Calling all Owen Vanderbilt MBA Applicants:(2017 Intake) Class of 2019

I can help with application reviews. IM me for help.

I'm a first year student, would be happy to answer any questions any of you might have. Specifically about my experience so far, the community, the people, etc. I'll be busy with Mod I, so it may take a few days to respond, but feel free to message me with any questions you might have going through the app process.

Same goes for me. If anyone has any questions let me know. i am flying all over and am busy but when I get free time I will reply. I really like helping the next generation of Owenites.

It may sound like a really generic question, and one you might have answered a number of times, but with the options you had in terms of the schools you applied to, what made the Vanderbilt offer more appealing? The curriculum? The location? The scholarship (I'd be grateful if you can share what kind of scholarship(s) you received)?

I'm currently preparing my R2 application for Vanderbilt (taking into consideration the Diversity Scholarship offer), and would like to know more about Vanderbilt should be my top school.

Hope to hear back.

For sure. It may not be generic but everyone asks that. I wrote a long synopsis a while back you could probably search for. So my scholarship offers were 100% at Unc and Vanderbilt, ~80% at Tepper, 10% at Cornell and a goose egg at DUKE. It came down to Vanderbilt and Duke. The rest really fall into the same category. I wanted to end up in the SE and wanted to do IB. Knowing those two things Vanderbilt was the best option because of the money. The biggest thing here is the community and environment you learn in. It is very different from the others I visited. Duke is the most stuck up environment ever. Tepper is a bit nerdy. Cornell was cool but Ithaca (just no). UNC and Vanderbilt are similar for MBA but you get the Vanderbilt prestige effect because of the undergrad. (do not underestimate this effect) I would say i have no regrets and am very happy. If you get into a M7 or Standford you should probably go but not definitely. If you want to do only MBB and nothing else and you get in to MBB go. Otherwise the recruiting and connections at Vanderbilt are plenty. Lots of banks come most consulting firms come. But the atmosphere is the best no question. You can hang with the dean, lunch with professors (world class proffs) The finance staff is off the charts. oh and Nashville crushes pretty much every other MBA city. Durham Ithaca Nashville . So to answer your questions in summary. money was an large motivator but not the biggest. The curriculum are pretty similar everywhere. Professors are awesome. The city is the best ever. The prestige of the university as a whole is world class. (just wait until you say i go to Vanderbilt for a masters and people think you are super smart). Recruiting is awesome.

I am very impressed by the current students wanting to return to this forum to help out the next batch of applicants.

I believe I will be applying R1. Good luck everyone.

mbanerd I may give you a shout as I get a little further down the road of the application process.

Hope I can make it to Owen Round 1. Will need your help for sure. Thanks all.

Just curious, what made Duke seem so stuck up and pretentious? How was recruiting for IB, did people who wanted internships get them?

Thanks for doing this, says a lot about a program when a student/alumni is willing to put effort into helping out strangers on the internet.

All, I am a current first-year student as well, and I'm willing to answer any questions anyone has.

If you can somehow get down to Nashville in November for Discover weekend-- I highly recommend it. Owen is best experienced firsthand.

I'm thinking of coming round during the first week of December, ahead of submitting my R2 application.

I've also booked an "Evaluation Session" with Vanderbilt for the first week of December, does anyone know what this process is like?

Separately, I met up with an Admissions Officer this past weekend, I hope my coming around in December would add "some points to my application"

Hey AdeSNC,

I don't know much about the Evaluation Sessions, so I can't speak to those. I will say that visiting will help your application only as much as you find a "fit" at Owen. If visiting helps you to realize that the culture, people, structure, academics, etc. make Owen the place you really want to be (which I hope it does), then you can really make that realization come alive in your essays and interview. Likewise, if the Owen team can sense that you are genuinely excited about the opportunity of coming to Owen and that you will enjoy the collaborative/tight-knit community culture, they will likely feel you have the qualitative "fit" factor as well.

Hey Floridian,

Thanks for the honest advice. I'm currently working on my GMAT; it appears I have to push towards the 700+ range,as I have a CGPA (converted from 5pt) of about 3.14.

I'm really excited about the school and the location, and over the few months, it's gotten to "cult status"...it's almost worrying! :D

But as I mentioned earlier, I'm working very hard on my GMAT because I really need to push not only for an acceptance, but a really good scholarship; as an international in a country currently going through a recession, I'm currently faced with a major currency devaluation effect (to USD) on my earnings. The admissions adviser I met up with last weekend mentioned that a high percentage of students receive near 50% of their tuition (over the two years), how true is that?

Duke is a great school. But, people there just seem like they think they are better than other people. I can't really explain it you just have to see for yourself. A lot of people I have met have the same sentiment about Duke. But, other people say that it isn't an issue. I will say that I wanted to go to Duke since I was 3 and gave up the opportunity because of the culture I felt.

IB recruiting. IB recruiting is strong. My class had 13 people go to banking and most had multiple offers. I have 5 buddies in Charlotte that are there full time. The firms come and we have a growing presence on the street. If you want to do southern IB (which pays the same as NY) Owen is probably one of the top schools. I would say us UNC and Duke send the most and probably us and UNC send the most to the south. There are also people going to NY. In the last 3 years we have a few citi, a few at Deutsche, a few at Credit, Houlihan Lockey, Normura and one a year at Goldman. For the south we are core at Wells, Suntrust, Pipper Jaffray, DCF (Deliotte) , BoA that's pretty much the top southern firms. If you put the work in and go to the info sessions you should be fine. I need to stress put the work in... It doesn't matter what school you are coming from if you don't put the work in you won't get a job in IB.

That is true i think average is around 40% for the school. It has the highest of any T25 school historically. As far as coming for a visit. While it is very important and seals the deal for most people it isn't necessary if it will cause you financial hardship. I think as long as you are in contact with admissions and show interest other than just applying you will be fine. I will say if you are from South America or Central America it is a little easier to get in to schools than if you are Indian. For any Indians it's not an insult you guys are just too smart. Hope this helps.

Hey AdeSNC,

I don't know much about the Evaluation Sessions, so I can't speak to those. I will say that visiting will help your application only as much as you find a "fit" at Owen. If visiting helps you to realize that the culture, people, structure, academics, etc. make Owen the place you really want to be (which I hope it does), then you can really make that realization come alive in your essays and interview. Likewise, if the Owen team can sense that you are genuinely excited about the opportunity of coming to Owen and that you will enjoy the collaborative/tight-knit community culture, they will likely feel you have the qualitative "fit" factor as well.[/quote]

Hey Floridian,

Thanks for the honest advice. I'm currently working on my GMAT; it appears I have to push towards the 700+ range,as I have a CGPA (converted from 5pt) of about 3.14.

I'm really excited about the school and the location, and over the few months, it's gotten to "cult status"...it's almost worrying! :D

But as I mentioned earlier, I'm working very hard on my GMAT because I really need to push not only for an acceptance, but a really good scholarship; as an international in a country currently going through a recession, I'm currently faced with a major currency devaluation effect (to USD) on my earnings. The admissions adviser I met up with last weekend mentioned that a high percentage of students receive near 50% of their tuition (over the two years), how true is that?[/quote]

That is true i think average is around 40% for the school. It has the highest of any T25 school historically. As far as coming for a visit. While it is very important and seals the deal for most people it isn't necessary if it will cause you financial hardship. I think as long as you are in contact with admissions and show interest other than just applying you will be fine. I will say if you are from South America or Central America it is a little easier to get in to schools than if you are Indian. For any Indians it's not an insult you guys are just too smart. Hope this helps.[/quote]

Thanks for the update. I'm from West Africa- not a very large contingent at Vanderbilt however (:?), that aside, the December trip is pre-planned, seeing family in the US, so meeting up at Vanderbilt would be possible.

I hope to meet up with some current students in-class or over coffee.

Thanks for your response! I'm not particularly interested in IB but I just wanted to know because there seems to be a correlation between top schools and IB recruiting. Could you tell us about how Nashville is? I will probably do a visit around December so I can get a better feel for Vanderbilt and Nashville but everything seems great from what i've been reading.

Nashville is the best!!!!! Seriously, I don't think there is a better city to get a MBA in for the money. Don't get me wrong NY, Boston, San Fran, LA are awesome but Nashville is as good for half the price. It is the largest place for bachelorette parties in the country.... so that kind speaks to the fun. There is a ton of hiking, awesome weather, a growing economy and a lot of young people. The food scene is pretty good. SEC sports are fun and broadway turns into a mad house when teams come in. If I missed something someone else jump in.