost emails, etc.

Some will smile, some will cry. In any case, if you applied for round 2, just keep interview prepping. The HBS interview is not a thing to be taken lightly. See here for how to prep this one.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
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ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング 大学院 合格対策 MBA留学

Stanford GSB MBA Interviews

Stanford interviews, while so hard to get, are not necessarily that hard in any obvious way. This is interview about fit as determined by an alumni "gatekeeper." Chances are good that this gatekeeper might be in your industry or in some manner have a complementary background for assessing you. While I imagine in some places with few alumni, a high level of complementary assessment (e.g., McKinsey applicant interviewed by Boston Consulting Group alum) would be less likely, I can say that it is the rule rather the exception in Japan. Expect a lively exchange and whatever you do, don't make any plans for it to end on time as Stanford interviews are well known for going long. Based on my experience, I can say that every client who had a long interview got in. This might be coincidence, but I doubt it.

My analysis of Stanford is based on my own personal knowledge as well as reviewing the reports of Stanford University GSB interviews found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com.

Some key things to consider when preparing for Stanford GSB interviews:

1. My colleague, H. Steven Green, has put the following together by reviewing interview reports (I have reviewed Steve's list which he prepared in March 2008, but the questions for Fall 2009 1st Round interviews have not changed):
-Why do you need an MBA?
-What are your career goals?
-When did you realize that you wanted to go to business school, and why?
-Why do you need an MBA now?
-Why Stanford?
-What has been your most important accomplishment?
-Please tell me about a time when you received criticism? How did you respond to it? Did your relationship change with the person who made it ?
-What do you do outside of work?
-Who is your role model?
-What book are you reading currently that is not related to your profession? ADAM'S NOTE: THIS QUESTION IS VERY COMMON!
-Describe a time when you had to choose between two good options.
-Describe a failure. -Please tell me about a time when you let down your team.
-Tell me about a time when you let your team down as a leader?
-Why do you think you are successful?
-Tell me about a time when you had to interact with people in a difficult situation.
-Tell me about a time when you had a bad leader.
-Tell me about a time when you led people?
-What was your favorite class in college?
-Describe a tough manager.
-Describe an easy manager.
-What would you get involved with at Stanford?
-Describe a bad leader.
-How do your prioritize?
As you can see, the questions are pretty standard. Expect some behavioral style questions and prepare accordingly.

2. You need to be able to explain in-depth why you should be admitted to Stanford, what you can contribute, and what you want to learn. Be willing to openly discuss what soft and hard skills you need to improve/acquire. Show yourself to be open, dynamic, change oriented, and a highly motivated person because the alum will be.

3. Since there is supposed to be time for you to ask questions to the alum, you need to give some significant thought to formulating those. Consider what year the alum graduated and any other background information if you can determine that through Linkedin or other sources of information. Develop four or more questions to ask.

4. Whoever you interview with, they are likely to be quite friendly and the style of the interview is conversational. Stanford alums are provided with very clear guidelines for how to conduct interviews. Just because your interviewer is friendly, it does not mean that you are doing well. Don't assume a friendly interviewer is not actually a super critical one. Alums are the gatekeepers and Stanford can afford to reject anyone. Take nothing for granted. Also keep in mind that the admissions process at Stanford is holistic and a great interview is no absolute guarantee of success.

5. Reported interview length for interviews is official 45 minutes, but can go on for longer than that. It usually consists of 30-40 minutes of questions from the alum followed by 5-15 minutes of question to the alum, but often the interviews go longer, an hour or more is not uncommon. In my own experience with clients, I would say that if the interview goes for an hour or more, that is a good sign, but a 45 minute interview is not necessarily a bad sign. Interviews that last 75 minutes to 120 minutes are not uncommon.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA留学 インタビュー 面接

Good Loan News from Fuqua

This bit of good news just arrived in my Inbox:

"Greetings from The Fuqua School of Business!

I wanted to take a moment to share an update on our efforts to secure an improved loan program for international students. Fuqua's leadership team has been working on a number of fronts to address the issue of loans for our international students, and I'm pleased to report positive results.

First, let there be no uncertainty: Our international students will be able to secure loans for their studies at Fuqua. We have a solution in hand that will meet students' needs. At the same time, we are part of a consortium of top business schools that is exploring other lender options to ensure international students are getting the best possible loan terms.

In addition, we have been actively engaged in discussions with banks in regions around the world - including China and India - to identify further appropriate loan programs. These conversations have been fruitful, and negotiations are ongoing.

Further meetings are taking place with regional banks that have not previously provided international loans, but have expressed interest in our loan proposals and in establishing a relationship with Fuqua.

Though we have already identified a loan program that will suit the needs of our international students, we continue to consider this range of possible selections in order to be certain our students are able to secure the most favorable loan terms available. In the coming weeks, I will update you with more complete details on the international loan program when all options have been fully examined.

Fuqua's global strategy and the strong international contacts that have resulted from that strategy allow us to examine a number of loan programs. In the current economic environment, we're well positioned to ensure the most favorable loan terms to enable students from around the world to pursue MBA studies at Duke.

Please contact the admissions office if you have additional questions.

Best regards, Liz Riley Hargrove Associate Dean for Admission www.fuqua.duke.edu "

I am glad to know that Team Fuqua will be able to offer international students the necessary loans to study there.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.
-Adam Markus
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ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA留学

Columbia Business School Alumni Interviews

You can find my analysis of Columbia's essays for Fall 2009 here.

Columbia Business School offers only one flavor of admissions interview: "Columbia Business School Ambassador" alumni invitation-only interviews. You will get to select from multiple interviewers, so try to figure out who they are first before contacting them. I suggest using Google searches, LinkedIn, and perhaps your own network to do so. Select someone who you think you will be compatible with.

While this interview is certainly important, it is not unheard of for Linda Meehan to admit someone the alumni did not recommend or ding someone the interviewer did recommend. She and her team have ultimate discretion over this issue and clearly see the interview as only one factor for determining the ultimate result. That said, the interview is certainly quite important. In my experience, clients who report not having a great Columbia rarely are admitted, so you as an applicant should assume that like with any interview, it is very important to do well.

Columbia alum seem to be particularly effective gatekeepers for the program. They are well known for relentlessly determining whether Columbia really is the applicant's first choice. They are clearly told to do this as it is a consistent feature of interview reports. Not only should you be able to explain why Columbia is your first choice, but you had better explain why HBS, Stanford, and/or Wharton is not. Less then clear answers to the why is CBS your first choice question can prove fatal. Beyond that, I think alum are really looking to make sure that you possess sufficient mental strength, personal drive (aggression), and career focus to become a part of their "club."

Some of the most common question topics you would encounter in a Columbia interview (Based on my own information and a review of reports at at accepted.com and clearadmit.com):

-Why MBA? Why now?

-What are you goals? Why do you need an MBA for them?

-Leadership related questions focused directly on your experience or perhaps stated more generally.

-Team focused questions about leading a team, contributing to a team, and/or overcoming team conflict are all common.

-Why Columbia? Where else are you applying? What clubs or activities would you join at Columbia? What can you contribute to Columbia?

-Either walk me through your resume or questions that amount to the same thing are always asked. Expect to be asked one way or another about how you standout professionally. Be honest, but very direct and sell your experience emphasizing your ability to make an impact. A common question is "What improvements have made in the position hold at work?"

- Ethical dilemma questions, especially related to work experiences are common. So lets go over them briefly here. Ethical dilemma questions are all about decision making and learning:
1. Define the situation, such that it involves clearly identifiable options that are in conflict.
2. The options have to be real. They each have to have clear "goods" associated with them.
3. Justify the basis for the decision you made.
4. If your decision was right, focus on the result.
5. If your decision was wrong, focus on what you learned and hopefully applied to a more recent situation.

-Be ready to ask questions to the alum. Prepare them ahead of time. Assume that unless the alum is a very recent graduate, they should not be asked about recent developments on the campus. This is a good opportunity to ask them about their Columbia experience and about the alumni network.

-If there is anything you wanted to mention that was not covered in your application that you want to bring to the admission committee's attention, you will possibly have the opportunity to do so because interviewers frequently ask about this.

You probably will not be asked any weird hypothetical questions, but rather expect to cover some variation of the above questions in a great deal of depth.

Reported interview length is typically 60-75 minutes, but some interviews are shorter and some go for 90 minutes.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA留学 インタビュー 面接