Three Top B-Schools Look for New Deans

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March 31, 2010
MBA Express

NEWS  THIS WEEK'S TOP STORY THE HUNT FOR A NEW DEAN Three Top B-Schools Look for New Deans There are vacancies at Chicago, Northwestern, and Harvard. Our three-part series handicaps the search for new deans, starting with Chicago   MORE TOP STORIES RETURN ON INVESTMENT ROI: Business Schools with Bang for the Buck You don't have to pay a fortune to get a $50,000-a-year starting salary. These low-cost undergrad business programs include lots of bargains VIEWPOINT 'Ten Hut! Military Leadership Lessons for B-Schools Former active-duty soldiers are learning a lot from B-school. Maybe it's time for B-schools to learn a thing or two from the military MBA JOURNAL: B-SCHOOL UPDATE The MBA Balancing Act "Crazily enough, business school is busy. Who knew, and why didn't they tell me?" Getting In: Darden Opens a New Innovation and Design Lab Hammers, glue guns and cordless drills are not items you'd normally expect to find in a business school classroom. Business School, Explained What Can An MBA Applicant Do To Stand Out?  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 — Which School Has The "Nicest" Students? From: FrigginConfused To: All Which school has the "nicest" students? In my humble opinion, I would say Kellogg, Ross, and Tuck. Schools with reputation in finance seem to attract the jerk population, though. From: Nomad83 To: FrigginConfused While it might not affect someone's descision of where to go, a collaborative student body is a 'nice' to have in any bschool experience. It is possible that this expression of this trait would be inversely proportional to the class size of the program. It would make logical sense that smaller programs would foster tighter knit communities, in order to mitigate the risk of a smaller alumni base. However, there may be subsets within the larger programs that demonstrate this behavior as well. Attracting these types of candidates may also be reflective of the types of careers graduating students embark upon. 'Nice' schools may be represented more strongly in Nonprofit or social enterprise. Location of the school will also likely be a strong influencer, as more remote locations would foster more collaborative vs. competitive environments as you spend more time with your classmates. To these points, and in my personal experience, Tuck and Yale SOM seem like very collaboration-oriented programs, though I'm sure many other programs have their 'nice' students too... From: dairy5 To: FrigginConfused You would have to include Yale in there because most have some attraction on some level to working in social enterprise / non-profits, which is basically not true at any other B school. From: mbagirl2012 To: lurker_2012app I disagree with the statement "is basically not true at any other bschool". Kellogg has a large focus on Social Enterprise (with a seperate program for it: SEEK) and Stanford is known for social innovation. Most people I meet from either schools are very interested in the social enterprise sector, even if they have private sector career interests. From: oceana142 To: mbagirl2012 Duke - Southern hospitality From: mba2012heretogo To: oceana142 HBS clearly. because its the best. From: Rosewater To: FrigginConfused I would agree on a general basis that schools specializing in finance seem to target jerks. I think the "nicest" students are found at a lot of European schools: HEC Paris, IESE, IE, ESADE, Oxbridge...The diversity seems to foster more of a cohesive spirit than what I've seen on this US-centric board. From: ColumbiaYesorNo To: Rosewater In my experience, and I have been able to meet, talk to, and contact several students at different schools, I would say Yale and Wharton have not only been the nicest but also the most helpful. This of course is from a small sample so I really can't comment on the school as a whole. From: MTP2012 To: ColumbiaYesorNo I was actually pleasantly surprised with how nice the students at Wharton were. I visited the school twice and had a very positive experience on both occasions. I also visted Tuck and agree that the students there are also extremely friendly and enthusiastic about the school. From: KevinMinela To: FrigginConfused Stanford, Kellogg, Tuck and Fuqua. From: ColumbiaYesorNo To: dokee I would have to concur. Getting into B-School — How To Get Out Of Waitlist? From: 1inBillion To: All Hi I just received communication that I have been put on the wait list. Any ideas on how to best handle this situation? Should I send the adcom updates on my job progress? Or are they looking for me to covey my commitment more strongly? From: AnnaE To: 1inBillion This is all it says: Thank you for applying to the ABC. We are unable to offer you a place in the program at this stage and would like to place you on the waiting list. The wait list will be updated frequently and you will be notified as soon as a place becomes available. Thank you for your interest in ABC. From: AnnaE To: 1inBillion Since it doesn't advice to not send updates, I would personally keep in touch with them. I was waitlisted and I replied with a mail reconfirming my burning interest for the school and why I think it'd be a good fit. I also updated them on how my current projects had been evolving and the goals I worked towards before (potentially) quitting and leaving to b-school. A few days before next round deadline, I sent them a second mail, again reminding them of my interest and that I'm currently on the waitlist and why I'd be delighted to be admitted. What they want is someone who fits the profile they're looking for and would die for an interview invite, thus making the interview invite worth extending. I also added another update on my career and goals, as well as a note on that I plan to brush up on business and management skills before enrolling. From: 1inBillion To: AnnaE @AnnaE: Hi. Thanks for the post. I have been w8listed after the interview. So is there gonna be another interview to get me out of this w8list? Also, Should I send emails or call them? Thanks 4 the help. Immensely indebted, -- 1inbillion From: dms09 To: 1inBillion If you've already been interviewed, then you won't be interviewed again before they render a decision. The best advice I can give is to do a few things: Similar to what Anne said, make sure there aren't any links provided or FAQ's on the waitlist from that particular school (every school is indeed different) where some school explicity ask you to keep them updated, while others don't want to hear a peep from you. The school I was waitlisted at last year had specific FAQ's talking about what updates they would appreciate and how to actually send them. If, in your case, you have no details other than the 3 sentence waitlist notification, I would agree with Anne and send a well-written letter reaffirming your interest in the school along with any progress you have made/are making at your job etc but be careful not to send too many letters as it can become a nuisance and decrease your chances (oh what a fun game it can be trying to get into school haha). One additional thing that may help is a "letter of support" from an alumni of that school, only if you know someone that would be happy to write one that can maybe reinforce your potential "fit". Lastly, google MBA waitlist tips and there is a ton of info and testimonials from people who went through the same experience with specific schools and can provide further insight into what steps you can take to increase your chances. Good luck my friend From: Nomad83 To: 1inBillion Think of the waitlist as an indication that you have met the basic requirements for admission, so congratulations of that note. However, this is now the time to perform a critical, objective review of your application to 'ABC'. Ask yourself what are specific areas where you feel you can improve your candidacy with respect to other applicants this year. While reaffirming your interest in the program with the admissions committee, use specific examples of how 'ABC' matches your career goals, and state your intended progression over the next few months and how that will help you to contribute to the program; i.e. What steps are you going to take to address these 'weaknesses'...get involved in an EC, take a stats course, retake the GMAT, etc. and be sure to update the AdCom (as long as they dont specifically disapprove of it...) Best of luck! And if it doens't work out, there's always next year... From: AnnaE To: Nomad83 I agree with everything stated above, and would like to add that you may have proven to be a potential candidate, but the reason they've waitlisted you is that they've already admitted many "clones" of you and are awaiting their decisions. Since every school tries to make up a diverse class, they can only admit a few people sharing the same profile. It may be that you've competed against a few of whom one or two have been offered admission, and you might be next should they decline. To me it seems that getting on the waitlist requires skill, and getting off requires as much perseverance as luck. From: 1inBillion To: AnnaE Thanks guys. That really helps.I think i am going to send them meaningful updates spread 15 days apart and a call after another 10 days (unless they drop me from wait list and further consideration all together). Meanwhile I will look out for any alumnus who can vet me.  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: Accepted UVA Darden's New i.Lab Program Encourages "Design-Thinking" By Linda Abraham Last Friday, UVA's Darden School of Business together with UVA's Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation unveiled a special program that supports and encourages the teaching and studying of Darden's new curriculum initiative, "design-thinking." This new program, reports an article in UVA Today, will take place in the innovation laboratory, or i.Lab, a creative space that will be part classroom and part studio, set up to provide an area for students to "build models and prototypes of their ideas.[that] features tall workbenches flanked by a full complement of tools," including hammers, saws, carving tools, oscilloscopes, metal rods, foam boards, clay, wood, and others. The space has tall, floor-to-ceiling windows, an exhibition space, and implements state-of-the-art facilities. The philosophy behind Darden's focus on design-thinking and on the new i.Lab, explains Jeanne Liedtka, a professor in the program, is that "design-thinking skills are best developed through the hands-on design experience." Students learn, create, and then exhibit their business prototypes, subjecting their work to peer review and critique. According to a BusinessWeek article on the same subject, Darden is not the only school putting a strong emphasis on design and innovation. NYU Stern has had the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab since the fall of 2008, and UC Davis Graduate School of Management currently has plans to open something similar as well. Click here for more information on Darden's i.Lab. FOR THE FULL VERSION This newsletter is a FREE service provided by BusinessWeek.com. 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B-School Insider Dear Reader: For the first time ever, the three b-schools at the top of Bloomberg BusinessWeek's ranking of full-time MBA programs—schools that crank out leaders by the hundreds—find themselves in an unusual position: looking for leaders of their own. With deanship vacancies at all three schools, we launched a three-part series last week handicapping each of the races, examining the challenges the new deans will face going forward, and identifying some individuals being thought of by alumni, faculty, and student leaders as "deanship material." The series, by Geoff Gloeckler, starts with a look at the Chicago Booth race. The next two parts (Kellogg and Harvard Business School) will run this week. If you care about the fate of these great academic institutions, I urge you to read all three. If you can tear yourself away from those stories, you should also check out Francesca Di Meglio's look at the undergraduate business programs with the best return on investment. It will come as no secret that public schools, with their lower tuition costs, do well in this type of analysis. And yes, to some extent you get what you pay for: few low-cost schools deliver big salaries at graduation, many are struggling to place students in jobs, and most are clustered near the bottom of Bloomberg BusinessWeek's 2010 ranking of top undergraduate business programs in the nation. But what is, in fact, interesting, is the number of schools with tuition costs of less than $10,000 a year where students graduate with median annual salaries of $50,000 or more. There are a dozen by my count, including nine that ranked in the top 50 in our 2010 ranking, and four that ranked in the top 20: No. 2 Virginia, No. 10 Texas, No. 14 UNC, and No. 19 Indiana. Those are bargains in anybody's book. Louis Lavelle Business Schools Editor Bloomberg BusinessWeek E-MAIL A FRIEND  |  GET RSS  |  NEWSLETTERS B-SCHOOLS NEW ON MBA INSIDER >> UCLA Anderson: Admissions Q&A MBA Admissions Director Mae Jennifer Shores explains what UCLA's Anderson school has to offer and what it takes to get in MBA Insider Subscribers Only Advertisement B-SCHOOLS MULTIMEDIA MBA >> Cambridge Judge Business School Can China keep growing? Lord Leon Brittan 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: THE FASTER, CHEAPER MBA Reader Dorothy Beach Writes: " People are losing patience with an MBA system that is too linear, not relevant so get it done as quickly as possible to get on with what is real. " Tell Us: Leery of Year-Long MBA Programs?     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. EMBA Rankings & Profiles BusinessWeek's biennial Executive MBA rankings grade 25 programs worldwide. Plus, you'll find profiles of nearly 200 programs Exec Ed Rankings & Profiles Here are BusinessWeek's top 20 Executive Education programs. Plus, profiles of more than 100 programs worldwide Advertisement   FEATURED SPECIAL REPORT >> Perfecting Your Business School Application Slide Shows Slide Show: Best U.S. Business Schools Video Video: How to Choose Recommendation Writers GMAT Test Prep: A User's Guide Not all GMAT test-preparation services are created equal. Use this guide to find out which one is right for you How to Write an MBA Admissions Essay Be clear about your career goals and how business school can help you achieve them. But most of all be yourself Make Your Leadership Case for Business School Extracurriculars: The Extras That Count The College Visit 101 Chat: MBA Admissions Tips READER COMMENTS > MORE SPECIAL REPORTS >  BW MALL   SPONSORED LINKS Hot Careers in Internet Marketing  Get prepared for your new career with online degrees from Full Sail University! 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