Admissions Success Stories

Thanks for updates mayo,
I can see where the thread's heading
all the best for waiting...

mayonnai5e wrote:Background Info...
School:
University of California, San Diego - Class of 1999
Graduated Magna Cum Laude (top 4%) with a BS in Computer Science
GPA 3.81

What do you mean by class of 1999? did you mean you graduated in 1999 or you got in course in 1999 & graduated after4/5 years?
& what''s your age?

Entered 1999 graduated 2003. That's actually a mistake I meant to write class of 2003 - fixed now.

I went up to Pasadena yesterday to meet with some Haas first year students for a "coffee chat" session and it was a great experience. It was really nice seeing how down to earth and easy to talk to the Haas students were. I had gone to a UCLA coffee chat session a few weeks earlier and thought Haas would be similar, but the vibe was different. Anderson was a bit more formal and more intent on distilling the benefits of their program while the Haas students talked about anything and everything, including their own personal histories and interests, etc. I think UCLA was a bit more intent on selling their program whereas Berkeley didn't feel it was necessary (with good reason of course).

An important factor of my education is a collaborative environment and the students from both schools extolled how each had such an environment. What I found significant was that Haas asks its students whether they want grade disclosure for the class or not and without fail, the Haas students vote no. The idea is that without the pressure of grades, students are even more willing to help others and work together. Of course, you could also argue that without grades everyone will be less motivated to work hard, but I'm not going to argue these points here. Anderson, on the other hand, has a bell curve. My point here is not that one school is better than the other, but that it's really important to figure out what you want in your education and really dig into the school cultures to figure out fit. Competitive vs collaborative - which is it for you?

hi mayo!

i had a quick question about translating the letters of rec.
i too have a non-english speaking recommender i wanted to utilize (my supervisor is a dispatcher from foreign country) and i've noticed all the schools i'm applying to are requesting recommenders to submit their letters/eval via electronically. how did u get the translated versions submitted to schools? and are the translated copies need to be documented in a certain way?

thanks in advance!

jkang wrote:hi mayo!

i had a quick question about translating the letters of rec.
i too have a non-english speaking recommender i wanted to utilize (my supervisor is a dispatcher from foreign country) and i've noticed all the schools i'm applying to are requesting recommenders to submit their letters/eval via electronically. how did u get the translated versions submitted to schools? and are the translated copies need to be documented in a certain way?

thanks in advance!

You have to ask the schools admissions office directly or look at their FAQ section - most schools I applied to had an answer there. 3 of the 4 schools required translated documents sent in via regular post accompanied by the original letter while LBS actually required the recommender to copy/paste the translated recommendation into the electronic recommendation system.

Also, there were certain steps that were very difficult to manage. UCLA and Haas both wanted the signatures of the recommenders on the seal of the envelope, which made it difficult logistically speaking. Columbia required notarization of the translation so my translator had to do that for me.

It added a lot more complexity and time constraints on the process. Getting the letters written, sent to me, translated by the translator, sent back to the recommender to print and place in an envelope, sign across the seal, then go to FedEx to send out from France in time to land in the admissions office before the deadline - this was not a 2 day process.

thanks for your prompt reply!
sounds like a pretty intense process that i need to follow...but it is something i must do...i contacted the admission offices for the schools and waiting to hear from them.

Well Super Saturday for Haas is this weekend and I didn't get an invite to interview so my prospects do not look good seeing as how the announcements come January 28 for round 1. According to the dean's blog, interview invites go out up to the 28th - I suppose I have a few more days to get an invite for an off campus interview. In either case, come the 28th at least I'll know for certain if I got dinged ...unless I get waitlisted.

Mayo, man. This is breaking my heart. I really hope that you get that damn invite already!

Hi,

first congratulations on your admission in to UCLA!!!! AWESOME!




my target is to get into UCLA or USC.

UCLA deadline to take the GMAT exam is March 31st 2009.

I have roughly 2 1/2 months to take the GMAT.

my Target GMAT score is anything above 720.

the BIG question, what GMAT prep course should I take????

I am looking at Online LIVE courses and its all VERY confusing with their Advanced courses. I need to decide within the 48 hours.

Your help is HIGHLY appreciated!!!

I hear the MGMAT online course is quite good I hear, but you should do a search using the text box at the top right hand corner and look for other posts about this question - it has been asked several times in the past.

Hi mayonnai5e,
I'm going to write my GMAT in 2 weeks.

My question is, Do I need to ask my recommender's (2 of them) to write a recommendation letter for each school I apply? I'll definitely get a very good recco' from them. Also, Do I need to get one more recco from my professor to boost my application strength? I'll definitely get a very good recco from him since I'm a school senior.

How many recommendations do I need to submit to boost my application strength? Please let me know.

Thanks,
Umaa

umaa wrote:Hi mayonnai5e,
I'm going to write my GMAT in 2 weeks.

My question is, Do I need to ask my recommender's (2 of them) to write a recommendation letter for each school I apply? I'll definitely get a very good recco' from them. Also, Do I need to get one more recco from my professor to boost my application strength? I'll definitely get a very good recco from him since I'm a school senior.

How many recommendations do I need to submit to boost my application strength? Please let me know.

Thanks,
Umaa

Are you applying directly out of undergrad? Most schools require 2 recommenders and no more (they won't accept 3 or more) and yes each recommender will have to write a new letter for each school. Each school has a specific format and specific questions that need to be answered. In general, most schools I applied to did not recommend having professors write the recs - supervisors/bosses/managers are preferred.

The game continues....

"Dear Lee,

Your application for admission to the Berkeley MBA Program is being held for further consideration. While we find your strengths and accomplishments more impressive than the majority of our applicants, the highly competitive nature of our admission process is such that we are unable to offer admission to more than a small percentage of our applicants at this time.

We would like to continue your candidacy by offering you a place on the waitlist. As a waitlisted candidate, you are able to submit additional materials for your application, provided that these materials add new information."

No worries, plenty of people get in from the waitlist. Interesting that there was no interview.

this is killing ME

i can't imagine how you must feel