Calling all Berkeley-Haas Fall 2011 Applicants

There is some information I would like to share with you guys.
I have called the admission office today. Here is what I got.
The Adcom pick up applications for review randomly. Therefore, if your status still shows as "received", not "completed" (unfortunately I am one of them), don't worry it will be under review in the next couple of weeks.

The interview invitations for R1 applicants start to be sent out from today! And the Adcom will continue sending out invitatioins till Mid-January.

In our small sample size, everyone who was interviewed was either admitted or waitlisted. The ratio is exactly 50% admit and 50% waitlist if you assume that the unreported interviewees were also waitlisted. R1 is likely to have far more additions to the WL than R2, R3, and R4, but it's the only data available to us right now.

For a little fun, let's assume that our outstanding community is representative of the entire applicant pool. To make the math easier, let's pretend that that target class size at Haas is only 100 students. Let's also examine the absolute best case scenario, which is that Haas doesn't over-admit to account for yield (unlikely).

Haas Yield: 58% (Source: BusinessWeek)
If Haas doesn't over-admit to account for yield, but rather uses the waitlist to backfill these un-occupied seats, then your odds of coming off the waitlist would be at least 42% (I'll explain).

Target class size: 100
Total interviewed: 200
Accepted applicants: 100 (50%)
Waitlisted applicants: 100 (50%)

Matriculated: 58 (based on the 58% yield)
Admitted from the WL: 42+

*Explanation for 42+ admitted from WL: Some WL applicants will deny the offer in favor of other schools, so the school would have to admit at least 42 WL applicants to reach the target class size of 100. Also, keep in mind that many of the applicants who are offered a seat on the waitlist will choose not to join or will later withdraw their position. As people remove themselves from the waitlist, your odds of admission go up.

In reality, Haas likely over-admits to some degree to get close to their projected yield (58%) and then uses the WL to dial in the last 10-20 seats. If that's the case, then your odds of coming off the waitlist aren't very good, but it's certainly a possibility.

Make sure you're familiar with Haas' four guiding principles (question the status quo, beyond yourself, etc.) because you'll probably be asked for examples of how you exemplify one or more of them. Rich Lyons (the Dean) posts a lot of good stuff on Twitter--you can get a pretty good feel for the school's culture and focus by reading his tweets and the stories he links to.

I was also asked about an entrepreneur I respected, which I wasn't really prepared for since I don't have any interest in entrepreneurship, so I had to try to fake that one. Other "standard" MBA interview questions dealt with tough decisions I had made, specific times I'd shown leadership, how I built loyalty and teamwork within a group, how I influence people aside from using rank/title, etc.

Other than that you can expect a pretty straightforward interview. Be able to explain everything you've done, what you want to do, why you need an MBA, and why you think Haas is a good fit for you--small and close-knit class, collaborative culture, Haas@Work, SSS, IBD, proximity to Valley tech companies, or whatever applies to your interests and goals.

Would you be looking at on-campus or off-campus? I don't think it makes much of a difference really, just curious.

Glad I can be of assistance--I didn't discover GMATClub til after I'd submitted my R1 apps but I got a lot of good information from students at GSB and Haas and plenty of help from GMATClubbers on my R2 apps, so I'm happy to return the favor.

in case anyone is interested, UC Berkeley-Haas is now a member of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management: https://www2.haas.berkeley.edu/News/News ... rtium.aspx

more info about the consortium can be found on the Consortium Fall 2011 thread

Count me in for R1, I was wait-listed for Class of 2012 and recently got my official "sorry, better luck next time" e-mail.

It's not as bad as people make it sound, if you really think B-school is for you - you will find a way to motivate yourself - to wait endlessly, and if need be to re-apply. A quick pointer to all first time applicants, do not neglect or overlook small things at home (relationships, date nights, Wii game nights, birthday's, etc) because of applications.

This is a going to be a great application cycle. Good luck to all.

Cheers.

"Rise and Rise Again until lambs become lions"

It's supposed to come online "early in September." I'm not sure why they're taking so long to open it up.

They opened the application really late. Is everyone busy filling it up?

On a serious note, I've been busy travelling and visiting campus last week.

Here are some thoughts from my Haas campus visit:
Highlights:
- very vibrant campus and lot of hustle/bustle with students (MBA as well as non-MBA) moving around
- Met with class of '11 students for lunch, very friendly, receptive people, shared their experiences, encouraged prospective students to ask any questions
- Infosession was conducted by two second yr students. I really like it when schools do this. I want to get the real scoop from students who live the life there. If it is run by adcom, someof them tend to churn out the same material from their website.
- Class experience was good but not different from other schools. Students were very interactive and proactive in discussions with the Prof. There was a wee bit of cold calling.

Lowlights, if I have to nitpick:
- With a race among top schools to construct new building, Haas campus looks old. Not a big deal because it still looks good
- Tend to come across as slightly less organized department
Overall, I had a fun experience and would love to be there

I personally dont know. However, the campus is convenient to reach by public transportation (Bart trains?). Once you get down at downtown berkeley, you can take the campus shuttle bus that'll drop you right outside the Haas building. Staying anywhere on the train station lines would be convenient too. I stayed at the airport and comfortably took the train+shuttle to campus (takes lot of time, which I had on my hands

I did the same thing. I stayed in SF (Westin Market Street) and walked to the Bart station. It's pretty convenient, since it drops you off a block from where you'd catch the campus shuttle (I think it's a dollar for non-students). Or if you're a glutton for punishment, you could hike uphill to the other side of campus.

I guess disregard all of this if you are set on spending a lot of time on campus. The area immediately outside UC Berkeley just seemed like any other large college town.

I experienced this problem too when trying to upload my resume an hour ago. I called the admissions office and they recommended I try a different browser (IE). The upload worked fine with IE. I was using Firefox.

Nobody can say for sure even if it has been discussed before. I've exceeded by upto 3-4%. It really depends on the school. My impression from the haas application is that they like lot of details and information. So, they probably wont mind the extra words that exceed the limit. A Haas alumni mentioned that he exceeded the limit by 5%, I think. So we have some data to say it would be ok. I'd recommend not to exceed by as high as 10%
I am an applicant like you, so take it with a pinch of salt

I wouldn't sweat it. The admissions committee understands how much trouble it is for a supervisor to write individual letters for each school an applicant is applying to. If your manager can easily break the letter into paragraphs to address the questions, that's probably good. But if it involves some time and rewrite, then I would just say one single letter is good enough.

Ha Ha! Sorry - I left out the most important part!

She said expect invites to start mid to late November. And like Stanford, invitations will continue to be issued right up until a week before the deadline.

Kind of like the Comcast guy telling you he'll be there between 2 and 6. But at least it's something.

Received an invite today. Stoked!

The following are my stats and details. Hoping to return the favor to everyone who has provided similar information in other threads.

Male / 29 / 760 / 3.9 / Latin American, working in the US / Current: Product Management / Target: Entrepreneurship / Pretty good extracurriculars.
Submitted: Oct. 12 / Changed Status: Oct. 14

Good luck everyone.

So I had the interview last night. The alumnus was from the 08 class and she was really nice. Nothing too unexpected. Everything you can find on clearadmit. I thought it went pretty well. Beyond the career progression, why MBA, why Haas, she asked about my teamwork experience. I gave an example about a cross functional team that I worked on which seemed to go over decently well. She followed up with a question about a team experience where I encountered conflict. I rambled a little bit with this one. Not a total crash and burn but not the most eloquent answer.

Overall I thought it went very well. Very conversational. The alumnus was genuinely excited about her Haas experience. Now I have to wait a full two months before I hear anything else. I wish Haas was more like Kellogg and released decisions throughout the month leading up to their communication date.

Good luck to everyone!

I called and asked about a R1 Super Saturday. The interview scheduler informed me that they are not having a Super Satuday for R1 this year. They will have one for later rounds.