Haas MBA - Class Profile, Fee, Salary & Curriculum

True to the visionary statement of Arthur Rodgers in the 1872 commencement address in Berkeley where he proclaimed that “students of every race will be attracted to this university. The Occident and the Orient, the past and the present, will here commingle their culture and the Pacific will be illumined from Berkeley”, Haas School of Business has been attracting a diverse class with the international class representation closing in on the 40% range.

In this in-depth analysis, we cover:

• Haas MBA Class Profile
• Haas MBA Fees and Total Cost
• Haas MBA Financial Aid, Scholarships and Loans
• Haas MBA Curriculum
• Experiential Learning at Haas MBA
• Haas MBA Dual or Joint Degrees
• Haas MBA Application Process
• Haas Post-MBA Employment - Salary by Function (2021)
• Haas Post-MBA Employment - Salary by Industry (2021)
• Haas Post-MBA Employment – Geography (2021)

Haas MBA Class Profile

Haas has a modest class size of 291. The average pre-MBA experience of candidates is 5.5 years. The 27% Asian, 15% Hispanic, and 9% black is one of the diverse class representations by any American college standards in line with the tradition of attracting Asian applicants to Berkeley.

Haas Pre-MBA Education

Engineering dominates the choice of pre-MBA degree for the incoming class at Haas, followed by Economics and Business/Commerce, which comes as no surprise. The MBA program has a focus on management science involving statistical modeling, programming, managing data, operations research, and forecasting that requires experience in quantitative problem-solving.

Haas Pre-MBA Employment

Consulting was the predominant professional background of the incoming class at Haas, followed by Financial Services and Technology.
Health/Pharma/Biotech was the fourth most common profession, slightly ahead of Consumer Products. A 7% from non-profit is a unique representation by any American university standards.

Haas MBA Fees and Total Cost

There is a $4,000 difference in fees and costs for Californian residents and non-residents studying at Haas. Domestic second year could qualify as California residents in their second year and save this difference. The fees for a Californian are $65,360 compared to $71,817 for a non-resident. Other major expenses of housing with food ($26,014), transportation ($3,249), health insurance ($6,088) and personal expenses ($2,790), books, and supplies ($646) are guesstimated to be the same. This brings the total cost to $104,138 for Californian residents and $110,595 for non-residents.

Haas MBA Financial Aid, Scholarships and Loans

Haas provides fellowships and scholarships based on needs and academic merits that students are automatically assessed for without an additional application.

The two need-based scholarships are The Berkeley MBA Grant and Jimenez Family Fellowship.

Center for Equity, Gender, & Leadership (EGAL) and Center for Responsible Business Fellowship also have funds available for Haas MBA students.

Merit-Based Scholarships

The Berkeley Haas merit-based scholarships are based on wide and varying criteria, whether it be for demonstrated ability in academics, racial equity, gender equity, contribution to industry (especially finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, health management, real estate, social impact, strategy/consulting, technology), demonstrated leadership, LGBTQ equity, or personal achievements. There are additional scholarships and fellowships as listed in the table below.

Loans

There are broadly three categories of loans available at Berkeley Haas – Federal loans for domestic students, private loans, and international student loans. In addition, there is The Haas Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) that supports graduates working in the non-profit sector.

Haas MBA Curriculum

Core Courses

There are 15 core courses required as part of the Haas MBA curriculum in the first year. In addition, there are electives that can be tailored as per the student’s choice. Accounting, economics, leadership, communication, modelling, and analyzing data are the broad themes of the core courses in the first year of the full-time MBA.

Areas of Emphasis

At Haas, students have the choice of 13 different pathways, each of which has a list of specialized electives to be completed to receive their MBA degree.

However, it is worth noting that not all the pathways are offered every year. Most of the electives rely extensively on Haas’ connections to the industry and provide students with relevant hands-on projects to which they can grow and apply their newly acquired skills. The pathways are the following:
 

• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Energy & Clean Technology
• Entrepreneurship
• Equity Fluent Leadership
• Finance
• Global Management
• Health Management
• Marketing
• Real Estate
• Social Sector Leadership
• Sustainable & Impact Finance
• Strategy & Consulting
• Technology
 

Leadership at Haas MBA

Haas’s focus on leadership is built on the principles of ‘question the status quo’ (innovation and innovative thinking require students to think out of the box), ‘confidence without attitude’ (evidence and analysis-based decision making and collaboration with humility, empathy, inclusion, and trust), ‘students always’ (supporting curiosity and learning) and ‘beyond yourself’ (ethical and responsible decisions that impact the wider world).

The leadership experiences, student-led initiatives, and courses are designed to produce leaders that can take calculated risks and produce unique ideas while keeping larger business and societal interests in mind.

Students learn to decode the different moving parts of a business and ask questions based on evidence and analysis. Science-based teamwork is built into the curriculum, where students are trained to exchange feedback and assess team dynamics to maximize the outcomes.

Three of the 15 core courses focus on leadership from varying perspectives.

Independent and Student-initiated courses

Independent Course: The course is ideal for students wishing to pursue research on a topic of academic credibility and rigor that is not covered by the Haas curriculum. It requires clear learning objectives and approval from a Haas faculty member to sponsor the study plan. Students can apply for this course as part of a team as well, corresponding to up to 4 units, subject to faculty and administrative approval.

Student-initiated Course: Usually, a student-initiated course is part of organizing a speaker series. Students can call upon industry or subject matter experts and facilitate a networking event. Only a maximum of 2 one-unit student-initiated courses will contribute to the 51-unit full-time MBA program.

Certificate Programs

Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business: teaches students to navigate through current economic systems and their limitations when forging for sustainable growth in energy and environmental markets.

Certificate in Business Analytics (CBA): is for potential leaders who will be making data-driven decisions and learning to identify and interpret insights from raw data.

Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate (IGCRE): Focuses on real estate investment, real estate law, and the role of real estate development in our society. This is a cross-disciplinary certificate between Berkeley Law, the College of Environmental Design, and Haas.

Engineering and Business for Sustainability (EBS) Certificate Program: is a cross-disciplinary certificate program between engineering, business, and environmental management, identifying boundaries to achieve sustainable solutions to pressing societal problems.

Experiential Learning at Haas MBA

More than 50% of the electives at Haas feature experiential learning. Experiential learning is categorized under Applied Innovation, a broad bucket that combines creative problem-solving with experience in a variety of industries and functions. These are combined with leadership outcomes so that the student is ready for the industry when they complete their studies at Haas.

International Business Development (IBD)

Designed primarily for students wishing to pursue careers in consulting, IBD involves working with firms during the term and the summer. The course enables students to tackle strategic business problems and provides hands-on experience in international management consulting.

The course covers a variety of industries, economies, cultures, and business environments. The prime focus is to equip students with frameworks, toolkits, teamwork best practices, and cultural awareness. Although students take the lead in making the most of the course, they are guided by a Haas mentor.

Examples of previous projects include:

• Market Research for Auto Manufacturer in Mexico
• Business Plan for Pharmaceutical Manufacturer in Georgia
• Marketing Strategy for Online Restaurant Service in China
• Financial Assessment for Air Cargo Operation in Costa Rica
• Market Research and Needs Assessment for Factory Workers in China
• Feasibility Study for Investment Services Company in Italy
• Market Research for Algorithmic Trading in Asia
• Business Plan for Exporting Fresh Produce in Egypt

Social Sector Solutions (S3)

Haas Business School and McKinsey & Company have partnered to offer a consulting program for MBA students. The 900+ hours of coaching and hands-on learning for the organization with a clear social impact goal help MBA students dive deep into problems faced in public health, public policy, social welfare, development practice, education, and urban planning, gaining different knowledge and perspectives. The scope of the projects includes the following:

•    Conduct a market study for a new product or service
•    Value and communicate an organization’s impact
•    Construct growth and diversity plans
•    Develop financial sustainability, business and revenue generation plans
•    Create marketing, market research and communications plans
•    Develop start-up and strategic plans
•    Design organization and program improvement plans

Clean Tech to Market (C2M)

Haas School of Business has the privilege of creating the first cleantech accelerator. In its 13th year, C2M ties MBA graduate students to start-ups and industry professionals to assess their technology, business models, and markets.

The eight broad focus areas of C2M – clean energy, energy storage, efficiency, transportation, air & environment, clean industry, water, and agriculture, are translated to commercially viable projects with a rigorous selection process and mentor-student matching.

The mentors with deep subject matter expertise in cleantech, innovation, and entrepreneurship help convert the 1,000+ hours of market research to insights in identifying target customers, commercialization pathways, market-based performance specifications, and potential funding sources. At the end of the 15-weeks collaboration, students present their findings at the Clean Tech Symposium.

Haas @Work / Innovation, Design and Creativity Practice

In this course, students work on a project-based innovation challenge using a proven design-thinking methodology with companies ranging from Adobe, Clorox, Intel, Paypal, Wells Fargo, and Nissan. Haas @ Work acts like a Strategy/Innovation consulting firm for the entire 16-week duration of the course. In a previous project for HP Enterprise, students used enterprise gamification to speed the company’s tool adoption and productivity across the organization.

Sustainable Investment Fund

The Haas Sustainable Investment Fund is run by students and has tripled funding to $4.5 million since 2008 while teaching the students investment strategies and practices to deliver maximum returns and social impact metrics.

Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) – Global Experiential Learning

Developing and emerging economies are playing a pivotal role in the global economy. Haas Business School as a participating member of GNAM’s 21-school network has access to the collaborative Global Network courses that connect students to the expertise of professors from partner schools and expose them to a wide range of problems unique to emerging economies.

Exchange Programs

Haas Business School offers student exchange programs in partnership with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), HEC Paris, London Business School, IESE Business School, and Columbia Business School. Students on the exchange program don’t have to pay any additional tuition fee apart from the scheduled fee at Haas Business School but will be required to complete 12 units of coursework at the exchange school.

Entrepreneurship

Haas’s entrepreneurship ecosystem thrives with a mixture of a wide selection of electives with coursework, experiential learning, and supporting scholarships. There are multiple electives and speaker series for start-ups, private equity, and venture capital. There are also electives for innovative business models and entrepreneurial strategy. The Berkeley Entrepreneurs Association offers Haas students mentorship, start-up subsidies, and competitions. The experiential learning courses offered with a focus on entrepreneurship are:

•    Design, Evaluate, and Scale Development Technologies
•    Design and Development of Web-Based Products and Services
•    Lean Launchpad
•    Social Lean Launchpad
•    The Startup Lab

Haas MBA Dual or Joint Degrees

MBA/MPH: is the most competitive joint degree one can pursue as the intake is only 20-students to secure the MBA in Health Management and Innovation and an MPH in Health Policy and Management. On successfully securing the degree, students can expect careers in consulting, pharmaceuticals, and social impact.

MBA/Meng: Combines business and engineering courses with interdisciplinary projects. In addition, there will be extracurricular opportunities, including small-group meetings with executives from major technology-oriented corporations and start-ups and tours at branded companies in the San Francisco Bay Area.

JD/MBA: A three-year program in which the first 2 years are focussed on law, and in the third year, there is a combination of business and law courses. Berkeley Center for Law and Business offers courses on venture capital and entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions.

Haas MBA Application Process

Essays

There are 2 compulsory essay questions along with optional essay questions to evaluate the candidates’ background, professional and academic aspirations. The first essay is a 300-word question about what makes the candidate feel alive and supporting reasons. The second essay question revolves around the skills the candidate needs to develop their leadership skills further.

The first optional essay questions cover further details about the background of the candidate, such as how educated the candidate’s parents are and how they have been raised, the primary language is spoken, or any other hardships they might have faced.

The second optional essay question addresses any other relevant information the candidate might wish to share, such as employment gaps or academic coursework they wish to discuss. Additional supplemental information can be provided to address the lack of a recommender/recommendation letter or additional positions of responsibility the candidate might have held or circumstances that the candidate might have been subjected to academic discipline.

Recommendation Letters

Haas requires 2 recommendation letters in a professional context, either from a supervisor or client. The candidate is judged on their value and contributions made to the organization, accomplishments, personal qualities, and demonstration of interpersonal skills. The recommendation letters can be submitted online or by post.

The candidate is also required to submit a one-page resume in PDF format highlighting at least 2-years of full-time experience post an undergraduate degree.

GMAT or GRE test scores are also required. Although there is no official requirement, you might want to consider the incoming class profile for guidelines.

For an international student, a certificate in English Language Proficiency is required if they reside in a country where English is not primarily spoken.

Haas Post-MBA Employment - Salary by Function (2021)

Consulting was the leading choice for Haas post-MBA graduates and offered the highest median base salary of $160,000. The highest median sign-on bonus was for Finance at $40,396 but with a lower base median salary of $148,000. 6.9% of graduates at Haas were sponsored by their company to do their MBA and were returnees. 4.5% of post-MBA graduates chose to start their own businesses.

Haas Post-MBA Employment - Salary by Industry (2021)

Technology was the leading industry choice for Haas MBA graduates. The top recruiters, hiring more than 3 MBAs, were Adobe Systems, Cisco Systems, Google, Genentech, and Amazon. Other recruiters included Space X, Tiktok, C3.ai, Scale AI. In consulting, Bain, BCG, McKinsey, EY-Parthenon, Deloitte, and L.E.K Consulting hired more than 3 MBAs. Health/BioTech/Pharma was in the top 5 industries for employment. In Finance, Goldman Sachs and Visa hired more than 3 MBAs.

Haas Post-MBA Employment – Geography (2021)

91.3% of Haas post-MBA graduates secured employment in North America, with 48.4% in the San Francisco area. 25.8% secured new employment in the South Bay California area on the West Coast and a further 10% in Seattle. Asia represented 4.3% of new employment for post-MBA graduates and Latin America & Caribbean 2.9%. Europe trailed last with only 1.4% of new hires accepting employment there.

Reference

• F1GMAT's Haas MBA Essay Guide
• History of Haas School of Business
• Haas MBA

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