Full-time MBA Program
The Berkeley MBA – Online Admissions Chat
February 28, 2008
Chat with Current Haas MBA Students
Lissa Wilson , MBA Class of 2009
Jon Wiesner, MBA Class of 2009
Shobha_Moderator
Welcome to the Berkeley MBA chat. My name is Shobha and I will be moderating the chat today. I would like to introduce Lissa Wilson, 1st year MBA and Jon Wiesner, 1st year MBA. Please send us your questions!
Lissa MBA09
Hi Everyone! My name is Lissa Wilson. I am a first-year here at Haas, and I am a Haas Student Ambassador with the Admissions Office. Before coming to Berkeley I worked for a healthcare consulting firm in San Francisco and Atlanta, and I received a BA and MA from Stanford University. At Haas I am focusing on healthcare management and corporate social responsibility.
Jon MBA09
Hi Everyone! My name is Jon Wiesner and I am a first year in the full-time program and a Haas Student Ambassador. I am a Bay Area native and attended Emory University for my undergraduate studies. I lived and worked in Sydney, Australia and then for Bank of America in San Francisco prior to coming back to school. This summer I will be doing my internship in consulting here in San Francisco.
Ankur
What stands out to you as the best aspect of your Haas experience thus far?
Jon MBA09
The best aspect of Haas is by far my fellow students. The quality and the caliber of our classmates, is really amazing. It makes classroom discussions, group projects and extracurriculars really interesting. I also feel like I've made many lifelong friends.
Dave
Why did you choose Berkeley over another MBA program and what do you like most about your experience so far?
Lissa MBA09
I was deciding between a few different schools, primarily schools that had either good healthcare programs or good CSR programs. I ended up deciding on Haas because it has great programs in both! I have really enjoyed the people here at Haas. My classmates are all awesome, impressive, and supportive, and the faculty is outstanding and approachable.
JamieA
Hi John and Lissa, what has surprised you about your Berkeley MBA experience?
Lissa MBA09
You often hear that MBA programs are "collaborative." Coming to Haas I didn't actually realize the extent to which this would be true. People here are SO supportive of each other. There just isn't a vibe of competition at all, which is really great. That factors in both the classroom and in the recruiting process. People are always willing to lend a helping hand to their fellow classmates.
hoj
Your backgrounds are diverse and exceptional. This is very impressive to me. Can you guys share your typical day as a Haas MBA student?
Lissa MBA09
There really is no typical day! I love how every day has something new going on. I will give you a snapshot of my day, though... After this chat I am heading back home to finish up a research paper that I am writing for my India study trip course. Then I have a Net Impact Club leadership lunch. I will then prepare a case for my Operations class, which is at 4. This evening I'm heading into San Francisco where I'm staying for the next two nights for a "sell weekend" with a consulting firm.
Matt
Have you had a chance to use the network yet?
Lissa MBA09
There are a ton of opportunities to network here. The Alumni office sets up a lot of formal events for networking--they had a huge one last night in Silicon Valley. I personally haven't actively used the network (such as tapping into our alumni database to reach out to someone), but I feel like I am meeting alums all the time. They come to campus to give us mock interviews, for conferences, and to represent their firms in recruiting activities. The alums definitely look out for current students!
JT
Hi Jon and Lissa, if there was something at Haas that you could change to improve the student experience, what would it be?
Lissa MBA09
Honestly, I have been incredibly happy with my experience here. 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. For example, there was a leadership class in the fall that people didn't feel was as useful as possible. Students gave feedback and the faculty and administration are VERY attentive to making rapid and wide-reaching changes to the curriculum for that course.
Matt
What's the finance atmosphere like at Berkeley?
Jon MBA09
It's strong and getting stronger. Our class has made a concerted effort to strengthen the program. For example, we held the first ever Berkeley Finance Conference in the fall semester which was by all accounts a success. The Finance Club also led a career trek to NYC over winter break to facilitate networking. Two other quick points: our Career Services Account Manager in charge of Finance is actually based out of New York in order to better connect with Wall Street. Also, Berkeley has a top ranked Masters in Financial Engineering, and a lot of the faculty teaches in both programs.
Dave
Can you speak briefly about the classroom environment with respect to peers, teachers, and case studies?
Lissa MBA09
The classroom experience varies somewhat from class to class, since obviously faculty teaching styles vary. Haas leaves it up to the professors as to which teaching method to use--case vs. lecture vs. projects. For example, a marketing class will be primarily case-based, with a TON of class participation, debate etc, whereas a statistics course will be primarily lecture-based with some class interaction. Regardless of the class, students are very supportive of each other and not competitive here at Haas, which is a relief!
hoj
Jon, could you share with us your reasons of pursuing a MBA program at Haas? What makes you think Haas is the right MBA school for you?
Jon MBA09
There were three main reasons I chose Haas. 1. 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. It ties into my second reason, 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 awhile, I can honestly say I know the vast majority of my class and the second-year 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.
Angelica
How many of your classmates are from South America, and do their English skills have an impact on their performance?
Lissa MBA09
We have quite a few classmates from South America-- Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil were all represented in my cohort in the fall, I believe! Everyone at Haas has strong English skills, so that hasn't impacted their performance significantly.
erick
How would you compare your graduate workload to your undergraduate workload...more intense, less intense...?
Lissa MBA09
Hmmm... I would say it is about the same. My course-load wasn't extremely high as an undergrad. At Haas there is definitely a rigorous academic environment, but they also really allow and encourage us to save time for extracurricular involvement. In terms of "intensity", the student-initiated grade non-disclosure policy helps keep people from getting to intense and competitive about grades.
BigBear
Hi there. Are you seeing any signs of a slow down with respect to on-campus recruiting?
Lissa MBA09
Since I am a first year it is sort of hard to compare with prior years, but so far people seem to be getting offers through on-campus recruiting without too much trouble.... Let's hope it keeps up! I currently have 3 offers for summer internships.
BerkeleyBee
Hi Team, I would like learn about the kind of support HAAS students will receive for entrepreneurial projects.
Jon MBA09
There is a ton of support. To name just a few, there are a lot of course listings focused around entrepreneurship, and I recommend you take a look at our website. There is also a formal certificate offering in Entrepreneurship. The Lester Center also runs a number of programs, including the incubator and a VC "office hours." This is an opportunity to pitch your business plans to a live VC and get feedback on both your plan and your pitch.
hoj
What do you feel about the atmosphere at Haas in developing a career in management consulting?
Jon MBA09
Great question and it was particularly relevant for me. I was in financial services and am making a career transition to strategy or management consulting. I got a ton of support from the Career Services office in helping define my specific interests, research forms, refine my interview skills and resume, etc. In addition, fellow students, both second years who had interned last year and other first years interested in consulting where very helpful. We organized case interview practice, took career treks and did a lot of preparation and research together. It has been successful as I am deciding between offers from 2 different firms with a possible third upcoming.
Mohammad
Hello Lissa, Jon, I just had a campus visit a couple of weeks ago and I met you at the info session. I just wanted to know about your game plan for applying to Haas and the other schools, timeline, GMAT prep, school consideration ... anything that might help!
Lissa MBA09
Let's see... This involves a lot of personal decisions, but I can give you an idea of what I did. Choose schools where you like the program and the location, and if you have an opportunity, get a feel for the students and atmosphere by visiting campus. I took the GMAT a full year before I started applying, but not everyone has that much time. I didn't take a GMAT prep course, but I know there are a lot of good ones out there to take advantage of. I looked at schools in the Northeast and the Bay Area, and decided which ones to apply to based on their academic strengths and environment. I decided on Haas because the academic program fit my interests, I love the Bay Area, and I really liked all of the students I met here!
JT
How can I better prepare myself for the MBA program and experience?
Lissa MBA09
That depends on your personal situation... For example, people who aren't confident with quantitative coursework will occasionally take a statistics class before coming to Haas, whereas others won't feel the need to do any pre-MBA academic preparation. In terms of preparing for the application process, I would recommend just taking the time to reflect on what is important to you and what you want to get out of the program so that you end up at the right school and are really prepared to get the most out of it! Send another question if you would like more specific advice.
BigBear
The Bay Area has become a bit of a hot bed for alternative energy technology. Is there an active body of students looking to get into this field or alumni already in it?
Jon MBA09
There are a lot of students and alumni in that area. One thing about Haas to remember is it is integrated into the wider UC Berkeley campus. Literally, a lot of the cutting-edge research worldwide in Energy is being carried out here. You have the opportunity to take classes at other graduate schools and could find yourself in classes with PhD students that are defining new areas of research. The main energy club, Berkeley Energy Resources Collaborative, is a cross-school club, so we are invited to all the events, conferences, etc. throughout the whole school. In addition, Haas is in the process of adding an Energy certificate to our current 5 certificate offerings.
JT
Do many full-time MBA students live in Berkeley? If I decide I want to live in San Francisco and commute to school, how will that affect my experience?
Lissa MBA09
I think around 75% live in the East Bay ( Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, etc) and 25% in the City (that's what we call SF if you aren't from the area). A higher percentage of first years than 2nd years live around Berkeley, because there are so many events around campus during the first year that people want to take advantage of. I love SF, but decided to live in Berkeley because I don't like commuting! Some of my classmates commute and don't mind at all and are still very involved in campus life. I have been surprised by how much I like living in Berkeley though--and it is nice and easy to get into the City from here by driving or on BART.
Matt
What classes do you recommend to sit in on if we visit campus?
Jon MBA09
Some of it will depend on what is available when you come, but I personally think you should try and find one you may be interested in, but don't have a background in already (i.e. if you're an investment banker, maybe skip finance because it might be just like another day at work). The core classes are always good to sit in on because they are designed to be at a level that the majority of the people can function at. Some of the electives require pre-requisites so if you're not in that field some of the discussion may be more complex.
hoj
Regarding choosing a class to sit in during campus visit, do we need to sign up first before we go to sit in a class? Where can I get the class schedule?
Shobha_Moderator
Please visit http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/visitation.html for more information on class visits and a signup link.
JT
When you enter a well-known program like Haas, are you expected to be active in the clubs and social activities? What if you're not a type "A" personality?
Jon MBA09
I actually don't consider myself a type "A" personality, but I am still very involved. I think each student finds a way to contribute in their own way, depending on their areas of interest and where they think they can make an impact. Some will be very public, like starting a club or running for student government. Others will be very much behind the scenes. What is most important is what you are getting out of the program, so you should pick and choose the things you are involved in based on that.
Santiago
Is the student atmosphere collaborative and oriented to team work?
Lissa MBA09
Absolutely! We have a ton of opportunities for team work here at Haas. As I mentioned above the grade non-disclosure policy helps foster a very collaborative environment. For example, when we are coming up on an exam in a class like statistics, one student will spend hours preparing the "cheat sheet" that the professor allows us to bring into the exam. Instead of guarding that sheet and not letting anyone else use it, they will often email it out to the entire class! People just really aren't competitive here, which is awesome. When you first get to Haas, you are assigned to a 5-person study group. They try to make the study groups very diverse to allow for a supportive atmosphere where people can learn from each other's backgrounds. For example, my study group had me (an American with a social sciences background), a former McKinsey consultant from Mexico, a former derivatives trader from Canada, and an electrical engineer from India. I learned a lot about finances and some of the quantitative subjects from them, while I was able to help them out more with paper-writing and more "fuzzy" subjects. :) I think every class has some sort of team work component, so you have l
hoj
What coursework do you find important in Haas MBA to prepare for a career in management consulting?
Jon MBA09
There are a number of experiential classes that are great. I am taking International Business Development, where we will be completing a 3 week consulting project in Cambodia in May. There is a class called Social Sector Solutions where teams of Haas students work with McKinsey consultants and complete a project for local non-profit and public sector entities. Also, management consulting can lead you to working on projects in any function and any industry, so the broad based core curriculum is essential, especially for someone like me who had spent most of my career in one industry. For instance, my core operations class was an area I had never worked in and will be essential for my future consulting career.
SteveJ
How competitive do you think I am: UG GPA: 3.81, MS: 4.0, PhD: 4.0, GMAT 670 (tanked the English part).
Lissa MBA09
Hi SteveJ, you can see the class statistics at the following website: http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/community_02.html. In general, however, the Admissions Team uses the GPA and GMAT to gauge academic potential, but it is only one piece of a much larger puzzle in determining admissions. They'll also look at your background, professional experience, essays, etc…. to get a complete picture of who you are as an applicant. My advice is to put your best effort into the essays so the Admissions committee learns a lot about your personality and accomplishments beyond the numbers!
avh531
Hi Lisa and Jon - Would you consider your program to be heavily quantitatively focused? If I have a weak quant. background (I was an advertising major), would I struggle with this program, and if so, how would you recommend I prepare? (i.e. taking statistics and accounting classes prior to the program, etc.)
Jon MBA09
If it helps I was an International Studies and Spanish Literature major, not very heavily quantitative areas of study. As with any business school, there is a quantitative aspect so you should try and prepare yourself for that. If you feel like additional coursework would help you then I recommend taking a course. Haas also offers a two week preparation course prior to your first semester affectionately known as Math Camp. It gives you a week of statistics and a week of finance and accounting, just to bring everyone up to speed. It was essential for me because it had been awhile since I had done equations, etc. I have also gotten a ton of support from my classmates, particularly my study group members who did have stronger quant. backgrounds. Either way, it hasn't been anything I felt I haven't been able to handle.
Jenny Tang
Hi, Lissa MBA09.Could you give me the experience and inspiration for a successful application?
Lissa MBA09
My best advice is to be yourself and spend a lot of time while preparing the essays really reflecting on who you are, what is important to you, and what you want to get out of the program. Once you have thought a lot about your personal answers to those questions, your essays should come pretty easily! It is helpful to do quite a bit of research on the schools that you are applying to so you really understand why each particular school fits for you. For Haas, I understood the strengths of the healthcare and CSR programs--my two main interest areas--so I made sure to talk about those programs in my application. Everyone's recipe for application success is different, but if you are genuine in your responses and have done your research, you'll be putting your best foot forward!
Jenny Tang
Hi, Jon MBA09.Could you give me the experience and inspiration for a successful application?
Jon MBA09
In terms of inspiration, I can honestly saying coming back to school and specifically to Haas has been one of the best decisions of my life. It has been an amazing experience and I have loved every minute of it. In terms of applying, the best advice I can give is take the time to evaluate what you want out of a school and do research on which programs would fit best with that. Take time on your application, essays, etc. so that you can tell your story well. The application should be a picture of what you've accomplished, what you want out of school, and where you want to go.
JT
If there is one thing that you would share with prospective students about the Haas MBA program, what would it be?
Lissa MBA09
I think the most important aspect of the program that I didn't fully appreciate until I got here was how amazing my classmates are and how collaborative and supportive the environment is. The MBA experience can be incredibly busy, hectic, and at times stressful (exams and interviews, for example!), but having classmates that aren't competitive and who are always up for having a good time makes the whole experience incredibly fun and rewarding!
BerkeleyBee
Hi Jon, Can you please elaborate on the faculty support for entrepreneurs? I am from an IT background and I'd like to learn Finance and marketing as well. Do I have the option to choose courses?
Jon MBA09
You certainly have the option to choose courses. You will have your core classes, but the way Haas is structured, we complete 8 of the 12 core courses in the first semester and we are already taking electives in the Spring (many of which are entrepreneurship-based). The faculty support is amazing. If you would like, send an email to the Haas Student Ambassadors (hsa@haas.berkeley.edu) with this question and we will connect you with one of our colleagues that is specifically pursuing entrepreneurship.
avh531
I'm not sure if either of you concentrate in marketing, but I'm curious to know what marketing opportunities you would consider unique to Berkeley.
Jon MBA09
I think the faculty we have in marketing is very well-known and are great teachers. The response to our faculty in this area has been tremendously positive. If you are interested in high-tech marketing, I think both the Haas program and the Bay Area in general really are world-class (you can't beat Silicon Valley). In addition, our students participate in a number of case competitions in that field. A team of Haas students just won the Elite Eight Marketing competition for the third year in a row, which not only got them the first prize award but everyone on the team came away with internship offers from the sponsor company.
Shobha_Moderator
Hi all! Thank you for joining us. The chat is now wrapping up. We appreciated your questions. Please check back on our website in a couple weeks for transcripts of today’s chat. Go Bears!
Lissa MBA09
Thanks for your questions, everyone! If you have more in upcoming days and weeks, feel free to email hsa@haas.berkeley.edu. Best of luck!
Jon MBA09
Thanks very much for all of your questions, this was fun. Please reach out to us if we can talk anymore about the program or the application process. Best of luck to you all!
