Bell Curves Blog

Bell Curves is proud to announce they have begun a partnership with the Los Angeles Urban League of Young Professionals.

Undergraduates at the ALPFA Regional Student Symposium in New York.

This past weekend, on March 3rd, Bell Curves had the opportunity to participate in ALPFA’s Regional Student Symposium in New York. The Symposium was held at KPMG, who was also the lead sponsor of the event. Engaging workshops and panel discussions provided students with the chance to learn the ins and outs of job searches, including interviewing skills and awareness of corporate culture. Students were able to learn how to maximize their chances landing that all-important internship in today’s challenging economic environment.

We had the chance to sit in on one of the workshops, run by two managers from Macy’s, who provided some valuable insights on etiquette in the corporate environment. This workshop reinforced how beneficial membership in professional and student organizations can be. The ability, especially for low-income, first-generation college students, and under-represented minorities, to draw on the experiences and insights of larger networks is invaluable.

A few weeks ago, co-founder Akil Bello presented the above topic at GMAC’s Annual Industry Conference. The session was well attended and garnered positive responses from many of the industry professionals in attendance.

With over 20 years of test-preparation experience, as well as a focus in the last 10 on helping underrepresented minorities excel at standardized tests, Akil was well-positioned to provide the insights interested parties where there to hear. After significant research, and analysis of a wealth of survey data provided by GMAC, Akil brought his observations and conclusions to sunny San Diego.

Each year about this time I travel to several universities and speak to undergraduates about B-School and the GMAT, and each year I’m surprised by how much people don’t know about existing graduate school opportunities. So today’s blog is dedicated to shedding some light on an organization that every aspiring B-School applicant should investigate: The Consortium.

The Word on the Street

First, let’s look at the word on the street about the Consortium. This is what a few of my GMAT students had to say about it:

As I’ve done the last 5 years or so, this past November I went to Chicago to speak at the PhD Project Annual conference. Each year this organization inspires and fascinates me. Its mission is profound and its reach is broad. While some elements were “business as usual” the event brought together about 400 potential doctoral candidates from around the country (and indirectly the globe)  there were two significant milestones: the 15th year of the program and the 1000th doctoral candidate.

For anyone considering a PhD in business it’s a must that you check out this program!

My small contribution to the program was a presentation on how to prepare for the GMAT.

A recent feature on Management Leadership for Tomorrow Founder, John Rice. Watch for the Bell Curves mug at 1:47 into the video.