HAAS hopeful here with odd stats :) (Evaluations welcome)

I'm pretty sure you'll be fine.

Good luck!

Peter

I would have to agree with Peter, you should definitely focus on the GMAT. From looking at your Quant score, I would say you have a relatively good understanding of the basic concepts that are being tested. I would suggest studying for another 2 weeks and taking another CAT. If you have access to Assessment reports on Manhattan, use these to pinpoint your weak areas and focus on that first.

Just my suggestion. Good luck

Thank you. I should have access to all of the assessment reports and I'll be going through that today in order to make an error log to guide my studying. I will likely make a post in the GMAT section about the studying process and how to get the most out of my materials a little bit later today, in order to be consistent with the forum section topics.

Thanks for sharing.

Focus on the GMAT at this point, improving on the score could greatly help your chances.

You have rich materials to use for your essays, you can stand out by presenting a powerful personal story to show how you have grown, and how you will perform post-MBA.

All the best and look forward to your updates!

Thank you. I am focusing heavily on the GMAT currently.
I just took a few foundation courses and feel I can go through the practice CAT at least 20% faster, having brushed up on all of the little tricks and rules that I haven't used since high school.

Now comes the fun part of actual GMAT study!
I actually postponed my test until September 17 in order to give myself more time. The deadline for round 1 applications is Sept 29th so I think I will only have one shot at this..

Good luck to all prospective Haas applicants for GMAT and applications this season!

Just wanted to inform you all that we have started official discussion thread for Class of 2019 applicants. (calling-all-haas-berkeley-applicants-2017-intake-class-of-220469.html) You are welcome to join the discussion. If anyone is interested in becoming ThreadMaster for the Haas discussion thread, please PM your request to me.

Great to hear about your progress!

It would also help doing practice full-length tests, simulating as much of the test-day environment (including time/routine) as possible.

All the best!

Hi All,

I have applied to UC Berkeley MFE Program in Round 3. It has been 27 days since my application is marked as "Application Under Review". I have not heard from them yet. Their Round 3 decision deadline is August 19 though but I have not heard from them for an interview too. Some one else i know who applied in this round got an interview in 10 days. Does this mean I am rejected?

There are a total of 4 rounds in their application process.

This is really worrying me now.

First off, best of luck! Haas is a phenomenal school -- amazing culture and values, great location, awesome people. Here's some advice from my own experiences applying to MBA programs:

- I see that you postponed your GMAT exam till September 17 and are looking to apply R1. One piece of advice is that if you can afford it, take the GMAT twice. Most people score better the second time around. I personally felt fully prepared but then found that my nerves got the best of me. I scored a 650 the first time I took the GMAT, but then scored a 730 (I was consistently scoring a 710 - 750 on the Manhatten Prep GMAT practice tests before taking the exam). I'm going out on a limb in saying I probably wouldn't be going to Harvard if I stuck with the first score I also applied round 2 to give myself another go at the GMAT and more time to complete my applications (but R1 is preferable if you can get materials ready in time). If you score a 720+, then you don't need to retake the GMAT. Remember, schools really only look at your top GMAT score. Because of your low undergrad GPA, your GMAT score will be VERY important to demonstrate you can handle the course load and excel academically. With a few months of studying, I'm sure you'll be able to get a great score! Make sure to take regular full-length diagnostic tests to build up your endurance, and I also recommend focusing on your weaknesses first since that will give you the biggest initial score jump.

- Apply to more schools. Haas has an extremely small class size and is EXTREMELY competitive. Not saying you won't get in (they'd be lucky to have you!), but it helps to have a back-up plan. You don't need to go overboard and apply to 10 schools, but it might be wise to apply to a few schools R1 (your dream schools) and have some back-ups for R2 (schools outside the top 10 in rankings). Going into the process, I had a few schools I knew I wanted to apply to, but after doing research and visits, I fell in love with several other schools as well. Some people only want to get an MBA if they get into their dream school, but I personally think that approach is a little short-sighted. There are sooooo many amazing programs out there!!!

- Haas cares a lot about their core values. Work those into your essays and really demonstrate that you did your research and are a good fit for the program. I know this seems like obvious advice, but everyone I know who got interviews at Haas referenced these values in their essays or really showed their love for Haas' unique offerings (get specific -- what courses, professors, clubs, conferences, do you want to take advantage of, etc.). My impression is that the essays matter a lot for Haas. When I interviewed at Haas, I was asked three different ways why I wanted to come to Haas and why the school is a good fit for me.

- Business schools unfortunately care more about your undergrad GPA than masters GPA (average undergrad GPA is what is reported and factors in for rankings, so schools have an incentive to raise the average GPA to improve their school rankings). Rumor has it that Haas is a school that cares a lot about GPA. The good news is you have a quantitative masters degree and great GPA for the masters program, so you can show that you can handle the work. Just make sure to explain in a clear way the challenges you faced in undergrad and how you grew as a person, achieved success in your masters program. I think you have a really solid narrative. The best advice I got was connect all the dots in your essays -- do the work for the admissions team. Don't try to hid your weaknesses. Everyone has weaknesses, and it's much better to address them directly and explain the situation in your own words (so you control the narrative) than leave the admissions committee guessing what happened (and come across as less honest for hiding any perceived weaknesses). For me, I had a relatively weak quantitative score on the GMAT that I addressed directly. I also had a large gap in my work history searching for my next job. I pointed out these potential red flags and explained my situation. Nobody brought up either issue in any of my interviews. I'm not advising you focus all your essays on explaining away weaknesses -- in fact, limit that to one essay. Most essays should be stories demonstrating your leadership and accomplishments, or sharing more about who you are and what you hope to do in the future.

Best of luck during this process. It's a grueling and stressful time, but it will all be worth it when you get your acceptance letter. You're going to do great -- stay positive. Keep us all posted on how things are going!

Thank you so much for this invaluable advice! I will definitely be referencing back to this soon. I'll be taking another CAT this weekend so I'm hoping there will be a big jump between my first attempt and this next attempt. I feel like I knew nothing when I first took it and that feeling is basically gone so that might be good news!

Currently trying NOT to play Pokemon and keep on top of my study time instead, as I'm sure many others here are doing

I hope you received a positive response from the adcom! Generally speaking, if a deadline hasn't passed then you still have time to hear back. I'm pretty sure there is a Haas specific thread around here somewhere but I am unfamiliar with the MFE program details.

Best of luck!

giapocalypse THIS POST ROCKS the $HIT out of life! I gave you kudos but wish I could give you like one zillion kudos for this post. rosemont83 I strongly recommend that you READ THIS POST OUT LOUD WHILE LOOKING IN THE MIRROR for the sake of your future. She knows what's up. giapocalypse good luck at HBS! I think you have the makings of a good admissions consultant.

Thank you very much for the well thought out response and nice to hear that you are an alumni!
I was born in the later part of 88 so I'm not quite there yet!

I did both calculus and stats in undergrad but calculus was taken during my earlier courses (translating to not that great, C).

For stats during undergrad I took the Intro to Stats at community college and received a C (in 2011 at CRC, should have went to ARC!) but then at CSUS I took Quantitative Economic analysis in 2012(stats) as well as the more advanced statistics class, Econometrics, as an elective in 2013 and earned an A in both of those courses.

I feel that the verbal of MP isn't too confusing but I will likely take you up on that after I get through a bit more of the material in order to have the best handle on the way they do things.

Also, currently my number one choice on industry after the MBA is management consulting and I plan to be engaged in student activities and clubs that push me towards that industry immediately upon enrolling. Investment banking is/was also an area of interest but I don't think I've explicitly ever said that anywhere here.. You're good, how did you know that??

I'm actually already out of Sacramento. My younger siblings are not so young anymore and I am able to afford less responsibility over others at the moment, hence the choice to go for full-time.
The time period that I had to do all of that has thankfully passed, for now. Having two jobs and going to Cal Poly full-time was likely the worst decision that I have made so I definitely don't want to relive that lol. This time full-time student means full-time student!