The Economist’s “Which MBA?” Online Fair: February 6 and 7, 2012 (FREE Admission)

There’s going to be a big online fair hosted by The Economist in early February–and it’s free to check it out!

Mark your calendars. You’ll get a chance to meet MBA admissions officers from programs around the world. Listen in on webinars, videos, and alumni chats. There’ll be plenty of resources as well.

Sign up now

Bonus: If you sign up now, you’ll get a chance to win a free iPad 2 when you visit 5 or more school booths on February 6-7.

Economist “Which MBA”:What to expect?

So you’ve decided to pursue your MBA, or maybe you’re still thinking about it. Either way, do you know which one is right for you?

That’s what this online fair is all about.

Helping you learn more about what the different schools offer, what the culture is like, and where you’ll fit best.

Yes, you’ll get to meet business school representatives, compare programs, etc. The best part? You can do it all from your home computer.

Business school “virtual booths”

Check out schools’ virtual booths
• Download brochures, visit their website, their Facebook page, and read testimonials from students who have already been through the process.
• Chat room: Chat with admissions officers, alumni,
professors and current students in a group or one-on-one discussion. View a list of
scheduled chats by visiting the “Schedule” once you log in.
• Multimedia: In the multimedia area, you can watch videos and browse photos to get a better
idea of what the school looks and feels like.

Interactive webinars

Several live webinars will also take place throughout the two-day fair. Visitors can see a schedule
of webinars by clicking on “Schedule” once you log in.

These webinars are hosted by MBA admissions officers, deans, professors and Economist
editors, offering you an inside look at specific programs and the MBA experience. Type in your
questions and they will be answered live by the webinar host.

Live global sessions

You can visit the fair at any time on February 6th and 7th, but it’s best to log in during one of the
live sessions when business schools will be online and ready to meet you:

• February 6th: 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM EST
• February 6th: 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM EST

• February 7th: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM EST
• February 7th: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM EST

Special features:

• Submit your resume: You may upload your resume upon logging in. It will be visible to all
business school representatives at the fair.
• Access additional resources: At the Information Desk, you can access a list of MBA resources
including scholarship organizations, admissions and test prep consultants, MBA blogs and
more.
• Take the compatibility profile: Answer a few questions to find the exhibiting schools that most
closely match your preferences.

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Verbal Videos: Sentence Correction | Critical Reasoning | Reading Comprehension
Quant Videos: Problem Solving | Data Sufficiency

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NYC Mayor Bloomberg on Steve Jobs, Entrepreneurship, and NYC

Entrepreneurship is increasingly becoming a popular field of study at top MBA programs across the country. My alma mater (Stanford) is most well known for its entrepreneurial spirit, but other programs including Wharton and MIT Sloan have solid programs in the study of entrepreneurship as well.

Last, GMATPill had the luxury of listening to Mayor Bloomberg give a speech about entrepreneurship at NY Tech Meetup. For those of you who don’t know, Mayor Bloomberg used to work on wall street–in the back office way back in the early 70s. He actually got FIRED and rumor has it that he “cried like a baby.”

Getting fired can’t be fun so I’m sure a lot of us would be pretty desperate in his shoes as well.

But Bloomberg didn’t give up. He figured with all the work that he did at the investment bank, he could just independently start his own business and sell that same stuff to clients. It wasn’t easy but he mustered through.

As he says in the speech, the first year is easy because you’ve got all your hopes up and your motivation is there. The third year is easy as well because you see the light at the end of the tunnel and you know you’re results are about to come.

But it’s the middle year that is the toughest – when you’ve gone a long way but haven’t gotten any results yet. Motivation isn’t quite as strong as it was in the beginning and you don’t know if you’re on the right track.

This is the risk in entrepreneurship. But Bloomberg adapted with things like the rise of the PC at the time and other trends in the market. He started selling terminals to all the banks in NY – and today it’s one of the most well-established brands in data services for all of finance.

Oh, right to top all of that, he’s also the MAYOR OF NEW YORK – the epicenter of all business in the western hemisphere and possibly the entire world.

So listen up to Bloomberg’s speech. He talks about Steve Jobs – similarities they both have (both got fired from their company and rebounded to the point where the former company worked for them) and both believe in listening to your customers — but not TOO much.

He also talks about his vision for driving NYC to be the a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation at the same level as Silicon Valley.

If you want to start your own business one day, you’ll learn a thing or two! Take a listen!

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Verbal Videos: Sentence Correction | Critical Reasoning | Reading Comprehension
Quant Videos: Problem Solving | Data Sufficiency

Lessons From The CEO of Ethan Allen – 2 GMAT Pill Students Meet The CEO

During an interview today with with Farooq Kathwari, the CEO of Ethan Allen, we at GMAT Pill had a chance to discuss a few topics about leadership with a true business expert. And two GMATPill students even got a chance to personally meet the CEO and get a picture with him!

Two GMATPill Students Meet the CEO of Ethan Allen

You see, Farooq is a great example of the American dream. He was an immigrant entrepreneur who became CEO of one of his customer firms. The immigrant to CEO story is a glorious one that GMATPill just had to learn more about.

Farooq stayed on as CEO of Ethan Allen not just for a few years—-but for DECADES–something that isn’t that common.

Remember Bob Nardelli? Well, he was CEO of Home Depot who took home a big paycheck when the company lost tons of money and fired a bunch of employees? He was only there for a few years but cashed out well for himself.

Farooq is the opposite. He stayed on CEO for what seems like forever—he brought the company public in the early 90s—and even today in 2011, he’s still CEO. Talk about commitment!

For those of you who don’t know, Ethan Allen is a globally recognized brand for luxurious custom home furnishings.

So how did Farooq get to be CEO of Ethan Allen and grow it to be what it is today? Looking at what he majored in during college certainly doesn’t tell the story: he majored in English and Political Science.

For all you English and Political Science majors who aspire to be successful in business—–there’s plenty of hope!

Farooq didn’t study like crazy for English and Poli Sci either. In fact, he attributes much of his success to something else: his involvement in cricket sports.

It was through playing cricket that Farooq had the opportunity to be passionately involved in team building and leadership. The reason he majored in English and Poli Sci was because he wanted to minimize the amount of time he spent studying academics and maximize the amount of time and dedication he put towards cricket.

Cricket taught Farooq elements about leadership that no class can ever teach. He was always captain of the team and was put in a position to lead and motivate other members of his team for a common goal.

“Leadership is not about being great yourself,” says Farooq. “It’s about helping others become the best they can be because of you.”

Very true words.

Never underestimate the importance of your extracurricular endeavors. When drafting up your application for MBA admissions, worry less about your school GPA or what you majored in—-and focus more on great stories and examples of team leadership and team building that you did outside of the workplace.

After college, Farooq attended NYU Stern School of Business for his MBA.

When we spoke with him, we pointed out that life often boils down to just a few key moments. The same is true in business. We asked him what are some examples of those key moments that were most critical in his career.

His examples were simple. One was when he decided to come to America and live the American dream.

The other was when one of his contacts at Ethan Allen (who was then a customer of his) offered him a job at Ethan Allen–to which he responded, “A job? How about a partnership instead?”

Notice how he quickly reframes the situation so he is on top. Now, THAT’s business-savvy.

Today, Farooq actually considers running his apple farm his top job. Running Ethan Allen? No big deal. Just a second or third job.

Now THAT’s the lifestyle of a CEO!

GMAT Prep Resources

GMAT Pill Interview with Stanford MBA (Andy)

GMAT Pill Interview with Harvard MBA

GMAT Psychology

GMAT Scoring

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Verbal Videos: Sentence Correction | Critical Reasoning | Reading Comprehension
Quant Videos: Problem Solving | Data Sufficiency