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Urbana-Champaign (U Illinois) - Calling 2016 MBA Applicants

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VoyagerII

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22 Dec 2013, 09:24

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The 'admitted students' facebook group is now live. I haven't joined, but i plan to join at the beginning of the year. Go and check it out guys....

cmital

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Schools: Urbana-Champaign '16 (A$) FEMBA (A$)

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22 Dec 2013, 22:25

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Hi,

I have been admitted to University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (with $$). But I also have an acceptance from UC Irvine (with a fellowship)
Could anyone please help me pick the better college?
I want to pursue MBA-Finance track. So from which college do I have a better chance of bagging a job in the finance industry?

Your help would be much appreciated

Thanks.

SmoothCriminal

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27 Dec 2013, 02:38

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VoyagerII

The 'admitted students' facebook group is now live. I haven't joined, but i plan to join at the beginning of the year. Go and check it out guys....

Can you send me the link? Not able to find it on facebook.
btw I'm a Round 1 applicant, was interviewed on Dec 9th by Mark Lockwood and received the admit 3 days later.

eeshan89

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Location: India

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Schools: Mendoza '16 (D) Simon '16 (D) Urbana-Champaign '16 (WL) Sauder '16 (A) Rotman '16 (A) Weatherhead '16 (A$)

GMAT 1: 690 Q49 V35 Verified score

GPA: 3.7

WE:Consulting (Computer Software)

Schools: Mendoza '16 (D) Simon '16 (D) Urbana-Champaign '16 (WL) Sauder '16 (A) Rotman '16 (A) Weatherhead '16 (A$)

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27 Dec 2013, 05:02

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Waitlisted.

I'm pretty sure they want to make a class with 10 Indians out of the whole lot. This is not under my control, so I'll rather wait and work on other schools in the meantime.

God! Indian IT Male! :/

VoyagerII

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[2]

27 Dec 2013, 11:37

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SmoothCriminal

VoyagerII

The 'admitted students' facebook group is now live. I haven't joined, but i plan to join at the beginning of the year. Go and check it out guys....

Can you send me the link? Not able to find it on facebook.
btw I'm a Round 1 applicant, was interviewed on Dec 9th by Mark Lockwood and received the admit 3 days later.

This is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/imbaadmit2014/
It is also there on the 'admitted students' link on the college of business website: https://www.mba.illinois.edu/admissions/ ... -students/

VoyagerII

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Schools: Urbana-Champaign '16 (M)

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[1]

27 Dec 2013, 11:46

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eeshan89

Don't lose hope! I haven't heard the details yet of what they want the size of the class of 2016 to be. The usual number of students, if i'm not mistaken, is around 115. Assuming that is a correct number, since only 79 people showed up for the class of 2015, surely they would want to compensate by enlarging the class of 2016? 115-79 = 36. Combine that with the complete 115 class of 2016...the total for the 2014 fall enrollment should be 151.

These numbers make an assumption that the adcom has not officially adopted a posture to only enroll 80 students from the class 2015 onward. I don't even remember why the class of 2015 was made to be smaller. So.... either way, their numbers should be up this year...so don't lose hope!

SmoothCriminal

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27 Dec 2013, 11:48

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VoyagerII

SmoothCriminal

VoyagerII

The 'admitted students' facebook group is now live. I haven't joined, but i plan to join at the beginning of the year. Go and check it out guys....

Can you send me the link? Not able to find it on facebook.
btw I'm a Round 1 applicant, was interviewed on Dec 9th by Mark Lockwood and received the admit 3 days later.

Thank you!

VoyagerII

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Schools: Urbana-Champaign '16 (M)

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[4]

30 Dec 2013, 02:51

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Ok...so every week, i get PMs asking me for interview tips. I will post this here, and i hope it will help future applicants. These interview tips, they are not exhaustive, but they do touch on the little that i know and have gleaned from my interaction with the adcom at the illinois college of business over the last two years.

For the interview, which is at least 30 min but no more than 45 min long, just prepare for the usual questions:

-why illinois mba?
-why mba now?
-what can you contribute to the illinois mba?
-what is your weakness as a leader?
-tell me about a challenge you faced and how you overcame it?
-what other schools are you applying to?
-where do you see yourself in 10 years?
- etc

It goes without saying that you must know
a) your resume, inside out!.
b) know what you wrote in your personal statement.
c) there is really no right or wrong answer

Most importantly, don't answer the questions in a robot-like fashion...be human. By this, i mean....tell your story whilst answering the questions. For example....the "why the mba now" question, it's obvious you need it to get more cash, etc. Instead the adcom will remember your answers if you...use it to talk about your short term and long terms goals: ie. in the short term, i need the mba to advance my career or to change careers. In the long term, i want to start my own business or be one of our country's business leaders etc.

The interviews are conducted by older people, part of the staff. They love it when you tell them about your ideals, lofty almost impossible dreams. They are suckers for passionate, idealistic and "i will change the world" applicants.

I think that the interviews are there for the adcom to gauge whether you have thought the whole business school issue through.

The interviewers:

1. Kiri! She nitpicks your resume! So, make sure you are prepared to answer stuff, for the large part, about your resume!

2. Ben. He conducts the standard interview...he touches a little on your resume, touches on the behavioral questions, etc. His interviews are formal and he loves it when you enthuse about the awesomeness of the Illinois mba!

3. Mark. I think if you interview with him, you are in lucky. His interviews (conversations....discussions?) are laid back. He loves applicants whom he comes across in Illinois MBA events. So, ask questions through emails, and if possible, attend both the virtual and live Illinois MBA admission events. Like it has been said elsewhere, the adcom LOVE people who are likely to commit, and this is very true for Mark. If he knows you from past interactions, the interview becomes a formality, might last less than 3 min.

There are other interviewers, but these three are the ones i have infor on!.

I hope this helps.

hkedia

Joined: 08 Jan 2014

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08 Jan 2014, 16:26

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Hi,

I know I am really late in this whole application process, but can someone pl. shed some light on the scholarship opportunities available

Also, how are the chances of getting in if applying in R2.

satish100in

Joined: 03 Jun 2013

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10 Jan 2014, 20:30

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Hi,

I'm in the same boat, can you please share your profile?
cheers!

satish100in

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GMAT 2: 650 Q46 V34 Verified score

GPA: 3.74

WE:Consulting (Consulting)

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10 Jan 2014, 21:40

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Hello,

I'm in the same situation as you, can you please share your profile?

Cheers!

hkedia

Joined: 08 Jan 2014

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Status:Applying

Location: India

Concentration: Marketing, Strategy

Schools: Urbana-Champaign '16 NUS '16

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Schools: Urbana-Champaign '16 NUS '16

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11 Jan 2014, 08:31

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satish100in

Hello,

I'm in the same situation as you, can you please share your profile?

Cheers!

B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay GPA 6.75(/10)
Working for 2.5 Years in Sales / Marketing role in Polymer Industry
GMAT 710

VoyagerII

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Schools: Urbana-Champaign '16 (M)

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12 Jan 2014, 16:35

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hkedia

- Scholarship infor:

Merit scholarships

All applicants who apply are considered at the time of admission for awards ranging from $2,500 to full tuition; no additional application is required.
Forté Foundation Fellows

Forté Foundation Fellows is an honor given to select female MBAs at participating business schools. Both domestic and international women may be nominated as a fellow. Each fellow receives a generous scholarship from the Illinois MBA.

The Forté Foundation is a consortium of major corporations and top business schools that has become a powerful change agent in educating and directing talented women toward leadership roles in business. For more information, please visit the Forté Foundation website.
NSHMBA University Partnership Program

NSHMBA University Partnership Program offers scholarships through the Illinois MBA for outstanding Hispanics. The National Society of Hispanic MBAs has teamed up with several colleges and universities across the United States in the hope for increasing the number of Hispanic students completing bachelors and masters degrees. For more information, please visit the NSHMBA website.
We Want You Back: The Illinois x 2 Scholarship

The Illinois x 2 Scholarship offers a 50% tuition reduction for the full length of the Illinois MBA. The scholarship is exclusively for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign alumni who meet the following criteria:

Are admitted to the Illinois MBA
Hold an undergraduate or graduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Have a minimum of two years of post-bachelor’s degree professional work experience
Competitive GMAT or GRE score (Note: “Competitive” is in comparison with our current pool of applicants)
Have a minimum GPA of 3.3 in the University of Illinois degree program

VoyagerII

Joined: 27 Dec 2012

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Status:At peace...

Location: Comoros

Concentration: Finance, International Business

Schools: Urbana-Champaign '16 (M)

WE:Operations (Consumer Packaged Goods)

Schools: Urbana-Champaign '16 (M)

Posts: 309

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[1]

12 Jan 2014, 16:40

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satish100in

Hi,

I'm in the same boat, can you please share your profile?
cheers!

Elsewhere on this website, it has been shared that if you are an applicant from India, it is best to apply during R1. Applying in other rounds not prudent since seats reserved for applicants from India are usually filled during the R1 cycle.

My advice is that if you are already applying to other schools, it doesn't hurt to turn in your application to Illinois, even though it is late. Who knows, there might those odd few or more seats that open up for you later in the cycle, esp. during that deposit deadline of March 1.

snigdha1605

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13 Jan 2014, 11:48

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Hi,

I'm an Indian female applicant for UIUC MBA in R2.
Seeing all the previous posts about seats getting filled up for Indian applicants, I'm a little confused about whether I should submit my application or not. Can someone please advice?

Also, i've written an email to the Adcom requesting exemption from providing financial proof at the time of submitting an application. But i've gotten no response from them. can any international applicant please let me know, if they were submitted a financial proof document while submitting their application.

Thanks in advance!
Regards,
Snigdha

VoyagerII

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13 Jan 2014, 20:37

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snigdha1605

A few months back, 7of9 answered the same question:

-ishan74729 wrote:
My doubt is similiar to sridhar's here. I'm planning to fund the MBA via a loan, and obviously I cannot show that amount in a bank statement right now. So, what can I do about this right now? Do I simply not upload the i20 documents?

- You can upload a draft/summary of your proof of financial status, together with the application.

- The proof of finances, the final stuff, required at the point of visa issuance, by the immigration officer at the embassy.

In my old life, i submitted a draft/summary of my finances with my application. After admission, the school sent me an I-20 form, a letter of support, and my financial award document. The letter of support (addressed directly to the visa officer at the US embassy in my old country), stated that 'our college, great, endowment $1b, etc...that, the financial award given to the student will be available/guaranteed for the duration of study. The 'proof' of finances that i had submitted with the application was thrown in the trash!

- The proof of finances that u upload with the application, irrelevant. The proof of finances you take to the US embassy in your country to get your sweet FI 'non-immigrant' student visa, BIG deal.

VoyagerII

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[2]

Updated on: 15 Jan 2014, 05:26

Originally posted by VoyagerII on 13 Jan 2014, 20:41.
Last edited by VoyagerII on 15 Jan 2014, 05:26, edited 1 time in total.

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snigdha1605

ALL MBA programs in America have a deficiency of female applicants and matriculates. So, no matter where you apply, whichever school, you have a better probability of getting in, unlike the male applicants. The issue of Indian seats being filled , 99% applies to the usual competent & extremely smart "Indian IT male" applicant.

So, please turn in your application to the Illinois MBA!

snigdha1605

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14 Jan 2014, 02:44

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Thank you

Narenn

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15 Jan 2014, 01:09

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Hello Guys,

I am enclosing here Interview guide released by Urbhana-Champaign Business school. The guide throws light on school's Interview process and also offers Interview tips to applicants. Hope it will help prospective applicants.

Good Luck to all!!!

Thank You!

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Interview Tips Urbhana-Illionois.pdf [762.66 KiB]
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