The Touch MBA Admissions Podcast

Yuan Lee Chung, HKUST MBA '15, discusses why she got her MBA in Asia and the benefits and challenges of attending a top Asian business school. Yuan Lee also studied at Columbia for one-term and shares her thoughts on how Asian and US programs compare. About Our Guest Yuan Lee Chung is from Malaysia and got her Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the National University of Singapore (NUS) before working in finance for Capital Group and UBS Wealth Management in Singapore. After graduating from the HKUST MBA, where she was Vice President of the MBA Association, she stayed in Hong Kong to work for Hubert Burda Media, where she is Head of Corporate Development.  Learn more about Yuan Lee's HKUST MBA experience at the Ambassadors Forum. TOPICS & QUESTIONS Why Yuan Lee chose HKUST over LBS, IMD, Booth, Insead  What Yuan enjoyed most about HKUST How Yuan Lee's HKUST experience compared to her exchange term in Columbia The HKUST MBA alumni network  The reputation of MBAs in Hong Kong and in the finance industry Clubs & leadership at HKUST The biggest advantage of going to a Asian B-School (opposed to European or US)? Last advice for applicants Hong Kong's visa policy for MBA graduates This episode of Touch MBA is brought to you be Prodigy Finance – the leader in education loans for international postgraduate students. Visit prodigyfinance.com to learn more.

Dr. Ralf Boscheck is the MBA Program Director and The Lundin Family Professor of Economics and Business Policy at IMD, where he teaches courses in economics and industry analysis. Dr. Boscheck has been a faculty member at IMD for over 25 years. IMD MBA Program Highlights 2:55 Admissions 25:32 Financing 41:06 Careers 45:25 Go to http://www.touchmba.com/imd-mba-admissions-interview for a full breakdown of the program's key advantages and fast facts about admissions, financing, and careers at the IMD MBA program. This episode of Touch MBA is brought to you be Prodigy Finance – the leader in education loans for international postgraduate students. Visit prodigyfinance.com to learn more.

With MBA programs shortening their applications and asking for less essays, how can applicants still tell their story? How should applicants approach these MBA essays and what should they write? Darren speaks with Yale SOM MBA Admissions Director Bruce DelMonico and MBA Admissions Consultant Paul Bodine to get two different perspectives on this common applicant challenge. At the end of the episode, Darren shares his reflections after helping an Admissions Edge member with his 1 Harvard essay. Show Notes #75 Yale SOM MBA Admissions Interview with Bruce DelMonico – “Educating Leaders for Business & Society” #47 Great Applications for Business School with Paul Bodine This episode of Touch MBA is brought to you be Prodigy Finance – the leader in education loans for international postgraduate students. Visit prodigyfinance.com to learn more.

Ben Parker came to Touch MBA nine months ago for free school selection help. As an Australian government policy maker with little business experience, Ben struggled to understand the MBA world and find the right business schools. In this episode, Ben shares his journey from researching MBA programs to getting accepted to London Business School and HKUST - all this despite having a less than stellar GMAT and GPA and a non-business background. You’ll learn what to ask MBA students, alumni, and admissions to shortlist schools, make your story “glow” and improve your essays and interview performance. This episode is about assembling an army of advocates - friends, students, admissions staff - to support your candidacy and sanity during an emotionally challenging application process. Need help picking the right schools? Go to http://touchmba.com/free-school-selection-guidance/ to get your MBA program match scores and expert advice.

At Touch MBA we believe that school selection is half the battle to having a great (and worthwhile!) MBA experience. In this episode, Darren covers an MBA decision-making process to help you avoid common decision-making biases and choose the right MBA programs. Widen your options - to combat narrow framing Reality test your assumptions - to combat confirmation-bias Attain distance - to combat short term emotions Prepare for the worst - to combat overconfidence Need help picking the right schools? Go to http://touchmba.com/free-school-selection-guidance/ to get your MBA program match scores and expert advice.

Stephen Sweeney is Director of Full-Time MBA Admissions at McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. Stephen got his MBA from McCombs in 2011. Go to http://www.touchmba.com/texas-mccombs-mba-admissions-interview for a full breakdown of the program's key advantages and fast facts about admissions, financing, and careers at University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business MBA program.

Erin Town is Director of MBA Admissions, Foster School of Business, University of Washington. Erin has been doing MBA admissions for Foster for over 11 years. Go to http://www.touchmba.com/foster-mba-admissions-interview for a full breakdown of the program's key advantages and fast facts about admissions, financing, and careers at Washington University's Foster School of Business MBA program.

Bloomberg Businessweek ranked the Ivey MBA the #1 international MBA program in 2014, largely due to employer and student satisfaction. Darren interviews J.D. Clarke, MBA Executive Director of Masters Programs Recruitment and Admissions, about the school's unique offering and admissions process.  About Our Guest John-Derek (J.D.) Clarke is the MBA Executive Director of Masters Programs Recruitment and Admissions, Ivey Business School at Western University. J.D. got his MBA from Ivey in 2010. He has worked for over 20 years in higher education, including for Queens School of Business and Ivey Business School. Program Highlights (4:54), Admissions (15:40), Financing (29:51), Careers (32:48) Go to http://www.touchmba.com/ivey-mba-admissions-interview for a full breakdown of the program's key advantages and fast facts about admissions, financing, and careers at Western University's Ivey Business School MBA program.

Darren talks to Andrew, a recent MIT Sloan MBA graduate, about his internship and job search experience at Sloan. Andrew worked for Target as a Senior Analyst doing business intelligence and analytics before business school. He landed an internship with Uniqlo (one of the world's top 5 retailers) in New York City and will be heading to Cupertino to work for Apple this month. This episode will give you a great feel for how recruiting works at top US business schools and what to look out for as you shortlist programs based on your career goals. The two also talk about social life at MIT Sloan and what to look forward to. Enjoy! QUESTIONS Why Andrew applied to MIT Sloan (2:00) How Andrew found his internship with Uniqlo (3:06) Securing internships in a different industry or function (8:08) How Andrew found his job with Apple & tech recruiting at MIT Sloan (13:12) The job search process at MIT Sloan (17:15) The role of alumni in the recruiting process (19:00) Andrew's school selection advice for MBA applicants (20:25) MBA social life: Year 1 vs. Year 2 (22:10) Andrew's thoughts on classmates and culture at MIT Sloan (28:30)

Do you know how to solve a problem that has no precedent? Kelly Wilson, Executive Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon's  Tepper School of Business, shares with Darren how Tepper equips its students to do this through a mastery of analytics, year-round leadership development program, and one-on-one attention with professors. Kelly and Darren also talk in depth about Tepper's admissions process, how to prepare for Tepper's behavioral interviews, and the school's extensive career services. About Our Guest Kelly Wilson is Executive Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. Before joining Tepper in 2012, Kelly worked as an Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions for Georgetown McDonough School of Business and Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business. Kelly got her MBA from George Mason University and Masters of Management of Information Systems from Katz. Program Highlights (2:51), Admissions (16:46), Financing (30:37), Careers (33:01) Go to http://www.touchmba.com/carnegie-mellon-tepper-mba-admissions-interview for a full breakdown of the program's key advantages and fast facts about admissions, financing, and careers at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business MBA program.  

This week Darren sat down with Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions at Yale School of Management, to discuss Yale’s mission of “educating leaders for business and society.” How does this translate into the curriculum? How does the school plan to evolve? And what does this mean from an admissions and career perspective? Don’t miss this very informative chat about what makes Yale unique and how you can give yourself the best shot of getting in. About Our Guest Bruce DelMonico is the Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions at Yale School of Management, where he has been for over 10 years. Prior to Yale, Bruce worked as an Attorney for 10 years. Bruce has a JD from University of Virginia School of Law and Masters in English from the University of Texas Austin. Program Highlights (2:20), Admissions (19:16), Financing (33:27), Careers (39:46) Go to http://www.touchmba.com/yale-som-mba-admissions-interview-bruce-delmonico for a full breakdown of the program's key advantages and fast facts about admissions, financing, and careers at the Yale School of Management MBA program.

Dozens of MBA applicants come to Touch MBA every month for free school selection help and a common concern is how to overcome a low GPA. How can you show top-ranked programs that you will perform well in an intense Master's level program? That you belong with other MBA candidates who got A and B+ averages as undergraduates? Applicants with low GPAs need to send 2 signals: 1) that they're academically capable and 2) that they have a strong work ethic. Listen on for 7 concrete ways you can communicate these qualities in your application to tackle a low GPA. Scoring well on GMAT Performing well in other academic environments (Masters Degrees) or tests (CFA, CPA, etc) Highlighting work experience that demonstrates your hard business skills Securing recommendations that rank you highly for intellectual ability Taking pre-MBA classes (MBA Math, online courses, community college courses) "The Shaq Rule" - being so strong employability and ambassadorial-wise that you'll still be a net contributor Using your optional essay to explain (not excuse) the context surrounding your GPA

At Touch MBA we help point applicants in the right direction when it comes to best-fit schools. But which schools should you target in the first, second or third rounds? Should you apply to all your top choices in round 1? In this episode, Darren talks to Dean Nordheilm, who came to Touch MBA last Fall and just got into Kellogg. Dean applied to 4 top schools - Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, MIT Sloan and Northwestern Kellogg - and learned many lessons along the way. We discuss his "round strategy" as well as how he positioned himself and researched schools. Don't miss these great tips from someone who just got admitted! Questions Dean's background (2:32) Dean's positioning tips (4:10) Researching and presenting your post-MBA goals (6:08) Which schools to apply to? (9:30) Dean's round strategy and reflections (15:32) Do your applications get better to each subsequent school? (17:20) Getting recommendations for multiple rounds and schools (18:30) Not setting expectations too high (20:50) The importance of building up your application network (23:45)

This week I sat down with Jessica Chung, Associate Director of Full-time MBA Admissions at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. We had an in-depth and open discussion about UCLA's MBA offering and culture, what admissions is looking for, and how the program supports students in their career searches. After listening to our conversation, you'll get an insider's feel for the qualities Anderson is looking for and how the school is evolving. Jessica is very transparent about the admissions process so don't miss this one! About Our Guest Jessica Chung is the Associate Director of Full-time MBA Admissions at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. Jessica got her B.S. in Business Administration at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and got her Masters in Education from UCLA. She also worked for USC Marshall School as a Graduate Admissions Advisor before joining the Anderson School at UCLA in 2007. Program Highlights (3:12), Admissions (18:58), Financing (41:05), Careers (44:53) Go to http://www.touchmba.com/ucla-anderson-mba-admissions-interview for a full breakdown of the program's key advantages and fast facts about admissions, financing, and careers at the UCLA Anderson School of Management MBA program.

Over the past decade, Tyler Cormney and MBA Prep School have achieved a 90% success rate with clients at the world's top schools. What are the key steps to preparing an application that puts you in the top 10%? Hint: it's not your essay(s). Don't miss this value-packed episode and feel free to ask Tyler your questions in the comments! You can find a list of questions asked at http://touchmba.com/how-to-apply-for-a-top-mba-tyler-cormney-mba-prep-school About Our Guest Tyler Cormney is the CEO and Co-Founder of MBA Prep School. Tyler graduated from Harvard Business School with Distinction and has a Masters Degree in Professional Writing from USC. Tyler has been helping MBA applicants for 10 years and his company has a 90% success rate for top-ranked business schools. Questions Why preparing to apply is the most important step in the application process (3:47) How to determine your "points of difference" (6:50) Which points of difference should you highlight? (10:20) Career goals and how to tell your "career story" (12:45) A different and better way to answer "why do you need an MBA?" (17:40) Developing a compelling "career purpose" (19:28) How to show long-term and short-term MBA goals (24:10) Why self-reflection is the secret weapon in MBA applications (26:40) Admissions trends applicants should be aware of at top 7 schools (28:18) With schools shortening applications, how can applicants still tell their story? (33:28) Cultivating mentor relationships early for your recommendations (36:34) Common mistakes applicants make (37:44) The necessity of putting together a support team (40:20)