Haas (Full Time MBA) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants

Weird. Mail the adcom. Haven't started filling this one out, so have no clue. The deadline is still a few days away, so the adcom should be able to respond in time.

Berkeley has a ton of optional essay questions...how are you all going about them? Are you filling them all out? I'm going to leave the parents' occupation/degrees question blank, at least (I don't really know how that info would help my app), and probably the "Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven't addressed elsewhere." one, too.

I don't think you need them all. So, you may use your judgement and skip the irrelevant stuff.

[edit] - if this helps, I'm skipping a few of them as well

When Haas' website says they pay very close attention to your quant ability, any clue on whether this means your raw GMAT quant score or more your quant percentile? I'm not sure what to make of it, (especially given that the percentiles keep going down for a given score!)


Also any idea whether they provide refreshers/pre-term classes?

Hello,

For all practical considerations raw score/percentiles are just taken as one data point. There is not a lot of fluctuation YoY. Further, what they mean is, if your quant score is low, they will dive deep in your UG transcripts, work history etc. to see if you have had exposure to challenging quantsy stuff.

Simply put, if your quant score on the GMAT is low, it would be wise to explain in the optional essay that you have dealt with numbers elsewhere in your life (through additional courses, work, UG etc.) and you won't be lagging behind in the class.

I'm not certain about that. But, I presume they do as almost everyone else has it as well.

Thanks that's starting to help. Although I'm still unsure what constitutes low-by percentile I can imagine ~50% but what of the raw score?

Don't quote me on this, but I think, anything below 60-65% (q44-45) would warrant an explanation.

edit: just saw your score. You might be on the cusp. I'd say do offer an explanation if you have substantial stuff to write about. I mean, you've taken extra courses, your job requires lot of crunching etc. You don't want to leave anything on the table, right?

What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum)

I lost my job during the 2008 financial crisis and had to find one in a time crunch situation due to my visa situation. Does that constitute as a valid topic for this essay? I am confused and need help.

What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum)

I lost my job during the 2008 financial crisis and had to find one in a time crunch situation due to my visa situation. Does that constitute as a valid topic for this essay? I am confused and need help.

Any advice?

Not an expert, but here's my 2 cents:

It's not an 'ideal' story. Did you have any other option than to sort that stuff out? I presume not. Instead, you would do well to choose a story where you took an initiative, and your actions had an impact on a greater audience.

Having said that, nothing is 'ideal'. I've read successful stories that looked so trivial at their core. For instance, there was a 'most significant accomplishment' story about how an applicant balanced her time at her job and a culinary club she had joined. It really depends on how big an impact it had on you and how well you articulate it.

good luck

My 2 cents: if you can clearly articulate WHY it was an accomplishment (i.e. the repercussions if you didn't, the impact it had on your family/dependents, etc.), then I really feel that it's okay to use that story. As jumsumtak already pointed out, there is no IDEAL story.

Good luck!

Any Reapplicants off the waitlist here ?
Are you guys re-writting your song essay and your failure essay ?
I am finding it hard to say that the song i picked 6 months back wasn't the real song .. but this one now is.

Failure essay -- I couldn't have had another collosal failure in the past 6 months.

Its not like i'm shying away from putting in the effort but to seem to come up with new stories seems a bit weird.

I am thinking ill refine my goals essay and write a solid reapplication essay and re-write the achievement essay highlighting a recent achivement
Any thoughts guys ?

Does anyone know if Haas allows a week or so after the R1 deadline (16th october) for recommenders to submit their recos? I recently found out BOOTH allowed a week after their Oct 3rd deadline for recommendations to be turned in. Thanks in advance.

QUESTION REGARDING EMPLOYMENT RECORD:
In Haas' instruction they said to list ONE entry for each employer, even if we worked in different divisions. Well I have held 3 full-time and 1 temporary positions under different lines of businesses in a very large financial company. Under the "responsibility/key accomplishments" question, I answered in a format like this:

position#1:xxx
responsibilities:
- xx
- xx
key accomplishments:
- xx
- xx

position#2: xxx
..
..

position #3: xxx


But when I look at the "print application" page, my answer got grouped into one big messy paragraph:
position #1: xxx responsibilities: - xx - xx - xx key accomplishments: -xx - xx - xx position #2: xxx........

This looks really bad. How did everyone else deal with this? Will Adcom see this one big lump paragraph as well? How can I write the responsibilities and accomplishments of 3 positions neatly in one paragraph?

Any idea on the limit of #of words for the reapplication essay.
Also do the we shove in the OPTIONAL content right below the re-application essay ?
Is the word limit for the combined reapp essay + optional 400 words ?

Hey guys...can anyone shed some light on this? (questions are bolded below...)

For the short answers, Haas asks:

2. List in order of importance all community and professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Include the following information for each organization or activity using the format below:
-Name of organization or activity
-Nature of organization or activity -- Does this ask for our involvement OR what the organization does?
-Size of organization -- How are you all putting size? Number of employees/volunteers? Annual budget?
-Dates of involvement
-Offices held
-Average number of hours spent per month

Hi Rajiv,

Apparently they do. This is from the website