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November 12, 2008
MBA Express

NEWS THIS WEEK'S TOP STORY

Chicago Gets Naming Gift

The University of Chicago's business school has received a large naming gift from alumnus David Booth and renamed itself the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Story > >

MORE TOP STORIES

GETTING IN
Four Truths About Today's MBA
With the economic crunch, some old ideas about the MBA as a passport to success have crumbled. Here are four things you can count on

MBA JOURNAL: INTRODUCTION
The Golden Rule
"I am not going to lie: Getting my first acceptance to business school was the greatest day of my life"

MBA JOURNAL: INTRODUCTION
Journey to B-school: From Tel Aviv to Georgetown
"Ready to make the transition into the civilian world, I am about to pack up my life and seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity"

What Would Peter Drucker Think?
What would the management guru, who passed away three years ago, have made of the financial meltdown? Ira Jackson, dean of the Claremont B-school named for Drucker, offers some insight

LIVE CHAT
The Best Business Schools
Find out which schools top BusinessWeek's MBA rankings on Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. ET

Cost of College Special Report
More students are starting college at cheaper two-year schools, and more community colleges are making the transfer to university easier

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: Haas MBA Taking Questions

From: MorganAtHaas
To: ALL

Greetings everyone!

My name is Morgan and I am a second year student in the full time program at the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley. I serve on our MBAA (student government) as the Vice President of Admissions, and I help to facilitate communication between the Admissions Committee, current students, applicants and new admits. I do not partake in the application review/reading process, but I am actively involved with both Admissions and the Haas Student Ambassadors to answer questions related to the program or application process.

That said, I wanted to make myself available to anyone who has questions about Haas - student life, careers, essays, visiting Haas, partners program, core classes etc. I was in your shoes not long ago, and I am more than happy to share my experiences and insights to help you get a better feel for the Berkeley MBA.

I'll do my best to respond to questions within 24-48 hours, but please keep in mind that I also have problem sets, presentations, interviews and case preparation to contend with...so if I'm a bit late in getting back to you, please forgive me! I look forward to speaking with you about all things Haas. Thanks for your interest and best of luck with the application process! Cheers,
Morgan

------------
From: maverick2007
To: MorganAtHaas

Great man. I was very much looking forward for that.

I am planning to apply to HAAS in R2 and have some queries regarding the HAAS and its involvement in Energy Sector...

1.) Well, Valley is now days buzzing wid one word - Green business...i have my interest in this direction but its partially skewed...I am interested in Power industry and Green business application in the same...I have visited the BERC and have found that it is very active in Energy sector and Green business but have not been able to find anything specific to Power industry. Could you help me with some information regarding the same...

2.) I have a small very general question, HAAS is known to have strong emphasis on INNOVATION, well INNOVATION in itself is a very fluid concept and is one of the word that has been very differently defined by diff ppl...What does it stand for at HAAS.

3.) HAAS is known to a GOOD School for HITECH CONSULTING as the school is broad in the valley, but beyond valley and beyond Hitech consulting, how has been the response of the recruiters to the school (especially at this time of economic downturn).

4.) What is the percentage of MBA students, who take up courses from other schools like School of Public policy etc.. at Berkley?

5.) International student have been deprived of non-cosignor loans this year, what have been school initiatives in this direction. Are they expected to come up with something. As a second year student are you or your peers facing any such challenge.

Look forward for your response.

Thanks again for taking initiative and helping us out.

------------
From: bulers
To: MorganAtHaas

Hi Morgan,

Thanks for taking time to help out!

I also have a Haas application underway and intend to submit by R2. A few questions about Haas:

How is recruitment like? I am particularly interested in Haas because of its proximity to the Valley, and high-tech companies, specifically Internet-related ventures, are where I wish to get an internship and eventually work. However, my goal is to get a position that is based in Asia in one of these companies. How good a shot do I have of getting one after attending Haas? I heard there is a job-seeking trip to Hong Kong facilitated by the school? Any idea how that goes?

Second: I am from the Philippines and have not had the chance to visit the campus. I would dearly love to, but suffice it to say I am an ocean away, and in business trips I have made to the US, I have not had the time to squeeze that in. How badly does that affect my chances? I ask because of the essay question regarding what I have done to get to know the school. Any tips how I should approach the essay, given I haven't visited?

Thanks again!

----------------------------------------------------------

Getting into B-School: MD/MBA Career Paths

From: mba_16
To: All

Friends,

This question is for my sister who is an MD specialized in Internal Medicine. However, she plans on gettng married and having lots of babies within the next two years. Therefore, we are looking at alternative careers that wont involved long night shifts, on-call emergency work, etc.

What are the careers for MD with MBAs? My sister already started a Health Care Certificate at Johns Hopkins University which is part of the Healthcare MBA curriculum.

What types of positions would she be looking at upon graduation? Would she be working for Hospitals or drug companies?

Please share any info on the subject.

Thanks!

------------
From: umngmc
To: mba_16

hi mba16,

as the previous poster mentioned, consulting/VC won't offer any flexibility in hours. MD/MBA has several career paths like the two already mentioned or perhaps more common, fields such as healthcare administration, either with a hospital or with insurance companies. big pharma is an option, but hours vary depending on your level of responsibility. it seems like her MBA is more focused to the healthcare MBA track rather than the "business" track. my brother went to hopkins, and he had a classmate who was more interested in the "business" side and took two years off from the MD program to pursue an MBA from Harvard.

Depending where you live, there are private clinics now, even for internal specialists where the hours are much less demanding with reasonable on-call.

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:

Next Week...
By Susan Miltenberger

Comments: 0 Stars: 0

I realized that ever since I started my EMBA I've been saying things like: "Oh, after I get finish class this week I'll have a much better time of it next week." or "Wow, I'll really be able to get all my school work AND ride my bike next week." Of course, when next week arrives I'm still struggling to balance work, school and life.

Everyone told me that participating in a program like this was going to be a lot of work. Good friends, advisors, alumni and faculty all told me it would be challenging and that it would probably take some time to settle into a rhythm. I think after a month of talking about "next week," I'll just focus on this week. An interesting by-product of being so immersed in school is that I more thoroughly enjoy my time outside of work and away from homework. Because they are a little less frequent, those moments where I get to cook dinner, watch a 'cross race or have coffee with a friend are just a little more special.

FOR THE FULL VERSION

WORDS OF WISDOM

Admissions directors offer advice on choosing references
-------------------------------------------

Letters of recommendation are meant to provide additional information to the Admissions Committee on who the candidates are. As applications are evaluated holistically at our school, references are taken very seriously in making the final admission decision. Candidates may come across as solid in terms of previous academic performance, GMAT as well as work experience. The Committee will examine the references to find out if it reinforces the same impression that we get from the overall profile of the candidate. We are more interested to read letters of recommendation which are written by people who know you fairly well either academically or professionally and able to identify your abilities, development areas as well as management potential to recommend you. References that provide specific examples of your character, skills and accomplishments and reinforce your motivation for attending b-schools and how you will fit into the particular schools you are applying to. It is important to explain to your referees about the MBA education and the offerings of the b-schools you are applying to as well as your motivation to study at those particular schools. Remind the referees of those activities and projects, which you have achieved successfully. Finally, you should choose someone who you can trust to deliver a thoroughly written letter of recommendation on you. --Connie Tai, RSM

Select people who know you well, whether it be professionally or academically. Don't just get a reference for the sake of getting a reference. --Reena Lichtenfeld, USC (Darla Moore)

The most meaningful references come from current or previous supervisors - people who have had the opportunity to both observe and evaluate your performance and social skills in a work environment. I am frequently asked if it is appropriate to submit more than the required number of references. One or two extra references are fine, as long as all of the references are strong. In other words, don't think that more is necessarily better - two strong letters go a lot further than four mediocre ones. --Laura Parks, University of Florida

It is best to choose someone with whom you have worked directly. Do not pick friends or just colleagues, but someone you reported to long enough so that this reference can comment on what you have accomplished and what you can achieve. Also get a reference from someone who is external to the organization (i.e., a client). --Admissions Team, Theseus International Management InstituteBR>

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B-School Insider

Dear Reader:

Three hundred million dollars. Even in this day of $700 billion bailouts, that's a pretty big number for a donation to a business school. Our lead item this week is on alum David Booth's huge gift to Chicago's business school, which will be known going forward as the Chicago Booth School of Business. There have been some pretty active comments on my blog post about the donation, so you may want to check it our and add your own thoughts.

Of course, alums, students and business school watchers may be wondering how the new name will affect Chicago's rankings in BusinessWeek's bi-annual survey of fulltime MBA programs. Not at all, of course. But if you want to find out where Chicago and the other top U.S. and international business schools rate this year, you can join us at [ http://www.businessweek.com/bschools ] for our annual rankings countdown on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 5 p.m. EST. We hope you can join us.

Until next week,
Phil Mintz
B-Schools Channel Editor

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