Meet The Berkeley Haas MBA Class Of 2021

Median starting salaries for the Berkeley Haas Class of 2019 jumped to $140K from $125K, where they had been for four straight years. Total compensation rose to more than $162K, an 11.5% increase over 2018. File photo

NOT AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS

Now, Mubagwa is venturing into a new sector. During school, he will be launching his solar energy startup in Africa. To be successful, Mubagway believed he needed to enhance his operational know-how and sharpen his ability to pitch prospective investors. “I believe an MBA will broaden my network through the relationships I’ll build with peers, mentors, teachers, and professionals while providing the highest quality of education taught by leaders in their respective fields.”

For Una Kim, business school serves as a platform to spark her creativity and test out new ideas. “Given the nature of client services, it can be difficult to take really big risks consistently throughout a project,” she admits. “I had ample opportunities to master the core consulting skills and was ready to go back to a safe classroom-learning environment where no idea is too crazy and we are both expected to take risks and encouraged to go off the beaten path.”

Not surprisingly, Kim embraces “Question the Status Quo” among Haas’ Defining Principles. It was a popular choice among the Class of 2021, whose career breakthroughs often started from skeptically asking “why.” That includes Kendall Bills, a gender studies major who struck out on her own in 2016 as a strategy consultant. “As someone from a non-traditional background, I’m experiencing “beginner’s mind,” at the outset of business school, for better and for worse. Questioning what’s accepted can make for slower going, but often leads to better results.”

GO WHERE YOUR “BLOOD BEATS”

Tech is back up for Berkeley Haas MBAs, but a trio of other industries are down in the latest employment report. UC-Berkeley photo

More than that, it is a mindset – an impulse that simply can’t be turned on or shut off, adds Holly Cramer. “In the communications class at orientation, the professor read us a quote by James Baldwin that says, “You have to go the way your blood beats.” My classmates and I aren’t afraid to have our blood beat in a new direction.”

That beat – that promise, passion, and purpose – often leads students to think and act beyond themselves, another popular Defining Principle among the Class of 2021. Beyond Yourself reflects a sense of optimism, a belief that lasting change is possible with courage and commitment. It is an infectious energy, a spirit that advances the collective over the individual and the greater good over immediate gratification – and one that resonates deeply with Maritza Urquiza, a Stanford grad who worked in the California Department of Finance.

“When I reflect on my professional and academic journey, I think about all the people who supported and advised me through various challenges. I believe that I have both the power and responsibility to pay it forward while also challenging the deeply-rooted structural issues that have led to present-day inequities.”

NEVER STOP LEARNING

The root of humility is a desire to learn more and perform better, being open to change and unafraid to improve. The Students Always principle revolves around this universal desire to tap into one’s potential and become so much more. For Chukwunalu Akpati, a banker from Nigeria, this never-ending pursuit of growth is the secret to a career that results in impact and well-being.

“The world is brimming with learning opportunities,” he observes. “By having the outlook of a student, we open ourselves to tremendous possibilities for personal growth and discovery. I believe that by being students always, we develop a mindset that allows the other leadership principles to flourish.”

Along with Confidence Without Attitude, these principles express the ideals – and rules of engagement – for the Haas MBA community. When questions and uncertainties arise, these Defining Principles guide the path forward. This approach naturally invites suspicion. These regular referrals back to the principles make the school ripe for parody. Count Akonkwa Mubagwa among the skeptics. He traveled from Belgium to Berkeley specifically to learn if the Defining Leadership Principles were just window-dressing.

San Francisco is just 25 minutes from the Berkeley campus.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see how much the students I met embodied those values through the way they carried themselves, how they answered my questions, and the way they helped me with the application process and made me feel part of the community,” he shares.

UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS DOUBLE IN 2021 CLASS

As a whole, U.C.-Berkeley is home to 43,200 students, including 11,800 graduate students. It also ranks as the 2nd-best public undergraduate university according to U.S. News. Despite this, Haas is the smallest Top 10 MBA program with 283 full-time students. While smaller is sometimes associated with fewer opportunities, that isn’t the case at Haas according to Bosun Adebaki, a 2019 P&Q Best & Brightest MBA. “What Haas may lack in student numbers, it more than makes up for in student and alumni engagement. Time-and-time again, Haas MBAs go above-and-beyond to help their classmates build their professional networks and connect with prospective employers.”

That same glass-half-full mindset could apply to applications, which fell by nearly 10% during the 2018-2019 cycle. Disappointing, but the decline is far better than those that afflicted culture-driven programs like Dartmouth Tuck (-22.5%), Yale SOM (-15.6%) and Duke Fuqua (-14.6%) – not to mention in-state rival UCLA Anderson (-17.7%). While the school’s acceptance rate rose five points to 17.7% – the program is far more exclusive than public peers like Michigan Ross or North Carolina Kenan-Flagler.

That said, the average GMAT score did slip a point to 725, with average GPA coming in at 3.67. GRE verbal and quant scores reached 162 and 161 respectively. On the plus side, the percentage of underrepresented minorities in the class doubled to 14% over the previous year. At the same time, the percentage of international students inched up to 35%. However, this progress was offset, to an extent, to the percentage of women falling from 43% to 37% in the Class of 2021.

“We’re looking very closely at all of our data to get a better sense of what’s happened,” Pete Johnson told P&Q in September. “We were, as you know, one of the first schools to go above 40% in the percentage of women in our class. And we bopped around that number for the past few years, and this year in terms of women they were 40% of our applicant pool and 43% of the offers of admission that we made.”

HAAS GRADS IN DEMAND

Academically, Engineering replaced Economics as the top undergraduate major for the Class of 2021. Engineering backgrounds account for 19% of the class (up three points), followed by Economics at 15% (down six points). Business held steady at 11%, though it technically ties Engineering when Finance’s 8% share is added. The percentage of Humanities majors also jumped from 7% to 11%. By the same token, the percentage of Social Science majors dropped from 14% to 9%. Combined, Natural Sciences and Math majors make up another 10% of the class. In terms of professional experience, Finance and Consulting each holds 20% of the class seats. Technology backgrounds rose five points to 15%, followed by Nonprofits (11%), Military (6%), Healthcare (5%), Consumer Products (5%), Energy (4%), and Government (3%).

New UC-Berkeley Haas Dean Ann Harrison, right, and former Dean Laura Tyson discussing the school’s past, present, and future during a “fireside chat” February 5 on the school’s campus. Harrison became dean January 2. YouTube

Come graduation, employers will be welcoming the Class of 2021 with open arms…if past classes are any indication. This year’s graduates, for example, notched $140,000 median bases starting out, a big increase over the $125,000 bases that graduates had been landing in each of the past four years. A higher percentage of the 2019 Class also landed signing bonuses, resulting in overall pay jumping from $145,448 to $162,147. How appetizing are Haas graduates in the marketplace? Over the past five years, the percentage of graduates receiving stock options has risen from 30% to 46%. According to 2019 Forbes data, Haas MBAs can expect to see their pay increase by $74,900 over the next five years too!

It has been a historic year for Berkeley Haas. In January, Ann Harrison replaced Laura Tyson as dean of the Haas School, making Haas the only Top 10 business school to be led by two women. In July, the school hired Dr. David Porter as its chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. His job: working with students, faculty, and staff to boost underrepresented populations in the school and create a more equitable culture at the school. Last month, the school announced that it had become STEM-designated for all of its MBA programs, retroactive to 2018. The move enables international graduates on F-1 VISAs to stay in the United States for 36 months instead of 12 – increasing their odds of landing long-term positions in the United States.

That’s just the start. This fall, P&Q reached out to Peter Johnson, assistant dean of the full-time MBA program and admissions, to learn more about new developments at the program, along with the benefits of its career center, Bay Area location, and newly-opened Chou Hall. This is what Johnson had to say about what current MBA students and future applicants can expect from the program.

To read profiles of a dozen Haas first-years, go to page 3. 

To read our exclusive Q&A with assistant dean Peter Johnson, go to Page 3. 

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