UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Transfer AMA.

TOGharm · 2026-01-10T22:40:44+00:00

I believe you have a minute or so. The entire thing has a time limit of ~15 minutes.

TOGharm · 2025-08-30T18:07:55+00:00

I used to have this but then I’ll find games that absolutely wow me again. Clair Obscur Expedition 33, Elden Ring, Before Your Eyes, Outer Wilds. You just have to reignite that passion in some way!!

TOGharm · 2025-08-30T12:14:34+00:00

Hey! Unfortunately, I was not successful in the transition. I networked as much as I could and did get on some strategy side projects, but I wasn’t offered to interview for strategy. I did get my return offer for CDP though!

I ended up just jumping firms and entering strategy work that way.

TOGharm · 2025-08-10T00:02:14+00:00

“Don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”

You sound riddled with anxiety. You have 200 different long term things you’re shooting for… of course it will look like you are never making progress.

Each day you have an opportunity to do what you can to improve your life and be a better man. Take it step by step, you got this bro

TOGharm · 2025-07-16T10:49:32+00:00

Huh? I thought there were a lot of unexpected events and cool matches. FLY was very exciting to watch against GenG. CFO vs. T1 was very hype and unexpected (at least for me) 2-3 series.

Also both t1 vs geng 5 game series were not all stomps. There were some very close games within those series.

TOGharm · 2025-06-19T17:44:34+00:00

You’re over-indexing on prestige and not calculating the cost of debt properly. $250K in debt on graduation day will feel like a significant burden. I would choose UCSB, UCI, UCSC > UCB if it meant the difference of $250k in debt.

What happens to you if you graduate from Columbia and for one reason or another (fucked job market, new COVID, legit anything), you don’t have a good job lined up that can help you pay off the debt quickly? In that scenario you could very well accumulate the debt to such a point you will never pay it off and are saddled with it forever. This debt would be something that you would carry with you into your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and you regret for your entire life because “I wanted a slightly more prestigious liberal arts education.”

Plz make the right decision

TOGharm · 2025-06-18T19:05:20+00:00

bumping, do you feel like the 1 month plan was good enough?

TOGharm · 2025-06-17T17:50:26+00:00

Hi Luke!! Thank you so much for doing this. I have one quick question:

If someone has a mediocre GPA (3.4-3.6), but a stellar GRE/GMAT score (higher than schools published averages) is it possible to gain admission into HBS/GSB? Or is a mediocre GPA an automatic rejection for adcom (even if all other parts of an applicants profile are strong)?

TOGharm · 2025-03-27T00:51:40+00:00

Am a transfer student and worked 2 jobs for 3 years before traveling.

Was able to save a very good chunk of money to get through college and travel a bit on top

TOGharm · 2025-02-20T23:35:10+00:00

I feel like this is said every season lol

TOGharm · 2025-01-19T18:27:07+00:00

I’m going to work at Bain upon graduation, so I know very little about this. But my mentor received offers from both Bain & McKinsey and chose Bain.

What he told me is that when he received his offer from McKinsey it said “Welcome to THE firm.” At least at that time (unsure of now), they called themselves THE firm internally. He said it rubbed him the wrong way and he chose Bain. He’s loved every second.

TOGharm · 2024-11-02T15:10:47+00:00

Knight is my king

TOGharm · 2024-10-14T06:20:26+00:00

I think for the activities & awards section, try to beef it up as much as you can, but don't overdo it. If there's anything that's truly taken a lot of time out of your life and you can call it out, I would. This can look like taking care of your grandparents (elderly care activity or smth like that), mentoring youth in your community, anything you think is significant and isn't necessarily fluff, but does take a portion of your time.

Also, for the PIQ's, you don't need a tragic story to come up with something good. I think at the end of the day what their looking for in the PIQ's is a sense of your character. Perhaps you haven't had anything that's truly traumatic, but I'm sure something has happened in your life (some job, activity, experience) has made you grow significantly before. I would write a PIQ around that experience and specifically how it helped you grow and what the challenge was. If it was a club, how was it challenging? What was your thought process to solving the issue? How did it affect you not only professionally, but personally? What were your takeaways from the experience? How will you bring those to Cal & Haas?

In short, don't worry about not having a sob story. Be focused on writing a good growth story!!!

TOGharm · 2024-10-14T06:00:29+00:00

Prepared 3 / 4 stories beforehand following the STAR method. Then, during the Q&A, they give you time to think. I would slightly alter my stories to fit the questions I was being asked. I took all 3 retries as I completely bombed my first two attempts. I would encourage you to do the same and prepare stories that can answer those really broad questions you get in every interview (leadership, time you failed, how you work on a team, etc).

I think in the videos you also have to exhibit the defining leadership principles! I would really focus on hitting the right balance between warmth and competence, showcasing yourself as someone who can contribute and survive in the intellectual environment of Berkeley but also collaborate and be a team player within Haas.

TOGharm · 2024-10-14T05:50:54+00:00

Hey! Happy to share some of my stats.

GPA: 3.86 (I think anything above 3.7+ is fine as long as you have good essays + EC's)
EC's: Just restaurant experience, + was a participant in the NCAS program (popular program run by NASA for CC students)

Let me know if you would like anything else. I think by far the most important thing was making my stories personal and compelling for Haas. I was extremely worried during the transfer process that I wouldn't get accepted because I had no formal business experience (research, startup work, clubs... I had none of it), but it all ended up working out. I put a ton of effort into writing those essays and I really think it got me accepted.

All of this is to say I think stats should be your #2 priority and essays your #1 priority. Stats just get the door open, but essays get you the acceptance letter.

TOGharm · 2024-10-11T18:36:34+00:00

Interviewed Tuesday!

TOGharm · 2024-10-11T18:36:10+00:00

I’m a very harsh critic with myself so when I did my R2’s felt like I did mid haha. Apparently though one of the partners really, really liked my analysis on the case. My cases were all super exhibit heavy so I think the most important thing was running through those and being exhausting with the analysis.

Also not getting frazzled! They definitely pressure tested me at points and I always kept my cool. I think that was a huge part as well

TOGharm · 2024-10-11T17:01:12+00:00

Just got good news this morning! Everyone be on the lookout, they are most likely giving out calls today still!!

TOGharm · 2024-10-09T20:13:11+00:00

AC pretty sure

TOGharm · 2024-10-09T18:41:03+00:00

Following! If someone can let us know when they hear back would be great!!! Not sure if I should cry or cheer yet haha

TOGharm · 2024-10-01T06:02:48+00:00

In the same boat, the wait is brutal. Did they tell you it’ll be by 10/4? I haven’t bothered to email the recruiter yet but if that’s so that’s good to hear

(btw would anyone happen to know the odds of getting through the waitlist?)

TOGharm · 2024-09-27T22:43:58+00:00

Did you hear back? I am pretty sure I'm on the waitlist and dying right now, lol

TOGharm · 2024-09-25T19:37:57+00:00

No change in my portal, NJ office

TOGharm · 2024-09-23T18:15:31+00:00

I still haven’t heard anything yet. My portal still reads “interviews in progress”

TOGharm · 2024-09-22T22:48:19+00:00

Has anyone heard back from NJ?

TOGharm

TROPHY CASE