Hello everyone, I am Mohit, a first year MBA student at the University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business and am starting this thread to answer any questions you might have about the school and our experience here so far. It has been a d…
Hello everyone,
I am Mohit, a first year MBA student at the University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business and am starting this thread to answer any questions you might have about the school and our experience here so far. It has been a dramatic 5 months here in South Bend with us having to live with the worst economic conditions for our internship search, another gloomy season of ND football and fears of an early winter looming large.
Amongst all this, I know it's an even tougher decision for some of you guys whether to go for an MBA right now. My personal and candid opinion is that with a Top 20 BW ranking and the substantial scholarships* that Notre Dame offers to most admitted candidates, it should offer an awesome ROI.
Let's get the ball rolling, shoot any questions you have. If you have any specific ones, you may address them to any of the other 1st years according to their industrial background:
1. Vineet (Finance Tech)
2. Lalit Bansal (Consulting)
3. Suvrat Dhanorkar (Operations)
4. Mohit Kapoor (Finance)
Good luck with your applications**.
* We are not allowed to disclose the exact scholarship amount
** Second Application deadline: 19th Jan
Thanks a tonne guys! You're really a god-sent!
I received an admit to fall 2009 2-year MBA at Notre Dame in R1 and am currently trying to decide whether to take the plunge at this time.
I needed your inputs on a few things..
How's it like living at Notre Dame?
Are there any particular things to watch out for esp. being Asian/Indian?
How are students(more so international ones) at Notre Dame coping with the placement situation?
Thanks for this initiative...
nj
Nj,
First of all congratulations for your admit.
1. How's it like living at Notre Dame?
As you might be already aware, Notre Dame is located at South Bend, not the busiest of towns here in the US. Nevertheless, its a nice, scenic place with lots of hang out and partying places over the weekend. Though most of the first years stay on campus for an year, living is pretty inexpensive if you stay off campus.
Also, people are very helpful(adcom, MBA staff, Alumni, other students) and you shouldn't have any sort of problem in making the transition. The weather is on the extreme side but frankly, we haven't had any sort of problem coping with it. Let us know in case you need any specific info on this.
2. Are there any particular things to watch out for esp. being Asian/Indian?
The strength of the Indian community is not too strong but we haven't faced any problem in that regard.
3. How are students(more so international ones) at Notre Dame coping with the placement situation?
Placement situation in the whole of US is pretty gloomy, even in the top-10 ones. Frankly, it ain't gonna change much in '09 but by the time you guys look for your internship and particularly full-time, in my opinion, recruiters would turn bullish again as the cyclical economic trends suggest.
As far as internationals and other Indians coping with it is concerned, we know its gonna be really tough making a career shift at this point, so we are on the lookout of all options on hand such as International opportunities, Off-campus, Non-profit, Alumni relations and more. And since the peak recruiting season for internships is Jan-Mar so optimism is the name of the game for now.
Hope i answered your questions, let us know in case you need any specifics.
Mohit,
What were the reasons for you to choose Notre Dame over the other options you may have considered?
I mean, from your perspective, what would be the most significant positives and negatives about Notre Dame?
There are a lot of us at the crossroads right now and inputs from your end should really go a long way in helping us out. Thank you so very much!
nj
According to me, the positives of Notre Dame are:
+ Smaller, more cohesive batch results in lesser competition from peers (batch of approx 140)
+ Easier transition to US
+ High ROI
+ You can still network and try getting into the any of the top companies. Notre Dame alumni is one of the largest in terms of nos. and those guys are very mch willing to help out.
+ Low cost of living even on-campus
+ Good quality education, faculty as I indicated earlier has consistently got an excellent rating
+ Close proximity to Chicago(90 miles) which is the hub for fin companies.
+ The university has an excellent reputation and is very well known in the US, more because of top-3 undergrad ranking.
Negatives
- You got to put in a lot of sweat and work out your way to secure a job, especially being an international student
- Big brand name companies do not come on campus
- Location is not too great, you would have to spend some moolah visiting career fairs n all.
- The finance and net-impact club is very active and organize some great events, others should follow suit.
According to me, the positives of Notre Dame are:
+ Smaller, more cohesive batch results in lesser competition from peers (batch of approx 140)
+ Easier transition to US
+ High ROI
+ You can still network and try getting into the any of the top companies. Notre Dame alumni is one of the largest in terms of nos. and those guys are very mch willing to help out.
+ Low cost of living even on-campus
+ Good quality education, faculty as I indicated earlier has consistently got an excellent rating
+ Close proximity to Chicago(90 miles) which is the hub for fin companies.
+ The university has an excellent reputation and is very well known in the US, more because of top-3 undergrad ranking.
Negatives
- You got to put in a lot of sweat and work out your way to secure a job, especially being an international student
- Big brand name companies do not come on campus
- Location is not too great, you would have to spend some moolah visiting career fairs n all.
- The finance and net-impact club is very active and organize some great events, others should follow suit.
Hi Mohit,
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I am also an admit to ND MBA 2009. My aim is to get into Strategy Consulting. I have a 730 GMAT, excellent undergrad acads and 5 years of IT experience. How tough it is to get into a top MC firm such as Deloitte, BCG, Bain, Monitor or McKinsey with an ND MBA. I realize that none of these firms come to campus to recruit MBA's other than Deloitte. Is it possible to join these firms using alumni connections. Can I get a first round interview call? I know after the first round, success or failure is in my hands. But my worry is to get a first round call. Do you know first years or second years who have joined these firms as an intern or full time? What is their opinion about the ND MBA name with the top consulting firms?
The job search is my only worry. Otherwise, many elements of ND MBA such as community, class size, brand name and excellent profs have attracted me.
-mbacracker
Mbacracker,
As far as ND is concerned, you would get an opportunity to network with all these firms as we did, when they come on-campus to recruit the undergraduates. Plus there are some career fairs organized by the university too where you can network with all the top consulting firms you listed, but frankly, the odds of getting shortlisted arent too great unless of course you have extraordinary achievements to boast of on your resume. As far as consulting is concerned, there are a few other firms that I know of, that hire on-campus such as IBM, FTI consulting and Bearing point.
Regarding your question about Alums who have gotten into such companies, I haven't networked with any as my focus is Finance at the moment. However, I can try to get hold of some and put you in touch with them once school reopens on the 12th.
One candid bit of advice: Though your profile looks pretty strong, you would still have good amount of difficulty getting an interview invite from these companies in any of the top-10 B-schools too because of your low GMAT. This might sound strange to you, but my experience and that of some of my friends in other schools tells that typically these firms require 750+ scores, which are in fat not uncommon to find these days. If these companies are really your dream companies, you might wanna consider taking the GMAT again, and more importantly, maintain a 3.8+ GPA in whatever school you decide to go to.
Hope this helps, feel free reach out again in case you have any other questions.
Hi mohit,
i am looking forward to apply in ND-MBA in round 2.
my brief profile:
gmat-670/4.5
work ex - 21 months in IT then 10 months of professional experience of doing intra-day trading in Chicago board of trade.
i want to do major in finance.
how good is ND for finance and how much chance do I stand to get scholarship(if i get a call)?
i mean in general how many people get scholarship and upto what amount?
thanks,
anuj
Anuj,
As indicated in my first post here, we have signed an honor code which compels us not to disclose the exact scholarship amount. However, I can assure you that the same is pretty substantial and almost every international gets some form of merit based fellowship, which may be upto a full tuition waiver as well.
I would judge a school's strength in Finance in 2 areas:
1. Faculty: ND has one of the best all-round faculty, particularly the profs for Finance and Strategy
2. Placements: The story a couple of years bck was completely different and almost everyone got placed in the field they wanted to get into. As far as the current placements go, unless there is a significant turnaround in economic activity, Fin placements are expected to suffer the most. Again, I reiterate that this is the story of almost every b-school in the US right now.
With your trading experience, I am sure you would have made some contacts in Chicago(around 2.5 hrs from SBN) and if you can leverage those together with the ND alumni network, it would be a big plus.
Hope this answers your questions.
Good luck.
Mohit
Hi Mohit,
Thanks a ton for this inititiative. Just wanted to confirm whether we require to send the proof of statements and other supplemental form with submission of online application.
BR,
Pooja
Hi Mohit,
Thanks a ton for this inititiative. Just wanted to confirm whether we require to send the proof of statements and other supplemental form with submission of online application.
BR,
Pooja
Hi Pooja,
I am an admit to ND MBA 2009. There is no need to send the proof of statements now. You can send them after receiving an admit. I did not send them when I first applied. You need to send the original transcripts, essays, recos and other supplemental material (not mandatory though) such as any award certificates, etc.
Regards,
mbacracker
ur right, you'd hav to show the financial proofs of only the amount of tuition+living-scholarship ..so u may send it whenever you decide to get the I-20 frm the school
pooja, good luck with your application
good work!
Mbacracker,
As far as ND is concerned, you would get an opportunity to network with all these firms as we did, when they come on-campus to recruit the undergraduates. Plus there are some career fairs organized by the university too where you can network with all the top consulting firms you listed, but frankly, the odds of getting shortlisted arent too great unless of course you have extraordinary achievements to boast of on your resume. As far as consulting is concerned, there are a few other firms that I know of, that hire on-campus such as IBM, FTI consulting and Bearing point.
Regarding your question about Alums who have gotten into such companies, I haven't networked with any as my focus is Finance at the moment. However, I can try to get hold of some and put you in touch with them once school reopens on the 12th.
One candid bit of advice: Though your profile looks pretty strong, you would still have good amount of difficulty getting an interview invite from these companies in any of the top-10 B-schools too because of your low GMAT. This might sound strange to you, but my experience and that of some of my friends in other schools tells that typically these firms require 750+ scores, which are in fat not uncommon to find these days. If these companies are really your dream companies, you might wanna consider taking the GMAT again, and more importantly, maintain a 3.8+ GPA in whatever school you decide to go to.
Hope this helps, feel free reach out again in case you have any other questions.
hi,
I read your response and couldn't really get this.
Based on my research and campus visits and also info from my brother who is doing his MBA from Berkeley i don't think companies get access to the GMAT scores. I also hear that most ivy league colleges have a policy not to even display candidate GPA's to recruiting firms. Also recruiting based on GMAT really sounds funny..
Is this the case with Notre Dame ??
hi,
I read your response and couldn't really get this.
Based on my research and campus visits and also info from my brother who is doing his MBA from Berkeley i don't think companies get access to the GMAT scores. I also hear that most ivy league colleges have a policy not to even display candidate GPA's to recruiting firms. Also recruiting based on GMAT really sounds funny..
Is this the case with Notre Dame ??
It is true that in top 10 schools, companies are asked not to enquire students GMAT and GPA. But many schools allow students to specify GMAT above 700 and info like Dean's Fellowship Recipient and Member of Dean's Liset, etc. which shows that you are in the top of the class. If you do off-campus interviews, almost all major consulting firms ask for GMAT and GPA. Infact, I heard from some students that many consulting firms give equal importance to undergrad GPA and MBA GPA.
Hi, My question is to Suvrat Dhanorkar. I have perceived that the American industry prefers local students for marketing jobs. I would like to know if it is true specifically in the case of marketing research.
Thank you.
Actually that depends.. i know of a couple of ivy schools in which although these companies did not ask fr GMAT and GPA, almost evrybdy hd it on dr resume n d point is dat if u stand out by nt doin so, things look fishy.. GMAT is the only standardized test dat cn differentiate one from the other.. hence, acc to me it makes perfect sense to take dat into account while filtering candidates fr d first round of interviews.. Again, extending it to say dat recruiting is based on GMAT is not appropriate.. of course GPA plays a major role as well..
and as far as ND is concerned, i kw dat a lot of ppl do report dr scores, d repercussions of u not doing so seem pretty obvious to me..
Actually that depends.. i know of a couple of ivy schools in which although these companies did not ask fr GMAT and GPA, almost evrybdy hd it on dr resume n d point is dat if u stand out by nt doin so, things look fishy.. GMAT is the only standardized test dat cn differentiate one from the other.. hence, acc to me it makes perfect sense to take dat into account while filtering candidates fr d first round of interviews.. Again, extending it to say dat recruiting is based on GMAT is not appropriate.. of course GPA plays a major role as well..
and as far as ND is concerned, i kw dat a lot of ppl do report dr scores, d repercussions of u not doing so seem pretty obvious to me..
Repercussions will be obvious for sure.
The Major confusion is the validity of the statement here.
I have seen the resumes of current students at Berkeley which are posted for recruiters. I see that NONE has mentioned GMAT score, around 40 % mentioned GPA and again none mentioned undergrad GPA. Also i notice that since the resume has to be of one page, it is really hard to fit your experience and accomplishments, extra curr on one page. Hence mentioning your GMAT which though being a "standardized test" does not reflect your management skills and hence makes no sense to be highlighted for a job.
So i guess its a matter of what you have to portray as your accomplishment. If your CAT rank while getting into engineering or your undergrad or grad GPA are the only things you have achieved till now, makes more sense to highlight those. BUT WILL IT HELP IN GETTING A JOB not sure as all you are highlighting is acads which might work in INDIA but not sure it works in US.
Again, I too have access to a couple of Resume books and a lot of people do mention their GMAT, so guess it varies from school to school. Also, consulting firms do look at management experience but in addition, they look for good academic standing.
PM me if you want to discuss this with people from other schools, I can certainly try putting you in touch with them.
Gud luck