Haas (UC Berkeley) EWMBA 2013 - Calling All Applicants

can you elaborate on how the exec program makes it better for us part-timers? i figured now that the prestigious columbia name was dropped, more local folks would want to go to the part-time program because at least they end up with the same degree as the full-time folks. are the # of seats in the new haas exec program going to be larger perhaps?

speaking of which, are the seats increasing for the part-time program?

There's going to be some cannibalization from the part-time program for the exec program. The Berkeley-Columbia program required people to split their time between CA and NY. You don't have that with the new Exec program. Add that to the fact that exec programs are typically easier to get in to and this is the first year, there should be fewer applications to the part-time program. If I had the option with my schedule, I'd probably opt for the exec program since it'd theoretically be the easiest to get in to.

Yeah, the Columbia name being dropped may change things a bit, but Berkeley can certainly hold its own. Haas is a top program in its own right.

As far as I know, they're still planning on doing 4 cohorts of 60 people : Blue, Gold, Axe, and Oski. So, same number of spots as last year. The main difference is there's going to be more capacity in the Exec program.

Thanks great info. I'd be interested to know if students are allowed to apply to both the exec and part-time programs at the same time. And if so, will the adcom review these applications differently? Perhaps giving the students a choice? I do recall a question on our EWMBA application that asked us to check if the EMBA would be a program we're interested in (or something to that effect).

I'm sure there are folks in my camp -- absolutely set on the EWMBA flavor -- and some who would be willing to go to either or maybe even favoring EMBA.

In any case, I'm a bit disappointed they didn't increase the seats for the EWMBA program. I went through the 2012 thread for EWMBA and it appears so many qualified folks (practically all from engineering) were waitlisted and then denied.

Pinch,

I don't think you can apply to more than one program at Berkeley (be it FT or Exec. or EWMBA) at the same time.

thanks Kenny, are you a silicon valley software guy? just a guess =)

Someone asked about that at an information session I went to. You can only officially apply to one of the programs per year. They will advise you on which program is the best fit for you though.

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Yes. No points for guessing though. I am actually a hardware guy! However, whoever interviews may not know the difference I suppose.

Kenny

just curious, what kind of hardware do you deal with? I am in hardware too.

From what I understand, they can't increase the seats (at least for the weekend sections). Their south bay location is pretty much full. One of the reasons I like the school is that it isn't a huge program.

good point. when i was visiting the class in south bay there were so many people. If all goes well, I actually love the idea of the weekday cohort. The fact they actually have a bus that takes you to campus and back is really fantastic. no driving in traffic.

i would like to get with weekday cohort but i would likely have hard time catching the bus on time.

In the class I visited, it seemed like most people drove in. The ones that worked on the peninsula said they left work around 4:30 to get to class on time.

I heard that many folks use the wifi on the bus to continue working during that rush hour commute, which may last anywhere from 1-1.5 hours. If like me you can easily VPN into work, you can effectively continue working until 5-5:30pm thereby not affecting your normal work hours.

Haas has a really well thought out plan for the weekday folks. The only tradeoff is the lack of time to network and hang out with other students after class, something the weekend folks do regularly (go to bars after for instance).

That's also the downside to commuting in via plane. It doesn't look like there's going to be a ton of free time for extracurriculars unless I fly in friday night instead of saturday morning.

yea precisely. I have a strong interest in entrepreneurship and outside of class experiences, clubs and competitions for example, are tremendous at Haas.

Just had my interview in the afternoon. Like many previously suggested, it was a blind interview. The questions are all fairly standard questions like walk through resume, why mba, what can you bring to haas, etc. I am a software engineer in Bay Area with some entrepreneurial experience and I don't think that has impressed my interviewer enough. EWMBA will have 250 seats this year, and only a portion will be filled in round 1.

but now it is all done. all i do is just to wait.

best of luck there. unless you mind mentioning, who interviewed you? Were you expecting him/her to be more impressed by your entrepreneurial background? or perhaps something you did at work?

I would imagine there's still something about a software engineer that can wow the interviewer. It'd be sad if they simply see another engineer and already typecast us.