Admissions Straight Talk

In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Linda Abraham discusses MBA return on investment (ROI) and NYU Stern's part-time MBA options with Isser Gallogly, Associate Dean of MBA Admissions at NYU Stern School of Business. They discuss how to calculate ROI, the ROI of NYU Stern's part-time MBA program, and the benefits and flexibility of the program. Isser Gallogly also provides tips for applicants and encourages them to create options for themselves by applying to the program.

Dr. Cynthia Boyd, Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at Rush Medical College, discusses the distinctive elements of the Rush Medical College program, including its focus on developing critical thinkers and providing excellent clinical care. She also highlights the importance of community service and healthcare exposure in the admissions process. Dr. Boyd emphasizes the need for applicants to present a thoughtful and authentic application that aligns with the school's mission. Ultimately, Dr. Boyd also encourages applicants to seek feedback if they are not successful in the admissions process and to consider areas for improvement before reapplying.

Brigitte Suhr, an Accepted law school admissions consultant and a former application reader for UVA Law, shares insights and advice on the law school admissions process in a podcast interview with Linda Abraham. They discuss topics such as changes in law school admissions, the importance of work experience before law school, the personal statement and diversity statement, common mistakes to avoid, and the character and fitness section of the application. Brigitte emphasizes the importance of starting early in the application process and being genuine in one's essays. She also provides guidance on addressing academic weaknesses and navigating the interview process.

In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Linda Abraham interviews Dean Robert Salomon, the inaugural Dean of Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi. They discuss NYU Stern's groundbreaking one-year MBA program in Abu Dhabi. The program is open to applicants from around the world, but it is particularly aimed at those interested in building a career in the Middle East. The program will offer the same core courses as NYU Stern’s MBA program in New York, and students will have the opportunity to study in both Abu Dhabi and New York City. The program also includes an experiential component, with students working on live projects for local companies. Dean Salomon emphasizes the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and the opportunities for students to engage with start-ups and gain hands-on experience. He also discusses the importance of diversity in the student body and the availability of merit-based scholarships. The episode concludes with Dean Salomon discussing the reasons behind choosing Abu Dhabi as the location for the program and the opportunities it offers for students to be part of the region's transition to a knowledge-based economy.

In this podcast episode, Linda Abraham interviews Dr. Kevin Schulman, the director of Stanford's Master of Science and Clinical Informatics Management Program. They discuss the opportunities available at the intersection of medicine, business, and technology, and the problems that you can solve by combining these interests in your career. The program at Stanford combines business courses, technology courses, and ethics to train leaders who can transform healthcare delivery. The program is designed for working professionals and is a one-year, part-time cohort program. Graduates of the program can pursue careers as Chief Medical Information Officers, start their own companies, work in tech or industry, or advance in clinical leadership roles. Finally, the interview concludes with a discussion on the potential risks and benefits of technology in healthcare, and the importance of personalizing healthcare through technology.

Don’t miss our Admissions Straight Talk podcast interview with Eric Askins, Executive Director of Full-time MBA admissions at UC Berkeley Haas. He reveals why prospective applicants in their applications are encouraged to focus on their overall story and narrative, and how they can demonstrate their ability to handle the academic rigor of the program. Eric Askins also encourages applicants to engage with current students and alumni to learn more about the program and its opportunities.

The University of Texas School of Law offers academic excellence, affordability, and robust support to its students. In this podcast interview, UT’s Dean of Admissions, Mathiew Le, discusses the distinctive qualities of the UT Austin Law JD program. He highlights the vibrant city of Austin, the healthy and robust Texas legal market, and the focus on building a strong community at UT Law. Le also discusses the Society Program, which helps students navigate the law school experience in a fun and social way, and the Mentorship Program, which provides students with guidance and support throughout their time at UT Law. Le advises applicants to submit their applications early, but only if they have a strong application. He also discusses the acceptance of both the LSAT and GRE, and the importance of tailoring applications to specific law schools. Le emphasizes the importance of leadership, community engagement, and enriching the learning environment in the admissions process. He also advises against trying to be overly creative in personal statements and highlights the availability of financial aid and scholarships at UT Law. Related Shows: Is Boston University Law For You? - podcast Episode 539 How to Get Accepted to Fordham Law - podcast Episode 529 How a Non-Traditional Applicant Gets Into UCLA Law - podcast Episode 507 How to Get Accepted to Berkeley Law - podcast Episode 504 How to Get Into Georgetown Law - podcast Episode 489

Blair Mannix, Executive Director of Graduate Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, discusses the Wharton MBA program and the admissions process. Mannix also discusses the Wharton Way, which focuses on elevating research impact, innovating through pedagogy, and collaborating across disciplines. She encourages applicants to take risks and be themselves in their applications. The interview also covers the team-based discussion component of the admissions process and provides advice for reapplicants and those considering applying in the future.

Please join me as I speak with Dr. Michael Ellison, Associate Dean for Admissions at Chicago Medical School at the Rosalind Franklin University. Dr. Ellison shares his insights on what makes Chicago Medical School unique, how to impress its admissions committee, and what all this information means for you as an applicant.

This encore was chosen not only due to the episode’s  popularity,  but also because it’s a fascinating exploration of a well-established, large EMBA program with four distinct components. If you are even considering an Executive MBA, this episode is a must-listen. Alternatively, If you are debating whether to go down the MBA or EMBA path, Dean Mark Johson and Dr. Manoj Thomas provide unique insight with indispensable advice obtained from their years of experience.

Are you looking for a highly respective quantitative program that will prepare you for a career in the most demanding, analytical, and data-driven areas of financial services? Today’s guest, Jacob Gallice, Executive Director of Berkeley Haas Master in Financial Engineering program, shares what it takes to get accepted to this highly competitive program.  Welcome to the 540th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me. Before we dive into today's interview, I want to mention a resource at Accepted that can help you prepare your statement of purpose to a Master in Financial Engineering program as well as the other graduate programs. Download 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose to learn how to avoid the five most common mistakes we see in grad school statements of purpose, as well as tips on how to write a statement of purpose that makes your story memorable and highlights your qualifications for your target graduate program. Our guest today is Jacob Gallice, Executive Director at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business’ Master of Financial Engineering. Jacob earned his bachelor's at Binghamton University and his MBA at NYU Stern. He has worked for Goldman Sachs and Heidrick & Struggles in the financial services world. In 2017, he pivoted to admissions as Associate Director and then Senior Associate Director of Admissions at NYU Stern before deciding he preferred west coast weather and moving to Berkeley in 2021, first as Program Director of the MFE, then he became Executive Director of the MFE in March 2023.  So I can still, I think, congratulate you on your promotion, right? Still within 12 months. [1:56] Sure. Thanks. Congratulations, Jacob, and welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:02] Happy to be here. Now let's start with a really basic question. What is the Master in Financial Engineering program at Berkeley Haas, and what does it prepare one to do? [2:06] Excellent question. A financial engineering degree is a specialized master's degree here that prepares one to enter the field of quantitative finance and more largely, can prepare someone to enter the fields of financial technology, namely in roles such as data science, machine learning. But largely speaking, what we're talking about here are individuals who are interested in the intersection of technology and finance and working within the ecosystem of what we kind of call the niche field of quant finance. Can you provide an overview of both the full-time and the part-time options at the MFE program and roughly how many students participate in each of the programs? [2:48] I can indeed. So we enroll about 80 students in our flagship full-time program. We're one of the only programs out there in the market that is a one-year or 12-month program. So the program is intensive, it's immersive, but it prepares students very well to enter and break into this field. So that is the one-year program. We can certainly get into that a little bit more in due course. I contrast that with the part-time program, which gives students the flexibility to do their studies over a two- to three-year period, and it's a much more small specialized cohort. Typically you're looking at roughly 7 to 10 students in that cohort. It's really designed for working professionals who are simply looking to augment their education, their studies,

If you want to know how much of BU medical school's recent $100 million gift it intends to use for scholarships, or what happens to applications to ensure a genuinely holistic process, or what its associate dean of admissions wants to see in students read on! In this interview, Dr. Kristen Goodell, associate Dean of Admissions at Boston University’s Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine answers all these questions and more. Welcome to the 541st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's Med School Admissions Quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free.  DON'T MISS Linda Abraham's 2021 interview with Dr. Kristen Goodall: All About BU School of Medicine, a Social Justice-Minded Med School [Episode 405]. Click here for a full transcript! Today's guest, Dr. Kristen Goodell, associate Dean of Admissions at BU's Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, earned her bachelor's degree at Colby College and her MD at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed her residency in family medicine at Tufts and has been a practicing physician ever since 2007. In addition, from 2012 to 2017, Dr. Goodell served as a Director for Innovation in Medical Education at the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care. In 2017, she was appointed Assistant Dean of Admissions at the Boston University School of Medicine and became Associate Dean in 2018.  Dr. Goodell, welcome back to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:57] Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Can you give an overview of Boston University’s Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine program focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:03] Sure. So the most important thing to know about BU School of Medicine is that we are a social justice medical school, and you see our social justice focus come through in many different ways. It is woven into the curriculum quite explicitly. You see it in what our students do with their free time. You see it in the particular areas of expertise of our faculty, and of course it's in the patients that we serve at our primary hospital, which is really on the same campus with the medical school. Now I normally ask what's new and I will ask what's new, but the obvious thing that's new is the school's name. So why don't we start with that; then you can tell me what else is new in addition to the name. [2:44] Sure. So last year we got a new name for our medical school along with a hundred million dollar gift. That's a big gift. [3:00] Right. And it was a wonderful gift and in my mind, perhaps the most exciting thing about that is that $50 million of it, so half of the gift was specifically earmarked for financial aid. Ever since I have been here, we’ve been really focusing on increasing the amount of scholarship aid that we have available to give students, and the maximum scholarship award has almost doubled just since I've been here. It's gone from $30,000 to $55,000 per year, and that's just only for scholarships and it’s need based. And so that increase has been really remarkable, but now we know that it's going to increase even more. So I think that is amazing. As a private school, we know that our tuition is high. As a school that is in Boston, we know that living expenses here are high.

Are you looking for a mission-driven school that aims to educate leaders for business and society? Would you like to know how to get into that MBA program, which happens to be at the Yale School of Management? Tune in for this interview with its Assistant Dean for Admissions, Bruce DelMonico.

Located in the heart of vibrant and historic Boston, Boston University School of Law offers enormous breadth to its students, and today, we're speaking with its Dean of Admissions.

There is tons of advice on Accepted.com and on previous episodes of Admissions Straight Talk, about what you should do when you're applying to top MBA programs. But what about common mistakes? What about the things that you shouldn't be doing? What are the errors that applicants like you all too frequently make on applications?  Today you're going to hear different admissions committee directors from around the world talk about what they think are the most common mistakes in MBA applications, and you're invited to listen in. Welcome to the 538th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Before I turn to those mistakes I mentioned a second ago, I have a question for you: Are you ready to apply to your dream MBA programs? Are you competitive at your target schools? Accepted's MBA admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. And you’ll not only gett an assessment; you’ll also get tips on how to improve your qualifications. Plus, it's all free.  If you're a regular listener to Admissions Straight Talk, you know that during most episodes of AST I interview a guest. Occasionally, I do a solo show. Frequently, the guests are admissions directors. I also have many times asked my guests, “What are the most common mistakes that you see when you're reviewing applications?” Today's episode is a collection of guests’ answers to the questions, what are the most common mistakes you have seen during the MBA application process? What are the most common mistakes that you see when reviewing applications? All featured guests are admissions directors at top MBA programs sharing what you should not do when you are applying.  The two most common mistakes were in broad categories,  * Lack of authenticity, a sense that you're not really revealing yourself.  * And number two, sloppiness, which can come in many forms and you can learn about those forms through the admissions directors’ comments.  There are nuances and details that the admissions committee directors provide in their comments, and you want to hear from them in their words what they are - so don't go anywhere. Don't just think that the two items I listed, you're done for the day. In addition, there were some other errors that don't fit into those two categories and still are common and damaging to applicant's chances. For example, one would be to not adjust in your resume for business school, but give in the technical resume that you have used in getting jobs. That's not going to work when you're applying to an MBA program.  But again, you're going to want to hear what changes you need to make and you're going to want to hear it from the admissions' director's mouth. In short, to make sure that your applications shine like gems, first, remove the impurities. Those impurities are the common errors discussed in the rest of this episode. I've arranged the episodes in alphabetical order by school name.  Teresa Peiro, Associate Director of Global Admissions for Degree Programs at INSEAD [3:22] Linda Abraham: Our first speaker is INSEAD's Teresa Peiro, Associate Director of Global Admissions for Degree Programs.  Now, you've been doing this for a few years, what's the most common mistake you see in the application?