Ask a Haas Student

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beatthegmat: Site Admin; Posts: 6778; Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 amFollowed by: 994 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 1249 times

by beatthegmat » Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:28 am

Want to talk to a Haas student about the Haas student experience? Ask here!

We're lucky to have four Haas representatives fielding your questions:

Bernie Lin, 2nd Year
Bhavin Parikh, 2nd Year
Hansoo Lee, 2nd Year
Pejman Pour-Moezzi, 2nd Year

Please note that this isn't a discussion thread (or forum) for application advice. It's meant for talking about life inside the Haas program.

A big thanks to our Haas volunteers!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — MBA Student Life | Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:28 am

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beatthegmat: Site Admin; Posts: 6778; Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 amFollowed by: 994 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 1249 times

by beatthegmat » Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:16 pm

Thought that I would throw out a question just to seed this thread:

All four of you guys are 2nd years at Haas. What has been the highlight of your Haas MBA experience so far?

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hansoo: Official Company Rep; Posts: 37; Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:04 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Location: Berkeley, CA; Thanked: 2 times; GMAT Score:760

by hansoo » Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:49 pm

Hello everybody! Thanks for having me here on the Ask a Haas Student forum. I'm excited to be here!

In true b-school fashion, I'll answer your question in bullet point form:

-I've sat in on partner meetings at some of the top venture capital firms and was a fly on the wall of a Series A financing.
-I've had in-depth conversations (e.g. dinner, drinks, or one-on-one meetings) with many great entrepreneurs and, in the process, have gotten up close and personal accounts of how these entrepreneurs have built their companies.
-I traveled with classmates to Patagonia, where we hiked a glacier, went whitewater rafting, and ate as much gelato as we possibly could.

My top two goals at Haas were to start a company and make lifelong friends. The experiences above, as well as many others, came about because I'm a student at Haas.

I look forward to hearing from the BTG community!

Hansoo Lee
Magoosh - GMAT Prep

MBA Student, Haas

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beatthegmat: Site Admin; Posts: 6778; Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 amFollowed by: 994 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 1249 times

by beatthegmat » Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:18 pm

Those are three really awesome experiences. Thanks for sharing!

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Harishkv25: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:05 am; Location: Bellevue, WA

by Harishkv25 » Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:44 pm

Hello to the four of you !

I am looking to apply to Haas in the 2nd round, for the EW program. I would like to know your experiences during the application process -- what was your most intimidating step or steps in the complete process ?

I am writing my GMAT in the next couple of weeks and working on my essays, as we speak. For me the most exciting part of going to Haas, would be to work in the realm of Venture Capital/startups!

Thanks,
Harish

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hansoo: Official Company Rep; Posts: 37; Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:04 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Location: Berkeley, CA; Thanked: 2 times; GMAT Score:760

by hansoo » Sat Nov 28, 2009 6:57 pm

Hi Harish - I'd say that essay writing was the most time consuming part of the process. I've just written an article that I hope is helpful.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/11/28/application-essay-post-mortem-by-a-current-haas-student

Best of luck with the process!

Hansoo Lee
Magoosh - GMAT Prep

MBA Student, Haas

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s1ngular1ty: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 10; Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:11 pm

by s1ngular1ty » Sun Nov 29, 2009 6:10 am

Hello to all of you! This is a great initiative..

I am looking at applying to Haas but my GMAT of 680 is a concern. There is an image here that most Haas students are focused on tech entrepreneurship and have a tech background. So i wanted to know about the diversity in the Haas class. I am from a small town in India with family business background. Are there students from such a background?

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Bhavin@Magoosh: Official Company Rep; Posts: 15; Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:00 pmFollowed by: 13 members; Location: Berkeley, CA; Thanked: 2 times; GMAT Score:750

by Bhavin@Magoosh » Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:23 am

While Haas does have a number of students interested in tech, the program has equally many (if not more) that do not have a tech interest or background. During my first year at Haas, my assigned study group (of five students) had only one student with a tech interest or background (me!). The others were interested in consulting, energy, and finance. In addition, my study group had three international students and two women. Working with such a diverse group helped me gain a new perspective on many topics. I have met students from all over, many of whom have plans to return to their home country in a business other than technology. So in short: Yes, there are students from a similar background to yours.

Feel free to check out the Haas student clubs website to learn more about the interests of Haas students. These clubs are all student-run, and provide a way for students to meet like-minded individuals, share ideas, and build camaraderie. https://www.haas.berkeley.edu/MBA/student/

Thanks for the question and keep them coming!

Bhavin Parikh
Magoosh Test Prep
Haas MBA 2010

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Bernie@Haas: MBA Student; Posts: 10; Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:57 pm; Location: Berkeley, CA

by Bernie@Haas » Wed Dec 09, 2009 1:28 am

Winter Break Coffee Chats "Pack Your Haas" is back!

We're at 30 different cities all over the world, so sign up and come meet current student(s) and learn more about Haas, right at your home turf!

https://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions ... dates.html

Personally I'll be at the December SF/LA chats, so if you're coming, please introduce yourself as from the BW forums.

Cheers!
Bernie

Bernie
MBA Student, Haas

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GMAT/MBA Expert

beatthegmat: Site Admin; Posts: 6778; Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 amFollowed by: 994 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 1249 times

by beatthegmat » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:44 pm

Thanks Bernie for sharing!

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money9111: Legendary Member; Posts: 2109; Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:25 pmFollowed by: 79 members; Location: New Jersey; Thanked: 109 times; GMAT Score:640

by money9111 » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:16 pm

As a Haas student do you have easy access to the major local companies out there? Out here on the east coast, a schools proximity to NYC or Boston is constantly spoken about. Is the same true out there? I'm currently in Digital Marketing, and well... California trumps all in that industry... so I'm curious.

Thank you!

My goal is to make MBA applicants take onus over their process.

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Bernie@Haas: MBA Student; Posts: 10; Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:57 pm; Location: Berkeley, CA

by Bernie@Haas » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:37 pm

money9111 wrote:As a Haas student do you have easy access to the major local companies out there? Out here on the east coast, a schools proximity to NYC or Boston is constantly spoken about. Is the same true out there? I'm currently in Digital Marketing, and well... California trumps all in that industry... so I'm curious.

Thank you!

Hi,

yes, pretty much ALL the local major companies recruit at Haas. Many (like Google, Yahoo, Adobe, Facebook, Del Monte, McKinsey, etc...) are top recruiters here for Haas. Even last year, when most companies reduced their recruiting, we still got a lot of off-campus postings where we interviewed on-site and got internships there.

Hope that answers your question,
Bernie

Bernie
MBA Student, Haas

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money9111: Legendary Member; Posts: 2109; Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:25 pmFollowed by: 79 members; Location: New Jersey; Thanked: 109 times; GMAT Score:640

by money9111 » Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:13 pm

Thank you for that... I'm beginning to think I'm on the wrong coast! Although we do have Google here.. but they just have on office w/ a couple floors in Chelsea...nothing like their Mountainside campus!

Thanks again

My goal is to make MBA applicants take onus over their process.

My story from Pre-MBA to Cornell MBA - New Post in Pre-MBA blog

Me featured on Poets & Quants

Free Book for MBA Applicants

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Osirus@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1578; Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 128 times; GMAT Score:760

by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:54 am

Would you happen to know, what the Master's in Financial engineering program is like?

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Bernie@Haas: MBA Student; Posts: 10; Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:57 pm; Location: Berkeley, CA

by Bernie@Haas » Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:36 pm

osirus0830 wrote:Would you happen to know, what the Master's in Financial engineering program is like?

Unfortunately that is something that I don't know much about. Might want to check with the MFE office at Haas.

Bernie
MBA Student, Haas

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