Chicago (Booth) 2013 - Calling All Applicants

tough. i was afraid of the "interview from hell" like yours. If its any consolation, its written elsewhere that those with sweet interviews got dinged, and those with negative interviews reports, got the sweet admits. So i would say, don't worry about it. Everything is up in the air.

I live in Chicago. 773/312, the major area codes, downtown. Both the 773 and 312 can be either landlines/cellphones, though 312 is dominant as the land-line number, the 773 is newer.

Who cares what he wrote! You got into Vanderbilt, that place is awesome! Just be confident and believe that you'll see a 773 area code that day, and it'll happen!

Cheetarah always has the right words:)
Started for me one (or two) days earlier than needed. And - I have not written a thank you note (for my excuse - in the country where I was interviewed and where my interviewer is from, it is not so common like in the US) - but still "paranoying" about it....

I'm parannoying about my thank you note too: I misplaced the guy's business card somewhere between Chicago and LA, and by the time I found it, it was late enough that I didn't want to remind him that I was so late writing a thank-you note.

Katherine
stochastic77@gmail.com

PS Was it SNL that had the skit with the guys you could hire to make it look like your package was lost in the mail? They ran over it several times with a car, marked it with an old postmark, etc. before sending it on to the recipient? I need one of those right now.

I hand wrote my thank you letter, but my wife insisted on a gaudy, over-the-top, random peacock-emblazoned card. So I'm kinda wishing I were in your boat.

Anyway, good luck to all.

At least it's memorable!

Initial scholarship notifications are given during the admit call. However, this is not the only time at which fellowships are awarded. There are Booth fellowships and corporate fellowships that are awarded later. A friend of mine was admitted to Booth last year and did not receive any scholarship money up front. About one week before the deposit deadline she was notified that she got the Forte fellowship.
If you are admitted and do not hear about a scholarship on your call I'd advise that you not ask, "Oh and is there a scholarship for me too?" If there is they will proactively tell you. Once you have access to the admitted students website you can look through the available fellowships. Some of them you can't apply for but others you can (usually with an essay). See which application based ones you're eligible for and then apply.
Also, if you ARE awarded a merit scholarship upon being admitted there is a chance that Booth will convert it to a named fellowship of equal or greater value.
That's about all I know in terms of scholarship notification. I do not know how award decisions are made. Hope this helps.

Guys do international applicants get a phone call as well?

Guys since I have got a lot from the Forum I decided to write back a post which may be of help to some of the members here. I talked to a booth alum at my firm who actively participates in admissions to clear some questions that are asked here.

1) As Nyama has asked - does the interviewer know about how significant your achievements are. The true answer to that is not always. However, if you have done a good job on your essays, then the AdCom has it on file and is probably impressed by it. Don't worry about this. The AdCom realizes that there is more to you than what can be uncovered in 30 minutes of interview.

2) Some people here have asked about negative and positive interview reports. Now interview is just one component of your application. If you have a great professional and academic record, great GMAT scores, great recommendations, great essays - then you have some headroom to screw up in an interview.

3) Some people have asked about interviewers asking "excel modelling / finance" questions. I dont think the person I talked to has any official word on it. However, he said that one of the reasons could be that Booth is a very quant and number focussed school. (Thinking back, it is evident form some of the questions they ask in the application form - regarding background in math/engineering). In the specific case mentioned here, it might be that the person who interviewed you wanted to make sure of these skills.. But again this is just a speculative answer. Sorry I could not get you guys a more specific answer on this one.

Hey guys! Anybody knows if it's possible to ask for early decision result? I have to pay acceptance fee for another school on 26 March but I prefer going to Booth if Booth takes me and payment is required only one day before a call in case I'm successful on Booth . Therefore, it will be very great if I know Booth's result before I make payment (it's quite significant lot!).

Wish everybody best luck on Booth admission!

Doubt it. Where else are you considering? I'd reach out to that school instead to see if they'll give you an extension. I know that Ross and Duke both give extensions if they don't hear from you...but others do consider their deposit deadline a fixed date and you will lose your spot if they don't get $$ so check to be sure.

Doubtful. Booth already calls admits one day prior to the decision day. As far as I know they do not release decisions any earlier than that. You aren't the first person, nor will you be the last, to be in a position to have to make a deposit prior to knowing Booth's admission decision. If Booth starts giving out answers early so people can save themselves $$ they'd be giving out admissions decisions left and right.

Part of the risk in splitting your apps into two rounds is that you may have to eat a deposit (sometimes a significant one). I had to do it last year. Although I usually say that you won't know if you don't ask, in this case I'd say don't ask for an early decision. Booth's admissions staff is working their butts off right now to make sure they have decisions ready on time and requests to know earlier are an unnecessary distraction.

Your better bet is to see if you can get a 2 day extension on the deposit deadline for your other school. That request is more likely to be granted.

I agree with both aerien and cheetarah. I didn't request an extension myself, but I know plenty of people who asked nicely and were granted extensions by Haas, Tuck, and Sloan.

1) It's a 773 area code
2) They start early in the morning and try to get the international students in the Far East and South Pacific before they go to bed
3) For US based admits there is NO PATTERN in how the calls go out. They are not done in alphabetical order. They are not done by industry. They are not done from east to west. I repeat there is NO PATTERN. I realize right now that as soon as the 27th hits this information will be forgotten/ignored.
4) Admissions makes the phone calls.
5) You will be notified of any scholarship you may have been awarded during the call. If they do not mention scholarship money you did not get one at this time, but may be awarded a fellowship at a later date.
6) Calls are made ALL DAY until around 5 p.m. CST. Please do not be that person asking if it's "all over for you" at 10 a.m. (especially if you live in the USA). Last year I did not get my call until 4:13 p.m. CST.
7) Good luck!!

Great info, thanks!

One question: is #3 a conclusion based on what you've heard/read, or iron-clad fact?

I'm going to disagree with this in terms of bschool applications. For work, yes send a thank you note (although I didn't during recruiting this year). For the MBA interview it does NOT matter. They are interviewing way too many people to keep track of who sends a thank you and who doesn't. Honestly all bschool interview thank you notes do is tend to freak out the applicant over what they said in it and whether or not they get a response (see TrueGMAT's previous posts). The interviewer doesn't care, nor notice if you don't send a thank you. I didn't send one for Wharton or Booth and it was more than fine.