Pearls of wisdom from former Haas MBA admissions reader

Jon Cheng did his MBA at Berkeley Haas, where he worked as an Admissions Evaluator, assessing applications to the Haas MBA program. During this time, he saw how many strong applicants got turned down, and that’s when he identified his passion: To help applicants present their best and truest selves to the admissions committee. His unique storytelling ability, refined in his marketing and journalism career, has helped his clients get into top schools including MIT Sloan, Kellogg, Tuck, Columbia and Stern.
In our most recent video, “Q&A with Former Haas Admissions Reader”, Jon demystifies Berkeley Haas, gives off-the-cuff advice on Harvard, Kellogg, Booth, Tuck and Fuqua MBA applications, and shares his thoughts about current trends in the business school world.
The questions:
00:00 - Introduction
02:08 - How do you apply your admissions experience when working with applicants?
03:09 - What are some of the key traits that you look for in an MBA applicant?
05:53 - What if an applicant's ambitions don't match their profile?
07:36 - What did you like and dislike about Berkeley Haas?
09:49 - Can you give an example of a story about a defining leadership principle?
11:28 - What's something that could improve at Berkeley Haas?
12:44 - Can you give an example of someone who didn't get the most out of their MBA, and why?
14:20 - Walk us through your application process and how you leverage the team?
17:20 - Can you tell us about the trends you're seeing in MBA admissions?
18:51 - How do you perceive the different top American business schools?
19:57 - What are your thoughts on Tuck?
21:02 - What are your thoughts on HBS?
22:53 - What are your thoughts on Kellogg?
24:29 - What are your thoughts on Duke Fuqua?
25:12 - What are your thoughts on Booth?