Berkeley / Haas MBA News

Get the latest MBA news from Berkeley / Haas.

Published: November 13, 2016

Real Humans of MBA Admissions: UC Berkeley Haas’s Peter Johnson

We are looking forward to connecting soon with Morgan Bernstein, current admissions director at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. In the meantime, we’re delighted to have caught up with Peter Johnson, who formerly held Bernstein’s role and has recently returned to Haas as assistant dean, full-time MBA program and admissions. In his current role, he oversees Bernstein and her team in admissions as well as academic and student affairs for the full-time MBA program. Johnson has spent his entire professional career in admissions—including an eleven-year stretch as executive director of full-time MBA admissions at Haas. He’s just returned after six years away, including four in Hungary leading student services for the Central European University. Members of both the Haas community and the graduate management admissions community are thrilled to welcome him back. Read more

Published: October 24, 2016

Impending MBA Interview? Latest Clear Admit Interview Guides Have All You Need to Prepare

The MBA interview—the nail-biting, stomach-churning, sleep-robbing, suit-demanding component of the MBA application process that ties some applicants up in knots—is upon us. But there’s no reason to fret: not with Clear Admit’s in-depth Interview Guide Series as part of your arsenal. Providing expert advice and insider tips on what to expect and how to prepare, these guides are ready and waiting to help you conquer your jitters and ace your interview. Maybe you’re among the lucky ones who has already received an interview invite from your top choice business school (Harvard Business School and U. Chicago Booth to name a couple)? We’ve also heard—via the MBA LiveWire—that invites are rolling out from places like Columbia Business School (CBS), Cambridge’s Judge School, Duke’s Fuqua School and INSEAD. Of course, with more candidates set to receive Round 1 decisions in the coming weeks, the interview invitation madness has just begun. Read more

Published: October 18, 2016

From Darden to Haas: Tackling Issues of Race and Diversity Head On

With issues of race and diversity in the headlines daily—driven by continuing national attention around police shootings, controversial state-legislated bathroom policies and the extraordinarily contentious election season, among other things—leading MBA programs from coast to coast are tackling these complex subjects head on. UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business this past weekend hosted a Diversity Symposium for prospective applicants, featuring panels and workshops tailored to issues surrounding women, racial and ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ community and veterans. While Haas has put on this event each fall for several years, a record 250 prospective students were Read more

Published: October 13, 2016

Chicago Booth Remains Atop Economist Ranking Amid Drastic Fluctuations by Other Schools

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business claimed bragging rights for the fifth year in a row as it was once again crowned the top full-time MBA program in the world by the Economist, which published its annual global ranking of MBA programs yesterday. Other schools, though, took wild rides up and down the ranks—a trend that has caused many industry insiders to question the validity of the British publication's "Which MBA?" list. Read more

Published: October 4, 2016

Haas Professor and “Power Poses” Co-Author Backtracks from Own Study

Six years ago, researchers at Columbia and Harvard quickly gained recognition in the psychological science community with research they published suggesting that power poses—particular body stances and positioning held for limited periods of time—could lend themselves to increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk. The 2010 report, “Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance,” was co-authored by Dana Carney and Andy Yap, then at Columbia, and Amy Cuddy (pictured above, right) at Harvard Business School. The three wrote, “results of this study confirmed our prediction that posing in high-power nonverbal displays (as opposed to low-power nonverbal displays) would cause neuroendocrine and behavioral changes for both male and female participants: High-power posers experienced elevations in testosterone, decreases in cortisol, and increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk; low-power posers exhibited the opposite pattern.” Read more

Published: August 17, 2016

Career Services Director Q&A: Julia Min Hwang of the Berkeley-Haas MBA Career Management Group

We are delighted to feature Julia Min Hwang of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in our series of Career Services Director Q&As. Hwang, assistant dean of the Berkeley MBA Career Management Group, has spent 10 years at Haas. Before taking over as assistant dean two years ago, she served as program director for the full-time MBA program. Before that she ran the MBA admissions process at NYU’s Stern School of Business. Our thanks to Hwang for taking time out of her busy schedule to speak with Clear Admit. Read more

Published: July 21, 2016

Fridays from the Frontline: How to Know When You’re Ready for an MBA

Knowing whether now is the right time for an MBA depends on a host of variables that are unique to each individual trying to make the decision. We were struck by a recent post on the MBA blog for the UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business that gets at a few of the different answers that helped recent MBA students there decide that the time was right. Read on to hear how students from each of the three Berkeley-Haas programs (Full-time MBA,Evening & Weekend MBA, MBA for Executives) knew they were ready. The following post has been republished Read more

Published: July 20, 2016

John Hanke, Berkeley Haas MBA ’96: The Genius Behind Pokémon Go

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (and a very large and heavy rock at that) for the past few weeks, then you’ve probably heard of Pokémon Go. For those of you who do in fact live under a rock, Pokémon Go is the newest mobile game craze to sweep the world. The game tasks users to travel the world — yes, the real world — in search of various adorable Pocket Monsters. Using GPS technology and augmented reality, the game has created a revolutionary experience that has captivated the masses. Read more

Published: June 18, 2016

6 Things That Make Being an MBA Dad the Best

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, and especially to those who have decided to bite the bullet and tackle the MBA and fatherhood simultaneously. It can be done, albeit with some sacrifices, and students both male and female seem to be pairing parenthood with the rigors of business school more and more these days. We caught up with a few MBA dads to learn what works, what doesn’t and what they wouldn’t change for the world. 6 Things That Make Being an MBA Dad the Best Matching Backpacks “Every morning I put on my backpack and Read more

Published: June 8, 2016

How These Haasies Landed Jobs at McKinsey, BCG, Apple, Facebook and Google

UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business hasn’t yet released employment statistics on its Class of 2016 graduates, which makes sense since barely a week has passed since they walked across the stage to collect their diplomas. Like most peer schools, Haas’s Career Management Group will share those details in the fall when they have complete data. Source: UC Berkeley Haas, Class of 2015 Employment Statistics In the meantime, we’ve got something perhaps even more valuable than a long list of statistics. Namely, personal stories from actual Haas students who have landed jobs at some of the hottest hiring firms around—and how they did it. Read more

Published: June 6, 2016

Why McKinsey and Company Loves to Hire MBAs

When it comes to careers MBAs are likely to land, working for a management consulting firm like tops the list. McKinsey and Company is one such firm that conducts qualitative and quantitative analysis for companies around the world in order to evaluate management decisions across the public and private sectors. McKinsey is considered one of the most prestigious management consultancy firms globally and the firm’s clientele includes 80 percent of the world’s largest corporations, along with an extensive list of governments and non-profit organisations. More current and former Fortune 500 CEOs are actually alumni of McKinsey than of any Read more

Published: June 1, 2016

UC Berkeley’s Haas School Appoints New Assistant Dean of Full-Time MBA Program and Admissions

Changes in the MBA admissions office are not unique to Harvard Business School (HBS), where last month longtime reigning managing director Dee Leopold departed, replaced by HBS alumnus Chad Losee. This week, the news comes out of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where Peter Johnson has been appointed the new assistant dean of the full-time MBA program and admissions. “Love when we lure a former member of the team back to Haas,” Dean Rich Lyons tweeted out yesterday. “Pete Johnson is back to head our full-time MBA program.” Indeed, Johnson knows Haas well, having Read more

Published: May 1, 2016

Ideas to Transform the World Win Big at Business Plan Competitions

April showers bring May flowers, or so the saying goes. But at top-tier business schools from coast to coast and beyond, April business plan competitions brought a shower of exciting ventures—including ones that promise to clean the oceans, detect lung cancer in a person’s breath and transform digital text into Braille on e-readers for the blind. Harvard Business School and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School both held finals in their annual venture competitions last week, on Tuesday (April 26th) and Friday (April 29th) respectively. Between the two schools, more than $425,000 in cash and in-kind Read more

Published: May 1, 2016

Hot MBA Jobs: Product Manager

A decade ago, the top job choice for MBA grads was consulting. Now, the new “sexy” and coveted position is that of the product manager. It’s a role that allows MBAs to combine marketing, design and problem-solving—all the elements that an MBA grad loves. Read more

Published: April 18, 2016

MBA DecisionWire Reveals More Popular School Pairings

Welcome back for the second in our series of posts offering analysis of the data we are receiving on MBA DecisionWire. For the uninitiated, MBA DecisionWire is a resource that allows candidates to share where they’ve decided to attend business school based on the offers they received. In this, its inaugural season, the rate of entries is ramping up as students make their final choices for the next academic year. Popular School Pairings In our first post in this series, we looked at schools that tend to draw some of the same applicants. Those popular school pairings included Read more

Published: April 6, 2016

MBATube Killed the SEO Star

This post has been republished in its entirety from its original source, metromba.com. It feels positively Philip K. Dick–esque to think that from the mid-20th century until roughly five to 10 years into the new millennium, moving images delivered across cathode ray televisions were the medium de rigeur to communicate information to a large audience. Although the advent of Google Glass and Oculus Rift suggest that virtual reality (VR) advertising could be just around the corner (think of the possibilities for fabric softening bears!), video remains, according to the Amsterdam-based MBATUBE, the “medium of today’s generation.” According to the site, “approximately 80 percent of all internet traffic will be video” by 2019. Read more

Published: March 16, 2016

Berkeley / Haas Interview Report: Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-Campus

The following Berkeley / Haas interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them! I interviewed with a Haas alumnus on February 29, 2016 for a Round 2 interview. The alumnus and I met at a coffee shop in Beijing, China (which, frankly, was a bit too loud for my taste). We grabbed two waters and took a seat in the back couch area. It was a completely blind interview, where the interviewer didn’t even look at my résumé – he asked for a copy of it which I, fortunately, had with me (so make sure Read more

Published: March 15, 2016

7 Things You Need to Know About the 2017 U.S. News Business School Ranking

Harvard Business School (HBS) reclaimed the number one spot in this year’s U.S. News & World Report ranking of the nation’s best MBA programs after a two-year stint in second place. Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), which has passed the crown back and forth with HBS for more than a decade, took second this year, tying with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In addition to the subtle movements of programs rising or losing a rank, there were quite a few surprises in this year's list. The Clear Admit team of admissions experts has sifted through the data and compiled a summary of seven key things to note this year: Read more

Published: March 14, 2016

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

The following Berkeley / Haas interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them! I interviewed with a recent Haas alum in London at her office. We were in a conference room setting, which felt quite formal (similar to a job interview). But the alum was very friendly and down to earth. She said she had only seen my CV and not the rest of my application, so she assured me it’s fine to repeat things from my essays. She also checked my ID. We started off with the usual “walk me through your résumé” where Read more

Published: March 14, 2016

Berkeley / Haas Interview Report: Round 1 / Second-year Student / On-Campus

The following Berkeley / Haas interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 1 applicant. Good luck to them! I applied to Haas in the 1st round. I thought the interview went really well. I could get a good sense that the school was concerned with fit…more so than other interviews I did. Overall, the tone was informal and quite conversational. It didn’t seem scripted. The interviewer didn’t read questions from script but did take notes. I’m guessing with admissions season in full swing; this was not the interviewer’s first session. The interviewer did have a copy of my résumé. Read more

Published: March 14, 2016

Berkeley / Haas Interview Report: Round 2 / First-year student / on-campus

The following Berkeley / Haas interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them! This was a highly conversational interview. The interviewer was engaging and seemed genuinely interested in the process. She had a copy of my résumé, though it was not necessarily ‘blind’ according to Berkeley’s own website. Standard questions: • Walk me through your résumé? • Clarification of goals • Why Haas? Why MBA? • How would you contribute to the community? There weren’t (nor would there be for you) any surprises, other Read more

Published: February 24, 2016

Berkeley / Haas MBA Interview Report: Round 2 / Alumnus / On-Campus

The following Berkeley / Haas MBA interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. I got helpful tips from Clear Admit and hope my experience with my Haas interview will help other applicants. Good luck everyone! I was invited to the super Saturday interview hosted on campus on Feb 20. The events were very well organized, and the interview was just a very small part of the experience. The adcom and current students hosted lunches, different panels for team work and student life, and everyone we met was very kind and helpful. The interview was with an alumnus Read more

Published: February 17, 2016

Waiting for Bolton: Applicant Anxiety Lends Itself to LiveWire Creativity

We know, Tom Petty, waiting is the hardest part. And some schools—cough, Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), cough—certainly aren’t making things easy on Round 2 applicants. The stress is high, the updates are few and the results are pure poetry. For anyone who’s completely befuddled, we’re talking about the creative ways candidates have taken to LiveWire to let off steam as they wait anxiously for interview invitations from schools that have yet to share them. Though Stanford GSB has provoked the greatest outpouring of silly LiveWire posts, UC Berkeley’s Haas School has also elicited a few, and there have been some general grumbles about MIT Sloan thrown in as well. Read more

Published: February 17, 2016

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

The following Berkeley / Haas interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. The interview took place in a relaxed environment / the interviewer’s office. He asked for my ID card and spoke in English. The interview was blind, he only had seen my résumé. Questions: 1) Walk me through your résumé 2) Why MBA? 3) Why now? 4) Why Berkeley? 5) Some specific questions about my future plans Overall, it was relaxed and a good conversation. The interviewer made it easy. After his questions, he gave me time to ask whatever I Read more

Published: February 15, 2016

Haas School of Business Grants Seed Money to MBA Student Entrepreneurs

This post has been republished in its entirety from its original source, metromba.com. UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business awarded the first round of grants in a new program that intends to inspire MBA student entrepreneurs to grow early stage startups. The Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program (BHEP) awarded these first ten grants in December 2015, and the next round will be bestowed in April 2016. Read more

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 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

November 21, 2024 1:26pm ET

Accepted to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via phone November 21, 2024

GMAT: 750

Program Type: One Year Program

Target Career: Technology

Application Location: India

Note:

Just got a call an hour back. Final letter of admission will be uploaded on the portal tomm. I have my interview on 31st Oct.

November 21, 2024 12:58pm ET

Accepted to Cornell / Johnson

Round: Round 1

Received via phone November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.92

GRE: 327

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: Austin

November 21, 2024 12:41pm ET

Interview Invite to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.46

GRE: 328

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

Application Location: Washington D.C.

Note:

Round 1 Consortium Applicant

November 21, 2024 10:36am ET

Accepted to Cornell / Johnson

Round: Round 1

Received via phone November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.5

GMAT: 760

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: United States

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