Category Archives: Haas

UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is very popular among applicants. In fact, these days only Harvard and Stanford consistently have lower acceptance rates than Haas. The school’s “Confidence Without Attitude” mission is very appealing to recruiters, especially in the post-meltdown environment that has companies looking for ethics in their new MBA hires.

Are you thinking about applying to Haas? How do you know if the school really is a good fit for you? here are five reasons why UC Berkeley may be the perfect school for you to target for your MBA experience:

You are interested in green technology
Few other business schools offer any curriculum at all in the field of renewable energy or cleantech, and even fewer have demonstrated a commitment to leading these fields forward into the future.

You’re interested in the business of technology
Whether you want to develop software, or develop a software company, Haas is a great place to expand your expertise in the areas of product development and product management, the management of innovation, and bringing new technology ideas to market.

You might want to go into healthcare
Haas has great support for educating future leaders in healthcare. Berkeley is known for its joint MBA/MPH (Master’s in Public Health) program, and they offer a Graduate Program in Health Management as well. Haas is a natural fit for someone interested in tackling some of the biggest problems facing the world.

You’re a woman or a U.S. minority
As other top schools are doing, Haas is reaching out to women and to underrepresented ethnic groups, through programs and organizations such as the Forte Foundation and The Consortium. Haas hosts a Women’s Workshop and a Diversity Weekend in an effort to spread the word about its programs to these different groups. While Haas does not lower its standards for female or minority applicants, they do seem to be interested in improving the proportions of students in these categories and may give such candidates a closer look.

You have plans to start a nonprofit or social venture
One of the strongest business schools for nonprofit management has traditionally been Yale. Haas has similar strengths, with somewhat different emphasis on the innovation side. Someone considering an application to Yale for nonprofit might want to also consider Haas for similar reasons.

To stay on top on all of the latest news at Haas and other top-ranked business schools, be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business has released its MBA application essays and deadlines for the Class of 2014. Haas made some big changes to its essays (lots of short ones!) this year’s so let’s dig in. Here are the school’s application deadlines and essays, followed by our comments in italics:

Haas Admissions Deadlines
Round 1: October 12, 2011
Round 2: December 1, 2011
Round 3: January 18, 2012
Round 4: March 7, 2012

Haas Admissions Essays
Before you dive into the essays, be sure to read the passage on the Haas admissions website. Last year this was used as a prompt for one of the school’s short-answer essays. Now, all of the essays are built off of this statement of the school’s principles.

1. What brings you the greatest joy? How does this make you distinctive? (250 words)
   This question is new this year, although we consider it a distant cousin of last year’s question, which asked, “What are you most passionate about? Why?” We like this version better, perhaps because the old one reminded us too much of Stanford’s first essay question. Also, the choice of words — “What brings you the greatest JOY?” — makes this unique among business school essays. The key here is to write about something that you really, really care about. A good litmus test is this: How knowledgeable are you about the subject? Many applicants will be tempted to go bold and say something like “Fighting global warming is what I’m most passionate about,” because they feel like that’s just what one is supposed to say here, but then can’t back it up with facts. Admissions officers will see right through this, so avoid those temptations here.
   
   The latter half of this question — “How does this make you distinctive?” — is interesting because that’s almost the implied second half of every essay question that you’ll answer. We actually think that this may mislead some applicants because they’ll feel a need to choose a topic that based on “distinctiveness” rather than “joy.” We recommend at least starting with an emphasis on joy (What do you really, REALLY enjoy doing?), and then revisiting if it looks like you’re falling flat in the distinctiveness department.
2. What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 words)
   This question carries over from last year, although Haas subtly rephrased it this year. Ideally the story you choose will demonstrate at least one or two of the key themes in your application. All things being equal, a story from your professional life will serve you best, but don’t feel that your significant accomplishment MUST be from the workplace.
3. Describe a time when you questioned an established practice or thought within an organization. How did your actions create positive change? (250 words)
   This question is new this year. We like this a lot better than last year’s question that asked you to give “an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership.” This new question is far more specific, and gets closer to what MBA admissions officers really wan to see in applicants: a willingness to go beyond the norm, go outside of their comfort zone, and improve on the status quo (and don’t miss the fact that “question the status quo” is one of the school’s four key principles). Note the second part and its emphasis on “positive change”… this also gets to the heart of the matter. They don’t want to just see that you question everything all the time, but rather than you do it when there’s an opportunity to make things better. How did you make a positive impact on the community or organization around you?
4. Describe a time when you were a student of your own failure. What specific insight from this experience has shaped your development? (250 words)
   This question is also new this year. Continuing a trend, notice how Haas uses the second part to specifically call out what the admissions committee looks for in your response. As we always advise with “failure” questions, this is the real meat of the essay — illustrating what you learned and, ideally, describing a later time when you put that lesson to work. These essays are all very short, so that last part may not make the final cut, but be sure to give enough emphasis to what you learned. In an essay this short, it’s easy to finish describing the failure and then realize you’ve already hit the word limit; you can’t afford to let that happen here.
5. Describe a time when you led by inspiring or motivating others toward a shared goal. (250 words)
   This is another new question that is descended from last year’s “an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership” question. Haas clearly wants to dissect applicants’ leadership abilities at a much more granular level than it has in the past. Here, what the admissions committee wants to see is an ability to get things done through others, rather than a tendency to be a great contributor but not necessarily a leader. Other, similar questions from other schools as you to “win others over to your way of thinking.” While that’s not exactly what Haas asks here, think about this question that way if you’re having a hard time coming up with a story from your past experiences.
6. a. What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How have your professional experiences prepared you to achieve these goals? b. How will an MBA from Haas help you achieve these goals? (1000 words for 6a. and 6b.)
   This question is an evolution of a similar one from last year. Once again, we find it interesting how Haas so specifically calls out what it wants to see in your response. This question is essentially the typical “Why an MBA? Why this school?” essay that most schools ask, although Haas makes an effort to explicitly call out parts a and b, which suggests that past applicants haven’t sufficiently answered both parts — especially the “Why Haas?” part. Ask yourself these questions: Where do you see yourself in a few years (and beyond that), and why do you need an MBA to get there? Specifically, why do you need a Haas MBA to get there? Why not another top-ten MBA program? Really force yourself to answer that question, even if not all of your answer makes its way into your final essay response!

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The Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley draws applicants from all over the world. Given the school’s intimate learning environment and strong ties to Silicon Valley, it’s no surprise that so many applicants apply to Haas every year. What does surprise us, though, is that so few of those applicants really know the school beyond its obvious strengths. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they start crafting their Haas applications.

If you’re considering applying to Haas, ask yourself: How do you know if Haas really is a good fit for you? And, perhaps more importantly, how do you know if the Haas admissions committee will decide that you’re a good fit for the school? Today we look at five things that we think really set Haas apart from other top business schools:

The Haas Culture
Regular reader of our blog know how much we like Haas’s culture. How that culture translates for students is in extensive collaboration inside and outside of the classroom. Teamwork is the cornerstone of the Haas experience. Small groups are formed in practically all classes, allowing students to exercise different team roles based on their interests and areas of expertise. Versatility is often a prized attribute of Haas students in the eyes of employers, and is one reason why the school places graduates into such a broad range of industries and functions.

Technology
One thing that really stands out about Haas is its focus on technology and the school’s ability to place students into the tech industry. Haas sends over 25% of each graduating class into the tech sector, which is high compared to other top tech programs like MIT and Stanford but about the same in absolute number of placements. This is of course enabled by the school’s proximity to Silicon Valley as well as the wealth of resources available on the larger Berkeley campus, particularly in the engineering school. Haas offers a distinctive Management of Technology certificate (open not just to business and engineering students but other UC Berkeley grad students as well, such as those in Environmental Design). The Haas Technology Club is one of the largest and most active student groups on campus. The Haas School even has a CIO (Chief Information Officer) featured on the Leadership page of its website.

Innovation
The Haas tagline for some time has been Leading through Innovation, and the Innovative Leader is now a hallmark of the school’s marketing message. The school combines theoretical and experiential learning opportunities to develop confidence and judgment for real-life situations. Industry thought leader Henry Chesbrough is a professor at Haas, and a deep set of electives in open innovation, product development, and design are natural complements to the strong entrepreneurship support expected from a top business school.

Social Entrepreneurship
Haas prides itself on being the preeminent institution for research, teaching, experiential learning, and community outreach in areas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Woven into the core curriculum, Haas offers more than a dozen different programs and initiatives around social responsibility and business sustainability. Nonprofit management is also a focus here. With the University’s radical history and the very liberal government and policies in the surrounding City of Berkeley, it is to be expected that many are attracted to Haas because of an interest in changing the world. This is a positive quality that can be nurtured through the ecosystem of the Haas School, including the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership and a specialized curriculum, plus a range of social venture courses.

Global Reach
While most top business school talk about having a “global perspective,” Haas is one of the few that combines its international focus with its emphasis on experiential learning. The International Business Development program places about 150 students a year in all corners of the globe for three-week consulting projects. This program allows students to confront and solve business challenges in unknown business settings, forcing them to apply innovative thinking and problem solving skills while developing a global business mindset. While the MBA itself is sometimes seen as a little regional — most graduates stay on the West Coast after finishing the program — Haas has an expanding network of connections in the business and academic communities around the world and 31% of full-time MBA students come from overseas.

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