Adam Markus: Graduate Admissions Guru

MBA Applicant Survey Reminder: You can still win one of three $100 VISA gift cards!

2013-05-06T01:00:00.001+09:00

MBA Applicant Survey Reminder: You can still win one of three $100 VISA gift cards! Last week, we launched our survey of people interested in pursuing an MBA. Many have already participated, but we still need to hear from you. We would greatly appreciate it if you would share your thoughts with us. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Please complete it by May 15th, 2013.

Do You Really Need an MBA?

2013-04-30T07:01:00.001+09:00

In this post, I offer some advice for those considering applying to MBA programs. I am not in the business of telling anyone that they need an MBA, only in helping committed applicants get into MBA programs. Frankly, I think one of my strengths as an MBA admissions consultant is that I am neutral about this question. I don’t believe that an MBA or any particular graduate degree is always

Take the MBA Search Survey, and win $100 and our sincere gratitude!

2013-04-28T22:15:00.001+09:00

I wanted to ask that my readers take the MBA Search Survey. Cheers, Adam Take the MBA Search Survey, and win $100 and our sincere gratitude! The anonymous data will be shared with admissions officers from top programs. Make your voice heard! Business school applicants turn to my website as a source of reliable information and valuable advice on the MBA admissions process. As Association of

Visits to Booth and Kellogg and some thoughts on learning about MBA programs

2013-04-20T10:56:00.001+09:00

I know my blog has been quiet since April 2nd. For spring vacation, I went to Chicago, where I froze most of the time in very un-spring-like conditions. My parents and brother live there, so it was time to spend some quality time with the family. In addition, I visited both Booth and Kellogg. Both visits were very productive as it was a chance to meet with admissions at Booth and talk with some

Q&A with a Member of the HBS MBA Class of 2014

2013-04-02T19:55:00.001+09:00

"HBS2014" was kind enough to answer my questions. HBS2014 is a former client and a member of the Harvard Business School MBA Class of 2014. HBS2014 is Asian and in his early 30s. ———————————————————————————————————————– Adam: How hard has the first year at HBS been for you? HBS2014: The day-to-day work is not as bad as I thought, but making an impactful comment in front of a class of 90

Rumours Regarding New MBA Essay Questions for the Class of 2016

2013-04-01T19:34:00.001+09:00

Disclaimer: While none of the following can be confirmed at this time, based on past posts prepared with the assistance of my Indian colleague, Mada Sukram, this is surely worthy of my readers’ consideration. The ever shrinking Why MBA question at HBS As appears to be the pattern from last year, top MBA programs are continuing to alter and shrink their essay sets. For class of 2015 entry,

Q&A with IESE’s Dr. Kimio Kase

2013-03-24T09:17:00.001+09:00

I had the pleasure of meeting IESE's Dr. Kimio Kase in February. While that conversation was off-the-record, Dr. Kase was kind enough to answer my questions below. Dr. Kase has had extensive experience assisting Japanese applicants with IESE's MBA program. While his remarks below will be of particular interest Japanese applicants, I believe anyone considering application to IESE will find his

Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interviews

2013-02-23T19:42:00.001+09:00

My five-part analysis of the application for admission to the Stanford Class of 2015 (2013 entry) begins with Stanford GSB MBA Essay Questions for Class of 2015. The following post focuses on admissions interviews for Stanford GSB. Stanford GSB’s is the hardest MBA admission interview invitation to get on the planet. If you have been invited, your chance of admission just went from about

Yale SOM MBA Admission Interviews

2013-02-04T13:27:00.001+09:00

This will be a rather brief post on MBA Admissions Interviews for the Yale School of Management MBA Class of 2015. Based on a client report (I had one client who was admitted there in R1, you can find that client’s testimonial as well) and the sole report in Clear Admit (Accepted had no reports for the Class of 2015 R1), Yale has radically changed its interview style. Previously it asked a

Preparing for Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015

2013-02-03T22:28:00.001+09:00

In this post, I discuss how to prepare for Wharton Round 2 Interviews for fall 2013 entry. This post consolidates my three previous posts on Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015: Wharton Group Interview Questions Now Made Public (Round 1, not Round 2) More details about Wharton MBA Interviews for 2013 entry Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015 There are two parts to the Wharton

Adam's Global Top MBA Rankings 2013

2013-01-28T23:12:00.001+09:00

As I have been doing since 2008, I wanted to provide my Global Top 100 MBA Rankings for 2013. The rankings below should hopefully be of value for both those engaged in initial school application selection and for admitted applicants who have been accepted to multiple programs and need to determine where to go. Programs are ranked in many ways, so certainly look at other rankings lists. There

IESE MBA Application Essays (2012-2013)

2013-01-27T21:42:00.001+09:00

This is my analysis of IESE Essays (2012-2013) for admission to the MBA Class of 2015. IESE offers an intensive case study based MBA program. It was founded with the active cooperation of HBS and its first-year is a core curriculum program where a section of approximately 70 students will take all the same classes together. While the first-year is rather rigid, the second-year allows for great

Kellogg MBA Admissions Interviews

2013-01-20T11:10:00.001+09:00

This post has been greatly expanded from prior versions and has been updated for admission to the Kellogg MBA Class of 2015. Just as with essays, interviews for the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management MBA applicant interviews are all about fit.I could not really tell you how many Kellogg mock sessions I have conducted since 2001, when I started working as an admissions

New York University Stern MBA Essays for Fall 2013 Admission

2013-01-14T12:37:00.001+09:00

File this one under “better late than never.” 2012 was a busy year. In this post I analyze NYU Stern MBA program’s essay questions for fall 2013 Admission. New York University Stern School of Business MBA essay questions’ web page also includes great tips which you can find here. Every year, I have seen some potential applicants look at Stern’s essay questions and simply decide it is better

A guide to my resources for reapplicants

2013-01-14T10:19:00.001+09:00

I wanted to let readers to my blog know about my resources for reapplicants. I think the best place to start is my June 2010 Reapplication for Success Webinar Transcript and Slides. Also see MBA Reapplication: Why were you dinged? Now what? For a more introspective take on rejection and recovery, please see The Warren Buffett Club: Thoughts on MBA Rejection. I love working with reapplicants

The Warren Buffett Club: Thoughts on MBA Rejection

2013-01-12T10:24:00.000+09:00

In this post I discuss MBA rejection, but for my less philosophical, but more practical advice on reapplication, please see A guide to my resources for reapplicants. While focused mostly on MBA rejection, what I write here applies to rejection from any graduate program or perhaps rejection of any kind. In a much earlier post, I wrote a review of the Warren Buffet biography, The

Waitlisted? Now what?

2013-01-12T08:55:00.001+09:00

This is an updated and expanded version of a previous post on what do if you are waitlisted at an MBA program. As MBA results roll in with all their joy, pain, and annoyance have more or less emerged, some people will find themselves admitted, others outright rejected, and others in that netherworld known as waitlist. For some, the wait will actually end relatively quickly, but for others, the

IMD MBA Admissions Essays for January 2014 Admission

2012-12-19T06:57:00.001+09:00

IMD (The Institute for Management Development), consistently ranked among the best MBA programs in the world, is a small intensive one-year program that starts in January. IMD, along with Columbia January Term and INSEAD (INSEAD has both September and January start dates) are three of the best options for those who want to start in January 2014 at a top MBA program. To learn about IMD, visit

UCLA Anderson MBA Essays for Fall 2013 Admission

2012-12-02T21:42:00.001+09:00

In what follows, I will analyze the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s MBA Essays for Fall 2013 Admission. If you want to enter the Class of 2015, you will encounter a really easy set of essays to answer. THIS A VERY EASY ESSAY SET, IF YOU ARE AT ALL INTERESTED IN UCLA, APPLY! Assuming you are working on other schools, this one should not take particularly long. Especially if you are applying

INSEAD MBA INTERVIEW PREPARATION

2012-11-15T19:41:00.001+09:00

My analysis of the INSEAD application essays can be found here. My overall strategy for interviewing can be found here. INSEAD alumni interviews, of which most applicants will have two of, are not necessarily that hard in any obvious way. The INSEAD website states that the majority of applicants will have two such interviews. These interviews are about fit as determined by alumni “

Wharton Group Interview Questions Now Made Public

2012-11-03T18:33:00.001+09:00

For my most recent post on Wharton interviews, please see Preparing for Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015. As far as I know the only site to put the questions up is http://admissionado.com/mba/resources/tackling-the-new-wharton-interview/. I have already seen the questions, but as is my longstanding policy, I never release such information publically in the event that it could in any way

To my clients, former clients, and readers effected by Hurricane Sandy

2012-10-31T01:47:00.001+09:00

My best wishes to all of those who were effected by Hurricane Sandy. Having been in NYC for 9/11 and in Tokyo last year for the earthquake, I know times like this can be tough. I hope the best for everyone. Take care. If you are interested in supporting relief efforts, see the list here. I personally gave to Team Rubicon, which focuses on immediate response to those most directly effected.

Haas MBA Class of 2015 Admissions Essays: The Song Remains the Same

2012-10-29T01:42:00.001+09:00

Haas always asks weird questions. Years ago, they asked who the applicant would invite to dinner and why. Last year, it was “What brings you the greatest joy? How does this make you distinctive? “ Each year brings some new weirdness. Hence their song remains the same. I had a dream. Crazy dream. Anything I wanted to know, any place I needed to go Hear my song. People won’t you listen now? Sing

A new .com site, new Key Posts page, and new way to see my blog

2012-10-25T15:25:00.001+09:00

After a year of planning and work, my adammarkus.com site has been completely redesigned. A number of people, both on and off the net, had long pointed out the ugliness of my old .com site and also of the Blogger version of my blog. I have now attempted to provide something a bit more state of the art in both respects. In addition to a great new design produced by Martin Celis, the .com site

More details about Wharton MBA Interviews for 2013 entry

2012-10-09T13:07:00.001+09:00

For my most recent post on Wharton interviews, please see Preparing for Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015. I should consolidate my prior Wharton interview post, what is below, and the actual group interview questions, but will do so after Round 1. This information is being sent to first round applicants and is now up on GMAT Club as well: "As many of you know, the Admissions office has