Why Haas?

I got asked this questions many times. It's a fair question since 2 years is indeed a lot of commitment both in terms of time and money. Here is my honest answer:

What made the choice easier for me was that McKinsey sponsored my study with the right/obligation to work for them for 2 years after I graduate. As such, I did not to worry too much about financing my MBA. My motivation for obtaining an MBA was driven more by the desire to explore things. I wanted a diverse yet rather laid-back environment as oppose to programs that focus primarily on a particular area such as finance or marketing. In short, I viewed my business school more of an opportunity to find out more about myself rather than making a career switch like many of my classmates.

So far I am very satisfied with my choice as Haas is indeed a very diverse school. More people want to go to management consulting or corporate strategy for the big tech companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon , EBay, Microsoft etc but non-profit, corporate social responsibility and entrepreneurship attracts almost as much attention. I really enjoy being surrounded in this environment because I got to explore different things before I decided I want to focus on finance/investment banking. And that's exactly what I did during fall A: I went to company presentations/career treks, joined a variety of clubs, participated different types of case competitions and talked to many 2nd years about their summer experience. In the process of searching what I wanted, I came to understand more about myself. I found myself more result-oriented, structured, practical, risk-adverse, driven and hardworking than some of my classmates. Therefore I decided perhaps I could try investment banking as my summer as it requires the characteristics I mentioned above. After a month of interviewing, I was fortunate to receive a summer offer from a prestigeous invement bank even though Haas is not preceived as a strong finance school as some other programs.

My conclusion? Haas is an ideal place for people who are not sure what they wanted to do after business school as it provides a tremendous amount of options and opportunities. (Esp. if you want to stay in the Silicon Valley after MBA) However, it's up to you to explore where you will find fit and then do the very best you can to get it. A very wise ex-colleague of mine told me that no one else's definition of success matters. Haas is the ideal place for you to define your own success.