University of California, Berkeley, Walter A. Haas School of Business Admission
University of California, Berkeley, Walter A. Haas School of Business Undergraduate Program
University of California, Berkeley, Walter A. Haas School of Business Application

The Facts

The University of California, Berkeley, is a rather large, public institution located in the appropriately titled town of Berkeley, California, and is home to a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 32,128 students. The graduate Walter A. Haas School of Business however, is significantly smaller, and is home to approximately 952 graduate business students. All of the currently enrolled business students have had an average of 6 years full-time professional experience, a factor taken into serious consideration by the admissions committee when reviewing applications. As a result of this fact, the average age of enrollment is around 30, however, ages range from 23 all the way up to 53. Approximately 14% of students entered directly from undergraduate school, and about 36% of currently enrolled students already have a graduate degree of some sort. The Walter A. Haas School of Business is perhaps best known for its emphasis on integration, combining case method, theory, and group-projects in order to produce creative-thinking managers and leaders. The schools offers graduate business degrees in the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Financial Engineering (MFE), as well as a doctoral program with 8 possible areas of concentration, and joint degrees in law (MBA/JD), public health (MBA/MPH), Asian studies (MBA/MA), as well as international area studies (MBA/MIAS). The school also offers interdisciplinary programs in real estate, management of technology, and public health. Some of the most popular programs include courses in the areas of organizational behavior, marketing, accounting, economic analysis, finance, international business, manufacturing, real estate, strategy, as well as ebusiness.

Admission to UC Berkeley's graduate business school is extremely competitive among those who apply; last year, over 4,470 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 500 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 240 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.55, and an average GMAT score of about 703. The admissions committee requires all applicants to have a minimum undergraduate GPA of at least a 3.0, as well as a minimum GMAT score of at least 550. Students are able to begin their graduate course work in the fall only, and students are notified of their admission status only after the last submission deadline.

The Haas School of Business has 74 full-time faculty members, all of whom hold a doctorate degree. The school is also home to 80 part-time faculty members, of whom 80% hold a doctorate. The average graduate business class has about 30 students, and most faculty members teach an average of 3 courses at any given time.

Placement Services

The graduate business school has extensive placement services available to both current students an alumni for an unlimited amount of time after graduation. Last year, there were over 150 companies actively recruiting on campus, 95% of which were national corporations. The majors most in demand by these companies were marketing, finance, consulting, management of technology, as well as entrepreneurship. The average starting salary of the most recent graduating class was around $84,500, however, it ranged from $23,000 to $125,000. Furthermore, about 89% of the most recent graduating class were able to find jobs within three month of obtaining their degrees.

What's Good

"There are an astonishing amount of companies constantly recruiting on campus. It's really quite wonderful."

"The professors are the best you could ask for. The genuinely care about their students."

"The administration is surprisingly simple to deal with. They get your questions answered quite efficiently."

What's Bad

"There is a lot of unnecessary competition among students that can get very stressful at times."

"There is a lot of work to do, and it can be difficult to keep everything straight."

"They are quite skimpy with the financial aid in my opinion."

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