Hello Everyone, Posting here summary and transcript of recent live chat with members of Vanderbilt Admission and Career services teams, and a current student.
I would like to know more about the program and why it is unique?Vanderbilt_Mukesh: There are many things that are unique about Owen. If I had to name a few, the small class structure, the collaborative environment, the rapport you can build with your professors and staff here are some of the best.
Vanderbilt_Bailey: I think the support students receive here is unparalleled. There is not a day that goes by that I don't walk down the hall and see students in their CMC Coaches Office. Same goes for the faculty offices.
Vanderbilt_Brook: From a career management perspective I know we are unique in that we start working with students soon after they are admitted and then commit to coming to Owen. This is an example of the personalized experience our students have.
Mukesh. Can you tell us the reasons behind choosing Vanderbilt over other US programs for MBA? How is your experience in Owen so far? And finally what are your post MBA goals and how Owen MBA is helping you prepare to achieve your goals?Vanderbilt_Mukesh: I applied for business schools with good finance curriculum and was admitted to multiple schools in the US. I chose Owen for two reasons - the conversations I had with the second years and of course, Nashville. Everybody I spoke to at Owen came out of their way to answer my questions and help me take a decision.
I am having the time of my life at Owen now, enhancing my financial and analytical skill set and participating in multiple clubs and initiatives. My post MBA goal is to get into corporate finance, and the finance classes I took at Owen went a long way in helping me achieve that goal
I would like to get a deeper understanding of the Leadership Development program and the 360 degree assessment as part of it.Vanderbilt_Bailey: I'm happy to discuss the Leadership Development Program. Before students start school, they take the Hogan Assessment. This assessment tells you what you are good at, what challenges you face, etc. At that point, you meet with a LDP coach to pick the LDP track that works best for you.
We have 3 different LDP tracks: A personal approach track here you have a 360 assessment and a personal executive coach; A shared approach track where you have an executive coach with 3 other MBA students (this track allows you to have accountability) and a Flex track which is a shortened version for individuals who have already had extensive leadership coach
Vanderbilt_Mukesh: LDP is a unique program at Owen wherein you will be assigned to a coach after the team discusses your Hogan test results with you. You can choose between individual coaching and group coaching. The 4 individual coaching sessions I had were wonderful. It's like a white board where you can discuss anything and everything with your coach.
Welcome on GMAT Club, Brook!! I have the employment stats of Owen which tell us close to 93% students were successful in getting employed within 3 months. Can you tell us in which industries and job functions majority of the students went? What support and guidance these students received from Career Management Dept?Vanderbilt_Brook: Thank you! In terms of internships, the Finance job function is our single largest (35%) followed by Consulting (17%) and Marketing (17%). For full-time Consulting is the largest (26%) followed by Finance (24%) and Marketing (15%).
In terms of support we provide for our students, in addition to providing webinars and coaching opportunities in the summer before classes start, we also devote at least a day and half of orientation to career management. In our first quarter our 1st year students are paired with a 2nd year peer coach and all of the 1st year students have a resume review.
We also hold career treks: One to Atlanta for consulting, One to NYC for financial services, and a marketing trek this year went to Dallas. We also had a Tech Trek to SanFran and Seattle.
Vanderbilt_Mukesh: CMC is one of the best things about Owen, hands down. We have a number of dedicated CMC coaches who are available from the day you walk in to the school till your graduation to guide you in the process. Apart from the regular help with recruiting, they help you connect with the Owen/Vanderbilt alumni which is very helpful in your job search.
I am interested in learning more about placements in finance sector. Can you tell us how many of the Finance placements went in IB, PE, and VC? Can you name a few companies that offered jobs in Finance sector?Vanderbilt_Brook: Poets & Quants recently did a great article about how top MBA programs fair on this:
https://poetsandquants.com/2016/01/13/wh ... -talent/2/. We were excited to see that Owen tended to fall in the top 20 for almost all of the financial services areas they captured. We 8% of our class go to work in IB this past year full-time.
Some top companies hiring for financial services: Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, SunTrust, Wells Fargo. Top for corporate finance: Johnson&Johnson, American Airlines, Eastman Chemcial, McKesson
Hi guys, please can you talk more about Vanderbilt Business World Shapers?Vanderbilt_Bailey: World Shapers are current students who are selected by a nomination process. The students chosen are typically those who have taken initiative on campus and whom we believe will make a difference in the world. You can read more about it here:
https://www.owenworldshapers.com/As per discussion on Owen forum, currently Round 2 interview invites are going out. Is there any deadline set for interview invitations?Vanderbilt_Bailey: Interview invitations go out periodically after the application is considered complete and the admissions committee has had a chance to review. I believe our Director is still working on interview invitations. I would say that since the interview deadline for the 2nd round is March 3rd, a broad deadline would be mid-February.
Can you please name some positions offered by technology firms?Vanderbilt_Brook: Amazon has been our top employer (all functions/industries) for a few years running. They particularly recruit for their Pathways Operations program. HP, Apple, and Dell are a couple other tech firms that regularly take Owen students.
What kind of consulting roles are generally offered to international students? I have heard that generally Federal roles are more common but these are not available to international students. How true is that?Vanderbilt_Brook: Consulting opportunities (at least strategy consulting) are usually very difficult for our international students to secure. In the past three years I think we have had 1 international student (not from Europe/Canada) land in human capital consulting and 1 land in risk management consulting who didn't have previous US consulting experience. We have a couple of our students work in government consulting, and I can't think of any international students receiving these in recent years.
Any ideas on what kind of roles are offered by Deloitte to Owen students?Vanderbilt_Brook: Yes, Deloitte is open to international applicants for these roles. The challenge for many international candidates is that consulting firms are looking for candidates who are immediately ready to be put in front of US clients. And based on their hiring patterns it seems like many times domestic students are more prepared for this.
What will be the single most important admission interview advice you guys will give?
Vanderbilt_Bailey: Be authentic. We want to know you, your story and why you want an MBA so I always encourage people to do a deep dive in thinking about that before your interview.Vanderbilt_Brook: A note for international students -- from what I've seen a limited number of MBA programs report their employment stats for international candidates. We do, and are really proud that the last couple of years are numbers for international students have been on par with domestic students or very close to it. Here's the link to our employment report: https://issuu.com/vanderbiltowen/docs/ow ... 9/10584070Chat TranscriptAttachment: