The Berkeley MBA – Online Admissions Chat
October 1, 2008
Chat with Current Haas MBA Students
Alvin Chan , MBA Class of 2009
Ashley Wang, MBA Class of 2009
Shobha Kazinka, Moderator
Shobha_Moderator
Welcome to the Berkeley MBA Student Chat. My name is Shobha and I will be moderating the chat today. I would like to introduce Ashley Wang, a 2nd year MBA student, and Alvin Chan, a 2nd year MBA student. Please send us your questions
Ashley MBA09
Hi everyone, my name is Ashley Wang. Originally from Taiwan, I came to the States when I was 20 and enrolled Boston University, where I studied Finance and Accounting. After I graduated, I moved to New York and worked for JP Morgan Chase for about 4 years, moving from a corporate finance role to a risk management role within the North American interest rate market. I decided to go to business school to broaden my perspectives on my long term career. I also knew I wanted to move to the West Coast to get a well-rounded American experience. This past summer, I worked for Amazon.com as a senior financial analyst. Welcome everyone.
Alvin MBA09
Hi! Thanks for your interest in Haas! My name is Alvin, and I am a 2nd year MBA Student. Prior to coming to Haas, I spent 5 years in consulting focusing in the real estate and hospitality industries. I was drawn to Haas because of its strong entrepreneurship and real estate programs. This summer, I worked at a private equity company called Beacon Capital, which is based in Boston and invests in commercial office properties. At Haas, I am also involved in a number of conferences, competitions and clubs.
Inga
How much time is available for you to participate in extracurricular activities that are non-academic?
Ashley MBA09
I would say I spent roughly 50-60% of the time with academics activities, and the rest with club activities, social events, and also job search.
Ying
Hi Alvin and Ashley. Which part of the program do you enjoy most? Which part is most useful for you?
Ashley MBA09
I think the conferences and club activities I'm involved in are most enjoyable to me. I helped organize last year's Asian Business Conference and Woman In Leadership conference, where I had the chance to speak with many outstanding business executives and invite them to participate. I learned a lot about event planning and interpersonal skills. Haas is such a student-driven school, I really found that organizing conferences and events helps me a lot beyond my academic knowledge.
disa2
Alvin & Ashley, why did you choose Haas? Did it meet your expectations? What aspect of the Haas program do you like best?
Ashley MBA09
The people I met through the application process. The combination of the current students, other applicants I met through events like Days at Haas, the faculty, and the administration were all amazing. Another reason was the intimacy of the class. I really felt like everyone at Haas, from the admissions committee to other students took the time to get to know me. Now that I've been here for a while, I can honestly say I know the vast majority of my class as well as most of the staff and faculty. It's something that is unique about our smaller class size. Finally, I felt like Haas attracted a wide diversity of students, those that are interested in things like Energy, CSR, non-profit as well as traditional finance, marketing and consulting. That kind of diversity was very important to me.
Alvin MBA09
Haas has far exceeded my expectations and has truly been a phenomenal experience. Specifically, the people that I am with here, including the students, faculty and administration, are the exact people that I would want to spend these two years with. They create a culture characterized by collaboration, diversity, intellect and fun!
vietzombie
Hi. Thank you for organizing this chat. Are there many Vietnamese students at Haas/UC Berkeley? Is there a karate club?
Ashley MBA09
In our class, we have 2 native Vietnamese students. I don't believe we have karate club at Haas, but Berkeley does. I do see people going to practice at the school gym a lot. Students at Haas really try to utilize the resources at the larger Berkeley campus.
neetu
I want to develop my entrepreneurial skills. What is the best way to check out what berkley has to offer for future entrepreneurs?
Ashley MBA09
You can go to our website and look up the Lester Center, where they have a startup incubator program that focuses on helping students get their business plan ready and even for funding. They invite venture capitalists to chat with students a lot, and that's the time when you can get a sense of what the real-life entrepreneur life is like. Our entrepreneur club here is very active, too. Many students are involved and will be starting their business before graduation.
Inga
How would you describe your typical day? How are the classes structured? Is it just straight information from a book or is there a more hands-on learning method?
Ashley MBA09
The class can be broken down to lectures, case studies, and project based teaching methods, depends on the nature of the class. My typical day at Haas for my first year is class from 9-11 (core class), and at noon there's usually a company presentation or events I can go to learn more about my summer internship opportunity. Then I will go to my afternoon class. After 4, I usually spend a few hours meeting with my study group trying to work on the homework or the exams coming up. This is a typical weekday for me
BenC
Hello Ashley, can you describe some of your hands-on project experience in either consulting or the social venture competition?
Ashley MBA09
I just recently organized a Haas consulting club firm night where we invited 25 top consulting firms to campus and spoke to students that are interested in consulting. I also am an entrant chair for GSVC where I was in close interaction with all entrant teams that came from many parts of the world. I organized many workshops for them to familiarize them with the competition. It was an amazing experience meeting people from so many countries.
I am interested in the MBA/MPH dual degree, specifically the structure, benefits, and what types of jobs are available after graduation.
Alvin MBA09
Structurally, you spend your first year taking primarily MBA classes, your second year taking primarily public health classes, and your last semester taking a combination of both. The obvious benefit is that you get two masters degrees in only five semesters. The opportunity to do two internships is also extremely valuable because you can experience two very different jobs and discover which one suits you better. People with the dual degree typically work for either public health institutions (i.e. hospitals) or private companies in the health care industry (i.e. health care consulting, biotech, private equity). The major difference between the dual degree and the MPH is the business side of it. With an MBA, you really open a lot of doors for careers outside of public health. You can get the dual degree and still apply for jobs in finance, marketing, product management, real estate, etc. There are a lot of companies that value the MBA.
raool
Do you think having an international background is a plus as far as becoming part of the Berkeley program?
Ashley MBA09
I think having an international background is definitely a plus at Haas. Here we talk about diversity a lot, and students really appreciate the differences here. I really utilized my international background into my academic and non-academic life. I know there are a lot of things I can offer that domestic students can't, and my classmates really appreciate that.
Monique
How would you describe the culture at Haas? Are you able to get around easily without a car?
Ashley MBA09
One of the things that I think is so impressive about Haas is its strong culture of feedback. When and if you do have something you would like to see changed, we as students have lots of opportunities to provide feedback and that feedback is immediately acted on and changes are implemented.
I don't have a car. I do live 15 minutes walk to Haas. It's really not a must-have in Berkeley. People walk, bike, or take the bus to school. If you need to go somewhere farther, there's usually someone that has a car offering you a ride, I do not plan on buying a car before I graduate.
Alvin MBA09
More work experience is definitely looked upon favorably by admissions. While there is no minimum, it is strongly suggested that you have at least 2 years. Personally, I had 5 years of work experience prior to coming to Haas. This really gave me a great backdrop to everything I was learning and doing at Haas. It also allowed me to contribute more of my unique experiences and expertise in my field to the class.
Inga
What kinds of internships have you done so far?
Ashley MBA09
I worked for Amazon.com for the summer. I helped the new startup consumetable business with their profitability and financial modeling. It was fun because the culture there is just very unlike the investment bank I used to work for. I learned a lot about retail and e-commerce. And Seattle is just amazing in the summer
Kris Cuaresma-Primm
Ashley – I'm curious about your experience as a board fellow. What have you found most valuable about the program? What is the weekly time commitment? And since your bio says you love finding good sushi in Berkeley, have you found Kirala down on Shattuck?
Ashley MBA09
Of course I know Kirala!
As a board fellow, I am part of the office for letter and lights, a non-profit org that focused on creative writing for adults and school-age students. I had 3 board meetings with the team and several one-off meetings with the board of director. I found the experiences amazing because I never had non-profit experiences, and non-profit planning and board management are things I always wanted to learn and I know it will be very useful in the long term.
raool
Are there a lot of students at Haas who came from a tech background and did not necessarily have a lot of exposure to leadership/management pre-MBA?
Ashley MBA09
I believe there are many students that came from tech background but didn't have management experiences. That's what our curriculum is for. There are leadership communication and leadership classes that specifically coach us to become business leaders.
hrishika
Hi. Could you tell me a little more about International Business Development? What do you expect to learn from it, and how do you think you could apply it in your career post MBA?
Ashley MBA09
I went to Vietnam for IBD. Our team worked for Vietnam national university to develop their advanced business school program. I always wanted to learn more about developing countries and always had interest in education, so this is the perfect project for me. Having the experiences of writing a full-blown business plan is what I can really apply to my career years after I graduate.
Cristina
Hi guys, nice to meet y'all! If you had the chance to start fresh again in the MBA program at UCB what would you do differently and why?
Ashley MBA09
I would be even more open-minded than I was if I could do over the first year. Since I didn't have any tech background I was very intimidated to join our high tech or digital media clubs, but now I have learned more about it I wish I had joined the clubs earlier and ran some events with those amazing people!
Albert
Hi. Could you share something about the Haas experience that you didn't know before you attended, but were pleasantly surprised about after you arrived on campus?
Ashley MBA09
I probably would say about the collaboration is what surprised me the most. I know Haas is a very collaborative school, but the students here just blew me away. People would spend 7-8 hours creating a test prep sheet and send it to the entire class to study. I had an interview after my classmate and she told me everything I needed to know before I went in, even though we are shooting for the same job! This is part of why I feel so blessed to be at Haas.
NA
Is there more of a competitive spirit? Or do you find that people really support one another and collaborate?
Ashley MBA09
There are definitely competitive spirits at Haas, just look at the case competition/business plan competition we have won over the years. But I have to say among classmates, when it comes to school work and projects people really tried to help out as much as they could. I think we all knew that at the end of the day it's not getting an A or B that will make you successful, which I found very different from undergrad. People actually want to see you succeed here!
Inga
Is there a great deal of mentorship by the professors?
Ashley MBA09
There is a great deal of mentorship by the professors. All professors are very accessible. They usually have office hours before and after class, or by appointment. There are also a lot of students choosing to do independent studies where they would find professors to sponsor their research, and from what I have heard, they are extremely helpful and attentive. They are very different from the professors you knew that would spend his/her majority of time doing research and publishing papers. They are here to teach, and they do a great job.
Kris Cuaresma-Primm
Alvin – You have an impressive track record in real estate. Can you describe how Haas can help students gain insights into the future of the green building? Also, could attaining USGBC certification be worked into any of Haas' elective or independent study programs? Finally, are you going to make it to the game on Sunday to watch your boys retire Steve Young's jersey?
Alvin MBA09
Haas has a really phenomenal real estate program. We work very closely with the Fisher Center and the architecture school to be on the forefront of all new trends in real estate, including green building. We also participate in a green building speaker series conducted by the USGBC. There is definitely the opportunity to take independent study courses that could include getting LEED certified. A number of students are actually doing that later this semester. And finally, I will be attending the 49ers game this Sunday. Looking forward to beating the Pats and celebrating #8!
Ashley MBA09
I think most of the professors here are not to miss! I have a competitive strategy class this semester taught by Paul Tiffany, and he is just such a great teacher that has all you need to know about business competive strategy down. He is also very approachable, despite the fact that he worked with so many Fortune 500 companies in reviving their strategy and business planning.
Angela
Hi, not sure if you covered this yet, but what sorts of clubs have you guys participated in? What has been your favorite? And have you done any related to health care?
Alvin MBA09
I participate in the real estate club, basketball club, soccer club, net impact, and Haas for students. I have not done much related to health care, but a lot of my close friends here are really active in the health care program and are doing various extracurricular events related to that industry. The most notable is probably the Health Care Conference, which is held in the Spring right here at Haas.
Gavin McClintock
What other MBA programs were you choosing between and what attributes of Haas persuaded you it was the right choice for you?
Alvin MBA09
I was deciding between Wharton and Haas. While Haas had both strong real estate and entrepreneurship programs, I ultimately chose Haas because I really loved the people I met here when I visited the campus and started to learn more about the culture, environment and student life.
Alvin MBA09
There is definitely a lot of interaction with the venture capital community given the presence of the Lester Center and our proximity to Silicon Valley and a number of VC companies. VCs participate very actively in a number of business plan competitions that are held here at Haas. One competition actually flips the roles and the students act as VCs and evaluate different business plans that are presented to them. VCs are also mentors to a lot of students that want to start their own companies. Based on this, you will have plenty of time to network with VCs if you want to work at a VC company or if you want the company to look at your business plan.
Albert
How do manage to balance the job search process with classwork and clubs? Does Haas devote time in the semester for preparing you with resume tips, mock interviews, etc...? Thanks.
Ashley MBA09
Definitely. Our career center did a great job helping us put resumes and cover letters together. It is tough to balance out the job search and school work. What I did is go to as many company presentations as possible, especially the ones I am interested in working for. I tried to find alum to speak to about working there, and the rest is just making sure you have an impressive resume and interview skills. Our career center is definitely on top of making sure you develop all that before you meet the companies for interviews.
Gavin McClintock
Alvin - did you work with Peter Heinemann at the Post Ranch Inn? I worked with Peter on a bid for buying Ventanna back. How do you feel being a real estate/hospitality focused person gives you advantages or disadvantages at Haas? It seems like the school's location would lead it to be much more tech focused.
Alvin MBA09
I definitely worked with Peter and his team at Passport Resorts while I was with PKF Consulting. I also got to stay at the Post Ranch a number of times! The real estate program here at Haas is very active and Haas has a very strong brand in real estate. While some assume that we are tech focused given our location and there are definitely a lot of tech opportunities here, one of the things I love about Haas is the diversity in student career interests. We have people that are going into finance, consulting, health care, marketing, real estate, non-profit and technology. Having a real estate background has definitely given me an advantage when it comes to recruiting, since a lot of real estate companies really value professionals that know the hospitality industry.
Alvin MBA09
Approximately 80 percent of students have some form of financial aid whether it be in the form of scholarships, grants, or loans. There are a lot of resources available to students who have the need for it. Additionally, a lot of students become teaching assistants (we call them GSIs) because you receive a fairly significant tuition remission.
Shobha_Moderator
Hi all! Thank you for joining us. The chat is wrapping up and shutting down. We appreciate your questions and we apologize if we didn't get to all of them. Please check back on our website for information on future chat dates. Go Bears!
