Calling all Vanderbilt Owen MBA Applicants [2020 Intake] Class of 2022

Owen alum here. Happy to try to answer any questions you all may have about Owen. Highly recommend a visit to Owen and Nashville if you get the chance-- that's really the only way to witness the school's tight-knit culture (plus Nashville is just really cool). Cheers!

Welcome back! How has your post MBA journey been so far? How would you compare your current work experience with pre MBA one? Ofcourse there would be drastic changes in responsibilities, designation, pay etc but do you feel any change in the style of work or approaching challenges at workplace?

Hi TheFloridian,
I am an international student so I am concerned about the low % of international students recently in Owen.
I guest you are not a international student because of the name. However, could you share a bit about your international friends' situation, to the extent of your observation ?

Additionally, do you have any advice on this year's essays which allow only 225 words in total (75 words for each short answer)?

Hey there,

The essay questions for Owen Vanderbilt are :

1. What are your short-term career goals after obtaining your MBA and what functional area do you plan to study while in the MBA program? (75 words)

2. What are some specific skills that you want to develop during your time in business school? (75 words)

3. The role of the Vanderbilt MBA Career Management Center is to partner with students to discover and define their career goals; to educate and coach students in developing and refining skills and experiences to achieve their career goals; to facilitate partnerships among students, the business community and the Vanderbilt community. How do you plan to collaborate with the Career Management Center to work toward your career goals? (75 words)

To read my take on how to go about writing these essays please visit https://bit.ly/2oMWUW4.

Best,

Barely any activity on this page, which is understandable since most people are probably yet ti submit the round 1 application (that's what im judging from the status updates). I submitted my application more than a week ago. Hope to hear soon from Owen.
Let's keep this forum a bit more active.
During an online event I asked the admissions team regarding the dearth of international students. They said it's due to multiple factors including the recent political reasons
=80]Posted from my mobile device[/size]

Can you share about the video essay? And also I find it difficult to handle 3 short-answer questions (75 word limit). Hardly tell a story with these 3 separate questions.

Thank you very much

Hi thuytt, video essay questions are basic and straightforward and simple, and fun. For eg. I was asked a basic question regarding my undergraduate experience.
Plus, you get three attempts to submit the video essay, but a new attempt would mean cancelling the previous one and even the question will be different in the second attempt. So be relaxed and keep it chill, nothing technical or to fret about.

Regarding the essays, like you said, 75 words is not enough to "tell a story", which is true. So what i have done is be straightforward and tell about your plans without any background story etc. Whatever story there is to tell is to be told in the 300 words essay.
I hope the information is helpful, just my two bits (not a professional advice).
Thanks. Good luck with your application.

Posted from my mobile device

Yesterday, I was talking to Cornell adcom on this very subject and he cited the same reason for the drop in applications witnessed in most US schools.

Thanks for your sharing. There are few days to go and hope that I could submit on time for R1. Finger-crossed for you and me, and other applicants as well.

Do we have to link the answers of question 1 & 2? For example, if our short-term career goal is to work as a Consultant, the skills that we want to develop must link to that goal?

fudetra
Hi, I'd say that would totally depend on you, however, you could still ask an admissions consultant if you're completely unsure about the same.
Link or no link, just try to give the best possible and sincere and honest answers to the two questions. It would be better to give honest and raw and genuine separate "unlinked" answers, than give forced and artificial "linked" answers.

I just submitted my application. Excitement, nerves, stress...

How was the video essay, was it challenging?

I wouldn't say it was challenging. The question I received caught me off guard a little bit, but honestly, any question will because you don't know what it will be. I considered redoing my answer because you get three attempts. In the end, I decided to stick with my first one. From what I've heard from the AdCom and from what my question was, I think they really just want to learn more about you in a non-scripted way.

nodnarb
Same here. Even I decided to go along with my first attempt. Even though I felt it was not my best shot, I nonetheless stuck with it.

I applied in R1 and received interview invitation today.

Same. I received an interview invitation via email about an hour ago.