Dear all,
As Co-founder of Clear Admit and a moderator in these forums, I thought I'd chime in here and respond to JoeInSF's comments about the Clear Admit School Guides.
We always welcome feedback on our publications and I think that JoeInSF's comments should be addressed for those considering our School Guides.
Point 1: The information in the School Guides is not available elsewhere.
An MBA applicant could certainly produce a guide to a particular business school by combing the MBA program's website, reading their career placement reports, tracking down primary source reading material about the history of the programs, following the latest research of key professors, speaking with current students, alumni and admissions officers and visiting the campus/surrounding community. Then, they could take that information and compare it to other business schools, by doing the same research on the other programs. This is exactly the kind of research that we've done -- and it takes a great deal of time and effort to produce the School Guides.
Our thought in producing the School Guides is that applicants may not have the time to get up to speed on the nuances of each school. We also feel that applicants would enjoy an unbiased and comparative publication - rather than a marketing piece.
A good metaphor here might be investing: if you are considering purchasing a stock, you could absolutely spend many hours of your time researching the company, combing through financials, understanding the industry, etc - but you might also purchase and read white papers from leading analysts tracking the company. This is the role that the School Guides play.
Point 2: Placement and demographic data are published by the schools, but comparisons across schools are limited.
One of the key features of the School Guides is the comparative analysis that we provide. While many of the schools publish their own data, I have yet to see any data produced by an MBA program that offers placement statistics compared with their peers. The benefit of the School Guides is the way in which we normalize and aggregate cross-program data.
Point 3: Each School Guide presents unique information tailored to each program.
Other than the timeline showing the history of the MBA degree (which is tailored for each program to show their place on it), very little content can be found in multiple School Guides. The only exception would be the 'city profiles' section - as these would certainly overlap if one reads School Guides about programs in the same city (e.g. Kellogg and Chicago) - but even in this case we offer specific commentary on the Hyde Park area (in the GSB School Guide) and Evanston (in the Kellogg School Guide).
I'll close with two quotes we've received this fall from admissions directors in support of our School Guides. You can read other reviews of the School Guides here:
https://www.clearadmit.com/sg_reviews.html.
Rosemaria Martinelli, Associate Dean, Student Recruitment & Admissions, Chicago Graduate School of Business:
"Applicants constantly hear that no two schools are alike, however, very little information exists where one can learn about these differences. Clear Admit does an excellent job in helping prospective applicants learn about individual schools through the School Guides, providing great information about specific schools in the context of how they compare to other schools on similar metrics. The Guides are a great tool for applicants who wish to explore the nuances between programs and experiences."
David Simpson, Associate Director of MBA Marketing & Admissions at London Business School:
"The Clear Admit School Guides are a unique learning resource. By bringing together student opinion, official statistics and original research, the London Business School Guide offers an authentic snapshot of life in our programme. The cross-school analysis presented in the guide is invaluable for candidates who are looking to go beyond rankings and understand the nuances of leading programs."
Regards,
Graham Richmond
