Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast

We welcome back Melissa Rapp, Associate Dean of Graduate Admissions for Goizueta Business School at Emory University, for this edition of our Admissions Directory Q&A series. Melissa leads strategy, recruitment, and enrollment across MBA and Specialized Master’s programs. She brings more than 20 years of experience in graduate management education and enrollment leadership. Prior to joining Goizueta, Melissa held leadership roles at several top institutions, including serving as Director of Admissions for the Full-Time MBA and MSMS programs at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Throughout her career, she has focused on building admissions strategies and student experiences that are both thoughtful and human-centered. Melissa is a frequent speaker on the future of graduate business education, enrollment strategy, and leadership development. She is passionate about creating pathways that help talented people grow, lead, and thrive. Tune in for her insights into MBA admissions at Goizueta and more.

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing upcoming MBA admissions deadlines. For this upcoming week, UPenn / Wharton and Cornell / Johnson are scheduled to release Round 1 interview invites and UVA / Darden and Georgetown / McDonough are also scheduled to release their Early Action round decisions. We then turned to a discussion centered on an Op Ed piece from the New York Times which advocates for Business Schools to shut down. Clear Admit’s co-founder, Eliot Ingram, wrote a very timely and insightful response. The original author of the New York Times piece has taught at several business schools and did make some salient points. But the title is rather sensationalist. Graham highlighted Clear Admit’s current webinar events.  We are now in the second week of our regional series, which includes top MBA programs in each region of the United States. The geographic focus allows these programs to also focus on key MBA career pathways in their region. Future webinars include focuses on Wharton / Lauder and Harvard MBA admissions. Signups for all these events are here: https://www.clearadmit.com/events Graham noted an admissions tip that Clear Admit recently published focused on the more unusual interview formats. Graham also highlighted the new Center for AI in Finance at Emory / Goizueta. Clear Admit continues its Real Humans series which focuses on current students at top MBA programs. This week we profile MBA students from CMU / Tepper and Michigan / Ross. Graham then mentioned a recent podcast he recorded with a member of INSEAD’s MBA admissions team. For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries: This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is from Australia and has a 645 GMAT score. We think it would make sense for them to try to nudge that score up, and potentially look at some US-based MBA programs. This week’s second MBA applicant is from Austria, and while they only have less than three years of work experience, that do appear to have an outstanding profile. This episode was recorded in Philadelphia, USA and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

Representing INSEAD in our latest podcast episode of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we welcome Larry Medina, who has been an associate director of admissions there since 2025. Larry is a higher education leader, career coach, and former global finance executive with more than 30 years of experience spanning the United States, Europe, and Asia. Currently serving as Associate Director, MBA Admissions, at INSEAD, he has also led career services and coaching functions at INSEAD, ESSEC Asia-Pacific, and Singapore Management University, helping thousands of students and professionals navigate career development and leadership transitions. Before moving into higher education 13 years ago, Larry built an international career in finance, accounting, operations, and human resources with organizations including Hewlett-Packard, Agilent Technologies, Avago Technologies, and Symantec. A graduate of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, he has managed multicultural teams across Asia and remains actively involved in community volunteer work, and mentorship. Tune in for his insights into the evolution of admissions, what INSEAD alumni share about the MBA program and more.

In this week's MBA Admissions podcast we began by discussing upcoming MBA admissions deadlines. For this upcoming week, Notre Dame / Mendoza and Johns Hopkins / Carey have application deadlines and Johns Hopkins / Carey is also scheduled to release its Early Action round decisions. Graham highlighted Clear Admit’s current webinar events.  We are kicking off our regional series this week, which includes top MBA programs in each region of the United States. The regional focus allows these programs to also focus on MBA career pathways in their geography. Signups for these events are here: https://www.clearadmit.com/events Graham noted an admissions tip that Clear Admit recently published focused on Wharton’s team-based discussion interview. This unique interview format requires a different approach to preparation. Wharton interview invites are scheduled to be released on October 28. Graham then highlighted an Adcom Q&A with Vanderbilt's Bailey McChesney. Clear Admit continues its Real Humans series which focuses on current students at top MBA programs. This week we profile MBA students from Esade and UVA / Darden. Graham then mentioned a recent podcast he recorded with admissions director Katy Radoll of UNC / Kenan Flagler’s MBA. For this week, for the candidate profile review portion of the show, Alex selected two ApplyWire entries: This week’s first MBA admissions candidate is from India and is a software engineer with a strong GPA. They have decided to waive the standardized test. This week’s second MBA applicant is from Pakistan and now works in Japan. They have a 334 GRE score, with 6 years of work experience. This episode was recorded in Boston, USA and Cornwall, England. It was produced and engineered by the fabulous Dennis Crowley in Philadelphia, USA. Thanks to all of you who’ve been joining us and please remember to rate and review this show wherever you listen!

Katy Radoll, Director of MBA Admissions at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, is back for a deeper dive into MBA admissions in this podcast edition of our Admissions Director Q&A.