The MBA Insider's Blog

Come join us for Access Anderson on Nov. 27

If you plan to be in Los Angeles next Tuesday evening, Nov. 27, please join us on campus for Access Anderson -- an insightful and stimulating evening of conversation about our MBA program.

In this one evening, Anderson alumni and students will come together to show applicants our compelling nature. The event will include a short presentation by our senior officials followed by a networking reception. To learn more about this unique opportunity or to register please click here.

 

When: Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7:00 PM sharp (arrive early to get a good seat!)

Where: Korn Hall, UCLA Anderson campus

 

We look forward to meeting you soon!

 

- MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office

Thanksgiving Holiday Schedule

Our offices will be closed this Thursday and Friday November 22th and 23th in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. We want to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend in the company of family and friends.

 

- MBA Admissions and Financial Aid

 

A few FAQs from the road

I've recently had the pleasure of chatting with prospective candidates at The MBA Tour fairs in New York, Boston and Washington DC. It's always interesting to see the types of questions that pop up at these events, and I thought I would post a few FAQs that seem to be on people's minds at this stage in the admissions process.

Q. When is the best time for me to visit campus?

A.  Prospective candidates are welcome to visit campus at any time of the year. Thanks to our lovely LA weather, the UCLA campus is a beautiful place to visit all year round. We hold Group Information Sessions (GIS) on campus year-round. However, if you do have flexibility in your schedule and can visit between mid-October and April, we will have class visits available for you to sign-up for. At the moment, classes are not in session, so it may be best for you to wait until we have some additional offerings for you to get the most out of your campus visit. Schedules for class visits are typically posted in late September/early October, so please keep checking our website for updates.

Q.  Is it to my advantage to apply far in advance of a round deadline?

A.  Our application rounds are not rolling. So, if you decide, for example, you're going to apply for Round 1 (deadline: October 24th), you are at no advantage if you apply on September 1st or October 24th. Admissions officers typically start to review applications after the deadline has passed. However, it might be wise for you to click "submit" a day or two before the deadline just in case you run in to technical problems. Of course, we always recommend that you start working on your application far in advance of the actual round deadline.

Q. Am I at a disadvantage if I'm applying with a non-business undergraduate degree?

A.  UCLA Anderson reviews applications from candidates with all different undergraduate majors. In fact, there isn't really a "typical" degree from which we admit candidates, and we like to have representation from all different backgrounds. For candidates who do not have a lot of quantitative coursework in their degree, we do tend to rely a bit more on the GMAT exam to assess your ability to complete the rigorous quantitative coursework in the first year of the program.

Please be sure to check our events schedule for opportunities to meet our admissions officers in person in a city near you. If we're not in your region this year, don't forget to check out one of our weekly webinars. We're happy to answer any questions you may have about the admissions process and our program! 

UCLA Anderson kicks off the new MBA admissions season

Our MBA application for the 2012-13 admissions cycle will be available beginning August 7, 2012. In the meantime, you can get an early peek at the application requirements on our MBA website.

New Essay Questions
We require just two essays to showcase your character and goals:

• What is your proudest achievement outside the workplace, and how has it impacted you? (700 words maximum)
• What are your short-term and long-term career goals, and how will an MBA from UCLA Anderson specifically help you achieve these goals? (700 words maximum)

New Recommendation Questions
We revised the questions that recommenders answer to help us identify your leadership and managerial potential:

• How strong is the candidate’s focus in terms of being results-oriented, strategically-minded, and career-driven?
• How does the candidate demonstrate leadership, e.g., by creating a vision, motivating others, managing resources, and taking risks?
• How strong are the candidate’s interpersonal skills as shown by their professionalism, teamwork, attitude, and conflict management?
• How effective is the candidate in communicating clearly, eloquently, and confidently (in written and oral form)?
• How does the candidate bring a unique perspective, and contribute to activities outside the workplace?

Updated Events and Website
We posted our complete calendar of events for the coming admissions cycle on our freshly updated website (mba.anderson.ucla.edu). Please visit our site and come meet us at an event near you or online. 

 

Summer updates

Classes are winding down and commencement is just around the corner, but admissions officers never rest - we're busy finalizing our Fall 2012 class and gearing up for the Fall 2013 admissions cycle.  On that note, I wanted to share a few updates with our readers on what's going on over the next several weeks:

- Waitlist:   Currently, the waitlist includes fresh additions from Round 3 as well as applicants still on the waitlist from previous rounds.  We welcome updates to your file as outlined in our waitlist guidelines post (remember all updates are completely optional) and will continue to revisit the waitlist periodically throughout the summer depending on how many spaces open up in the class.  The number of candidates we admit from the waitlist varies from every year; this year in particular, we do not anticipate admitting too many waitlistees as our class is looking quite full at this time.

- On the move: The MBA Admissions & Financial Aid offices are being remodeled over the summer and our staff is temporarily scattered around the Anderson complex until construction is complete.  If you are on campus and need to see us, please go to the Student Affairs office located in Cornell Hall D201 and the front desk staff will assist you.  Our phone number and email address will remain the same during this time.

- Fall 2013 application: The application for Fall 2013 will be available on our website on August 1st; however please check our site regularly for updates on our admissions events schedule and other news, which should be posted in the next few weeks.

Admissions decision release update

Today we will release decisions for our final round's applicants, and update the status of those on our Wait-list too.  This is the fun part where we fill the last seats with a scintillating mix of people, then help the incoming MBA class have a productive summer before school starts.

Our admissions committee will meet to fine-tune the admit batch and Wait-list this morning, and we anticipate releasing decisions right after lunch.

Thank you for your interest in UCLA Anderson during our banner year!

 

Mid-January admissions update

Our office is on the home stretch finalizing Round 1 decisions, and we are also polishing up our iPad screens to gear up for some intense Round 2 file reading.  The next several months are going to be extremely busy for us, especially given that applications for the full-time MBA program are up again this round!  Not only are the numbers looking good, but the quality of the pool continues to impress us, and we're definitely looking forward to meeting more outstanding candidates as we craft the Class of 2014 . 

On that note, here's an update on what our applicants can expect over the next few months:

- Round 1 decisions: The rest of our R1 decisions will be released on the morning of Wednesday, January 25th (Pacific Time).  You can log into your online application for a status update then.  Admitted students will also receive a phone call from the admissions office (or an email if we are unable to reach you).

- Round 2 applications: The vast majority of R2 files will be released to the admissions committee after round 1 decisions are out.  Although the application deadline was a week ago, we want to make sure each R1 application gets adequate evaluation time by the admissions committee before focusing on R2.  Which takes us to our next item...

- Round 2 interviews: Interview invitations will be sent via email starting next month.  We anticipate most will take place throughout February and March, depending on how quickly the admissions committee can evaluate applications.  Please note that R2 is our heaviest round by volume, so even though we will devote our time and resources into file reading, it will still take time to go through each one.  We thank you in advance for your patience through this process!

- Cool happenings: We have some amazing executives coming up on campus this year, such as Vice-Chairman & CEO of McDonald's Corporation Jim Skinner and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki.   Off-campus, faculty member Jim Stengel will be a featured speaker at this year's TED Conference in Long Beach.  Stay tuned on Twitter and Facebook for updates on these and other upcoming events.

Hello 2012!

A happy new year to our readers!  2011 was an exciting year for us with lots of great changes, and 2012 is already off to a wonderful start.  The admissions team was busy reading files throughout the university closure period, and we arrived back in the office today ready to release many more round 1 interview invitations.  We are wrapping up our round 1 files and will continue to invite applicants to interviews over the next few weeks. 

With the Round 2 deadline just about a week away, we're also gearing up for the busiest time of the admissions cycle, as this is typically the round in which we receive the greatest number of applications.  Layer on top of these impending files all of our upcoming admit events, winter admissions events with Inside the MBA and The MBA Tour, plus tons of other ongoing projects and you can see that the life of an admissions officer is never boring.  But hey, that's what we love about this job :)  Remember to check Facebook and Twitter for quick application tips and updates in the days leading up to the deadline.

One last update - class visits for winter quarter will begin on Tuesday, January 17th and registration is now open.  Click here to sign up (select Category 04. Full-Time MBA: Class Visit and search in the date range desired).

As always, feel free to send us any questions/thoughts via the comments section below, email, or phone.

UCLA Anderson in London for an Information Evening Event

Last night, I had the opportunity to meet some really terrific candidates at the London QS MBA Fair. Tomorrow evening (Monday), we will be hosting a school presentation at 7 PM in London. If you are in town and would like to learn more about UCLA Anderson and interact with some of our alumni come join us. 

Next stops on my trip include Paris, Madrid and Barcelona. I hope to meet some of you in one of those great cities. Don't forget that our Round 2 admissions deadline is on January 11. For more information about our off campus events please visit our website.

-Adrian Aguirre
UCLA Anderson School of Management

A quirky tradition at UCLA Anderson marks the end of students' MBA journey

Every June a quirky school tradition takes place - name plaques get taped to our walls.  As students finish their last class and get ready for graduation they tape their name plaques to the walls as a sign that they are joining the ranks of over 37,000 alumni spread throughout the world.

The MBA Admissions and Financial Aid office would like to wish the graduating class of 2011 much success and happiness in their future endeavors.  A special thanks go out to the many student volunteers that help us attract the best students to our program and who work tirelessly as student ambassadors.

 

-Adrian Aguirre

UCLA Anderson School of Management