roborob

Anybody receive news about Columbia recently? If so, how are you preparing for it?

thanks all for you advice! i have an additional question... how come i got waitlisted before an interview? is this common? they didn't even give me a chance to go to the "board room"! how can they waitlist me!?!

800needed: profile: 5'11" asian male, 175 pounds, will dance for money... just joking 680, 3.58 mech eng at UT Austin, 3 years w/e at matriculation. advice still needed....

well, i got wl at stern. what kind of materials should i send in to "enhance" my application? the online letter said that a good candidate will know what's weak in his/her app. i do and i don't. i mean, what kinds of stuff do ppl usually send in? rob

thanks bon! yeah, she is. i think she is doing her own research first before she contacts you! thanks for following up. rob

gforce - no news from columbia. i just applied on 1/15 though, so i don't expect to hear back from them until mid-march. i am getting antsy about nyu though... a recent student just contacted me, but i found that that procedure is routine.

ritwik - i'm surprised just how well lockheed martin's name carries in the non-engineering world. people "think" i do some cool stuff. i do work on the JSF and it's not as glamorous as you make it sound. that is one of the reasons i'm getting out! i'm curious to hear why lomi chose this industry though... lomi?

all right - so i'm batting 500 right now. two admits and two dings. i come back from the weekend and see that i have a fedex package waiting for me. they didn't leave it at my front door nor did they leave it at my apartment office. so, like every person with good deductive reasoning skills, i tracked the package online at fedex.com. it was from houston. coupled with the fact that my Rice interviewer told me i should hear something back by last friday, i'm assuming that the "package" is an admit. if i didn't get into McCombs already, i would have been celebrating over this one. oh well... an admit is an admit.... ;)

congrats lomi - what is it that you want to do with that degree? work a lockheed, boeing, voht, or bell? it's funny b/c i'm trying to get out of the aerospace industry and you're trying to get in! i currently work at lockheed over here at fort worth... if you have questions about the industry, feel free to ask me. rob

hey bevo - for some reason, i can't seem to send a private message to you. could you shoot me one at my junk email account? i would post my main one, but you probably understand... email address deleted

bevo - congrats on your decision to do night school. that is always tough to do. what year did you graduate ME? i did in 2002 with a BSME. i wonder if i know you...

me too... :( oh well, it just wasn't meant to be.

hey anxious - after more research, i found out that the late is NOT better. the adcom have already made phone calls to those admitted starting on tuesday. so... if we don't get a phone call in the next hour or so, then we are either dinged or waitlisted. i haven't heard anything yet, which means that i didn't get admitted. damn!

well, first off, i have to contribute all the job offers i got after college to "knock 'em dead" by martin yates. awesome interview book. may seem excessive at times, but that is the best book of them all. that is about it really. i was a little rusty going into the interview, since i haven't interviewed in 3 years. and it didn't help that i didn't have my stories straight. what i mean by that is - you have to know what the interview's intent on asking that question is. some are obvious, like "what are your strength?" ... and some are not, like "what's your passion in life?" after the crappy wharton interview, i started practicing (or talking to myself) again. it helps to say your answer out loud rather than just think the answer in your head. oh yeah - another thing... make sure you have a good blurb for "tell me about yourself." you can almost be sure that's the first question the interviewer will ask you. i guarentee. have a good 2-3 minute speel about yourself and make sure to highlight your strengths along the way. and that question is most likely going to be followed with, "so, why do you want an MBA now and why at our school". i know what i'm saying is pretty basic, but i made the mistake of not prepping my answers enough. although i got the gist across, all my answers were very rough. i don't know if i help at all. good luck with Duke! rob

hey target - yes, i did an oncampus interview with Wharton. here is my two cents. take it with a grain of salt b/c i didn't get into the school, but... i figure since i applied round I, i could submit my application without anyone questioning why i didn't do a school visit. BUT, when i did get an interview invite, to show the school that i'm serious about attending, i figured i better fly up there to do a school visit and interview. for schools which i didn't make the round I deadline, i did a school visit. that way, there is an excuse for me NOT to apply round I. does that make sense? i wanted any edge i can get on the competition, so that's why i tried to visit all the schools i applied to second round. in my mind (and probably the adcom's too), there is no reason for me NOT to visit AND apply round II, except laziness, etc. did you get an interview with Wharton? if so, i have some tips that may help you get in! good luck, man. rob

hey man - i'm over anxiously waiting as well. i've read in differenct forums about rumors as to when they will release the admits. it's already 1/20, so i don't mind waiting one more day. i think chicago is pretty disorganized myself. they delayed the first round AND second round deadline due to computer problems they did not foresee. also, when my friend did a school visit, he got that impression as well. i wouldn't view this delay as good or bad, but just that the school is a little disorganized. hope we both get in! rob

great! thanks, bon. yeah, i prefer not to post my email address in a public forum like this.

hey bon - i did not receive any email from you yesterday.... perhaps, you can write one again? thanks, rob

hey bon - again, congrats on your admission. thanks for the email, i'll put my gf in touch with you soon! if i end up going to McCombs in austin, i'll keep in touch to see if the curriculum and stuff are the same... i'm curious. btw - what does your sn mean? is it french?

wow... good luck with that bon... that is awesome news. i talked to my gf yesterday and she said that UT at the houston location only accepts 60 a year? is this correct? isn't it in its first year as well? so no horrors stories yet... could you tell me your stats? could i put her in contact with you? email, perhaps? thanks! rob

bonhom... i heard the part time program in houston for mccombs is very competitive. they only accept a handful a year. my gf is looking into it... i don't know the full details. imho, i don't think part time programs are as good as its full time counterpart. i think this goes for all schools. although bschools are changing the requirements (to make it tougher to get in) for the part-time programs, it's still not as pretigious as its full time program. just my thoughts... with that being said, i also realize that many people can't do full time (for whatever reason, family, income, etc.) i think the mccombs part time will be great b/c well... it still carries the mccombs name! good luck in your decision! rob

Erin, Thanks for your continuing support! I really enjoyed the forum you have built here. Keep it up! Rob

gforce, yeah,... UT was my second to last choice. my choices from first to last are: columbia, UofChicago, Wharton, NYU, UT, Rice. since i got into UT already, i really, really want to cancel my Rice interview. ya see.. both my brothers and a sister-in-law went to Rice for an MBA though, so i'm getting pressure from my dad to go there... it absolutely makes no sense for me to go there though - its tuition is three times that of UT and its program is not as good. oh well... i'm holding my breathe for the other schools. thanks for the support! rob

hey "yellow," i applied first round for wharton. they interviewed 40% of 1700 applicants, and of those 40%, they admitted 25%. good luck with the app if you're applying. rob

wow... i posted this thread at night; i wake up in the morning and i have 5 congrats. this is what makes this forum great! :tup: i'm going to answer everyone's questions above in one thread (i hope you don't mind) all right, here's my stats: i'm going full time btw... u/g - UT Austin Mech Eng, GPA - 3.58 w/e - 2 years (3 years when i matriculate) with Lockheed Martin GMAT - 680 interview tips: i consider myself a strong interviewer. i interviewed a lot when i graduated college and i have read books on this stuff. (Knock 'em Dead by Martin Yates is an excellent book) i have been in pressure interviews, technical interviews, interviews with 2 interviewers at one time, etc. ok, so i'm all phyched for this whaton interview, right? i get there and i get interviewed by a second year student. his background? he was a laywer working his way up in the supreme court before he came back to school. i got grilled like you wouldn't believe! :( i have never ever sweated in an interview... but i did in this one, literally!!! oh well,... it just wasn't meant to be, i guess. whew... he sure put me in my place! althought wharton says that my ding was not solely based on the interview, i believe otherwise... i wasn't even waitlisted... i was dinged! so, i know the interview was the sole factor that gave me my ding. interview tips - practice, practice, practice! i use a 3 step approach for my answers. i think the acronym is SAR (situation, action, result). i start off answering questions by describing the situation, then describing what i did, and then the results of what i did. even if the questions are simple, it's good to answer questions in tihs type of format. i believe Yates' book goes into more detail. i hope this helps. rob