This week Accepted is pleased to host Laurie Stewart, Carnegie Mellon's Executive Director of MBA Admissions, along with other members of the Tepper community during an online CMU Tepper chat on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 10:00 AM PT/ 1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT. Please join us in Accepted's chat room.

Coming up next Monday: London Business School Chat on Dec. 8, 2008 at 10:00 AM PT/ 1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT.

We also have posted in the last several days three transcripts from recent chats.

• 2009 Consortium MBA Career Chat with Jackie Olden
• 2009 MIT Sloan MBA LGBT with Deirdre Kane
• 2009 MIT Sloan MBA Military with Barry Reckley

A few other items I want to note: Anderson's MBA Insider's Blog has a succinct, informative post "Tips for Early Career (EC) MBA Applicants," by Admissions Director Mae Shores. Although the advice is intended specifically for Anderson, it really applies to most applicants with less than three years of experience to top programs that encourage EC's to apply. Chicago Booth also provides guidance specifically geared to early career applicants.

Finally, I feel remiss if I don't even mention the Mumbai massacre considering its cruel brutality and devastating impact.  Our sympathy goes out to all victims of this barbarism and our best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery to those injured by the terrorists. Clear Admit provides a round-up of the cancelled MBA admissions events in India as a result of the attack.

I am sure that some of our readers are personally affected or know someone who is. And of course there are people around the world who have lost loved ones. Terrorism is an international plague knowing no boundaries, using murder and mayhem as an obscene form of political expression.

I don't know anyone personally hurt in or affected by the attacks. My family and I do have a couple of good friends who knew the Holzbergs, the young rabbinic couple butchered by the terrorists. One friend was travelling in India and spent the Sabbath before the attack at the Chabad Center (formerly known as the Nariman House), in which several people perished. Another friend, who had lived in Mumbai for a year, found herself last Thursday helping her sister on her wedding day  -- and worrying about Rabbi and Mrs. Holzberg, who ran the Chabad Center and with whom she had enjoyed many a meal and chat.

At the end of a moving and terribly sad email, she writes "And to all of you reading this email, I ask that you do something good—something so kind, so good, and so loving, that it can in some way make the world hurt less. Because, little Moishe (the Holzberg's two-year-old son rescued by his nanny)  should not know the hate-filled world that his parents were murdered in."

BusinessWeek released its much awaited biannual, full-time MBA rankings. The rankings showed slight movement: Columbia went from #10 in 06 to #7 in 08. Wharton went from #2 to #4. Kelley climbed from #18 to #15.

Frankly, don't pay too much attention to the absolute ranking or even slight movement. Take advantage of BW's rich, informative database and fantastic resources for applicants. Then choose what's important to you and do your own ranking.

Top 30 U.S. Programs
1 University of Chicago
2 Harvard University
3 Northwestern University (Kellogg)
4 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
5 University of Michigan (Ross)
6 Stanford University
7 Columbia University
8 Duke University (Fuqua)
9 MIT (Sloan)
10 UC Berkeley (Haas)
11 Cornell University (Johnson)
12 Dartmouth (Tuck)
13 NYU (Stern)
14 UCLA (Anderson)
15 Indiana University (Kelley)
16 University of Virginia (Darden)
17 UNC - Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
18 Southern Methodist (Cox)
19 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
20 University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)
21 Texas - Austin
22 Brigham Young (Marriott)
23 Emory University (Goizueta)
24 Yale University
25 University of Southern California (Marshall)
26 University of Maryland (Smith)
27 University of Washington (Foster)
28 Washington University (Olin)
29 Georgia Tech
30 Vanderbilt University (Owen)

Top 10 Non-U.S. MBA Programs
1 Queens University
2 IE Business School
3 INSEAD
4 Western Ontario (Ivey)
5 London Business School
6 ESADE
7 IMD
8 Toronto (Rotman)
9 IESE
10 Oxford (Saîd)

BW bases its rankings on employer and student surveys as well as school research output or "intellectual capital."  This year for the first time, in a nod to the economic crisis, it is also including a ranking based on ROI and years to recoup the MBA investment. Not surprisingly, European schools, which tend to be one-year programs, are at the top of the chart. More surprising: HBS ranks 50 out of 50 in this chart. I guess assumptions matter.

London Business School announced today the inauguration of  a new degree program to complement its MBA, Sloan Fellows, and EMBA programs. The new Masters in Management promises the same excellence as the other curricula and is taught by the same faculty on a dedicated campus adjacent to the London Business School campus.  According to the press release this program, however, is aimed at "top recent graduates who have less than one year's previous work experience and an undergraduate degree in a discipline other than business or management studies."

The website emphasizes that this eleven-month program is for those with no or little full-time work experience who can show leadership through community service or non-professional activities.

The first intake is set to begin in August 2009 and London Business School has already posted application requirements and deadlines for the four-stage application cycle. Deadlines are:

Stage 1: 05 January 2009
Stage 2: 28 February 2009
Stage 3: 31 March 2009
Stage 4: 30 April 2009 

My take: This is LBS' answer to Harvard's very successful 2+2 program and an attempt to service early career applicants and recent graduates whom London has not served or earned revenue from in the past. With this addition to its menu of business degree programs, LBS is serving all experience and age levels interested in a graduate business degree --  from those in their early twenties to those into their forties and probably occasionally fifties. This program clearly leverages the career management infrastructure, global reputation, and faculty that already exists in the institution.

Like HBS, London is promising a "transformational experience" that lays the "foundations for a successful career in business and beyond" along with a generous of dose career coaching and guidance. Unlike HBS, it does not insist on work experience prior to beginning this program, and it is not wed to the case method. Furthermore, participants in this program will have access to, but be separate from the regular MBA program; 2+2ers will be fully integrated at HBS. And finally, graduates of this program will earn a Masters in Management, a less well-known and recognized degree than the MBA. Coming from London Business School with its international reputation and connections, I doubt it will matter.

This week's chats:

• London Business School. Today Monday, September 29, 2008 at 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET/4:00 PM GMT/ 5:00 PM BT when admissions representatives, career services staff, and current students will be available to answer your questions.
• Columbia Business School with Linda Meehan,  Assistant Dean for MBA Admissions & Financial Aid,  will participate in a Columbia admissions chat at Accepted.com. Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT
  

Mark your calendars for next week's chats:

• Anderson with new Director of Admissions, Mae Shores. October 6, 2008 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM GMT  
• MIT Magic  with Jennifer Burke Barba, Asst. Dir. Of Admissions,  October 7, 2008 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM GMT

We are excited to host Yale School of Management and its representatives this Thursday September 25 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT. Our guests will be:

• Bruce Delmonico, Director of Admissions
• Shelley Clifford, Deputy Director of Admissions
• Keith Morriss,  Yale SOM Class of 2009

Please join us to learn more about Yale’s innovative curriculum, tight-knit community, and international study opportunities. Located close to the epicenter of today’s financial turmoil, Yale has a front seat. You can also use this opportunity to ask questions about the impact of the crisis on past, current, and future MBA students.

The chat will take place in Accepted’s chat room.

I am also please to announce that we have posted a couple of transcripts from recent chats: 

• INSEAD Chat Transcript   with Cassandra Pittman, Patrick Parker
  
• Wharton Chat Transcript with Jackie Zavitz,   Tiffany Gooden, and Alex Fleming

Highlights from the INSEAD chat:

Gayatri (Sep 11, 2008 12:16:10 PM)

Cassandra: How big of a factor is age; I will be 34 at Jan 2010. Will INSEAD very strict for older applicants? 

CassandraPittmanINSEAD (Sep 11, 2008 12:19:48 PM) 

Gayatri - we don't consider age in the Admissions process. Instead, we look at the quality and quantity of your work experience. So, age is not a factor at all. 

Linda Abraham  (Sep 11, 2008 12:22:35 PM) 

Cassandra, INSEAD used to have a maximum age of 35, has it done away with that limitation?

CassandraPittmanINSEAD  (Sep 11, 2008 12:24:43 PM) 

Linda: To be honest, I wasn't aware that INSEAD ever had an age limit. I've been with INSEAD for 3 years and we haven't had it in that time. However, we do encourage candidates who have 10+ years of work experience to consider whether they might get more value from our Executive MBA, in which they would learn with a peer group with similar levels of experience. 

Highlights from the Wharton Chat:

Jackie: Can you update us on the search for your director of admissions? How does a change at the top affect this year's applicants compared to last years? Any change in the type of students you are looking for?

JackieZavitzWHARTON  (Sep 15, 2008 12:03:13 PM) 

Wharton2011: We are in the process of interviewing candidates right now. There is no impact on candidates, really-- our office still serves our faculty, and the School strives to admit the best, most qualified and diverse group of students possible. We have a wonderful admissions committee, student volunteer base and alumni network to rely on, as well! 

i4 (Sep 15, 2008 12:11:30 PM) 

Tiffany: What do you really look for in reapplicants?  

TiffanyGoodenWHARTON  (Sep 15, 2008 12:14:37 PM) 

I4 - We would hope that you have done some reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of your previous application. While your core values may not have changed, the application should be stronger than the one you previously submitted in the other areas that we evaluate (i.e. presentation, cohesion, etc.). Having previous experience with the application process should be a help for you in managing the process this year.

Mark your calendars. Don’t miss our upcoming chats:

• Sept. 25 – Yale
  
• Sept. 29 – London Business School
  
• Oct. 2 – Columbia
  
• Oct. 6 – UCLA Anderson
  
• Oct. 7 – MIT Sloan