Data Science Courses Increasingly Find Their Place in MBA Curriculums
Five years ago, MIT Sloan School of Management debuted a new course its professors believed to be the first of its kind. Called “The Analytics Edge,” the course gave students access to large quantities of real data that they could use to hone their analytic skills. “Our focus is on the application and the story, and how to use it in real life,” Allison O’Hair, one of the course’s co-instructors, said as part of a news article on the school’s website at the time. “To our knowledge, this is a new way of teaching … the only class here that teaches analytics through applications. We let students get their hands dirty with real data and applications of analytics.”
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Looking For Accelerated MBA Programs in Chicago
Earning an MBA is a commitment on many levels. Of course there’s the financial commitment, and for some there’s still a work commitment. There’s also a large time commitment involved—prospective MBAs must sink time into studying, attending class, immersion courses, case competitions and more. However, some may want to try to complete their MBA program as quickly and efficiently as possible. That’s where accelerated MBA programs come into play: sometimes in only 12 months, those pursuing accelerated degrees are back in the job market, ready to start their next career. Continue reading…
Kellogg EMBA Program Curriculum Expands
According to a press release recently revealed on the Kellogg School of Management on Northwestern University website, the school’s Executive MBA (EMBA) program has experienced beneficial growth over the past couple of years. This growth is marked by rising enrollment and an expanding curriculum. Continue reading…
Hot MBA Jobs: International Business Consultant
International business consulting is one of the world’s fastest growing industries. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the hiring rate of management consulting (the overarching job category) is increasing much faster than average, with an expected rate improving around 14 percent until 2024.
And there’s no doubt that the international side is growing even more quickly due to the globalization of the world economy, the emergence of new markets and explosive economic growth in countries such as India and China. Not to mention the fact that the world is smaller than ever and that almost every business across the world conducts business internationally—even many small and medium-sized companies. So, as more and more companies embrace the global mindset, international business consultants will be more valuable than ever.
As for MBAs, consulting is still one of the most sought-after career fields. According to the 2015 Prospective Student Survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), consulting topped the list of intended industries for both millennial and Gen X respondents (41 percent and 27 percent respectively).
But before you make the decision to become an international business consultant, let’s take a look at what your career would look like. Continue reading…
Harvard, Stanford Earn Most Annual Business School Applicants
There are so many factors to consider when applying for an MBA program, it can often be overwhelming. Between cost, admissions requirements, location and program quality, narrowing down a select few to focus on for the application process is a challenge within itself. Nonetheless, between the time required to complete an application and the expense of application fees, it’s simply impossible to apply to every program you find interesting. Narrowing your focus to only your top choice schools can save time, money and a load of heartache.
While factors such as those mentioned above, like cost and location, are great ways to help narrow down your options, it is also helpful to take into consideration the competitiveness of each program. For many high-regarded MBA programs, the applicant pool can be so large that only a very small minority of applicants are accepted each year. While it may seem encouraged to “shoot for the stars,” understanding the real probability of your admission to a program can be a crucial factor in deciding whether or not to apply.
Thankfully, the U.S. News Short List, which focuses on particular data points from schools and degree programs around the country, recently compiled a list of MBA programs with the most applicants. As expected, these include some of the top programs in the country all ten programs with the highest applicant numbers were also included among the top 20 schools in the U.S. News 2017 Best Business School Rankings, and eight of them in the top ten.
While these are some of the top programs in the country, more applicants also means more rejections. All ten of these schools have acceptance rates lower than 25 percent, which means the majority of applicants are rejected. For many of these schools, the numbers are staggering. Of the 129 schools ranked this year by U.S. News, the average applicant number was 917. At Harvard Business School, which tops the list of largest applicant pool and the publication’s top-ranked business school in the country, there were 9,686 applicants for the fall of 2015.
Following HBS with the second most business school applicants is the Stanford Graduate School of Business with 7,899 applicants in the fall of 2015 and an acceptance rate of just 6.1 percent. The University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) placed third with 6,590 applicants and a 19.8 percent acceptance rate. Columbia Business School, ranked tenth best business school by the publication, received 5,829 applicants in the fall of 2015 and accepted just 18 percent of its applicants.
Also among the schools with the largest applicant pools were:
- Northwestern University (Kellogg): 4,300 applicants, 5th (tie) in ranking, 20.6 percent acceptance rate
- University of Chicago (Booth): 4,284 applicants, 2nd (tie) ranking, 24.4 percent acceptance rate
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan): 4,254 applicants, 5th (tie) ranking 14.6 percent acceptance rate
- New York University (Stern): 3,696 applicants, 20th in ranking, 20 percent acceptance rate
- University of California—Los Angeles (Anderson): 3,533 applicants, 15th in ranking, 19.8 percent acceptance rate
- University of California—Berkeley (Haas): 3,506 applicants, 7th in ranking, 13 percent acceptance rate
Certainly, if you have an extensive resume and strong GRE scores, among other factors, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be part of the small percentage of accepted applicants to these schools. However, full awareness of the probability of acceptance and competitiveness of each program can be important in narrowing down the schools you choose to apply to. Although these are schools with the largest pools, tracking down information about acceptance rate is a great idea for any program you are considering. For example—the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida, which had the fewest applicants in 2015, had a 100 percent acceptance rate. If your goal is to save as much time and money as possible as you begin your degree, focusing on schools with high acceptance rates such as this can only make this already complicated process that much simpler.
The Top Consulting And Strategic Management Chicago MBA Programs
While industries such as investment banking may be attracting fewer MBAs, that’s not the case for consulting. Year-after-year it continues to be the top draw for MBA graduates. The 2015 Prospective Student Survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) revealed that a job in consulting services or management consulting upon graduation topped the list for both millennial (41 percent) and Gen X (27 percent) respondents. Continue reading…
