Berkeley Haas School of Business

Starting a thread for Haas, and even if I don't end up there (I'll know in a week), I think I have found out enough info about the school to help future applicants out.

Please feel free to ask questions here (or check out the Haas thread here calling-all-berkeley-haas-fall-2010-applicants-78476.html).

Current Students who are here to help:
braindancer
kryzak
bbdidge

Fall 2008 Essay Questions

Listed below are the supplemental questions, short answer questions, required essays, and optional essays that you will need to provide when completing the fall 2008 application.

Supplemental Questions:

1. If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain; otherwise, enter N/A.
2. List in order of importance all community & professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, dates of involvement, offices held, & average number of hours spent per month.
3. List full-time and part-time jobs held during undergraduate or graduate studies, indicating the employer, job title, employment dates, location, and the number of hours worked per week for each position held prior to the completion of your degree.
4. Please explain all gaps in your employment since earning your university degree.
5. Please identify the course(s) you have taken or intend to take to demonstrate quantitative proficiency. Provide the course name, date, grade if any, and institution at which the course was or will be taken. If you wish, you may discuss other ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities.
6. If you have ever been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation, suspended or required to withdraw from any college or university, please explain. If not, please enter N/A. (An affirmative response to this question does not automatically disqualify you from admission.)

Short Answer:

1. If you could have dinner with one individual in the past, present, or future, who would it be and why? (250 word maximum)
2. Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)
3. At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. Describe an innovative solution you have created to address a specific challenge. (250 word maximum)
4. What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum)

Required Essays:

1. Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
2. What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? Why do you want an MBA from Berkeley at this point in your career? (1000 word maximum)

Optional Essays:

1. (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)
2. (Optional) If you wish to be considered for the Haas Achievement Award (for individuals who have achieved success in spite of significant economic, educational, health-related and/or other obstacles), please use this space to address the obstacles you have overcome. (750 word maximum)

Posting my Haas Super Saturday Round 1 Interview back on January 19th. Realized I never posted it until I had a PM with these questions. Hope this will help future applicants!

1. Was yours by an alumni or a prof? Esp, what kind of questions were asked ( Any basic questions that you can recall?),
I was interviewed by an alum. The questions are typical (look at Clear Admit or Accepted.com for blogs). Basically the "Why MBA, why Haas, why now?" type questions. Name one failure you had and what you learned from it. What would you contribute to Haas' culture. Tell me in depth about your leadership experiences... etc.

2. How long was the interview.
Interview was 30-45 minutes. I did it on campus at Super Saturday, so yours may range from 30-90 minutes, depending on how you connect with the alum and how much time he/she has.

3. Did you face any odd questions?
No odd questions from Haas. It was probably my best interview.

4. How much time was allocated for you to ask questions? Did you prepare any list of questions that you referred to ask or did you prepare for the interview in anticipation of a list of question?
I asked questions for about 10-15 minutes. We got along so well our interview went to the limits of the time slot we had (45 minutes). I don't really prepare questions, as it's not my style. I generally have some in mind and then adapt it based on what we talked about during the interview.

5. Is it a blind interview? I assume Haas interviews are blind however I have heard sometimes they ask specific questions which the AdCom have told them to. Were you asked some specific questions? Just wondering...
Yes, it's a blind interview unless it's an AdCom interviewing you.

6. Any idea on how much is the importance of interview in Haas MBA process?
The interview is probably more important than other schools, but I wouldn't place too much emphasis on it. I would say it's probably on par with the GMAT/GPAs combined, but less important than your essays and work experience. Of course, this is all my own conjecture based on what I felt about the whole process.

7. What kind of conversion rate to success is expected after interview?
I would expect 50-60% conversion rate based on Admissions411 and historical figures, again, a rough estimate.

8. Were you asked which other schools did you apply to? And if yes, how did you tackle that? I have heard Haas is very curious about knowing about your choice of other schools and to know whether you are using Haas as your backup
No, I was never asked which other schools I applied to by any of my interviewers at all schools.

9. Anything else that you could recall
Just know your background very well, and know why you want to go to Haas and how you can contribute. relax and you'll do just great!

red_s4 and others may have comments too, so feel free to contribute!

Days at Haas Thoughts:
post455582.html#p455582

Haas 2007-8 Thread:
post455582.html

I'm officially a Haas student now, so I will be one of your ambassadors for the coming year!

Berkeley Student Blogs - Uncensored blog of student life at Haas!
http://berkeleymbastudents.blogspot.com/

Kry,

Planning to visit Haas on the 28th for a class visit. Trying to get an early start for the 09 application season.
I would've loved to visit when you're the ambassador but I think I'll be real busy with other visits & apps in Fall. I know you are matriculating at Haas but I have some stuff to ask you about UCLA too. Will pm in you in detail.

-sv

sure thing, 28th? I'll be moving all day that day, but I can probably meet up for coffee in the evening if you're still around.

PM me and we'll chat.

this is my personal opinion of Haas, take it with a grain of salt.

Pros:
1. Specialized Strengths - Very impressive strengths in Hi-Tech, Entrepreneurship, VC, Health Care Management, Non-Profit, Net Impact/Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility. Relatively strong in marketing, general management, internationally business.
2. Student Body - Super friendly student body. Loads of energy.
3. "Quirky" - People tend to do less traditional MBA stuff (consluting/banking) here than many other schools.
4. Small Class Size - very personal, staff very responsive and knows you by name, you really bond with everyone
5. Alums - extremely responsive alums due to class size, very similar to Kellogg culture
6. Weather and location - located in one of the biggest metro areas in the country
7. International Brand Name - Mostly their "rebranding" to use UC Berkeley's name, which is very big in Asia and many parts of Europe.

Cons:
1. National Reach - East Coast reach is still growing. Better in finance (on the EC) due to NYC account managers working with major financial institutions, and good with consulting because they've been targeting a lot of the top consulting firms to come and recruit. But the reach is definitely not as strong as a H/S/W, and maybe slightly weaker than MIT/Kellogg/Chicago (them on the West Coast).
2. Alum Network Size - Smaller class size may lead to smaller alum network outside of the West Coast, Asia, and NYC. But the tightness of the alums makes up for part of it.
3. Public School - Haas is currently transitioning to a "private school" model, so it does not have as much endowment, programs (like KWEST or Random Walk), facility upgrades, etc... as other private schools (or "private" public schools like Darden and Ross). The law passed last year (2007) will help with Haas managing its own fundraising and building its endowment.
4. Traditional MBA Industries - Still needs to grow its strength in traditional MBA sectors to really be recognized as a top 5 school (i.e. Finance/Consulting). Right now seen (again, perceptions may vary) as a "specialized" top MBA for certain industries (e.g. Tech, Non-Profit, etc)
5. Brand Name - We'll see how well the rebranding with the "Berkeley MBA" works. Haas has been climbing the ranks rapidly in the last few years and have gained a lot of recognition for being a great B-school. But it's still not there yet with the "Top 5" schools. With new buildings and an expanded class size in the future (2012 time frame), it may do what Chicago GSB did 5-7 years ago and climb from the lower Top 10 spot solidly into the Top 5.

Based on what I heard, Haas' Round 1 and 2 yield went up significantly and had 150+ students sending in their deposits after those two rounds. With 90 more spots to give and a big Round 3 and a 150 person waitlist, things are going to get tight this year as well as next year (where another 10-15% increase in applications is expected).

Kryzak,

You've got me man. I'm applying to Haas in Round 1

I think the school would be a great fit for me. I plan to come up and visit campus in September.

nice terp! let me know when you plan to come and we can meetup.

Posted this on a different thread, but this may be useful for people who do not generally consider Haas when it comes to MC.

Anyway, I don't know exact stats, but I definitely know that M/B/B recruit at Haas. Though the number of hires from Haas may be a little deceptive because of it's small class size and a higher % of people going into entrepreneurship, hi-tech, and non-profit fields. When looking at Haas, Google is the top recruiter, with *8* hires. So that kinda shows how Haas students generally go into a very diverse pool of companies.

Ok, took the time to look at some stats:

M/B/B always appears in the top 10 hiring companies at Haas, generally 2 of the 3 will be on there.

Only 17-18% of Haas graduates go into consulting, that's roughly 40 or so students. If M/B/B hire roughly 4-5 students each (this is the number accepted, not given offer, which will be higher), 15 or so of 40 students going into consulting get jobs at M/B/B. Not too bad. Not sure how this compares with other schools, but around 40% of people who go into consulting ending up at the top 3 Consulting firms is not too shabby, IMHO.

EDIT:

Looks like terp06 did the homework for ME:

From his other thread:

Big 3 Consulting - Total # Hired
1. Wharton - 220
2. Kellogg - 122
3. MIT - 101
4. Chicago - 99
5. Columbia - 87
6. Michigan - 38
7. Haas - 22
8. Cornell - 14
9. Darden, Duke - 11

Big 3 Consulting - # Hired as % of Student Body
1. Wharton - 13.6%
2. MIT - 13.1%
3. Kellogg - 10.2%
4. Chicago - 8.9%
5. Columbia - 7.1%
6. Michigan - 4.5%
7. Haas - 4.6% (divide by 480 students)
8. Cornell - 2.3%
9. CMU - 2.2%
10. Duke - 1.3%

So roughly 41 students per year go into MC from Haas, and over 50% of those students get into M/B/B. Not too shabby.

Kryzak,

Do you know what % of students at Haas start companies upon graduation? Is there a constant buzz around the school around entrepeneurship and starting ventures with fellow classmates?

terp, I believe the number of people actually starting companies right after school or working at a startup is roughly 20-25 students, around 10% (compared to 18% for MC, 36% in financial services, and 23% in marketing).

Hope that helps.

http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/specialties.html

Top Ranked Specialties

In 2008, US News and World Report ranked the following Haas School areas of study in the top ten nationally:

* Entrepreneurship
* Executive MBA
* Finance
* International
* Management
* Marketing
* Nonprofit
* Part-time MBA

http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/mba/finaid/FTCosts.htm

Per Year:
CA Resident: $31K
Non-Resident: $40K

Cost of Living: $20.4K (very conservative, but you can appeal quite easily to raise this)

Books and Supplies: $2500

Haas Deadlines and Essay Questions:

2008-9 Application Deadlines:
Round: Application submitted by: GMAT and TOEFL taken on or before: Decision posted/emailed by:
One: November 4, 2008; November 4, 2008; January 28, 2009;
Two: December 9, 2008; December 9, 2008; March 18, 2009;
Three: January 30, 2009; January 30, 2009; April 28, 2009;
Four: March 11, 2009; March 11, 2009; May 19, 2009;

Essay Questions to come...

I'm also looking to apply to Haas R1, I've been taking some classes through a special program between my current employer and Haas' center for executive development.

I'm currently planning on doing MC afterwards, so I appreciate the M/B/B hire stats

I think one of the toughest part in the application process for me so far is finding a good consolidated source of information for the differences among the top business schools.

I'll likely be vising Haas soon after school starts -

Kryzak I'm curious about your profile, would you mind PMing that to me? or perhaps your resume? (with personal info deleted if you're uncomfortable with that).

I will PM you my profile. As for my resume, I will have to get to know you a little better before I send that along

Haas has all the top consulting companies recruiting. The percentage they actually send to M/B/B will depend on the percentage of people who want to do consulting (lower at Haas than most top schools).

kryzak,

Related to the cost associated with attending Haas... What is the living situation like? I'm aware that San Francisco is a pretty expensive place to live, but does this hold true for Berkeley as well? Where do most students live? Living in NYC, I'm no stranger to exorbitant living costs but I was sort of looking forward to getting a break in rent when I went back to school. I'd be willing to make sacrifices to go to school there, however .