Simon School Admissions Blog

Record attendance at the Rochester International Jazz Festival

By: Tonya

This past Saturday wrapped up the eighth annual Rochester International Jazz Festival.  A nine-day music event that featured such headliners as: Smokey Robinson, SMV, Jake Shimabukuro, Carolyn Wonderland, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Michael McDonald, Taj Mahal, and the Susan Tedeschi Band.  An estimated 133,000 people attended over the nine days, exceeding last year's 125,000 attendees.

I had the good fortune of attending Friday night's Taj Mahal and Susan Tedeschi Band performance at a sold out Eastman Theatre.  It was an incredible evening of jazz and blues.  Mayor Bob Duffy kicked off the evening by introducing Susan Tedeschi, a Grammy-nominated blues and soul artist, who amazed with her powerful voice and fearless stage presence.  After a brief intermission, Ursula Burns, the new CEO of Xerox Corporation, introduced Taj Mahal, a Grammy-award winning blues musician who has been singing and performing for over 40 years.  He entertained with his guitar and banjo and had the audience shouting and singing out responses such as "uh huh!" 

The hallmark of the festival is the variety and international flavor -  Columbia, Russia, Finland and the UK were just a few of the countries represented at the festival, with musicians coming from all over the world.  Among jazz enthusiasts, the Rochester International Jazz Festival is considered "top-shelf" and a "must-go" for all jazz fans.

Business Competition: Simon Team awarded Third Prize

By: Crissi

Case competitions are one of the many ways Simon students use their skills outside of the classroom. The Rubicon International Business Case Competition hosted by the BiTS University, Iserlohn, Germany held in March was a great opportunity for Simon students to travel and compete with other business students from around the world.
Two teams from Simon, Team Meliora and Global Green Crusaders, traveled to Germany to participate in the competition. This year’s theme was ‘Green Business Management.’ Nearly 100 teams from North America, South America, Europe and Asia were nominated to participate, and both of Simon’s teams were in the top 20 chosen to compete.
The three-round competition included a strategic simulation game and two case studies. Team Meliora took first place in Topsim, the first-round simulation. In the end, Team Meliora placed third in the entire competition and received a trophy from the Vice Mayor of Iserlohn City.
For more details of the contest and bios of Team Meliora and Global Green Crusaders can be found here. Congratulations Team Meliora!
Note: Meliora means ever-better and is the motto of the University of Rochester.

Mr. Potato Head Arrives in Rochester

  BY: Tonya

As a parent, I feel so fortunate to live within 20 minutes driving distance to the Strong National Museum of Play in downtown Rochester.  Strong is recognized as one of the nation's top museums for families and children and is home to the National Toy Hall of Fame.  My children love visiting the museum, so much so that we purchased a family membership for the year.  The membership entitles us to unlimited general admission for the year - a great deal since my children want to go all the time!

This weekend, Strong welcomed their newest exhibit, The Adventures of Mr. Potato Head.  The exhibit allows children to take an "outer-space journey to a jungle safari, archeological dig, and undersea trek."  These "adventures" are designed to provide children with engaging learning experiences that will assist them in developing school readiness, literacy, problem-solving, mathematics, science, and social studies skills. 

For me, walking through the National Toy Hall of Fame is a blast from the past!  The halls are lined with glass cases of the world's largest collection of toys, dolls, and games.  It brings back such memories to see my old Donny & Marie dolls and my first Easy Bake oven!  There are more than 70,000 toys to see here!

The folks at Strong will tell you that "toys are among the most important human artifacts, they are learning tools that foster imagination, creativity, and critical thinking."  As a parent I agree.  This is a great way to spend a day in Rochester!

Leadership (Part II): the Forté Foundation 2008 Women’s MBA Conference in New York City

By: Tonya

Did you know that Simon is one of the 37 top MBA schools that make up the Forté Foundation? 

It is such a privilege to be a part of this consortium of major corporations, top business schools, and influential non-profit organizations united to help direct talented women towards leadership roles in business.  Each year Forté holds an annual conference where all of these organizations come together, along with talented MBA students, for several days of speakers and sessions that are informative and inspirational.  I was honored to get to attend the conference this year with 5 incoming Simon students and 3 current students.  I think we all walked away with an amazing experience, an expanded network, and valuable insights into women’s business issues, like shattering the glass ceiling, finding work/life balance, negotiating skills, and leadership development.

Since this is my second blog that examines leadership.  I wanted to tell you about the Dialogue with Leadership Luncheon that was held during the conference.  The accomplished businesswomen that led the discussion were: Sharon Allen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deloitte LLP; Lisa Weber, President of Individual Business at MetLife; and Patricia Sellers, Editor-at-Large at Fortune magazine.   The panelists discussed their perspectives on building professional legacies, making meaningful career and life choices, maintaining the integrity of business, and becoming responsible corporate citizens.  Advice they offered included the importance of focusing on people and surrounding yourself with a good team.  They also stressed that women should never become complacent and never remain stagnant in their career and responsibilities.

The conference also included an MBA Career Fair where MBA students had the opportunity to meet with Fortune 100 recruiters from some of the world’s most prestigious corporations, like: Abbott, American Express, Avon, Bank of America, Capital Group, Chevron, Citi, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Eli Lilly, Ernst & Young, Fidelity, GE, General Mills, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Intel, John Deere, Johnson & Johnson, Lehman, McKinsey, Merrill Lynch, MetLife, Moody’s, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, and Williams.

Forté membership is open to all women who attend Simon, a Forté sponsor school.  For more information, visit: www.fortefoundation.org.

Rochester International Jazz Festival

By Rebekah:

The 7th edition of the Rochester International Jazz Festival came to town starting this past weekend.  From June 13th - 21st, a variety of local and national talent will be featured throughout the downtown corridor.  The artist lineup includes: Al Green, Frank Sinatra Jr. & his orchestra, Boz Scaggs, Rochester Jazz @ The Philharmonic, Dee Dee Bridgewater with special guest the Richard Bona Band, and many more.  Tickets are still on sale for many of the artists, and there are even a few free concerts sponsored by the Rochester Community Foundation and M&T Bank. 

Although most Simon students are not in Rochester this summer - they  have either graduated or are away on internship - we have a variety of fun activities available for those who decide to stick around and take summer classes before the 2nd year of their MBA.  If you are arriving to start graduate study this summer, you may want to check this out further.  Visit the Rochester International Jazz Festival Web site at http://www.rochesterjazz.com/ for information on the schedule of events, venue maps, ticket information, or to sign up as a volunteer.

Simon Team Takes the Plunge

By: Rebekah

On Sunday, February 10th, a team of Simon representatives that included first- and second-year students, Dean Mark Zupan, Associate Dean Holli Budd, and Dan Struble, Sr. Lecturer in Business Communications, participated in the Polar Bear Plunge in Lake Ontario.  Joining the team, were over a thousand spectators who came to cheer on those who were taking "the plunge".  As expected in February, it was a cold and blustery day, with an air temperature of 18 degrees and the water temperature recorded at 29 degrees.

The event was coordinated to show support and raise funds for the Special Olympics of New York, as a part of the Lakeside Winter Celebration.  Similar events occur across the country each year to raise awareness and support for the Special Olympics.  There were prizes awarded to the teams with the most outstanding and creative costumes.   A special recognition goes out to the Simon team for braving the cold and making us proud!

28th Annual New York Recruiting Program

By: Jackie

Last Friday, January 18th, our Career Management Center held the 28th Annual "New York Recruiting Program" in midtown Manhattan.  This program is a popular Simon tradition in which both first and second year students go to New York City to interview for full-time positions and summer internships.  It is a wonderful example of how proactive our Career Management Center is in helping our students to find employment opportunities in creative ways beyond that of the traditional on-campus recruitment events that are held here weekly at the Simon School.

Each year, Simon moves it's career "headquarters" to a suite hotel in New York City where our students interview throughout the day with a terrific group of companies.  This year some of our corporate partners in attendance were: American Express, Bear Stearns & Co, Citigroup, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Medco Health Solutions, Merrill Lynch, PepsiCo, UBS, and Unilever, among many others.  Simon students find this to be a nice opportunity to not only go to meet with some of our corporate partners during the interviews, but also to conduct other NYC based networking. 

The event concludes with a co-sponsored alumni networking reception where current Simon students can interact with Simon graduates, staff, and corporate partners in a more social setting.  I had the opportunity to attend this event a couple of years ago and hope to have the chance to go again, it is a wonderful event and a great opportunity for our students to form relationships with some of our most accomplished Simon graduates.  Even though we are not located in New York City, many of our students take advantage of the numerous opportunities there as NYC is easy to get to from Rochester.  With the Rochester International Airport less than 10 minutes from campus and with four airlines offering direct flights at many times each day, there is no reason not to make this 45 minute trek to the city if it is a place where you would like to pursue career opportunities! 

Consortium for Graduate Study in Management info session

Hi from St. Louis - I am out on the road again but this time for a professional development conference.  In any event, I thought now would be a good time to reflect on my recent participation in an MBA Application Preparation Seminar (MAPS) in Washington DC.  This was an event sponsored by the Consortium for Graduate Study for Management - www.cgsm.org - an organization of which Simon is a school partner.  A number of my colleagues at other business schools came together and we shared input with the attendees on the Consortium application process and our advice on how to put together a successful application.

The Consortium offers a common application for MBA admission consideration to up to 6 of its 13 member schools.  This application is open to US citizens and permanent residents who can show a demonstrated commitment to the mission of the Consortium -"to enhance diversity in business education and leadership and reduce the serious under-representation of African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanic Americans in both member school's enrollments and within the ranks of management".  Beyond the common application, if a student is offered membership to join the Consortium, there is an additional opportunity to be considered for partial scholarships and full tuition fellowships to cover the cost of studying in our 2-year full-time MBA program.

Interested in learning more about the Consortium?  I'd recommend starting with a review of their web site - listed above, as the online application and related details are posted for review.   I'll be in the Atlanta area in mid-October for another MBA Application Preparation Seminar and hope to see some of you there!

Next time, I'll be introducing you to the full-time staff on our admissions team and sharing a little about each of their responsibilities.

Gearing up for travel season!

By: Jackie

Here in admissions, one of my favorite times of the year is here... fall travel season!  Travel season is not only a great opportunity to visit some wonderful places, but also and most importantly, an excellent opportunity to see the places our prospective students, current students, and alumni call home.  It's always so helpful to me in the application review process to have a sense of where everyone is from and to better understand various cultures.

This fall I will be traveling to some great cities in the United States such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, New York City, Atlanta, and Washington D.C. I'll also have the opportunity to visit countries such as Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan.  My colleagues here at Simon will also be visiting many cities both domestically and abroad.  Other countries that we will be visiting this fall include Turkey, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, and India.

When we are "on the road" we attend forums, conduct interviews, meet with officials from different colleges, universities, and organizations, and meet up with alumni. Some forums that we typically take part in are the World MBA Tour, MBA Tour, Inside the MBA, the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, and the Forte Foundation among others.

One event that I am particuarly excited about this year is a gathering that the Simon Alumni Network of Japan will be holding in September. It should be a great opportunity for old friends to reunite and for others to get to know one another. I look forward to the opportunity to meet with so many of our accomplished alumni in Tokyo! 

I'll make sure and post more during my travels and continue to update you on all that we are doing here this fall at Simon!  In the meantime, you can visit our full event schedule online.