Calling all Fall 2011 Consortium Applicants!

From the 2010 thread posted today:



I used a co-worker/mentor to write mine. If the family friend is familiar with the work you do that supports the mission, that should be fine. The schools are not as stringent on who that recommendation comes from because it's a very different expectation of what that recommendation should be. I would not ask my co-worker to write my professional one because they wouldn't be a good choice but for the Consortium one, she was perfect.

Hope that helps.

The consortium does look very nice. the 300/6 schools is very tempting and the load seems to be less on the recs since it applies to all... i guess the downside might be the mid nov deadline which means i am applying to "round 2" since many schools of interest has deadline before that. Isnt this kinda bad?

If you're applying via Consortium, ignore the respective school deadlines. The only thing they MIGHT tell you is when you find out about admission but does not impact your consideration at all. The schools have a strong interest in Consortium candidates and part of their commitment is to the Consortium application process. Each school is a little different (i.e. NYU you're just part of Round 1, Ross they process them in Round 1 or Round 2 depending on how quickly they get through the applications, Yale is all considered in Round 2, etc) but again, it just affects interview invite dates and admission notification, not how your app is considered.

Hope that helps!

i see. So I guess the followup is why would I apply to any schools on the list via their website vs. the consortium if consortium seems to be great all around?

also the reccomendation about the consortium mission - i dont think i can find one and i dont think i ever done those things? i did teach sats to children but not neccessarily underrepresented - although i did teach a class of mostly black kids..

Well, if you don't have any experiences/work dedicated to the mission of the Consortium or it's not something you care about, then you would want to apply via the traditional route. But if you've got a solid story for your Consortium mission essay, can get a mission recommender, and can articulate that in an interview, I would do the Consortium all the way.

If you're on the fence or are not sure you have the right experience, call the Consortium or email them your story. They'll give you some guidance or can say if it's the right type of experience. I know a lot of people who did that.

The company access and network is also a huge reason to apply to the Consortium (beyond the consolidated application and fellowship possibilities). I'm in my second day of classes and already have 2 internship options for next summer that I've had for a month.

can you share what you did that was applicable for the mission statement?

I volunteered in classrooms for a non-profit and at work, I worked on a diversity initiative. My recommender was the leader of the diversity initiative at work and my mentor. There were people I know who had less direct connections but it doesn't need to be huge. It just needs to demonstrate you've made efforts in the past which would be an indicator of future behavior on a bigger scale during and after B-School.

Anyone notice that UCLA does not have a core question? Or am I missing something...

Considering different schools process applications at different times, how would that impact a fellowship decision?

Lets say you rank Yale #1, and they process in R2, but one of your #2-6 choices admits you in R1. From what I've seen, they can't even offer you a fellowship without knowing what Yale will do. So how could you make a fully informed decision about whether or not to accept R1 consortium admits?

Or do all consortium decisions for a single application come back at one time, regardless of when individual schools decide to process them?

All Consortium fellowship decisions come out at one time regardless of which round you apply. I believe the schools meet in February or March to decide.

If you ranked a school lower, they may try and preempt the Consortium fellowship announcement and offer you one of their own scholarships (which happened to me). They will all give you a little time after the fellowship info comes out to choose a school, again ignoring the general applicant dates.

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Question, is anyone here applying for through the consortium with a GRE?
Think its a bad idea?
I have a pretty sound GPA and about 6 years business experience.... but I took the GRE (verbal, better than quant)

i would double check that the specific consortium schools you're applying to accept the GRE. i know many of the top schools now accept either the GMAT or GRE, but im not 100% sure all of them do. you can find this info out on each specific school's website (not on the consortium website)

I called Yale and they told me that they review all consortium applicants at the same time, but she also noted (which I'm sure we're all aware of) this is *not* the case at every school.

Additionally, I think we should get a list of schools going who 1) review rankings vs go blind, 2) when they review consortium apps.


Speaking of the GRE, I read a chat transcript with linda abhrams (sp) and the yale adcoms. Someone asked about the GRE vs GMAT, and Yale's response was that it would be a mistake to think that you should submit the GRE over the GMAT because you scored better. They take into account the difficulty of the test, who is taking it, etc., and then adjust the scores as necessary. I have a very solid GRE score, but I'm going to take the GMAT and hope for the best.

Just wanted to kick this thread up seeing as we haven't had much activity in a few weeks. Anyone apply/get accepted/or attend any diversity weekends?

I applied to Tuck's and Yale's.

FYI I was told that Tuck Div. conference decisions might come out next week.

Applied to diversity weekends at NYU, Michigan, Emory, and Duke. Attended Upclose @ Michigan last weekend (awesome!), attending Emory's diversity weekend in November. No word from Duke yet

Any downside of having 6 schools on you list?