Berkeley Haas is the second oldest business school in the United States. It is the only business school founded by a woman. Ranked #7 by the Economist and #12 by the Financial Times in their Global MBA Ranking 2020, Berkeley Haas MBA program is among the prominent MBA programs. Its Motto of ‘New thinking for the new economy’ stands true in its MBA curriculum.
The Haas School of Business has more than 40,000 alumni across 81 countries in the world. Some of the well-known alumni include Arun Sarin (Former CEO of Vodafone), Barbara Desoer (Former CEO of Citibank), Ryan Murphy (Olympic Gold Medalist in Swimming), Cathie Lesjak (CFO of Hewlett-Packard) and many such industry leaders around the world. The school also celebrates diversity in the class. A total of 283 students from 38 countries got enrolled in the Berkeley Haas MBA Program in 2019, out of which 37% are women candidates, & 29% are US minorities. Let’s get to know more information about the Berkeley Haas MBA program in the following article:
The Berkeley Haas MBA curriculum is very rigorous. The main goal of the program curriculum is to develop you into a leader who will make a significant impact in the world. There are a total of 12 required core courses, and several electives are offered each semester. Students have the liberty to tailor their MBA program according to their future career goals. There are various Areas of Emphasis which students can choose to achieve their specific career goals. Area of Emphasis includes Finance, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Health Management, Technology, Strategy/Consulting among others.
Other than these, students are required to take at least one applied innovation courses as a part of the Experiential Learning Initiative. Some of the Applied Innovation Courses are International Business Development, Clean Technology, Socially Responsible Investment, & Haas@work.
The international exchange program is yet another highlight of the MBA curriculum. Students participate in a semester-long exchange program with Berkeley Haas partner schools like Columbia Business School, London Business School, HEC Paris, HongKong University of Science & Technology.
Eligibility
- Bachelors in any discipline
There’s no minimum cutoff for your class 12th or graduation results. However, the school suggests that a GPA of 3 or more will be better for your application. According to the class profile of 2021, the average undergraduate GPA of the batch is 3.67. Other than this, the applicants are required to have a degree & a minimum of 16 years of schooling with at least 12 years at the primary and secondary levels.
- Work Experience
The school looks for good professional experience in the applicant. Candidates are required to have two years or more of work experience. The average work experience of the class of 2021 is 5.3 years, with a range (middle 80%) of 3.6-8.2 years.
- Exams
To apply for the Berkeley Haas MBA program, students are required to have a valid GMAT or GRE score. There’s no minimum cutoff mentioned by the school, but they are interested in the performance of your Quantitative section to see your Quantitative Proficiency. The average GMAT score of the class profile generally stands between 720-730, and the average GRE score is around 165 in both Quants & Verbal every year.
Other than the GMAT & GRE, international students are also required to take the English Proficiency Tests. While TOEFL is preferred, the school also accepts the IELTS score. For the TOEFL, the applicant should have a score of at least 90 (for Internet-based test), 230 (for Computer-based test) or 570 (for paper & pencil-based test). And for the IELTS, a score of at least 7 on a 9-point scale.
Enrolling in the Berkeley Haas MBA program is a healthy investment. According to the statistics, the graduates get a 104% average salary increase by 3-years of passing out of school. The tuition fees for one year is $64,246 (for the California Residents) and $68,444 for other students. Students can apply for the California Residency by their second year of graduate school. It can save them around $4,000.
Along with the Tuition fee, there are several other expenses like Housing & Food ($25,658); Books & Supplies ($634); Transportation ($3,186); Health insurance ($5,682); & Personal Expenses ($2,744). Students are also required to pay a one-time Document Management Fee of $92. The above budget, however, doesn’t include cost for students’ activities as they are not mandatory. It roughly amounts to $25,000 during your 21 months full-time MBA program.
Scholarships
There are various scholarships provided by the Berkeley Haas Business School for its MBA students. The awards are based on several things, including the applicant’s financial needs, academic excellence, leadership skills, & career-goals. Berkeley MBA grant is a need-based scholarship granted to applicants seeking financial assistance. Also, there are several Merit-based awards like Berkeley Haas Scholarship, Galloway MBA Fellowship, Brian Maxwell Fellowship, C&J White Fellowship.
Other than the above scholarships, there is some Center & Institute fellowship, including ‘Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership Fellowship’, which is a 2-year fellowship awarded to students demonstrating a commitment for diverse, equitable, & inclusive workplace; ‘Jacob Foundation Fellowship’, awarded to individuals pursuing a career in Social Impact, & ‘Center for Responsible Business Fellowship’, provided to students who are committed for responsible & sustainable businesses.
Reportedly, 92.9% of the class received a job offer within 3-months of Graduation. Out of which nearly 91.2% of the students accepted the offer. The median-base annual salary received by the class was $140,000, along with an average signing bonus of $29,141. Nearly 76% of the students seeking employment received the signing bonus, and 46% of them were offered a stock option in the company.
Top 3 industry who hired most of the students were:
Technology (32.9%)
Consulting (25.1%)
Financial services (15%)
The top 4 functions majority of the students chose for their job profile were:
Consulting 27.1%
Marketing 15.5%
Business Development/Strategy 15%
Finance 15%
Major Berkeley Haas MBA employers for the year 2019 were:
McKinsey & Company
Bain & Company
The Boston Consulting Group
Adobe
Amazon
Tesla
Deloitte
PwC
EY Parthenon
How to apply
With one of the smallest class sizes of fewer than 300 students every year, getting into the Berkeley Haas MBA program is a difficult task. Following we list everything you need to know before applying for the Berkeley Haas MBA.
- Online Application
Including
Academic Transcripts
Resume
GMAT/GRE score
2 Essays
2 LORs
English Proficiency Tests
Application Fee of $200
- Interview
Post your application submission, you might receive an interview invite from the admissions committee. Your interview might be on-campus or off-campus. The school follows a tradition where only the alumni conduct the interviews. However, if you interview on-campus, there’s a high chance that a second-year student will do your screening. Hass Interview follows the blind approach, where the interviewer only has access to your CV, and not your entire application. The interview generally lasts for 45-60 minutes.
After that, the interviewer prepares & submits the interview feedback form to the admissions committee, where they further decide your outcome. Please note, in some cases, when the school is unable to find enough interviewers in your area, you might be notified of a Skype interview instead.
To apply for the Berkeley Haas MBA program, applicants are required to submit two mandatory essays. They are:
- Essay 01: What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why?
- Essay 02: The definition of successful Leadership has evolved over the last decade and will continue to change. What do you need to develop to become a successful leader?
The word limit for both the essays is 300 words. Always remember that there’s no correct answer for any essays. The essay should be about you, your life, your achievements, your career goals, & all your learnings to date. Other than the two mandatory essays above, there’s also an optional essay where the school asks about some personal details like the occupation of your parents, the education history of your parents, primary language spoken in your childhood home, etc.
The school also gives the applicants a chance to express anything which they feel is not clear in the application. Given the small class size, the Berkeley Haas MBA program is one of the most competitive & selective programs. The school looks for four key principles within a student, which are Questioning the Status Quo, Confidence without Attitude, Student Always, Beyond Yourself.
So if you think you have what it takes to get enrolled in this institution, go for it.
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