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solaris1
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 18 Nov 2008, 11:54
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As both cereal255 and I have pointed out earlier, there seem to be a lot of applicants with "unpleasant" interview experiences with Cornell alumni.

In most cases, the Johnson School admissions staff is much nicer and much more straightforward in the interview questions. Unless it's absolutely impossible for you to make to Ithaca for an interview, avoid going the alumni interview route.

boOmasta

I was GRILLED by an alumni today, and I thought it was supposed to be EASIER.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 18 Nov 2008, 12:03
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"Accepted applicants may know before December 17. We will notify all round 1 applicants of our decision on December 17."

This was taken from the Businessweek forum "Ask the Johnson Admissions Office" thread.

Seems consistent with getting calls/email notifications a few days ahead of time. Thought people would like to know that don't venture over there from time to time.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 18 Nov 2008, 12:49
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solaris1

In most cases, the Johnson School admissions staff is much nicer and much more straightforward in the interview questions. Unless it's absolutely impossible for you to make to Ithaca for an interview, avoid going the alumni interview route.

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Doomed. I am already tensed and so very not prepared for the i/v...and the icing... it's scheduled with an alum on sat... :(

on a brighter note.. ithaca looks beautiful right now!
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 18 Nov 2008, 13:01
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Don't worry sentiment - some alumni interviews being a bit unexpectedly harsh is obviously the exception and not the rule. If there's anybody on the fence between going to Ithaca for an interview with admissions or meeting an alum however, do the former.

You'll do fine! Good luck.

sentiment

Doomed. I am already tensed and so very not prepared for the i/v...and the icing... it's scheduled with an alum on sat... :(

on a brighter note.. ithaca looks beautiful right now!
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 18 Nov 2008, 13:49
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I think it's really funny that the admissions people make such a big deal out of career plans. Seriously there is virtually no chance that any of us know exactly what we want to do and are right. a few of us probably do, but in general we will all go to some school, learn a bunch of things we don't know, gain insight into a bunch of industries we've had limited or no exposure to, do an internship somewhere, and then end up with a post MBA career. I've been told by admissions people at several info sessions that they know we're lying to them, they just want to know we've thought about it. Then they grill us on whether our plan is realistic and ding people based on having an unrealistic plan.....what the hell?
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 18 Nov 2008, 15:55
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How many of you are doing the Park Fellows essay? I want to do it but the only example I can think of using is the same example I used for Essay 1.

Also, what are the profiles for people that actually get the fellowship? I don't want to stress out over an essay where only people that have amazing work experience and community service along with a 760+ GMAT actually get the fellowship.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 18 Nov 2008, 19:31
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solaris1
+1 to you! I'll head over there after I'm finished at the Regents Lounge in the Statler. Mild snow showers be damned!
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solaris- what'd you think of the Chapter House?
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:10
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So I got absolutely skewered by my interviewer. Sucks! Its not like I wasn't prepared, it was my 3rd interview and my first 2 went extremely well. I prepped all the common questions for this one and went in confident. But my interview did not follow the script at all. No leadership questions, no team questions, no community questions, no how will you contribute to Cornell, no why mba, no why cornell!! I still managed to weave my why mba and why cornell into the interview anyway, but I was never asked those questions directly. But the main problem was, my interviewer seemd dead set from the begining that my career goals would be hard to achieve and she just hammered away at that throughout the interview. I stayed calm and respectful and explained my case but she didn't seem to be buying it. She was set against my goals before I stepped in the door. The really crazy thing is that my goals are completely reasonable. I want to get into asset management and I have the following background: 4 years in financial services valuing private companies, finance undergrad at a top 30 overall, top 10 undergrad bschool, Level III CFA candidate (plan to have the charter when I start school). So how is asset management an unrealistic target?! Well apparently becuase I don't manage my own portfolio I haven't demonstrated that I live and breathe investing, which is what she said asset management recruiters are looking for (I guess 1,000 hours for the CFA doesn't count?! I mentioned that CFA shows that committment - she seemed to think that spending a week on etrade was more valuable, well ok the etrade part is my words).

Anyway, other than that (which is major) I demonstrated impact at work, talked convincingly about how much I wanted to go to cornell, made her smile/laugh a couple times, never stumbled on a single question, was calm, composed and confident. Probably demonstrated my interpersonal/communication skills. But.... I will be losing a lot of sleep over the next 4 weeks. There is no way I'm getting better than the "recommend with reservation" checkbox, and I fear that at Cornell, which I get the impression cares a lot about the interview, that means I'm finished.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:14
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EEK! (to IHatetheGMAT) Was this an alumni interview or an adcom interview?
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:16
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It was actually with somone from career services! (which makes it even worse IMO!)
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:33
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is it a bad sign if the interviewer isn't warm and friendly during the interview (ie, doesnt like your application), or might that just reflect the personality of the individual? or is it anyone's guess?
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:37
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So I got absolutely skewered by my interviewer. Sucks! Its not like I wasn't prepared, it was my 3rd interview and my first 2 went extremely well. I prepped all the common questions for this one and went in confident. But my interview did not follow the script at all. No leadership questions, no team questions, no community questions, no how will you contribute to Cornell, no why mba, no why cornell!! I still managed to weave my why mba and why cornell into the interview anyway, but I was never asked those questions directly. But the main problem was, my interviewer seemd dead set from the begining that my career goals would be hard to achieve and she just hammered away at that throughout the interview. I stayed calm and respectful and explained my case but she didn't seem to be buying it. She was set against my goals before I stepped in the door. The really crazy thing is that my goals are completely reasonable. I want to get into asset management and I have the following background: 4 years in financial services valuing private companies, finance undergrad at a top 30 overall, top 10 undergrad bschool, Level III CFA candidate (plan to have the charter when I start school). So how is asset management an unrealistic target?! Well apparently becuase I don't manage my own portfolio I haven't demonstrated that I live and breathe investing, which is what she said asset management recruiters are looking for (I guess 1,000 hours for the CFA doesn't count?! I mentioned that CFA shows that committment - she seemed to think that spending a week on etrade was more valuable, well ok the etrade part is my words).

Anyway, other than that (which is major) I demonstrated impact at work, talked convincingly about how much I wanted to go to cornell, made her smile/laugh a couple times, never stumbled on a single question, was calm, composed and confident. Probably demonstrated my interpersonal/communication skills. But.... I will be losing a lot of sleep over the next 4 weeks. There is no way I'm getting better than the "recommend with reservation" checkbox, and I fear that at Cornell, which I get the impression cares a lot about the interview, that means I'm finished.
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What a ridiculous person. Is she expecting CFA charterholders who graduated from Harvard/Princeton/Yale and work at Fidelity or SAC Capital to be applying to her school? They have their asset management immersion or whatever for a reason - for career switchers. Cornell should be thrilled to have a candidate of your caliber in their program. If they aren't, then forget them.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:43
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I think it's more a reflection on the person than on your application. I hear that the interviews are blind so the person in front of you would have no idea what your application is like. This would almost certainly be the case with an alum interviewer.

I similarly got grilled on my career goals question IHatetheGMAT. I think that they may just be testing you to see if you've really researched the career. Like I said I eventually want to work with a city with economic development as my long term goal and she asked what department would do that and how would I go about achieving that like it was a totally ridiculous goal. I likewise had a similar response to you (while trying to keep calm and collected) since I had researched what I was doing and how an MBA would help... I'm thinking that this line of questioning is their version of a "stress" interview and it sounds like you did fine since the rest of the interview sounded OK.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:44
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But the main problem was, my interviewer seemd dead set from the begining that my career goals would be hard to achieve and she just hammered away at that throughout the interview. I stayed calm and respectful and explained my case but she didn't seem to be buying it. She was set against my goals before I stepped in the door.
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IHateTheGMAT: Hey I completely feel you on this, because I had the exact same interview!!!!!! though it was with an alumni....

Interestingly though, I had the same reason as you, I had the background to back up my intended goal...

My interviewer was just like yours, did not agree to my plans. Later went on to my back up plan, as to what would I do if I do not get my intended internship/job. What amazed me is that she was against my back up as well!!!! "How about a plan C?"

This is insane, I guess they have a set of questions and tone to approach interviews?
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:45
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I think it's more a reflection on the person than on your application. I hear that the interviews are blind so the person in front of you would have no idea what your application is like. This would almost certainly be the case with an alum interviewer.
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I had an alumni interviewer, and the interviewer had a page of notes taken by the admissions committee when they were reviewing my file. So it isn't completely blind...
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 11:46
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They're either really depressed about the economic climate and placements, or they are just trying to test you and see how dedicated you are.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 12:13
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I didn't actually make it to the Chapter House, LeftOut. I ended up spending much more time than I thought I would at the pub in the Statler, and by the time I was done it really was very freaking cold outside.

I did look at the stuff they have on tap though, and I won't miss it the next time I'm in Ithaca. Thanks again for the heads up.

LeftOut

solaris- what'd you think of the Chapter House?
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 12:23
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agold

What a ridiculous person. Is she expecting CFA charterholders who graduated from Harvard/Princeton/Yale and work at Fidelity or SAC Capital to be applying to her school? They have their asset management immersion or whatever for a reason - for career switchers. Cornell should be thrilled to have a candidate of your caliber in their program. If they aren't, then forget them.
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Thanks man. I appreciate the comment.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 12:30
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Cereal - I hope your right and its a stress test that I passed.

Boom (and if others would comment on this that would be awesome!) - intersting that you bring up back up plans because about halfway through the interview I said something (not sure what exactly) and she ran with that and said it could lead to a good back up option for me if I don't get into asset management. She said its a back up taken by many students that dont get AM jobs. So, I guess that's a positive right? that she thinks I have a viable option? Of course I showed interest/enthusiasim for the backup option.

A couple other things that really surprised me. She talked down Cornell a lot! She said that Harvard, Wharton, Columbia and Chicago are much better at placing on the buyside (obviously! that's why everyone at cornell was dinged by cbs!) and she said the asset management immersion, student run fund and virtual trading floor were not that helpful in recruiting! Later she more or less said, cornell makes worker bees not CEOs.

One last thing, my app is already complete. She submitted my writeup in 1 day I guess. Not sure how to interpret that.
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Calling all Cornell (Johnson) Fall 2009 applicants! 19 Nov 2008, 12:32
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Johnson seems kinda wacked out some times. I arranged for my girlfriend to meet with someone from the JV club to talk about what it was like to be a partner in Ithaca. I was going to go on a tour while this was going on but decided against a 70 minute tour geared towards undergrads when it started snowing out. so I hung around talking to them. When we were finishing up the woman's husband showed up and started grilling me about what schools I'm applying to. I told him Tuck, Johnson, Kellogg and Stanford and he went all into what the common thread between those schools was. I told him I was looking for a more collaborative environment, a friendlier culture, etc. He jumped on that and said Kellogg and Stanford are much bigger than Tuck and Johnson so why did I apply to them. I know Johnson thinks that Tuck and Darden are it's reasonable comparables, but only applying to 2 or 3 schools when there's a weakness in your appplication, and I pretty clearly have one, would be pretty reckelss.

Note that this was a 5 minute conversation in the atrium in Sage, it wasn't even an interview, which I still haven't been offered.
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