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Yale President Richard C. Levin announced the appointment of Joel M. Podolny, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management and Director of Research at the Harvard Business School, and Professor of Sociology in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences as the next dean of Yale's School of Management.
For BW's take on the appointment, please see "A Fresh Face for Yale."
The Harvard Business Review published today a blistering critique of the education provided by most top business schools. Arguing that the elite MBA programs, with few exceptions, reward a narrow, frequently irrelevant, and academic research focus as opposed to a balance between practical experience, cutting-edge, professional research, and an integrated approach to business, authors Warren Bennis and James O'Toole of USC's Marshall School blast the typical business school faculty and curriculum.
I am certainly not going to argue against balance, the value of real business experience, and a professional focus to business school; I was surprised by a few aspects of this article:
Obviously, the schools can and should improve their programs. If professors are sheltered from the real world of business, they need to exit the MBA Ivory Tower. Business schools should provide a professional focus. And like all professional university programs, there is tension between the demands of research, practical experience, and teaching; B-school deans need to ensure that professorial egos don't destroy the balance,as Bennis and O'Toole argue is happening.
But the situation is not as bad and certainly not as new as they maintain.
I am pleased to announce that my latest ebook, The Nine Mistakes You Don't Want to Make on a Medical School Waitlist, is now available. The book discusses both these incredibly common mistakes and the right moves you should make if waitlisted. I also teach you what to do and not do if you are waitlisted at schools that encourage and discourage contact. Plus I discuss appropriate timing of contact and the different forms that contact can take. The book is concise (only 36 pages), to-the-point, and practical.
The Wall St Journal has a fascinating article on how the intensity of the college application process, specifically the pressure to apply to more and more schools, has boomeranged to help applicants. Since the actually number of applicants has not increased -- only the number of applications has increased -- school are forced to admit and waitlist more applicants to ensure they admit the right number. For example, Princeton accepted 1807 students this year, up from 1631 a year ago. Penn accepted 3912 this year up from 3878 last year. The University of Chicago offered admission to 3500 applicants this year, up from 3300 a year ago. Similar results are reported by John Hopkins, Duke, and Cornell.
I am posting notes from research I did in writing The Nine Mistakes You Don't Want to Make on a Medical School Waitlist. This ebook should be out any day. In the meantime...
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons:
All updates are considered beneficial. Additional letters of recommendation, new material on research, clinical experience, achievements, etc. are taken into consideration. Interviews/ meetings are not granted if a prospect merely shows up for a visit; they require an
invitation.
Lots of good news for MBA grads: The Wall St. Journal reports that hiring and salaries are up for MBA grads this year. Most significantly, those companies who recruited or hired conservatively in the fall are enthusiastically returning to campus looking for grads in the spring:
More good news comes directly from Haas Business School NewsWire:
"As of April 15, with graduation still six weeks away, 73% of graduating full-time Berkeley MBA students reported receiving or accepting a full-time offer, with an average starting base salary above $90,000, an increase from last year's average of $88,234."
Congrats to the new grads! And thanks to the new MBAs, the economy, and recruiters for providing more reasons for earning an MBA.
Ronald J. Daniels, currently Dean of the Faculty of Law and the James M. Tory Professor of Law at the University of Toronto, will become Penn Law’s 28th Provost according to announcement made by Penn president Amy Gutman. Daniels is an expert on corporate governance who has a long list of achievements as dean at Toronto.
"All contact submitted by a wait-listed applicant goes across the Director’s desk before being placed in the applicant’s file. And all supplemental information (letters, updates, research, etc.) is welcomed by the adcom."
Just use your good judgment and make sure that what you submits adds to the adcom's knowledge of you.
University of California at San Francisco Waitlist:
"The applicant’s file should be kept as “fresh” as possible. Therefore, news of any significant developments should be sent to the adcom. Updates should only be sent if they include substantial new information. Letters of recommendation are NOT encouraged. (Actually, the adcom specifically DOESN’T want additional letters.)"
The above notes were taken during research for The Nine Mistakes You Don't Want to Make on a Medical School Waitlist .
UCLA Anderson announced today that three Anderson students won the Rice Business Plan Competition, the largest inter-collegiate business plan competition in the world. The students won roughly $135,000 and invaluable input from over 130 judges, venture capitalists, patents attorneys and business people.
