Smith MBA taking questions (Univ. of Maryland)

[Shane]

現在正值MBA申請旺季，想必很多有意念MBA的同學一定對於自己心儀的學校有很多問題想發問。有感於去年申請時從本站受惠許多，所以希望能夠提供一些建議給正為申請頭痛的同學一些想法與建議。

如果版上的朋友對於申請Univ. of Maryland有興趣的話，歡迎寫信給我。

Shane - mho2008@rhsmith.umd.edu
Nicholas - lchen2008@rhsmith.umd.edu

[lightsaber]

Dear Shane,

Smith很強調且很重視"科技",
可以請您分享一下,
在課程設計上是如何與科技做連結的?

謝謝

[robbiechen]

1.從今年的Business week 中看到說Smith 的career service不夠令人滿意請問已經有改善嗎 ?

2.今年的二年級生中,台灣學生都有找到internship嗎 ?

3.去年和最近幾年畢業生中台灣學生的就業狀況如何 ?

謝謝您的回答

[Shane]

To Robbie,

From my understanding, there are five Taiwanese students (including ABC) in Class 2007 and all of them find summer internships. (only 2 of them have their personal issues to deal with thus they did not even bother to find one)

Class 2006 (graduated this year) did a great job in finding FT jobs. We have four people who stay in States now (2 accounting, 1 marketing, 1 finance).

As for the service provided by OCM, personally I think they do a good job. It all depends on your personal attitude. I would suggest that you take the initiative to visit them and they definitely will provide you much information.

Hopefully this might help.

[lchen2008]

Hi lightsaber,

I would first thank you for your interest in the Smith School of Business.
I believe you may have read on the website about the Digital Economy promoted by our school. I would only add on that for two points.

One is about the hardware and software of this school. Smith School is well reputed in good technology and equipments built in the school which provide the MBA students with a convenient learning environment. On top of that, everything from personal LotusNote account, course information, to alumni network is integrated on one portal for your own management.

The other thing is about cultural influence. Students are cultivating the nature of enjoying and utilizing technology in the daily MBA life. For example, currently every Smith MBA candidate is using a Blackberry PDA as a tool of communication,self-management,and especially networking.

Hope this would help. If you have other questions about the Curriculum,please feel free to let us know.

Good luck

Nicholas Chen 12/7

[bear]

Hi robbie

I am current second-year student. This summer four of us all got decent summer intern. (Only one didn't have intern because she traveled in the summer.) From my observation, if you really want to find an intern, everyone can get it via school's resource. In these two years, our career service has improved obviously. They provide so many workshops, corporate presentations, panels, and network events. They aslo offer free consulting service for career, resume polishing, mock interview, etc. Our Taiwan alumni also found very good jobs either in USA or Asia. Therefore, the comments in the business week may be updated.

Hope my answer helps.

Susan

[robbiechen]

Bear, and Shane,

Very helpful information, thank you very much

[lightsaber]

Dear Nicholas,

Thank you very much for sharing!

[yhlin]

Hi!

I got some questions.
1. What is the general possible condition to get the scholarship??
2. What is percentage of students who receive scholarshipt in 2006??
3. Do I have the chance to get a scholarship?? My gmat is 680, working experience is around 5 years and gpa is around 3.3.

[lchen2008]

Hi yhlin,

Thank you for your asking. Regarding your questions:

1.I can't answer this question on behelf of the admission office. But according to my personal understanding,a high GMAT score and a competitive profile (including professional experience) will definately be a plus for winning the scholarship offer.

2.Among the 8 students, 1 was offered Dean's Fellowship and 3 applied and were offered GA(Graduate Assistant) or TA(Teaching Assistant) position.

3. Again,I can't answer this quesion, but I think there's still a good opportunity for you to try. Another issue to consider is that it's a common trend for most of the top MBA programs to offer a high portion of the scholarship awards to prospective students from China. From this standpoint, it would be higher probability to get scholarship from Smith than i.e. from Wharton.

If you have further personal questions about the application, please feel free reply here or e-mail us. Good luck.

Nicholas Chen 12/19

[barkley4]

Hi yhlin

"Just so that you are aware- the base statistical profile for most awards last year began at 660 GMAT, 3.4 gpa, and a minimum of 2 years of work experience. Please keep in mind this was the minimum criteria for most awards. You are not guaranteed an award if you met this criteria. If you do not receive an award and believe you should."

Above is part of email that Smith sent to me. There was the minimum criteria of scholarship for last year. I think that it can help you.

If you have further question, please let us know. We will do our best to help you.

Richard Tsai 12/21

[MarkHsu]

I suggest to make the posts more meaningful...let's talk about specifics:

What companies did graduates/students intern or find full-time positions at? what's the position name? What's the avg. salary?

Everybody's going to claim their school is the best, but obviously not all schools are equal.

As a favor to Taiwan, let's cut the BS everybody.

[Shane]

To Mark,

We are here to share some of our past experience and try to solve some general problems that applicants may face. The way you responded was rude and totally distorted our goodwill.

As for some specific questions, like entry position or entry salary, Office of Career Management will definitely maintain more complete information. If applicants really need that, we will try to get that information and tell them.

We just want to make our stance clear and we are volunteer to help. Please don't misjudge us!

Shane

[MarkHsu]

Welcome to the real world.

My point is that everyone is trying to sell their school, but let's back it up with facts. Enough of the brochure talk.

I know for a fact that there are a ton of people who would re-do their MBA if given the opportunity to because they were either misled or mis-informed about what an MBA can do for you.

Maryland is a fine school as with many schools in the US, but the honest truth is that from a Taiwanese perspective, the degree may not be worth more than an MBA from NTU or NCCU.

So yeah, I am challenging you to defend your school.

[raikennon]

請問M先生,妳的動機是什麼呢?
的確,在資訊不對稱的情況下,我們很難了解每一間MBA的優缺點,或是未來的就業情況.
但就因為這樣,我們更需要台灣校友為自己的學校做介紹,讓我們更了解學校.
版主今天的用意也是如此,他沒有"營利"目的的為大家解答問題,難道我們還要否定他嗎?每一個人念MBA有他的動機有他的需求有他的目標,並不是top10就一定能夠滿足他們要的,而且也不是每個人都想進IB,或是去當consultant.
只要能夠了解自己要的,並且了解學校的課程安排和優缺點,找到適合自己的學校,即使不是TOP10,對他來說,念MBA還是一筆值得的投資.