Catch up on some business school news and tips with a few of this week’s top stories:

MBA Salary Expectations: Sober Reckoning or Wishful Thinking? (Bloomberg Businessweek)

New research suggests that business school applicants have ratcheted back their post-MBA salary expectations, but in the U.S. and elsewhere they may still be wildly optimistic.

Warren Buffett Shared Some Great Career Advice For Millennials (Business Insider)

Here are some highlights of Warren Buffett’s interview with Levo League, a networking and career advice site.

The Graduation Advice We Wish We’d Been Given (Harvard Business Review)

Harvard Business Review reached out to some of their favorite writers, asking them: What do graduates really need to know about the world of work?

10 Business Schools With the Most Full-Time Applicants (U.S. News Education)

Of the top schools, all except Stanford University and UCLA saw a drop in full-time applicants.

Triangle B-School Leaders Lend Wisdom to Graduates (Triangle Business Journal)

Here are some tips from Triangle business school leaders. While they are directed at the graduating class, they could certainly apply to anyone out there looking for a job.

Did we miss your favorite article from the week? Let us know what you have been reading in the comments below or tweet @ManhattanGMAT

We’ve invited mbaMission to share their Business School Essays Analyses as they’re released for the 2013-2014 application season. Here is their analysis for Stanford Graduate School of Business.

The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) is apparently content with its essay questions, because it has made no changes to them or to the allowed word count this season. Having made slight tweaks to its prompts in recent years, the GSB’s MBA admissions committee seems to have found an approach that elicits the information it wants.

With respect to word count, Stanford is unique in that it asks you to limit yourself to 1,600 words total but allows you to determine how you would like to distribute them among the various questions. Stanford does offer some guidance”recommending 750 words for Essay 1, 450 words for Essay 2 and 400 words for Essay 3”but you can take the school at its word (small pun intended!) and use a different distribution if you feel that you can better reveal yourself through, for example, a 650-word Essay 1 and 500-word Essay 3.

Stanford’s admissions committee offers some great advice on how to write its application essays here://www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/admission/dir_essays-p.html. We feel that the committee’s most important guidance is the following:

Because we want to discover who you are, resist the urge to package yourself in order to come across in a way you think Stanford wants. Such attempts simply blur our understanding of who you are and what you can accomplish. We want to hear your genuine voice throughout the essays that you write and this is the time to think carefully about your values, your passions, your hopes and dreams.

In truth, this is good advice not just for Stanford’s essays, but for all business schools’ essays. Rather than trying to portray yourself as something in particular (which you may or may not in fact be), focus on showcasing who you actually are and give the admissions committee the information and picture of you it needs to make its decision. Stanford is not interested in classifying its applicants as certain types but in discovering individuals and what they have to offer.  And now, on to the essays

Essay 1: What matters most to you, and why?

When candidates ask us, What should I write for what matters most to me?, we offer a pretty simple tip”start brainstorming for this essay by asking yourself that very question: What matters most to me? This might seem like obvious advice, of course, but many applicants get flustered by the question, often believing that an actual right answer exists that they must identify, and never pause to actually consider their sincere responses, which are typically the most compelling.

So, we advise that you brainstorm in depth and push yourself to explore the psychological and philosophical motivations behind your goals and achievements”behind who you are today. We cannot emphasize this enough: do not make a snap decision about the content of this essay. Once you have identified what you believe is an appropriate theme, discuss your idea(s) with those with whom you are closest and whose input you respect. Doing so can help validate deeply personal and authentic themes, leading to an essay that truly stands out.

Once you have fully examined your options and identified your main themes, do not simply provide a handful of supporting anecdotes”or worse, recycle the stories you used in a similar essay for another school. A strong essay response to this question will involve a true exploration of the themes you have chosen and reveal a thorough analysis of decisions, motives and successes/failures, with a constant emphasis on how you conduct yourself. If you are merely telling stories and trying to tie in your preconceived conclusions, you are most likely forcing a theme on your reader rather than analyzing your experiences, and this will be transparent to any experienced admissions reader. In short, be sure to fully consider and develop your most sincere answer(s), outline your essay accordingly and then infuse your writing with your personality, thoughts, feelings and experiences.
Read more

Here are the free GMAT events we’re holding this week. All times are local unless otherwise specified.

5/29/13– Chicago, IL– Free Trial Class – 9:00PM- 12:00AM (EDT)

5/30/13– Online  – Free Trial Class – 9:00PM- 12:00AM (EDT)

5/30/13– Washington, D.C. – Free Trial Class-  6:30PM-9:30PM

6/2/13– Online – Free Trial Class – 7:30PM- 10:30PM (EDT)

6/2/13– Online –Online GMAT Preview– 1:00PM-2:30PM (EDT)

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listings Page.

We invite you to test your GMAT knowledge for a chance to win! Each week, we will post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for a free Manhattan GMAT Prep item. Tell your friends to get out their scrap paper and start solving!
Here is this week’s problem:

The octagon in the diagram above is regular: all of its sides are of equal length, and all of its angles are of equal measure. If the octagon’s perimeter is 8 inches, and every other vertex of the octagon is connected to create a square as shown above, what is the area of the square?

Read more

Here are the free GMAT events we’re holding this week. All times are local unless otherwise specified.

5/20/13– Glendale, CA  – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/21/13– Online – Free Trial Class – 8:00PM- 11:00PM (EDT)

5/21/13– Online – Assessing Your MBA Profile presented by mbaMission– 9:00PM-10:30PM (EDT)

5/21/13– San Francisco, CA – Free Trial Class-  6:30PM-9:30PM

5/22/13– Santa Monica- Free Trial Class–  6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/22/13– New York, NY –MBA Missions Myths Destroyed presented by mbaMission– 7:30PM- 9:00PM

5/22/13– London- Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listings Page.

We invite you to test your GMAT knowledge for a chance to win! Each week, we will post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for a free Manhattan GMAT Prep item. Tell your friends to get out their scrap paper and start solving!
Here is this week’s problem:

If 5a + 7b = k, where a and b are positive integers, what is the largest possible value of k for which exactly one pair of integers (a, b) makes the equation true?

Read more

Here are the free GMAT events we’re holding this week. All times are local unless otherwise specified.

5/13/13– Dallas, TX  – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/13/13– Online  – Free Trial Class – 9:00PM- 12:00AM (EDT)

5/13/13– Chicago, IL- Thursdays with Ron- 6:30PM-9:30PM

5/14/13– Santa Clara, CA – Free Trial Class-  6:30PM-9:30PM

5/14/13– New York, NY- Choosing the Right B-School presented by mbaMisson–  7:00PM- 8:30PM (EDT)

5/15/13– Atlanta, GA – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/15/13– Seattle, WA- Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM (EDT)

5/16/13– Austin, TX – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/16/13– Online- Thursdays with Ron– 7:00PM- 9:30PM (EDT)

5/16/13– Tempe, AZ – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/18/13– Washington, D.C. – Free Trial Class   6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/19/13– Online – Free Trial Class –  7:00AM- 10:00AM (EDT)

5/19/13– Online – Free Trial Class – 2:00PM- 5:00PM (EDT)

5/19/13– Chicago, IL – Free Trial Class – 5:30PM- 8:30PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listings Page.

Catch up on some business school news and tips with a few of this week’s top stories:

Business School Rankings (About.com Business School)

Here’s the low down on how business schools are ranked, the types of rankings, and how to find and use the most reliable systems.

An MBA Mom’s Survival Guide (Poets & Quants)

Find out what’s like for a mom with two kids and a management consultant husband to decide to go to business school.

Prospective Students May Want to Attend A Business School Graduation (Graduate Guide)

For prospective business school students, attending a commencement could help you learn a lot about various MBA programs and give you the chance to listen to some notable speakers.

MBA Applications Surge at Top Schools (Bloomberg Businessweek)

The three-year decline in applications to the top business schools appears to be over, reports Bloomberg.

Did we miss your favorite article from the week? Let us know what you have been reading in the comments below or tweet @ManhattanGMAT

We invite you to test your GMAT knowledge for a chance to win! Each week, we will post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for a free Manhattan GMAT Prep item. Tell your friends to get out their scrap paper and start solving!
Here is this week’s problem:

The length and width of a rectangle are integer values. What is the area of the smallest such rectangle that can be inscribed in a circle whose radius is also an integer?

Read more

Here are the free GMAT events we’re holding this week. All times are local unless otherwise specified.

5/6/13– Irvine, CA – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/6/13– New York, NY  – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/6/13– Online- Thursdays with Ron– 9:00PM-10:30PM (EDT)

5/7/13– Durham, NC  – Free Trial Class-  6:30PM-9:30PM

5/7/13– Houston, TX – Free Trial Class-  7:00PM- 10:00PM (EDT)

5/7/13– Washington, DC – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/8/13– Online   Free Trial Class – 8:00PM- 11:00PM (EDT)

5/8/13– Toronto, ON – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/9/13– San Francisco, CA – Free Trial Class – 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/9/13– Austin, TX- GMAT Preview– 6:30PM- 8:30PM

5/9/13– West Hollywood, CA- Free Trial Class– 6:30PM- 9:30PM

5/9/13– Online- MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed presented by mbaMission– 12:00PM- 1:30PM (EDT)

5/11/13– Boston, MA- Free Trial Class– 10:00AM- 1:00PM

5/11/13– Online- Free Trial Class– 1:00AM- 4:00PM

5/12/13– Ann Arbor, MI- Free Trial Class– 5:00PM- 8:00PM

Looking for more free events? Check out our Free Events Listings Page.