{"id":11873,"date":"2025-11-18T12:06:57","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T17:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.stratusadmissionscounseling.com\/?p=11873"},"modified":"2026-03-11T10:27:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:27:25","slug":"how-to-get-into-berkeley-haas-mba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratusadmissionscounseling.com\/blog\/how-to-get-into-berkeley-haas-mba\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get into Berkeley Haas School of Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How to Get into Berkeley Haas School of Business<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Haas School of Business Program Overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Haas School of Business Curriculum<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Extracurriculars at Haas<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Haas Notable Professors and Classes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Haas Statistics<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Tips for Your 2025\u20132026 Haas Essays<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Application Requirements for Berkeley Haas<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Haas FAQs<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Haas School of Business Program Overview <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business is a very close-knit (the latest incoming class featured only 295 students), functionally and culturally diverse, student-driven, and collaborative program. Students make things happen at Haas both professionally and personally. The school\u2019s official Defining Leadership Principles underline the collaborative culture further: \u201cConfidence Without Attitude,\u201d \u201cQuestion the Status Quo,\u201d \u201cStudents Always,\u201d and \u201cBeyond Yourself.\u201d If these speak to you, Haas may be a good fit. In your application, how can you show examples of these pillars in your life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Haas, which is nestled in the foothills of Berkeley, describes itself as \u201cThe Heart of What\u2019s Next™\u201d\u2014and indeed, such innovative companies as Google, Airbnb, and Apple have their headquarters nearby. Perhaps not surprisingly considering the location, one-fourth (24.3%) of the Haas Class of 2024 went into the technology industry after graduation. However, the school also sends notable percentages of students into the consulting (25.4%) and financial services industries (15.6%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Entrepreneurship is palpable on campus in numerous ways via the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Hub, which refers to its offerings as the \u201c[students\u2019] gateway and partner in connecting to Berkeley\u2019s vast innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.\u201d Students can take advantage of the program at accelerator, funding, and problem-solving levels, in addition to various competitions, events, and student clubs. Of the Haas Class of 2024, 3.5% (nine students) reported that they were starting a new business post-graduation. What is your passion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Think about experiences that have challenged the way you think and how you have grown from those experiences. How will you take advantage of all that Haas has to offer, and what will you give back? The Haas community is known for being cohesive and supportive. Roughly 40% of students in each incoming class enter Haas with a partner, and significant others are quickly taken in as a part of the community. Football is a big part of the university\u2019s culture, and tailgating before games is an integral part of the Haas experience as well. If you make the effort to get to know the school\u2019s culture, this will come through in your application. Make sure you address why the culture is right for you<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI\u2019m beyond surprised by the inclusiveness of the community,\u201d a Haas student and former Stratus client told us. \u201cNever have I been around people as welcoming and supportive as my peers and professors have been. I would have imagined business school to be quite cutthroat and competitive, but Haas has been the opposite.\u201d Another student and former Stratus client said, \u201cWhat has surprised me about Haas is the administration\u2019s willingness to listen and adapt according to the needs of the students. For example, many students found academics to be stressful during this pandemic, and after hearing us out, the school dropped the mandatory maximum mean for the last semester and this one as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Haas School of Business Curriculum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The Haas first-year curriculum is divided into four semesters, titled \u201cFall A,\u201d \u201cFall B,\u201d \u201cSpring A,\u201d and \u201cSpring B.\u201d During the first two semesters, students take such introductory courses as \u201cLeading People,\u201d \u201cFinancial Accounting,\u201d and \u201cMarketing.\u201d The spring semesters allow students to start exploring elective courses, in addition to the Experiential Learning course requirement, which can be taken in either Spring A or B. More than 20 Experiential Learning course options are available, including such titles as \u201cPeople Development,\u201d \u201cSocial Sector Solutions,\u201d and \u201cHedge Fund Strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Students can follow an Area of Emphasis<\/strong> to take advantage of a full suite of resources in a certain subject or design a set of electives to meet their needs. The nearly dozen available Areas of Emphasis include Real Estate, Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable and Impact Finance. Alternatively, students can take advantage of one of the many multi-disciplinary institutes that leverage the resources across the university, such as the Energy Institute at Haas<\/strong>, the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program<\/strong>, the Fisher Center for Real Estate + Urban Economics<\/strong>, and the Institute for Business & Social Impact<\/strong>, which encompasses both the Center for Responsible Business<\/strong> and the Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The popular \u201cLean Launchpad\u201d and \u201cSocial Lean Launchpad\u201d courses are intended for students who are interested in launching a company and offer a rapid-pace, hands-on experience in what the process entails. In \u201cLean Launchpad,\u201d students work in teams to discuss and test each aspect of a company and how it would meet customer interest, while venture capitalists from the area visit class to hear the students\u2019 ideas. \u201cSocial Lean Launchpad\u201d follows the same methodology but focuses on social ventures.

    A Haas student and former Stratus client highlighted the \u201cOperations\u201d class with Professor Terry Taylor as a favorite. \u201cThis class gave me a behind-the-scenes look at how some of the most important businesses are run. The cases are very diverse, and the simulations really help cement the concepts. It\u2019s extremely engaging even in a virtual environment,\u201d the student said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cOne of my favorite courses has been \u2018Strategic Brand Management\u2019 with Bill Pearce,\u201d another student told us. \u201cHe was the CMO of Taco Bell and a marketing director at Procter & Gamble and does a really good job of bringing in his real-world experience into the class material.\u201d A Stratus counselor and Haas graduate said, \u201cMy favorite class\/experiential learning opportunity was International Business Development (IBD). It is a course that you need to apply to be a part of, and you spend one semester doing research on your topic and country and then spend three weeks in the country working with a local organization. I worked on a team of five in Bangladesh with the leading telecom operator in the country. It was the single most international experience of my life to date\u2014and I\u2019ve now lived abroad!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Extracurriculars at Haas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Haas has an extremely student-driven culture. If you see an opportunity for a new club or extracurricular activity, you are empowered to find like-minded individuals to get it started! A perfect example is the LAUNCH Accelerator<\/strong>, which was born in 1999 as the Haas Business Plan Competition. LAUNCH has grown into a university-wide program and has accelerated more than 250 companies to date. Competition to enter the program is intense, as more than 100 applications are submitted each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are no classes on Fridays, but students can attend the Consumption Functions<\/strong>, often sponsored by one of the clubs. These happy hour events provide the opportunity to catch up with classmates, friends, and family. Some Consumption Functions have themes; for example, the Black Business Student Association has hosted one to celebrate Black History Month. On weekends, students can hike in the Berkeley hills or Marin County with the Redwoods@Haas<\/strong> outdoors club or enjoy wine tastings in Napa and Sonoma with the Haas Wine Club<\/strong>. A Haas student and former Stratus client told us, \u201cThanks to its location, Berkeley has a plethora of outdoor activities\u2014kayaking, hiking, biking, yoga. We\u2019re also pretty close to Tahoe and Yosemite, so it\u2019s fairly easy to zip away for a ski weekend. I also host a cocktail making and tasting session with another classmate, which has been a fun way to test out our creativity and meet new people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Giving back is also a large part of the Haas experience, whether through Challenge for Charity<\/strong>, which brings together nine West Coast business schools for a friendly competition to collect funds for charity, or boost@BerkeleyHaas<\/strong>, which supports underserved high school students. Additionally, during each winter break, students can take either global or career-related treks with fellow classmates.
    A Haas student and former Stratus client mentioned the Story Salon<\/strong> as one of their favorite events on campus. \u201cThis is a regular event where students give 30-minute speeches that describe some deeply personal moment of their lives that sometimes their significant others didn\u2019t even know about prior. It\u2019s been humbling to learn about the rich inner lives of other people that would normally walk by without thinking about. I\u2019m regularly moved to tears by hearing my classmates\u2019 inspirational stories and defining life moments,\u201d the student said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Learn how Stratus\u2019 team approach can get you into Berkeley Haas. Start with a <\/strong>FREE consultation <\/strong><\/a>with an admissions specialist today!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Haas Notable Professors and Classes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Cameron Anderson<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Anderson teaches organizational behavior at Haas and also serves as the Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Chair in Leadership and Communication II. His research interests include team dynamics, the psychology of power, and status hierarchies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Anderson, who has been at Haas since 2005, teaches such courses as \u201cPower and Politics in Organizations\u201d and \u201cNegotiations and Conflict Resolution.\u201d He has received several teaching awards for his work, including the Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Terry Taylor<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Taylor teaches the popular \u201cOperations Management\u201d elective course at Haas. His teaching methods have earned him two Earl F. Cheit Awards for Excellence in Teaching, and outside the classroom, he serves as a departmental or associate editor for the journals Production and Operations Management<\/em>, Management Science<\/em>, and Operations Research<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Beyond operations management, Professor Taylor focuses his research on such topics as supply chain management, social responsibility in operations management, and on-demand service platforms. He is the Milton W. Terrill Chaired Professor of Business Administration at Haas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Juliana Schroeder<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Schroeder joined Haas in 2015 and has since been appointed the Harold Furst Chair in Management Philosophy & Values and the Barbara and Gerson Bakar Faculty Fellow. She also holds appointments at UC Berkeley\u2019s Social Psychology Department, Cognition Department, and Center for Human-Compatible AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Schroeder is particularly interested in social interactions, social inferences, and the influence of others, and her research has been included in such publications as The New York Times<\/em> and the Harvard Business Review<\/em>. She co-founded the Psychology of Technology Institute, which supports scientific research on the psychological consequences of technological advancements. Professor Schroeder is a recipient of numerous awards within and outside Haas, among them the Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching and the International Social Cognition Network Early Career Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Impact Startup Disco<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Situated near the startup hub of Silicon Valley, Haas is known for its strong entrepreneurial offerings. The \u201cImpact Startup Disco\u201d is a one-weekend course intended to help entrepreneurial-minded students meet and brainstorm together. Students are asked to submit a business idea approximately a week before the class takes place, and students vote on the best ideas to move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Both full-time MBA and evening\/weekend MBA students are welcome to take part in the \u201cImpact Startup Disco\u201d course, as are all other Berkeley graduate students, and a similar event has been hosted for undergraduate students in the past. \u201cPrevious students have said Impact Startup Disco is one of the most worthwhile and memorable courses they have taken through Haas,\u201d the course syllabus notes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Lean LaunchPad<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The \u201cLean Launchpad\u201d course is one of Haas\u2019s Applied Innovation offerings. The goal of the course is to \u201c[expose students] to all of the pressures and demands of the real world in an early stage start-up,\u201d as the school\u2019s website says, and by getting students to test nine aspects of their business model in various settings outside the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Each student team presents their findings\u2014including the original hypotheses, the issues they came across, and the problem-solving techniques that they used\u2014to the faculty at the end of each week. \u201cThis course reshaped my approach to starting a business and taught me to \u2018do\u2019 my way through problems, instead of \u2018think\u2019 through them,\u201d a past \u201cLean Launchpad\u201d student once commented on the Haas website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Haas Statistics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Class Profile (Class of 2026)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Class Size:<\/strong> 295
    Average Work Experience:<\/strong> 5.6 years
    Average Undergraduate GPA:<\/strong> 3.65
    Women:<\/strong> 42%
    U.S. Minorities:<\/strong> 51%
    Underrepresented Minorities<\/strong>: 29%
    International Citizenship:<\/strong> 38%
    Countries Represented<\/strong>: 35
    LGBTQ+<\/strong>: 19%
    Veterans<\/strong>: 7%

    Average GMAT:<\/strong> 730
    Middle 80% GMAT Range:<\/strong> 690-760
    Average GMAT Focus<\/strong>: 660
    Middle 80% GMAT Focus Range<\/strong>: 615\u2013675
    Average GRE Verbal:<\/strong> 161
    Middle 80% GRE Verbal Range<\/strong>: 155\u2013168
    Average GRE Quant:<\/strong> 162
    Middle 80% GRE Quant Range<\/strong>: 154\u2013167<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Career Placement (Industries, Class of 2024)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n