Calling all Berkeley-Haas Fall 2011 Applicants

I think ready and invite are random.

does anyone know whether the admissions office gives candidate-specific guidance interviewers? i.e. areas to ask more about in the interview? or is it general fit?

From my experience, the interviewer does get some guidance from the adcom. I think 90% of the questions my interviewer asked were just questions she thought up after looking at my resume. But at the beginning of the interview she did say that the admissions committee had specifically sent her a few questions to pose to me. However, I could not tell from our conversation which questions were from the adcom.

thanks for sharing your experience, cassiopeia! that was my sense from some other anecdotal feedback as well.

I think this is for the FT program, and a couple years old, but I'd assume the numbers are still similar:

Contrary to popular belief, there is no fixed percentage of applicants who are interviewed, and chances of admission for those who do interview are based on the strength of the entire application package and the interview. In the past few years, between 25% and 30% of all applicants have been selected to interview--but keep in mind that this percentage has varied each year. It's simply a reflection of the strength of the candidates in a specific round.

https://theberkeleymba.blogspot.com/

EDIT: 30% quoted here as well: https://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions/podcasts/interview-tips.html

thanks for digging this up!

In general how is everyone preparing for the interview (if and when one gets the invite). What are some good resources (apart from getting your own story right, and being convincing about your career goals)?

I interviewed with an alum, and he mentioned that he hadn't seen any of my application aside from my resume. AdCom sent him my resume which he brought to the interview, but I had updated mine a bit in the two months between the R1 deadline and the interview so I gave him an updated copy.

Make sure you're familiar with Haas' four guiding principles (question the status quo, beyond yourself, etc.) because you'll probably be asked for examples of how you exemplify one or more of them. Rich Lyons (the Dean) posts a lot of good stuff on Twitter--you can get a pretty good feel for the school's culture and focus by reading his tweets and the stories he links to.

I was also asked about an entrepreneur I respected, which I wasn't really prepared for since I don't have any interest in entrepreneurship, so I had to try to fake that one. Other "standard" MBA interview questions dealt with tough decisions I had made, specific times I'd shown leadership, how I built loyalty and teamwork within a group, how I influence people aside from using rank/title, etc.

Other than that you can expect a pretty straightforward interview. Be able to explain everything you've done, what you want to do, why you need an MBA, and why you think Haas is a good fit for you--small and close-knit class, collaborative culture, Haas@Work, SSS, IBD, proximity to Valley tech companies, or whatever applies to your interests and goals.

Would you be looking at on-campus or off-campus? I don't think it makes much of a difference really, just curious.

emont, you are truly one of the most valuable members of this forum. I think it is safe to say we are all lucky to have you to help us with this process. Definitely taking these notes for my interview. Just scheduled it - off campus in NYC next week

Glad I can be of assistance--I didn't discover GMATClub til after I'd submitted my R1 apps but I got a lot of good information from students at GSB and Haas and plenty of help from GMATClubbers on my R2 apps, so I'm happy to return the favor.

My application went under review yesterday. I have submitted the application on 20th Jan and received a mail from AdCom yesterday.

So Haas asks for Attested copies of transcripts and degree certificates. While I have the original from my undergrad (international), I do not have attested copies. I am sure some of you might be in the same boat. What did you do? Did you visit Haas and gave them the original degree certificate and the original transcripts and they made copies? Or did you mail them?

I can't get them attested because it will take forever for my undergrad to send me attested copies here in the US

Thoughts and advise would be greatly appreciated

thanks emont for the great advice. i am located in the bay area, so i am assuming it would be on-campus, no reason for off-campus interview.

Hey goldgoldandgold

Not sure what you current situation is (got interview invite or waiting for it), but I may be able to shed some light here...

I met an admission's officer last November during an admissions event and asked her the same question as I am the same situation as you are. She told me that they understand that each school is different and are therefore flexible on this requirement. She said that I can bring official copies at the interview and the interviewer would check docs and make copies to send back to the school. So I guess that as long as you inform them about your situation as soon as you get the interview invite, it should be fine.

I'm now waiting for the interview invite.... time does not fly when waiting for that!

Finger crossed for all of us!

It's pretty common for schools to interview twice as many applicants as they accept. This isn't true for all schools, but I believe it's true for Haas.

GMAT Club R1 stats
64 applicants
Interviewed: 28 (44%)
Admitted: 14 (22%)

Current R2 stats
49 applicants
Interviewed: 14 (29%)

If you believe that R1 is indicative of R2 success rates, we should expect to see 6 or 7 more interview invites. We have technically already hit Haas' published interview rate of 25-30%, but our data tends to skew high for a variety of reasons.

Great ino Av!! thanks! Hopefully a few more invites will come along.

Anyone know if Haas offers no co-signer loans to international students?