University of California, Berkeley: Haas

Consortium Deadlines

*Rolling basis beginning late February through March 14, 2013

ESSAYS

Required Essays

At Berkeley-Haas, our distinctive culture is defined by four key principles — Question the status quo; Confidence without attitude; Students always; and Beyond yourself. We seek candidates from a broad range of cultures, backgrounds, and industries who demonstrate a strong cultural fit with our program and defining principles. Please use the following essays as an opportunity to reflect on and share with us the values, experiences, and accomplishments that have helped shape who you are.(Learn more about Berkeley-Haas' Defining Principles).

1. If you could choose one song that expresses who you are, what is it and why? (250 word maximum)

2. What is your most significant accomplishment? (250 word maximum)

3. Describe a time when you questioned an established practice or thought within an organization. How did your actions create positive change? (250 word maximum)

4. Describe a time when you were a student of your own failure. What specific insight from this experience has shaped your development? (250 word maximum)

5. a. What are your post-MBA short-term and long-term career goals? How have your professional experiences prepared you to achieve these goals?

6. b. How will an MBA from Haas help you achieve these goals? (750 word maximum for 5a. and 5b.)

Supplementary Questions

1. If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain; otherwise, enter N/A.

2. List in order of importance all community and professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, size of the organization, dates of involvement, offices held, and average number of hours spent per month.

3. List full-time and part-time jobs held during undergraduate or graduate studies, indicating the employer, job title, employment dates, location, and the number of hours worked per week for each position held prior to the completion of your degree.

4. Please explain all gaps in your employment since earning your university degree.

5. If you have ever been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation, suspended, or required to withdraw from any college or university, please explain. If not, please enter N/A. (An affirmative response to this question does not automatically disqualify you from admission.)

Optional Essays

1. (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven't addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)

2. (Optional) If not clearly evident, please discuss ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities, or plan to strengthen quantitative abilities. You do not need to list courses that appear on your transcript. (250 word maximum)

RECOMMENDATIONS

(Word limit not specified)

1. Please describe your relationship to the applicant. Are you, or have you been, the applicant’s direct supervisor? If not, what is the nature of your relationship? How long have you known the applicant and how frequent is/was your interaction with him/her?

2. How does the applicant's performance compare with that of his or her peers?

3. Describe how the applicant builds and maintains relationships in your organization.

4. What are the applicant's three greatest strengths? Cite specific examples.

5. What are the applicant's three greatest weaknesses or areas in need of improvement? Cite specific examples

6. In the Berkeley MBA program, we develop leaders who embody our distinctive culture’s four key principles [www.haas.berkeley.edu/strategicplan/culture] one of which is “confidence without attitude” or “confidence with humility”. Please comment on how the applicant reflects this Berkeley-Haas value.

7. What positive impact has the applicant made on your organization?

8. Please comment on the applicant’s ability to overcome a challenge.

RE-APPLICANTS

If you have submitted an application to the program within the past two years, but were not admitted or did not register, you are required to complete and submit the following portions of the online application:

• Test scores

• Employment section, including current resume

• Education section

• New essay questions: 1, 3, 4, and 5

• Applicant acknowledgement

• Application fee

• Transcript for any new coursework completed since your prior application

• Assuming that an application was complete at the time of submission, you will need to answer additional supplemental questions designated in the instructions.

• For fall 2013, you must submit new test scores if your test was taken before June 1, 2011 (TOEFL) or October 1, 2007 (GMAT).

Updating any other application materials is optional, although the Admissions Committee does note the effort that candidates put into their reapplication.

We strongly recommend that you submit a statement outlining how you have improved your candidacy since your last application, as the Admissions Committee will be looking for substantive change in your qualifications. You can use the optional essay question to provide this information. In addition, you are encouraged to submit one or two new letters of recommendation.

If you have taken the GMAT and TOEFL again, ask the Educational Testing Service to forward the new official scores to the Haas School and note your new score on the Test Score section of the application.

OTHER INFORMATION

Address:

MBA Program

Haas School of Business

430 Student Services Building

Berkeley, CA 94720-1902

Telephone: (510) 642-1405

Web site: http://www.haas.berkeley.edu

Electronic application: https://ssl.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions/application/

Last updated: July 17, 2012