Ask Mendoza (University of Notre Dame) MBA Admissions

Quick reminder to everyone - we just extended our two remaining application deadlines.

You can learn more about dates and changes at this link:

https://business.nd.edu/MBA/Admissions_a ... Deadlines/

This should give everyone a little more time to get documents, recommendations, etc. collected and turned in.

Thanks for everyone's patience and interest in Notre Dame and as always, please don't be shy about asking questions in here.

Sincerely,

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Senior Associate Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

Hello,

The more I look into the ND/MBA program the more I am interested. However, an MBA is forever and I was hoping to get some info. on Mendoza's alumni base in Asia, and specifically Thailand. Are there a lot of Mendoza MBAs currently working in Thailand, and the rest of Asia?

Thank you.

Thanks for the question @westsidah408

I would characterize our alumni base in Asia as "small but growing."

First and foremost, you have to understand that we are a small program and a small university. We only graduate about 200 MBA's a year and about 2,000 students total. Of that number, only a fraction are international and of that number only a fraction will be from Asia. So you're not talking about a huge base here. I don't have a total number for you, but plain logic suggests that it's not a huge number - especially in a region with countries numbering in the billions for population.

But Notre Dame has never been known for the *size* of it's network. It's the responsiveness and passion our alums have for the University and for helping one another that sets us apart. And the University has definitely started to dedicate more resources towards international markets and Asia in particular.

We recently hired a VP for Internationalization:

https://provost.nd.edu/about-the-office/ ... rnational/

We also have an "ND Asia" program that has been underway for some time:

https://www.notredameasia.org/activities/

The University even has an office in Beijing (in addition to other offices in Europe and the Middle East)

https://notredameasia.org/contact/

And within the MBA program specifically, we recently signed on to an exchange program with SAIF:

https://www.saif.sjtu.edu.cn/en/index.ph ... ws_id/2908

I also think we provide a good experience for international students while they are here on campus with us. Notre Dame’s office of International Student Services & Activities offers many festivals and other events that celebrate different cultures, food and art and helps students acclimate to a new environment.

Learn more here:

https://issa.nd.edu/

The Mendoza College of Business also includes an Asian MBA Club and the Global Business Club, which recently launched a student-to-student orientation program. International students make presentations (often humorous) about their home countries to educate others who are planning to visit their country.

I hope this answers your question - let me know if I can help in any other way.

- Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Senior Associate Director
MBA Admissions

Thanks for the useful links, Andrew!

hello, im in the process of applying to bschool and am very interested in Mendoza. my gpa is on the lower end as i graduated in 3 yrs. i did not perform well in my quant classes during school but business was not something i had intended to do years ago. Many years later, i had gained experience in finance/investment banking where i gained the quant experience i lacked in college. Got certifications and licenses as well. will i get dinged for my low quant scores on my transcripts? and, is there anything you advise i do while applying? thanks!

Thanks for the question @Imluckaye and for your interest in ND/MBA.

I would recommend a couple of things...

1. If you have concerns about your undergraduate GPA (or any other item in your application for that matter) it's always advisable to submit a supplemental essay explaining the situation in your own words. What happened, what has changed and why it won't happen again. Our online application has an upload slot for just such an essay.

2. Keep in mind that we are looking for overall academic aptitude. So your transcript and GPA will not be the only tools used to evaluate your application. Your standardized test score can also be an important indicator.

Hope that helps - thanks again for your interest and sorry for the slow reply. We are traveling quite a bit these days!

Sincerely,

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Sr. Assoc. Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

Thanks so much for your reply, Andrew! I look forward to seeing you guys on the road.

Hello, I am curious about how the Mendoza admission committee weighs individual sections of the GRE when evaluating a candidate. Is AWA score heavily scrutinized when considering a candidate? I am sure the Quant and Verbal scores are very important, but is AWA equally important?

Thank you!

Sorry for taking so long to respond - we are all traveling quite a bit right now with intermittent access to the web.

I would say that the AWA isn't as important as a well-written essay, resume, slide presentation, etc. We will see your writing samples first hand in e-mails and other documents that we receive. That's probably more heavily scrutinized than the AWA score although it can be a tiebreaker in situations where there is concern about communication ability. Hope that clarifies.

Thanks for your interest in Notre Dame and have a great weekend.

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Senior Associate Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

Hey everyone,

Not sure if you have seen this yet or not, but we recently did a webinar to answer questions about the general MBA application process including tips for how to be admitted.

If you're interested, you can view the recording of the session at the link below.

https://bit.ly/UfFnwT

Hope you find this useful and as always, I look forward to answering your questions this year.

Take care and Go Irish!

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Senior Associate Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

Just wanted to share a link to the NBC "Fighting For" video that debuted over the weekend. It features one of our MBA alumni and a unique class here at ND/MBA called "Business On The Frontlines" - it's definitely worth a quick 2 minutes!

https://youtu.be/pZEyyIB1oa0

Enjoy and have a great week!

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Senior Associate Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

Just a reminder to everyone that our Round 1 application deadline is coming up on Monday, October 29th!

If you have questions as you complete the online app, don't hesitate to post them here or send us an e-mail.

Sincerely,

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Sr. Assoc. Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

Quick reminder to our international applicants as we prepare to launch decisions from our Early Decision Round tomorrow. We are releasing decisions throughout the day and so based on your timezone, the decision may actually come on the 27th and not the 26th. I appreciate your patience.

Good luck to everyone and don't forget that our Round 1 deadline is coming up on Monday. This weekend is a great opportunity to finish up your app and get into Round 1!

Have a great weekend everyone and Go Irish!

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Sr. Assoc. Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

For those that were affected by Hurricane Sandy - we have extended the Round 1 deadline until 11:59pm on Wednesday, October 31st.

Stay safe out there East Coasters!

Andrew J. Sama
Sr. Assoc. Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

Hello everyone!

It's been very quiet on this board this year. I hope everyone knows that we are still happy to answer questions! I realize that a lot of the most commonly asked questions have been answered in earlier posts, but don't be shy if you have new questions or concerns!

I also wanted to remind everyone that Monday is our Round 2 application deadline! This weekend is a great time to finish up the application. If you have any questions about the application feel free to post them here or send us an e-mail at mba.business@nd.edu.

And once you've submitted the application, don't forget to tune in Monday night to see the Notre Dame Fighting Irish play for the national championship in football! Go Irish! Beat 'Bama!

Sincerely,

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Sr. Assoc. Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame

deleted

Thanks for the question @dsin10!

We don't really do pre-application evaluations. There are too many components that we look at in the evaluation to comment based on just a few data points. So it's very difficult to say what someone's chances might be without seeing things like recommendations, interview, essays, etc.

That being said - we do typically have a number of STEM graduates in our two year program. In any given year they typically make up at least 1/3 of the class. So it's a skill set that we know works. I would note that your GMAT score is significantly below the class averages for our last few classes. That could be balanced to some degree by transcripts and GPA's to demonstrate academic aptitude. But keep in mind that our fellowships are all merit-based and GMAT is a large component of that assessment.Hard to say more than that without a full application, but I would recommend that you take a look at our evaluation criteria and class profiles when you have a chance. That may help further.

https://business.nd.edu/mba/admissions_a ... ncial_aid/

https://business.nd.edu/MBA/Two-Year_MBA ... tatistics/

Thanks again for your question and have a great weekend!

Andrew

Andrew J. Sama
Sr. Assoc. Director, MBA Admissions
University of Notre Dame