Calling Berkeley-Haas Fall 2008 Applicants!

Yeah, I'm sure we could work something out. Just PM me.

I'm not moving down until a couple days before orientation, which means I'm not going to math camp. Not sure if this was the best decision, because apparently the social aspect of math camp is really fun. I guess there's a only few hours of classes in the AM, and then all of the students go golfing or go to the pool or something like that before heading to the bars.

So instead of studying math, I'm going to focus on something else to prepare for b-school education--getting my tolerance up! Cheers!

This post is from someone who has been a silent spectator of the GMAT club for the past year or so. Sorry, that I have not contributed much to any discussions. I am planning to apply to Berkeley for Fall 2008 as well. Although I did not do too well on my first attemp, I am still going to start my application. I am planning to retake my GMAT sometime in September. Can we form a small GMAT club group of the applicants who are applying to Berkeley for 2008 Fall and who are in the Bay Area?

sputhucode- I'm in the Bay Area (live in SF but work on the Peninsula). I think Kryzak is too.

Yup, I'm in the bay area. Work and live in the south bay. Would love to meet up with some potential Cal folks!

to zakk, I will report on how the infosession goes, but my roommate went to a Berkeley PT infosession down here in Palo Alto, and he said that he was one of only three non-Indian IT person in the room. So I guess if you're Indian, the off-campus infosessions are probably more social. Just a suggestion.

I am in the bay area too. Live in the peninsula and work in SF.

Well, if anyone is there on Saturday, PM me before Friday afternoon and we'll look for each other. Maybe there's some "GMAT Club" hat we can wear?

nope, I'm a puerto rican/anglo PR officer. But close!

Hi guys,
I am starting the HAAS PT program soon (orientation is next weekend ), so if you've any questions, fire away!!

Considering that the career goals essay is only 350 words, how did u address all the elements of the goals essay.

Career progression
Long term goals
Short term goals
Why MBA?
Why UCB Haas?
What you will contribute?

Or, did you only answer the explicit question related to short and long term goals.

That's a good point, and one that I think many of us (me especailly) need to remember to factor into your decision. One of the challenges I think all PT folks face is connecting with your fellow students, which can be hard with many irons in the fire at work, then head to school, then to see your S/O for 10 minutes to debrief on the day, then to bed.

This is one of the reasons Santa Clara, a good regional school, is still in the running for me. I'm 2 miles from campus, I'd just ride my bike, and can be very involved with the out of class aspects of the school. Haas is a bit of a drive, but still manageable, and Anderson is where I feel this would really be a challenge. I'm planning on taking the occasional day off and heading down to LA (if accept) just to keep in the loop at presentations, clubs, and the like.

I picked up a book with 65 sucessful essays written by Harvard admits. It was a good exercise in brevity, a skill that I lack

Thats an excellent idea..

another potential UCB applicant here!

Can we get a debrief on Saturday's event from someone attended?

Thanks!

Hey All,

Yesterday's Berkeley Haas Infosession was very well done. It was a 4 hour affair (went on for 5 because my tour guide was one of the most informative of the bunch). The adcom was very enegetic, wecoming, and exuded their excitement and passion for being at Haas. That was quite a contrast from Stanford, whose presentation was very professional, but didn't have the 'spark' that Haas did.

One can argue that Stanford doesn't need to try so hard to attract applicants as Haas does, but the Haas infosession is making me seriously consider spending more time making a decision IF I get into both schools.

The COO of the school spent 15 minutes or so welcoming the students. Then the adcom (4 ladies, 2 asian, 1 caucasian, 1 african american) told us why Haas is one of the top B-schools in the nation. They actually spent some time thinking about the reasons to differentiate themselves instead of just saying "We're the most innovative" or "we have a small class size". not all the reasons were perfectly good, but it showed that they spent time thinking about it. This is generally a complaint I've heard from people who have gone to multiple infosessions and said that all the presentations are the same and say the same thing. Haas was definitely trying to be different.

Then they spent about 30 minutes each on financial aid, admissions criteria, class profile, and an alum/student panel. We were running over the time limit as people had a lot of questions, but all the main points were addressed, and some new scholarships and other events were publicized (all can be found on the website, with a few other things that you can find through discussions on GMAT Club).

Finally we had a quick tour to see the 4 buildings that make up Haas. They mentioned that there isn't enough study space for teams, due to the small size of the UC Berkeley campus and nowhere to expand, but because there are only 240 students per class, all the deans and administrative people are very attentive to student needs.

You are split into cohorts of 60 people in your first year (as they mentioned on the website), but you're also assigned teams of 4 to do ALL your classwork together. Thus for the first semester, you'll know these 4 people very well.

Unlike Stanford, there are no "tiered" system to allow finance people to take more advanced finance classes, or managers to take more advanced managing classes. But you can opt out of the classes if you like.

The curriculum will not be changing in any drastic way anytime soon, but they often add new classes and professors based on student feedback, so it's an evolving thing instead of Stanford's major cirriculum change.

All in all, great experience, and I really hope I can get into Haas now! If you have any other questions, post and I'll try to answer.

Did anyone else go?

Hi All
I am from Bay area too (south bay) working in Cupertino. I went to Berkeley info session and Kryzak described it quite well. I was planning for PT program but now I am considering FT program too. After the session I feel that FT has a different exposure to offer, which will not be possible by attending classes on Saturdays. Is there anyone else here who thinks same way too. I want to discuss the differences between the programs so lets start putting in our views.

Thanks Kryzak!

Can't wait until classes start so that I can see for myself. While I was at Berkeley for undergrad, I only ventured to Haas once, for a final. Otherwise, I spent most of my time at Dwinelle, Barrows, Tollman, and Wheeler--complete opposite side of campus.