US NEWS2008排名表,另选校问题请教各路牛人,尤其davidlee0222请进

(The article has been modified for Blogger setting.)
Q:
US NEWS2008排名表,另选校问题请教各路牛人,尤其davidlee0222请进

另,路过的朋友请帮忙支招
小弟概况:
本科大陆Top15经济学(xx大学,其实都不知道现在还有没有top15),GPA 79/100
5年政府部门工作经验,从事对外招商引资方面,有一定国际交流经验
Gmat760,Toefl 99
推荐信准备请同级别同事写,因为领导们外语不好不愿意
职业规划是希望毕业进入大公司直接投资部门,5年后回国做Private equity投资(目前essay是这么写的)
目前人在北美明州,准备申请09fall full time MBA

请大家帮我看看职业规划,选校计划可行不?
12月R1, U of minnesota Carlson, Emory(听说去年钱多)
1月R2,U of michigan(梦校), Rice U(Huston气候好), Cornell(博一下)

打算投6-9间选校,可是现在只选了5间,其他不知道如何是好,请指教
首要条件是奖学金,家里条件没有奖明年是读不起了只能再推一年,其次是职业出路和气候环境等等

p.s.明大暂时是首选,可是这里冬天太冷了,现在已经开始下雪了,对我这个南方人真是要命了

谢谢!

A:
严重感谢LZ抬举点名小弟

小弟两肋差刀前来相助


商学院排名原则上以BusinessWeek为主

美国名校与企业一致推崇，并以商业面向本位分析是他们家饭碗

US NEWS的排名主要是一般本科或研究所排名

以及各领域下细分的专业比BusinessWeek精致的多

但因商学院特例，学术质量只是其中一项指标

US NEWS其排名一般研究所学术质量的标准，

对商学院要求工作资历与未来出路的评核较难鉴定

FT的排名有参考价值

但在商学院以美国市场为主流的前提下

FT排名仍无法动摇BW的全球主导地位

虽说BW的排名也有不少面向让人诟病

各主修领域下的细节分析几乎空白

只有粗略四大归类 营销 财务 管顧 创业

各校特性几乎无法体现

只能由文字报导来函盖各校情势

又各校报导多出自学校自发新闻，各说各话

学生前程的自主选择与最核心的课程资源编排，却反而被排名迷思所盖过

但就小弟实地走访十多所top20名校的心得

排名的确高度影响学生竞争力与天才素质

排名越高的学校学生越聪明 资历与领导力越强





GMAT大牛分已经足以盖过GPA

充分证明学术能力与思考智能

又位居政府招引外资要职

五年资历正当中国经济起飞

会有众多惊人故事可以写

并且必定有一些史无前例的创举

找出其中的创新领导故事做小说式的深入视觉化体现

绝对可以挑战前十名校

唯一问题将出在需详细解释为何要往大公司投资部门发展

跟个人的三项生涯动力：Enthusiasm, Personal Characteristics, Professional Capabilities

有何深刻的个人化结合

建议LZ先不用将生涯目标完全限制在投资或PE

回头仔细检视三项生涯动力

由以往资历与三项动能总结后是否仍指向投资

总结内容将会是essay的核心



推荐信需要找目前直属主管或先前直属主管

越级或同级都不具参考效力

因为越级主管对申请人的了解程度并不深入
无法讲出申请人执行项目时的细节故事

而同级并没有对申请人正式进行过专业评核

只会褒不会贬

并且非出自管理角度

权力结构上并不是监督者与任用者角色



LZ还有非常多学校可以挑战,不用限制在明州

若真要走PE

靠LZ的政府要职资历

NYU甚至哥大都可以直申

Fuqua Ross也绝对在挑战名单

明大是综合管理学校,今年掉出三十名外

Emory注重领导力训练

从去年着重的软式领导力训练课程

转为今年的大众化多主修,符合各家口味

还有其他综合财务强校如UCLA，Cornell， UT Austin，Darden，U of Rochester

至于终极强校 芝大,华顿,哈,史,西北,MIT

则需要更强力的综合竞争力与领导力展现

甚至是长期的财务资历积累与热诚

[Personal Branding]請問關於政府背景的申請人(v)

(本文已經修改符合部落格閱讀環境)
請問關於政府背景的申請人
申請時提政令見解有用嗎?
推薦人找高官好嗎?
特殊名校招收政府背景的考量與偏好如何?

1 。有的 重点是要强调您在政策上的见解是否有前瞻性

而又能在这类思考的过程中 能够展现多少领导潜质

又能展现多少creativity

重点是在看思考的“过程” 而不只是看政策总结

2 。 adcom所要看的是推荐人对您长时间而密集的观察

要能够描述出您的细部个性与性格特质

并且需要大量证据支持

因此只有直属主管能有这样的角色与地位

找大官是没有帮助的 反而会让内容精细度降低

3 。原则上各名校都有政要背景出身的入学生

每年都有

华顿甚至有白宫经验的入学生

学校原则上不会有特别理由偏好政府背景

而是要看申请人的生涯规划有多完整

未来有何规划而为何需要MBA课程

有多少证据证明对特别学校MBA课程的fit

学校审核是以holistic evaluation为主
從intellectual capability, proven leadership potential, 及personal quality來審核申請人資格

[Personal Branding]Maryland Essay question

Q:
讨论 请问达人，maryland里有一道
How will you contribute to the legacy of the Robert H Smith School of Business?
legacy of the Robert H Smith School of Business是什么意思啊？跟whay this school是一个意思还是问你的diversity‘啊？

百思不得其解，求指点，谢谢~~



A:
legacy是讲前人遗留下的资产

这道题的意思是，当您未来加入这间学校成为Smith的一份子

您要如何贡献并传承Smith的校园精神

因此首先要了解Smith的校风

数码与创新

自身有哪些共通点能够先与学校产生共鸣

再将您身上学校所没有的特质做加强贡献

因此确实是school fit与value contribution的结合题

贡献可从各种面向

从您的出身背景，语言与市场文化

到您的独特生涯经历

以及最重要的您的人格特质与行事风格

将您的灵魂与学校精神作结合

[Personal Branding]Essay strategy and tips 81110

Whys: Why MBA, Why Now, Why this school
Long-Term and Short-Term Goals
and Persoanl Uniqueness

-You need to go much deeper on your whys

and be analytical, not just emotional expressions with adjectives

use fuctional and skill terms such as "advanced market forcast skills, sharpen negotiation skills, learn pricing strategy and fundamental finance analysis, also quality control on supply chain."

-More specific on your goals, and more details on what you needs

"to thrive my career to senior supply chain manager in 3 years after my mba, I need more strategic mindset on external partnership management, while supervise and motivate my team on efficiency control, also delegate subordinate on bahalf of senior executives, I need xxx MBA's 'Competing Through Supply Chain Logistics,' 'Procurement and Sourcing Strategies,' also 'Leading The Strategic Change Process.'"


-your long-term career aspiration needs to come our from your personality and soul

and supported by anecdotal stories and track evidence

"when I was in college club running xx charity event, my classmate Nancy accidentally notified that I was good at logistic details, and I was always good on interpersonal communications. Since then, I focused my career on supply chain management and have been constantly promoted 3 times in 4 years to a department supervisor."

-For your why now, you need to explain clearer about the urgency

"When my VP promoted me to this position and expected me to take bigger responsibility on executive level in 3 to 4 years, I felt empty on corporate strategy and cross-business negotiation, and I don't see the systemetic training in company to prepare me for senior position in short run, so studying an MBA now is a better opportunity cost for me."


-Need to show your uniqueness through your diverse background and personal experiences

and you need to walk adcom through the details with stories, at least 2 to 3 levels down

or you can see most people say the same thing as your statement

it should be like this: "coping with 6 countries across Europe, Asia, and South America shaped my unique personality. The enthusiasm from Brazil partner, the strictness from Japan supplier,and the emotional Euperean-style negotiation experience taught me how to manage unpredictable schedule. One time when I led the outsourcing project with Japanese partner, I....."


-For long-term aspiration, it needs to be realistic and feasible through specific short-term steps.

"When I discussed the outsourcing strategy with my CEO, I felt I could see through his vision with more systemetic on risk management, and also more strategic on competition...To be a supply chain executive focusing on East Europe strategic alignment, I know I'm lack of turing vision into corporate policies, and also I need more social skills on both networking with senior business partners and also time management. Also on capital raising and finance optimization, I need to improve those skills from my short-term goal "senior supply chain manager in Asia regional market first."

It needs to be much deeper from the "invisible motivation," "underlying reasoning," and your "seasoned personality"

[Personal Branding]How about 32+ years old applicants?

Q:
How about 32+ years old applicants? Do I have a chance for top MBA?

A:
Don't worry

32 is very normall age in b-schools

about 1/4 of MBA students in the States are at this age

in the States

the more experienced, the more contribution you can give

and also the deeper you'll learn

also bigger chance to find job (except some consulting jobs require young graduates)

since you're more prepared in career

just try to focus more on your seasoned experiences in application

[MUST READ] Honor from NSHMBA!!! (v)

主旨: Thank you
寄件者: "Rose Mary Bombela-Tobias"
日期: Sat, 十一月 8, 2008 9:36 pm
收件者: davidl@mbacareerfitter.com
副本:
重要性: 普通
環境設定: 顯示完整標頭 | 顯示友善列印模式




November 8, 2008

David Hsin-Hung Lee
MBA Career Consultant
David's MBA Career Management


Dear David:

It was an honor and privilege working with you at the National Society
of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) 2008 Career Conference and Expo. Your
commitment, passion and professionalism made the Resume and Interview Clinic an unqualified success. We assisted nearly 500 job seekers over
2 days with your help.

The evaluations returned to the Clinic reported that recommendations
and advice given by the professionals made a significant difference in
their presentations and job search. You were mentioned specifically in
one evaluation with the following comment, "David Lee was great. He
really helped me remove all the technical jargon from my resume.
Thanks!"

NSHMBA leadership and staff have praised our program as exceeding
their expectations and a testament to the highest standards of the
career services industry.

We thank you for sharing your talent with us. We hope you enjoyed the
experience as much as we did.



Warm regards,


Murray and Rose Mary


Murray A. Mann and Rose Mary Bombela-Tobias
NSHMBA Resume and Interview Clinic
Coordinators
Authors, Barron The Complete Job Search Guide for
Latinos
Principals, Global Diversity Solutions Group- Building High
performance Multi-Cultural
Workplaces
www.jobsearchguideforlatinos.com

[Personal Branding]How to show "why now?"

A:

you need to explain that in your career progress, you have a major bottleneck now that cannot be broken through on your current position in short future

to explain this

the best way is through opportunity cost analysis

you need to show that in short future

the opportunity cost of staying in status quo is higher than studying an MBA

then you'll have a why now


while you'll need to dig deep into your career evolution and future projection

find out what will happen if you keep the current position in short future

and if you choose to study MBA now, what impact will it give you in immediate future

then the why now will emerge by itself

请问下合资金融公司背景申请MBA的问题

Q:
请问下合资金融公司背景申请MBA的问题

A:
it's about what skill set do you possess now

and what skill set you want to learn from MBA

where are you going, and why

even top schools don't limit your background

and there's no rule saying bigger company names are better

since adcoms all know and will assume in your preliminary experience

you'll only execute task in limited scope

the application is all about your self-awareness

and the clarity of your career path

no need to worry what job function can get better chance in admission

since it simply doesn't work that way

as long as you can elaborate your clear needs for specific mba learnings

and show your leadership potential by career track record

adcom will hand pick the true leaders and train them well

你认为TOP20的入学者中有多少人的ESSAY完全真实(2)

and for this reason

applicants always need to explore much much deeper about their own enthusiasms

as well as personal characteristics and professional capabilities

dig out from your life stories

find out how those life changing experiences shaped your personality

and also made you who you are now,

and where you are going in the future

only when you dig out all these clues and details

weave them into compelling and integrated stories and tell adcoms your crystal-clear career directions and qualifications

will they admit you as a promising leader in progress

你认为在TOP20的入学者中有多少人的ESSAY是完全真实?

Q:
你认为在TOP20的入学者中有多少人的ESSAY是完全真实?

A:

For experienced adcoms, it's frankly easy to tell if your motivation is genuine or not

normally in only 15 seconds they can see the inauthenticity

since it has to come out from your career evolution, deep personality, and soul

that's why most schools ask about your career progress to date in normally essay 1

you need to have concrete evidence to support your motivation and career goals

everyone can claim he or she wants to start another Google or Microsoft

the difference is how close did you reach this goal through your career progress

and that's why although people all talk about inflation in the applications

only a handful of true talents get into top schools

just think about this

if everyone can bluff on their applications

why you're not in HBS or Wharton yet?

NYU“友善牛人學校”參訪分享(v)

上周繼康乃爾超熱情牛校一遊之後
隔天去了一趟NYU
跟在學生近距離詳談學校文化
參加由極度熱情的二年級生帶領的info session樓上樓下走一圈
再去上了一門最合時宜的“Risk Management for Financial Institutions”

這回已經是第二次去了
但上次只來看看這個散佈在紐約市中城的商學院到底長什麼樣
年初來的時候是來玩的
沒時間進去聽課，又剛好當時info session不知為何因故取消
所以幾乎沒機會了解深入學校
只記得當時在三樓還四樓的小交誼廳問了兩個老美關於申請建議
從頭到尾正眼也沒看小弟一眼
只說了“ GMAT考七百吧”
就這樣
當時覺得是個拒人千里之外的學校
但或許只是個個案
這趟幾乎完全改觀
是個相當友善而且集聚天才學生的學校

一開始應該是下午三點左右有個學生的休息
在商學院一樓咖啡廳可以跟在校生聊接近一個小時
其中一位儀容整潔的學生剛好就是財務背景
正逢華爾街危機引燃的全球經濟恐慌
這位平易近人的在學生簡短分享他的背景
先前一路都在銀行搞財務跟投資
談到他為何選擇這間學校
一則是他因為家庭因素要選擇紐約區的學校
另一方面則是當初在申請時考量幾間紐約幅元的學校
覺得這間學校從頭到尾的友善態度
以及學生的多元背景
學校的“絕對地理優勢”能夠最近距離浸潤在各大跨國企業總部
早上華爾街開盤可以看到的各大企業巨頭還在電視上發表談話
晚上可以直接來學校跟學生喝咖啡
“It’s a huge advantage that even makes me wonder why people want to study business far away. ”

而問到學校面對這次財務危及首當其衝
身為財務背景的他有沒有面臨什麼挑戰
而學校又有什麼因應措施
他回答到當然許多財務機構戰時凍結全職工作機會
但目前實習機會並沒有減少
而每天會進駐學校徵才的公司依然延續不絕
只是有些洗牌
以往還的一些大銀行可能處理危機分身乏術
而換做是一些以往比較少來的公司有機會來學校進一步互動
而學生每週五固定的career day對學生紮實的訓練
六個deadline不斷催促學生進行resume與interview訓練
可以幾乎保證學生畢業時早已練就成沙場老手
而學校位在企業核心地帶，也讓學校career center能跟企業維繫緊密關係

接下來的info session還沒開場前
辦公室已經擠滿了大約四十位申請人
讓帶領的學生必須要兵分三路才帶的完
小弟趁機問了一下每天這麼多人是正常的情況嗎
學生也相當訝異有這樣的人氣
不過似乎“bigger and bigger”

info session由二位非常熱情的二年級生帶領
對學校充滿極高熱誠
看得出來他們對學校非常滿意
一開場簡單要每位申請人三句話介紹背景
輪完一圈之後學生代表說“see the diversity？ ”
每個申請人的背景真的都來自各方
多數大學都不是念商，因此學校的接納度非常廣

而之後帶我們一邊繞五樓教室
二樓（沒記錯的話）圖書館
又回到六樓社團辦公室
每到一個地方，除了解說學校的豐富資源與設備外
相當高比例師資是白天直接在曼哈頓跨國企業總部就職
下午晚上來學校教書
而學生之間的高度友善情誼
以及學生來自各地的全國性網絡
讓在學生每天繁忙的步調中得到非常充實的收穫
（還沒有完成，將繼續... ）

[Program Fitting]請教留學各國的差異(英,美及亞洲)??

(The article is modified for the setting of this blog .)

請教留學各國的差異(英,美及亞洲)??


People will have a much clearer understanding about the realistic why about either MSF or MBA after working for at least a couple of years

you'll never know which one is better for you before you experience the real job market
and before that, you won't even know if you really need one
keep in mind that after this degree, you'll need to work in this field for the rest of your life

when you see those MSFs or MBAs got jobs after graduation
look further for just 2 more year and see what happens
you'll see most of people switch jobs again
and the same pattern just repeats like what happened before they entered their master studies
the exceptions are those who deeply understand their true passions
and chose their career directions carefully

for country selection
you need to think about long-term
no matter where you choose
think about the global competence, market accessibility, your overall capabilities from the degree and environment, networking
and the excellence of the program
while a half of the learning will be outside the classroom
you'll learn day-by-day about the market competition in the country
compete yourself with those truely competent and capable people in the country
and learn why the country is so strong
the more competent is the country, the more talented people will gather and compete for excellence
it's about can you push up yourself to the limit and compete globally, or just want to find a easy life
most of time the less competent you are, the harder the life will be

one year program is good and bad
good is you don't waste time
bad is you don't spend time on learning
internship can be a great jumpboard, especially for career switcher
after all, it's about your overall competence for long-term
15 years from now, you don't want to feel short when you compete with global professionals

[Personal Branding] UW Foster essay解析

申請時要看整體學校走向與課程特性
並將essay題目交叉貫串來看出申請人是否適合這間學校
是申請人與學校相互的fit
而不只是申請人比武相親 勝者才抱美人歸

而申請人自身的生涯定位與個人品牌主軸
需要策略性的依照學校問題來做最適性呈現
要先從所有題目的綜觀來看出學校到底想從申請人身上看到什麼特質
樓主問到的Essay 2只是接續第一題的延伸
而第一題可以說看得出學校對申請人的生涯清晰度有高度要求
除了各校幾乎都會問的生涯方向長短程目標之外
Foster商學院還更深入詢問申請人的細部學習計畫與步驟
要問申請人自身如何規劃學習方式
畢竟是兩年的長時間密集操練
課程選擇,主修方向,學習生活安排,社交方向,時間安排,實習爭取,校友交流,求職努力
甚至像樓主講的社區團體社團
都可以是學習計畫
但一切都要以申請人的生涯目標主軸
與細部個人化經驗背景甚至性格結合

而MBA學習有超過一半是在課堂外
第二題的校園活動參與
一方面學校要看申請人對自身目標有多清晰精細
能否運用MBO目標管理的方式來訂立參與方向
也同時會看出申請人花了多少心思瞭解學校有哪些活動
除了地理問題能去一趟最好的話
(小弟去過兩次,校園相當優美,而學生也相當的用功,可是秋東風很大常陰雨綿綿)
最好的方式是跟在學生互動
瞭解有哪些校園資源與社團甚至校園演講或交換課程等等可以參與
多半可以從學校網站上直接查到學校組織活動與社團動態
直接寄信給社團幹部或school ambassador詢問學校各項活動狀況
一方面essay將會多出許多school fit的細節可以寫
另一方面也確定學校是否適合自己
而從這題的多元活動參與可以看出申請人本身的主動性與性格熱情
這類題目多半不是草草列出預計參與的社團就了事
而是要連細部參與動機,活動構想,甚至參與深入度與投入時間精力
都要一併陳述,才會讓學校知道申請人的生涯熱情與個人的投入程度

第三題學校的安排也相當耐人尋味
以二選一的方式來暗示學校寧可選擇ethic/dilemma而放棄瞭解申請人成就
隱約顯出要”先做對的事,再把事情做對”的哲學

即使學校的題目走傳統路線
仍可看出這是間高度區域競爭的學校


Essay 1 - GOALS STATEMENT
Please provide an essay response to the following question. Observe the word limit and use a minimum font size of 10. Double-space your response and clearly label the essay with the topic and your full name.

Required for Full-time and Evening MBA Applicants (750 words maximum)

Applicants with a plan for the future and a good grasp of what is expected of them as MBA students are the most likely to succeed as MBA graduates. We know plans change and that people often pursue an MBA to create new career options. That said, we ask that you give us a clear statement of your current career plans. Your essay should answer all the following questions: What do you expect to do immediately after completing the MBA program? What steps have you taken to assess the viability of your post-MBA goals given your experience to date combined with your intended MBA study plans? What do you anticipate will be the primary challenges to achieving your career goals? What is your lifetime career goal? What unique aspects of the Foster MBA Program would contribute the most to achieving your short term and long term goals?



Essay 2 - OVERVIEW
Please provide an essay response to the following question. Observe the word limit and use a minimum font size of 10. Double-space your response and clearly label the essay with the topic and your full name. If you are applying to both the Full-time and Evening MBA program, you will need to submit the appropriate 2nd essay for both programs. Please upload both programs' essays in one document and use a Page Break to separate them.

Full-time MBA Applicants: PLANS FOR INVOLVEMENT (500 words maximum)
We consider a high level of involvement in student organizations, networking and career efforts to be a hallmark of the Foster MBA experience. Please describe your anticipated level of involvement as an MBA student beyond the MBA course requirements. In what specific organizations or activities will you participate? Where do you expect to make the greatest contribution to the overall MBA experience at the Foster School of Business? What aspects of your past or current life provide insights into your ability and willingness to consistently deliver more than the minimum effort required?

注意第一個問題的anticipated level of involvement需要有細部解釋
並且要直接模擬出申請人在學時的參與狀況
而第三個問題會是區隔錄取申請人的關鍵
要申請人對自身生涯歷程與未來方向投射有高度的密合度與一致性
並將生涯的深度見解灌注於校園活動的體驗學習之中
已在貢獻社群的同時能反射出個人生涯的價值


ESSAY 3 - CHOICE ESSAY
Please provide an essay response to one of the following questions. Observe the word limit and use a minimum font size of 10. Double-space your response and clearly label the essay with the topic and your full name.

Required for Full-time and Evening MBA Applicants (500 words maximum)

Answer one of the following:
a. Describe a situation in a work environment that either severely strained your relationship with co-workers or challenged your personal values. How did you resolve the situation?

注意severely strained your relationship with co-workers
soft people skills永遠是MBA的精要
也是真實人生中的成功要訣

b. At this point in your career what do you consider your most significant professional accomplishments? How have these particular accomplishments affected the career choices you have made?

注意第二題的第二小題
如此成就"如何影響您的生涯選擇"

[Personal Branding]MBA Essay advice

http://forums.businessweek.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=78104.3&webtag=bw-bschools
BusinessWeek B-School Forum上的詢問,完全公開論壇,無須任何註冊即可瀏覽.

Q:
All,

In the "failure" essay I plan on using my experience stuggling to develop my small tech company. I failed at launching the businesses for many mistakes i have made and which I learned from.

Is that a good subject to talk about? I have learned so much about myself and business in general from this experience. On the other hand, I failed in Business? How will the commitee judge that?

I was thinking about using the same subject of Business startup to use in the "Leadership" essay. Which fits bests in your opinion?

Should I use my failure in business in "leadership" or "failures"? I am proud to have invested time, effort and taken a project from paper to reality, and I have learned so much about me and business in general at the same time.

Thanks




A:
There's always a great deal of stuff to learn from an entrepreneurial experience. How to organize your operation, how to build your personal brand and reach your potential clients, how to develop your standard operating procedure, where should you rent the office, how to adjust the price constantly to satisfy the market dynamic, how to sustain your business by stable income cash flow cycle, and most importantly, how to get the capital to build up all these. You'll learn 10 times more if you really "fail" the business and have to kill your own baby--close down the whole operation, also need find alternative job "fast" to pay back your debt before the interests crash you. You may live in hell for the next 10 months.

So the key question is, did you really "fail" in this case and closed down your venture?

If you eventually survived, then it's actually a "success" story, but only lots of take aways that made your much more "seasoned" in business world. Since the lagacy matters. Adcom should be looking for a "true failure" that totally killed you and reborn from hell. If you flunked your last credit in college and was about to be kicked out by school, but you saved yourself in the last minute by showing all hardworks you've done in clubs so that convinced the dean to keep you in school, this is actually a success story. Since if you really "failed," you really got kicked out from school without a degree, no mercy, and you needed to face the reality that had to compete in job market with regular college graduates, and you didn't know how to write your degree in resume since you didn't have one. The experience would totally change you into a different person that needed to find a job with lower requirement, and you needed to study at night for another 3 years after exhausted work in day time. This "failure" experience could turn you into a super competent candidate since you were forced to become a superman to catch up with others, and it totally changed your life instead of just learned some mistakes from staying in school.

So if you have one, the true failure story will be far more compelling for adcom to know how much it changed you to be a more mature person, and also know how did you deal with the consequence.

Hope these help.

David