MBA Insider's Blog

Application Tip – Admission Interview

The interview is a critical component of the admissions process; thus, it is important that you are prepared. Come ready to tell your story and ask questions to learn more about us. At UCLA Anderson, interviews are by invitation only and are required before admission can be offered. If you obtain an invite for an interview, this means your application has received an initial review and we would like to learn more about you.

Those candidates selected for an interview have the option to either participate in an on-campus or skype interview, whichever is most convenient for you. Our admission interviews are conducted by current second-year MBA students at UCLA Anderson. This allows applicants to better understand our culture and gain insight on the “Anderson Experience” from a student prospective.

Here are two common questions about the admissions interview:

What can you expect from a UCLA Anderson interview?

Our MBAs will ask various questions regarding your reason for an MBA, career aspirations (both short term and long term), professional experience, community involvement and of course, your interest in UCLA Anderson. Thus, make sure to showcase strong communication skills with answers that are concise yet insightful, and demonstrate your knowledge of the program, your field of interest, and why you’re a great candidate for UCLA Anderson.

Don’t be nervous; the interviews are meant to be conversational! Come ready to ask a few meaningful questions for your interviewer. Our interviews are only 30 minutes, so take advantage of this one-on-one opportunity.

How can I stand out in the interview?

Aside from being prepared and sharing your story, the best way to stand out is to show personality and enthusiasm. We want to learn what your unique qualities are, and what value you can bring to the UCLA Anderson community. So, do your homework on UCLA Anderson; our program, student resources, career services, student engagement, etc. — and, tell us how you plan to contribute to our community as a potential student and alumnus/a.

Lastly, it is important to remember that our interviews are blind to avoid interview biases, so never assume that the interviewer has already reviewed all the parts of your application.

For any additional information on the admissions interview or the admissions process in general, I encourage you to review our Requirements and FAQ webpages. If you have any questions throughout the application or admissions process, please do not hesitate to contact the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office.

Best of luck! 

Asia Recruiting 2015 -- 3 cities down, 4 to go

Ni hao from Beijing! I'm halfway through my Asia recruiting trip for this year and want to share some of my experiences with you.

My first stop was Tokyo. While in Tokyo, we co-hosted an information session with UCLA Anderson alumni, held a school presentation and participated in an MBA fair organized by the MBA Tour. I'm not able to participate in the information session every year due to scheduling conflicts, but when I do, I'm always pleasantly surprised by the large number of alumni who participate -- there were 15 this year! Did I also mention that our alumni volunteer to host this event every year regardless of whether or not an admissions officer can attend? The fact that our alumni take time out of their busy lives to host events like this, speaks to how strongly they feel about being a part of the UCLA Anderson community. We're very fortunate to have such strong and dedicated alumni around the world. The information session was a great success and so were the MBA Tour events.

Our 15 alumni at the Tokyo information session.

Taipei was stop number two. As in Tokyo, in Taipei we hosted a school presentation and participated in an MBA fair. Both events were well attended and I enjoyed getting to meet solid candidates; but I definitely could not have managed all of the interest without the assistance of the alumni who came out to help. The difference between the first two cities was that while I had a little time to explore Tokyo, our stop in Taipei lasted less than 48 hours. However, I still managed to enjoy soup dumplings at the original Din Tai Fung -- yum, yum! If you haven't tried them, I highly recommend that you do. If you can't make it to Asia, where the majority of Din Tai Fung restaurants are located, you should visit one of the three Din Tai Fung locations in the greater Los Angeles area -- one of the perks of living in such a diverse city! 

The third stop was Seoul. This was another quick but successful visit. We once again hosted a school presentation and participated in an MBA fair. In addition to sharing a lot of information about UCLA Anderson, I also managed to make the attendees of our school presentation laugh. They were quite amused when I mentioned that I have been told that restaurants in LA's Koreatown ("K-Town"), match, if not surpass, restaurants in Seoul. While I can see this as being true considering that the greater Los Angeles area is home to the largest number of Koreans outside of Korea, I invited them to visit "K-Town" to judge for themselves.

Although I continued on to Beijing after the Seoul MBA Tour events, I will be heading back to Seoul next week for a school information session on the 10th. If you'll be in Seoul on Sept. 10th, and you'd like to learn more about our full-time MBA program, feel free to register for the information session on our events page.

Now it's time for me to get ready for the MBA Tour events that will take place tonight in Beijing. I'll tell you all about the other half of my Asia recruiting trip in my next blog. Zai jian...