The MBA Insider's Blog

Holiday update from the MBA Admissions team

Happy holidays to all our readers!  We have a couple of updates to share with you:

Update #1 - Early decision release: The admissions office released a batch of admits earlier this morning.  We are still working hard reading round 1 files and interview invitations will continue go out until mid-January.  Applicants who interviewed but have not received a decision yet may still need to go through a post-interview evaluation by the admissions committee.  At this point, we are not planning to release many more early decisions, but all our remaining round 1 applicants will definitely hear from us no later than January 25th. 

Updates will be posted on the blog and our other social media channels, so please stay tuned!

Update #2 - University closure: The University, including the MBA Admissions & Financial Aid office, will be closed starting Thursday, December 22nd through Monday, January 2nd.  However, you can stay in touch with us during this time via:

- Email: Our team will respond to email inquiries at mba.admissions@anderson.ucla.edu, though responses may be delayed a day or two. 

- Social Media: We will continue to post news and updates from our staff and current students on Facebook, Twitter, The Student Voice blog, and the admissions blog so please check back often.

- Signing up for future events: Please sign up for a webinar or group info session, or meet us on the road in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco next month.

The admissions committee will continue to read files throughout this time (no break for us but that's okay :))

As always, we're happy to answer any questions you have - feel free to post a comment or shoot us an email.

Admissions Interviews

Can you believe we're approaching the end of 2011?  Admissions interviews have been taking place over the past several weeks, so I thought now would be a good time for a blog post on this topic.  UCLA Anderson's interviews are by invitation only, and we will contact you via email if selected.  Our website has detailed information on the admissions interview, and below I've addressed some common questions we receive about the process.

- When will the admissions office let me know if I'm selected for an interview?   We've prioritized file reading to get invitations out as quickly as possible.  Interview invitations will go out regularly until mid-January except during the university-wide campus closure from December 22-January 2.

- Where do interviews take place?  Either on-campus with current students or admissions officers, off-campus with alumni in cities around the world, or virtually via Skype with students or admissions officers. All interviews regardless of location are weighed equally, as all interviewers are trained on the same evaluation metrics.

- What sorts of questions should I be prepared for?  Questions revolve around your reasons for an MBA, career goals, interest in UCLA Anderson, and professional/personal experiences as outlined in your application materials.  As an interviewee, you should be prepared to provide insightful responses showcasing strong communication skills, demonstrating knowledge of our program, and ultimately expressing why you are a great fit for UCLA Anderson.  Also, remember that this is also an opportunity for you to learn more about us, so arrive with thoughtful questions for your interviewer too!

Receiving an interview invitation indicates that you made a pretty compelling case for yourself on paper, so continue the positive momentum by making an equally strong case in person. 

I hope this helps to clarify the interview process for our readers. Feel free to leave any questions or thoughts in the comments section below.   

iPads bring a paperless world to MBA Admissions

Our application process has gone completely paperless now, as we started evaluating candidates on our iPads.  Using new software from Matchbox we can zoom in on PDF's of everything submitted on-line to rate candidates on our metrics including academics, leadership, focus and personal skills.  It's fun to highlight evidence that proves the high quality of our applicants.

E-reading came along just in time to help us with our big increase in applications this year!

So far we have focused our reading on certain geographic areas and now we are turning our attention to the whole wide world.  Interview invitations will follow fast in the next few weeks as we read our way through the applicant pool.  No more piles o' files here though -- everybody just gets their turn on-screen.

Speed and depth in our evaluations are both enhanced with the new iPad tool.  Our admission committee members can share insights more readily than ever as we find the best people to join the UCLA Anderson family.  Brave pioneers are welcome here to help us shape this brand new era.

 

UCLA Anderson Spotlight: Dual Degree Student Finds Global Healthcare Opportunities at UCLA Anderson

After consulting in the healthcare field for several years after college, Shravya Kidambi decided that she needed an MBA to progress further in her career. She wanted to learn more about the area of healthcare as well as explore her long-term goal of working for a global healthcare nonprofit.

“I hoped to find a business school that offered plenty of hands-on learning opportunities and as many experiences as possible in the healthcare and nonprofit fields so that I could better determine what I enjoy and where I want to go after graduation,” she says. When she visited UCLA Anderson, she knew she had found the right place.

Not only did UCLA offer a concurrent degree program with Anderson and the School of Public Health, it also offered ample opportunities to explore her areas of interest in classes, clubs, volunteer programs, and internships.

Now in her last year of the concurrent degree program, Kidambi – who is originally from India but grew up in Abu Dhabi -- has taken advantage of many of those opportunities. On the club front, she’s served in a leadership role for the Healthcare Business Association and as copresident of Challenge for Charity, the largest MBA-run charitable organization in the world. Last year, Anderson students in the club volunteered over 5,000 hours and raised over $105,000 for the Special Olympics, Project Echo, and Junior Achievement.

She also volunteered to spend three weeks at UCLA’s Medical Center in the Radiation and Oncology Department where she analyzed clinic room utilization and patient wait times. Afterward, Kidambi began an internship for the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Executive Program, which gave her an opportunity to visit South Africa and Ghana to help teach strategy to managers at HIV/AIDS non-profits.

And through her Applied Management Research project (AMR) supervised by Prof. Victor Tabbush, she visited Tanzania where her team researched ways to address the need for more surgical staff in sub-Saharan Africa. “I talked to doctors in rural hospitals, government officials and patients about what has worked in terms of providing incentives for doctors and alternative ways to address the problem,” she says, noting that her team’s findings were presented at a surgical conference in Kenya.

This past summer, she went to Switzerland to intern for the World Health Organization, studying how establishing public-private partnerships can deal with health security issues such as the radiation leaks in Japan.

“If you know what you want to do and look for those opportunities at Anderson, you’ll find them,” says Kidambi. “Anderson is about trying new things, thinking outside of the box, and not always sticking to a pre-existing structure. I’ve had leadership opportunities, hands-on learning experiences, and internships all in the areas of healthcare and nonprofits   – I’ve gotten everything I hoped for out of this program and much more.”

Full-time MBA Round 1 applications are up

The MBA Admissions team is excited to announce that our Round 1 applications are up by more than 20% as prospectives worldwide recognize the growing value offered by the UCLA Anderson MBA program.  Innovations in our curriculum spark the interest of those looking for strong career preparation, while our exciting location and collaborative culture have enduring appeal.  Streamlining our application also helped as we make it easier for candidates to present their case to join the UCLA Anderson family.  With career outcomes for current students at a buoyant level, it is clear that we are a school on the move.

File reading is in full swing and interview invitations have started going out this week.  Although it is still relatively early in the application season, we are optimistic that the size and quality of our applicant pool will continue to impress us in Rounds 2 and 3.

We look forward to seeing your application!

Introducing our new Social Media Ambassadors

We are excited to announce a fresh group of students on The MBA Student Voice  and on the UCLA Anderson MBA Twitter feed.  Some are familar faces whom you might remember from last year and our summer blogger group, while others are brand new additions to the group.  These students, designated as our Social Media Ambassadors (SMA), will share their insights on business school to showcase what it's like to be an MBA student at UCLA Anderson.

 

Charlotte Baxter, Class of 2013 - blogger
Hi, I’m Charlotte Baxter, a member of UCLA Anderson Class of 2013. I moved to LA from Palm Beach, FL, where I own a home and lived with my fiancé and our cat. I grew up in Atlanta, GA, attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and worked at a bank in New York City prior to moving to Florida. For the last six years I was a Real Estate Developer of hotels in the top MSAs on both coasts, developing products such as Residence Inns in places like DC, Seattle, and San Diego. In my spare time I’m an avid marathoner and triathlete.

 
 
Matthew Camp, Class of 2012 - blogger
Matthew Camp is a second year MBA candidate at the UCLA Anderson School of Management with a focus on marketing and strategy.  Matthew was a Summer Associate at ZS Associates, where he will be returning as a Consultant after graduating from Anderson.  Matthew is studying abroad during the Fall 2011 quarter at FGV in Sau Paulo, Brazil.

 

Steven Chang, Class of 2013 - Twitter
Born and raised in Texas, I took the scenic route to an MBA -- working as a management consultant in New York before transitioning to a career in television as a writer in Los Angeles.  I landed at UCLA Anderson to revisit my interest in entrepreneurship.

 

 

Yael Davidowitz-Neu, Class of 2013 - Twitter
Yael Davidowitz-Neu is a first-year MBA student at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. Prior to starting her MBA program, she worked for Google in a variety of roles including global sales strategist. She grew up in New York and lived in Boston and San Francisco before moving to Los Angeles.

 

Tara Egan, Class of 2012 - blogger
Tara is currently in her second year at UCLA Anderson, concentrating on nonprofit marketing and management. Before coming to Anderson she spent 4 years in marketing and sales at Ligne Roset, a boutique furniture company. Tara has also worked with several nonprofits, helping develop creative solutions to various fundraising, outreach, and marketing challenges. Over the summer she interned at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, evaluating and improving marketing and development strategies. Tara graduated with honors from McGill University with a B.A. in History and a minor in Economics.

 

Jesse Ferlianto, Class of 2012 - blogger
Jesse is a 2nd year student at UCLA Anderson with a concentration in Marketing and Strategy.  He previously worked in distressed investment banking with Alvarez & Marsal and Morgan Joseph, and interned in Chick-fil-A's marketing department over the summer.  Married to his college sweetheart, he's also a tennis player, swing dancer, musician, and board game enthusiast.

 

 

 

Dustin Goot, Class of 2012 - blogger
Dustin is focusing his MBA studies on product strategy and business alliances in digital media. He has 10 years’ experience in media, serving as a writer and editor before transitioning to online product management at such publishers as Hearst, Hachette Filipacchi and Time Out New York Partners. He has led projects to implement eCommerce capabilities, negotiate interactive gaming partnerships, craft custom digital marketing programs, establish content syndication partnerships and generally optimize a website’s functionality and revenue potential. Dustin oversaw a tripling of unique Web visitors at Time Out New York within 18 months. He has been published in Wired, MBA Jungle, The Real Deal and Sports Illustrated. At UCLA Anderson, Dustin serves on the board of the Entrepreneurship Association, as VP of Educational Programs, and the Entertainment Management Association, as VP of New Media & Gaming.

 

Connie Kim, Class of 2013 - blogger
I've worked as a broker and financial consultant for the last four years and now trying to venture into securities analysis or management consulting.  I also speak Korean and Japanese and consider myself a purveyor of all things related to Asian culture.  I'm definitely looking forward to blogging about my UCLA Anderson experience!

 

Babis Makrynikolas, Class of 2013 - blogger
Babis graduated from the American College of Greece and the Department of Banking and Financial Management at the University of Piraeus. He participated in the Erasmus Exchange program studying in the city of Gent, Belgium.  He also completed an internship with the Hellenic capital market committee and worked for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. After fulfilling his military service, he traveled to India to join the PwC Entrepreneurship Project.  After returning to Greece he co-founded Whiztech, a start up offering consulting services on web-based business models, web development, online marketing and social media. Currently he is an MBA candidate at UCLA Anderson and an editor-in-chief for the International Journal of Young Leadership. His main interests are technology, music and writing.

 

Willem Suyderhoud, Class of 2013 - blogger, Twitter
Willem is currently a first-year student at UCLA Anderson. Prior to arriving at UCLA, Willem worked as a television sports anchor and producer in Butte, Montana, Medford, Oregon and San Francisco. There, he went by his television name, Will Southwood. Suyderhoud was simply too difficult to pronounce. Willem decided to come back to school not because he wanted to go by his true name, but because he found himself increasingly drawn to television’s future and the role digital technology will play in it. He's excited to develop the business skill set that UCLA Anderson will provide and even more excited to share his experiences through social media.

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

Work experience & extracurricular activities: what's important?

Work experience and extracurricular activities are evaluated for numerous qualities, among them leadership/managerial potential, readiness and fit for an MBA, and ways an applicant can enhance the overall learning environment for their peers. 

Now when some applicants look at our class profile and see that students average 5 years of pre-MBA work experience, they automatically assume since they have less than this amount they are not competitive.  This is absolutely NOT true.  A closer look at the numbers show that 58% have 3-6 years of experience, 21% have 0-3 years, and 21% have over 6 years of experience.  So a sizeable number of students have LESS than the average (and some have more, which is great too).  What does this mean?  Quality, not quantity, is what matters when the admissions committee scrutinizes your professional accomplishments.  What makes an applicant's experience stand out includes outstanding progression and examples of strong problem-solving abilities, impact on your organization, being proactive, ability to work well in teams, and managerial capabilities, among others. 

Also important to note is that UCLA Anderson values diverse perspectives in the classroom, so we welcome applicants from both traditional and non-traditional backgrounds.  Bankers and consultants are important to have in the classroom, but frankly you won't learn much from your peers if they comprise your ENTIRE class.  So long as you articulate compelling reasons for an MBA and focused career plans (more details on essays will come in another post), those with unique backgrounds can add a distinct point-of-view that can prove to be quite valuable in classroom discussions.

Extracurricular activities (XCs), especially those in which you held significant leadership roles, can help supplement your work experience, especially for those who we call "early career" candidates with less than 2 years of FT work experience.  In addition, prior XC involvement helps us assess how you'll contribute in our network of clubs and other organizations, which is a very important part of the overall UCLA Anderson MBA experience.  XCs during and after college, both inside and outside the workplace, are all taken into consideration.

For more on work experience and XCs, please see the Application Requirements section of our website.

 -Jessica

Academic Record and the GMAT: Two indicators of academic success

The admissions committee, in evaluating a candidate's potential for academic success and achievement in our MBA program, relies heavily on two important indicators: prior academic performance (e.g. undergraduate/baccalaureate degree, advanced degrees and post-baccalaureate coursework) and an applicant's GMAT score. The GMAT test, when evaluated along with a candidate's prior academic achievement at the undergraduate level and beyond, has been shown to quite accurately predict how a student will perform in his or her first year of an MBA program.

As our admissions officers chat with candidates on the road, we do receive a lot of questions from applicants wondering if a certain GMAT or GPA score alone prevents or guarantees them entrance to our MBA program. For example: "My GPA is below your average. Should I still apply?" We always tell candidates that the range of GMAT scores and GPAs we see in each year's incoming class really is quite broad. One of the reasons for this is that the committee weighs an applicant's GPA and GMAT score hand-in-hand and an assessment of a candidate's overall academic competitiveness is made by balancing a review of test scores with a thorough evaluation of transcripts.

It's important to note, as well, that the admissions committee takes into context not only your actual scores or letter grades, but factors such as the competitive level of your curriculum and school, the course load you chose and academic trends exhibited on your transcript. We do give applicants the benefit of the doubt for the odd "blip" on a transcript, but admitted candidates tend to show a consistent level of functioning above their peers. We see candidates from all different undergraduate majors (and love to see this academic diversity in the class!); however, in cases where we don't see a lot of quantitative coursework on an undergraduate or graduate-level transcript, we may look for indication of quantitative proficiency through a candidate's quantitative score on the GMAT. Similarly, strong performance in quantitative courses at the undergraduate level may take a bit of pressure off a candidate's quantitative score achieved on the GMAT.

The admissions committee is ultimately assessing that a candidate has the necessary preparation to succeed in our program and we really do evaluate GPAs and GMAT scores in the context of the overall application. For this reason, when determining your competitiveness as an applicant, it may be advisable to look at our GMAT and GPA ranges rather than strict averages.

For additional information on academic records including what documentation you will need to send us as part of your application, please visit: http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x27513.xml

For additional information on submitting your GMAT score to us please visit: http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x27512.xml

- Lindsay

Evolving international application requirements

We are in tune with changing academic systems worldwide, and we have refined our requirements accordingly as seen on our Application Requirements web page: http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x27502.xml

For example, we have seen more and more applicants with 3-year bachelor's degrees like the new European standard.  So our standard for graduate admission remains a 4-year degree or its equivalent, but we can use our discretion to admit candidates with 3-year undergraduate degrees if we determine that that their entire academic profile and overall application are strong enough.

Similarly, our standard for English fluency still requires a TOEFL or IELTS score from all applicants who were not educated in English.  But we will consider applications from those without TOEFL or IELTS scores if the candidate earned a degree where the sole language of instruction was English.  This means that applicants from countries such as India and Singapore no longer have to take the language test if they were schooled in English.  Naturally we will take all verbal scores, essays and other indicators into account to ensure total fluency within the incoming class.  Proving proficiency with a TOEFL or IELTS score is still the best way for international applicants to ensure competitiveness in our evaluation process.