Berkeley / Haas MBA News

Get the latest MBA news from Berkeley / Haas.

Published: April 17, 2017

April Is Jam-Packed with Admitted Students’ Weekends: What You Need to Know

Along with showers, April also brings dozens of admitted students’ weekends at business schools across the country—part of the schools’ efforts to convince top candidates to call their campuses home next fall. Anxious applicants who spent months with their eyes glued to LiveWire in a desperate attempt to foretell their futures are now packing their bags and heading off to meet potential classmates and see what life at Harvard or Stanford or Wharton or any number of other top business schools might really be like. Which means it’s now the schools’ turn to try to impress. Indeed, the month of Read more

Published: April 6, 2017

MBA Applicant Spotlight: A Marathon 10 Applications Long

In our new series, "MBA Applicant Spotlight," we're bringing you the personal experiences and lessons of MBA applicants. The MBA application process may have the common thread of being challenging, but each person's journey is different. To kick off the series, we start with Yansong Pang, who applied to 10 MBA programs. He is currently the global president at Global China Connection, one of the largest NGOs connecting Chinese students with young professionals around the world. He graduated from Carleton College and has worked both in buy-side equity research and strategy consulting. Read on for his experience with MBA admissions: Where did you apply? What were the results? I applied to HBS, Stanford GSB, Wharton, LBS, Berkeley / Haas, Cornell / Johnson, MIT / Sloan, Yale SOM and Duke / Fuqua and the Jefferson scholarship at UVA / Darden. Read more

Published: March 13, 2017

7 Takeaways from the 2018 U.S. News Business School Ranking

The schools making up the top 10 in this year’s U.S. News & World Report ranking of the nation’s best MBA programs—released today—were exactly the same as last year. That said, there are a smattering of surprises in terms of how top schools rose and fell relative to one another—and in movement among schools outside of the top 15. At quick glance, here are this year’s top 10, in order of their 2018 rank (2017 rank in parentheses): 1 Harvard Business School (1) 1 University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School (4) 3 University of Chicago Booth Read more

Published: March 9, 2017

Haas Women in Leadership Conference Draws New Audience: Men

When the Women in Leadership (WiL) organization at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business hosts it annual conference tomorrow, things will be different than in years past. This year, every fifth person in the audience is expected to be male—up from the five to 10 men who have historically attended. “When we got together to decide what we wanted the conference to be about, we just starting writing things down that were important to us—and collaboration and the involvement of men were both very high on the list,” says WiL Conference Co-Chair Shipra Agarwal (MBA ’17). Both she and the conference’s other co-chair, Chiaki Nakajima (MBA ’17), feel that they are where they are today because they had strong male support. “We thought, ‘Let’s make that the focus of the conference because we want men to be part of it as well and to understand how to be better allies,” Agarwal says. The theme they settled on was “Power of Us: Collaborate. Inspire. Lead.” Read more

Published: March 9, 2017

UC Berkeley Haas Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-campus

The following Berkeley / Haas MBA interview questions & report were submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them! We met at a restaurant and after a small-talk he described what was going to happen: he told me about himself, then he asked me standard questions and I asked mine. Whole interview took 45 minutes. Contrary to many reviews here, interviewer did not ask any fit question, none about defining principles or extracurricular activities. Although I managed to insert my views on leadership and culture at Haas, I feel that he was not interested in anything except Read more

Published: March 7, 2017

DecisionWire Data Suggests a Tiered Business School Ranking

As many of our readers know, U.S. News & World Report is scheduled to release its annual ranking of leading MBA programs next week. We wanted to use this time—ahead of the ranking’s release—to highlight some key insights from our MBA DecisionWire data, which we think will provide context for the upcoming rankings and perhaps even foretell some of the results. Our analysis of DecisionWire data yielded some fascinating findings that we believe support a tiered ranking system for schools, one in which the peer group a school finds itself in serves as a better indicator of Read more

Published: March 6, 2017

Which Business Schools Produced the Most Unicorn Founders

Billion-dollar startups, affectionately coined “unicorns,” have become a benchmark that business schools around the world use to boast overall success. But which business schools actually produce the most successful startup founders? Earlier this year, U.K. software research firm Sage compiled data on billion-dollar startups, which also included the schools from which company founders graduated. The research, unsurprisingly, found two business schools standing taller than the rest of the competition: Harvard Business School (HBS) and Stanford University Graduate School of Business. HBS alumni produced 23 of these unicorn startups, as reported by Fortune. These Read more

Published: March 6, 2017

Data Science Courses Increasingly Find Their Place in MBA Curriculums

Five years ago, MIT Sloan School of Management debuted a new course its professors believed to be the first of its kind. Called “The Analytics Edge,” the course gave students access to large quantities of real data that they could use to hone their analytic skills. “Our focus is on the application and the story, and how to use it in real life,” Allison O’Hair, one of the course’s co-instructors, said as part of a news article on the school’s website at the time. “To our knowledge, this is a new way of teaching ... the only class here that teaches analytics through applications. We let students get their hands dirty with real data and applications of analytics.” Read more

Published: March 6, 2017

MBA DecisionWire Spotlight: Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, NYU / Stern or Yale SOM for Finance

In this edition of MBA DecisionWire Spotlight, which highlights the admissions results of students and alumni posted to Clear Admit’s DecisionWire, we take a closer look at a candidate with a handful of options. This week, a candidate with acceptances to Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, NYU / Stern, and Yale SOM asked for advice on where to head for investment banking, and potentially private equity.Before we get into the constructive feedback, let’s get what many people are likely thinking out of the way:Initial Read more

Published: February 28, 2017

UC Berkeley Haas Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-year Student / On-campus

The following Berkeley / Haas MBA interview questions & report were submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 1 applicant. Good luck to them! Met my interviewer in the admissions office on campus, interviewed in a small room in the same building. Second-year student interviewed me, seemed they had scanned my résumé prior to the interview. Interview ended up being very relaxed and conversational, but there were several distinct questions: Questions: Walk me through your résumé (included brief explanation of why MBA in response) Why Berkeley for your MBA? Tell me about how you prefer to work in teams Any questions Read more

Published: February 26, 2017

UC Berkeley Haas Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-Campus

The following Berkeley / Haas MBA interview questions & report were submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 1 applicant. Good luck to them! My interview was conducted by Haas alumnus off-campus for Round 1. My interviewer had only seen my résumé and was not aware of the contents regarding the other parts of my application. He had a set of questions in front of him, which he said he will go through and then give me some time if I had any questions. The interview was friendly and consisted of introductory, behavioral and career plan questions. “Why Haas” was a big Read more

Published: February 24, 2017

UC Berkeley Haas MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-Campus

The following Berkeley / Haas MBA interview questions & report were submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 1 applicant. Good luck to them! Questions were: Self-introduction and your current job Why MBA? Why Haas? Why Now? Especially focused on the why question. A commitment question on Haas’s 4 principles. A situation where you deal with a problem in a team. A situation where you motivate others. How can you contribute to Haas? Alumni is super nice and sharing. She offered me advice on future plans of career development and life choices as well. For 1/3 of the time, we were chatting about Read more

Published: February 23, 2017

UC Berkeley Haas MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-Campus

The following UC Berkeley Haas MBA interview questions & report were submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 1 applicant. Good luck to them! Overall a very seamless process. The interviewer asked me to come to his office after work hours. He was excited, and received me on time. The interview itself was the most conversational interview I have ever had. The interviewer interjected with his own experiences, and fortunately I was well prepared – I knew the faculty, the school’s recent efforts, the big advantages over peer schools, etc. The interviewer only asked me a few questions to understand who I Read more

Published: February 20, 2017

MBA DecisionWire Spotlight: MIT / Sloan or Berkeley / Haas for Technology

As acceptance notifications roll out, many MBA candidates are posting their successes and selections on MBA DecisionWire, a tool for applicants, students and alumni to share their admissions results. In this edition of MBA DecisionWire Spotlight, we take a closer look at a candidate with acceptances to Berkeley / Haas, Duke / Fuqua, MIT / Sloan, and UCLA / Anderson. While the applicant had already pared down the list, he’s still seeking advice to determine where to pursue his MBA: Read more

Published: February 9, 2017

Anxiety Persists for International MBA Students Despite Appellate Court’s Rebuke of Immigration Ban

Last night, a three-member panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit refused the Trump administration’s call to reinstate a ban barring the entry of all refugees and visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries into the United States. Although the case could still advance to the Supreme Court, yesterday’s ruling means that, for now, the executive order signed by President Donald Trump two weeks ago remains unenforceable. That’s good news for international students from the affected countries, some of whom were detained at airports attempting to return to campus from overseas travel, others of whom were forced to cancel plans to leave the United States for fear they might not be allowed back in. Read more

Published: February 9, 2017

Fridays from the Frontline: From Herat to Haas, An Afghan Student’s Journey

Today’s Friday from the Frontline is a bit of a departure from our usual practice of sharing first-person accounts—but the story of Sal Parsa on the Berkeley Haas blog so captivated us that we wanted to make sure the Clear Admit audience didn’t miss it. Below, learn how Parsa went from sewing clothes in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to serving as president of the Haas Data Science Club while also working to get a career guidance platform startup off the ground. It’s inspiring, to say the least. Our thanks to Haas and Parsa for allowing us to share the story here. Read more

Published: January 31, 2017

Trump’s Immigrant Ban Creates Turmoil for MBA Students Across the Country

At least one was detained for hours at JFK Airport in New York before being released. Many have concerns about family members who may not be able to attend graduation ceremonies in the spring. Others must consider foregoing upcoming international school-related trips for fear they won’t be allowed back in. In these ways and many others, President Donald Trump’s initial days in office have left countless MBA students reeling. At issue is the hugely controversial executive order signed by Trump on Friday (Jan. 27) temporarily banning citizens from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia from entering the country, suspending new refugee admissions for the next 120 days and indefinitely banning refugees from Syria. That all countries in question are predominantly Muslim and that the order additionally offers priority to Christian refugees has led many to view the action as a Muslim ban, though the Trump administration denies this. Read more

Published: January 26, 2017

Fridays from the Frontline: A Haasie Leans In to Increase Ranks of Women in Venture Capital

That women make up only seven percent of partners at the leading 100 venture capital firms wasn’t a deterrent for UC Berkeley Haas School of Business MBA student Kira Noodleman, it was a challenge. Her self-professed passion for solving “problems that matter” and natural gravitation toward “sink-or-swim” environments led her to a summer internship at Bee Partners, a venture capital firm founded by a fellow Haasie. On the last day of her internship, she was offered a full-time position, which she recently accepted. In the thoughtful post that follows, Noodleman reflects on how Haas’s four “Defining Principles” influenced Read more

Published: January 16, 2017

Oxford’s Saïd Business School Joins Global Network for Advanced Management

In case you missed it, Oxford University’s Saïd Business School joined the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) earlier this month. Calling itself “the leading network of top business schools committed to educating global leaders,” the GNAM was founded by Yale School of Management Dean Edward Snyder in 2012. It counts as its members eight schools in Europe, nine in Asian and the Pacific Islands, five in the Middle East and Africa and seven in the Americas. The recent addition of Oxford’s Saïd brings the total to 29 member schools. Read more

Published: December 26, 2016

Admissions Directors Weigh in on Data Forms

In recent weeks we’ve featured a couple of admissions tips focused on the evolving nature of data forms as part of the MBA admissions process. Specifically, we’ve noticed that data forms at many schools have grown more extensive in recent years, in some cases in tandem with a move away from requiring candidates to write as many essays. To get a better understanding of this shift—and how candidates can best approach the data forms—we turned to admissions directors at several business schools to get their input. Read more

Published: December 21, 2016

Parsing Round 1 MBA LiveWire Data Reveals Some Interesting Results

The last couple of weeks have been very busy indeed as the majority of schools we cover on Clear Admit released final decisions to their Round 1 applicants. MBA LiveWire saw record activity as the community chimed in to share their individual results with each other. We thought it would be interesting to do some data analysis on these results and are excited to share our findings. We should stress, though, that the data is very likely subject to response bias, by which we mean that candidates with positive results may be more inclined to share them, resulting Read more

Published: December 6, 2016

Forté Foundation Launches New Men as Allies Initiative

Reaching gender equity on business school campuses is far from just a women’s issue, which is precisely why the Forté Foundation is calling on men to get involved. Drawing on successful programs already underway on campuses spanning from Harvard Business School (HBS) to Stanford Graduate School of Business, Forté today announced its new Men as Allies Initiative. It is designed to invite and encourage male students to get involved in a growing movement toward gender equity in business school classrooms and the broader business world. Read more

Published: December 5, 2016

Berkeley / Haas MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-campus

The following Berkeley / Haas MBA interview questions & report were submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them! I met the alumnus at her office, and overall it started off on a very friendly and casual note and introductions. The first question got straight the point, which was “Tell me about yourself” which I interpreted as a “walk me through your résumé” kind of question and started talking about it. It then flowed in the following questions as I spoke about my story: • Why MBA? • Why Haas? • What communities/student groups will Read more

Published: November 20, 2016

Real Humans of MBA Admissions: UC Berkeley Haas’s Morgan Bernstein

Morgan Bernstein is currently in her first year as executive director leading the full-time MBA admission team at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, having taken over last March for Stephanie Fujii, who held the role for four years before that. “I’m excited about growing my team, learning, figuring out what I know and what I don’t know,” she told us last week while taking a break from reading applications. “Stephanie left some big shoes to fill.” But Bernstein is by no means a stranger to the school or its admissions process. Indeed, she was part of the admissions team for five years before stepping into her current role, and she knows things from the other side as well. A successful applicant herself, she graduated from Haas with her MBA in 2009 (and married a fellow alumnus to boot). Read more

Published: November 15, 2016

Amid Roller Coaster Rides for Some, HBS Stays Put atop Bloomberg BusinessWeek Ranking

For the second consecutive year, Harvard Business School (HBS) tops the Bloomberg BusinessWeek annual ranking of MBA programs—released today—making it one of the few leading schools that didn’t experience shifts in a list that holds lots of changes this year over last. Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) shot up to second, from its seventh spot last year, and Duke’s Fuqua School followed right on its heels, moving from eighth last year to number three. Together, they knocked the University of Chicago Booth School of Business down from second to fourth. Read more

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Berkeley / Haas

Class Size: 295

Women: 42%

MEdiAN GMAT: 730

MEAN GPA: 3.65

Livewire Decisionwire Interview Reports Essay Topic Analysis MBA Admissions Deadlines View Full Profile

MBA Applywire

November 20, 2024 9:42pm ET

Applying: Babson / Olin, , Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Emory / Goizueta, Rice / Jones, Rochester / Simon, SMU Cox, UCI Merage, Washington U. / Olin

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Technology - Entrepreneurship

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Entrepreneurship

GRE: 333

GPA: 2.56

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: Lagos

Notes:

I just got rejected for WashU Olin and I have an interview invitation with Questrom. GPA continues to bother me but I addressed it in my supporting essays.

November 19, 2024 12:51pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, INSEAD, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Tech in government

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Entrepreneurship Companies: Bain , McKinsey

GRE: 319

GPA: 2.9

Years of Work Experience: 7

Notes:

I got cancer when I was undergrad that's why my undergrad GPA is low. After MBA I want to work in consulting then make a social impact in Africa through entrepreneurship

November 19, 2024 12:06pm ET

Applying: Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, U. Washington / Foster, UNC Kenan-Flagler, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden

Pre-MBA Career: Wealth Management and Military

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Asset Management, inc. HF, Other Companies: Bain , BCG , Deloitte , McKinsey , Goldman Sachs , JP Morgan Asset Management , State Street , Vanguard

GPA: 3.80

Years of Work Experience: 7

Location: San Diego

Post MBA Location: Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, Charlotte

Notes:

UG Degree: BBA Financial Markets at an Accredited Institution.

Civilian Work History: 3 years as Wealth Advisor under an RIA in Minneapolis and Denver. Total AUM of ~$350-400M, served as a salaried advisor in a primary and secondary capacity. Holistic services to include investment management, estate planning, retirement planning, insurance planning, tax planning, etc.

Military History: 4 years as a supply/logistics officer heading efforts for air/ground mobility, defense contracting, supply and procurement, and fiscal budget management while located at various bases within CONUS and multiple forward deployed locations.

Professional Certifications: Obtained Certified Financial Planner designation (2022) and Series 65 (2019).

November 18, 2024 12:50am ET

Applying: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Emory / Goizueta, NYU Stern, UNC Kenan-Flagler, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Consulting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Investment Banking Companies: Bank of America , Barclays , Citibank , Credit Suisse , Goldman Sachs , JP Morgan Chase

GRE: 323

GPA: 3.32

Years of Work Experience: 7

Notes:

Education:
- Combined Major in Economics and Statistics
- CFA Charterholder (passed all three levels on the first attempt)

Professional Experience:
- Manager at a Big 4 firm Specializing in capital projects and infrastructure, with a role similar to investment banking
- Seven years of experience, mainly in financial services in Ghana

Extracurricular Activities:
- Pro bono capital-raising services for SMEs
- Aspiring to run a full advisory firm for SMEs in the future
- CFA exam coaching and tutorial classes for candidates
- Founder of a travel and tour club offering affordable trips to explore beautiful and historic scenes in Ghana

Will being 32 years old affect the attractiveness of my candidacy?

November 17, 2024 9:24am ET

Applying: Columbia, , Georgetown / McDonough, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, NYU Stern, Oxford / Saïd, Stanford GSB, UCLA Anderson, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Higher Education

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Media, Undecided Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , JP Morgan , Morgan Stanley , JP Morgan Chase , Apple , Google , Microsoft , Andressen Horowitz , Charles River , Sequoia Capital , Blackstone , KKR , 21st Century Fox , Comcast , Walt Disney

GPA: 3.97

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: Denver, Colorado

Post MBA Location: New York City

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MBA LiveWire

November 21, 2024 4:42pm ET

Accepted to Cornell / Johnson

Round: Round 1

Received via phone November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.16

GMAT: 730

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

November 21, 2024 4:08pm ET

Accepted to Rochester / Simon

Round: Round 1

Received via phone November 21, 2024

GMAT: 555

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

November 21, 2024 3:42pm ET

Interview Invite to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email on November 03, 2024

GPA: 3.2

GRE: 333

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Marketing

November 21, 2024 3:41pm ET

Waitlisted at Columbia

Round: Round 1

Received via email on November 14, 2024

GPA: 3.2

GRE: 333

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Marketing

Application Location: New York

November 21, 2024 1:35pm ET

Rejected at NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.2

GMAT: 645

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Marketing

Application Location: India

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