Quinlan Dean Kevin Stevens Honored by Crain’s Chicago Business
Quinlan School of Business Dean Kevin Stevens has officially been named to the 2017 Who’s Who in Chicago Business list. Continue reading…
Defining Your Career Path With a Lehigh College of Business 1-MBA
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Editor’s Note: As part of the Lehigh 1-MBA program enhancements, the internship component was replaced with a Consulting Practicum. Click here to learn more about the 1-MBA.
While crafty interview skills and a sharp résumé can greatly help the pursuit of a career, there’s no greater asset to future employment than a productive internship.
Two MBA students at the Lehigh University College of Business and Economics are learning the exceptionally valuable lessons of the intern experience, although the pathways to their current roles are certainly unalike. Richard London, a former law enforcement member from Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, and Suzanne Zar, a Central New Jersey native who spent the majority of her career in the healthcare industry, will both officially earn their MBA degrees before the end of 2017.
London was eligible to retire from law enforcement in 2015, but he wasn’t simply going to settle without a career moving forward. In a recent interview with MetroMBA, London revealed his ultimate decision to join the business school after viewing a 1-MBA presentation at a local community college.
“I immediately saw the advantages of obtaining an MBA for myself and I explored the differences between the Flex MBA and 1-MBA programs,” he says. “Given my age and my proximity to retirement, I determined the 1-MBA program was the best option for me.”
Zar, on the other hand, followed the more traditional MBA path. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Medicine/Human Physiology from the University of Delaware, Zar’s career has been centrally focused in global pharmaceuticals. However, Zar felt her career in the competitive industry could only go so far without an MBA.
“I had a long career in different facets of marketing and my clients were in the healthcare/pharmaceutical space,” she says. “I wanted to continue that work but as the decision maker working for a top pharma company ideally in oncology. To do so I needed to up my game! The level of positions I was looking at required an MBA and I wanted to keep a competitive advantage to ensure my success.”
The Lehigh 1-MBA program offered both London and Zar a direct chance to work in their desired fields. Zar earned a position with German chemical, pharmaceutical, and life sciences giant Bayer, which has its North American headquarters in Whippany, New Jersey. London’s role lead back to working side-by-side with law enforcement, through Montreal technology company Genetec Inc.
“Part of my responsibility before I retired from law enforcement was to manage the technology projects for the agency I worked for,” London notes. “ We have all seen the strained relationships between law enforcement and the public over the past few years. Part of the solution to easing that tension has been the development of technology products for law enforcement; particularly Body Worn Cameras (BWC) for officers.”
“I offered them [Genetec Inc.] some domain knowledge they did not have access to, and they offered me the opportunity to explore the law enforcement market to determine if my experiences were similar to other agencies across the country,” he continues. “I spent the summer traveling around the U.S. talking with law enforcement executives about their views and challenges with the new technology that is being thrust upon the industry and created a business and marketing strategy for the new group.”
Forging the directions in both London and Zar’s career trajectories relied both on an immeasurable internal work ethic and the significant hands-on approach Lehigh provides its students.
“What I would recommend about Lehigh is the personal connection students receive from the faculty and department heads,” Zar says. “The curriculum covers all of the bases in a traditional MBA as well as staying relevant with classes that tackle current business trends such as big data, technology and innovation.”
“It is the experience itself that has made this journey worth every minute,” London adds. “Real life is deadlines, commitments, relationships, time management; all things that can’t be learned in a classroom or by reading a book. From the moment you start the 1-MBA program, you are part of something; just like you would be in the real world; it’s like going to work for a small corporation. You are learning something new; but, you are learning it along side others in your cohort and you have to learn to rely on yourself, your classmates and the 1-MBA staff. If any part were missing, the experience would be different. For me, these are the real lessons from the 1-MBA program.
“The 1-MBA program stands apart from many of the programs out there by offering the highest level of education with professors that go above and beyond to help their students,” Zar concludes. “The size and diversity of the students in the program lends itself to great collaboration and experience sharing.”
For more information about the Lehigh University College of Business and Economics 1-MBA, visit the official school website here.
How the Chicago Booth School of Business Helps Low-Income Applicants
U.S. News and World Report lists University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business among its top three best business schools in the country. But with the school’s estimated tuition (including living expenses) for the 2017-18 year at $103,759, Booth may not sound like a practical option for a number promising candidates. Though the $126,937 average base salary of graduates is definite proof of return on investment, for many, the cost of tuition may make the idea of earning a Booth MBA seem impossible. Fortunately, the myriad loan and scholarship options available at Booth may make a Booth MBA more feasible for students from all economic backgrounds.
Those of you craving a challenging higher education experience at one of the most prestigious institutions in the U.S. can breathe a sigh of relief. Below, we’ve laid out some of the resources available to help low-income applicants fund their MBA education at Booth School of Business.
Scholarships and Fellowships
Though Booth does not offer need-based financial aid, there are a plethora of merit-based scholarships and fellowships available to promising students. According to the school’s website, awardees are chosen based on the quality of their interview, their academic merit, their prospective concentration, competitiveness, career goals, and life experiences.
Specialized scholarships are available to minority students, veterans, and students with outstanding scholastic achievements. There are also industry-specific opportunities, such as the Canfield Private Equity Fellowship, which is specifically geared toward students with a background in private equity or investment banking, and even includes an internship at a private equity firm.
Take a look at some of the more prominent Booth scholarships available:
Chicago Booth Merit-Based Award
- This general scholarship is awarded to select students at the time of admissions based off, according to the school, “who have excelled in academics, work experience, and service to the community.”
George J. Stigler Fellowship
- This awarded is granted to students who excel in fields such as law, economics, and business.
Forté Foundation Fellowship
- This full-time MBA awarded is gifted to students through the forward-thinking Forté Foundation every year for students that “exhibited exemplary academic, team, community, and/or creative leadership, and are committed to advancing the interests of women in business.”
Distinguished Fellowship
- Students granted this high-ranking fellowship receive a “stipend and mentorship from Harry L. Davis, the Roger L. and Rachel M. Goetz Distinguished Service Professor of Creative Management.” The fellowship covers a student’s entire tuition.
David W. Fox Scholarship
- Another full-tuition award, the David W. Fox Scholarship is gifted to students that have previously or are currently serving in U.S. military. The school notes, “Students must demonstrate outstanding leadership, academic and extracurricular achievements, and a commitment to advancing the interests of those having served in the military.”
You can learn more about Booth’s scholarship opportunities here.
Loans
Booth students who are U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents can apply for a variety of federal or private student loans. Students looking for federal loans can choose a Direct Unsubsidized Loan or a Direct Grad PLUS Loan. To qualify for the Direct Unsubsidized Loan, students must be enrolled in at least 200 units each quarter. The maximum amount students can receive with this loan is $20,500 per year. Students who require more than $20,500 per year can apply for the Direct Grad PLUS Loan, which has a much higher cut-off. With this loan, students can receive up to the total cost of attendance (minus any other outside financial support). Students who opt for private, credit-based loans can also borrow up to the total cost of attendance, not including separate sources of financial assistance.
International students also have the option of leaning on loans to help finance their MBA. Booth provides loan options for international students without U.S. cosigners, as these students may not be eligible for private loan options. Those with U.S. cosigners, however, have a wide selection of private loan opportunities available to them.
A Recommendation Revolution Is Underway in MBA Admissions: What You Need to Know
I’m busy, you’re busy, your boss is most definitely busy. Indeed, publications ranging from Men’s Health to the Atlantic, the Washington Post to Forbes are all reporting that “busyness“ has become the new status symbol for our times. Which is part of what makes asking someone to write you a letter of recommendation for business school so daunting. Now, try telling that person that you actually need five different letters for five different schools. Oy vey.
As uncomfortable a spot as it puts applicants in—it’s no better for recommenders. Even your most vociferous supporter is going to wonder what in the world she’s gotten herself into when she realizes that helping you in your pursuit of acceptance to business school means taking time away from work or play or family or whatever else to labor over leadership assessment grids, each a little different from the one before, and write 10 slightly different answers to 10 slightly different questions. Here’s hoping that your top-choice school doesn’t happen to be the last one she gets around to…
Good news. The graduate management education industry recognizes the strain that letters of recommendation put on applicants and recommenders alike and has been wrestling with ways to make the process easier for everyone involved. To this end, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) established a committee made up of admissions representatives from dozens of leading business schools to brainstorm about ways to lessen the burden while still collecting the third-party assessments of candidates that are so critical to the MBA application process.
GMAC Pilots Common MBA Letter of Recommendation
As an outgrowth of that committee’s work, GMAC last year piloted a common MBA letter of recommendation (LOR) that schools can choose to incorporate into their applications to reduce the burden placed on applicants and recommenders alike.
“The Common Letter of Recommendation (LOR) effort is intended to save you and recommenders valuable time by providing a single set of recommendation questions for each participating school,” reads the GMAC website. “This allows your recommenders to use the same answers for multiple letter submissions, alleviating the workload of having to answer different questions for each school multiple times. You benefit because it makes the ask for several different letters to be written on your behalf much easier.”
Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, NYU Stern School of Business, and Michigan’s Ross School of Business were among the first schools to pilot the Common LOR last year. In addition to a single set of open-ended essay questions, the pilot Common LOR also included a leadership assessment grid inviting recommenders to rate applicants on 16 “competencies and character traits” grouped into four main categories of achievement, influence, personal qualities and academic ability.
“At Johnson, we saw the Common LoR as a clear opportunity to improve the admissions process for candidates and their recommenders in a way that would also add value to our own assessment of applicants,” Judi Byers, Johnson executive director of admissions & financial aid, told Clear Admit. “A thorough and consistent review is important to us and the grid provides a straightforward base of insights that can be assessed and compared reliably while the accompanying letter adds meaningful detail and context,” she added.
Soojin Kwon, managing director of full-time MBA admissions and program at Ross, sees applicants and recommenders as the main beneficiaries of the Common LOR and is pleased that more schools are coming on board. “As more schools adopt it, applicants won’t have to feel like they’re burdening their recommender with completing multiple rec letters with different questions and ratings grids,” she told Clear Admit. “This year, more than a dozen of the top 20 schools are using it.”
Ross was also among the schools to first pilot the Common LOR last year, and Kwon served as part of the GMAC committee that helped craft it.
Common Questions Easy to Agree on, Common Leadership Grid Not
“What we found in using the Common LOR this year past year was that the questions gave us helpful insights into applicants, particularly on the important area of constructive feedback. The questions, however, were fairly similar to what we and other schools were using before, so it was easy for the AdCom to use it,” she notes.
Those questions are as follow:
- Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization. (50 words)
- How does the performance of the applicant compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? (E.g. what are the applicant’s principal strengths?) (500 words)
- Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (500 words)
- Is there anything else we should know? (Optional)
“The rating grid was quite different from what we’d used in the past,” Kwon continued. “It was also the most difficult part for the GMAC advisory group to develop and get agreement upon. The group worked this past year to revise and simplify the grid so that AdComs could get more meaningful insights from it.”
This year, the 16 competencies and character traits from the original grid have been distilled to 12, with specific questions about analytical thinking and information seeking omitted. Johnson and Ross have both incorporated the revised leadership grid into the LOR distributed to applicants as part of their applications, as have most other schools that have this year decided to incorporate both the grid and open-ended essay question portions of the form. UT’s McCombs School of Business and Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, notably, still seem to feature the earlier version of the leadership grid in their application, the one that calls on recommenders to assesses applicants on 16 competencies and traits.
$16.6 Million Grant to Fund Cal State LA Dental Care Project
Here’s some news that may make you smile.
Cal State LA has been awarded a $16.6 million grant from the California Department of Health Care Services. According to a press release issued by the school, the grant is the largest in Cal State LA history.
The money will be used to promote dental health in some of Los Angeles most underserved communities. The project is targeting areas that experience high rates of dental diseases, such as children with special needs, American Indian, and Alaska Native families.
“This grant recognizes our long history of service and engagement in underserved communities,” Cal State LA President William A. Covino said. “With this grant we will be able to assist children who desperately need dental care. We’re grateful for the opportunity to serve in new ways.”
The stated goals of the grant include:
- Increasing access to oral health care.
- Identifying and treating dental disease.
- Incentivizing continuity of care for children enrolled in Denti-Cal, a program that provides dental services to approximately 6 million children in California.
- Deploying mobile care teams to provide oral health screenings.
- Establishing ongoing relationships with a dentist.
“Oral health is directly connected with overall health status and well-being across the lifespan. Oral health can affect academic achievement, self-esteem, relationships, income, and quality of life,” Cal State LA Professor Rita Ledesma also added. She is the Associate Dean of Diversity and Student Engagement in the Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services.
Ledesma continued: “The grant provides a unique opportunity to build partnerships with community-based organizations and deliver oral health screening, oral health education and supplemental services to address dental health disparities that children and families experience in our community.”
Cal State LA is one of 15 recipients of the Local Dental Pilot Project funding. The project will be directed by Ledesma and Ashley Munger, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies.
The Best MBA Return on Investment in the Houston Metro
One of the top things an MBA looks for when choosing a business school is the return on investment. Return on investment, or ROI, is one of the most common profitability ratios, and an easy way to determine if an MBA is “worth” your time and money. We took a look at the Houston metro, and ranked the top business schools in the area based on their ROI, comparing average starting salaries with tuition costs. Continue reading…
