Transcend Admissions Consultants 2010 Results

* 96% client interview success rate
* 91% client admission success rate

Many thanks to our clients for their trust and support this application season!

	MBA Programs	Status
Ms. L.	IESE Business School	Accepted
	NYU (Stern) Business School	Waitlisted
	London Business School (LBS)	Waitlisted
	INSEAD	Pending  Accepted!
Ms. R.	Rochester (Simon) School of Business	Accepted	Scholarship
Mr. K.	Georgetown (McDonough) School of Business	Accepted
	Duke (Fuqua) School of Business	Waitlisted
	USC (Marshall) School of Business	Waitlisted
Mr. S.	Washington University (Olin) Business School	Accepted
	UNC (Kenan-Flagler) Business School	Accepted	scholarship
	Georgetown (McDonough) School of Business	Accepted
	University of Illinois College of Business	Accepted
Ms. C.	Rochester (Simon) School of Business	Accepted
	Michigan Ross School of Business	Accepted
	Purdue (Krannert) School of Management	Accepted
Mr. A.	Arizona State (Carey) School of Business	Accepted	scholarship
	Ohio State (Fisher) College of Business	Accepted
	Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) School of Business	Waitlisted
	USC (Marshall) School of Business	Waitlisted
	Washington (Foster) School of Business	Waitlisted
	Washington University (Olin) Business School	Waitlisted
Ms. P.	Michigan (Ross) School of Business	Accepted
Mr. L.	Boston University School of Management	Accepted
	Michigan Ross School of Business	Accepted
Mr. L.	Thunderbird School of Global Management	Accepted
	Case Western Reserve (Weatherhead) School of Management	Accepted
	University of Pittsburgh (Katz) School of Business	Waitlisted
Mr. S.	Penn State University (Smeal) College of Business	Accepted	Full scholarship
	GISMA Business School	Accepted	Full scholarship
	Notre Dame (Mendoza) College of Business	Waitlisted
Ms. E.	University of Toronto (Rotman) School of Management	Accepted
	UNC (Kenan-Flagler) Business School	Accepted
	USC (Marshall) School of Business	Waitlisted
Ms. S.	Boston University School of Management	Accepted
	Rochester (Simon) School of Business (MSF)	Accepted
	Washington (Foster) School of Business	Waitlisted
	USC (Marshall) School of Business	Waitlisted
Mr. S.	Hult International Business School	Accepted
	Hong Kong University Faculty of Business and Economics	Waitlisted
Mr. C.	University of Illinois College of Business	Accepted	scholarship
	University of Maryland (Smith) School of Business	Waitlisted
Mr. C.	USC (Marshall) School of Business	Accepted	scholarship
	Hong Kong University Faculty of Business and Economics	Accepted
	Northwestern (Kellogg) Graduate School of Management	Waitlisted
Mr. J.	University of Illinois - Chicago Graduate School of Business	Accepted
Ms. T.	Washington University (Olin) Business School	Accepted	scholarship
	Indiana University (Kelley) School of Business	Accepted	scholarship
	USC (Marshall) School of Business	Waitlisted
Mr. D.	Georgetown (McDonough) School of Business	Accepted
Ms. I.	UC San Diego (Rady) School of Management	Accepted
	UC Irvine (Merage) School of Business	Accepted
	UC Davis Graduate School of Management	Accepted
	Master of Science Programs	Status
Mr. J.	Harvard Graduate School of Design (MUP)	Accepted
	Michigan (Taubman) College (MUP)	Accepted
	Duke (Nicholas) School of the Environment (MEM)	Accepted
	Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (MSCP)	Accepted
	Cornell Department of City and Regional Planning (MRP)	Accepted
	UPenn School of Design (MCP)	Accepted
Ms. A	ESCP Europe Master in Management (MSc)	Accepted
Mr. A.	Boston College (Carroll) School of Management (MSA)	Accepted
	University of Pittsburgh (Katz) Graduate School of Business (MSA)	Accepted	scholarship
Mr. M.	University of Illinois College of Business (MSF)	Accepted
	Rochester (Simon) School of Business (MSF)	Waitlisted
Ms. C.	University of Illinois College of Business (MS in Technology Management)	Accepted
Ms. S.	Northwestern University (Medill) (IMC)	Accepted
	Texas A&M (Mays) Business School (MS in Marketing)	Waitlisted
Mr. K.	Tulane University (Freeman) School of Business (MSF)	Accepted
	George Washington University School of Business (MSF)	Accepted
	Illinois Institute of Technology (Stuart) School of Business (MSF)	Accepted
	Rochester (Simon) School of Business (MSF)	Waitlisted
	Purdue (Krannert) School of Business (MSF)	Waitlisted
	Law Programs	Status
Mr. R.	American University (Washington) College of Law (LLM)	Accepted
	University of Maryland School of Law (LLM)	Accepted
	Tulane University Law School (LLM)	Accepted
	Cardozo School of Law (LLM)	Accepted

Consulting Industry Hiring Increases in 2011

The consulting industry, a major recruiter of MBA graduates, has bounced back in 2011 from the dismal days after the economic crisis in 2009 when the global consulting industry contracted by 9.1%.  The research firm Kennedy Information reported that 2009 was the worst year for the consulting industry since 1982. 

The projects that consultants are working on this year are more profit-oriented as well.  In 2009, 87% of projects were aimed at cutting costs, while in 2011, 53% of project spending for consultants will be focused on business growth plans. 

Not all consulting sectors are expected to grow at the same rate though.  Growth for spending on strategy consulting is forecasted to expand by only 1.1% a year between 2011 and 2014, while consulting on operations management will grow by an annual average of 5.1% and IT consulting by 3.9% a year to 2014.   

Of the elite strategy consultancies, BCG had the best 2010 with 12% growth.  But the major players are getting more and more competition by the Big Four audit firms that continue to aggressively expand and mid-sized firms that offer experienced independent consultants at lower rates.  

Guidance for Younger MBA Applicants

There is a trend of younger applicants (with three years or less of work experience) applying to MBA programs.  In recent years, many of the MBA programs in the United States have shown a willingness to accept less experienced applicants who have a great deal of potential.  However, MBA admissions committees will take a cautious approach and very closely scrutinize a younger applicant’s background and knowledge.  If you are a younger applicant how can you maximize your limited experience and gain acceptance?  The key will be generating application materials (essays, letters of recommendation and resume) that contain the following information:

Maturity. You must show that you are mature beyond your age and experience level, that you are poised under pressure and will add value to group projects.  To do so, your essays and recommendation letters must clearly display that you have sound judgment, that you view mistakes as learning opportunities and have exceptional analytical and interpersonal skills which will allow you to easily blend in with more experienced MBA students.            

Why MBA, Why Now?  Admissions committee members may agree that you are very intelligent and have great potential, but they must be convinced that you can benefit more from the MBA experience now and not in the future.  To handle this tricky issue it is essential that your essays lay out your motivations for needing an MBA – affirmative reasons that are practical and based on concrete goals.  Your career goals should serve as the pivotal reason for needing an MBA; then you must persuasively illustrate why these specific goals make it necessary to get an MBA at this time. 

You are a natural leader.  Although you did not achieve the title manager at work there are still many other ways to reveal your management potential.  To do this, young candidates should display leadership qualities and an extraordinary impact made on an organization.  For example, you could mention innovative ideas you devised and implemented, or a solution you tailored for a client that was initially rejected by management, but that you were persistent and convinced them to go forward and eventually the idea was extremely effective.  You could also detail fundraising, organizational and promotional activities or creating new initiatives in college organizations.  Regardless of your experiences, when talking about leadership, you must tell a memorable story that gives concrete examples of your ability.

You have high-quality professional experience.  The shorter your professional experience, the more important it is to emphasize the quality of the experience, your extensive personal growth and the ability to learn a great deal in a short period of time.  There are many ways to show that your work experience was short yet outstanding, such as working with important clients, assignments involving complex analysis, or rapid promotions earned.  To drive this point home it will be crucial to highlight that your experience was unique in your organization as your managers did, in fact, recognize your advanced abilities.    

You can make a tremendous impact.  Admissions committees are searching for results-oriented people who are likely to be very active both during the program and upon graduation.  Therefore, after stating that you know exactly why you need an MBA, you must demonstrate why your unique background and skill set will allow you to make a meaningful contribution to the program inside and outside the classroom.  If you can convey compelling reasons why you can add significant value to the MBA program in your essays, letters of recommendation and resume, you will take a big step towards being admitted.

International Applications Decrease in Some Major U.S. Business Schools

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that there was a 4% decrease in Fall 2011 international student applications to the 25 United States business schools that normally award the largest number of degrees to international students.  The reason for this trend is thought to be increased competition from business schools in Europe and Asia that have invested significant resources in business programs in recent years.  While international applications increased by 4% overall to all U.S. business schools, this is significantly less than the 12% growth in international applicants in engineering and science programs, and the 8-9% growth in education, arts and humanities and life sciences programs.

I got into the Northwestern IMC Program!

from: XXX@gmail.com
to: Transcend Admissions Consultants <transcendadmissions@gmail.com>
date: Tue, May 31, 2011 at 3:41 PM
subject: IMC Application follow-up

Dear David,
It has been awhile since we last talked.  But I am happy to finally tell you that last Thursday I received the offer of admission from the Northwestern University (Medill) Master in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program!!  Actually, they gave me a deferred admission - which requires me to work for a year, so I'll be joining their class in 2012.  Therefore, lately I have been busy looking for a perfect job :p

Anyway I think it is a perfect result. I don't need to worry about reapplying and at the same time can get a full time work experience. You have given me a great deal of help to achieve this.  I think your waitlist and interview strategy worked perfectly in this case.  Million thanks!!!!  I'll definitely recommend Transcend Admissions to my friends and schoolmates.

Anyways, thank you so much for your help and support. We will keep in touch!!!

Sincerely,
H.I.