I applied, I got rejected from it. But it does seem like a good opportunity. Goodluck
_________________

Find out what's new at GMAT Club - latest features and updates

I'm a part of Riordan Fellows, and as for the focus on minority applicants, that's not necessarily true anymore. The program is starting to trend away from that, albeit it's the main focus, but there are more and more caucasian people that go through it. It's a program that is well worth your time - we have had people fly in from all over the country to attend every month, and there's a ton of benefits that will really give you a leg up when applying.

About a 1/3 of the attendees are in process of applying to b-schools while they're in the program. Another 1/3 will be applying immediately afterwards, and the rest will be applying 2+ years after. If you're applying while in the program, you're placed in a track that's specifically geared to provide you with one-on-one MBA admissions counseling. I'm not sure if they read over essays, but they'll go over in detail what you need to do to become a competitive applicant for the schools you're applying for.

As for the benefits of the program, the biggest thing people take away from it is most likely the networking opportunity. Previous RF have attended all top-20 schools, and there's a constant flow into to the top 10 every year. It's not to say that you're guaranteed a spot, but most of the schools recognize what the RF does, and the fact that you have connections at the schools to help you understand the culture will at least give you a leg up in deciding which school is best for you and what to write about in your essays.

If you're looking to attend Anderson, or any other top school, this is really as good as it can get for seeing first hand what to expect for b-schol in my opinion. Our classes are at Anderson, we have the professors come to give us lectures and provide feedback on our HBS case studies (cold calling included), the Admissions Director talk to us over multiple sessions on what we need to do to be a strong applicant (guidance on essays, LoRs, academics, work experience, etc), multiple community service projects to show leadership, learning teams, company networking events (Bain hosted a meet-and-greet session), executive speakers from industry, GMAT prep, and etc.

There's many more tangible and intangible benefits that come from this program; I feel that it's given me an opportunity to understand what it's like in an MBA program, get a chance to network with some really cool people who've helped me to grow and broaden my skillsets to become successful in my career as well as in b-school, and I've opened MANY doors with having RF on my resume and for doing some pretty neat things outside of work.

Let me know if you have any more questions - I'll be happy to help you!

The applications are out, and the entire admissions process is modeled after the full-time MBA process. There are 4 essay questions that you'll need to do, and I highly recommend that you get started on them right now if you haven't already. Like applying to b-schools, you'll want to spend a lot of time on it and make sure that you know why you want an MBA, why the Riordan Fellows program, and why they should take you in. There's also a case study question as well, so you should take some time to do research on the topic.

I would say the biggest thing that counts the most for the program is your letter of recommendation. A good one will be typically 2-3 pages with lots of meaningful content that your manager or whoever you ask can write about you. The questions they ask are pretty much the same for all regular b-school apps, and they'll take either q/a format or just a long essay too.

The admit rates are getting slimmer and slimmer every year, and it'll be more competitive as time goes on. If you can't get in R1, then you'll have to wait another year too.

Good luck!