B-Schools: Perspective on Financial Crises

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September 23, 2008
MBA Express

NEWS  THIS WEEK'S TOP STORY B-Schools: Perspective on Financial Crises Business schools are busy explaining the financial crisis to the public and advising companies and policymakers on how to respond   MORE TOP STORIES B-SCHOOL LIFE B-Schools Wary on Lehman, Merrill Impact As the financial landscape shifts, B-schools are busy reaching out to nervous students whose job prospects are suddenly far from certain B-SCHOOL LIFE MBA Admissions Web Sites: Not All Are Equal We tested the virtual front doors of the Top 20 full-time MBA programs to see which Web sites delivered the goods. Here are the results  B-SCHOOL FORUMS Visit BW Online's interactive forums for wide-ranging discussions about management education. Search through over 1,359,000 posts for topics that interest you. Join in today! Here are a few samples of recent messages: Getting into B-School: Top-Quality EMBA Courses in Singapore? From: goondoo To: ALL As I did not get any response in the EMBA forum, I'm trying it out in this forum. Besides Chicago GSB and Insead, are they any other top quality EMBA courses in Singapore? And do MBA grads go for EMBA years later on? If yes, usually how long after the MBA program? Does that mean you would need to retake GMAT again? Regards, Goondoo ------------ From: neworama To: goondoo Rutgers offers EMBA in Singapore and their format is more flexible (weekends and evening classes over 9 days), so there's no disruption to your work schedule, their tuition fees are also more reasonable than Chicago GSB or INSEAD. Their (Rutgers) faculty roster is just as impressive. Search their site. ------------ From: DW13 To: goondoo I have been searching for EMBA programs as well previously. I think you might [want to] try Helsinki School of Economics. HSE. They have triple accreditations from AMBA, AACSB and EQUIS and if i am not wrong, they are using international faculty. Apart from this, their program in Singapore is quite mid range or affordable compared to INSEAD and Chicago. check them out, and also NUS - UCLA as well. Cheers, DW13 ---------------------------------------------------------- Getting into B-School: HBS - My Chances (680 GMAT) From: shrek11 To: All Dear all, I need your guidance to understand what are my chances for entering into top 5 US MBA programs? Any perspective will be helpful. I'm planning to apply for the first round. My biggest concern is my GMAT which is a 680 (q: 81 / v: 75, total:88). I took it three times. I was able to increase it from 640 to 680 in my second attemp. Unfortunately, I screwed up in my last attempt and got 610 while expecting 720-740 (at least this is how I was scoring in the prep tests). Now, I am frustrated of course. I can retake the exam but I think I tried enough and what if I don't score better the next time as well since I had mixed experiences until so far. Other than that, I think I am pretty strong with my work and leadership experience. I believe, these will be my plusses. Let me know your candid thoughts please. Do I have a decent chance to get into top programs with 680 despite screwing in my last attempt? Otherwise, what do you suggest? Thanks. ------------ From: saberprivateer To: shrek11 Your score is in the 80% range but certainly below the average. Since your verbal was lower, did you have a good AWA score? If not, you really need to have stellar (just like everyone else?) essays. Also, did you have a low GPA in undergrad? This may seem like a correlation if that's the case. Anyway, I'd say with what little info you've provided that you have just as good a chance as anyone else...i.e. possible but unlikely. =) However...do not take it again! 680 is still a great score. That score is much more competitive with the next tier down which consists of some mighty fine schools! ------------ From: csheth To: shrek11 Shrek, Here is what I heard when attending a Columbia information session. The Columbia staff member said that any score over 660 informs the AdCom that you are capable of handling the work load and they take into account only the highest score. 680 is a decent score but you'll really need to nail the essays. Mind you I think Harvard averages the GMAT scores - not sure. But I've seen students with 750+ scores rejected from ALL the schools they applied to because their essays weren't focused. Don't give too much credence to the GMAT. Yes, it's a part of the application process but its more a check mark unless you're looking for scholarships. Good luck. ------------ From: Tracker115 To: csheth What about a 660 at Haas and Anderson? Five years of solid work experience and 3.6 GPA? Are those the second-tier schools you refer to that may be more lenient? Thoughts? ------------ From: agria326 To: All Plenty of people get in with that score. I wouldn't sweat it too much at this point -- if I were you, I would focus on nailing the essays, positioning, recs, etc (the stuff you can still change)...  B-SCHOOL BLOGS View over 4,500 blogs in our MBA Blogs community today! Share your journey, meet new friends, and expand your network. Connect with MBA students, applicants and alumni from Columbia, Kellogg, Notre Dame, and more! Become a blogger today! Here's an excerpt: MBA Game Plan: GMAT Scandal Fallout By Omari Bouknight & Scott Shrum Comments: 0 Stars: 0 After weeks of tough talk, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) handed out a relatively small number of punishments for the Scoretop cheating scandal. After extensive careful research, the GMAC canceled the scores of just 84 past test takers, and has announced that most of them are eligible to retake the exam immediately. For schools that have students or alumni among those 84 people, now the interesting question is whether they will take action against those people. While the GMAC and the schools understandably need to talk tough, for legal reasons they will probably tread more carefully when handing out actual punishments. Any first-year business school student or alum, if he were summarily kicked out because of this scandal, would likely "lawyer up" very quickly and fight it. However, the fact that the GMAC narrowed down their list of thousands of potential cheaters to a list of just 84 people suggests that they have pretty strong evidence against those 84. So, school may very well have more than enough reason to boot out or punish a student or alum who is on that short list. Take a look at Veritas Prep if you're looking for a more legitimate course of GMAT prep help. FOR THE FULL VERSION  WORDS OF WISDOM MBAs Answer: "Has having an MBA had a significant effect on you professionally?" ------------------------------------------- Yes, my Master's degree opened many doors that were not previously open which provided me with significant career advancement opportunities. I wouldn't be in my current job today, since one of the requirements for this position is to have a Master's Degree. -Thunderbird '93; Marketing Executive The MBA has definitley given me a leap in credibility. People respect your opinion and view you as an authority in your field. -Dartmouth (Tuck) '98; Entrepreneur The MBA definitely gives you more professional credibility. I work in a creative firm with mostly non-MBAs, so I have a whole different set of skills than most of my peers. Also, the MBA network has helped enormously in developing new client relationships. If a potential client doesn't know you from a hole-in-the-wall, at least you'll get some measure of respect simply by having your MBA. -Dartmouth (Tuck) '99; Consultant Absolutely, I feel it's made a difference. I think I have a lot more credibility - certainly in the job I'm in now as the Director of Admissions for an MBA Program - but even before I made this change to a non-traditional MBA career path. It's also made a difference in the way that I approach problems and issues in the workplace. I have a lot more confidence that the framework I use or the tools I use are the most effective and efficient ones. -Stanford '92; Admissions Director This newsletter is a FREE service provided by BusinessWeek.com. To sign up for other newsletters, cancel delivery, change delivery options or change your e-mail address, please go to our Newsletter Preferences page. 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B-School Insider Dear Reader: As journalists, we probably use terms like "unprecedented," "groundbreaking" and "game-changing" a bit too often. But for a week that started with failure of Lehman Brothers and the rushed sale of Merrill Lynch, continued with the effective nationalization of insurance giant AIG, and ended with a proposed government bailout of troubled financial institutions running into the many hundreds of billions of dollars, those terms and many others truly fit. Our lead story this week, "Business Schools Confront the Crisis," tries to put into perspective some of the roles business schools are playing in explaining what's going on to the public, and providing expert resources and advice to policy-makers. In researching the story, we found a huge amount of business school resources being poured into the crisis. To be fair, several readers commented that the business school efforts are a little too late, and asked what role business schools might have played in helping foster the financial excesses that led to the financial meltdown. It's a good question. We welcome your opinions in the Readers Comments section of the story and in our MBA Forums. We also invite you to visit our new Facebook page. Until next week, Phil Mintz B-Schools Channel Editor E-MAIL A FRIEND  |  GET RSS  |  NEWSLETTERS B-SCHOOLS NEW ON MBA INSIDER >> UBC Sauder Admissions Q&A The admissions head at University of British Columbia's business school discusses MBA admissions and a new pre-experience master's program MBA Insider Subscribers Only Advertisement B-SCHOOLS MULTIMEDIA MBA >> Wharton Faculty Discuss Financial Crisis Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are bailed out by the Fed; Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy; AIG is on the brink of ruin; and the Dow Jones drops 500 points in one day. With the still-unfolding turmoil in the financial markets on September 16, Wharton students packed a one-thousand-seat auditorium to hear Wharton professors take on the issues BusinessWeek @ Facebook Join the BusinessWeek Business Schools and Management Education page on Facebook today What’s Your Problem? Trouble at the office? In surveys, blogs, polls, and social media, BusinessWeek collaborated with readers to identify problems at work. Together we found answers.  IN YOUR FACE: SARAH PALIN, WORKING MOTHER Reader Susan Writes: "I could not see myself, with young children, ever wanting a job that would consume me so totally as the Vice Presidency or Presidency would." Tell Us: Which Role is Best Prep for the White House: Mom, Mayor or Governor?     Tools & Features MBA Insider Check out this feature-rich area for advice and tools that will help you choose the right B-school -- and develop a strategy for getting accepted Full-Time MBA Rankings & Profiles BusinessWeek's Top 30 U.S. programs and Top 10 international programs. Plus, scan in-depth profiles of more than 300 full-time programs around the world The Best Undergraduate B-Schools Undergrad business programs are getting MBA-like respect, and competition to get into them is hotter than ever. Here's how the top schools stack up B-School Calendar BusinessWeek.com's scheduling tool will give you an idea of upcoming events at B-schools in the U.S. and around the world. You'll find information on admissions receptions, application deadlines, networking events, alumni events, conferences, and much more. 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