As political tension rattles the U.S. visa system and high-profile schools like Harvard face international admissions delays, panic is setting in among global MBA applicants. But with 15 years in the field, I see this moment differently: not as a crisis, but as a strategic window. The fear is thinning out competitive applicant pools, creating rare opportunities for those willing to act decisively.
Columbia Business School has revised its 2025 MBA Essay 2 prompt, removing direct references to DEI and inclusive leadership frameworks. While the language is now broader, focusing on collaboration, inclusion, and community, the underlying goal remains the same: Columbia wants applicants who can lead with empathy and build effective teams across differences. Here’s why the change likely happened and how to approach the new essay with strategy and authenticity.
Some people have a lifelong dream working in the entertainment industry. It is common knowledge that finding employment in this heavily fortified sector of the economy is not only difficult, but perhaps possibly the hardest industry in the whole world to break into. How do you get inside? By creating connections at the right business school, which include USC, UCLA, NYU and Harvard.
Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) dual-degree programs come in a variety of forms depending on your interests. These dual-degree programs often enable you to complete both degrees more quickly than if you pursued them separately and train you for positions of leadership in your respective fields. In this blog post, we'll go through what to expect and what your possibilities are.
Not every MBA graduate plans to use their degrees to switch to Goldman Sachs & Co., and that's fine. In this blog post, we’re going to talk about entertainment and media as a "non-traditional" career path after business school. What do admissions committees look for? Let your passion serve as the foundation of your application if you want to pursue a career in entertainment and media.
As a proportion of all MBA grads, 13% of Marshall's graduating class works in the entertainment/media sector, which is more than twice as many as UCLA Anderson's (6.5%) or NYU Stern's (4.3%) alumni. In addition to Marshall's closeness to major players in the entertainment and media industries and the consulting and finance firms that support them, the USC MBA program offers students three main benefits. In this blog, we talk about them.
For some people, working in the entertainment industry is their lifelong dream. People come from all over the world to work in Hollywood, New York, Canada, London, and even Bollywood because of the glitz, glamour, and gluttony. It is a well-known fact that getting a job in this highly walled fortress of employment is not only challenging, but also arguably the hardest industry in the world to get into. How do you gain access?
Your story and the traits that distinguish you are more important in the eyes of the admissions committee, than simply listing your achievements. Finance is something you do, not something you are. And for those of you who are from an over-represented profile, finding your points of differentiation is even more important. Here are five pieces of advice that can help you stand out.
Combining a technical or engineering background with a top MBA is a great choice that could launch you into a wide range of careers in different fields. More than 16% of new MBA students at Stanford GSB and 11% at HBS come from the tech and engineering fields. If you're an engineer or work in tech, you'll need a plan that's specific to your field for your MBA application. So, how do you set yourself apart? Here are seven tips to help your MBA application stand out:
According to Dr. Don Martin, Dean of Admissions at the University of Chicago Booth, it became clear that some negative attributes were a sure way for MBA candidates to fail immediately. These are referred to as the "seven deadly sins," and they are described in this blog post. Falsifying facts, displaying rude or arrogant behavior, making excessive contact, not adhering to instructions, sending incorrect or incomplete information, asking questions you can answer yourself, or making excuses or leaving something unaddressed all fall under the seven deadly sins.
You may be a child prodigy who has advanced to senior levels in your twenties, but this may not be enough to get into one of the best business schools. So why not? Because you are not the only one who goes above and beyond in this highly competitive sector known as consulting. Management consulting is one of the most common MBA candidate profiles. While academic and professional brilliance are required, these data points will not distinguish you. So, what does distinguish you? You must position yourself to stand out in such a crowded application pool. And we'll go through how in this blog post.
Business schools are professional schools that teach students how to do well in the business world. Because of this, they look for students who have the leadership skills that will help them do well in business. In addition to your test scores and grades, a top MBA program will look at whether you have made important contributions to the places you have worked. This blog post will discuss the five essential qualities an MBA candidate who wants to be competetive should think about.
You will need compelling recommendation letters to get admission to the top most competitive business schools. If you are enrolling for an MBA, you should get reference letters from your most supportive mentors. These letters aid the application process by making you seem more human. We'll outline ten tips in this blog to assist you in getting a stellar MBA recommendation letter.
Medicine is usually seen as a humanitarian profession with noble aspirations, yet it is also a profitable industry. "Whether we like to accept it or not, medicine is a business," says Mel Rosenfeld. Future doctors who are interested in the financial aspects of the health-care system may choose to combine an MBA with an allopathic M.D. or osteopathic D.O. medical degree.
Asking people who have been through something to describe it is the best way to imagine what it will be like for you. Therefore, it is important to ask current faculty, staff and students to have an accurate idea of what your MBA experience could look like. When you go to a business school campus, you should be ready to pose challenging questions. Here are seven examples of questions you can ask:
There are 155,996 MBA students who are not all enrolled in full-time, residential programs. In fact, enrollment in online MBA programs in the United States currently exceeds enrollment at full-time MBA schools. This is a significant change from a few years ago. In the United States, 45,038 MBA candidates are enrolled in online programs, while 43,740 students are enrolled in campus-based full-time programs.
The students with the highest financial need—roughly 10% of the student body—will get full-tuition scholarships as a result of increased financial assistance money that HBS is unveiling. The school will also extend more need-based scholarships to students from middle-class families. In this blog post, we will talk about how this came about and what this means if you’re applying to HBS.
MBA Scholarships are hard to come by, however, they do become available every application year. The majority of scholarships are awarded based on your initial MBA application. You won't need to submit any more materials in these cases to be taken into consideration. In this blog post, we will help you identify various scholarship options.
