Application Information for Class of 2016 Application Deadlines Class of 2016 Round: Online application submitted by: Tests taken by: Decision posted/emailed by: One October 16, 2013 October 16, 2013 January 15, 2014 Two January 8, 2014 January 8, 2014 March 26, 2014 Three March 12, 2014 March 12, 2014 May 15, 2014 Essay Questions: 1.) If you could choose one song that expresses who you are, what is it and why? (250 word maximum) 2.) What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum) 3.) Describe a time in the last three years when you overcame a failure. What specific insight from this experience has shaped your development? (250 word maximum) 4.) a. What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How have your professional experiences prepared you to achieve these goals? b. How will an MBA from Haas help you achieve these goals? (750 word maximum for 4a. and 4b.) Supplemental Information 1.) If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain. If not applicable, enter N/A. List in order of importance all community and professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, size of the organization, dates of involvement, offices held, and average number of hours spent per month. 2.) 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. Please explain all gaps in your employment since earning your university degree. 3.) 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.) Optional Essays (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) (Optional) If not clearly evident, please discuss ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities, or plan to strengthen quantitative abilities. You do not need to list courses that appear on your transcript. (250 word maximum) Prominent Current Students/Alumni Active on GMAT Club: Mrbucket - Class of 2015 Haas Social Media Updates Tweets BerkeleyHaas,465143484953788417,500 FB Updates BerkeleyHaas Dealing with a Ding - Webinar Recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=echqdCOW7cM Dealing with a Ding.pdf

I don't think you need them all. So, you may use your judgement and skip the irrelevant stuff. - if this helps, I'm skipping a few of them as well

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Haas (Full Time MBA) Class of 2016 Calling all applicants

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Ward2012

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24 Sep 2013, 23:31

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amitkpandey

randomwalk

I was doing my random skimming through target school websites routine and to my surprise, noticed that Haas has released their essay questions. Wow!
https://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions/essays.html

I have a question on the 'Song' essay. Does it have to be an English song only..?? any pointers will be really helpful.

I know one person who wrote about a song without any lyrics, which I wouldn't have even though of.

jumsumtak

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25 Sep 2013, 16:26

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Ward2012

amitkpandey

randomwalk

I know one person who wrote about a song without any lyrics, which I wouldn't have even though of.

Doesn't have to be an english song. Doesn't have to be a song with lyrics. Read it on the admission's blog.

lindalibinbin

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30 Sep 2013, 10:15

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Question for international applicants:
In the Personal Data, Part II section of the online application, there is a "Holders of US undergraduate degrees" component that cannot be left blank, which doesn't make sense. I earned my degree in Canada, should I enter my GPA here anyway? Otherwise I'm not able to save this page...

jumsumtak

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01 Oct 2013, 13:55

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lindalibinbin

Weird. Mail the adcom. Haven't started filling this one out, so have no clue. The deadline is still a few days away, so the adcom should be able to respond in time.

mbamyway

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03 Oct 2013, 12:11

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Berkeley has a ton of optional essay questions...how are you all going about them? Are you filling them all out? I'm going to leave the parents' occupation/degrees question blank, at least (I don't really know how that info would help my app), and probably the "Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven't addressed elsewhere." one, too.

jumsumtak

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03 Oct 2013, 13:57

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mbamyway

I don't think you need them all. So, you may use your judgement and skip the irrelevant stuff.

[edit] - if this helps, I'm skipping a few of them as well

leefee

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04 Oct 2013, 07:38

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When Haas' website says they pay very close attention to your quant ability, any clue on whether this means your raw GMAT quant score or more your quant percentile? I'm not sure what to make of it, (especially given that the percentiles keep going down for a given score!)

Also any idea whether they provide refreshers/pre-term classes?

jumsumtak

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04 Oct 2013, 21:04

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ceecee

Hello,

For all practical considerations raw score/percentiles are just taken as one data point. There is not a lot of fluctuation YoY. Further, what they mean is, if your quant score is low, they will dive deep in your UG transcripts, work history etc. to see if you have had exposure to challenging quantsy stuff.

Simply put, if your quant score on the GMAT is low, it would be wise to explain in the optional essay that you have dealt with numbers elsewhere in your life (through additional courses, work, UG etc.) and you won't be lagging behind in the class.

I'm not certain about that. But, I presume they do as almost everyone else has it as well.

leefee

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05 Oct 2013, 14:35

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jumsumtak

ceecee

Thanks that's starting to help. Although I'm still unsure what constitutes low-by percentile I can imagine ~50% but what of the raw score?

jumsumtak

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05 Oct 2013, 14:48

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ceecee

Thanks that's starting to help. Although I'm still unsure what constitutes low-by percentile I can imagine ~50% but what of the raw score?

Don't quote me on this, but I think, anything below 60-65% (q44-45) would warrant an explanation.

edit: just saw your score. You might be on the cusp. I'd say do offer an explanation if you have substantial stuff to write about. I mean, you've taken extra courses, your job requires lot of crunching etc. You don't want to leave anything on the table, right?

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05 Oct 2013, 17:22

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What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum)

I lost my job during the 2008 financial crisis and had to find one in a time crunch situation due to my visa situation. Does that constitute as a valid topic for this essay? I am confused and need help.

randomdude123

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06 Oct 2013, 10:24

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jumsumtak

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06 Oct 2013, 10:41

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randomdude123

What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum)
I lost my job during the 2008 financial crisis and had to find one in a time crunch situation due to my visa situation. Does that constitute as a valid topic for this essay? I am confused and need help.
Any advice?

Not an expert, but here's my 2 cents:

It's not an 'ideal' story. Did you have any other option than to sort that stuff out? I presume not. Instead, you would do well to choose a story where you took an initiative, and your actions had an impact on a greater audience.

Having said that, nothing is 'ideal'. I've read successful stories that looked so trivial at their core. For instance, there was a 'most significant accomplishment' story about how an applicant balanced her time at her job and a culinary club she had joined. It really depends on how big an impact it had on you and how well you articulate it.

good luck

westsidah408

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07 Oct 2013, 23:25

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randomdude123

My 2 cents: if you can clearly articulate WHY it was an accomplishment (i.e. the repercussions if you didn't, the impact it had on your family/dependents, etc.), then I really feel that it's okay to use that story. As jumsumtak already pointed out, there is no IDEAL story.

Good luck!

kapilhede17

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08 Oct 2013, 04:03

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Any Reapplicants off the waitlist here ?
Are you guys re-writting your song essay and your failure essay ?
I am finding it hard to say that the song i picked 6 months back wasn't the real song .. but this one now is.

Failure essay -- I couldn't have had another collosal failure in the past 6 months.

Its not like i'm shying away from putting in the effort but to seem to come up with new stories seems a bit weird.

I am thinking ill refine my goals essay and write a solid reapplication essay and re-write the achievement essay highlighting a recent achivement
Any thoughts guys ?

rajiv1984

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09 Oct 2013, 22:43

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Does anyone know if Haas allows a week or so after the R1 deadline (16th october) for recommenders to submit their recos? I recently found out BOOTH allowed a week after their Oct 3rd deadline for recommendations to be turned in. Thanks in advance.

lindalibinbin

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10 Oct 2013, 10:28

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QUESTION REGARDING EMPLOYMENT RECORD:
In Haas' instruction they said to list ONE entry for each employer, even if we worked in different divisions. Well I have held 3 full-time and 1 temporary positions under different lines of businesses in a very large financial company. Under the "responsibility/key accomplishments" question, I answered in a format like this:

position#1:xxx
responsibilities:
- xx
- xx
key accomplishments:
- xx
- xx

position#2: xxx
..
..

position #3: xxx

But when I look at the "print application" page, my answer got grouped into one big messy paragraph:
position #1: xxx responsibilities: - xx - xx - xx key accomplishments: -xx - xx - xx position #2: xxx........

This looks really bad. How did everyone else deal with this? Will Adcom see this one big lump paragraph as well? How can I write the responsibilities and accomplishments of 3 positions neatly in one paragraph?

kapilhede17

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11 Oct 2013, 09:30

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Any idea on the limit of #of words for the reapplication essay.
Also do the we shove in the OPTIONAL content right below the re-application essay ?
Is the word limit for the combined reapp essay + optional 400 words ?

lnds1001

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12 Oct 2013, 16:19

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Hey guys...can anyone shed some light on this? (questions are bolded below...)

For the short answers, Haas asks:

2. List in order of importance all community and professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Include the following information for each organization or activity using the format below:
-Name of organization or activity
-Nature of organization or activity -- Does this ask for our involvement OR what the organization does?
-Size of organization -- How are you all putting size? Number of employees/volunteers? Annual budget?
-Dates of involvement
-Offices held
-Average number of hours spent per month

randomwalk

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13 Oct 2013, 07:47

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rajiv1984

Hi Rajiv,

Apparently they do. This is from the website

Quote:

As long as you have submitted your application and paid the application fee by the deadline, it is acceptable for your recommender to submit the letter of recommendation a few days after the deadline date. Please keep in mind that without two letters of recommendation, you application will be considered incomplete and cannot be reviewed until both letters have been received.