Darden, University of Virginia - School Research

Darden - University of Virginia - was the last school in my targeted school list for round 1. Before I started researching about Darden, I was not sure whether to apply into this school. I want to target only among top 25 ranked schools from FT ranking and Darden ranks 27 in the Financial Time ratings; however, as I progressed in my research I started to develop a strong connection with the schools. Darden is the only public school in my round 1 schools list. I was also amazed by the fact that many of my fellow Indians applicants did apply to Darden in round 1 – A total of 26 applicants declared their application submission on BTG Darden’s wall for round 1. Here is my take on Darden.

Things that I liked about Darden –

1. Case Method – If you are looking for case-method based learning and Harvard Business School is a stretch school for you, then Darden should be your best bet. Darden graduates discuss more than 600 cases in their 2 year program, with an average of 3 cases per day. My pick is case-method because I think case-method learning makes business graduate ready for the real world problems. I also dropped the idea of applying to UCLA because of its preference of lecture-based teaching.
2. Innovative Faculty – Darden faculties are really creative in their way of teaching. I really loved how Prof. Ed Freeman uses drama and theatre to teach the leadership skills. Darden puts a strong emphasis on ethics, and the business week ranking clearly corroborates this fact. Darden graduates are famous for their impressive articulating abilities; obviously the credit goes to the great faculty team.
3. Public School – Darden is a public school, hence the tuition fee is comparatively lesser than other B-schools (approx. $47K for Virginia residents and $52K for non-residents, in comparison to $57K - $60K at other elite b-schools). Darden also provides lots of scholarship options.

Things that are not so attractive about Darden –

1. Lower Rank – Darden made 5 rank jump in FT rating (from 32 to 27) in a year. I don’t understand completely the parameters behind the ranking of the Financial Times ratings; however, a lower rank does indicate a lesser attractiveness among the recruiters and lesser salary for Darden Graduates than other elite b-school graduates.
2. Brand Name – Darden is a great school, although Darden as a brand name is a lesser known name in global b-school world when compared to the likes of UCLA, NYU Stern, etc..

If you want to know anything specific about my application progress, or want to learn about my research, do drop me a message

Tuck (Dartmouth) - School Research

After submitting 2 applications (Duke and Yale) in round 1 I started focusing on my next target schools (Tuck and Darden). I’ve been following activities at Tuck for quite a long time and with each update or chat about the school on Facebook, blogs or mails, my fondness for Tuck keep on increasing. Tuck is my top priority school because of several reasons. For me, it actually is the benchmark; I evaluate other schools’ culture and their alumni network with Tuck’s. Usually I write about my school research in “attractive” and “not so attractive” section; however, for me there is very little scope for “not so attractive”. Here is the rest of the story –

Things I liked most about Tuck – 

1. Tuck Alumni network – The Tuck graduates commitment back to the school is the higher than any other (70 % of the alumni gave $6.3 million in 2013 – read the full report here). The commitment describes the attachment of the graduates with the school. During my research I interacted with several alumni and each of them were so down to earth that you can just be in their awe. They appreciate your good question and also guide you when you make mistakes. The guidance I received from the alumni, especially Jed Struman, was extraordinary.

2. Program at Tuck – Tuck offers so many programs to hone your personality and leadership skills and the way professor teach them, is simply amazing. Programs such as “Research to seminar”, “Independent Study”, “Wall-Street Edge program (Initiated by Tuck student) and “Communicating with presence and Negotiations” were the few extraordinary ones.

3. Faculties – A higher percentage (86%) of Tuck’s classes is taught by full-time faculty members than at most MBA programs, as opposed to visiting professors, lecturers, and adjuncts. Prof. Govindrajan, Prof. Goldsmith and Prof. Finkelstien are among the world's top 50 management Gurus.

4. Small Student Body – Tuck has a relatively smaller student body than other elite B-schools. You have the opportunity to bond with every other student and build a more personal relationship.

Things that are not so good about Tuck –

1. Lower Rank – Tuck is ranked quite low in many B-school rating lists. Tuck made it to the top-10 only in U.S. news ranking. In fact, it is ranked 20 in Financial Times rating. In the recent Economist ranking, Tuck is ranked at 2^nd position; however, many people don’t consider Economist ratings significant as many elite b-schools do not take part in Economist ratings.

2. High Tuition Fees – Tuck is among the group of expensiveB-schools, only behind Harvard and Wharton.

I submitted my Tuck application in the early action round and now waiting for the news. If you want to know anything specific about my application progress, or want to learn about my research, do drop me a message.

 

 

Duke (Fuqua) Daytime MBA Program - Research Part 2

Well, posting the second part of my research about Fuqua took me some time. Writing an application process is a rigorous and time consuming job. Even after going through so many round of modifications and checks, one feels anxious to hit the submit button. I've submitted my application for early action round on 16th Sep'14. So here is rest of the part of my research.

Things I liked most about Fuqua -

1. Fuqua's Alumni - The word "wow" fall short in describing the culture of this great institute. I'm just amazed seeing the support Fuqua Alumni provide to prospective students. I had pleasure to talk to one of the most kind people. Every single alumni is ready to take time out of your busy schedule and guide you in the process.

2. Team Fuqua Philosophy - Collaboration is in the gene of Fuqua teaching philosophy. If you want to grow in a team setting then this is the right school for you. You will be able to develop relationship for life. Only other school, which I know,shows this kind of  development is TUCK.

3. International student body - Fuqua has the highest international student ratio ( approx 40%), higher than any other b-school. One will have various opportunity to learn about different culture, perspective and ideas from such a big international student body.

Fuqua is an amazing school for people like me, who  is seeking a vivid international experience and eclectic culture. I just fall in love with this school and the philosophy it runs on. Every time I open it YouTube channel, Dean  Boulding's video "Be Consequential" make me lust for the opportunity to be part of this great culture.

You can have a look into the first part of my research here.

If you want to know anything specific of my application progress or want to learn about my research, do drop me a message.

Yale School of Management - Research Excerpt

 

This is second post about my research on B-schools I'm applying into. This research is very crucial in selecting the right B-school for me, for finding the ideal cycle to apply and for preparing a competitive application. I'll describe how my research is organized so that if you want to read only a particular aspect of my research you can jump directly onto it. First, I describe about reason for my selection of school. Second, I describe what are the plus point for me in the schools. Third, I describe what else I'm looking for in the school. And last, other areas for more research.

Like Tuck, Yale School of Management is on top my B-school list. Among the top elite B-Schools, Yale is the youngest B-school. Yale seems so lucrative to me that it actually fits the definition of "Dream School". It has extraordinary and very distinctive Curriculum. Yale under the leadership of Dean Snyder is gaining new heights every year. Current FT ranking places Yale at 10th position, jump of 5 in a year.

Things I like about Yale -

1. Class Strength - Yale's class strength of class of 2016 is 219. The small student body has the advantage of having the opportunity to get to know each member of your class, build a personal relation with each member and learn more comfortably about the different perspectives, cultures and traditions at more personal level.

2. Raw Case - Yale's Raw Case is unique version of popular case study method. The cases, synthesized by Yale's research team and faculty,  are quite similar to the real case method that one might encounter in real world and involve multimedia platform. These case are available on Yale's site for reference and it seems other colleges also use them in their curriculum.

3. International Experience -  First year students are required to gain the international experience by going on the tour to one of the several part of the world to study the area of their interest. This seems quiet fascinating method to me.

Things that are not so attractive about Yale -

1. Smaller Alumni Network - Because Yale is very young and because it has small student body, its Alumni network is small compared to other elite B-school's; however, I feel that this factor is not much of a concern as being part of Yale's network, you not only have access to SOM alumni but also to other schools of Yale university and because of the close association of SOM curriculum with other schools one has network possibilities with other student bodies and alumni . Also having a small alumni body means reach to the seniors would be easy and effective.

2. Tougher Selection Process - Because Yale has smaller student body means the admission team will be very selective. One need to make quiet an impression to get into this wonderful school.


This is pretty much all from my research about Yale SOM. I'm not finished with conversation with current students, hence I delaying conversation with Yale's student for later period.

If you like me to consider any specific detail about college do comment below.


Sources - Poetsandquant.com, Veritas Prep Essential Guide, Yale SOM website

My Round 1 Application Schools list

 

With almost every schools application going online for round 1, every prospective candidate is rushing to prepare a competitive application. I'm also planning to apply to most of my shortlisted schools in round 1. Applying into earlier round will not give one edge over an equally eligible candidate, who is applying in round 2; however, there are few advantages of applying earlier. One benefit of applying in round 1 is that in case if your application gets dinged you have time to recover and can apply into other less competitive schools . The other benefit of applying in round 1 is that if you get accepted into your dream school, you can plan many things such as visa, any travel plan, organized monetary fund, etc.

I too have shortlisted list of my B-schools and now working towards making a competitive application, but first I need to be organized for my journey so that I don't blemish my application in any sense. Here is the list of my B-schools in which I'm applying in round 1.

1. The Fuqua School of Business - Early Action Round
2. Yale SOM
3. Columbia Business School
4. Tuck School of Business
5. Darden School of Business
6. UCLA Anderson School of Management

To few of you my 6th choice might seems bit edgy because it is the only B-school in my list on west coast. Reason to choose UCLA is that it has great program for M&E and being the situated in the capital of Entertainment Business, it  has edge over other similar programs.

I'll be tracking my progress of each application and will be updating my research on regular basis, so if you would like to know anything particular of my research do let me know.

Duke (Fuqua) Daytime MBA Program - Research Part 1

Duke, Fuqua is one the top B-school around the world but is it right fit for me? I still don't have a solid answer but the program seems to be very enchanting and attractive. In my research I identified few points that gave me positive vibes about the program but there are few points on which I've to do more research  to come to the ultimate conclusion - is it right fit for me? Here is the excerpt of my first draft of Research.

Things I liked about Fuqua -

1. Interdisciplinary Structure - Courses on different domains/fields/disciplines. This would be great for me, as post-MBA I'm tempted about 2 fields  - Media and Entertainment and Core Finance.

2. Fuqua's Media, Entertainment & Sports (MES) Club - Fuqua is one of the very few B-schools that have centre for M&E. I information about it M&E club is quiet handful.

3. Professor Lopomo's simulation program - I really love the whole concept of this program. In my graduation school one of my professor also uses the same method in his teaching and I quite enjoyed his classes for the same reason.

 Things I need to do more research -

1. Bigger Class size - Fuqua has a typical class size of  437 and the whole class is divided into section of some 70ish student. In my earlier firm, Intel Security - formally known as McAfee, we had a big working force and because of such a big strength I was able to make acquaintance with not many of the team, however, I feel that class strength is actually beneficial in Fuqua as they have much diversity. This is actually not ice-breaker but I would like to know how current students feel about the strength.

2. Centres - I touch superficially on Fuqua's various program centres. In part -2 of my research I'll update about how program centres at Fuqua's stand against those of other college.

That is all from my initial draft. If you like me to consider any specific detail about college do comment below.

Greetings,
Hemant