More and more we hear from applicants who are interested in real estate. Haas Real Estate features a Real Estate program to prepare students for “career paths such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), real estate operating companies, real estate developers, financial institutions, investment banks, consulting firms, and e-commerce startups.”

The program combines analytics and field experience, and students can focus on financial analysis, real estate finance and securitization, project development, and e-commerce strategies. There are specific real estate courses (using lecture and case methods) as well as student initiated projects and exposure to industry leaders.

Of course there are also opportunities for internships, competitions, and a Real Estate Club. Nancy Wallace, chair of the Haas Real Estate Group, said in a recent BusinessWeek.Com feature, “[Students] don’t just set up Excel spreadsheets and run numbers…They understand that where you put the door on the loading docks and how you use the [construction] site all matters.” Further, the article says that Haas offers specialized career placement services for students on the real estate track.

If you are in New York, save the date! Stacy Blackman Consuting will participate in Manhattan GMAT’s first ever Admissions Consultant Panel at their New York center. The panel will take place at 7:00 PM -9:00 PM on August 23. More details to come!

The Financial Times published an article that provides insight into the impact that Dean Harker had on Wharton, his philosophy on business school education (work hard, play less) and his well publicized stand against the business school rankings. The article lists several of his accomplishments as Dean – rasing close to $500 million for the school, bringing on 20 additional members of the faculty, opening up the San Francsico campus “Wharton West”. For those of you interested in Wharton, it’s an interesting read and helps to demonstrate how Dean Harker is leaving Wharton a stronger institution than it was when he arrived. Dean designate Tom Robertson takes office on August 1.

Here are the Haas Essays!

Supplemental Questions:

1) If you have not provided a letter of recommendation from your current supervisor, please explain; otherwise, enter N/A.
2) List in order of importance all community & professional organizations and extracurricular activities in which you have been involved during or after university studies. Indicate the nature of the activity or organization, dates of involvement, offices held, & average number of hours spent per month.
3) List full-time and part-time jobs held during undergraduate or graduate studies, indicating the employer, job title, employment dates, location, and the number of hours worked per week for each position held prior to the completion of your degree.
4) Please explain all gaps in your employment since earning your university degree.
5) Please identify the course(s) you have taken or intend to take to demonstrate quantitative proficiency. Provide the course name, date, grade if any, and institution at which the course was or will be taken. If you wish, you may discuss other ways in which you have demonstrated strong quantitative abilities.
6) If you have ever been subject to academic discipline, placed on probation, suspended or required to withdraw from any college or university, please explain. If not, please enter N/A. (An affirmative response to this question does not automatically disqualify you from admission.)

Short Answer:

1) If you could have dinner with one individual in the past, present, or future, who would it be and why? (250 word maximum)
2) Tell us about your most significant accomplishment. (250 word maximum)
3) At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. Describe an innovative solution you have created to address a specific challenge. (250 word maximum)
4) What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum)

Required Essays:

1) Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 word maximum)
2) What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? Why do you want an MBA from Berkeley at this point in your career? (1000 word maximum)

Optional Essays:

1) (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 word maximum)
2) (Optional) If you wish to be considered for the Haas Achievement Award (for individuals who have achieved success in spite of significant economic, educational, health-related and/or other obstacles), please use this space to address the obstacles you have overcome. (750 word maximum)

Reapplication

We strongly recommend that you submit a statement outlining how you have improved your candidacy since your last application, as the Admissions Committee will be looking for substantive change in your qualifications. You can use the optional essay question to provide this information. In addition, you are encouraged to submit one or two new letters of recommendation.

Although there is no restriction on the length of your response, most applicants use, on average, 500 words for each essay. There are no right or wrong answers. Please double-space your response.

Essay 1 – Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)

Essay 2 – Tuck defines leadership as “inspiring others to strive and enabling them to accomplish great things.” We believe great things and great leadership can be accomplished in pursuit of business and societal goals. Describe a time when you exercised such leadership. Discuss the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What characteristics helped you to be effective, and what areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better leader?

Essay 3 – Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did you address it? What have you learned from it?

Essay 4 – Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?

Essay 5 – Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application.

Reapplicant Essay – How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally.

About.com recently featured a posting on top MBA application mistakes citing representatives from Ross, McCombs, NYU Stern, and Chicago.

Here’s a quick list of top mistakes:
1. Submitting generic essays
While there are certainly opportunities to leverage essays from school to school (for example HBS‘s mistake essay and Wharton‘s failure essay), you need to careful to answer the specific question each school is asking.

2. Neglecting to research schools
Schools need to know why you want to get an MBA, and it is equally important to explain why each specific school is the right fit for you. See our essays tips for Chicago, Wharton, and Stanford for more tips on how to answer these types of essay questions.

3. Not thinking through career goals
You need to articulate how you have prepared through your career to seek an MBA at this time. See our essay tips on Wharton to address discussing your career path.

4. Trying to be someone else in order to impress the admissions committee
As we stressed in the Wharton essay tips, follow Wharton‘s advice to “be yourself.”