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

Hi thisisatestonlyatest,

I am an Indian applicant and from a very competitive pool. I took my GMAT on 26th Feb -710(Q49 V38).GPA around 3.7ish(I know those two things are not enough to provide a judgement, but i thought i'll give you those details in any case)
Sent a mail to Owen Admissions around 4th Mar asking them if spots for Aid and admissions in general were open.They sounded very positive, which was great for me. But I dithered on it thinking Owen was more of a Finance focused school seeing the number of iBanks that recruit and speaking to some people not from Owen. But I came across your post yesterday, and I see that they recruit for Strat Consulting as well. That is my area of focus as I'm currently working in a renowned consulting firm, but doing more of Tech Consulting(IT),solutioning and delivery assignments, and I want to move to Strat. I was really happy to see the likes of BCG ,BAIN and Deloitte among recruiters. So, i'm thinking of applying now.Should be able to apply in about a week. Do you think its too late now.
I feel like kicking myself for delaying applying.

Definitely still have time and also there are scholarships dollars available to good candidates. Also your app fee will be waived because you have a 700+ gmat. So definitely go for it.

Thanks a lot for your assurance.
But again, i'm a bit worried that the school might not 'buy' my Consulting focus. Not sure though, you might be able to help me out here a bit.
And are you sure about the app fee waiver? I tried to find that in the website, but was unable to nail down the exact information.It says it will sort of calculate it.

Thanks again for your informed judgement! Its really encouraging!!!

The transition to strat from it consulting isn't a stretch. I actually think it is pretty standard. I am positive there is an app fee waiver. When you submit the app it will auto waive the fee.

That's fantastic mate!!Appreciate your timely response! Owen, here I Apply!! :D

Anyone coming to welcome weekend?

I'll be there. Flying in on Wednesday to do some house hunting. Looking forward to it.

Sweet. Let me know and I might be able to show you some places or grab some food. I don't have class Wednesday.

There was a great turnout at the welcome weekend this past weekend. It was a great time meeting current students and faculty as well getting to know our cohort. Nashville was great too and Owen being centrally located made it easy to get around after the days' formal events.

Owen is the place to be for next year and the post-MBA potential was so clear there.

Really looking forward to starting in the Fall!

I haven't found much on Owen here on gmat club, but I was wondering if someone could tell me about their time at Owen? I am considering mostly 5-15 schools but Vanderbilt has always been a dream for me (was waitlisted as an undergrad and went to state school because of $$).

I don't know if I want to work in the South, which is why I am considering mostly east coast schools. The Vanderbilt name has always carried weight with me and if accepted, I think I would attend.

My final question: What kind of rotational programs recruit at Vanderbilt? I am looking for more of a general management role/consulting role post MBA.

Also, Corbettas, I was wondering if you could pm me or shed some light on the application process with a less than stellar GPA and being from the Defense industry?

My experience at Vanderbilt thus far has been awesome. Here is what I have most appreciated:

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.
Employment report: https://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/employer ... report.cfm
Poets and Quants article: https://poetsandquants.com/2014/11/05/op ... mba-stats/
Economist Ranking: https://www.economist.com/whichmba/mba-r ... er-service

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 #27 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/

BTW - 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.


My internship will be in the Bay Area. Vanderbilt places well nationally. You will not be forced into a job in the South. However, many New Yorkers (for example) who come to Vanderbilt thinking they'll return to the Empire State love Nashville so much they then choose to stay in TN or move to Atlanta when they graduate. So beware!


This list is comprised of internships accepted by Owen students for this coming summer (May-August 2015). Mind you, this is what I know about from talking with my friends it is not at all a comprehensive list. I am surely leaving some of the biggest companies out. XSorryX

General Management:
AT&T – RLDP (General Management)
McKesson – RLDP (General Management)
DaVita – Redwoods (General Management)
Johnson & Johnson – HRLDP (HR)
Johnson & Johnson – PLDP (Operations)
Amazon – LDP (Pathways)
Eaton Corporation – GLDP (General Management)
Fedex – Marketing/Strategic Planning
GE Capital – HRLDP (HR)
Emerson – Strategy
Tesla – Strategic Business Planning
Cleveland Clinic – Strategic Planning
3M – Strategic Planning/Marketing
Last year a student went into Chevron's RLDP and they recruit at Owen every year
etc...

Consulting:
Bain
Deloitte - Owen is a core school for Deloitte's Atlanta office
PWC
North Highland
Midtown Consulting
ECG Management Consultants
Kurt Salmon
Kaiser Permanente
Sprint (Internal Consulting)
Nordic Consulting

FT offers for the class of 2015 at –
BCG
KPGM
Arryve
etc...
(Many consulting firms do not offer internships but recruit FT at Owen.)

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.

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.

I agree with this! I decided on Owen over some higher ranked schools largely based on fit (and several people I met at the Welcome Weekend made similar decisions).

First off if you go through my post or Teleste's you are going to find a plethora of information. 2. Pretty much every consulting firm aside from McKinsey has some type of recruiting here, ranging from on campus core to resume drops. But, Bain and BCG have taken someone the last 2 years. We get about 7 interviews at each a year that translates to Harvard or Wharton getting about 42 interview spots and 7 hires a year.

As far as turning down higher ranked schools it happens all that time look at the schools people this year and in the past have turned down.

Are you coming from the military or do you work with the military?

Have you taken the gmat or practice test and what is your score? That will matter a lot with a low GPA (I know from experience)

I am not military. I work as an Electrical Engineer on military aircraft as a contractor for a big 3 defense contractor (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman).

I haven't taken the GMAT yet. I will be taking my diagnostic this weekend/next weekend and will take it in the summer, when I feel ready. I would assume a score 700+ because I have always been a great standardized test taker. I have also taken the GRE and did relatively well. I just need to review the quant and verbal GMAT specific idiosyncrasies.

I don't know why, but I think that I would get into Owen, with a 700+ GMAT. I intend to visit though!

Also, I am really interested in rotational programs for big companies. A few colleagues of mine have gone through them, on the engineering side, and I think this way of getting experience in multiple aspects of business would suit me, as I have only been in engineering roles with limited customer exposure. I am also interested in Deloitte because of their 2nd year tuition payment for signing post internship.

How much work experience do you have?
Where is you ug from.

All of these are important with a sub par GPA.

Military members get a little bit of a bump of the GPA and gmat side. 30-40 points is usually the difference in what they can make and what a civilian as they call us can make.

You GPA although not great is not terrible. It will come down to the gmat though. Its a different animal than other tests I have taken. If you went somewhere decent ug, yrs of we and score 710+ you should have a shot at 5-15 not great but a definite shot. Get in the 690-700 area and you have a shot at most schools 15-30. Go take the practice test then start to figure this out honestly right now without your gmat its a bit premature to target only 5-15. If you hit 700+ definitely give it a go. Good Luck.

Age - 25/26 at matriculation
Planning to apply for Fall 2016/2017

Undergrad - State School in Midwest, BS Industrial Engineering, GPA 3.09 (extenuating circumstances and can be explained in optional essay) *State school like Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri
Grad- Same State School in Midwest, MS Industrial and Systems Engineering, GPA 4.0

Work Experience : 3/4 years at matriculation
Working full-time during MS degree (50 hours/week), Currently writing a thesis (graduating May 2016)
EC: Sports, Volunteering at local Food Shelter, Programs on campus (lots in leadership)

You have a decent total package. Go crush the gmat and you should be able to go to a good school. I think the 4.0 in grad school will help.