Haas Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Nationality: Canadian, born in India, 26 (27 at matriculation)
GPA: 95.7% (Class rank 1) - Accounting, University of Waterloo
Master in Accounting (Class rank 1) 94%
CPA: National medalist
GMAT: 710 (49Q 38V)
4 years work experience at matriculation including 1 year as manager
Progressed to manager in 2 years, managed firm wide analytics platform roll-out (working at PwC - Analytics consulting)
Goal: Strategy consulting
Extracurrs: Board member at NFP, App developer - launched first Canadian CPA prep app with consulting company, and lecturer at UWaterloo

Hi,
thank you for sharing your profile! I have a few concerns, and it'd be good if you think of them and develop your own strategy before making your decision on application: 1) low GPA (what was the reason?); 2) unclear professional growth (you've got diverse professional background, without distinct career path in terms of your positions and responsibilities' growth and achievements/results that have impacted your organizations); 3) your post-MBA goals do not prove you really need Berkeley MBA. Maybe, a HealthCare Management Masters will be better choice for you.

Thank you for sharing this. Here are a few thoughts:

- Your undergraduate and graduate record appear to be strong (finishing first in your class in both degree programs). I'd be curious to know how many students were your in accounting "class" for each, but that looks to be a good academic starting point.

- As you likely know from reviewing Haas's class profile, your GMAT is solid but is below the average for Haas. That's something to be aware of going into the application process. You'll need to execute extremely well across the rest of your application (or raise your score).

- Work experience looks solid (plus the promotion). It's not "top-tier experience" so it's not going to significantly impress on its own. You're going to need to really unpack that experience and articulate its value, impact, challenges, lessons, etc.

- Your brief profile reads highly "accounting" and "analytics" oriented (i.e., two degrees, CPA, CPA-related extracurriculars). On the career side, you'll really need to articulate your path away from accounting and analytics, where you want to head, why you need a Haas MBA in particular to get there. On the personal side, you'll really need to make yourself come to life. Who are you beyond this "accounting and analytics" profile?

- Your starting point is solid but not spectacular. Most of this is going to come down to factors beyond these black-and-white credentials. Specific, coherent, well reasoned and researched career goals. Why MBA, why Haas, why now? What knowledge, skills, experience do you already have that are relevant toward your intended career path? What knowledge, skills, experience do you need to gain? How exactly will you do so at Haas?

Best of Luck!
Greg
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Thank you Greg,

Primarily, my experience in leading the field implementation and roll out of the analytics platform was internal consulting and the aspects I enjoyed most were the change management, people, operations aspects, making decisions or influencing them at times and seeing how it all rolls out - taking a pilot of 155 clients to 1,000+ clients - making the Canadian practice the 4th highest user in all partner firms (after UK, USA, Germany). That is why I want to proceed further towards a strategy role - seeing it in action in external consulting will provide a varied experience.

Thanks for your thoughts, my class was 460ish students in undergrad and 200 in Masters, for the CPA you are looking at coming ahead of 3,300 successful exam writers and 4,000+ writers.

I know this isn't the main forum but would you be say the same insight applies for Yale/Tuck/Ross?

Thank you for the additional context. Congratulations again on the great undergraduate, graduate, and CPA rankings.

Generally speaking, yes, the observations I shared above can be applied across the other schools you've listed. Yale's median GMAT (730) is a little higher than Haas's stated average (725). Yale's middle 80% range is 690 to 760, so you can see that you'd be playing from the lower end of that range (again reinforcing how well you'll need to execute across the rest of your application). Your GMAT aligns better with Ross, which has a 716 average and a 670-760 middle 80% range.

All of these programs take culture and fit very seriously (who doesn't!). I encourage you to really do your homework, engage with the programs, visit campus, attend info sessions and online events, speak with current students and alumni, and so forth. Deepen your understanding of each program, show you're interested, and articulate it all very thoughtfully and specifically. Also keep in mind that Haas and Tuck are very small programs, and Yale's on the smaller side of the top 15.

Fit is going to be of heightened importance in those scenarios, and there aren't very many seats in these classes to go around. You might consider rounding out your list of target schools with a program that's more "aligned" with your current profile, or potentially diversifying your current list to swap in a program with which your profile is more aligned. (While you might prefer smaller programs, consider the strategic implications of focusing your application strategy on small, reach-y programs. It can be very difficult.)
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Thank you for sharing this a couple of weeks back. I see you haven't received direct feedback, so here are a few observations:

[EDIT: It seems I previously responded to this post (thought the profile sounded familiar!). My apologies for the duplicate reply. I will leave this response here as it aligns and elaborates on what I shared in the first post, and can hopefully provide perspective to others in similar situations. I naturally welcome others to share their insight, that way you have multiple viewpoints!]

Are you interested in the FTMBA or EWMBA/EMBA? If the former -- and if I'm doing my math correctly -- then you're likely going to be pretty far removed from undergrad relative to the typical FTMBA candidate. The average FTMBA at Haas is 28 years old and has 5 years of full-time work experience. Haas doesn't publish these numbers on their class profile page, but 3-8 years of experience and 25 to 31 years old (at matriculation) are generally good benchmarks if you're thinking about the middle 80% of a given class.

With that in mind, you're seemingly going to be applying from the very front end of the curve, from which only a couple of handful of applicants get in in a given year. That's not to say it's impossible, and Haas can be pretty open minded about it, but you'll have a challenge on your hands with respect to proactively and specifically explaining why after all of those other degrees and all of that varied experience (including ostensibly "senior" startup experience) you'd now want (or need) a full-time MBA.

MBA Data Guru has an interesting study on how difficult that can be (based on self reported data): https://www.mbadataguru.com/blog/mba/bes ... pplicants/

Haas's EWMBA (#1 ranked) trends a little older than its FTMBA program, and (again if I'm doing my math correctly), you're potentially migrating closer to the EMBA profile. On other fronts, your GMAT is fantastic (congrats!) and undergrad GPA is low for Haas (but perhaps you have strong grades in your other graduate programs). But again, if you have 4-5 years of graduate school and 7.5 years of work experience (8.5 at enrollment), you'd likely align more with the EWMBA or even EMBA opportunities. And in any scenario, you will need to be super proactive, specific, and clear about your goals and why need an MBA to achieve next steps (devil's advocate: can't you pursue those same goals with the many degrees you already have)?

Thanks!
Greg
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Thanks in advance for reviewing this.

Target industries: Sustainability & blockchain technology

GMAT---740
IR- 7
Quant- 47
Verbal-44
AWA- 6

GPA:
4.0 Undergrad GPA ( UK equivalent)
Undergrad majors: Mechanical Engineering

Career:
4.5 years work experience in engineering consultancy, working specifically in energy generation. 3 Promotions, 1 Year spent abroad working in France
(JP Morgan internship)

Extracurriculars:
University Rugby & Squash 1st team.
Engineering Mentorship program
Construction of small scale wind farms in Peru (volunteering)

Reason for MBA (feedback on this point is what I would really value):
Primarily, I want to move into a management role in the renewable energy sector, having had experience of management in project based work at engineering firm, or move into a governmental role influencing clean energy policies. However, over the last year, I have ALSO become increasingly interested, and to some extent involved, in blockchain technology and smart contracts, which I see as having huge potential in the future and how business is done. I realise these are two very different areas (though I am already aware of how the two can combine) and so I am posting this in the hope of some specific feedback on this point. Should I stick to just one focus on my application (i.e. either sustainability or blockchain technology)? Is it seen as a weakness that I am open to the possibility of both (lack of clear direction?) I have an understanding of blockchain and a keen interest in it, though no real work experience, therefore should I leave mentioning it out of my application? My immediate career goals for blockchain would probably be to join a blockchain start up company, though I can see how admissions could find this claim dubious, given my experience. The reason I considered including it in the application would be in order to spice it up a little bit and make me seem less one-dimensional.

Any help on this point (and others) would be greatly appreciated

Hello all, I am Planning to get into Evening-Weekend MBA program. Please evaluate my profile

Background and nationality: Asian, male, 32 y.o.

Graduate Information: The University of Texas at San Antonio 3.0 GPA, MS in Computer Engineering (2007 graduated)

GRE: 299 ( 141 V, 158 Quant, AWA - 3)

Work experience and leadership: >9 years of experience. Top pharma company. Information Technology solutions architect. Developed solutions that manage >$ xxx millions worth of transactions, petabytes of research data. Define integration strategy to IT Org.
Community and others - Volunteer at Second Harvest food bank. Mentor to a 4th-grade student based out of a STEM-related non-profit program. Toast Masters, Crossfit enthusiast.
Post-MBA goals - short-term general management within my company and move into strategy); long-term (build a platform that enables data analytics for genomic data that fuels clinical research

Thank you for sharing this, and congratulations on the great GMAT score. Let me start by saying I think you're right in considering Berkeley-Haas given its location and proximity to the front lines of what's going on in these and related fields. Along with visiting companies and interning and the like, many Haas students take advantage of Berkeley's own entrepreneurial ecosystem in and around these fields, teaming up with students from Berkeley's computer and engineering programs in various Haas startup classes or on their own entrepreneurial ventures. A number of others structure their schedules so that they can intern at startups during the semester (or continue to work during their second year at a startup with which they interned during the summer).

As with every application for every program, your understanding of specific schools and their offerings -- courses, clubs, extracurriculars, culture, community, career opportunities -- needs to be super specific, so I encourage you to speak with current students/alumni to get to know what these opportunities are. It will greatly benefit your applications (and understanding of Haas).

The primary feedback I have regarding your career goals is to make sure they "speak MBA" and don't speak "computer science or engineering or super duper technical" You're coming from engineering to begin with, and the current articulation of your goals arguably sounds even more technical. Interest in Fintech and MBA resources catering to that student interest are proliferating at MBA programs (as targeted as blockchain), so that's an okay directional goal to articulate. Just make sure you're targeting roles and companies that would combine your prior knowledge, skills, and experience (including your engineering background and technical foundation) with the knowledge, skills, and experience you'd gain via the Haas MBA program.

Figure out what exactly those roles and companies are, research them, considering chatting with people in those roles, and convey that understanding in your application. Make sure you identify MBA-type roles or roles that would take advantage of your combined engineer-MBA experience. If you determine post-MBA viability, then begin to think about what experience you already have that might be relevant, what experience you're missing, and how you might fill in "what's missing" during your time at Haas. That "what's missing" piece might include some more technical elements (e.g., Haas offers an "Intro to Coding for MBAs" class so that students can gain baseline familiarity), but the "what's missing" piece should have an MBA backbone to it.

I think you'd be in good position to articulate a Ffintech goal with specific interest in blockchain-related companies (and the related commercialization of blockchain). (I would need you to elaborate a little more on what kind of sustainability you're talking about as the alternative above.) Know the jobs and companies you'd be targeting. And don't get lost too deep in the technical.

Happy to chat to go deeper into this if helpful!

Kind Regards,
Greg
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Thank you for your post. The main thing that jumps out here is your GRE score. That score equates to ~500 GMAT, which is unfortunately well outside the common range for the Haas EWMBA program (the median is 700 and the middle 80% is 650-740). Your Quant sub-score is strong but it appears your Verbal section (and AWA) require improvement. I would strongly recommend focusing heavily on the GRE (or GMAT) in an effort to meaningfully boost your score. Then consider what part-time MBA programs near you align with those scores. Best of luck to you!
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Hi, Can you help me in evaluating my profile for Haas Full Time and Part time program?

Background / nationality :
Indian female 28

Undergrad Information :
IIT BTech / MTech ; top 500 AIR
IIT Btech : 6.9/10
IIT MTech : 8.8/10 ( +scholarships)
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GMAT: 710 ( 34v 50q)
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Work experience and leadership :
6 years
Currently cofounded a start-up in edutainment
a.Early member of a tech start-up: In Europe+ US - 3 promotions ;
b.Management Consulting - Two promotions
c.tech start-up in the past ( funded + won many awards )
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Community and others :
Corporate social responsibility related activities
Active in student clubs for all years ( several activities to mention)
fundraising for many causes
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Post MBA goals :
Entrepreneurship. The idea has already been funded and the team has been created.
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Anything else?
Recos are good.

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Background and nationality : US
Undergrad Information : University of Texas Austin, GPA 2.7
GMAT: 740
Q: 47
V: 46
Work experience and leadership: 36 Months WE in real estate and finance
Post MBA goals: I'd like to keep working in real estate finance, but am aiming at a start-up to capitalize on blockchain technologies that could transform aspects of the current real estate industry. I'm flexible regarding my future however, as if that doesn't work out I'd continue on my path in real estate into working for a REIT or other real estate financial investment group.
Anything else? I have a low GPA, which is my main concern and I'm sure the school's as well. Haas mentioned in their website info that suggested GPA threshold is 3.0, is it a waste of time to turn in an app?

Hey TheLegendaryHero
Apologies no one has responded sooner! I hope you did go ahead and apply to Haas. I'm curious of course about your results.
If you find yourself planning for reapplications in 2018, what I recommend you do to address the GPA is take HBx Core. It's not cheap but it's a great signal that you are serious about this and that you acknowledge the gaps in your candidacy and are a self-aware person. I also think with a GPA like yours, you want to have a really diverse strategy. Apply to the reach schools but also go lower down on the list. Take a look at Ross and Johnson if you haven't already! Maybe Fuqua too?
Krista
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Hi All,

Can you please review my profile:

Indian, Female, 30 Years

GMAT – 720

Undergrad: Bachelor of Technology (Electrical Engineering) – (Non-IIT---top 5% in the university) – (2004-2008)-4.0 GPA
Grad: Master of Science (Computer Science) – Univ of California, Davis – (2010-2013)-3.6 GPA

Work Experience:
After Undegrad:
Lectureship at Government Engineering College (2008-2010)
Mentor at Training and Placement Cell for the students at that college
After Masters:
Software Engineer at Cisco Systems, San Jose from 2012-present, with one promotion.
-Leading the team as a senior software engineer,
-Interaction with marketing (product management/TMEs) and marketing for narrowing down the features customer ask for
-leading cross functional team for delivering software successfully
-driving from front the customer serviceability requests for our products

Extra Curriculars –
- Volunteering at a certain Engineering College in India for placement guidance, campus preparation and resume review.
- Organizing various events in our Business Unit at Cisco, from Socials or Picnics to hackathon etc.
- Mentoring new hires and Interns
- Organizing volunteering activities for our cross-functional group at Cisco.
- Part of team organizing fund-raising (In Silicon Valley) for education of underprivileged children in India.
- Organized Hepatitis B vaccination drive at my mother's work place (one of the most reputed banks in India) for 5 consecutive years

Hobbies -
- Dance (founder of dance/drama club in my undergrad college)
- sports (winner of University badminton championships in undergrad for 3 years, stopped after knee injury)

Achievements:
- Won multiple hackathons at Cisco (couple of them where I was the team leader)
- Won multiple awards at Cisco for recognizing my performance and leadership
- Won scholarship till under graduation from State Bank Of India on Merit

Please advice if Haas is achievable or is a stretch? Do I need to retake the GMAT for better chance?

Thanks!!

Hi SSM2019,

Thank you for your post. Were you considering Haas's EWMBA or FTMBA program? And what are your career goals?

In reviewing your profile (and absent that additional detail), I believe you'd be a better fit for the EWMBA program. I realize you weren't working for the entire period, but you'll be 10.5 years removed from undergrad at the point of application and 11.5 years removed at the point of enrollment. That would be about twice the amount of time as the average FTMBA student at Haas. Moreover, your computer science masters and software industry experience make me wonder whether you're interested in the MBA in order to grow within your industry or organization, perhaps broadening your skill set such that you might take on additional (or more diverse) leadership roles. Please feel free to explain or comment otherwise, but all of that lends itself more toward the EWMBA than the FTMBA.

I think the FTMBA would be a very tough sell at this stage of your career. The EWMBA program is also highly competitive (typically ranked #1 in the nation), but you seem to align better there. And its class profile metrics are usually a little softer than on the FTMBA side... 700 average GMAT versus 725, for example. With the respect to the GMAT itself -- if you took the exam once and really feel like you left points on the table, then by all means feel free to re-take to try to boost that score. 720 is above average on the EWMBA side, but if you're capable of scoring higher, every little bit helps!

Best Regards,
Greg
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Hi all --

I applied in 2017 and was dinged from all 4 bschools (top 10), but my dream school is Haas. I am a non-traditional candidate with a background in clinical psychology research and am wondering if I should give it another shot in 2018.


Stats:
Tufts Undergrad, GPA 3.56, Psychology degree.
After grad, I worked as a research coordinator at the top research clinic and hospital in Boston.
Receive a Fulbright independent research grant and came to South Korea. Fortunately, have been able to work at the top hospital in Seoul since then. However, want to switch industries from psychology research into entrepreneurial media/entertainment with a focus on Asian representation. I've spent the last 2 years getting experience in the industry (non-paid) from my own music production as well as collaboration with those already in the industry here.

GRE: 160V, 161Q (this is what I applied with last year)
GMAT: 710 (40V 47Q) (I just received this score a few weeks ago).

I would love to get some feedback. Thanks all.

Hey danielkim129
Thanks for posting! Very interesting background!! I'm sorry this was a tough process for you this year. I usually recommend that clients apply to a portfolio of six schools so I want you to start thinking that way. Then, your GRE and GMAT scores are a little lower than where I'd want them to be for the M7. You did the right thing though in applying with the GRE last year -- it gives schools a little more flexibility when it comes to interesting candidates.

One thing that strikes me -- your post MBA goals may be too niche-y and maybe non-traditional? I'm not sure how you pitched this but I think this would definitely be a situation where the short-term has to be traditional entertainment (Disney, Sony Pictures, etc...traditional post-MBA entertainment roles) and then go with a more leadership role in entertainment in the long-term where your side project/passion will be to increase Asian representation.

Given your goals, please add Stern as an option. They have great entertainment offerings!

I think you are the type of person who would get a lot out of a free consultation. We also have a ding review service if you'd like us to look at one of your previous applications. Please get in touch!! https://www.mbamission.com/consult/?dis ... admissions


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Hello All,
I would like to have my profile evaluated. I just took the GMAT in June and am ready to apply for business school in Fall 2019. Here is my information:
GMAT: 710 (50Q/34V/6 IR) Have not received my AWA score yet
GPA: ~ 3.37 (over a 3.5 my last year)
Degree: BA Economics, UCLA. Transfer GPA - 3.8
Experience: 2 years as an analyst at a real estate investment company(1 year at current firm). Work in both acquisitions (acquired 3 hotels for $150mm since I started) and asset management (6 of our current hotels, and 135 hotels for a third party). Had previous internship experience in PWM.
Extracurricular: Over 700 hours working as a volunteer at the local hospital, as a tutor, and as a coach for middle school children. No experience in professional leadership/managerial roles. Was a member of Ski and Snowboard team in college. Mentor a student at UCLA. High School Valedictorian.
Background: Indian (born and raised in California). 25 years old. Typical middle class story for a kid in Orange County.
What I want from business school: First, I would like to work in finance, either in real estate acquisitions, PWM, or VC/PE. I would like to gain both the professional and personal skills that business school can provide. Finally, I need a change in my life.
Letters of Rec: Plan on asking my CIO and an Associate at my current company for my two recommendations. I also have my previous employer in case. Do not have a professor at UCLA I can ask since I did not spend a lot of time in office hours.
Other: The one issue which will make things difficult is that I was accused of cheating in college. I received academic probation and I'm sure I will have to discuss what happened. I would like some feedback whether this is a automatic red flag. It was a mistake and I've grown from it, but I am sure it will leave a mark.

Thank You,