Gotta love 10-12 inches of snow falling in 24 hours. I love Ohio.
Early Saturday morning I woke up and made the 90 minute drive from Charlotte to Winston-Salem for Showcase Saturday and my Done-In-A-Day interview at Wake Forest. I gotta say, it felt odd to be back on campus, but in a very good way. It was like I had never left. Checking in was interesting, as there was no folder with my name on it! I was scheduled to attend the Seat At The Table event Friday evening but wasn't able to make it; talking to the AdCom apparently the miscommunication led to me name being removed. A quick bagel and orange juice later, we were ushered into a room to start the festivities.
First up, a welcome speech by the new dean, formerly the CEO and Chairman of PepsiCo, Steve Reinemund. He told us why he decided on coming to Wake Forest after retiring, his vision for the school, his background, etc. He opened it up to Q&A, and before you knew it we were thirty minutes behind schedule! I loved what he had to say in regards to the future of the program and I think it's on the right track to gain in prominence. Wake doesn't need to get better at what it does, it just needs to let people know how good it is.
After Dean Reinemund left, we had quick overviews with the AdCom, financial aid and career management center (CMC). These were very brief as we were running out of time. We then had a mock class, given by Kenny Herbst, marketing professor. Kenny is a former WFU basketball player (played with Tim Duncan) and he is awesome! I think his class sold most of the applicants on why Wake Forest rules. Very engaging, humorous, yet managed to foster some discussion amongst 30 or so wide-eyed and nervous applicants. We didn't want class to end, but had to keep moving on to other things.
We had a quick Q&A with current students, learning more about the program from the student perspective. After this, we picked up a boxed lunch and went into concentration-specific classrooms to learn more intimately about them. I was one of two guys that went into the marketing room and ate lunch with Kenny, a CMC guy devoted to marketing and a current marketing student. I liked what they had to say and the time went by too quickly. We learned just how receptive faculty are to their students. We had a quick tour (the Worrell Center isn't exactly up to par with other schools' MBA building, probably a big downside for some), then had time to relax before interviews.
Sixteen people were scheduled for Done-In-A-Day interviews. Essays are waived for those participating, though we are expected to answer them. Each interview lasts between 40 and 60 minutes with three people simultaneously. In my room I had two faculty and a CMC person. Some might find it odd that an AdCom wasn't present, but thing...faculty and students spend more time with actual students. They asked some tough questions but I felt I was prepared. Before I knew it, time was up. They said they'd start sending out status updates around 9PM. Prior to my interview I spent over an hour talking to some current students and other perspectives, just shooting the shit. It was awesome.
6:40PM, I get a call from an unknown number so I didn't answer it. I listen to the voicemail from Stacy, she says congrats and that she has more good news. She calls back a few minutes later and tells me I was awarded a Dean's Scholarship. Full-tuition scholarship, $10k stipend each year and my international trip taken care of. Awesome! I felt bad that my phone died in the middle of this conversation though! I was ecstatic and went celebrating afterwards! Woo!
Overall, I loved the visit and it'd be hard for another school to match that offer. Wake is a fairly unknown power, one I feel will climb the ranking soon.
Showing posts with label Interviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Duke Visit Recap
I've calmed down a bit and gotten a tiny morsel of rest. Unfortunately, work isn't cooperating with me wanting to take it easy. I'm still high off my admittance though!
Wednesday, January 21st, I visited Duke's Fuqua school. Parking was a hassle, as the lot they told me to park in was closed, so I parked at a visitor's center far away and walked back. The guy checking students in said the lot was really open and gave me a pass to go back. Oh well. My interview was at 10AM with a second year student. We had a good conversation, nothing out of the norm. After I mentioned my work with the Humane Society, she asked me to educate her on shelter animals and why they're a good choice. It put me on the spot!
I had a break between my interview and lunch/tour, so I moved my car then went back to the building. There were other first year students there, just answering questions and shooting the breeze with other potential students. I'd say there were about 20 other people there. The group was pretty diverse and nice, I had a good time talking to them. Our tour started very late, as the student host never showed up. We were eventually led to the cafeteria, grabbed some food, then took an abreviated tour. I sat in on an operations core class after that. It was interesting, though as we hadn't read the case it was a bit over our heads. There also wasn't much discussion among students, mostly just answering direct questions.
Overall, I'd rate the facilities as amazing. The building is absolutely gorgeous; I could see myself sitting in the Fox Center doing work and drinking coffee. After class I headed back to Charlotte. Total driving time: 5 hours.
Wednesday, January 21st, I visited Duke's Fuqua school. Parking was a hassle, as the lot they told me to park in was closed, so I parked at a visitor's center far away and walked back. The guy checking students in said the lot was really open and gave me a pass to go back. Oh well. My interview was at 10AM with a second year student. We had a good conversation, nothing out of the norm. After I mentioned my work with the Humane Society, she asked me to educate her on shelter animals and why they're a good choice. It put me on the spot!
I had a break between my interview and lunch/tour, so I moved my car then went back to the building. There were other first year students there, just answering questions and shooting the breeze with other potential students. I'd say there were about 20 other people there. The group was pretty diverse and nice, I had a good time talking to them. Our tour started very late, as the student host never showed up. We were eventually led to the cafeteria, grabbed some food, then took an abreviated tour. I sat in on an operations core class after that. It was interesting, though as we hadn't read the case it was a bit over our heads. There also wasn't much discussion among students, mostly just answering direct questions.
Overall, I'd rate the facilities as amazing. The building is absolutely gorgeous; I could see myself sitting in the Fox Center doing work and drinking coffee. After class I headed back to Charlotte. Total driving time: 5 hours.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Weekend That Was: Charlotte and UNC
Phew, what a weekend! 18.5 hours in a car, by myself. Love it! My record is still 34 hours by myself, driving from New Orleans to Cleveland, and back, for a long weekend. This trip took me to Charlotte to see my brother, then to UNC for my interview.
Charlotte is just plain awesome. I'm tempted to just move down there if I don't get in to an MBA program this year, live it up and apply (with NC residency!) next year. It'd save me some money, definitely. The area they live in is very new, clean, and fun. We took a trip downtown to Blackfinn, Howl at the Moon, Suite, then back to Fox and Hound. Too much fun. Sunday was a tour of some other parts. They definitely gave me a hard sell!
Monday was ridiculous. I woke up at 4:30AM, then drove 2.5 hours to Chapel Hill for my 8:30AM interview. My interviewer arrived plenty early, so we got started around 8:15 or 8:20. He said it would last 30 minutes, he's only seen my resume, and his purpose is to provide a voice in the committee meetings. He knew of my hometown, including my high school, so we developed a quick rapport (this is key!). I was actually able to articulate the nature of my undergraduate GPA, which I think was key. He seemed genuinely interested in my circumstances and I hope he repeats that to the committee.
The main topics were fairly standard and the conversation flowed nicely. We walked through my resume, he asked the standard why MBA/why now/why here questions. He threw some curveballs, such as "If given a day off, what would you do with it?" and "What would be your legacy if you left your current position right now?" I felt I answered them convincingly and I didn't forget huge portions like at Georgetown.
Overall, I felt this interview rocked. We had fun discussing things, and he had to stop us once we reached 45 minutes so that he wasn't late to his next appointment. We continued talking into the hallways, and he advised me on talking to random KFBS students, which I did. The facility is awesome, the students and staff friendly. He definitely sold me, now I just hope I sold him!
Charlotte is just plain awesome. I'm tempted to just move down there if I don't get in to an MBA program this year, live it up and apply (with NC residency!) next year. It'd save me some money, definitely. The area they live in is very new, clean, and fun. We took a trip downtown to Blackfinn, Howl at the Moon, Suite, then back to Fox and Hound. Too much fun. Sunday was a tour of some other parts. They definitely gave me a hard sell!
Monday was ridiculous. I woke up at 4:30AM, then drove 2.5 hours to Chapel Hill for my 8:30AM interview. My interviewer arrived plenty early, so we got started around 8:15 or 8:20. He said it would last 30 minutes, he's only seen my resume, and his purpose is to provide a voice in the committee meetings. He knew of my hometown, including my high school, so we developed a quick rapport (this is key!). I was actually able to articulate the nature of my undergraduate GPA, which I think was key. He seemed genuinely interested in my circumstances and I hope he repeats that to the committee.
The main topics were fairly standard and the conversation flowed nicely. We walked through my resume, he asked the standard why MBA/why now/why here questions. He threw some curveballs, such as "If given a day off, what would you do with it?" and "What would be your legacy if you left your current position right now?" I felt I answered them convincingly and I didn't forget huge portions like at Georgetown.
Overall, I felt this interview rocked. We had fun discussing things, and he had to stop us once we reached 45 minutes so that he wasn't late to his next appointment. We continued talking into the hallways, and he advised me on talking to random KFBS students, which I did. The facility is awesome, the students and staff friendly. He definitely sold me, now I just hope I sold him!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Prepping for an Interview
Thanks to everyone who wrote in about the Fuqua essay topics. I figured the long essay would be the most difficult, and it seems everyone had a wide range of topics covered. It could be a big differentiater.
I'm preparing for my UNC interview next Monday. I know the basic questions, resume, why MBA, why now, why here, etc. I've also got the teamwork, leadership, ethical dilemma, failure, strengths/weaknesses, etc. questions down. Is there anything else I should be prepared to answer? I'll be checking out Accepted.com and the Clear Admit wiki for interview write-ups, though I don't think anything has been posted for awhile.
I know we've got some UNC applicants in the blogosphere, so any hints or advice would be very welcome. I do wish I could have done a class visit, but it'll be alright. I'm not looking forward to waking up at 5AM, driving from Charlotte to Chapel Hill, doing my interview, then driving the 8.5 hours to Cleveland.
I'm preparing for my UNC interview next Monday. I know the basic questions, resume, why MBA, why now, why here, etc. I've also got the teamwork, leadership, ethical dilemma, failure, strengths/weaknesses, etc. questions down. Is there anything else I should be prepared to answer? I'll be checking out Accepted.com and the Clear Admit wiki for interview write-ups, though I don't think anything has been posted for awhile.
I know we've got some UNC applicants in the blogosphere, so any hints or advice would be very welcome. I do wish I could have done a class visit, but it'll be alright. I'm not looking forward to waking up at 5AM, driving from Charlotte to Chapel Hill, doing my interview, then driving the 8.5 hours to Cleveland.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Georgetown Interview
Yesterday I had my interview with Georgetown. McDonough is candidate-initiated until December, so I scheduled this one myself. Six hours in the car Sunday allowed me to listen to football, and remember everything I forgot back home (ie, an undershirt, a TIE, and cufflinks). I spent that night at a friend's place, jotting down notes and reading interview stuff on GMAT Club and accepted.com.
I woke up early on Monday and headed into Georgetown. I had to run into some stores to pick up the stuff I forgot, but didn't have any problems there. A current student helped me find my way to the admissions office, which was nice. The place was pretty well packed with prospective students waiting for either interviews or an information session. I wish I had scheduled my interview around one, but it didn't work out that way. My interviewer met me a few minutes before my scheduled time and led me to a room.
For those that don't know, Georgetown allows second-year students to interview prospectives. My interviewer was extremely friendly, and helped keep things casual. He started it off by giving a quick background of himself, and what is expected both in the admissions process and the interview. He stated that everything is taken together, and no portion outweighs any other. Good to know!
The first question was the "walk me through your resume" one. I'm pretty confident that I completely botched this! I gave a quick spiel about undergraduate studies, then spoke awhile about my first position, telling about leadership opportunities and teamwork and success. Then, when I started talking about my current position, I completely left out the main points I had worked so hard to get across! How could I forget to mention the main project I've been working on for over a year! Ugh! He probably thought I was nuts, though he didn't ask many follow-up questions. After that he asked about short-term goals, and I went into detail about those as well as long-term plans. He asked a pretty good follow-up question, probably to see how serious I was about my career trek. Hopefully I answered that well.
He asked the "Why Georgetown" question, and I nailed it. I spoke at length about the international curriculum, clubs, classes, professors. I mentioned that I had been exchanging emails with a current student, who turned out to be his very good friend! When it came time to ask him questions, I had tons, and he answered them very truthfully. I think we split our time pretty evenly between his questions and mine, and the whole ordeal took 25 minutes. We continued to talk about stuff on our walk back to the admissions office. I sent him a thank you note this morning, as well as the current student, letting him know we talked about him in my interview!
All in all, I thought it went well, and everything I saw or learned completely reaffirmed my interest in Georgetown. I've got until Friday to complete my application, but I find it so hard to limit my essays to 750 words each!
I woke up early on Monday and headed into Georgetown. I had to run into some stores to pick up the stuff I forgot, but didn't have any problems there. A current student helped me find my way to the admissions office, which was nice. The place was pretty well packed with prospective students waiting for either interviews or an information session. I wish I had scheduled my interview around one, but it didn't work out that way. My interviewer met me a few minutes before my scheduled time and led me to a room.
For those that don't know, Georgetown allows second-year students to interview prospectives. My interviewer was extremely friendly, and helped keep things casual. He started it off by giving a quick background of himself, and what is expected both in the admissions process and the interview. He stated that everything is taken together, and no portion outweighs any other. Good to know!
The first question was the "walk me through your resume" one. I'm pretty confident that I completely botched this! I gave a quick spiel about undergraduate studies, then spoke awhile about my first position, telling about leadership opportunities and teamwork and success. Then, when I started talking about my current position, I completely left out the main points I had worked so hard to get across! How could I forget to mention the main project I've been working on for over a year! Ugh! He probably thought I was nuts, though he didn't ask many follow-up questions. After that he asked about short-term goals, and I went into detail about those as well as long-term plans. He asked a pretty good follow-up question, probably to see how serious I was about my career trek. Hopefully I answered that well.
He asked the "Why Georgetown" question, and I nailed it. I spoke at length about the international curriculum, clubs, classes, professors. I mentioned that I had been exchanging emails with a current student, who turned out to be his very good friend! When it came time to ask him questions, I had tons, and he answered them very truthfully. I think we split our time pretty evenly between his questions and mine, and the whole ordeal took 25 minutes. We continued to talk about stuff on our walk back to the admissions office. I sent him a thank you note this morning, as well as the current student, letting him know we talked about him in my interview!
All in all, I thought it went well, and everything I saw or learned completely reaffirmed my interest in Georgetown. I've got until Friday to complete my application, but I find it so hard to limit my essays to 750 words each!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Apps Have Begun!
First, you probably have noticed the new look to my blog. The black and green was starting to look a little...dark. I decided to switch it to something lighter, a bit easier to read. Hopefully everyone likes it. I also updated the school list a bit, which brings me to...
Application time! Emory had posted their application a bit ago, so I've begun going through the bread and butter info (name, address, education, work experience, etc.) and thinking about their essays. Clear Admit informed me that UNC's application and essays *finally* went live today, so I also started that one. So, two essays started, quite a few more to go! It does feel good to be moving forward with the process; I just want all my other schools to hurry up and let me start filling out the apps!
I've also started thinking about interviews. I know it's early, especially for schools that are invite-only. I personally think all schools should be invite-only. For a school like UNC, it is required of all applicants, regardless of whether you are seen as a compelling candidate. You need to take time off work, travel to Chapel Hill, and go through the interview process, without knowing your status. At other schools that are invite-only, such as USC, you know if they ask you to come in for an interview, you have crossed that first hurdle into "This candidate is interesting!" territory. I like that idea better than blindly interviewing.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's good a school allows everyone to interview. I just think it's easier for those schools that are invite-only. What do you think?
Application time! Emory had posted their application a bit ago, so I've begun going through the bread and butter info (name, address, education, work experience, etc.) and thinking about their essays. Clear Admit informed me that UNC's application and essays *finally* went live today, so I also started that one. So, two essays started, quite a few more to go! It does feel good to be moving forward with the process; I just want all my other schools to hurry up and let me start filling out the apps!
I've also started thinking about interviews. I know it's early, especially for schools that are invite-only. I personally think all schools should be invite-only. For a school like UNC, it is required of all applicants, regardless of whether you are seen as a compelling candidate. You need to take time off work, travel to Chapel Hill, and go through the interview process, without knowing your status. At other schools that are invite-only, such as USC, you know if they ask you to come in for an interview, you have crossed that first hurdle into "This candidate is interesting!" territory. I like that idea better than blindly interviewing.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's good a school allows everyone to interview. I just think it's easier for those schools that are invite-only. What do you think?
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