“What are you hoping to get from this program?” 

Every 12 weeks a new professor asks me this question. My answer has evolved a bit since last summer, but here’s an explanation of how I got here and where I’m headed.

I am a scientist by training with an undergrad degree from Notre Dame in biology.  I spent a summer slogging through Notre Dame’s Undergraduate Research Center in the UP of Michigan, counting dragonfly larvae, squatting in bogs at 3 a.m. playing amphibian mating calls, and herding fish with electric currents (yes, apparently ecologists think gently pulsing WATER with ELECTRICITY in the middle of the night is safe).  From there I moved to Florida State and got a master’s in biology and a PhD in neuroscience and then went to the Ivy League to perform cancer research.  You would think with all that learning, there would be some business right?  My mom taught me how to balance a checkbook (not sure my bond trader dad could) and I had a high school accounting class.  I was a scientist who could pay his bills on time. What else did I need?  So naïve.

Jumping in with Two Feet

Fast forward a few years and imagine my delight when my then employer was acquired by a larger and albeit equally “entertaining” company to work for.  I moved from medical affairs to marketing, to be the brand leader for the drug I was a medical director on.  I remember the VP of marketing recounting the story of her sitting in Newark airport, relaying her shock and horror at having a PhD foisted on her to run marketing for one of the three brands the company would have. My experience in marketing at that point was nothing more than the fact that I was easily influenced by catchy jingles on TV.

To her credit, she (and the rest of the department) jumped in with two feet and helped me through it.  Budget what?  Market research who?  But I knew right then and there that my skill set, while admirable, was all wrong for what I really wanted to do (and really enjoyed doing).  I knew I needed an MBA or some formal training in business.  I had a job that required travel, lots of travel.  I had a wife and two kids at home.  When was I going to get this done?

Learning the Business of Marketing

Fast-forward again to last spring and along came MBA@UNC and we had a match.  How hard could this be?  I had a PhD in neuroendocrinology.  C’mon, this can’t be that hard.  Right?

I was in it for the theory and to learn some things that would help me advance in my new career.  I also had just switched jobs and was getting away from science and medicine and more towards the business end of things.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to get from this program, but I knew I would get something.  I had ZERO business theory to my credit.  So I jumped in with two feet for my FIRST marketing class last summer.  Mind you, I’d already been a marketing manager, what possibly could I learn?  Enter the marketing professor, Linda Jin. She wasn’t teaching from a textbook or a theory she developed.  She was teaching what was going on today with some of the biggest companies in the world.  She had the CMO from a Fortune 500 company join us for a casual chat one night.  To underscore the need for analytics, we also had a visitor from a partner of a certain social networking company.

More Than a Professor                              

Linda has this intenseness to her delivery.  She has a way of pushing you to the limit.  Simply put, good is not good enough.  Amy Chua has NOTHING on Linda.  When I wanted to complete my capstone in PowerPoint, she “suggested” Microsoft Word. I ended typing up 35 pages – no pictures! And I ended up the better for it.  Ultimately, I refined my approach to brand marketing, which I recently inherited at my current company.

As I corresponded with Linda two weeks ago, she reminded me that just because she is no longer my professor doesn’t mean that I can’t call on her for advice. She might regret that offer, but that is what is so great about this program.  We are all in this together.  UNC is creating an amazing program and we are certainly getting our tuition’s worth in knowledge and networking.  Oh…and through all this, I found out two weeks ago that I got a promotion, thanks in part to MBA@UNC!

About Jamie DeMaria: Jamie graduated from Notre Dame with a BS in biology.  At Notre Dame he was a football manager and then a swim team manager his senior year.  He earned a Master’s in Biology, as well as a PhD in Neuroscience from Florida State.  After, a brief stint at UPenn researching molecular causes of breast cancer, he moved on to the pharmaceutical industry, where he has spent the better part of his career.  Last year he joined WebMD as part of their professional education division, Medscape Education, where currently he is the Vice President, Education Marketing and Strategy.  Jamie is married to Haley, who is an author, and they have two boys, aged 9 and 7. In his spare time (what there is of it) Jamie can be found building Legos, throwing a football or playing Wii with the kids.

Month 1: Focus on CONTENT

Collect your materials.  Start with the Official Guide (OG) published by GMAC, and the official test information from MBA.com. Learn the general format, content, and do a general overview of the GMAT test itself answering all the questions in the OG 11^th and 12^th editions.

Create a schedule working backwards from your test date. If you wait until you are “ready” to take the GMAT, you’ll probably never sign up. Choose a test date no sooner than three months from today and sign up. Knowing your Test Date is set will keep you more disciplined in your studies. If you’re working full time while you prep, then you might consider a four-five month study plan.

Study less, more often with clear “session goals.” Don’t try to cram by taking three days off mid-week and doing 12-hour sessions on the weekends. Your brain can only retain so much information at a time. It’s better to study in 45-minute sessions every day, with longer chunks on the weekends than to only study twice a week. Also, create a plan of action for each study period. What will you achieve?

Month 2: Focus on STRATEGY

Keep the focus on targeting weaknesses and building strategy. Once you’ve identified your weaknesses, turn them into strengths with more specific books. Are word problems weighing you down? Pick up MGMAT’s word problems guide. Have difficulty with critical reasoning? Powerscore CR is the only book you’ll need. Make sure you have a step-by-step strategy written out for each of the five GMAT question formats: CR, SC, RC, DS and PS.

Do verbal and quant together. Don’t spend a month on Verbal, and then pick up Quant. Study the concepts in tandem, switching off. Don’t let more than three days go by without doing a little of both. Both sections require time for your brain to get good at them.

Target your weaknesses with an error log. Track your incorrect questions after EACH lesson. Use the “60/40” rule, meaning you should be spending the majority of your study time (approximately 60percent) reviewing incorrect question explanations, and trying to fill gaps in your content knowledge. Spend no more than 40 percent of your study time answering new questions.

Month 3: Focus on PACING

Take a full GMAT practice test once a week. Two things change your score: Stronger knowledge of the tested content and more effective use of strategy. Give yourself enough time in between practice tests to analyze and make the needed adjustments. Plan to take about six practice tests minimum, one a week leading up to the test date. Make sure you can confidently answer all the questions in each section, even if you have to guess occasionally.

About Grockit: Grockit is a fun and engaging learning community that encourages students to learn from group study, game play, expert tutorials and solo study. Students that prepare with Grockit have proven to achieve higher scores on college admissions tests.

(Editor’s Note: Today we welcome a guest post from Veritas Prep where they give you great advice on how you should prepare for the new GMAT Integrated Reasoning section that we highlighted in our last post.)

1) Integrated reasoning is just what it sounds like.

The word “integrated” tells you most of what you need to know about this section. Its role is to test both verbal skills and quantitative skills in an integrated fashion.  Similar to reading comprehension, you will need to sift through, prioritize and draw quick mathematical inferences without wasting valuable time (like problem solving).  You will need to carefully evaluate whether certain conclusions can logically be drawn from data (critical reasoning) and whether this data can lead to a sound conclusion (the essence of data sufficiency).

So what’s the good news about integrated reasoning?  There’s precious little “new” material to study.  Your work on logic, reading comprehension and fundamental math will provide you with nearly all the tools required to succeed on IR.  And by doing some IR practice problems, you’ll actually find yourself improving on the other sections because you will be forced to evaluate those skills and concepts from new angles, enhancing your mental agility.

2) Become comfortable with graphics.

The only new knowledge base required for integrated reasoning relates to the graphics interpretation questions, which involve extracting and analyzing information from a variety of graphics.  For these questions, you should begin reviewing the types of graphs that you see in the official GMAC practice questions – such as bar graphs, pie charts, bubble charts and, Venn diagrams.  Once you’re familiar with these graphics, the questions read a lot like reading comprehension questions.  Accordingly, some basic graph familiarity will go a long way.  Once you can interpret how a graph is organized and where you’ll need to find the data, you can then let your already-integrated skill set take over.

3) Be question-stem oriented.

You’ve likely heard the phrase “paralysis by analysis” in business – and arguably the easiest way to struggle on the IR section is to succumb to it.  Each IR question type is designed to present you with much more data than you will actually need, giving you an opportunity to waste time and energy analyzing data that doesn’t matter for the questions themselves.  To be efficient, search specifically for data that will answer the question. Do not attempt to absorb all the data before you view the questions.  And note specific wording choices in the question stems – as in many reading comprehension, critical reasoning and problem solving questions, the trap answers in IR are often created through precision in wording.  When a question asks for the highest ratio of Y to X, beware that the data might be pre-sorted in a form that makes your natural inclination to read the ratio from X to Y.

4) Make the data your own.

One new feature of the IR format is that when data is presented in a table, you can sort the table in ascending/descending order by any of the column fields.  Be sure to use this to your advantage. Just as algebraic information on the quantitative section is often presented inconveniently, so is the table data on IR.  Savvy test-takers will save time and be much more effective in answering questions by sorting tables to match what’s being asked.  For example, if a question asks, “Did the item with the highest score in category A also have the lowest score in category B?” you must sort by column A (or column B) to get the highest score in one column and compare it to the data presented in the other.

5) Remember that valid conclusions must be true.

When a question asks you whether a conclusion is valid or whether an inference can logically be drawn, the answer is “yes” only if the conclusion is proven “must be true.” “Probably true” means that it could be false, and therefore is an invalid conclusion.  Many IR questions will come in what looks like true/false form, with the overarching question “Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the data?”  Your job is to hold those conclusions up to the “must be true” test and if you find that the answer is “not necessarily,” select no. This is also a useful strategy for critical reasoning.

As you prepare for the IR section, remember this: The vast majority of the skills that you will need are those that overlap with the other sections. The questions in this section will have the most professional applications and carry over into your success at business school. Don’t see the IR section as “new” or “additional.” Instead see it for what it is – an excellent opportunity to solidify your concept/skill base for the test as a whole.

About Veritas Prep: Veritas Prep is the world’s largest privately owned GMAT preparation and admissions consulting provider, offering industry-leading programs to help applicants improve their test scores and gain admission to the world’s best graduate schools. Veritas Prep offers live GMAT prep instruction in more than 80 cities worldwide, as well as interactive online courses available everywhere. Additionally, Veritas Prep offers industry-leading admissions consulting services for applicants seeking admission to the most competitive business schools in the world.

(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is contributed by the team at Grockit, an online test prep service that boasts a variety of social learning features for their users. In this article, Grockit offers their insight on the new GMAT and what you need to know.)

Who?

The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) is launching a new version of its signature test, GMAT.  After surveying faculty at top business schools worldwide, and in conjunction with an advisory board of international business faculty and staff, GMAC is making its first significant change to the test in years — the last big change was in 1997, when the GMAT became computer-adaptive.

What?

The new section of the test is called “integrated reasoning” and the name fits the task.  There are four new question types that combine — or integrate — verbal and quantitative reasoning:

Two-Part Analysis: The solution to the problem contains two parts, with the answers in table form.  The test-taker needs to choose the correct answer for each of the parts after examining their interrelationship.

Multi-source Reasoning: Two or three different sources of information are given, followed by multiple-choice, true/false or yes/no questions.  The sources might be text (perhaps memos, e-mails or reports) or might be data in table or chart form.

Graphics Interpretation: Given a graph or image, test-takers need to interpret the information and select answer choices that accurately complete several incomplete statements.

Table Analysis: Given a sortable spreadsheet for analysis, test-takers respond to a series of true/false or yes/no questions based on the data on the spreadsheet.

The questions are not computer-adaptive. And while there are a number of questions on each screen from a given prompt (a graph, table, problem or set of information), information will not carry over from one prompt to another, and test-takers must still answer the questions in order.  Integrated reasoning will be a separate score, like the essay portion.

Where?

This new section takes the place of one of the essays in the “analytical writing assessment.”  Where before test-takers had to write two essays, an “analysis of an issue” (an exercise in supporting your own argument) and an “analysis of an argument” (an exercise in evaluating what’s missing from another’s argument), only the argument essay remains. Integrated reasoning fills exactly the same amount of time. The test will therefore begin with the 30-minute argument essay, proceed directly to the integrated reasoning (also 30 minutes, like the essay it replaces), then give the option of a break before the quantitative section.  The test still lasts 3 hours and 30 minutes, or 4 hours with the optional breaks.

When?

Beta testing was recently completed last month. The Integrated-reasoning portion will debut in June 2012; so- it’s coming soon.

Why?

The increasing reliance on computer-generated information has led GMAC to alter the test format in an important way. These questions are meant to test the types of skills required by the world of business today:

• Making decisions based on a realistic mixture of quantitative and verbal data
• Reorganizing information to answer questions and evaluate trends
• Understanding the interrelationship of data when solving complex problems

This is a new measurement of business acumen, a new way for admissions offices to differentiate MBA aspirants with otherwise similar records.

About Grockit – Grockit is a fun and engaging learning community that encourages students to learn from group study, game play, expert tutorials and solo study. Students that prepare with Grockit have proven to achieve higher scores on college admissions tests.

(Editor’s Note: In today’s post, UNC Kenan-Flagler professor Dave Roberts shares his insight on identifying influence in the workplace and pushing forward new ideas with those who matter.)

Ditch the formal org chart and find the real influencers in your own company so that you can successfully sell your ideas

If you have a great idea but you can’t persuade and influence the right people about its merits, your idea is very likely to languish.

Knowing how to sell your ideas can help you persuade others at your company to implement initiatives that you create, or better guarantee a successful outcome with an external customer.

You can take several concrete steps to improve your skills of persuasion and communicate in a way that drives the action you want:

• Identify the influencers
• Know what makes the influencer tick
• Ask questions to get the influencer to sell themselves on your idea

Identify the Influencers

The first step to selling your idea is to understand whom you have to influence to be effective. This is regularly not done well because people often fail to recognize the difference between formal and informal power in an organization. To effectively influence, you need to find who has informal power: i.e. those who are always able to get things done inside an organization, often irrespective of their title or where they fall within the organizational chart.

A good time to identify those who have informal power is during a time of organizational change. Follow the money, follow the programs and follow the allocation of good people when change occurs. Now, with the dip in the economy, changes likely will occur more often, making it easier to pinpoint the influencers.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Who gets involved in decisions – especially decisions that don’t appear to concern that person directly?
• Whom do people within the organization “always” go to for advice?
• Who regularly breaks the rules?
• Who are the trusted lieutenants of those at the helm of the company?

One of the most common misperceptions among organizational workers is the concept of peers within their company. There is actually no such thing as a true peer. If an organizational chart shows four or five people at the same formal level (the traditional notion of a “peer”), there is always somebody who is more influential than others.

Know what makes the influencer tick

After you identify the person to target to sell your idea, start planning for the meeting as if it were an external sales call where you are promoting a product or a service. Before you meet with the person, identify what drives them, and what is important to them from both a personal and a functional perspective:

• Do they make decisions because it makes them look good or because it positions them for a promotion?
• Do they make decisions based on the easiest option for them?
• Do they make decisions because they think their job is to be seen as a leader?
• What external pressures are they under?
• What are they trying to achieve for their business?
• How do they view change?

This allows you to adeptly steer the conversation and also allows you to anticipate resistance the person may have to your idea.

Interestingly, the best predictor of a successful outcome in selling an idea is that you – as the seller – are optimistic about the outcome. Learning all you can about  your target will fuel that optimism.

Ask questions to get the influencer to sell themselves on your idea

Carefully plan the beginning of the meeting. The first 60 to 90 seconds of the interaction are crucial to the success of the meeting. Very few people can open a meeting naturally well without preparation. The last thing that you want is a weak introduction of the meeting to set the tone for the conversation.

During the meeting, keep in mind that the best way to persuade someone is not to tell them, but to ask them insightful questions. Through questioning, you get the person you are trying to influence to develop answers that will support your idea. Most people believe their own conclusions. A good way to achieve a successful outcome to an influence meeting is to prepare three or four very deep, insightful questions that get the other person to tell themselves the messages you are trying to convey.

Even after identifying those with informal power in an organization, exhaustively preparing for your dialogue and executing a successful meeting, you still might struggle to close the sale. Keep in mind that the problem might rest with the person you are influencing and not you. Style matters. One of the possible barriers is the other person’s personality style. There will always be times when the combination of your and their styles hampers you from easily influencing them.

You can’t change yourself, but you can change your behavior in response to the clues and cues the other person gives you about their personality style. Understand what type of person they are, what behaviors they need from you, and move toward meeting them halfway.

About the author: 

Dave Roberts is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at UNC Kenan-Flagler and brings more than 25 years of experience of helping organizations improve their performance in sales, sales consulting and sales management.

Professor Roberts, a native of England, has worked with leading organizations in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America to help his clients optimize their sales effectiveness and achieve business results. His clients include Avaya, EDS, IBM, Microsoft, Nortel, Sun Microsystems and United Health Group.

Professor Roberts received his degree in electronic engineering from the University of Hull and holds a U.S. commercial pilot license.

As part of our San Francisco immersion, MBA@UNC students took on that challenge as part of an exercise in innovation led by Action Learning Associates.

Students focused on ideation, rapid prototyping, selling the concept and refining it based on “investor” feedback, and the teams came up with some impressive ideas along the way.

We posted each product concept on Quirky.com, an online innovation marketplace that helps take great ideas from concept to reality. Their ideas are posted under Action Learning and are open for the public to vote and comment on.

Ideas that have the most promise and get community votes are more likely to get the attention of the selection committee, and if selected, will be taken to market.

Take a look at this list and show your support for the ideas that you feel have the most promise. Teams will get founder credit, and if the designs do evolve to actual products, they will get revenue share in the product sales, which we’ll donate to a charity in the name of MBA@UNC.

For more information about our Immersions, read an overview here or student Brian McGrath’s latest post on his San Francisco experience.

1.) The Hardwood Handi-Pen

For easy touch-ups of your hardwood floors, use this two-sided marker-like pen with resin and gloss.

2.) The Drawer Shield

The hidden, protective cover prevents the contents of kitchen and bathroom drawers from shifting and jamming.

3.) The Snow Lion

The Snow Lion reduces the effort required to remove snow from pathways and prevents snow from accumulating so you to don’t get snowed in.

4.) The Snap N Strain

The Snap N Strain is a standard strainer and funnel with an attached silicone cup that snaps on the side of any 8-10-inch skillet.

5.) The Grocery Grabber

To help you with all your groceries, the Grocery Grabber is an adjustable shoulder strap that allows you to carry grocery bags, hands-free.

6.) The Simple Seat

This is a self-retracting strapping system for child car seats; the straps gently retract and can be stored in the seat.

7.) The Urban Sherpa

This super compact pull cart can carry multiple shopping bags and features a shaft with a comfortable handle, hooks along the sides and a wheel at the bottom.

8.) The Bottle Blaster

This countertop solution will sanitize and deodorize a variety of drinking containers and help  eliminate odors without even having to use the sink.

9.) The Trash Can Scan

Trash Can Scan is a bar code reader for your trash can. Keep inventory of your household items and attach it to any flat surface to scan items as they are being disposed of.

10.) The Intellisole

Intellisole is an insole that fits into running shoes and provides real-time feedback on pressure distribution on your feet to help you run healthy!

11.) The Faucet Flow

Faucet-Flow 360 is a 360-degree faucet attachment for your bathroom sink for fast and easy cleanup in the bathroom.

12.) The GO-Key

The GO-Key unlocks your door automatically, allowing easy entry with just a push on the door even when your hands are full.

Now that I am in the program I read the various news articles on online MBA programs out of curiosity, and I chose to contribute to this blog to show others what life was like in the MBA@UNC program as well as help dispel any myths about the online experience. That said, an article featured in the FINS section of last week’s Wall Street Journal on “The Downside and Upside of an Online MBA” by Beecher Tuttle led me to believe that perhaps our student blogs do not do enough to accurately portray student life in this program.

Doug Shackelford, the program’s associate dean, said that the University aimed to “shatter the perceptions of online education” with the introduction of this program.   Perceptions will only change through education. I hope this post will be provide better insight to prospective students, hiring managers and reporters alike when evaluating  MBA@UNC.

Myth #1:

Inability to provide practice in interpersonal skills, such as team oriented projects and public presentations 

I obviously cannot speak for other online programs, but I had to chuckle at the irony of these “weaknesses” of an online program. Friends who attended various full-time top business programs always marveled at how their professors could turn any assignment into a group project. I have yet to experience any deviation from this path. My cohort is nearly half way through the program and group projects have comprised 20-40 percent of our grades and coursework thus far.

As for presentations, we’ve had at least one per class in addition to an entire course dedicated to business communications where we presented on different topics every single week. Not to mention, the professors know if you haven’t watched the asynchronous material prior to the live class meeting each week. (The downside of this online program:It’s really tough to be a slacker when your class attendance is time stamped.) We might not have to formally present, but when you only have just 10-15 people per class you can count on talking quite a bit. Everyone sits on the front row  in this program.

Myth #2:

Inability to make real-world connections, “meet” the right people or network 

One of the recurring themes my fellow bloggers and I have  touched on is how the relationships we’ve formed over the last nine months surpassed all our expectations.  Though, when you spend three hours a week in class and usually another four-six meeting about projects or homework assignments it’s impossible not to develop a relationship with your fellow classmates, which the quarterly global immersions have only reinforced.

I wasn’t really sure what the article meant by “meeting the right people” or how one defines the right people. My cohort (we all started in July) represents 10 states and a wide variety of industries, from aerospace to medical technology.  Since I spent the last decade in the financial industry, most everyone I knew prior to starting MBA@UNC was in banking or investments; given the diversity of this program, this program continues to vastly expand my network.

Myth #3: 

On-premise business schools can mimic the corporate environment:

It’s 2012, not 1992 or even 2002. We live in the digital age. The traditional corporate environment where teams must sit around the same table in order to accomplish anything is obsolete. MBA@UNC embodies the present and future, rather than looking to mimic the past. Truthfully, I wouldn’t be surprised to see certain aspects of the online program eventually make their way into the full time program in order to better prepare tomorrow’s candidates for certain realities of corporate life.

At the end of the day, for some an online degree could never replace a full-time degree and for others a traditional program will never be in the cards.  No amount of education will change that, so I’ll wrap up with this. To prospective students: If you are looking at an online program to simply “check the MBA block,” there are far easier ways than MBA@UNC. To all others: I hope the perception that online is a euphemism for lower quality, even at UNC, fades with your own edification about the program, because learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.

About Kristen Fanarakis: Kristen spent the last 13 years working in financial services after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in economics and political science.  She started her career in investment management in Boston where she earned her masters in international economics part-time.  She spent the last seven years in foreign exchange sales covering institutional managers for various Wall Street banks and is currently working on a novel based on her experiences.

There is still a disparity in earnings and leadership titles across genders, but there are more outspoken advocates of professional women than ever before. Notable leaders like Arianna Huffington, Sheryl Sandberg, Rachel Sklar, and Sarah Blakely help fuel this conversation in the media and champion for the advancement of women everywhere.

Some common themes in the conversation:

• Confidence: Media pioneer Arianna Huffington cites lack of confidence as a killer to success for women.  In order to advance their careers, women need to be comfortable seeing themselves as qualified leaders and risk takers.

Fact: 40 percent of large companies have no women on their boards and only 5 percent of startups are owned by women.

• Inclusivity: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and “Change the Ratio” blogger Rachel Sklar are vocal about female inclusivity and encourage women to support each another at all levels.  When organizations actively consider women as key stakeholders, the results often prove to be beneficial for all.

Fact: Companies with more equalized gender distribution have 30 percent better IPOs.

• Knowledge:  For innovators like Spanx founder Sara Blakeley, it’s not just about what you know, but what you don’t know that can set you apart. Women need to understand their strengths and how to leverage what they don’t know as their greatest assets.

Fact: Women pursuing MBAs are at an all-time high. Women now make up one-third of all MBA candidates.

If you’re interested in exploring the state of women at work, take a close look at this infographic that is full of statistics about this topic.

Embed this Graphic on Your Site:

<a href="http://onlinemba.unc.edu/mba-at-unc-blog/women-at-work-infographic/"> <img src="http://onlinemba.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/Women-at-Work-Infographic-MBAatUNC.jpg" alt="Women at Work Infographic Via MBA@UNC" width="600" border="0" /></a><br />Via MBA@UNC <a href="http://onlinemba.unc.edu">MBA Online</a> & <a href="http://women2.org">Women 2.0</a>