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January 21, 2010

On-Campus versus Off-Campus Recruiting for MBA Students

By ZoomInterviews 

How is on-campus recruiting different from off-campus recruiting? You’ll hear a lot about ‘on-campus’ and ‘off-campus’ recruiting once you start your MBA program.   On-campus recruiting refers to the structured and organized recruiting process that a school schedules with firms that happens, as the term implies, on-campus.  Typically occurring in January – March for internship opportunities and September – November for full-time positions (depending on the school), the actual on-campus interviews will occur after several weeks of recruiting events held by firms, including corporate presentations at the school, informal meet n’ greets or coffee chats, formal dinner with company reps and other social events, depending on the firm.

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January 19, 2010

The Pros & Cons of Social Media Networking for MBA Applicants

By Avi Gordon, Founder of MBA Admissions Studio

Part of the holy grail of a good application to business school is to show why the particular nature of the b-school you are applying to fits with you and what you want out of your MBA. That is, each program has a slightly different ’signature’ in terms of curriculum, type of students, faculty interest, clubs and extramurals, internship-recruitment opportunities, alumni network and so on, and the task is to show that you understand what that signature is and why it fits with you.

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January 17, 2010

What to Do the Night Before the GMAT

By Brian Galvin, Director of Academic Programs at Veritas Prep where he oversees all of the company’s GMAT prep courses

The GMAT is a marathon, and not a sprint! I like to use the analogy of an endurance athletic event like a marathon or a stage of the Tour de France. At that point, you’re well trained and primed for action — you really can’t improve your conditioning the day before the race, but you could certainly downgrade your performance by draining your energy or taxing your muscles. The same is true of the GMAT — you won’t get any “smarter” the night before the test by studying; you may, however, wear yourself down by staying up late to get to one more set of problems, or make yourself nervous by happening to hit a patch of ten monster questions in a row and struggling through them.

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January 14, 2010

Business School and The Avocado

By Avi Gordon, Founder of MBA Admissions Studio

In my book ‘MBA Admissions Strategy’ I offer the following advice: ‘Proofread to show your hunger’ (that is, hunger for admission, a real desire to be selected.) Typographic or other careless errors in your text immediately clues Adcom in as to how (un)careful you were with your text, and this tells them not only how organized and detail-oriented you are — whether you are a ‘finisher’ — but also how much you actually really care about your application to their particular school.

In this sense MBA admissions works just like a resume you send out for a job. If there’s one error in it, eyebrows will be raised. Two errors and you may as well not have sent it.

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January 12, 2010

The Common “Criticism-Weakness-Failure” Essay Question

By Avi Gordon, Founder of MBA Admissions Studio

The ‘criticism-weakness-failure’ essay is common in MBA Admissions essays because it is a test of an applicant’s maturity, self-knowledge, honesty, and ability to learn from mistakes. It is, in other words, the biggest indicator of real leadership ability and potential.

Sample questions are:

Tuck 3. Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did you address it? What have you learned from it?
Wharton 3. Describe a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself?
HBS 2. What have you learned from a mistake?
Columbia 3. Please provide an example of a team failure of which you’ve been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently?

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January 11, 2010

The Two Most Common Errors in Data Sufficiency

Author:  Arthur Ahn, Kaplan GMAT Product Manager & Instructor

GMAT data sufficiency questions test your ability to analyze a quantitative problem and recognize which information is necessary to figure out the solution.  What a data sufficiency question does NOT test you on is your ability to calculate and number-crunch.  A simpler way of addressing this might be to ask yourself a question as you work through a data sufficiency problem: “Is this enough?”  Keep this in mind as you evaluate (and on test day, avoid) two specific common errors that test-takers make while taking the GMAT:

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January 9, 2010

Taking Charge of Your Career

From Kaplan Test Prep

Let’s face it.  Everyone has at least one gap on their resume and at least one skill set to develop.  Whether you’re an Art History major applying to business school or a b-school grad managing supply chain logistics for the first time, knowing how to identify your shortcomings and fill the holes is a critical skill on the path to professional fulfillment. 

SWOT Team

It should go without saying that you have to be your own advocate when it comes to career development.  While many companies have some type of development process— particularly for high potential employees— at the end of the day the responsibility is yours and yours alone.

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January 6, 2010

New Year’s Resolution: Create a GMAT Study Schedule

Author: Gina Allison, Kaplan GMAT Instructor

It’s that time of year again—time for resolutions and re-assessing your priorities. If getting an MBA is one of your priorities in the near future, then creating an effective GMAT study schedule should be one of your top January goals.

You would be surprised at how many ways there are to fit GMAT study into your busy schedule. As I’ve worked on the Kaplan GMAT Revision and looked at the new material and resources that we will be offering our students, I’ve thought more than ever about how success on the GMAT is inevitable if you devote enough time and attention to your test prep material. For many of my students, juggling a full-time job, a family or relationship, a social life (what’s that?), and all the other assorted and sundry components of life along with focused GMAT study seems difficult, if not impossible. Although it is hard work, incorporating adequate study time into your already busy life is definitely not impossible! Here are a few pointers on how to make it all happen:

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