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

Where Six-Figure MBA Pay is a Done Deal (Poets & Quants)

According to John Byrne at Poets & Quants, there are 39 business schools in the U.S. alone whose graduates make six-figure salaries and bonuses right out of the gate.

Striking Out: Five Ways MBA Applicants Go Wrong (Bloomber Businessweek Business Schools)

What happens if you don’t receive an acceptance letter from anywhere? Here are five common pitfalls that applicants experience in the application process.
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Note We at Manhattan GMAT are very excited to welcome mbaMission Founder/President Jeremy Shinewald to our blog to offer his analysis on some recent MBA application news. Here’s what he has to say.

Last week, Bloomberg Businessweek published two articles on declining MBA application volumes, going so far as to call the current application environment a drought. In its first article (Columbia, NYU MBA Applications Plummet), Bloomberg Businessweek noted that Columbia Business School (CBS) and New York University’s Stern School of Business (NYU Stern) saw declines in the number of applications last year of 19% and 12%, respectively, from the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of applicants to Harvard Business School (HBS) declined by 2% and to Wharton by less than 1%. In a separate article (At Top Business Schools, an MBA Application Drought), Bloomberg Businessweek revealed that the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and the Yale School of Management (SOM) saw drops of 3.5% and 9.5%, respectively. So, is this truly a drought or is this just a blip”and what does it all mean for you?

Let’s start by taking a look at some incomplete numbers (some schools do not release data on application volumes) for a few schools mentioned in the articles:

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A colleague here at Manhattan GMAT forwarded me this infographic about the value (or lack thereof) of an MBA. Though the author doesn’t explicitly say so, the statistics she chose to display indicate that she believes an MBA is by and large overvalued.

The great irony here, of course, is that the training you get as an MBA is exactly the training that sharpens your ability to think critically about arguments like this one. In fact, that’s what the GMAT actually tests with its Critical Reasoning section. Just to demonstrate, I’d like to break down this infographic from top to bottom, using the same strategy I teach my students: pointing out the (flawed) assumptions necessary to conclude that an MBA is overvalued.

Premise: The cost of an MBA program including expenses is $120,000.

Assumption #1: Students actually pay all of that $120,000.

Attack: I’d estimate that around half of my MBA classmates had some scholarship or corporate support that significantly defrayed their cost. This, by the way, is probably the most underrated reason to ace your GMAT “ a high GMAT score can open the door to many merit-based scholarships.

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by Jonathan McEuen, guest blogger

Jonathan McEueun is a Manhattan GMAT grad who is off to Wharton this fall. We asked him to share his application process with us. What follows is Part 5 of 5 posts in a series about his experiences. You can read Part 4 here.

Decisions, decisions

I’ve written so far about my experience preparing for and taking the GMAT, writing and editing (and occasionally re-writing) essays and gaining confidence for the interview process, all of which led into the result “ in broad strokes, a yes or a no.   In this last post, I’m going to describe my experience after getting the yes I was hoping for and the process of confirming my enrollment in a full-time MBA program. Read more

by Jenn Yee, guest blogger

We hate and love to admit it, but business school is like a weird marriage-making commune.

Relationships bloom here (some in secret, at first). When we were at Kellogg, three couples that met at business school were already engaged by graduation. In the next six months, four more couples followed. It was like love dominoes.

So what’s with this phenomenon?

As one of my [married] friends exclaimed over Indian dinner during our first quarter of classes to our fellow sectionmates, “Business school is your last best chance to find a man.” Around the table, my single friends looked both panicked and enlightened.

Why is business school such good hunting grounds for a husband or wife? MBA Social has some theories: Read more

Our friends at mbaMission have interviewed the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions Kurt Ahlm. Read the highlights below and find the full post here.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

• Chicago Booth does not employ any quotas in its application review process but looks to enroll a diverse, smart group of students who fit well with the school’s values and culture.
• Ahlm discusses how an application is reviewed at Chicago Booth.
• Chicago Booth interviews 40%“50% of applicants, though depending on the strength of the applicant pool, the percentage can vary from year to year.

You can find the full interview transcript here.

Imagine it’s five, ten, twenty years ago…

Congratulations, you just got into college! You are super excited, and your parents are so proud.  The time they spent reading to you, checking your homework, and quizzing you on vocabulary was well worth it, and they are excited to send you off to face your next adventure.  But first, they will leave you with a few parting words of wisdom: Join a club. Don’t drink anything green. Be sure to manage your time well. They’ll send you care packages, and be there for you when you need advice so that, while you may be on your own, you still have someone to turn to.

Now speed ahead five, ten, twenty years…

Congratulations, you just got into business school! You are super excited, and your Manhattan GMAT instructors are so proud. The time they spent drilling you, checking your quant problems, and quizzing you on sentence correction has been well worth it, and they are excited to send you off to face your next adventure.

But, of course, they have their worries. Will you know that you are supposed to pronounce all the letters in ROI? Will you remember your excel shortcuts? Will you be able to work well with your learning teams? What if you have questions about supply chains or microeconomics or how to balance wine and cheese in one hand? Who will you turn to?

Well, GMATers, we have you covered.  Carrie Shuchart and Chris Ryan, two former Manhattan GMAT instructors and successful MBAs, have written you the perfect care package. Case Studies and Cocktails: The Now What? Guide to Business School is both a handbook for the social side of school and an academic primer on the material you’ll have to master.

From the day you receive your first acceptance letter in the mail, Case Studies and Cocktails will prove to be an invaluable guide to the ins and outs of business school.  Whether you are stressed about paying tuition, valuing bonds, repairing a dysfunctional team, or mastering the recruiting process, the solutions are in this comprehensive guide. Filled with the advice of students and staff from over a dozen top business schools, numerous dowloadable calendars and worksheets, and a glossary of need-to-know b-school jargon, Case Studies & Cocktails will provide you with all the tools you need for living and working as a business school student.

For more information, check out the Case Studies & Cocktails website.  Want a sneak peek? Read an excerpt on Poets & Quants or on Fortune.

This article was originally written for and posted on www.casestudiesandcocktails.com by Chris Ryan

Recently, U.S. News & World Report released its 2012 Business School rankings. The energy and commentary surrounding this perennial event is noteworthy. Stanford GSB muscled HBS out of the top spot, while my alma mater Duke Fuqua rose to No. 12.

While many MBA applicants revere the U.S. News & World Report rankings, others stand apart. The Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell lambasted the criteria used in the rankings, calling the criteria flimsy proxies for educational quality.

No matter whose ranking you prefer, we encourage you to embrace a comprehensive approach to selecting a business school. No doubt your school’s ranking and prestige will affect the potential for cultivating that golden MBA rolodex. However, your ability to execute on said potential will be determined chiefly by your state of mind, which demands a cultural and academic fit.  So once you’ve narrowed down your choices based upon rank, be sure to consider these other factors:

• Location and Social Life: Do you prefer lively urban campuses or smaller college towns, where almost everyone is an outsider and folks band together?
• Cost: Most business schools cost a pretty penny, but keep in mind that tuition and fees are not the only expenses you will be facing.  Be sure to take into account the cost of living in a particular location before making a decision.
• Teaching Methodologies: Harvard Business School uses the case method entirely, but that may not work for everyone.  Sit-in on courses and determine what teaching methods work best for you.
• Alumni Base: When it comes time to apply for that coveted internship or dream job, you’ll need to utilize all your connections. A large alumni base may offer more opportunities, but smaller groups of former grads are often more loyal and more likely to help an MBA from their Alma Mater.

For more advice on choosing a school and preparing for your MBA, check out our article on Poets & Quants. Need something a little more in depth? Part One of Case Studies & Cocktails is all about making the most of your time before B-school.

The folk at mbaMission always recommend getting started with your MBA applications as early as possible. By taking action now, you can dramatically improve your chances of gaining admission to a top MBA program in the coming years. It is never too soon (and certainly not too late) to take several crucial steps to shape your MBA candidacy. So we’re presenting a five-part series to provide a step-by-step timeline to help guide you down the long road of applying to business school. These guidelines assume that you are setting out a year ahead of the January deadlines. Even if you are starting later, you should be able to leverage this timeline to help you prioritize each step along the way. This week, they lay out what you should be doing February through April. For more information on mbaMission and how they can help you in this process, click here.

View Part 1 here.

February

Meet with Alumni and Students
As you contemplate your choices and begin visiting campuses, consider augmenting your process of a priori discovery by meeting with your target school’s alumni or students, so that you can Read more

We recently read an article that listed seven reasons why the author thinks you don’t need to go to business school.

Going to business school is clearly a major commitment of an individual’s time, energy, and resources. It’s a complex decision, and there’s no right answer that applies to every person. To balance the aforementioned article, we asked Chris Ryan, our Director of Product and Instructor Development, who has his MBA from Fuqua, to give us seven good reasons that business school is still worthwhile. He gave us eight for good measure:

1. The Connections You Build in Business School Will Help You Throughout Your Career

Connections and networking are a huge part of the appeal of business school for many potential applicants. Many ventures, from Revolution Foods Inc., bringing healthy lunches to schools, to Brooklyn Boulders, New York’s largest rock-climbing gym, to BuddyTV, an up-and-coming entertainment website, have been started by people who met in business school.

In fact, our very own Eric Caballero, graduate of Sloan, has found his MBA network indispensable during his career:

I tap my network constantly, hunting for angel investors, marquee clients, channel partners and executive recruits. So long as you understand Networking 101 “ never ask a favor without offering a greater, specific one in return “ you should find your network ready to help. Ironically, the benefits do not end with your professional life. I once contacted an MIT alum, who is the Chief Marketing Officer of a major U.S. airline, to discuss a frustrating customer service issue with my honeymoon flights. He helped me cut through a forest of red tape in half an hour.

2. The Skills You Learn at Business School Cannot be Taught in Books

For some, like Chris, the most instrumental skills learned at business school include how to be a good leader and a good team player. Chris could lead a class of high-school students, but business school taught him how to relate to and lead his own peers in a way he would not have developed otherwise. Sure, you could learn economic theory and business management from books, but when you get your MBA, you’re learning them within the context of an environment that helps shape who you are and helps you become who you want to be.

3. Going to B-school Helps You Figure Out What You’re Good At

From the very first time you look at your application essay questions, business school forces you to make decisions about who you want to become and what you want to do. Even the process of applying helps you clarify your goals, because you have to discuss them in a convincing way.

In addition, business school helps round you out as a person. For example, many schools will film you while you present. They then make you review and improve your presentation skills by going over the video with a coach. “From what I hear, that doesn’t happen in law school,” says Chris.

4. Business School Can Be Useful for People at Any Age

Chris began his career teaching high school students, but chose to change fields in his 20s.  “At 28, less than a year after I was teaching physics, I was a management consulting intern at McKinsey,” says Chris.  “This would not have been possible without business school.”

But even if you aren’t switching careers, business school can still help you focus your career path, restructure and move ahead at a faster pace. A businessman who had worked in large companies, Dave Bosher, who graduated from the University of Richmond MBA program, noted: “The MBA program is a great way to round out your knowledge base and to take your career to the next step.”

5. Business School Broadens Your Personal Perspective and Outlook

At its best, business school forces you to learn to work with a diverse range of people in the business world. Because you are forced to make choices about your own career before you even attend, you meet people who have a variety of different goals, from traditional routes like consulting to unconventional ones like founding a new private business.

In fact, the best business schools help train you to work in diverse teams. Chris worked in a team with a student from Venezuela, and the experience helped him when he was working on a Mexican-Brazilian film post-MBA.  As a former teacher, Chris found that the opportunity to learn from “real” businessmen taught him a lot as well, and certainly the former bankers learned plenty from a physics teacher!

6. Your Business School Becomes Your Brand

The name of the school you attended will carry weight for the rest of your career. You will be able to find favors with other alums, and the name next to “MBA” will make your resume will stand out during job searches.

7. You Put Your Finger on the Pulse of the Future of the Business World:

You and your classmates will be the next class of business leaders. By virtue of being constantly surrounded by intelligent and driven individuals, you can see what the future of business will look like from a unique perspective.

It’s not just your classmates from whom you’ll learn, either. Business schools make a point of bringing in today’s business leaders. Just ask the women who started Gilt Groupe: they met at Harvard Business School and founded their online store with the help of designer Zac Posen, whom they had advised while still in business school. Or try sitting in a room with the founders of Threadless. They might not have gone to business school, but the students at MIT certainly gained a lot of insight from their background! Overall, the CEOs, founders and business bigshots you meet at b-school give you an opportunity to see the business world in a whole new light.

8. B-school can be a lot of fun:

Whether it’s making videos to show to your classmates, or wrestling with the complexities of a business case with your team, there is both real fun and geeky fun in going to school, even while you learn and shape yourself into something better.

Need more convincing? Check out Why MBA? to read why other students chose business school.