Haas Fall 2009 Essays Released

Question

Posted in the "Calling all Haas 2009..." thread and the Haas Ambassador thread. Please ask questions and discuss in the Calling all Haas thread and I'll do my best to answer.

p485272#p485272

BTW, ONLY Short Answer #1 is different. Everything else is the same as the Fall 2008 Essay Questions.

Again, for optional essays, ONLY write something if you have a major deficiency to address, or if you have another aspect of your candidacy you want to bring out. I wrote a 500 word essay discussing my volunteering activities for the optional essay (also for UCLA), just for your reference.

Fall 2009 Essay Questions

Listed below are the supplemental questions, short answer questions, required essays, and optional essays for the fall 2009 application.

Supplemental Questions:

1. If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain; otherwise, enter N/A.
2. List in order of importance all community & professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, dates of involvement, offices held, & average number of hours spent per month.
3. List full-time and part-time jobs held during undergraduate or graduate studies, indicating the employer, job title, employment dates, location, and the number of hours worked per week for each position held prior to the completion of your degree.
4. Please explain all gaps in your employment since earning your university degree.
5. Please identify the course(s) you have taken or intend to take to demonstrate quantitative proficiency. Provide the course name, date, grade if any, and institution at which the course was or will be taken. If you wish, you may discuss other ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities.
6. If you have ever been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation, suspended or required to withdraw from any college or university, please explain. If not, please enter N/A. (An affirmative response to this question does not automatically disqualify you from admission.)

Short Answer:

1. If you could change one thing you've done in your life, what would it be, and how would you do it differently? (250 word maximum)
2. Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)
3. At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. Describe an innovative solution you have created to address a specific challenge. (250 word maximum)
4. What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum)

Required Essays:

1. Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
2. What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? Why do you want an MBA from Berkeley at this point in your career? (1000 word maximum)

Optional Essays:

1. (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)
2. (Optional) If you wish to be considered for the Haas Achievement Award (for individuals who have achieved success in spite of significant economic, educational, health-related and/or other obstacles), please use this space to address the obstacles you have overcome. (750 word maximum)

sonibubu · Answer

Outstanding. Definitely one of my target schools.

Kryzak, is it worth visiting haas in the summer -- I'm not sure if summer classes are in session -- or should I just visit in the fall?

Also, for short answer 1 is UG performance a topic worth discussing or are they looking for something deeper?

thanks

bherronp · Answer

Does it seem like some schools are releasing their essay questions earlier this year? Maybe I am just crazy.

sm332 · Answer

Harvard started the trend and it seems like many schools are following suite .. not a bad thing I suppose aside from allowing folks to agonize even more over their essays.

agold · Answer

Definitely something deeper if I were to guess.

kryzak · Answer

Looks like many schools are releasing a LOT earlier now. I remember the essay questions for Haas (and Kellogg) were not out this early last year. good to hear soni, I'm here to help get as many Haas applicants (and admits) as I can.

Visiting in the summer is only useful with the Summer Infosession. They haven't released the date yet, but I'll post it here when I hear of it. Last year it was somewhere around July 28th and was a 5 hour thing from 8am to 1pm which included tours, panels, and presentations from different parts of the school. do a search on the Fall 2008 Berkeley thread or search "summer infosession" with my name to see my summary of the event. I think they might want a deeper answer than just UG performance. Unless you can pinpoint one key story that affected your entire UG performance, and how you want to go back to that point and change it, I would talk about something more life-changing/important/significant to you. Hope that helps!

zakk · Answer

I agree that they are looking for something deeper. UG is typically reserved for the optional, but this approach is a good one to take with that essay as well. talk about the issues, how taking classes post-UG to prepare for your MBA has focused your ambition and increased your desire for a masters.

I'd use it as a pivot to your pre-MBA academic achivements (which you'll need with a weak UG), put it in the optional and find something more for the short answer 1 essay.

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