[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #3802

To: gbiron

---

Hi Everyone,

I would like to join Gur's warm words.

Feel free to trouble us, whether you're coming to Chicago or just interested

and one of us (yes yes 15 of us) will be more than happy helping you out :)

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3734

To: רונית

---

Hi Ronit,

I think you are a bit confused regarding what is an LLM, JSD degrees and what are MBA degrees.

MBA is only a business degree where the others are Law degrees.

you need to understand what exactly are you looking for:)

Assaf

PS- you can always do a duel degree

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3697

To: omri

---

Hi Omri,

Chicago offer a full loan (up to $125,000) without a co-signer

hope it helps

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: גיבוי 2 #3667

To: motti_sh

---

I actually took the GMAX course and loved it

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Europe #3633

To: rancito1

---

I am actually going to study in AGSM (if you can really call it study) over the winter (summer there) as part of an exchange program they have with University of Chicago- so you can contact me regarding it, and If I can't help you directly I can refer you to some students from there

hope it helps

Assaf

[email protected]

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3623

To: AlanO

---

Alan my man,

Glad to hear you're alive- sorry it didn't work with the bad guys- we don't like them anyway :)

stay cool and if you're in NY give me a call 312 909 9967

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3619

To: egeg

---

Chicago and Kellogg are private schools so it doesn't really matter

it matters only in public schools- maybe for Michigan :)

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3613

To: neti

---

Hi Neta,

Lots of people are career changers, some are as "radical" changers as yourself, In my class in Chicago we have a former actor, iron man competitor, opera singer etc'

You can actually twist your experience and say you are interested in working for a large media company- we have people from class working for Disney, Sony entertainment, MTV, and many more

or work in a bank or consulting company in the media division- or just change completly- don't worry too much about it- just make sure your story for the application is consistent and have logic

hope it helps

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3523

To: greenfeld

---

Boaz is a Chicago alum as well as Frenkel and many others

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3463

To: gbiron

---

I don't know why he said so

from reading applications I am telling you "it is not important" – focus on the application essays

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3411

To: nate77

---

Hi Nate,

I think the best method would be to enter the IIMBA.org website

and look at the moderator page (under contact us or something)

there is a list of students that are just waiting to be called upon

hope it helps

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3243

To: gbiron

---

Hi man,

Our email will be changed (and its actually working now) to

[email protected] so start using this one it would make life easier on you

from [email protected]

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #3227

To: rl_7

---

Hi Roni,

The school is indeed sending a resume book to employers

but you should ask the employers to send you the book this is not something the students have

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #3187

To: dudy

---

I would also add:

1) Private Equity Lab

2) One of the biggest Business plan competitions

3) GSB vs' Kellogg olympics

and many more

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #3167

To: dudy

---

Dudy,

I suggest you'll take a look at the begining of the thread where I already answered these questions.

If you'll want more in depth answers regarding specific topics let me know

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #3147

To: dudy

---

Hi Dudi,

Firstly, I think there should be no problems with your "lack" of business experience, since the military service is considered business experience, especially since you served there for a long time and currently holds the rank of Major. There are quite a few Full time soldiers in school (check out the armed forces group website ) it is just a matter of transforming your military experiences to the business world format of leading, manging, researching etc'

Secondly, all of the business schools are huge in career changing, hardly anyone is coming to school as X and stays in that profession, Chicago is a great place to place unbranded individuals at the most branded places. The fact that the curriculum is flexible just let you reinforce a specific field you are interested in BEFORE the interviews- for instance if you are into Investment Banking- you can take accounting, M&A accounting, Financial Statement analysis, Investments, Corporate Finance and cases in financial managment before you take marketing, operations etc'- so you WILL BE READY for you interviews.

I believe it is very difficult to find a good VC job post graduation without previous experience in the sector, the Private Equity Lab course in Chicago had helped many students getting placements in VC funds (mostly in the Midwest region)

hope it helps

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: שאל את ארינגו: תהליך הקבלה #3117

To: rl_7

---

Hi,

I thought I will take a stab at this question and give my 2 cents biased opinion.

For finance you have 3 major schools (although they differ a bit between themselves in what areas and functions of finance they focus on) they are Wharton, Chicago and Columbia.

All of the schools are very international in their focus and have a great name in Europe:

Wharton- Joint program with Insead

Columbia- just look at their website + program with LBS (If I am not mistaken)

Chicago- Their own campus in Barcelona with a big executive program (and tons of alumni there)

Now my 2 cents on Chicago- I personally know (and experienced it first hand) that European companies value US education very much, the thing is that top European companies or US companies in Europe (banks and consulting companies) wish to diversify their work force and not just recruit from Insead, LBS, LSE and maybe IMD. I participated in the Eurotrek and saw the welcoming attitude of these corporation first hand. Moreover, a huge portion of my class mates now work in Europe, mostly in London ranging from Goldman and MS, McKinsey and BCG to Diageo and P&G with no problems (maybe it is even an easier route to take).

Now for general management- this is going to be a bit of an academic answer so I apologize in advance- for over a century there are two main Business school teaching disciplines:

The Harvard version- which is based on cases and less of in depth education, but more on the classmates.

The Chicago version- based on fundementals, the idea is to give the student a thorough understanding of the business pillars so he could later apply them as he see fit through his career.

All the other schools where in the middle between these two approaches and even in Chicago, almost half of my classes were case based and in HBS you have enough lecture time now so it is not definite- why am I telling you lot this mambo. I just wanted to point out that after a year in Chicago, I truely believe this is an amazing general management school (although when someone just "scan" the school it is not percieved this way) and many of my classmates came to school for a general management concentration (the 3rd most popular after Finance and Entrepreneurship) becuase of the amazing level of teaching that the school gives you.

As always- I and the rest of the students would be more than happy to answer questions and assist people who are interested in the school.

After a year I am really happy with my decision and the experience is WAY better than what I initially imagined.

Assaf

[email protected]

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #2926

To: All

---

Hi newly admit, students and alumni

I thought of arranging a nice get together in NY on the 12th of June

I thought we'd go and grab some drinks in a cool NY bar to mark

the begining of the summer.

If anyone is in NY at that time – please shoot me an email now

to [email protected]

so I could see how many people are around

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון: התקבלת? אנא עדכן #2912

To: All

---

An important issue

Hi all admitted students – please sign in the IIMBA.org

website under our network so we would extend our database and could remain in touch before you're living abroad

thanks

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #2909

To: All

---

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know that another Israeli (and a good personal friend)

was just admitted to the GSB

that bring us to a record of 14 admitted students and 12 that are actually coming – well done all for the great work

For the future applicants- now you have something to strive for- we are (as always) more than willing to help you out

Assaf

PS- this is a good place to congratulate Guy Weltsch on the amazing admittance to HBS in R3- just to show to everyone that everything is possible- WELL DONE MAN

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #2910

To: All

---

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know that another Israeli (and a good personal friend)

was just admitted to the GSB

that bring us to a record of 14 admitted students and 12 that are actually coming – well done all for the great work

For the future applicants- now you have something to strive for- we are (as always) more than willing to help you out

Assaf

PS- this is a good place to congratulate Guy Weltsch on the amazing admittance to HBS in R3- just to show to everyone that everything is possible- WELL DONE MAN

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #2901

To: dalit

---

I am going to NY to McKinsey to work in the Corporate Finance and Strategy practice.

overall we had great success in the GSB for the summer

another one is doing I banking in Citigroup

and the third is going to work as a Buy Side analyst for a $25B Invesment Managment company

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #2899

To: All

---

Hi Dalit and all the new comers to the forum,

It is about the time to start taking seriously the application process for next year.

Although me and the other moderators would be doing our summer internships, we will still be checking the forum from time to time and would be more than happy and willing to assist in any questions.

My contacts are [email protected]

feel free to contact me with any questions, thoughts and issues you might have and I'll see how can I help you out

Good luck

hope to see you in the US or Europe next year

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: שאל את ארינגו: תהליך הקבלה #2595

In reply to eshinar from March 18 2004 on 17:50

---

Hi Eyal

you can contact me at [email protected]

and I'll send you the contacts of good friends who did it (Yinnon if you read it and I am not mistaken you also had the same dilema)

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #2405

In reply to gbiron from March 06 2004 on 00:40

---

congrats to all the new admits,

However- I just came from a talk with Don and I honestly believe that more will be joining in the 2nd round

I will be in Israel on the 25th and plan to arrange a dinner to all the new admitted students

well done

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #2262

In reply to Klier from February 24 2004 on 12:26

---

from what I know every bank have the option to issue a "Bank transfer" in Dollars- the comission is quite high if I remember correctly but it's the easiest way (and you're going to pay $120,000 so what is an extra $20)

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #2061

In reply to Anne from February 09 2004 on 01:05

---

Hi Anne,

I am not sure about other places, but I can defintly speak for Chicago

Wait until you August to find a place, there is a lot of Supply (much more than the demand) in the Chicago region, so no need to worry

The best thing to do is to rent a place for a month or so (kind of a sub leasing) or furnished apartments, which cost ~ $1000 a month

This will relax you and will give you the needed time to look for a place you really like with no pressure- when we'll get closer to August I will explain exactly how to find an apartment in Chicago and where (believe me I have plenty of experience in this department)

Hope it helps

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון: התקבלת? אנא עדכן #1872

Hi all the new admitted students,

I wish to launch the IIMBA again for the newly admitted students and for this I need your help

As you know (hopefully) last year we started the IIMBA and we wish to continue to operate it and help as many candidates,applicants and alumni

for this I need your help:

1) I am looking for several people to run the activities from the Israeli side

2) I wish to prepare an updated list of newly admit and follow up on this list and arrange some meetings between the new admits

please send me your contacts (prefered email and prefered phone number) and the school/schools you were admitted to and also are you willing to help the IIMBA

Thanks in advance

Assaf

[email protected]

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון: התקבלת? אנא עדכן #1867

I have no idea regarding this criteria but that's what I know

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון: התקבלת? אנא עדכן #1856

Hi Moshe

I think that the GSB gives $10,000 scholarships to anyone with 760+ GMAT

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון: התקבלת? אנא עדכן #1827

Hi Dani,

I usually do not like to get into the "who has it bigger" but I will pick up the gloves now:

I looked at the Business Week survey at the placement tables and here is what I found:
Chicago GSB:

Firm	Graduates Hired
1. Merrill Lynch	22
2. McKinsey & Company	14
3. Goldman, Sachs & Co	12
4. A.T. Kearney, Inc.	11
5. Credit Suisse First Boston Corp.	11
6. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.	11
7. Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney	10
8. Bear, Stearns & Co.	9
9. Lehman Brothers	9
10. Morgan Stanley	9
11. American Electric Power	8
12. The Boston Consulting Group	8
13. Bain & Company	7
14. Deutsche Bank	7
15. Banc of America Securities; Kraft Foods; UBS Warburg	6

I added companies that hired 4 people:

Abbott Labs 4 Booz•Allen & Hamilton, Inc. 4 Citigroup 4 Deloitte Consulting 4

Duke:

Firm	Graduates Hired
1. Johnson & Johnson	11
2. Merrill Lynch	8
3. Lehman Brothers	6
4. Proctor & Gamble	6
5. IBM	5
6. American Airlines	5
7. Dell Computers	5
8. Capital One	5
9. Deloittte Consulting	4
10. General Motors	4
11. Bear Stearns	4
12. American Express	4
13. Citigroup	4
14. Eli Lilly	4

I think it is quite clear that the GSB is not just a Banking school (although it is very strong there) it is also as strong as Kellogg for instance in the consulting side, add to that a little bit lower average salary and the fact that these surveys are from 2002 and that curret situation is way better I think the answer is quite clear.

Sorry

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון: התקבלת? אנא עדכן #1824

Just looked at the face book and noticed that a 4th Israeli has entered the school

Good job by all- we are on our way to break a all time record

so far 4 Israelis admitted to the GSB

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון: התקבלת? אנא עדכן #1822

Hi Moshe,

Firstly, why is Chicago law school not a possibility for her?

secondly, there are other good universities in Chicago- Loyola and DePaul for instance as well as University of Illinois

Thirdly, I have no idea but we are hoping for ~6-7 admitted students

and yes we are currently 3 Israelis in the 1st year

Lastly, there is a huge question regarding jobs- where is the place that would help you land your dream job- Chicago is very but VERY strong in the job market in particular in the Consulting and I banking side and I think this is a huge factor

send me an email for more specific questions and also I informed Einat on your admittance

well done

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון: התקבלת? אנא עדכן #1817

Hi Moshe,

Congrats, I think there is still chance for 1-2 Israelis to be admitted in the first round in Chicago and that it isn't over yet (we are working hard on the Don front)

Secondly, Chicago DOES NOT have such a bad weather (not that it is great either) it is not very different from the East Coast – if you do not believe me just look at weather.com

The Phrase Windy City- is because of the politcal confrences that were held in town and each time elected a different candidate

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #1766

Yaron,

I completely disagree since this is the whole purpose of these boards and where else could you find an answer for this

Yasmin- please send me an email [email protected]

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Post Admission Forum #1757

In reply to ereman from January 08 2004 on 13:47

---

Hi there,

Firstly, Mazal Tov

Secondly, we have prepared an entire section in the IIMBA.org website to answer these questions

Thirdly, the best thing to do would be to contact current students from your school and ask them these specifics questions, which are very much dependant on where you where admitted (as Dani said)

hope it helps

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: שאל את ארינגו: תהליך הקבלה #1726

In reply to rl_7 from January 04 2004 on 19:09

---

Hi Ronnie,

I think it's Nachshon- look for his contacts in the IIMBA.org under about us

school moderators

enjoy and good luck

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ASK GMAX: GMAT #1708

Hi,

1) The GMAT is Valid for 5 years.

2) ~ 700

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #1701

In reply to sharon_g from December 31 2003 on 17:29

---

I thought I would add a short notion regarding scholarships in Chicago GSB:

In the GSB there are relativly a lot of scholarships- *) 1/3 of the students receive $10,000 scholarship based on high GMAT

*) There are ~ 25 different full scholarships around based on different skills

*) There are many more specific scholarships: entrepreneurship scholarship, accounting, finance, marketing, developed countries etc'

*) During the school year we are being offered (we need to apply) quite a few other scholarships that Alumni are donating, which can be from full 2 years scholarship to several 1000$

Relativly Chicago is quite generous in this aspect – I received several $10,000 scholarship from the school

hope it helps

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #1673

Hi Ronnie,

I would emphasize several points (which I also consider as the GSB storng points):

1) Completly flexible curriculum- there are no must classes to take (Other than LEAD), no specific professor or times – you choose your own path and time- also you can take course in the other UofC schools such as Law classes with Posner etc'

2) World class facutly, most Nobel Laurets in Biz School world wide, and several "contentders" such as Thaler, Fama, Vishny and Murphy.

3) Not as important to say but important to you- a brand new Biz school building that is going to be the largest, best and most advanced in the world that next year's class going to study in (also this years 1st years students).

4) Finance, Entrepreneurship, Accounting, General Managment and Marketing (yes marketing) – there are 7 other concentrations, but the first ones I wrote are the ones the school is most renowned for.

5) Several hands-on and innovative classes- such as LEAD, New Venture Challenge (with $50,000 prize at the end), Small business conluting projects, New Product lab and my favourite Private Equity Lab – in which you are being placed within a PE firm for the semester working there and gaining some experience.

6) From most of points combined there is a unifying message, which I believe to be very important- although Chicago is considered to be a very academic not so friendly enviroment- IT IS SO NOT TRUE, this is where I (as well as the other Israelis) where mistaken the most, because the School have a Grade Non Disclosure Policy and a completely flexible curriculum- there is no competition between students and a lot of the unwasted energy turns to social events such as: TNDC (Thursday night Drinking Club- each Thursday hanging out in a different Pub in Chicago, Golden Gagroyles- an Oscar Like movie competition between Cohorts, LOE (Lead Outdoor Experience) a 3 days camp in the forrests of Wisconsin and many many more events.

hope it helps

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #1669

In reply to Eldad from December 26 2003 on 01:09

---

Hi Eldad,

Hi sugget you'd contact Roie :

University of California – Berkeley (Haas)

Roie Chizik Class of 2005

e-mail: color=#0000ff [email protected]

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #1659

In reply to apeled from December 23 2003 on 18:43

---

What the F#%K are you doing answering emails in the mba chances when you're in Brazil????

enjoy your time and live this board for a while Rafi is taking care of things

A Wand

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Ask Assaf About Chicago #1649

Hi Ronnie,

Firstly I might have some typos since I just came back from 8 days of snowboarding in Whistler with the schools club.

1. I chose Chicago becuase of several general issues: a) I was looking for a campus in a city b) I was looking for a mid-large sized campus

And because of several specific issues: a) A very large alumni base in the PE space, in particular in the Buy-Out area (David Rubinstein the founder of Carlyle, Pete Peterson the founder of Blackstone etc") b) I already studied business and Chicago offers a complete freedom in choosing your curriculum- so if you do not want to go through accounting, micro/macro etc' again- this is defintly the place for you c) I was a VC before and wanted to move to later stages where the concentration is more on the financial apsects of the business and because it is so difficult to enter this field, I wanted the best financial and entrepreneurial managment (investor perspective) program I could find.

2) This is such a BS and so untrue, the campus is very BUT VERY SAFE, it is true that the neighborhood around is not exactly Ramat-Aviv but it is far from dangous- moreover, one of the great things about the GSB is that it has another campus in town and that many students live in town (like me), so it REALLY does not matter to us

hope it helps

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: Europe #1573

Another thing to remember is that most of the time the salaries are also lower and the whole compensation package is below American standard.

The big problem in Europe is that we, as Israelis, can basically work only in London (because of the lanaguage skills) recruiters would always prefer a German to work in Germany over an Israeli.

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #1379

Hi Moati and Mshvartz,

I am also a previous Intel employee – worked for Intel Capital in Azrieli and later in Petach-Tiquwa

If you need some help or guidance let me know

I am currently a student at the University of Chicago GSB

[email protected]

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: גיבוי 2 #1366

In reply to eshinar from November 24 2003

---

Hi eshinar,

I really feel that I need to reply to your email

I am currently a student at the University of Chicago and before I started studying for my GMAT I did an extensive research regarding where to study and everything led to GMAX, where I actually studied and was very impressed with the teachers, the commitment of the place to the students and the amount of accessible materials.

Moreover, for some reason I found that in GMAX a high propotion of the students aim at studying aborad, a fact that pushes you further and act as a great networking place (most of my MBA friends studied at GMAX)

to conclude, I personally disagree with your takes (got 720)

and am familiar with many students who received 680+

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #1274

In reply to stamguy from November 19 2003

---

it's actually worst than that

because 2 of the admitted students in the 2nd round were WL in the first round and not part of the 2nd round

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: ???Any Israeli Applicants #1225

In reply to oriw from November 14 2003

---

go to this link http://www.iimba.org/moderators.asp

from the IIMBA website- under contact us- moderators and you'll find a rep for each school you're interested in

hope it helps

A

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: שאל את ארינגו: תהליך הקבלה #1131

Hi all,

Regarding Wharton Interviews:

from my experience last year- all the Israelis recevied the invitation for the interview

on the same day (last year it was the day before the deadline)

so do not worry (too much)

Assaf

[Assaf Wand]

בתגובה ל: ארכיון 1: שאל את ארינגו: תהליך הקבלה #1077

In reply to Ohadbar1 from October 31 2003

---

Hi Ohad,

Just a thought I have, social/ non for profit entrepreneurs are a very appealing group for Biz schools, and usually they can get away with lower GPA and GMAT

If I were you this would have been my focus in the application, what is very important in this matter is the: Why MBA? Why Now? Why X? because most of the other stories are quite clear.

You should think hard on these matters and keep working in this sector to support such a case, your organization should be substential and the application should support that (by recommenders etc')

hope it helps

Assaf

[מאת]

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