Stefanie Parks

Making the Leap: Do You Have What It Takes for Private Equity?

Of the U.S. News top 10 ranked full-time MBA programs for 2010, an estimated 6% of first year students did a PE internship and 4% went into private equity (PE) full-time post-MBA. By the numbers you can quickly see that even at elite business schools, pr... Read >

Making the Leap: Do You Have What It Takes for Investment Banking?

Investment banking – hearing these two words can’t help but evoke images of Wall Street, high profile deals, posh marble and wood offices, and sharp bankers in well-tailored suits (not to mention the potentially large bonuses that can come with all of the... Read >

Does work experience matter?

Recently, business schools such as Carnegie Mellon, Harvard and Stanford started to reduce their work experience admissions requirements. One of the most renowned examples of this trend is Harvard Business School's 2+2 program for college juniors. While... Read >

Differences between N. American and European MBAs: a guide for Europeans

US and European business schools have been competing for top MBA applicants for a long time. For US schools, one of their strongest selling points has always been the MBA rankings; a domain where they have traditionally ruled. That is, until The Financial... Read >

Chinese students in US MBA programs: challenges and development opportunities

While international students in general may find it challenging to adapt to learning styles at US MBA programs and to integrate into the student social life, the adaptation process for Chinese students may be especially difficult. Language and cultural di... Read >

Seven things that surprised us in the MBA.com 2010 Survey Report

Recently MBA.com published its 2010 annual Survey Report which provides opinions, needs, and preferences of perspective business schools students. ZoomInterviews took a look at the report and would like to highlight some interesting findings. 1. Is the ... Read >

Cultural Adaptability among American and European Business Students

Perceptions and stereotypes play an important role in our lives. Sometimes they distort our decisions and make our communication with others more difficult. Some foreigners have a perception that Americans are more conservative to foreign cultures than ot... Read >

The MBA Oath

A lot has been written this week about Larry Estrada, who will graduate from Harvard Business School next week and will begin to work at Goldman Sachs Group. Larry was insistent on starting at Goldman only after he signs the MBA ethics pledge developed at... Read >

Do you need an MBA to become an entrepreneur?

Recently I did an admission mock interview for MBA applicant who asked my help. At the end of the interview I gave the applicant an opportunity to ask me questions. One of the questions he asked was if entrepreneurship can be learned in business school.... Read >

Women MBAs

Recently I read a Wall Street Journal article titled "Women MBAs Continue to Lag in Pay, Promotions" from February 19, 2010. The article is based on the "Pipeline's broken promise" research by Christine Silva published in Catalyst, a New York City-based... Read >