2009 Application Deadlines and Essays

Application Information

Fall 2009 Application Deadline & Decision Schedule

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Application Materials

The fall 2008 online application is now closed. The fall 2009 online application will be available in August.

Please note that we only accept online applications - paper applications are not available. Also, please do not print out your online application and mail it to us. Our application is intended for online submission only.

In order for an application to be considered for a particular round, it must be submitted online prior to midnight Pacific Standard Time the evening of the deadline. In addition, you must submit the following supplemental materials:

• Application fee
• Two professional letters of recommendation: Recommenders may submit letters of recommendation either by paper or electronically. You may download the PDF of the fall 2009 recommendation form here. (Requires Adobe reader.)
• Current resume (must be submitted online)
• One official transcript from every college/university/graduate institution you have attended since secondary/high school graduation regardless of length of study. Graduates of non-U.S. institutions must also provide one official degree certificate in the original language. English translations are required if the documents are not in English. They must arrive in a sealed envelope as issued by the school.
• Official GMAT(Graduate Management Admissions Test) Score Report (Institution Code N2VPT47): You can obtain detailed information about the GMAT by visiting http://www.gmac.com.
• Official TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Score Report, if applicable
                                              (Institution code 4833-02): You can obtain detailed information about the TOEFL by visiting http://www.toefl.org, or the IELTS by visiting http://www.ielts.org/.

For further details about the above requirements, please see Admissions Criteria. Detailed instructions will be provided with the fall 2009 online application.

Mail supplemental materials to: Full-time MBA Admissions, Haas School of Business, 430 Student Services Bldg #1902, Berkeley, CA 94720-1902.

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Fall 2009 Essay Questions

Listed below are the supplemental questions, short answer questions, required essays, and optional essays for the fall 2009 application.

Supplemental 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 & professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, dates of involvement, offices held, & 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. Please identify the course(s) you have taken or intend to take to demonstrate quantitative proficiency. Provide the course name, date, grade if any, and institution at which the course was or will be taken. If you wish, you may discuss other ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities.
6. 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.)

Short Answer:

1. If you could change one thing you've done in your life, what would it be, and how would you do it differently? (250 word maximum)
2. Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)
3. At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. Describe an innovative solution you have created to address a specific challenge. (250 word maximum)
4. What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum)

Required Essays:

1. Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
2. What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? Why do you want an MBA from Berkeley at this point in your career? (1000 word maximum)

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 you wish to be considered for the Haas Achievement Award (for individuals who have achieved success in spite of significant economic, educational, health-related and/or other obstacles), please use this space to address the obstacles you have overcome. (750 word maximum)

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Reapplication

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
• 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.
• If you would like to be considered for a Haas Achievement Award, please answer that optional essay question.
• For Fall 2009, you must submit new test scores if your test was taken before June 1, 2007 (TOEFL) or October 1, 2003 (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.

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Current or Former Berkeley Campus Graduate Students

Students currently enrolled for graduate study in any department on the UC Berkeley campus must file a petition to change or add a major in order to apply to the MBA program. No fee is charged for this petition.

If there has been a break in registration, students must also file a petition for readmission along with the petition to change or add a major. A $60 fee is charged for readmission petitions in lieu of the application fee. This fee must be paid by check and cannot be paid online.

Petitions are accepted for fall semester only. Both petitions (for readmission and for add/drop/changes of major) are available from the Degrees Unit of the Graduate Division, 302 Sproul Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-5900,               (510) 642-7330        or can be found at here. (requires Adobe Reader.)

Students from both categories must file a complete MBA application, in addition to the petition, within the appropriate deadlines. They will be expected to complete the MBA program, if admitted, within the same period of time as students entering the program from outside the Berkeley campus.