Haas EWMBA 2012 - Calling All Applicants

Could be onto something. I believe each year there are about 70 admits to the Haas-Columbia program. I'm not sure where they were with their admission when this was announced? Perhaps only R1 admits?

If you are one of the new admits, would you mind sharing what your GMAT quantitative subscore was?

I'm trying to determine if mine is strong enough, or if I need to retake.

R1 completed for Berkeley-Columbia and the admits were given the opportunity to select the program that they would like to attend - EWMBA at HAAS, EMBA at Columbia, or EMBA at Haas next year. I would estimate 35 or so people fall into this category. I also estimate that there are another 100 - 150 prospective applicants that might transfer their application to the EWMBA program at HAAS or the EMBA program at Columbia. When the B-C program was cancelled, we were also given the opportunity to receive a refund. Of course the cost of the application is insignificant relative to the amount of work that went into it, so I would expect the number of people to request a refund would be small.

As you can likely guess, I transfered my application to the EWMBA program. It will be interesting to see if they make me interview again or make me wait until June to hear the results (results for the B-C program were due by 4/6).

Now, if only EWMBA would show us some love and add another section to this year's incoming class. Talent would not be lost to other schools close by and would bring more revenues to the school.

I would think that the majority of the B-C EMBA applicants would transfer to the Haas EMBA, no? GZR4DR, can you explain your rationale for going w/ the EWMBA instead?

I'm probably one of the few applicants that fell right in between the tradition EWMBA student and EMBA student. I'm a little older and have a little more managerial experience than the traditional EWMBA student, but also a little younger and have a little less managerial experience than the traditional B-C EMBA student.

I was drawn more towards the Berkeley program than the Columbia program, and treated the Columbia aspect more as a value add than a requirement for applying to the B-C program. With the cancellation of the B-C program, it wasn't a hard decision to transfer my application to the EWMBA program.

As there is no Berkeley EMBA program to transfer my app too this year, I decided I didn't want to wait another year to start my MBA coursework. Also, the more I learned about the EWMBA program (I did a lot of research after deciding to transfer my app), the more my desire to attend has grown. While I do have pretty good company sponsorship, the cost factor between the two programs is also something I'm considering.

What I find surprising is that ~1 week before the BC-EMBA program was dissolved, EWMBA open a fourth round of application. One would think that EWMBA had an inkling of what was happening with BC-EMBA and would expect some admits and applicants to transfer.

Also, in general my impression was that EWMBA was more stringent in their admission criteria regarding GMAT/academics, so it may not be a slam dunk for BC-EMBA folks transferring their application to get into EWMBA even though they may have more work/leardership experience. Sometime more is not always good.

You're absolutely right. It definitely won't be a slamdunk for many of the B-C applicants, perhaps only a few will be selected. My GMAT for instance is above average for the B-C program, however it's right at the average for the EWMBA program.

I wish all the best to those who are still waiting. If I'm not selected this year, I'll be back next year with an improved profile and try again.

Thanks for clarifying. I had misunderstood the bit about when Berkeley EMBA would be accepting applications, but if they're not taking applications for this year, then it definitely makes sense to switch to the EWMBA.

Also, strange timing for them to dissolve the relationship right in the middle of the admissions cycle. You'd think they would have killed the program over the summer or something, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.

Got the admit call on Wednesday from Courtney, I am in.

I am R2 applicant and got waitlisted this Thursday.
The Status page says that I have to accept the waitlist position for further consideration and should reply back to the email from EWMBA admissions.

I have not received any mails yet. Is there anyone else who is waitlisted and not yet received the mail?

call them or check your junk mailbox.

Thanks I found the mail in my junk folder.

So any one has any idea how many applicants are kept on waitlist and historically what percentage gets accepted.

Also for the R2 waitlist, would we be evaluated again in R3 or only get any update in August?

Guys, I think the ADCOM can see the complete applicant pool by now. Any guesses how many seats are filled?
The fact that so many are getting waitlisted is a good sign. They want to do a fair comparison before giving admits and us late app'ers are not forgotten.

Something about myself, I am a 31 year (old ) project manager with civil engineering background (based in bay area). I am a working mom without any support (except for the giggles and cheers I get from my 3 yr old) and did put a lot of effort to get this application in. In my first shot at GMAT in Nov 2011; I got a 610! It was just too shocking/insulting-exactly 1 month after that I gave my GMAT to get a 720 (Q49 V38). GMAT part of this club, BB and other fighters here were my inspiration. Its been 3 weeks that I submitted my application (only) to EW program at Haas in round 3. No interview invite yet. Frankly with 7-8 years of experience and after managing many big budget projects (with no direct reporting employees though), it would be interesting to know why I should'nt get an interview invite. But lots of factors are accounted when they make a class. May be people with similar backgrounds like me are already in and they don't want more (I know, I could be the snoozer/loser). Anyways next 4 weeks will decide if they wanna talk to me and next 4 months will decide if my dreams come true.

To all those in different stages of wait---Nothing can take away your strengths from you. You tried and that was a win in itself! Don't buckle and don't give up. In the end you will get through and will be surprised that you made it.

WLers : What is your strategy now?

Wait for April 29th, start preparing for the stats waiver, send in some additional recos etc?

Or

Wait for April 29th, but start thinking about R1 for 2013- may be retaking the GMAT? etc?

As someone mentioned earlier, AdCom must have been busy last week with all the R2 calls, and that may explain the delay in R3 interview calls. Also, in one of the sessions I had attended they had mentioned call people throughout the period....so I wouldn't worry too much as yet. I don't see any reason either why they would not call you for interview....Good luck!

Interview Questions

Why MBA?
Why Haas EWMBA?
Tell me about yourself
Walk me through your resume (5 minutes)
What are your 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses?
Talk about/Give examples of Haas Values/Defining Principles?
What is your greatest achievement?
What brings you greatest joy?
What are you plans after the MBA?
How will you contribute to the program? How would you fit into the UC Berkeley Community? What will you being to Haas? What can students learn from you?
How would you add value outside the classroom?
How will you manage the commute to the Bay Area?
What would you change in your company if you were the CEO? What bothers you most in the workplace?
What is your leadership style?
What is the most important part of leadership?
Describe some leadership experiences? Greatest leadership experience?
Explain a circumstance when you had to convince someone to support your idea. What would you do where people need are opposed to your idea and you are running out of time?
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Give a good example of teamwork
Tell us about a failure?
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Chitchat about current affairs