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In a recent interview with BusinessWeek, Bettina Buchel, director of IMD’s Strategic Leadership for Women program, discusses the experience of women in the executive management work force. IMD (International Institute for Management and Development), a global business school based in Lausanne, Switzerland, was the first business school in Europe to establish an executive education program geared specifically towards women. The program is part of IMD’s Open Enrollment program. It typically lasts for 4 days. The same program runs twice a year.

Buchel began the Strategic Leadership for Women program six years ago in 2002 to create an opportunity for women to explore different styles of leadership. The program focuses on two main areas: leadership and strategy implementation. It offers a unique environment for women to exchange experiences on situations within the workplace and learn how to promote themselves, all within a setting where they are not self-conscious of being the minority. 300 women have gone through the program, ranging from women in senior positions to women in their first five to ten years out of university. Buchel emphasizes the importance of this emerging issue of women in management, stating that of the Fortune 1000 companies, less than 50% have women representation in their top management teams.

What kinds of changes do these women implement in the workplace? Women who come out of this program become much more conscious about networking, having been shown a visual representation of how they network. They make efforts and adjustments at improving their upward networking and are also encouraged to come up with new responses to difficult situations in the workplace, having shared accounts of such experiences with each other during the course of the program.

The demand for such programs is heightening in Europe, with new programs being established in different cities, including London. Buchel also directs a program called Orchestrating Winning Performance, which has included more women and has been creating more activities geared towards women. Although women make up about 10% of traditional programs such as this one, the growing number of participating women is an important indicator of a shift in the agenda of women in management.

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In an analysis of a b-school application, it is certain that some traits are going to be viewed positively by business schools across the board, for example, high GMAT scores or a high undergraduate GPA. However, certain schools such as MIT Sloan are looking for more particular characteristics in those they accept.

MIT Sloan seeks applicants with a background in Economics or Accounting. This may provide additional insight into the type of students that attend Sloan. In a similar vein, Sloan sees the Quantitative score on the GMAT as being particularly important in their evaluation. Certainly, if you do not see these parts of your application as being particularly strong and have your heart set on applying to Sloan, these facts alone should not deter you. Sloan also prefers a student body made up of people who have engaged in a range of professional sectors and have unique personal interests too.

Overall, it’s good to keep in mind that Sloan is about more than technology; it’s about creativity as well. So show in your application an ability to creatively reflect on who you are and if you are invited to interview, be prepared to respond spontaneously to an interviewer’s unconventional approach.

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Set in the old industrial city of Pittsburgh, Tepper seeks business school students whose backgrounds prove them to be genuinely good and hard-working people, the type you’d like to share an office with. Offering its students a range of extracurricular activities during business school and boasting a superbly functioning administration, which makes the interview and job application process much smoother, Tepper is becoming an increasing attractive location for an MBA. Such flexibility and openness is also displayed in their waitlist policy which allows you, once placed on the list, to update your file, even add a recommendation, before they rank their waiting list applicants. Recently, Tepper has been flooded with 2008-2009 applications, receiving possibly 14% more than last year. In terms of getting into Tepper, just as for other schools, it is recommended that you learn as much as can about the school before applying. This allows you to be able to craft your application in such a way that an admissions committee is likely to interpret as a good match to the school. It also allows you to know early on whether the school will be able to adequately suit your needs. Tepper encourages applicants to visit or engage in its online forum to learn more about the school before applying.

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McCombs at the University of Texas in Austin, the American headquarters for Dell as well as the live music capital of the world, is a business school that is adapting to a global business environment and seeking to be even more competitive in b-school rankings.

Some interesting facts on McCombs:

· Though things are big in Texas, McCombs tries to maintain a feeling of intimacy. Despite the fact that the University of Texas at Austin has well over 50,000 students, the McCombs MBA Program maintains a class size of just 260.

· McCombs is making more of an effort to increase its rank through the recruitment of international students, especially Latin Americans and Europeans.

· The University is also home to a great law school and an excellent public policy school (The LBJ School), and MBA Students can attend classes at these schools while enrolled.

· McCombs has become increasingly a school for those interested working in consulting, marketing and finance sectors.

· McCombs does not insist on work experience. But most accepted students, all but 2%, have at least some experience.

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