PROFESSIONAL ADVISING LEADERSHIP FELLOWS TRAINING PROGRAM
DETAILED REPORT, Spring 2006

Natalia Rozanova
Moscow EducationUSA Advising Center, Moscow 109189, Nikolo-Yamskay 1, 7-495-777-6532, nnr@useic.ru, www.useic.ru

Project Title: “Getting a Master of Business Administration in the U.S.: Peculiarities of the Application Procedure for the Full Two-Year Programs."

Objectives:

  1. To get a better understanding of admission committees’ objectives in making their decisions about accepting MBA students, about the programs offered by/at the business schools that I am going to visit, and to find answers to specific questions that I collected from my colleagues and advisees. I wanted to become more acquainted with different teaching methods applied at business schools and learn how business schools' career centers work.
  2. To establish relationship with business schools officials to use those contacts in further work with MBA students. (to get up to date information, to find answers for difficult issues, to arrange lectures of leading business schools in Moscow, etc.)
  3. To increase a number of activities for business students as well as the quality of their conduction.

During the program I had a chance to visit seven business schools and one commercial organization. There were: Bank of America, NC, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business; University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration; Georgetown University, The Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business; University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business; George Washington University, School of Business; Duke University, Fuqua School of Business; University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Belk College of Business.

I met with business professors, admission officers, and career center officials; I spoke with Russian students. I was also given an opportunity to sit in on three classes (one in Darden and two in Fuqua) and observe discussions on leadership, ethical and business related issues. I managed to collect a lot of information and established a good relationship with business school representatives.

Findings. There were many openings dealing with my advising work for me during the trip (see detailed report). Here I just wanted to point out that I managed to collect a lot of information dealing with different aspects of the application process to US business schools; availability of getting financial aid, possibilities of taking loans from US banks without a co-signer, if you are accepted to certain b. schools. I got acquainted with the structure and important work of Career centers, learned about the application procedure of getting H1B visa for international students. My visit to the Bank of America, allowed me to get to know the other side of job search process – showed to me from a side of an organization that recruit international students and views the process a little bit differently.

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Dorothy Mora and Henry Scott, U.S. Department of State, Allison Hawley, REAC for Eurasia, Robin Solomon, Natalia Sirchenko, US Embassy, Moscow, Janine, Carol, and all College Board team, Debbie Hefferon our wonderful trainer, US university representatives, all those who gave advisers a wonderful opportunity to take part in a program and grow professionally. Thank you very much!

Follow-up/Next Steps

Click here to download extended version of the report.

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