On the MBA Insider blog, you will find admissions announcements and advice to help you through your application process, recent news from around Austin, UT and McCombs, information about the resources available through the Texas MBA programs, student, alumni, and faculty interviews and profiles, and much more. It’s very easy to subscribe to the blog by entering your email in the box in the upper right hand section of the MBA Insider blog page. We hope you’ll subscribe today to stay updated on all the latest Texas MBA news!

Visit the MBA Insider today!

The Texas MBA admissions team is excited to meet you and tell you about our extraordinary Texas MBA women and the plethora of opportunities available to you in the Texas MBA program. From student organizations like the Graduate Women in Business (GWIB) to the annual Women in Business Leadership Conference, our program is committed to cultivating strong and active women leaders. Texas MBA admissions officers will be on hand at the Forte Forum events to answer your questions about our program and tell you about its one-of-a-kind offerings. 

Each event will include alumnae and admissions panels and time for networking with over 30 top business schools in the United States and abroad. Check out the schedule below to see where we will be and when, and register here: www.fortefoundation.org/forum.

Los Angeles: September 13
San Francisco: September 14
Houston: September 15
New York I: September 19
New York II: September 20
Atlanta: September 26
Washington, DC: September 27
Boston: September 28
Chicago: September 29
*All events will take place from 6-9 p.m.

Now in its 10th year, the Forté Forum gives you a unique opportunity to learn how an MBA degree can advance your career and find your passion. We are proud to be a founding member of the Forté Foundation, which works with leading business schools and companies to provide women with the tools they need to achieve success in business.

We look forward to meeting you in your city!

This fall introduce yourself to the Texas MBA Program by attending either the Inside the MBA Tour, Forte Foundation Forum, QS Top MBA’s World Tour, Kaplan’s Road to Business School, or Consortium MAPS  event in a city near you.

These events are an ideal opportunity to get a jump start on your MBA experience and application process. Our admissions officers will be on hand with alumni to answer your questions about everything from our top-notch faculty, the highly-ranked career services team and applicable curriculum to how to approach the application process.

Check out our events calendar to see where we will be and when. We look forward to meeting you!

Our dedicated Career Management team works with all of our first year students to identify target companies, assist in the internship search process and help prepare each student for the application and interview process by enhancing resumes and polishing interview skills throughout the year. Additionally, as part of the Core Curriculum requirements, all first year students are required to take a one-credit-hour Career Management course. The course is taught by the career services team and guides students through MBA-level career choices and teaches job-search and transition skills that will help both in school and career. The course covers self-assessment, career choice, behavioral and case interviewing, successful marketing and networking techniques, job research tools and company-specific research, business writing, business etiquette and offer negotiation.

This summer on average our students are receiving a salary of $6,667 per month. MBAs have accepted positions in several different industries including Energy, Wealth Management, Government, Commercial Banking, Real Estate and Technology. See the full break down below:

Additionally, students are exposed to a plethora of functions within these industries:

This summer we have students working Deloitte Consulting, Apple, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers and many more! We look forward to hearing all about their amazing experiences all over the world  as well as what they learned through these incredible opportunities.

“I thought I knew the basics on large organizations after working at 2 of them before, but at Microsoft this summer, I’ve found that the business side of these companies is another animal altogether! I’ve already learned a great deal by listening to a number of executives speak candidly about their careers and current business plans (Steve Ballmer still to come!), as well as by seeing how different business units interact and strategically plan with each other within a company. Overall, this experience has taught me as much about the actual practice of managing my own career in the business world as it has the specifics of strategy and marketing in the technology space–and that is definitely something that has been unexpected, but very helpful long-term.”
Sameer Sankaran, MBA ’12, Product Manager Intern, Server and Cloud Business Planning

The Road to Business School is your chance to  meet the Texas MBA admissions team and gain key insights and advice from alumni. We will have our officers on hand to help answer your questions about the program and our application process.

Here is where we will be:

August 6: Atlanta, GA (1:00-4:30 p.m.)
August 7: Dallas, TX  (1:00-4:30 p.m.)
August 9: Chicago, IL (6:00-9:30 p.m.)
August 11: Seattle, WA (6:00-9:30 p.m.)
August 13: San Francisco,  CA (1:00-4:30 p.m.)
August 14: Los Angeles, CA (1:00-4:30 p.m.)
August 16: Boston, MA (6:00-9:30 p.m.)
August 18: Washington, DC (6:00-9:30 p.m.)
August 20: New York City, NY (1:00-4:30 p.m.)
August 23: Philadelphia, PA (6:00-9:30 p.m.)

Registration is free and space is limited, so sign up early and check out the agenda for each city at http://www.kaplangmat.com/roadtobschool.

We look forward to meeting the Class of 2014!

These informal Coffee Chats will be taking place in a variety of cities from now until August. Students will be able to address your pressing questions about the program as well as the admissions process. Learn more about student organizations, hands-on opportunities, MBA+ projects, career fairs and career service opportunities, orientation, the culture at McCombs, their classmates, their classes and their professors.

To find out more info about where the students will be and how you can meet them, please go to the Texas MBA Coffee Chat webpage. Please note that RSVP is required to attend; events with no RSVPs are subject to cancellation.

Texas was Named Top State for Business by CNBC

President Obama Visits Campus: On Monday, August 9, 2010 President Barack Obama joined The University of Texas at Austin students, faculty and staff to discuss higher education and the need to become more globally competitive at UT’s Gregory Gym. Read more

Hispanic Business Magazine Ranks McCombs #3 MBA Program for Hispanic Students: In the September 2010 issue of Hispanic Business magazine the McCombs School of Business was ranked the third best business school for Hispanic MBA students. This is the 12th year in a row that the program was ranked in the top five. Read more

MBA Program Launches a New Website: In the fall of 2010, the Texas MBA program launched a new website. The website’s fresh look and feel was designed to make it easier to find the information you are looking for and to get some new insight into our six MBA programs. Explore the Redesigned Websites Here

McCombs Ranks 3rd for Best Professors: The Princeton Review’s latest edition of their annual guide to business schools hit bookstores October 12, 2010.McCombs received high marks in admissions selectivity, career rating and overall academic experience, with particularly strong scores in the student-led attribute rankings, where McCombs ranked no. 3 out of 300 schools in the “Best Professors” category. Read more

McCombs Ranks 7th Best MBA Program for Job Placement for 2010: Bloomberg Businessweek ranked the Texas MBA program the seventh best MBA program for job placement in 2010, proving that the Texas MBA career services team continues to be one of the best in the nation. The survey shows that three months after graduation, 93% of the 2010 graduates held job offers. Read more

Texas Cities Named Top-Ten Places Poised for Recovery: Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston were all highlighted by Newsweek as the top cities that have weathered the Great Recession and positioned themselves to emerge stronger than before. Read more

Texas MBAs Win Four National Case Challenges: On February 19, 2011, Texas MBAs won the Wake Forest National Biotechnology Case Competition. This win marked the fourth National Case Championship victory this year (talk about a winning streak!). Read more 

To celebrate this accomplishment, last night we gathered at the same location where we kicked it all off two years ago, the Salt Lick to eat delicious bar-b-que and to enjoy each other’s company. It was a fantastic event and we loved learning how the dreams that the students wrote in their admissions essays three years ago are coming to fruition today.

Tonight we will witness all of the MBAs walking the stage in Gregory Gym to receive their diplomas. We will also get to hear from our keynote speaker, Texas MBA alumni from the class of 1999, Erik Qualman. He is the author of the highly-acclaimed book, Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business. Erik is a renowned speaker that has spoken with some business’s greatest leaders. Check out his video on the Social Media Revolution, http://www.socialnomics.net/2010/05/05/social-media-revolution-2-refresh/.

Tomorrow, graduates from all over The University of Texas at Austin will meet around the tower for the University Commencement Ceremony. The tower will be lit burnt orange with 11 on all four sides celebrating this exciting accomplishment. Fireworks will be displayed and the Eyes of Texas will be sung one last time as a student.

Congratulations class of 2011! We are so proud of you and can’t wait to hear about the many places you’ll go, people you’ll meet and companies you’ll lead!

The Committee of 200 is an invitation only membership organization of the world’s most successful women entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. It is composed of exclusive highly networked women business leaders with unsurpassed collective influence, connecting and advancing women for a lifetime of business and socially responsible success.

The Forum kicked off with keynote speaker Lynn Utter, President and Chief Operating Officer of Knoll North America, speaking over lunch about ambition and how it has led to her success. After the keynote address the C200 members shared their career stories and insights with our MBA women in a round table format.

Attendees were then invited to choose to attend one of three panel discussions:
Business Negotiations Tactics and Tools: This panel, which was led by Rebecca Boenigk, CEO and Founder of Neutral Posture, Margarita Farmer, Chief Operations Officer at US Signs, and Laura Grondin, President and CEO of Virginia Industries, Inc., explored best practices for negotiating anything from a contract to your salary. 

Climbing the Corporate Ladder and Breaking Through Bureaucracy: C200 Members Donna Couch, Former Executive, Exxon-Mobil, Alice Schroeder, author of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and The Business of Life, and Lynn Utter discussed how to leap ahead of the competition and to navigate the corporate structure ensuring that you are valued for your contributions to the business.

The Road Less Traveled: Unconventional Career Choices: Gina Diez Barroso De Franklin, President and CEO, Grupo Diarq, S.A. de C.V., Marcy Maguire, CEO of Maguire Automotive Group, Christine Storey, Founder and Director of Midnite Express, and Sue Burnett, Burnett Staffing Specialists, talked about how they succeeded outside of the typical corporate structure through innovation and risk taking.

After a short break, the Forum continued with a panel discussion entitled “Big Girls Don’t Cry: Grace Under Pressure.” Pamela Coker, Former President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Acucorp, Inc., Gay Gaddis, President and CEO of T3 (The Think Tank), and Karen Pitts, Co-CEO Link Staffing Services, discussed the importance of leaders to operate with fortitude. They shared their experiences and how they maintained composure under even the most trying circumstances. 

Bianca Lesmes, Chantal Pittman, Alice Humphrey and C200 Member Alice Schroeder.

At the conclusion of the Forum, there was a scholarship reception, where three Texas MBA women were presented with a $10,000 scholarship. The scholarships awarded outstanding women MBA students who exemplify extraordinary leadership potential, entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to giving back and supporting other women. Alice Humphrey received the award from the Full-time program and Blanca Lesmes and Chantal Pittman were selected from the Executive MBA Program. We are so proud of these women!

The day provided a unique opportunity for our women to learn from those that trail blazed their career paths and reflect on their own career aspirations. It was an inspiring and educational afternoon. 

Thanks to C200!

Please note that this means if you have NOT submitted an application by that time, you will no longer have access to the application system. All non-submitted applications will be removed from the system.

If you have pressed submit on your application, you will still be able to monitor the status of your recommendation forms, view the GIAC status check (to monitor receipt of your transcripts and test scores), and follow the progress of your application through the admissions process with the McCombs Status Check. Additionally, if you do submit your application by the deadline, you can expect to see an invoice for the application fee by Wednesday, April 6. 

If you have any questions, contact us at TexasMBA@mccombs.utexas.edu.

We look forward to learning more about the future students for the Class of 2013!