The Haas MBA interview is a behavioral, conversation-driven assessment typically conducted by alumni or second-year students. It is not evaluative of your career progression alone but of how you think, collaborate, and reflect, qualities deeply tied to Haas’s Defining Leadership Principles (DLPs).
In this in-depth Berkeley Haas MBA Interview Tips, we cover:
For this year, Berkeley Haas has three essays: the What Makes You Feel Alive video essay, the short-term and long-term goals essay, and the Distance travelled essay.
In this in-depth Berkeley Haas MBA Essay tips series, we cover:
The Haas MBA is a two-year, 21-month full-time program. It begins with a required core curriculum in the first year and transitions into a flexible second year of electives.
In this in-depth analysis of the Berkeley Haas MBA Curriculum, we cover:
Question 1: What makes you feel alive when you are doing it, and why? (300 words maximum) (Video Essay)
Question 2: What are your short-term and long-term career goals, and how will an MBA from Haas help you achieve those goals? Short-term career goals should be achievable within 3-5 years post-MBA, whereas long-term goals may span a decade or more and encompass broader professional aspirations. (300 words max)
We have collected the Essays of the Top 50 MBA programs for the 2026 Entering class. In this in-depth essay analysis of the top 50 MBA applications, we cover:
In this in-depth cost breakdown of Berkeley Haas MBA and funding tips to cover the $240,000 to $270,000 total expenses, we cover:
Berkeley Haas MBA Employment Report 2024: Analysis
In this in-depth Haas MBA Employment Report Analysis for the 2024 graduating class, we cover:
1. Berkeley Haas MBA Placements: By Industry
2. Berkeley Haas MBA Placements: By Function
3. Berkeley Haas MBA: Top Employers
In this Haas Accelerated Access Program Essay Tips, we cover:
Berkeley Haas will host 11 MBA events in February 2025, including 8 virtual and 2 in-person sessions.
Related Download: F1GMAT's Haas MBA Essay Guide
Berkeley Haas will host six MBA events in January 2025, with four virtual sessions and two in-person meet-ups.
Related Download: F1GMAT's Haas MBA Essay Guide
What makes you feel alive might be a vision that you have about a future – a future where education is affordable and accessible, renewable energy is mainstream, polluting industries operate outside the earth, or any sci-fi-themed narratives that benefits a large population.
Extra-curricular feeding into the profession can be structured with two strategies.
One – finding a common set of skills that are useful in both endeavors.
Two – sharing that both have a unique purpose in your life.
In this example, we have used the 2nd strategy - by highlighting an extra-curricular that makes the applicant feel alive. Then a professional endeavor which has provided a similar meaning to the applicant’s life.
Anyone working in the Technology industry would attest that change is the only reality.
A leader should have the foresight to accept that holding onto processes, technology, and strategy of a bygone era is a losing pursuit.
Case studies of the 1980s and 90s have little relevance for the current generation, where with each iteration of technology or geopolitical development, iron-clad strategies have become fictitious narratives.
I have explained about segue in my new MBA Essay Writing Series. I would highly recommend that you read them to understand the many contexts of Segues.
Theme: Entrepreneurial Thinking, Failure, Diversity
Required Haas MBA Essay #3: One of our goals at Berkeley Haas is to develop leaders who value diversity and to create an inclusive environment in which people from different ethnicities, genders, lived experiences, and national origins feel welcomed and supported. Describe any experience or exposure you have in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging whether through community organizations, personal, or in the workplace?
Required Haas MBA Essay #3: One of our goals at Berkeley Haas is to develop leaders who value diversity and to create an inclusive environment in which people from different ethnicities, genders, lived experiences, and national origins feel welcomed and supported. Describe any experience or exposure you have in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging whether through community organizations, personal, or in the workplace?
Brands have remained neutral to society’s ill and the overreach of organizations, government, and powerful influencers. With social media putting pressure on leaders to follow the pulse of society, businesses have also embraced positions that would categorize them as a pro or against a position.
From a business perspective, this is a risk as any misconception about their position could have an immediate impact on their cash flow as customers demonstrate preferences with their pocket first before verbalizing their opinions in popular media.
Required Haas MBA Essay #3: One of our goals at Berkeley Haas is to develop leaders who value diversity and to create an inclusive environment in which people from different ethnicities, genders, lived experiences, and national origins feel welcomed and supported. Describe any experience or exposure you have in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging whether through community organizations, personal, or in the workplace?
Berkeley Haas MBA Video Essay Question: The Berkeley MBA program develops leaders who embody our four Defining Leadership Principles. Briefly introduce yourself to the admissions committee, explain which Defining Leadership Principle resonates most with you, and tell us how you have exemplified the principle in your personal or professional life.
Pre-MBA Employer: Facebook
Pre-MBA Title: Product Manager
Post-MBA Title: Associate
Post-MBA Employer: Venture Capital Firm
Foundational Knowledge: Because the candidate has extensive experience in Technology, the curriculum mentioned in the goals essay was customized to include foundational skills in Finance and Investments.