Round 1 Decision Week is Here: Harvard, Northwestern Invites Arriving Soon
At 12 p.m. EST, Harvard Business School will unveil its round 1 MBA decision invites, leading a busy week for U.S. schools.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 13, will feature the first round of invites for Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, with the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Berkeley Haas, and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania following on Thursday, December 14. And on Friday, December 15, Rice Jones, UCLA Anderson and UMD Smith will reveal their first round invites.
A handful of notable Clear Admit favorites, such as the CMU Tepper full-time MBA, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Michigan Ross, and Washington Olin, among others, will also be releasing their own first round of MBA invites.
Clear Admit offers a host of valuable tools and advice for those waiting on the edge of their seats, including MBA LiveWire, DecisionWire, and ApplyWire.
Stay up to date with MetroMBA and Clear Admit for more information on the world’s best business schools and upcoming invites.
Why Bloomberg Businessweek Is Praising the UGA Terry College of Business
At the top of last month’s annual Bloomberg Businesweek domestic MBA rankings, the normative favorites reigned supreme, with the likes of the Harvard Business School, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the MIT Sloan School of Management sitting at the top of the ranking. A quick glance at the top 20 features more of the same, with Ivy League institutions coming in strong, as well as other large school powerhouses like the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
But the real meat and potatoes of the list, beyond stacking trophy cases for the already trophy-rich schools at the top, are the schools that shoot up the rankings the most, sometimes jumping eight or more spots from the previous year. Among the most lauded institutions that made its way up the rankings is the University of Georgia Terry College of Business, climbing from 65th overall in 2016 to 55th overall this year.
Santanu Chatterjee—the full-time MBA Director and Associate Professor of Economics at the Terry College of Business—recently spoke with MetroMBA, saying that part of the reason the school has earned such high praise is because of the concentrated effort of life after graduation.
The school has “a purposeful and deliberate strategy that connects admissions, student experience, and career management, by focusing on employability at the front end, a high level of customized career services for both students and employers, and a market-driven curriculum that ensures professional success for our students,” according to Chatterjee, who originally joined the Terry College of Business in 2001, just after earning his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington.
Santanu Chatterjee, Terry College of Business Director, Full-Time MBA Program and Associate Professor.
Although the Terry College of Business is part of the University of Georgia, one of the largest state schools in the U.S., its reputation still lags a bit behind some of the other big name brand institutions. As evident in its climb in the Bloomberg Businessweek ranking, however, its reputation as one of the better, under-the-radar business schools may be soon changing as the result of a plan that has been years in the making.
“Over the past three years, we have focused on making our curriculum more sensitive to the needs of the marketplace,” he says. “Initiatives have included new concentrations in Healthcare Management and Human Resource Management, areas of emphasis in Consulting and Financial Technology (FinTech), and an expanded focus on experiential/project-based learning. Most of our students complete one project with a corporate partner before their summer internships. We have also revamped our Leadership Fellows Program, and set up two new advisory boards, in Atlanta and in the Silicon Valley.”
Part of the wave of program changes over the past few years also comes from newfound partnerships with many of the University of Georgia’s other esteemed colleges, establishing newfound dual degree programs to help facilitate an academic edge many of the country’s smaller schools simply cannot provide.
“While we continue to work on making the MBA curriculum more market-driven, we are also focused on a more interdisciplinary approach to business education,” he says. “Over the past three years, we have worked to develop new dual degree programs with the College of Engineering, Law School, Medical School, and the College of Public Health. New dual programs are currently being developed that include the College of Pharmacy and a one-year STEM MBA for UGA undergraduates in the STEM disciplines. A new one-year Master of Science program in Business Analytics is also awaiting final approval from the University System. These new programs will enable us to significantly expand our corporate relationships and partners, which in turn will help support our curriculum and student support initiatives.”
The use of broader university resources speaks to what Chatterjee believes is becoming a definitive advantage to not only Terry College of Business students, but University of Georgia students as a whole.
“Across the board, the Terry College of Business is focused on student success by providing them with an outstanding academic and experiential learning experience,” he notes. “This philosophy cuts across programs at all levels, from undergraduate to the Masters and Ph.D. [programs]. We have a roster of world-class faculty, excellent facilities, and a dedicated network of more than 70,000 alumni who work tirelessly to improve the quality of education and career success for our students.”
Even with the noted praise Chatterjee eschews for the business school, one program strength he may be overlooking is the welcomed affordability of the Terry full-time MBA, which only costs Georgia-based residents $15,670 per year, compared to several of the more popular MBA programs in the U.S., which often venture into triple digit territory by the end of the program.
For more information on the Terry College of Business and its increasingly praised MBA program, head over to the official Terry College of Business website.
Gain a Global Edge with These Philadelphia International Business MBAs
Every day, it becomes easier and easier to make connections across the world, building a global network of business and resources that can help to benefit the world. Due to an increasingly global economy, possessing a deep knowledge and understanding of the way global markets work can be a crucial part of building a business career. There is almost no limit to the types of opportunities an education in global business will provide: from working in the fields of international trade, global business operations or planning or industrial development, and being employed by international agencies, non-profit organizations, governmental, or both public and private corporations.
According to Michigan State program globalEDGE, “demand continues to grow for individuals who understand the global context of business: from the logistics of international trade and cross-border investments to the cultural and ethical issues that are imbued in the practice of business around the world. By studying international business, you will learn about world cultures and societies, and be challenged to approach issues from different perspectives.”
In choosing to study international business in the Philadelphia metro area, aspiring business leaders can center themselves in a growing market at the center of United States history and global trade. We’ve rounded up some of the area’s top MBA programs that offer a concentration in international business, allowing students to gain specific knowledge and skills to make an impact in the global economy.
Fox School of Business – Temple University
Consistently rated one of the top business schools in the country, the Fox School of Business at Temple University offers students a number of opportunities to gain skills and earn a degree in the field of global business. The Global MBA program, based in Philadelphia, is taught by world renowned faculty and is designed to provide an experiential education in international economics, with live consulting, internship and professional development opportunities. Additional programs like the MBA from Temple University Japan in Tokyo and the EMBA at Temple University Paris offer further opportunities for students to gain a hands-on global experience with a strong business background.
Lerner College – University of Delaware
The MBA at University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business gives students the opportunity to concentrate in international business, providing the solid business background they will need to effectively conduct business in a global environment. In addition to U.S. citizens looking to expand their knowledge in international business and help their organizations to expand overseas, many students in the Lerner MBA program are international, returning home with a deep understanding of U.S. customs and the ability to navigate business across borders.
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Rutgers School of Business, Camden
Students interested in concentrating in International Business and Operations can do so at the Rutgers School of Business by pursuing a number of electives in the field. Students can take a number of electives in the fields of International Business and Operations Management to complete the concentration, including courses like: International Management, Global Operations Information Technology, Global Marketing Strategy, and International Study Abroad in countries such as South Africa, France, and Brazil.
Smeal College of Business – Penn State
While the Smeal College of Business at Penn State does not directly offer a concentration or major in international business, it is an available as an option. At Smeal, options constitute a briefer but still targeted study within a particular area, allowing students to gain a deeper education in Global Business while still receiving the more general education of an MBA.
The Wharton School – University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School at UPenn, well-known as one of the top business schools in the world, provides students the opportunity to pursue a joint MBA/MA in International Studies. The MBA/MA Lauder Joint-Degree provides students a range of resources and educational experiences in global business, such as the Global Knowledge Lab, which involves students working together as a team to produce a thorough research paper/master’s thesis. The program also includes two short global immersions and an optional ten-day trek called Culture Quest, organized completely by students in the program. The six areas of concentration students may choose to specialize in include: Africa, East and Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Hot Jobs for MBAs: Becoming a Pricing Analyst
MBA graduates looking to apply their skills to a fast-growing and high-paying career may be interested in pursuing a role in Pricing Analysis. Named among the 100 best jobs in America by CNN, working as a Pricing Analyst is a perfect way for an MBA graduate to make use of their strong education combining skills in marketing, finance, and analytics.
With a predicted 10-year job growth of 41.2 percent and roughly 280,000 total jobs available, business students who think they might be interested this fast-growing career can start preparing while still in school through specialized study in marketing or finance. Armed with the special skills in data analysis in addition to the strong business background of an MBA, students looking to enter the field after graduation will have a competitive advantage as they begin their career.
We’ve rounded up the most important things to know about a career in Pricing Analysis to help you decide if it’s the right role for you.
What is a Pricing Analyst?
A company’s pricing analyst is responsible for figuring out the appropriate price for a business to place on a product or service. Using a variety of data and different metrics, the Pricing Analyst will determine the perfect price that will both appeal to consumers and produce an appropriate profit for the company.
Pricing Analysts must be able to track marketplace trends and implement a strategy that will benefit both the company and consumer. Someone in this role must be able to effectively communicate to a number of other departments such as supply chain, sales, marketing, finance, and be able to work with these groups in making pricing recommendations and decisions based on their analysis.
Pricing Analysts may be needed at wide variety of companies and organizations, ranging from construction companies, colleges and universities, banks and financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and more.
What Skills Does a Pricing Analyst Need?
Those who succeed in the role of Pricing Analyst typically have strong skills in mathematics, analytical thinking and problem solving. It is also important that Pricing Analysts are able to effectively communicate, as they are often required to explain their research and analysis to others in order to make important decisions.
Other skills employers may seek in a Pricing Analyst may be:
- An interest and skill working with numbers and data.
- Being a detail oriented and proactive worker.
- Have the ability to work with minimal supervision.
- Experience in back-office and billing systems and database management programs,
Pricing Analyst Salary
Pricing Analyst salaries, according to PayScale, may vary according to a number of factors, such as education, terms of the job, and type of employer. On average, Pricing Analysts can earn anywhere from $52,000-61,000 depending on their level of experience. In cities like New York and Boston, that number is slightly higher.
A recent study from Deloitte found even more impressive figures: 62 percent of respondents in a survey of pricing professionals reported salaries of greater than $100,000 and 83 percent of respondents said they were also eligible for an annual bonus.
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MBAs For Pricing Analysts
While most MBA programs do not offer a direct concentration in pricing analysis, a number of programs still provide specialized pricing education through other departments, like finance and business analytics. Below are just a few examples of pricing-related courses available at some of the top MBA programs in the country:
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Scheller College of Business – Georgia Institute of Technology
The Scheller College of Business offers a course in pricing strategy as part of their Business Analytics MBA concentration. The course, marketing Analytics and Pricing Strategy, helps students gain skills in making effective pricing decisions through the understanding of important economic and analytical concepts associated with customer behavior and competition.
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The Wharton School – University of Pennsylvania
FNCE717, or Financial Derivatives, at the Wharton School focuses students on making strategic corporate decisions, particularly when it comes to pricing. Students will learn several different approaches to pricing and how to apply such skills for investment and risk-management.
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Rutgers School of Business, Newark and New Brunswick
The MBA program at Rutgers’ Newark and New Brunswick location offers a class in Supply Chain Pricing Strategy. The course recognizes the importance of pricing in driving profits and the extreme negative impact poor pricing decisions can have. Students will learn how to approach pricing from both a strategic and tactical level and be able to apply it to a number of fields and industries.
Do You Actually Need an MBA for the Job?
While an MBA is not necessarily a requirement of all Pricing Analyst jobs, it is by far the most common degree held by those in this role. According to the aforementioned Deloitte survey, 43 percent of respondents held MBA degrees, while just 26 percent—the next highest percentage—held undergraduate degrees in business. Earning an MBA and demonstrating specialized coursework in pricing will give those in the field a competitive edge and open the door to higher level management positions in the field.
To Fume Or Not to Fume: Wharton Studies Cite Benefits of Anger in Negotiation
A recent article on effective negotiation and competition tactics in the Wall Street Journal utilized the results of four studies from The Wharton School. Specifically, the article discussed the benefits of getting angry in these situations.
The article cites four Wharton studies that explored the effects of anger on motivation and outcome in negotiation and competition settings. In the negotiation studies, subjects were informed that they would participate in a meeting with another person. Half of the subjects were told the meeting would be a negotiation, and the other half were told they would just be having a conversation. In the competition study, researchers told half of the participants they would be playing a computer game with a teammate, and told the other half that they would be playing a video game against a rival player. Participants in both studies were given the option to watch either a clip of standup comedy or an upsetting harassment scene from the 1985 film Witness.
Subjects who believed they were entering into a competition or negotiation were far more likely to watch the harassment scene, whereas those who were told they were having a conversation or playing a game as a team gravitated toward watching standup. Participants who watched the upsetting video before going into a negotiation or competition (and expected their anger to be a useful tool) performed more effectively.
Multiple studies have shown that negative feelings can be an asset in negotiations—or at least that positive feelings an be an impediment. In her book Sensation: The New Science of Physical Intelligence, psychologist Thalma Lobel suggested making people as physically comfortable as possible before proposing a business deal. An act as simple as serving someone a warm cup of coffee proved to increase their positive feelings toward the other person, and consequently made them a more lax negotiator.
Though it seems anger can be an effective tool, the article cautioned readers that it can also impede the creative process by narrowing thinking. Additionally, getting mad can negatively impact coordination. But ultimately, anger, when harnessed carefully and expertly, can improve chances of victory in competitive settings.
Top MBA Programs Gain Ground for Gender Parity
The Forté Foundation today released its annual women’s enrollment report for full-time MBA programs at its member schools, which include many of the top business schools in the United States and abroad. This fall, women’s MBA enrollment climbed to a global average of 37.4 percent, up 4 percent over 2013 figures, when the global average was 33.4 percent women.
In fact, the last five years of enrollment data at Forté member schools reveal steady gains in the percentage of women. For U.S. schools, women’s enrollment reached 37.8 percent this fall, up from 37.1 percent in 2016, and 34 percent in 2013. And for schools outside the United States, the gains have been even greater. In fall 2017, non-U.S. Forté member schools enrolled 36 percent women, up more than 3 percent year over year (from 32.8 percent in 2016) and almost five percent since fall 2013 (from 31.1 percent).
“I’m always heartened anytime I see a 1 percent trend overall,” Forté Executive Director Elissa Sangster told Clear Admit. “Year by year, it’s pretty significant for this group of schools to steadily have that same number increase—because it’s a lot of work to get more women into the pipeline and to matriculate those women,” she continued. “But this year, in particular, seeing those other schools outside the U.S. go up 3.4 percent in one year was very surprising.”
Two Schools Reach 45 Percent Women, Highest on Record
In fact, there were many signs beyond these overall statistics that show continuing progress toward gender parity among MBA programs. For one, 17 Forté member schools this fall enrolled 40 percent or more women—as compared to just two schools that reached this milestone in 2013. A total of 26 schools enrolled more than 35 percent women, more than twice as many as in 2013 (12 schools). Best yet, for the first time ever, two schools reached 45 percent or more women enrolled—the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and George Washington University School of Business. And three more schools—two in the United States and one in the United Kingdom—were close behind at 44 percent.
“The 1 percent [overall year-over-year gain] may seem small, but we’re seeing 17 out of 50 schools hit over the 40 percent mark, and that’s huge,” said Sangster. “To start seeing schools trend that direction makes a big impact because it’s a hard thing to obtain for any school at this point.”
Not only that, the progress demonstrates that gender parity is attainable, Sangster stressed.
“Although women’s enrollment in business school is a slow and steady growth story, at this rate we could reach an average of 40 percent women’s enrollment in top business schools in less than five years and 50 percent by 2030,” she said in a Forté press release. “Why is this significant? There is evidence that an MBA can provide both career advancement and significant pay gains for women, giving them greater economic mobility. And efforts to support women to pursue an MBA can contribute to a more diverse leadership pipeline at companies.”
The Forté Foundation is a non-profit consortium of top business schools, corporations, and the Graduate Management Admission Council, and its efforts to move the needle toward gender parity in the MBA and business more generally are widespread. Launched in 2001 after the results of a landmark research study, Women and the MBA: Gateway to Opportunity, Forté now has 51 member schools: 39 in the United States, four in Canada, and eight in Europe. It also has numerous initiatives to help close the gender gap.
“Our college efforts are very robust and have been growing over the last five years. We are connecting with women about their career options and bringing the MBA into the conversation early,” explained Sangster. “It’s important for women in their university years to really understand what type of opportunities they have, to have access to role models, and to know the landscape of what’s to come. I think Forté can be a real guide in that. We know that having those conversations with young women is critical.”
A few of Forté’s initiatives include
- The annual Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference, which brings together hundreds of women MBA students and top companies each year to help attendees explore career paths, meet recruiters and mentors, and hear from influential businesswomen;
- The Forté College to Business Leadership Conference, a similar event designed to introduce undergraduate women to career opportunities and summer internships at top companies;
- The “Rising Star” pilot initiative, launched in September 2015, which helps undergraduate women become well-informed about their many career options, and
- MBALaunch, a hands-on, 10-month program that provides guidance, resources, and ongoing feedback about the business school application process through monthly webinars, peer group meetings, and feedback from experienced advisors.
“MBALaunch allows us to give women unprecedented access to business schools, alumnae, admissions representatives, and admissions experts—and also to give them a cohort of like-minded women who can support them and encourage them through the business school application process,” Sangster said. In the past, many women went through the application process alone, she continued. “MBALaunch allows us to present the best version of those women candidates to business schools. That’s what makes a critical difference in terms of admission into your stretch business school.”
The Forté Foundation also awards a variety of scholarships through its Forté Fellows program. The program has exploded from just 33 inaugural scholarships awarded in 2003 to 1,300 scholarships awarded to the incoming Class of 2017 and another 1,100 scholarships awarded to second-year students in the Class of 2016. Overall, since 2003, Forté schools have awarded a staggering $142 million in scholarships to Forté Fellows.
It Takes an Entire Community Effort
To augment Forté’s initiatives, top business schools can continue to make progress on their own by keeping a steady eye on gender parity and getting the entire school involved in the process, said Sangster.
“The schools that are doing a great job at consistently keeping their numbers high have an entire community effort focused on the goal of gender parity,” Sangster said. “It’s not just the admissions team reviewing applications and making decisions. It’s the students enrolled in the school being actively involved in recruiting and matriculating those students. It’s the alums making phone calls and participating in local coffees or teas to talk about their own story and to reduce concerns about the investment that women will be making.”
“It’s not just one small group of people; it’s a team effort, a community effort,” she continued. “The schools that are maintaining their numbers and seeing a steady climb have a full-court press.”
So which schools are leading the way? The following 17 Forté member business schools have 40 percent or higher women’s enrollment:
- Alliance Manchester Business School
- Columbia Business School
- Dartmouth College (Tuck School of Business)
- George Washington University School of Business
- Harvard Business School
- Imperial College Business School
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan School of Management)
- Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management)
- University of California Berkeley (Haas School of Business)
- The University of Chicago (Booth School of Business)
- University of Michigan (Ross School of Business)
- University of Oxford (Saïd Business School)
- University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
- The University of Texas at Austin (McCombs School of Business)
- University of Toronto (Rotman School of Management)
- Yale School of Management
- York University (Schulich School of Business
And the following nine schools have 35 percent or greater women’s enrollment:
- Arizona State University (W. P. Carey School of Business)
- HEC-Paris
- London Business School
- New York University (Stern School of Business)
- University of California – Los Angeles (Anderson School of Management)
- University of Cambridge (Judge Business School)
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (Gies College of Business)
- University of Virginia (Darden School of Business)
- Washington University in St. Louis (Olin Business School)
To access the full Forté report, click here.
