Hey, I am a first year Smeal MBA student. Last yr, after applying to 12 schools and being accepted by 11 top schools, i decided to join PennState. Having gone thru the entire admissions grilling, i am here to help prospective studen…
Hey,
I am a first year Smeal MBA student.
Last yr, after applying to 12 schools and being accepted by 11 top schools, i decided to join PennState.
Having gone thru the entire admissions grilling, i am here to help prospective students applying to universities abroad.
Let me know, if you need any help/ info on Smeal or in the application process in general.
hi desigirl....
first of all, CONGRATS on getting urself admitted to the SMEAL school. 
its a gr8 initiative taken by u to help prospective candidates.
I have a few questions.
1) what's ur profile. if u cud share that it'd be of immense help.
2) what were the other schools u app to???
3) what was it abt smeal that interested u most?
4) how did u manage ur funds?
ill be taking my gmat probably by the march 07. ill be apping to top coll by the end of 2007 yr. by that time i would have had arnd 2.5 yrs of experience. Smeal is surely on my top list. It'd be great if i cud get into that coll.
thanks in advance,
wow thats really really great ... to be accepted in 11/12 .... which were the univs u applied for and after what time of submitting the application u heard from the school...
as for me i have applied to olin and simon but not heard from them till now 😞
Hi there,
I have applied to Smeal and have am scheduled for an interview with them on 10th Jan, 2007. Any tips from you on telephonic interview questions for Penn State wud be of gr8 help.... :)
And congratulations on having a 92% call conversion ratio!!
Thanks in advance,
Ricky
Hi there,
I have applied to Smeal and have am scheduled for an interview with them on 10th Jan, 2007. Any tips from you on telephonic interview questions for Penn State wud be of gr8 help.... :)
And congratulations on having a 92% call conversion ratio!!
Thanks in advance,
Ricky
I had my interview a couple of days back with the Smeal admissions committee. It was a very good conversation. Pretty informal and very straightforward. My tip would be to just be yourself and the interview will unfold itself very well.
Good luck !
Cheers
Hey there,
It would be gr8 if u cud share some of the actual interview questions with us...
Thanks,
Ricky
Hey there,
It would be gr8 if u cud share some of the actual interview questions with us...
Thanks,
Ricky
My conversation lasted around 40 mins and it ranged around the topics such as leadership skills/style/instances from my professional life, best/worst experiences at work, why mba, why smeal specifically among the other schools that you applied to. Most of the questions were around my professional experiences and the discussion was pretty informal and also two-sided (in the sense that we were discussing my admission application rather than they putting questions forward to me). At the end of the day, i would say that your interest in the school should show well in your conversation with good support from your background/application. You should get to know almost everything there is to know about Smeal. That will help a lot. Also be very much yourself. That will be your final clincher, i think.
Best of luck!!
My conversation lasted around 40 mins and it ranged around the topics such as leadership skills/style/instances from my professional life, best/worst experiences at work, why mba, why smeal specifically among the other schools that you applied to. Most of the questions were around my professional experiences and the discussion was pretty informal and also two-sided (in the sense that we were discussing my admission application rather than they putting questions forward to me). At the end of the day, i would say that your interest in the school should show well in your conversation with good support from your background/application. You should get to know almost everything there is to know about Smeal. That will help a lot. Also be very much yourself. That will be your final clincher, i think.
Best of luck!!
I got an offer from Smeal this weekend. Let me know if you need any further inputs from me.
Cheers!
Folks,
I got an admit from Smeal with complete tuition waiver and a GA stipend of 700 $ a month . I am really thrilled as this is the first application and consequently an admit too. But still am considering as I have heard some mixed opinions on Smeal. Essentially, the career prospects aint that great and
the infrastructure seems to still lack a few aspects.
Please comment and discuss your views on this and help me make a decision
INTERVIEW : Questions were all typical - why mba, discuss your career progression, why smeal, leadership and team work experiences, goals .
Key aspect - be yourself, it is very informal and they give you every chance to be selected.
My profile : GMAT - 750, good acads, 3 yr work-ex.
Considering ISB, Cambridge and Ivey
Folks,
I got an admit from Smeal with complete tuition waiver and a GA stipend of 700 $ a month . I am really thrilled as this is the first application and consequently an admit too. But still am considering as I have heard some mixed opinions on Smeal. Essentially, the career prospects aint that great and
the infrastructure seems to still lack a few aspects.
Please comment and discuss your views on this and help me make a decision
INTERVIEW : Questions were all typical - why mba, discuss your career progression, why smeal, leadership and team work experiences, goals .
Key aspect - be yourself, it is very informal and they give you every chance to be selected.
My profile : GMAT - 750, good acads, 3 yr work-ex.
Considering ISB, Cambridge and Ivey
Hey Raju,
Congrats!!
Did you have any specific targets for your major,etc when you applied to Smeal ? I had applied because they are ranked pretty well in scm which i was interested in (even though their overall rankings may not be under the top 30)
Did they communicate both the admit offer and the schol offer simulataneously to you ? I just got the admit offer a few days back but am hesitating because I didn't receive any scholarship offers. Do they offer schols after one accepts the offer ? Would you know ?
cheers!
I got an offer from Smeal this weekend. Let me know if you need any further inputs from me.
Cheers!
Hi birdfree,
I had interviewed with Smeal on 20th December. Could you please tell me your profile? I haven't yet heard from them so I'm really nervous....
Hi birdfree,
I had interviewed with Smeal on 20th December. Could you please tell me your profile? I haven't yet heard from them so I'm really nervous....
Relax... I gave my intw on the same day... 20th Dec... still waiting for a decision mail...
Whats ur profile?
Hi birdfree,
I had interviewed with Smeal on 20th December. Could you please tell me your profile? I haven't yet heard from them so I'm really nervous....
Since you interviewed on 20th, your app-package must have started getting looked over mainly in jan 2007 (due to the winter vacation period). As far as I know, they are still working on the entering class. Most probably they will be sending out many of the decisions by early Feb (maybe sometime around the 2nd app-deadline) . So no point in getting nervous. Just hold on for some more time. My profile - acads: btech-iit, decent gpa, 8.5 yrs of work-ex in IT(2 mnc companies), extra-currics: avg, gmat/toefl: 670/114
In the meantime, you should try to attend the events that are being organized by the adcom. Its a chance to interact with them and show that you are interested in their program. Check out their website for future events. There had been a chat event recently(specially for answering intl students' queries) with the adcom staff and some current MBA students, which I found was very helpful.
Good luck.
Hi Desigirl,
A wierd thing happened to me for the PennState interview ..... I got confused wether PA lies in EST or CST and reached hoem 1 late for the telephonic interview (Given the home landline) ....... 😞
However the admission team was quick to re-schedule my interview , I am worried about he impact this incident will have on the selection chances .....
The concerned person told me this happens frequently with the international Candidates .... did you came across any of such incident from the admitted class ???
Thanks for your reply .....
Hey puys
I am a round 2 applicant to Smeal.. I had my interview in early Feb.. and am waiting for a decision...
The questions were pretty much on the lines of what has already been posted...
congrats to ppl who have already made it...!!!
is there anyone else who applied for R2 ??
all the best to everyone still waiting for decisions... 
cheers .. :satisfie:
Hi Desigirl,
A wierd thing happened to me for the PennState interview ..... I got confused wether PA lies in EST or CST and reached hoem 1 late for the telephonic interview (Given the home landline) ....... 😞
However the admission team was quick to re-schedule my interview, I am worried about he impact this incident will have on the selection chances .....
The concerned person told me this happens frequently with the international Candidates .... did you came across any of such incident from the admitted class ???
Thanks for your reply .....
Hello
First of All...Congratulations for getting an interview with Smeal....No the timeconfusion blunder will not affect your chances....it is very common error made by international students and the ADCOM undersands that....I dont think that will impact their decision....BTW how did ur interview go?
Folks,
I got an admit from Smeal with complete tuition waiver and a GA stipend of 700 $ a month . I am really thrilled as this is the first application and consequently an admit too. But still am considering as I have heard some mixed opinions on Smeal. Essentially, the career prospects aint that great and
the infrastructure seems to still lack a few aspects.
Please comment and discuss your views on this and help me make a decision
INTERVIEW : Questions were all typical - why mba, discuss your career progression, why smeal, leadership and team work experiences, goals .
Key aspect - be yourself, it is very informal and they give you every chance to be selected.
My profile : GMAT - 750, good acads, 3 yr work-ex.
Considering ISB, Cambridge and Ivey
Hello Raju,
Congratulations on your admit. I am glad that you have so many good options to choose from. I myself had 11 admits last year and so I do understand that this must be an excting and a difficult phase for you. let me know if I can answer any specific questions about Smeal....about placements and infrastucture....well we have had excellent placements with 100% international students placed with profiles of their choice.....Smeal infrastructure is worrld clas nd considered to be better than most univs here....
BTW....wht field do youw ant to get into?
Hey mba_desigirl,
It is really encouraging to know that the placements were 100% this time,but having said that can u pls give approx average salaries?
I am interested in strategy consulting and would be glad if u can tel me what job prospects are offered by smeal in that area? I have pretty much made up my mind for Smeal, just concerned about the placements. How are the internship opportunities?
Also, can you tell me if it is possible to finish the program earlier than 21 months by any chance?
Hello Raju,
Congratulations on your admit. I am glad that you have so many good options to choose from. I myself had 11 admits last year and so I do understand that this must be an excting and a difficult phase for you. let me know if I can answer any specific questions about Smeal....about placements and infrastucture....well we have had excellent placements with 100% international students placed with profiles of their choice.....Smeal infrastructure is worrld clas nd considered to be better than most univs here....
BTW....wht field do youw ant to get into?
BTW how did ur interview go?
Thanks desigirl,
The interview was good.:) It lasted for 40-45 minutes ..... all aspects of my application like why MBA, WHY Smeal, what in MBA, strengths, weaknesses, long term plan, short term plan, current job, career progression so far, personal leadership style, etc., was discussed ...
I would only say that the interview was fantastic if I can get a admit with schol based on that