Bobby Pins, Origami, and Cross-Stitches, Oh My: Another Knewton Craft Night

April 30th, 2011

We’ve got some pretty crafty people here at Knewton. Last craft night, among other projects, Abby (one of our designers) led the troops in some old-fashioned headband making. This week, there were a few different projects going on: origami, cross-stitching, and some pretty hard-core bobby-pin assemblage.

Ashley Delose (aka “Delose” — can you tell she was the second Ashley on the scene?) led the bobby pin effort. Delose, a front-end developer on the tech team, is also a jewelry designer. You can check out ashdel handmade, her eco-friendly operation, by going to her blog or etsy shop. If you’re local, you can find both ashdel handmade and Bambako, Abby’s headband line, at The 7th Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this summer!

Since we’re all for entrepreneurship (and bragging about our talented employees), we decided to interview Delose about her experience with ashdel handmade.

Can you tell us a little bit about ashdel handmade?

My work is ‘eco-friendly’ and made from vintage and recycled textiles, I enjoy the process of collecting/re-using, I’m a self-taught, independent jewelry designer inspired by traditional sewing techniques, and this was my first how-to!

How did you get the idea?

I started experimenting with textiles during college, but it wasn’t after I graduated that I started teaching myself how to make textile jewelry. I’ve been collecting fabric for the last 9 years (mostly vintage, or recycled from vintage clothing). It’s important to me to use materials I already have acquired. I have enough to last a lifetime! It’s tempting to rummage for more fabric, but at this point I have so much to work with that it’s a fun creative challenge to find ways to use what I already have.

My work is experimental, and process driven, I enjoy making things up as I go along and don’t enjoy making the same thing twice. Each piece is unique and sometimes not easily reproducible, given the finite amount of the vintage/recycled fabric. The ‘fabric button bobby pins’ (the ones made during craft night!) are created using traditional hand sewing techniques. The combinations of fabric, sequins, buttons, etc. make them one-of-a-kind.

Interested in making your own bobby pins? Download Delose’s how-to PDF!

Posted in Inside Knewton, Knewton | 1 Comment »

Exploring Joint Degree Programs: The MD/MBA

April 30th, 2011

In recent years, business schools have begun to offer more joint and dual degree programs. An MBA is a versatile degree, and it pairs well with many other fields. Interested in the advantages, challenges and requirements involved in pursuing two degrees at once? In this series, we’ll chronicle the pros and cons of a number of degree combinations, and explore some of the career options they can open up.

First up: the MD/MBA.

What it is:

MD/MBA programs offer candidates the chance to get two degrees: a Masters of Business Administration and Doctor of Medicine.

Who offers it:

According to the American College of Physician Executives, about 65 MD/MBA dual degree programs are currently offered in the United States.

Top business schools that offer joint MD/MBA programs include Columbia, Tuck, Fuqua, Harvard, Kellogg, Wharton, Stanford, and Yale, among many others. For a list of programs that are part of the Association of MD/MBA Programs, click here (note that this list does not include all MD/MBA programs in the US.) For another list from the Association of American Medical Colleges, click here (scroll down to the second page of the document).

What it entails:

Joint MBA/MD programs typically comprise 4-5 years of coursework. For 4-year programs, some MBA coursework is typically conducted during the summers preceding the first and second year of medical school. In 5 year programs, the first three years are typically devoted to medical coursework, the forth to MBA coursework, and the fifth to a combination of the two.

Although specific schedules will obviously vary by program, check out Harvard’s MBA/MD plan for a glimpse at a sample setup:

For a first-hand perspective on the degree, check out this post about a Tuck MD/MBA student’s experience!

Getting in:

Application guidelines vary depending on the specific program. At most schools, candidates must apply separately to both the medical school and business school. Some programs will require students to apply concurrently, and indicate their interest in the joint degree program; others will allow medical students in their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year to apply to the MBA program. GMAT requirements also vary depending on the school.

Who should consider it:

If you’re interested in a career that incorporates both medicine and business, an MD/MBA might be the right choice for you. Many people are drawn to joint MD/MBA degrees as a result of their dissatisfaction with the current state and practice of healthcare in this country. There are a number of potential career paths for which an MD/MBA can prepare students: examples include hospital management, HMO management, medical school administration, medical device entrepreneurship, or health policy. Many MD/MBAs become practicing physicians, perhaps using their MBA to start a business on the side or help manage their own medical practice.

Every MD/MBA program is different; be sure to ask questions of the admissions office, professors, and current students as you’re doing research. A common complaint from joint degree students is that the business curriculum is not as well integrated into the medical coursework as it could be — this is an important question to pose to current students.

Though there have not been many studies done of MD/MBA degree holders, two MD/MBA students recently completed a poll of 55 joint degree holders, asking them questions about their career satisfaction, salary, and professional path. Ninety-three percent of respondents reported that the MD/MBA had been “worthwhile,” and 89% said they had seen a significant ROI. For other survey results,  click here.

 

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Life After B-School: 5 Very Different Chicago Booth Grads

April 29th, 2011

Our Life After Business School series chronicles the careers of a MBAs from a variety of b-schools. In this installment, check out the paths of five grads of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

The Governor:

Jon Corzine, MBA ‘73
Corzine, a Democrat, served as the 54th Governor of New Jersey from 2006 – 2010 and as a U.S. Senator representing New Jersey from 2001- 2006. Before getting involved in politics, Corzine had a long financial career. After getting his MBA, he began to work for Goldman Sachs; he eventually became Chairman and CEO of the firm and led the company’s transition to a publicly traded corporation. He left Goldman Sachs in 1999 and went on to his successful Senate run.

The Coach:

Craig Robinson, MBA ‘92
Robinson, the head men’s basketball coach at Oregon State University, might be best known as the brother of Michelle Obama — but he also holds a coveted MBA from Chicago Booth. After getting his MBA, Robinson, who played basketball at Princeton University, worked as a VP at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and a managing director and partner at a boutique investment banking firm. Eventually, though, Robinson decided that the financial world wasn’t for him, and went back to his first love–basketball. He’s been a coach for Northwestern, Brown, and Oregon State, and is proof that getting an MBA doesn’t have to lock you into a so-called “traditional” career path.

The Journalist:

Megan McArdle, MBA ‘01
McArdle currently works as a blogger and the business and economics editor for The Atlantic. After getting her MBA at Booth, McArdle, who also holds a B.A. in English from UPenn, started blogging about political issues on her personal blog. Before joining The Atlantic as a full-time blogger, she wrote for The Economist. McArdle undoubtedly uses the business lessons she picked up at Booth everyday in her writings about economics, finance, and government policy.

The Entrepreneur and Venture Investor:

Andy Narayanan, MBA ‘05
Narayanan is the cofounder of dealigee.com, a secondary marketplace to buy and resell “deal” vouchers from popular sites like Groupon and LivingSocial. He is also a venture investor at an angel investing group based in Chicago. Immediately after getting his MBA, he worked as an engagement manager at Booz & Company in Chicago. He has said that, ever since he attended college in India, he wanted to be an entrepreneur. His years at business school doubtless helped give him the skills he needed to turn his dream into a reality.

The Private Equity Partner:

William E. Conway, MBA ‘74
Conway is a co-founder of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. He founded the firm in 1987 and currently serves as a partner, managing director, and chairman of the investment committee. Immediately after getting his MBA, Conway worked at First National Bank, working his way up to a loan group head. He then moved on to be a VP and treasurer at MCI Communications Corporation, before starting The Carlyle Group, which now employs more than 400 investment professionals and has offices in 16 countries.

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6 Free Tools for Current Events Lessons

April 29th, 2011

As any teacher knows, educating students involves more than having them memorize the Pythagorean Theorem or Gettysburg Address. Teaching current events — and what’s more, giving students the opportunity to reflect on, debate, and think critically about them — is essential to helping students become well-informed world citizens.

There are a number of awesome resources teachers can draw upon to help supplement current events lessons. Here are 6 ideas:

1. Explore Google Maps and Google Earth

Knowledge of geography goes hand in hand with knowledge of current events. There are tons of ways that educators can use Google Maps to supplement lessons. The most obvious use is to show students the location of the event being discussed — you can even map out how far it is from the school. But that’s not all: there are plenty of opportunities to get creative. For example, you can use this Google Earth mashup to give students a visual perspective of recent earthquakes around the world, or go on “virtual field trips” around the world by going to the “Street View” or “Photos” option on Google Maps. There’s even a whole Google Earth for Educators forum, with tons of ideas and sample lesson plans.

2. Check out student versions of mainstream media sites

Many mainstream media sources have special “student” areas of their websites — one of the best is the New York Times’ Learning Network, which provides quizzes, discussion questions, and lesson plans based on current events. Lessons help students stay informed while developing critical thinking skills.  Be sure to check out this great post on how to “teach any day’s Times,” featuring games, discussion starters, word play, and maps. Getting students in the routine of reading the news daily will help cultivate an interest and appreciation in current events that will hopefully last a lifetime.

Other student news sites include:

3. Use VoiceThread to help students understand diverse perspectives

VoiceThread allows users to create collaborative, multimedia slide shows using images, documents, and video. The service offers free accounts for educators. Students can create their own slide shows and comment on others’ using voice, text, or video.

There are a ton of applications for VoiceThread — one option is to assign students to adopt the perspective of a figure in the news and create a presentation on an assigned issue from that figure’s perspective. Put students into groups and have them comment on their classmates’ VoiceThread. For example, in a lesson about the recent U.S. budget crisis, one student might have been assigned to create a VoiceThread from the perspective of President Obama, another from Speaker John A. Boehner’s perspective, and another from Senator Harry Reid’s point of view. Have them research their assigned figure’s stance, background, and stake in the issue before creating the VoiceThread. (Another option is to have students create VoiceThreads detailing their own perspective on the issues!)

You can find a helpful VoiceThread tutorial here.

4. Tweet about it

There are a variety of ways to use Twitter in your current events lessons. Create a class account and follow relevant current events hashtags to give students real-time updates and a variety of perspectives on the news. Or, have each student create individual Twitter handles for use in class; you can then create specialized hashtags to facilitate real-time discussions that can take place in and out of class. Is Twitter blocked at your school, or are you worried about the implications of giving students access to the site? Check out edmodo, a school-friend “Twitter with training wheels.”

5. Help students make a difference

Sometimes it’s not enough to teach students about crises. Sites like Students Rebuild can help show them that there are easy ways to make a difference, too! Students Rebuild mobilizes students to take action on global issues. Students can create teams for various initiatives (their most recent project involved making paper cranes to raise money for Japan), fundraise, learn, and connect with other students.

6. Teach the science behind the news

The Why Files is a great site that helps contextualize complicated news stories (the site’s motto is “bringing you the science behind the news”). Teaching students about the natural disasters in Japan? Articles about the Warnings of Tsunamis and Understanding Quakes, written specifically with current events in mind, will help students understand the broader context of these natural disasters. The site also has a Teacher Activity page to help educators plan lessons around their content.

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MBA News Roundup: HBS Leadership Fellows, $20 Million "MBA Draft," Compensation for Female MBAs

April 28th, 2011

Welcome to another installment of Knewton’s MBA News Round-up! This week, check out articles on this year’s HBS Leadership Fellows, the $20 million “MBA Draft,” compensation for female MBAs, and the annual “Follies” show at top b-schools nationwide.

1. GMAT Exam Now Accepted by More than 5,000 Programs

As new business and management programs are springing up everywhere, GMAT popularity hits a new high.

2. Harvard Business School Announces New Leadership Fellows

Leading nonprofit and public sector organizations are offering 8 outstanding HBS grads $45k a year, which HBS will match. Check out the winners and what they’re doing to change the world!

3. $20 Million MBA Draft

Want an MBA but worried about the cost? The “Consortium” may be able to help: the single largest MBA scholarship fund in the world has offered $225 million to 6,000 MBA students since its founding in 1966.

4. Top Job Offers Underline the Importance of the MBA

A global perspective and access to an “unmatched diversity of thought” are just two of the reasons the MBA remains desirable in today’s business landscape.

5. More Female MBAs but Little Gain for Equal Pay

The number of women MBAs is rising, but compensation stats have not improved accordingly. What’s going on?

6.  The Annual “Follies” Show at Top B-Schools

If you’re curious about extracurricular life at Kellogg, Stern, or Columbia, check out this annual tradition proving that MBAs know how to poke fun at themselves and play just as hard as they work.

 

 

 

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Meet the Management Team: Chris Rosenbaum, Director of Academic Platform Programs

April 28th, 2011

This week, meet Chris Rosenbaum, part of the management team here at Knewton. After you read about Chris, be sure to check out other Knewton Peeps posts!

Position (and what you actually do):

Director, Academic Platform Programs – I work to develop new relationships with educational institutions and other partners that could use our platform technologies.

What were you up to before you came to Knewton?

I was a Director at Kaplan most recently.

What’s your background/what was your path to Knewton?

I sorta backed into education. I taught and tutored during college, including teaching GMAT and LSAT for Kaplan. I was looking at a number of jobs after graduation while training new Kaplan instructors in the Philadelphia area. One thing led to another and I took a management role there as my first job. Now, almost ten years later I’m still in education, albeit in the more exciting technology area of the industry now.

What part of your job do you enjoy most, or what’s the one accomplishment you’re most proud of?

I really enjoy working with all of these external organizations and seeing how excited they are with what we’re building here. It’s rare that you can work on something that is so meaningful, whose destiny is entirely in your collective hands. I’ve been at Knewton since day one, and to see what we’ve grown into is incredible — and the best is certainly yet to come.

What are you working on now?

Lots of travel, and conferences, and discussions with schools. Plus, demoing our platform to many different educators and influencers.

Any hobbies, secret quirks, or talents?

I play piano and guitar, used to own my own DJ / production company, and have bowled a perfect 300 in Wii bowling.

What’s your favorite place or neighborhood in NYC?

I’ve only been in NYC for 3 years, so I’m still enjoying all parts of it, though I did thoroughly enjoy the West Village when Knewton was based down there.

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Law School Admissions Tip: Dealing With a Ding, Part I

April 27th, 2011

Every other Wednesday, our friends at Clear Admit will share a helpful law school admissions tip. For more, check out their blog.

With many law schools releasing their decisions, the spring notification season will soon be coming to a close. While we would like to hope that today’s topic isn’t apropos for too many of our readers, we wanted to offer some advice to applicants who’ve been rejected from their preferred programs and are planning on reapplying next season. While it’s important to take some time to deal with the disappointment, it’s never too early to begin thinking about the next season, and there are a number of steps you can take to improve your candidacy and move toward a stronger application.

1) Reevaluate. While it’s certainly difficult when things don’t go to plan, this is actually a great chance to take stock of your career and goals, and make sure that a law degree is still a logical and necessary step at this point. It’s this sort of reflection that can lead to refined career goals and a clearer sense of the reasons you need a legal education.

2) Revisit your applications. Once you’ve gained some distance from the emotional and time-consuming application process, it’s wise to review the materials you submitted to the schools with a critical eye. Having learned much about the process simply by applying, it’s likely that you’ll be able to identify a number of things that you could have done better. Whether you suspect your downfall was something like a strategic misstep in an essay, or a more glaring weakness like a low LSAT, there is plenty of time to address your shortcomings before submitting an application next year.

3) Consider your data points. Your results this year may reflect some valuable information about your competitiveness at a top program. It’s important that you only apply to schools that you would be happy attending, but if you were unsuccessful at all of the programs to which you applied, it might be time to think about how realistic your list of target schools was and to add a few more to the mix. This is especially true for applicants who only applied to one or two programs this time around; there is an element of randomness and luck in the admissions process, and no matter how qualified the applicant, we recommend that a candidate target at least four programs to have a strong chance of success.

Best of luck to those who are considering their next steps after receiving rejections from their target law schools.


Posted in Law School Admissions, LSAT | No Comments »

How I Ensure Quality at Knewton

April 27th, 2011

Hi there. I’m Daniel and I’m the Quality Assurance (QA) Lead here at Knewton. When I was approached to write this blog post I said, “I am but a humble QA man… what would I write about?” But then I started to think about what I do here every day and thought that it might be interesting for you to understand what kind of quality controls our products go through to ensure they are the best for you, our customers.

I’ve been here a little over a year now, and as the head of QA I can tell you we take quality VERY seriously. All of are products go through several cycles of testing, with different members of our staff looking for different things (some look at the content, some at the user interface, some at the data, etc.). For example, as the QA Lead, it’s my job to organize how the testing will be done and manage the issues that are found. It’s a pretty daunting task when you have tight timelines.

Part of what we do is manual testing. In other words, someone sits in front a computer and steps through the system, looking for problems. Manual testing is important, but often it’s not enough. That’s why one of my main responsibility is automation. We’ve built several automation frameworks. We have unit tests written by our dev team that test our infrastructure and a front end automation framework around Selenium and Selenium 2. Selenium is an open source automation tool (open source software is designed to be used by anyone; users can download and modify the code as they wish). Selenium allows you to write code that automatically runs tests against your website in any browser that you choose (e.g. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome).

Having this automation framework allows for several improvements in our QA process:

  • It makes it much faster to test new applications or new features.
  • It makes it harder to introduce new bugs without us knowing.
  • It makes it easier to retest things frequently.
  • It allows us to get new features or bug fixes out to production more quickly.
  • It helps find bugs that might not be found by manual testing alone.
  • It allows the developers to test new pieces of code rather quickly.
  • It allows for much faster cross-browser testing.
  • It allows us to keep costs down as fewer people are needed for testing.
  • Tests can be run in parallel

There are, however, some drawbacks to automation as well:

  • Tests need to be written in a programming language so your QA people need to be able to code.
  • The tests need consistent maintenance.
  • It can be hard to get tests to work across all browsers all the time.
  • Test run in an actual browser can be slow.

Still, these drawbacks are small in comparison to the gains we achieve by having it.

So, how does all this testing affect our customers? Well, if a new feature is requested, a new product is needed, or we find a bug and need to fix it ASAP, this automation is crucial to allowing a fast turnaround while still ensuring we give you the best quality product possible.

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MBA Admissions Tip: Avoiding Red Flags

April 27th, 2011

This post was written by our friends at Clear Admit. For more MBA admissions advice, check out their blog.

When applying to the top schools, it is important to avoid “red flags” in your application. For the uninitiated, red flags are negative items that stand out in your file and may result in rejection from business school. While most applicants understand the basic red flags, like a 2.4 GPA or a recommendation letter that raises serious concerns about the candidate’s maturity, there are many less obvious triggers.

Some time ago, an Admissions Director Symposium organized by the Graduate Management Admissions Council produced an interesting publication on the subject of admissions policy and red flags. Here is an excerpt from their report:

Identifying ‘Red Flags’ in the Application Process

The Directors Symposium participants found that many of the markers of less successful students can be identified in the application process but are often overlooked – everything from numerous job changes in a short period of time to strange personal interactions or difficulty communicating. These signals should not be ignored, said participants. It may be useful to discuss any ‘red flags’ with other colleagues, to determine which shortcomings can be mitigated by other qualities and which should be reasons not to offer admission.

One red flag that is often ignored but should be taken seriously, said some symposium participants, is excessive contact with the admissions office. Termed “Hassler Syndrome” by one participant, extreme dependency on the admissions office may signal a lack of self-confidence that manifests itself as neediness. This trait may show up later in the learning environment, when the student is unable to contribute meaningfully to classes and work groups and becomes known as a “net taker”. The same person may be a drain on career services, unable to take initiative in a job search.

Although the article was aimed at the admissions community, this information is recommended reading for applicants to the top schools. At minimum, it should make applicants think twice before placing repeated phone calls to the admissions office!

 

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Student Spotlight — Matt Flores: CMU-Tepper Student Nostalgic for his GMAT Prep Days (Really!)

April 26th, 2011
In this Student Spotlight, meet Matt Flores, a first-year b-school student at CMU-Tepper! Matt recently came to NYC  and visited the Knewton office to reminisce about the good ol’ days of Sentence Correction drills.

Name:

Matthew Flores

Hometown:

San Francisco/Minneapolis

Current job?

1st Year MBA at Carnegie Mellon School of Business, Tepper

What do you think of b-school?

Business school is great. I love the challenge and how ambitious everyone is. Despite all the negativity you see on the front pages, business and entrepreneurship can actually be a very noble cause that empowers the disadvantaged and provides incremental improvements in the lives of everyday people. Sometimes it takes stepping out of the workforce to realize that, which is a very humbling feeling to have and has definitely inspired me to do good and strive for change.

What’s your dream job after b-school?

Working at a West Coast technology firm in a finance or strategy capacity…. or Autobot

Can you tell us a bit about your experience prepping for the GMAT?

Preparing for the GMAT was BRUTAL. I actually have severe anxiety problems when it comes to putting the moves on beautiful women and taking timed standardized tests. I got really nervous when I had attempted to take the GMAT before and could never fall asleep so my dad, who’s a neurosurgeon, actually had to give me medical grade sleeping pills for me to get to bed the night before the test. Additionally, I really needed to over prepare for the test, because otherwise I would probably get really anxious and let that distract me. Knewton made the preparation process so enjoyable. It’s been over a year and a half, but I honestly miss waking up at 8:30AM on a Saturday to do SC problems. I really looked forward to seeing Brad & Dave’s faces every week [and Joanna's chats]. They really made the material fun and I obviously learned a lot too.

Any Knewton teacher shout-outs?

YES!!!!!!! I love Joanna and Effie. I actually was super skeptical of Knewton BEFORE I signed up. I talked to Effie like 4 times and she so smoothly convinced me to sign up. Effie is also eternally optimistic, which got me through a lot of study sessions. Joanna Bersin is literally my hero. Like, legit, if I don’t adopt, I owe her my first born. She suggested that I have a more formulaic approach to my SC, which saved me TONS of time during the actual GMAT. Given how long it took me to do the rest of the problems, I would have easily run out of time w/o the help of Joanna. Dave Ingber also deserves a shout out bc he gave me most of my “A-ha” moments. I feel like Brad M. is worthy of a shout-out, but get the sense that everyone at Knewton likes to make fun of Brad, so I’m just going to abstain.

Lightning Round: Data Sufficiency or Sentence Correction?

Sentence correction stand up!

Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?

Bill Gates. He didn’t even go to CMU, but he bought us a really sweet building that always has free food that I mooch off of. Plus, I love X-box 360. Prior to enrolling in B-school, I was a 40 rank in Halo. That said, I only buy Apple computer/phone products.

Harry Potter or Twilight?

In a street fight, I’d rather be on Harry Potter’s side. In terms of getting babes, I’d rather roll w/ the vampires. Chicks dig immortality.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I’m glad you asked!! I recommended Knewton to 2 friends, both of whom have gotten into good business schools. They’re still interviewing so I can’t say which ones.

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