Calling OWEN-Vanderbilt Applicants(2015 Intake)Class of 2017

Thats an unusually fast turnaround time. They must really like you

I submitted everything on the Monday (12th Jan)

I logged in my Owen application page just now, and I see the status of 'GMAT or GRE Score' as still 'awaiting'. (I submitted official GMAT report from mba.com after the deadline and got their approval that its ok to submit it later on)

Received an invite to interview with Owen today!

FROM Owen Press Releases: Investors deserve earlier notification of corporate audit fees

The fees charged by independent auditors should be released to the public as soon as they are negotiated instead of waiting a year until a firm’s annual proxy statement is issued as is the custom now, new research argues.

FROM Owen Press Releases: Owen Executive Development Institute announces spring sessions

The Owen Executive Development Institute has announced its schedule of programs for spring 2015. Vanderbilt employees can receive a 15 percent discount on all sessions.

me too

May I know what country you from? And when did you submit your app?

I got my invite the same day as theirs.

U.S. and I submitted the day of, or the day before, the deadline

Hi all,

I applied for Owen in RD 2 and am waiting to hear back as well. I am getting out of the military this spring and am interested in pre-MBA opportunities in Nashville and elsewhere. I interviewed at Owen back in November with Mrs. St-John during the "Discover Weekend." I would definitely encourage a visit if you have the time.

I think I've narrowed my preferences down to Fuqua and Owen if I get accepted to either. Exciting times ahead - look forward to hearing more experiences as notification approaches for RD 2.

I think those two are tied for my top choice as well, with Goizueta at Emory as a very close second. I didn't do the open interview at Fuqua so hoping to hear back on 2/4 that I got invited to interview! Best of luck to us both!

Chem,

It sounds like we are in very similar boats. Goizueta is second behind Fuqua and Owen for me as well. I was very unimpressed with Kenan-Flagler and McDonough has not seemed eager to sell themselves. Just my opinion based off a few visits and phone interactions.

I did the open interview at Fuqua with a second-year student and definitely did not feel as good leaving that interview as I did with Owen's in November.

My choice came down to Owen and Duke. Obliviously choose Owen for a few reasons. IF you have any questions while you make decisions let me know. Rooting for everyone on here.

I had my visit and interview on Friday. Happy to provide any feedback for those interested.

What made you choose Vanderbilt?

I'd be interested in your thoughts.

I can't speak to why I chose Vandy over Duke specifically (I didn't apply to Duke at all last year), however, I can speak to why I chose Vandy over my other offers at higher ranked East Coast schools and some of Vandy's peer schools across the South (and in Texas).

1. Career Center. Read McNamara and the CMC team here at Owen are outstanding. I found it *far* more impressive than the other schools I went to. As a career switcher with an unconventional background (video games), this was really important to me. Vandy has had excellent on-campus recruiting, it has had enormous success placing people in internships, and the job rate is among the highest in the country. Owen also does not mess with the job numbers like some other schools do. You can see the complete report/PDF for each of the last several years: https://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/employer ... report.cfm

2. Student body. Vanderbilt students are inclusive, helpful, and fun. That goes for both Owen and Vanderbilt University as a whole. My perception is that the Vandy student body has equal the amount of brains that the elite East Coast Schools have...but all of the kindness and down-to-earth-ness that the Midwest and South have to offer.

3. Speaking of elite schools, people worry that "Owen" just doesn't carry the weight that other top business schools have associated with their names. I wondered the same thing when I was applying last year. Newsflash folks, I am yet to meet an employer or recruiter who does not admire and value the **VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY** Owen GSM. Vandy is ranked #16 as a University in the country. That's higher than Cal Berkeley, Emory, Georgetown, UCLA, UVA, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan and UNC to name a few. So even though USNWR has Vandy at #25 for business schools, you don't need to worry for even a second that people will see you as having studied/graduated at anything but a top program/elite school.

4. The course options available here are outstanding. Even thought Owen's student body is a bit on the smaller side with about 350 students (full-time MBAs that is), it is still able to offer all of the concentrations/emphases/specializations one could possible want. That wasn't true of every school I visited (even T25 schools). Here you can take a glance at what's available. https://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/programs/mba/curriculum/ I am sooo sooo happy I am at a school on the quarter system as opposed to semesters. This enables people to fit in more of what they love and "get through" the stuff they aren't so hot on.

5. Nashville. I LOVE the Music City. Cost of living here is wayyyy lower than what people pay in NYC, Boston, LA, Philly, the people here are more pleasant, and there is a lot of fun stuff to do all the time. Many students come to Owen planning to head to the West Coast or back East post-MBA, and many of them find themselves falling in love with Nashville and choosing to stay.

I really recommend applicants visit if at all possible. I was headed elsewhere last year until I made my visit here. You really need to check it out for yourself.

Good luck to all!

I'd echo a lot of what the previous poster just said. My main takeaways:

- Personalized attention/communal feel - very strong here relative to other schools I've visited. I was introduced at the beginning of class, invited to participate, had several people speak to me afterward and throughout the day. This definitely seems to stem into the Career Management Center, where it sounds like you'll have an assigned meeting with a counselor as soon as you matriculate.
- City/campus - I almost went to Vanderbilt for undergrad, so I'm a little biased, but I love the campus. This was the first time I've really experienced the city over multiple days, and it's really interesting - many different neighborhoods, but all a 10 minute drive away. Plenty to do always.
- Financial aid - I stumbled into this by asking a bit about how Owen has climbed in the rankings. It seems to me that the school is looking to aggressively award scholarships to recruit students that might be qualified to go to a top 10 or 15 school. Certainly not a bad strategy.

There are a few things that I'm still thinking through. Facilities-wise, the building is relatively nice, but certainly not as new as others I've seen. It would have been nice to get a better sense of student life outside the school, but I did feel like the students were slightly older than other schools (small sample size though).

The interview itself was pretty standard. They had a set list of questions/topics and went through those in order. The questions were a little more probing than other schools, but nothing outrageous. You're asked to pitch yourself, so be prepared for that.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

I am pretty much going to second all of this and add,

The school has an elite name in the market place but without an elite attitude in the student body.