Interviews with admissions directors, students and alumni from top-ranked business schools and MBA programs based in the United States
Are you looking for a hands-on, customizable and intimate MBA in the heart of one of the world’s great research universities? Darren sits down with Mark Lockwood, MBA Director of Recruiting, Admissions, and Alumni Affairs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to discuss the program’s key advantages and admissions process.
This week I had an in-depth chat about the Columbia MBA with 5 members of the Admissions Team. We discussed what makes Columbia different from other top-ranked schools, admissions tips, living in New York, and the extensive career support available at the school. One thing is for sure: Columbia has a wealth of resources to deliver a first-class business education.
Christie St-John, Director of Admissions, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, joined the show to discuss the Vanderbilt MBA. The program is focused on giving students a high-touch and flexible education that will prepare them well for internships and job placement success.
Owen is focused on attracting the best students and award 70% of their students with scholarship funding based on merit. Christie makes it very clear that school takes a counseling approach in order to admit students who will succeed – and the school’s rising rankings and excellent job placement stats attest that her team has done so.
Carlson MBA Director of Admissions Linh Gilles joined the show this week and we had a great chat about Carlson’s focus on experiential learning, the benefits of attending a smaller MBA program in Minneapolis, and how to give yourself the best chance for admissions.
My good friend Mark Zee, a second year student at Anderson, joined the show to discuss his experience at UCLA. Mark is truly a non-traditional candidate, graduating from Princeton University in 2003, acting in Asia for 6 years, starting an import/export business in Singapore, and then working in educational consulting and finance in Houston, Texas before applying to business school in 2012. Mark shares how he tied all this experience together – and linked them to congruent career goals – in only a few essays.
Are you struggling with post-MBA career goals in your application? Top business schools are looking for well-researched and realistic career goals. But exactly how can you do this? Especially when you’re strapped for time?
Steve Dalton, Senior Associate Director of the Career Management Center at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and author of the 2 Hour Job Search, joined the show this week to share his systematic formula to efficiently and effectively target potential employers and secure the first interview.
Christine and I talk about the exciting new MBA collaboration between Cornell Tech and the Johnson School in New York City that starts next year. What makes it different from Cornell’s traditional MBA? Who should apply? And what should candidates keep in mind when applying to this 1-year program?
I started this podcast to have open conversations with Admissions Directors so you could get a good feel for not only the bschool, but also for the people evaluating your application. Many see admissions at top bschools as a black box, and I’m trying to tear those walls down.
This week I had such a chat with Christine Sneva, who is Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid of MBA Programs at Cornell Johnson. Christine is one of the most enthusiastic guests I’ve had on the show. And she really opens up on what makes Johnson special and how her team looks at applications. You can really go behind the scenes of Cornell’s admissions process in this episode.
How did Lawrence Cole, author of the popular MBA applicant blog MBAOver30, get into Wharton, Chicago Booth and MIT Sloan as a 36 year old?
Over the past 6 months, I’ve had over 20 MBA Admissions Directors on the Touch MBA Podcast. I’ve asked all of them, “What would you advise candidates to improve their chances of admissions?”
This is what they told me.
Here are 10 actionable tips you can use right away to boost your admissions and scholarship chances at your target business schools.
Ms. Libby Livingston, Director of Admissions for the Two Year MBA Program joined the show this week to talk about Goizueta MBA (pronounced Goy-sweat-a) that can be completed in 1 or 2 years. The program is focused on “Day 1 Readiness:” getting students exceptionally prepared for the first day of class, job interviews, internships and jobs.
If you were studying business at one of the world’s greatest research institutions, and had to pick 75% of your classes and activities, what would you do?
Mr. Jeffrey Carbone, Associate Director of Admissions at MIT Sloan School of Management, started our conversation with “we’re not just an MBA program…” and after you listen to this episode, you’ll understand why.
Do you want to impact business and society in a meaningful way? And be at the nexus of business and politics in the US?
Ms. Shari Hubert, Associate Dean of MBA Admissions at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, joined the show to share more about the Georgetown MBA, located in Washington D.C.
Sometimes MBA candidates forget how critical faculty are to a great MBA experience. Well, how would you like to have the USA’s top ranked faculty leading you through over 600 case studies? And these faculty having an “open door policy” so you could access them at any time?
Ms. Katherine Alford, Associate Director of Admissions, University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, joined the show to share more about the Darden’s 3 distinguishing factors: its near exclusive use of the case-study method to teach, its top ranked faculty, and its collaborative student community.
Ms. Megan Overbay, Director of Admissions, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, joined the show to share more about the Duke Daytime MBA (22 months), located in Durham, North Carolina, and Cross Continent MBA (16 months).
Megan and I had a great discussion on many of the programs’ finer points which should give you a good feel for the school. Listen on for much more…