Haas EWMBA Class of 2017 - Calling All Applicants

As impatient as I am, I went back to last year's forum and would like to correct my earlier statement.
- Earlier I wrote that last year calls started around noon on first day but in fact they started approximately same time as this time.
- Last person I was able to find to receive a call on first day was at 5pm.
- The calls continued the next day, starting around 9 am and atleast 1 candidate was admitted without getting a call.
- The online status were updated around 10:30 AM.

There is still hope, hang in there everyone.

Is this the active forum for those currently applying to the EWMBA? I see a ton of views (586), but only 1 reply. I'm a surprised at how inactive the feed is in mid-November, just a couple weeks before the first deadline! Last year the forum was active far earlier.

Perhaps it would help to edit the title of the forum to match past years - if that's possible? In the past, for EWMBA, it appears they were titled:
"Haas (UC Berkeley) EWMBA XXXX - Calling All Applicants" where XXXX is the four digit year folks are applying to begin vs. the year they will graduate. So this year's forum would be "2014." Agree with saintforlife that the applicant profiles, deadlines, etc. at the top need updating as well.

Hope everyone's applications are coming along well!

The calls have started and I'm in! I just heard back from my interviewer with good news a few minutes back. Good luck to everyone!

All the best to everyone waiting..there is alway a hope folks ( I gave up after reading all the above messages) I got a call at 3:43EST... Also my math course is marked complete.

I'm in the Evening cohort. Evenings have 2 types. Mon / Wed or Tues / Thurs. If you're in the Southbay, Haas provides two free shuttle services. A shuttle that will pick up from Mountain View at 415. Or one that picks you up in Santa Clara. The shuttles have wifi, generally okay, spotty at times. You'll arrive at class about 10-15 mins before class depending on traffic. The shuttle departs at 945, and you'll be back in SC/MV around 1030.

I personally like the Evening Cohorts because the lectures go by really fast and is a nice break from the work day. The first part of class is from 6pm to 730pm. Then a 45 min dinner break. The second part of class is from 815 to 930. I heard from some Weekend folks that an All day Saturday class can be draining.

People in the SF/Berkeley area tend to hangout after class each week at the local pub after class. Southbay folks will join them on occasion (ex. after finals, midterms). You'll start to get close to most of your classmates by the end of the first 10 weeks of class. (there's around 60-65 people per class). Professors will also come out to the pubs with you once in a while (Especially after finals.)

advantages of evening: class goes by fast, you have your weekends free (although for Fall there are 2 all-day Saturday classes that evenings need to attend. Weekend cohorts do these on 2 Sundays). In Spring there will be 4 half day saturday's for evening. This might change based on the core curriculum changes coming next year.

disadvantages of evening: not much time to hangout after class, but it can work.

Just got the call 20 mins ago. Admitted.

My interviewer called me. I'm a R2 candidate.

Posted from my mobile device

BEST WEEK EVER!!!!!!

- Bought my dream car this past weekend

- Got promoted in annual review this morning

- Right after the meeting, got THE CALL!!!!!

As they say in India "Jab dene wala deta hai, to chapar fad ke deta hai!"

Thank You God!

Awesome! Kind of the same thing going on with me..finalizing a house in Southbay this month very close to the EWMBA Shuttle pick up location. Will be taking the shuttle for Tuesdays and Thursdays

Wharton has a very close knit community in a pretty awesome location in SF. It's a much smaller group of people for their program, and the format is different. The people for their program tend to fly in from much further locations (They had one person flying in from Tokyo this year, although I believe he dropped out part way through the year). Average age is older than the EWMBA folks.

The EWMBA is every week for 3 years. So, obviously a bigger commitment. The advantage is that you are on campus and can make connections with both the part time and full time programs. You can join all the same clubs that the full time people can join and you're eligible for on campus recruiting and internships. As far as I'm concerned, it's as close as you're going to get to the full time experience without quitting your job. If your job is flexible enough, you can attend most of the events the full time people go to.

It all depends on what you want to get out of an MBA. They're both great programs and we have mixers between the two occasionally. Like I said though, it's down to personal choice.

I just got the call! Omg i am still shaking, my interviewer, Linda, called me. I think i was one of her first calls.

I am a reapplicant. I was waitlisted in R2 last year and ultimately did not get into the program.

Based on my feedback conversation, this year I'm aiming to re-write my essays to show a bit more personality, amplify my work accomplishments, and clarify my goals. Unfortunately for me, I applied last year with a GRE score that was solid, but which is now expired. Hopefully the AdCom appreciates that I'm investing a significant amount of time in studying for and taking the GMAT - something I had never really planned on! Given that my busiest work season is June - October, I'm just beginning to study for the GMAT and hope to take it the first week of January. I'll apply R2 if I feel good about the score, R3 if I think it warrants a re-test to show my commitment and abilities.

No suggestion on essay review or admission consulting services per Hulk's request. There wasn't much discussion of using them on last year's forum, though at last year's Women's Workshop I was astounded to hear that "the majority of applicants use an admissions consulting service." That said, I think services are likely of most help when you're in an over-represented pool and need a rockstar thought partner on how to make your application stand out. Or, perhaps for those who feel writing is not their strength. If you fall into the latter, I'd highly encourage having friends who have been successful in graduate studies proofread for you before shelling out cash to a service. I have a few friends who are excellent writers (in philosophy, MPA, and political science graduate programs) and they were very helpful in ensuring my essays were strong and well-written. I did learn via feedback that Haas prefers more personality, not less in essays, so err less on professional and more on personal and genuine if you ask me!

I wouldn't say Haas doesn't care about numbers based on my experience. While my GRE was on the lower side, it was still within their median range. They told my explicitly that it would strengthen my application to improve it, though it wouldn't be mandatory. They noted there was strength in my undergrad GPA and accomplishments at a "very good school" (their words). Plus, I know that while my GRE wasn't ideal, I scored very highly in Quant, and simply did poorly on Verbal. Verbal was likely offset by my career, interview, essays, AWA score, and extracurriculars, where I showed communication is actually a top strength for me.

Numbers matter. Career matters. Personality matters. Everything matters. They are trying to produce a class that both exemplifies their core values and is highly-qualified. Beyond those, they want a class that is diverse in every way to enhance peer-to-peer learning and networks. I'd focus on proving that you are qualified with the quantitative aspects of your application, and proving that your are a strong fit for Haas specifically with the qualitative (essays, interview, etc.).

Ok. My status is changed into "Invited to Interview" today. application was submitted in Nov, 20th, 10pm.

Can't speak for atHaas, but I'm in one of the weekend cohorts. When it comes to core classes, it doesn't really matter which one you're in. The weekend cohorts have fewer classes because they're in class for longer amounts of time per week, but that also means 2 four hour classes per weekend (9-6 with a 1 hour lunch).

Once you get out of the core classes, I'd much rather take classes during the week. You have 3x the number of electives available during the week compared to the weekend, which makes a huge difference.

As for the second question, yes it was much like this last year. R1 is a relatively small round and the first posts from last year are at the end of November. R2 is where the bulk of the applications are submitted. This is why Haas traditionally waitlists most of R1.

Last year they called the people they admitted the day before hand. From what I remember, they didn't get all the way through the list though. So, some people got called the day decisions came out.

They have for the past couple years, but I wouldn't count on it. If you can possibly avoid the 4th round, I would. There aren't many spots left and you have to be a much stronger candidate to get a spot by that point.



I wrote them myself. There's nothing particularly tricky about the Haas essays. They just want to get to know you and see what your motivations are. As long as you can write a half way decent narrative, you should be fine.

Trying to help ..they might put candidates on WL if not accepted without interview...just saying..@packet82 - can you comment ?