University of Washington Foster school

You are applying to a competetive program and you are giving them a reason to reject you. Why? I don't know if they will check, but they should. I don't know if they will reject you if they check, but they should. Plus, taking some words out will probably make you think more about your essay and improve it.

at one of the informational meetings, the director of admissions (sunni) said that if you go over 10-15 words, its not a big deal--they don't count.

that said, they can tell if you're trying to sneak in an extra line or two, so don't abuse it.

Thanks all for the input. I will def keep in par with the word limit. I just wasn't sure how strict this school was, some schools don't mind people going over one line or two, but I'm sure there are schools on the other extreme: one word or two would be a no-no.

How did you internship hunt go?

Is anyone applying this fall or applied last fall? According to the website their deadlines are 10/15, 11/15, 1/15, 3/15
Between the Oct and Nov round, how different are they regarding how much more difficult is it to gain admission? I know Jan and Mar will be harder, but what about Oct and Nov? Any insights would be great!

Stick with the first 3 and it shouldn't make much difference. Towards the end might be a bit different. I am a first-year here, so I've been through the process. I'd like to say that I heard all of this somewhere explicitly, but I can't remember for sure.

Anyhow, earlier Can't hurt you.

I'm resurrecting this thread because, (a) I am applying to UW-Foster this year in R2, and (b) I just had my interview this afternoon. I was able to request an interview prior to submitting my application because there were Foster representatives in the SF Bay Area for an alumni banquet who were available to meet with prospective students.

I met with Dan Poston, Assistant Dean of MBA Programs. He was a really nice guy and the the interview was more on the conversational side. Fortunately for me, I had read over the list of questions that ChristianW had provided (quoted below) so nothing really caught me off guard. Also, I had attended an information session that Dean Poston had hosted so I at least knew what to expect from a personality standpoint.

Overall, the interview went well and lasted for about 45 minutes. In hindsight, I'd have to say that my responses were a little too vague and "big picture"-ish. I wish I had done a better job of inserting more details about my experiences during my campus visit and specifics about the program (certificate degrees, global focus) into my answers. All in all, the dialogue flowed well and the Dean didn't ask me for further details, so I'll take that as a sign that I didn't completely bomb.

In addition to the questions that I've bolded below, here are a few other questions that came up during my interview:

What would you contribute to a group?
If faced with an ethical dilemma that does not have a clear-cut answer, how would you go about making your decision?
What do you forsee as a challenge for you while earning your MBA?
How does your current work experience relate to your career goals?


So, anyone else applying to UW-Foster this year? I hope that me and natuago91 aren't the only ones!

Hmm...I attended the same information session last night. I'm from the bay area too. I haven't decided whether I'll be applying to University of Washington yet (depends on how my first round applications go...I dont want to write more essays). It seems like it places pretty well in California, and west coast in general. And I can think of alot worse places to live than Seattle for two years. On the employment report it said that mean salary was 85k. Not that far off from the top schools, and comparable to UC Berkeley and UCLA.

My personal feeling is that U of Wash is pretty underrated, probably a result of the east coast bias that's on most of the rankings. I'm sure it has almost zero placement on wall street and i-banking so its under the radar of business week and us news.

I will consider it, I am so p*ssed right now at all the non-interviews headed my way. The b-school process is exhausting. UW is a solid school though.

That's funny. We must have just missed each other. How was the information session? Did you get a chance to talk to any of the alumni?

Which schools are you waiting on, Tarmac?

I spoke to some current students and other prospective students. I liked Dean Poston style, alittle intense; but very realistic on what an MBA can do for somebody. Information session was good, it had no powerpoint and was more like a round table discussion.

Apparently current students were in the bay area doing a recruiting trip to local bay area companies. So it looked like a school organized tour. Students were friendly and seemed happy.

Seattle has lots of tech and fortune 500 companies, so I think if you are interested in working in those areas; UW would make a good fit. One thing that does worry me is that I have the perception that on-campus recruiting is probably weak, and you would have to do alot of footwork on your own. I suppose that would be the trade off in a public school though...

I didn't get a chance to go to the SF Info Session but I did meet the Dan Poston. Does anyone know if Foster requires you to visit them for interviews even if you are not from Seattle area? I'm hoping to do a phone interview.

From the Udub website:

Interview Dates and Locations
In-person interviews are strongly preferred. Candidates applying from outside of the Pacific Northwest region are encouraged to review the MBA recruiting calendar for pre-scheduled interviewing dates on the road and in Seattle. Keep these dates in mind as you prepare to submit your application, and please note that early interviews are offered in select locations only. Out-of-state applicants may also ask to schedule an early interview during a visit to the UW campus. Candidates who are unable to complete an in-person interview may be requested to participate in an interview via video conference.

Sounds like they prefer that you do visit campus at some point in time, but can be accomodating if you aren't able to.

I just got off the interveiw over the phone .. it lasted for 70 minutes !!

It did not go too well that's one school out ...

I'm pretty frustrated

Sorry

What happened?

Argh, I'm sorry to hear that, Mishari. What went wrong? Who did you speak with? 70 minutes is an insanely long time!

The interview lasted 70 minutes .. what does that indicate ?

The interviewer's tone sounded like my answers and responses were not expected and I don't think she liked them.
I got a few tricky questions that are not found in this forum. The interview ended as if my chances are slim. I can not tell for sure but it was kinda obvious.