Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast

Latest Episodes:

MBA Wire Taps 410—3.56, from Brazil. Legal background, 334 GRE. Booth vs Kellogg. Feb 17, 2025

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; interview invites continue to roll out for Round 2 candidates; UPenn / Wharton and MIT / Sloan have yet to release their Round 2 interview invites.

Alex discussed the release of a “Prompt Guide” for Clear Admit’s new Ask Clear Admit admissions bot. This guide is designed to help candidates get the most out of their engagement with the chat bot. So far, we have seen more than 1,000 prompts.

Graham then highlighted the upcoming webinar series for Master’s in Management candidates; the first of these webinars features Michigan / Ross, CMU / Tepper and Georgetown / McDonough. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham noted the continuation of Clear Admit’s series of articles about podcasts, where we place the spotlight on podcasts from the leading MBA programs. Graham then mentioned the publication of an admissions tip focused on post interview activities. This led to a plea for MBA interview reports, in order to support Clear Admit’s comprehensive MBA interview archive.

Graham then highlighted two real numbers stories, focused on female enrollment (very well done, Johns Hopkins / Carey!) and tuition costs for European-based MBA programs.

Finally, we discussed one more MBA career report from London Business School. Their career statistics generally follow similar patterns we have identified with prior career reports that we have published this season, although they were able to gather data from an impressive 100% of the graduating class.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is from Brazil and is looking ahead for the MBA applications. They have still to take the GMAT, and they are seeking other areas they can strengthen before they apply.

This week’s second MBA candidate has a 334 GRE and strong legal experience from London. They also appear to have interesting activities outside of work and could be a very strong candidate.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Chicago / Booth and Northwestern / Kellogg, with very similar scholarship offers.

This episode was recorded in Paris, France and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

MBA Wire Taps 409—3.9 GPA, deferred admissions. Finance or Consulting. Tuck vs Haas Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; interview invites continue to roll out for Round 2 candidates; last week, Chicago / Booth, Columbia, and Michigan / Ross released interview invites, along with those programs which trickle out invitations across several weeks (e.g. Stanford, Yale, et al). This week, INSEAD is scheduled to release their Round 3 interview invites.

Graham highlighted the second webinar for Deferred Admissions candidates, scheduled on Wednesday, which includes CMU / Tepper, Chicago / Booth, Columbia, Yale SOM and UVA / Darden. Signups are here: https://bit.ly/de0225 Graham then mentioned the upcoming webinar series for Masters in Management candidates, taking place later this month, with signups here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham mentioned several MBA news stories: London Business School is launching a Smart EMBA, which takes a blended learning approach. Clear Admit published two podcast-related posts; the first focuses on podcasts from some of the top-16 MBA programs, and the second looks at UPenn / Wharton’s Ripple Effect podcast. Finally, Clear Admit also published a story regarding Duke / Fuqua students doing a career trek in Silicon Valley.

Graham then highlighted two admissions tips. The first focuses on the versatility of the MBA, the second looks at questions a candidate might want to prepare, ahead of their MBA interview. Clear Admit’s Real Numbers series is now back; the first two articles in this series focus on class sizes across the top US MBA programs, and the yearly cost of attendance at American b-schools.

Finally, we discussed one more MBA Class of 2024 career report from Berkeley / Haas. Their career statistics follow similar patterns we have identified with prior career reports that we have published this season.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is applying through the deferred admissions process, so is still an undergraduate student. They have a 3.9 GPA and a 730 GMAT score.

This week’s second MBA candidate is planning to apply either next season, or the season after. They have a 3.2 GPA, with a positive upward trend. They have a 322 GRE, which we think they might want to retake. They are also still determining between post-MBA goals in finance or consulting.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Dartmouth / Tuck and Berkeley / Haas, and they are seeking a short-term goal in private equity.

MBA Wire Taps 408—715 GMAT, from India. Tepper versus McCombs. Columbia versus Kellogg Feb 03, 2025

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; interview invites continue to roll out for Round 2 candidates; Harvard was one of the top MBA programs to release their interview invites last week. This week, London Business School is scheduled to release their Round 2 interview invites.

We then had a quick discussion regarding our new admissions bot, “Ask Clear Admit”. It is very interesting to be able to see what types of prompts MBA applicants are using for the bot, some of which are a little unexpected. We are now planning to write a prompt guide, to help users get the most out of their bot experience. You can find the chat bot here: https://ai.clearadmit.com

Graham noted two upcoming webinar series. The first is for Deferred Admissions candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/de0225 The first webinar in this series, on this Wednesday, features Berkeley / Haas, UPenn / Wharton and Stanford. Next week we have CMU / Tepper, Chicago / Booth, Columbia, Yale SOM and UVA / Darden. The second webinar series is for Masters in Management candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham highlighted two MBA news stories. The first story covers the best business school podcasts, focusing on podcast from M7 programs. The second looks at an entrepreneurial program at Georgetown / McDonough called “Bark Tank”.

Graham then mentioned three admissions tips, each focused on the MBA admissions interview process.

Finally, we discussed two more MBA career reports from Cornell / Johnson and INSEAD. Both MBA programs show the same resilience as other top MBA programs, while facing the headwinds of a tighter employment market. That said, it’s clear that top European-based MBA programs, like INSEAD, have a lower starting salary than their peer programs in the United States.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected one ApplyWire entry and two DecisionWire entries.

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is from India and has a strong GMAT score of 715. They also have solid work experience, but are worried that they have a lower GPA and few outside activities. We were also concerned that they were only able to target Round 2.

This week’s second MBA candidate is choosing between CMU / Tepper and Texas / McCombs. They have a decent sized scholarship from Tepper. They want to move into tech product management.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Columbia and Kellogg. They are targeting consumer-packaged goods and marketing, but they have a preference for New York City.

MBA Wire Taps 407—665 GMAT, from India. 2.9 GPA, how to overcome. Columbia versus Yale SOM Jan 27, 2025

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; this upcoming week we have two more application deadlines, Arizona / Carey and Minnesota / Carlson. Last week, we saw more interview invitations rolling out for UVA / Darden, Dartmouth / Tuck, Yale SOM, Northwestern / Kellogg and CMU / Tepper.

We then discussed the role out of Clear Admit’s latest innovation, our “Ask Clear Admit” chat bot, which launched the prior Thursday. We have seen hundreds of prompts come in from applicants as we launched, and the quality of the responses has impressed! You can find the chat bot here: https://ai.clearadmit.com

Graham noted two upcoming webinar series. The first is for Deferred Admissions candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/de0225 The first webinar in this series, on February 5, features Berkeley / Haas, UPenn / Wharton and Stanford. The following week we have CMU / Tepper, Chicago / Booth, Columbia, Yale SOM and UVA / Darden. The second webinar series is for Masters in Management candidates in late February, with signups here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham highlighted two MBA news stories. The first story focuses on Stanford GSB’s new Dean, Sarah Soule, who has appeared on a prior Clear Admit podcast. The second covers the release of U.S. News 2025 online MBA rankings. Indiana / Kelley tops those rankings, as it has done in prior years.

Graham then highlighted an admissions tip focused on the five most commonly asked MBA interview questions. Graham also noted a Real Humans story from HEC / Paris.

Finally, we discussed two more MBA career reports from Chicago / Booth and Yale SOM. Both MBA programs show the same resilience as other top MBA programs, while facing the headwinds of a tighter employment market.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is based in India and working for a large conglomerate to which they intend to return. They are applying in Round 2, and we are a little concerned that this may present more challenges than if they had been able to apply in Round 1.

This week’s second MBA candidate also has a very interesting MBA profile but has a weak GPA of 2.9. We discussed mitigating actions they will need to take, ahead of applying next season.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Columbia and Yale SOM, and are planning a career in Clean Tech, hoping to move into private equity in that industry.

This episode was recorded in Philadelphia, USA and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

MBA Wire Taps 406—MBB with super numbers, MBB and urban mobility, Yale vs Stern and Columbia Jan 20, 2025

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing Round 2 activity on LiveWire; this upcoming week we have two more application deadlines, Imperial College and Boston College / Carroll. Last week, we saw more interview invitations rolling out for UVA / Darden, Dartmouth / Tuck, Yale SOM, Northwestern / Kellogg and CMU / Tepper.

We then discussed the roll out of Clear Admit’s latest innovation, our “Ask Clear Admit” AI chat bot. We are excited to get customer feedback and hope this new tool will become a “best in class” for chatbots that are specifically trained on MBA admissions-related content. You can find the chatbot here: https://ai.clearadmit.com

Graham noted two upcoming webinar series. The first is for Deferred Admissions candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/de0225 The first webinar in this series, on February 5, features Berkeley / Haas, UPenn / Wharton and Stanford. The second webinar series is for Masters in Management candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/mim0225

Graham highlighted two admissions tips. The first admissions tip focuses on the role of letters of support, and how they are different to letters of recommendation. The second admissions tip focuses on group interviews like the Wharton team-based discussion exercise.

Graham also noted two Real Humans stories from Manchester / Alliance and Emory / Goizueta’s MIM program.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is based in India and working at one of the MBB firms. They have super numbers (335 GRE, 3.94 GPA) and are planning ahead for a future admissions season.

This week’s second MBA candidate also has a very strong profile (331 GRE, 3.7 GPA), and works for an MBB firm in the United States. Their passion appears to be in the urban mobility space.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Columbia, Stern, Yale SOM and a few other top MBA programs. They also have very good scholarship offers. They are seeking a career in social impact, in New York City.

MBA Wire Taps 405—Addressing two grades? Consultant, 695 GMAT. NYC versus Fuqua Jan 13, 2025

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the next round of 2024-25 MBA admissions activity; this upcoming week we have more application deadlines, including MIT / Sloan, Texas / McCombs, Florida / Warrington, BYU / Marriott, UC Irvine / Merage, and Toronto / Rotman. INSEAD and NYU / Stern have Round 3 application deadlines, and Maryland / Smith has a Round 4 application deadline.

Graham noted two upcoming webinar series. The first is for Deferred Admissions candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/de0225 The second webinar series is for Masters in Management candidates, with signups here: https://bit.ly/mim0225 Graham also noted three Real Humans stories from ASU / Carey, Minnesota / Carlson and Georgetown / McDonough’s MIM program.

Graham highlighted three admissions tips; two of these tips are focused on those who are preparing for MBA admissions interviews, and the third focuses on finalizing MBA admissions essays.

Graham then presented the career placement reports from Duke / Fuqua and Georgetown / McDonough. There is now further evidence, and some acknowledgment, of the tougher recruiting environment that MBA graduates are experiencing this season.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is from India and is targeting Round 1 for next season. They appear to have a very decent overall profile but have one potential issue with their undergraduate transcript.

This week’s second MBA candidate also has a very decent profile, overall, with a 695 GMAT score and a strong GPA. They have been working in consulting for four years.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Columbia, Stern, and Duke / Fuqua. They are targeting investment banking and would like to remain in New York City.

MBA Wire Taps 404—Reapplication strategy? Aiming high enough? Foster vs Owen Jan 06, 2025

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the new season of MBA admissions; this upcoming week we have many Round 2 application deadlines, including Harvard, Dartmouth / Tuck, UCLA / Anderson, Emory / Goizueta, Georgetown / McDonough, CMU / Tepper, Rice / Jones, Chicago / Booth, Yale SOM, UVA / Darden, UNC / Kenan Flagler, Washington / Foster, Notre Dame / Mendoza, SMU / Cox, Stanford, Northwestern / Kellogg, Johns Hopkins / Carey, Vanderbilt / Owen, Berkeley / Haas, Duke / Fuqua, Cornell / Johnson, USC / Marshall, IESE, Georgia / Terry and Georgia Tech / Scheller.

Graham highlighted two admissions tips for those finalizing their admissions essays; these essay tips focus on word limits and the optional essay. Graham then discussed a Real Humans post focused on holiday celebrations.

Graham then presented the Class of 2024 career placement reports from Columbia, Northwestern / Kellogg and UPenn / Wharton. This finalizes our reviews of the M7 career reports, and we are seeing the outcomes of a tougher placement market for these top programs.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is only applying to two programs, Duke / Fuqua and UVA / Darden. They did apply last season to some different programs, and we worry that they may be challenged by applying in Round 2 this season.

This week’s second MBA candidate was a NCAA Div 1 athlete with an outstanding GPA. They now work in their family business, focused on sports. While their GMAT is not outstanding, we wonder if they should target a few programs from a higher tier.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between Washington / Foster, with $66k scholarship and Vanderbilt / Owen with $100k scholarship. They want to pursue a career in consulting or technology.

MBA Wire Taps 403—Fuzzy goals, next season. Insurance to tech startup. Wharton vs Booth. Dec 30, 2024

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the next chapter of the 2024-25 MBA admissions cycle, which begins on January 3rd with Round 2 deadlines for UPenn / Wharton and London Business School.

Graham highlighted an admissions tip which focuses on the GMAC standard letter of recommendation which has been adopted by many leading MBA programs. This format simplifies the admissions process for recommenders by standardizing the questions to which they need to respond.

Graham then discussed a new Real Humans that features students from Toronto / Rotman.

Graham also presented the career placement reports from Stanford and Michigan / Ross. We are continuing to see a trend that shows that a higher percentage of MBA graduates are moving on to financial services careers; Ross experienced a significant decline in consulting placement. Stanford is also reporting consulting placements are down for their Class of 2025 interns from last summer, which may be an early signal for next year’s career placement report.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is planning to apply for next season. They are a cloud engineer with a computer science major and psychology minor. They also have interesting activities outside of work. Their GRE is 324, and we think it might make sense to try to improve that score.

This week’s second MBA candidate is only targeting two programs, Berkeley / Haas and Stanford, which we think is very risky. Their GRE score is 318, which will present significant challenges for these two programs.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between UPenn / Wharton, Chicago / Booth and Yale SOM. They also have scholarship offers at each program to factor into their final decision.

MBA Wire Taps 402—Nurse to MBA. Indian entrepreneur. Ross vs Yale. Dec 23, 2024

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by wishing everyone a happy holiday season!

Graham highlighted three admissions tips that have been published on the Clear Admit site this week. These include tips about how to highlight the reasons for a target program, without comparing them to other programs, how to explain any employment gaps, and whether to consider test waivers.

Graham then discussed a recently published Adcom Q&A which features the Assistant Dean from Yale SOM. We then discussed a Real Humans story, focused on MBA students at INSEAD.

Graham then presented the career placement reports from Harvard and MIT / Sloan. We are starting to see a trend that shows that a higher percentage of MBA graduates are moving on to financial services careers, than we have seen in recent years. This is likely more to do with the retraction of opportunities in consulting and tech, rather than student desire.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate has a non-traditional profile; she is a registered nurse. But she does also have some health care related business experience. Her overall profile is quite interesting, and we think she should have good opportunities.

This week’s second MBA candidate is from India, so we would have preferred they had targeted Round 1. They have an interesting career profile in tech and entrepreneurship, as well as strong numbers.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between IESE, Ross and Yale SOM. They are also on the Duke / Fuqua waitlist. They have plenty of interesting options; we think Yale SOM may be the winner.

MBA Wire Taps 401—Super background, weak quant. Applying in two years. Wharton vs Booth. Dec 16, 2024

Show notes

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing the activity of MBA LiveWire; the last couple of weeks has seen significant activity as the majority of the top MBA programs have released their round 1 decisions. For this upcoming week Texas / McCombs is one of the few remaining top programs that is scheduled to release its Round 1 decisions.

Graham highlighted five admissions tips that have been published on the Clear Admit site this week. These include tips about scholarship offers, their impact on final decisions and whether they are negotiable. For Round 2 candidates, the admissions tips focused on resume preparation, career goals and building business school connections.

We then discussed two Real Humans stories, focused on MBA students at Texas / McCombs and Dartmouth / Tuck. This then turned into a conversation on how to seek out willing students and alumni with whom to connect.

Graham then presented the Class of 2024 career placement report from Dartmouth / Tuck. Overall, Tuck’s placement statistics remain impressive considering the market conditions. There has been a greater emphasis on placement within the North-East and Mid-Atlantic regions.

For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries and one DecisionWire entry:

This week’s first MBA admissions candidate has a very interesting personal profile and has degrees from outstanding academic institutions in Europe. They also have a lot of entrepreneurial experience, over several years. We do worry about their quant profile, which is illustrated by their sub-par GRE score.

This week’s second MBA candidate is planning to apply in two years’ time, so is thinking ahead. They will want to retake their GRE, to improve their current 317 score. They have the opportunity to develop a very decent profile over the next couple of years.

The final MBA candidate is deciding between UPenn / Wharton and Chicago / Booth. Booth is offering them additional scholarship, but we wonder if that is enough to influence their final decision.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected