Calling all Berkeley-Haas Fall 2009 Applicants

Haas definitely welcomes military people, just like all the other top schools. You have to tell your story convincingly (on how you plan on going from AF to IB in defense) and show a good fit with Haas.

In my cohort alone, we have 4 former military people (out of 60). The stats may tell you what % of the entire class is military. I do know on top of military, there is also another 2% of aerospace/defense (I'm one of them), so roughly 5 people.

Hey Kry.

I live in Bay Area. I am planning to attend the lunch with student and attend the info session in the HAAS Campus. If I can I meet you on some particular day then I would scedule my visit on that day. Please let me know. Thanks

Vignesh

Thanks. There are a few ibanking firms that recruit at Haas for their aero/defense groups (i.e Jefferies Quarterdeck, etc) that I plan to target. I also have an engineering background and work in the testing & development of military technology.

Any tips on how to tell my story more convincingly?

vignesh: I'm somewhat free Monday 10/6 and I'll be a lunch escort on 10/9 Thursday. So either of those two days will be good. On Monday, I would recommend signing up only for the Econ class visits (I'm in the morning one). On Thursday, both Econ and Organizational Behavior (I'm in the morning one) classes are good.

This goes to everyone else too, if you want to come on those two days, I have the most time to chat with you either at lunch or some other time.



swbluedevil: If you have any finance background at all, talk about that. If not, then I would first start with demonstrating your mastery of the aero/defense industry (using relevant work experience). Then talk about your passion for finance (make sure you show examples of where you demonstrated finance passion or interest, such as extra classes you took, extracurricular activities, or work related finance stuff), and combine the two into a near term and long term career goal. Since I don't know your detailed background good enough, I can only suggest the above.

The key to good essays and a good story is using examples from your past. The "show, don't tell" motto should be ingrained in everything you do with the applications. if you follow that golden rule, you should do well.

Is there a Veterans Club at Haas? I tried searching for it, but came up with nothing. I'd definitely like to get in touch with a couple of vets at Haas. Also, any insights on how ibanking recruiting is going so far?

I don't think there's a vets club, but my cohort seems to have many vets.

Actually one of my vet buddies is looking to get into finance/banking. I can check with him. Send me a PM with your email address and I'll get back to you.

Hi Kry,
As i said i'am from France and we do not have the GPA system.
So in my application do I have to ask my undergraduate schools to translate my note on 20 into the GPA system ?
Second question is there a lot of western europe people at Haas ?
Thanks !
Vincent

Does Haas have grade disclosure?

to Hayeck: I'm not sure what the application looks like (haven't looked at it in a year), but I think it'll either allow you to enter your GPA from your school (the admissions committee is VERY good at converting scores, especially from France, since many have applied from there), or you can give them a call or email and ask how you should convert it.

There are quite a few Western Europeans in my class. I'm pretty good friends with two of the French guys, there are a few Italians, many Spanish, a couple Germans, and a few Brits. We also have two Portugese people too.

to terp06: Haas votes on the Grade Non-Disclosure every year and so far it's passed (as in NO disclosure) every year. Last year I heard it passed at a 97% rate, yikes!

So I've read that Haas looks very favorably upon applicants who come to visit. Since I'll be in the SF Bay area later on this week/next, I figure I'll stop by. Does anyone know if you register with the school/admissions dept when you come to an info session? It says reservations aren't required, which makes it sound pretty informal.

My first time in Berkeley - third time on the West Coast at all, in fact. Any must-dos?

Infosessions are completely on a walk-in basis. You don't need to register for that. I strongly recommend you sign up for a class visit and lunch with students. If you're coming later this week/early next, try to sign up for the Economics class, or the Tuesday/Thursday Organizational Behaviour classes. Do not sign up for Data and Decisions unless you love statistics and multiple regression!

The average visit schedule goes like this:

Morning class 9-11am
Lunch with students noon-1pm
Infosession 1-2pm

OR

Lunch with students noon - 1pm
infosession 1-2pm
Class 2-4pm

Go check out the Berkeley clock tower (the Campanilie) between 10a-4pm, you get a great view of the entire East Bay and SF.

Definitely go to San Francisco and check out Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39, Union Square, and other sights. If you have more time, there's good hiking north of San Franciscio or Monterey/Carmel or Big Sur.

Let me know when you're coming (PM me) and maybe we can meet up for a little bit if you have extra questions.

Just an FYI, although I'm sure most of you probably received the same e-mail today:

Found our video vault... Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE video is here too:

https://www2.haas.berkeley.edu/Videos/Vi ... ideos.aspx

Hey everyone,

It was great meeting at least three of you who use GMATClub today! Hope you had a good day doing class visits, lunch with yours truly =P, and infosession!

I want to see you all here next Fall, ok? =)

K

So I'm currently in Berkeley, and met Kryzak at the lunch with students thing this afternoon at Haas. Both school ambassadors were super nice guys, and - for those of you who haven't been yet - Haas is flippin' beautiful. Really, really nice facility set on a gorgeous campus. The lunch was fun and the info session afterwards was really helpful. Learned a lot more about the curriculum and course setup. To be honest, I showed up in Berkeley today not completely sure about Haas, but after my visit today, I'm sold. I love the place.

Funny anecdote. Good information for everyone to know - the place where we ate lunch (the faculty club? Not sure) didn't take credit cards. I totally made an ass of myself, since I pretty much never carry cash. Kryzak came through and covered me, though, and I was able to pay him back later once I hit the ATM in the main Haas building. So that's probably an automatic ding, right? Oh well.

Hey Ntang,

It was a fun lunch, and the number of visitors today was crazy (I think there were at least 15 at lunch and another 7 more in the infosession!). That was my bad not telling everyone before we left for the Faculty Club that they only took cash, so it was only fair that we spot you. I still need to go pick up the money from the admissions office, good thing you mentioned it here, I almost forgot!



Sweet! I hope I'll see you at one of the future events around here (like Super Saturday or Days at Haas!)

Good luck with all your applications!

It's quiet in this thread. Anyone applying for RD1?