Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I Can't Believe Another Year is Nearly Over

I can remember when I was a little girl, hearing my grandmother lament about the passage of time. I often heard, "Where has the time gone?" Or, "I can't believe it's time to put up the Christmas lights again." I never really understood what she meant. As a child, time marches along fairly slowly - summer vacation is forever away and the days before Christmas seem to last 48 rather than 24 hours. As we age, we start to use the phrases of our parents and grandparents. I now find myself saying, with alarming regularity, "I can't believe another semester is almost over."

The University is closed for the Winter Holiday beginning on Friday, December 23. We return to the office on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. YES, 2012! Wasn't it just yesterday that we were storing water and batteries in preparation for world chaos to reign on January 1, 2000?

MBA Orientation is Monday, January 9 through Friday, January 13 and then the spring semester begins on Tuesday, January 17. On Monday, January 16, the University will be closed in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

PhD application deadline is January 15; however, I do recommend submitting all materials as soon as possible. Many departments will begin reviewing files before this published deadline. First round offers will go out mid-February. We do keep a small waiting list while we wait to hear back from this first group. Second round offers are then made if necessary.

MIS application deadline is February 1. You can find a complete list of all application requirements at http://gsb.uark.edu/admissions.asp.

At this time of year, students are anxious to learn the status of their files. We, in admissions, answer these queries as quickly as possible. As the spring semester begins, we have back to back application deadlines. We will process PhD and MAECON, then move on to MIS, then to MAcc, Professional MIS, and finally to MBA and MMBA. I review all files prior to each deadline and inform students of any missing documents. Please be patient with us as we do have a small admissions staff and we are receiving more and more applications each year. This is an excellent problem to have.

Happy Holidays!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Catching Up

I have been trying to write on the blog all week. I am not sure what happened but I haven't been able to get it to save and publish. I split up what I wrote and am posting it in two separate posts and for some reason, it's working. Ah, technical difficulties.

I have been off the radar. Where have I been? I have had Disney on the brain. My family went to Disney World over Thanksgiving break. We surprised the kids and did not tell them until the day we left. It was a fabulous trip. If you have not been, I highly recommend it.

The kids and I visited the Lights of the Ozarks on the Fayetteville Square earlier this week. This is an annual Holiday tradition for many.


We are in our final stages of admissions for the MBA program to begin in January. We currently have 40 students who will start next month. I have four more complete files for committee review and I am expecting two more to be finished by the end of the month. Average GMAT is 632, average GPA is 3.25, and average age is currently 25. These numbers will change as we finalize this class.

For those who are planning on starting the Walton MBA in January of 2013, now is the perfect time to get started. To be eligible for funding, all material must be submitted by April 1. See our complete list at http://gsb.uark.edu/admissions.asp. Book your first GMAT for February. This way, if you need to retest, you can do so in March. Book it now! February fills up. Start studying! You need these two months to prepare adequately for the test.

Those most competitive for admission will have a 620+ on the GMAT, two years of work experience, and a 3.3 on their last 60 hours. These are NOT minimums. It does not mean that someone with a 660 and one year are not admissible and it does not meant that someone with a 580 and seven years of work experience are not admissible. The committee selects the best 40-45 of the pool. The pool varies from year to year.

Be sure to email gsb@walton.uark.edu with any questions about the Walton Master's or PhD degree programs.