Here is summary of the chat we had with UCLA Admission director - Jessica Chung - and current students - James, Tiffany, and Avani - recently on GMAT Club. Those who want to view full chat transcript can download it from this post. Good luck!
Hi Jesscia, how long does it usually take to hear from you regarding interviews after submitting my application?UCLA_Jessica: We have started sending interview invites for R1 applicants and anticipate most going out until about mid-November.
Hi Jessica, can you please tell us, if it is not confidential, what percentage of the 1st round invites was sent?UCLA_Jessica: I don't know the exact percentage but we just started sending invites out last week so plenty more should be going out in the coming weeks.
Hi Jessica, Does Anderson give any special preference to those having work ex in Government Sector?UCLA_Jessica: When it comes to crafting the class, we want to put together a diverse group who will enhance the learning environment for all. So coming from the government sector would certainly bring an interesting perspective, but ultimately your application needs to be competitive and well rounded to be a top applicant.
Can students interested in Entrepreneurship concentrations look for career opportunities in Marketing roles.UCLA_James: Great question! There are many students interested in Entrepreneurship as well as other functions. Many will do academic internships at startups to gain entrepreneurial experience and then do summer internships in the functions they are interested in. You are definitely not limited by a concentration that you choose. From the academic side, you can take any type of elective you want. You are not forced to choose a concentration, or to only take classes within that concentration.
We are allowed to bring hard copies of required documents (ie transcripts, score reports, etc.) to our interview appointment correct?UCLA_Jessica: Yes, in your interview invitation there is also a list of required documents that you will need to submit. Either via mail or in person is fine.
Hi James, could you please elaborate on 'academic internships’? Are these taken along with coursework or does Anderson facilitate this through experiential courses?UCLA_James: Academic internship are part-time internships student do during the school year that are either paid or are for course credit. I am currently internship at Little Tikes toys and usually work 15 to 25 hours per week. This has been a great way to continue building my resume beyond just my summer internship. For career switchers, the academic internship opportunities are a huge help in being able to be successful in making the career transition
[b]JAMES, along with brio's question, please can you add on more about Industry Mentors at Easton?[/b]
UCLA_James: The various professional clubs, including the Easton Technology Leadership Program, offer mentorship opportunities for students. It's a great program and offers us an opportunity to develop relationships with individuals with deep industry experience. They give great career advice and are a huge benefit to students.
Any advice on how to prep for the interview?UCLA_Jessica: We have a blog post on interview tips -
https://mbablogs.anderson.ucla.edu/mba_a ... rview.htmlUCLA_Tiffany: What I did to prepare was go through the interview recap posts on GMATclub for previous rounds. I compiled a list of all of the questions that were posted, sorted them into categories, and then put together a list of questions and asked a friend to conduct a mock interview with me. I scheduled the mock two days before my actual interview so that I would be fresh for the interview but there wasn't too much time in between for me to start freaking out and over-preparing.
Hi Jessica and UCLA team, will a job hopping profile hurt our chance to get accepted?UCLA_Jessica: Depends on the context of why you switched jobs numerous times. The optional essay could be a good place to address your work history if you had multiple jobs in a short timeframe.
Are there any live environmentally conscious projects happening on campus of UCLA at the moment? Is there a possibility of initiating a clean energy projects with collaborations from Engineering departments while studying.UCLA_James: There are a lot of environment related projects going around campus. There are plenty of opportunities to partner with people and organizations outside of Anderson to take part in those projects.
Is it safe to assume that the 2nd yr student interviewing us will NOT have looked at our application, essay, etc?UCLA_Jessica: Correct, it's unlikely the interviewer has seen anything aside from your resume, which we provide to the interviewer in advance.
Could you please inform us about healthcare related opportunities in UCLA?UCLA_James: I actually interned at a healthcare tech company this summer, and my Applied Management Research project (the 2nd-year consulting project) is with on of the largest public hospital systems in the US. Companies like Amgen recruit on-campus. Several of my classmates went to work in healthcare as well. We had one person at Flextronics and several doing healthcare consulting
UCLA_Avani: To add to James' response- we also have a very active student run professional club- the Healthcare Business Association which organizes several on-campus recruiting events with the Career Center. The HBA also hosts an annual Healthcare Conference which is another great opportunity for students interested in Healthcare.
Are the recommendation letters supposed to be submitted before the application deadline?UCLA_Jessica: we can give a few days grace period after the round deadline to receive your recommendation letters, but if an app is incomplete more than a few weeks past the deadline, it will be moved to the next round for consideration.
James/Avani/Tiffany: How competitive or collaborative have you found your fellow students during your time at Anderson.UCLA_Avani: Share success is definitely real here; everyone supports and helps one another out. At the same time, everyone is extremely bright and so there is a degree of competition, but it's not in a hindering way.
Regarding the second-year student interviews, will there be any correlation between your intended area of concentration and that of your interviewer? Or will it be completely random?UCLA_Jessica: Your interviewer could be one of any of our interviewers, just depends on who happened to be available for that particular interview slot. But, all of our interviewers are trained and have strong understanding of the program, curriculum, XCs, career resources, etc. so regardless of who you speak with they will be able to answer your questions.
UCLA_James: Your interviewer may or may not be in your field of interest. However, I would prepare for the interview like they were. If they are not, and you have questions for them, they are generally very knowledgeable and will be able to answer. If they can't they should be able to introduce you or point you in the direction of where you can get your answer.
Is it true that certain applications are rejected outright based on geographical locations, GMAT score, academic performance without even reading the essays?UCLA_Jessica: Not sure where that rumor started, but it's absolutely not true. We read every single application from beginning to end, usually multiple times by different readers. It's a long process but one we feel is important!
UCLA_James: I just wanted to address something that may be a little confusing regarding the "tracks." Although we do have tracks and specializations at Anderson, by no means are you required to choose one. If you want to have a more general experience academically, you are free to craft your own list of courses. I personally am very interested in learn more about marketing, but I am also taking several classes outside of that area.
[b]current students : How often do you interact with professors outside classroom? How easy it is to do this?[/b]
UCLA_Tiffany: Professors all have office hours and are fairly easy to make appointments with if the office hours don't work with your schedule. I've found them to all be very approachable and invested in our academic experience.
Jessica, will all R1 applicants need to wait until Dec 15th or will we possibly know before that date on admission? Also, how accurate/current is the application status page?UCLA_Jessica: At this time, I'm not sure if we will release any early decisions for R1 but we'll definitely post an update on our blog if we do so!
Could you please inform us about global presence of UCLA. How possible is it to find a job in Europe after receiving an MBA from UCLA?UCLA_Jessica: UCLA Anderson is definitely a global brand, with alumni in every major city around the world. When it comes to recruiting for a job in Europe, it's certainly feasible but a lot of factors should be considered - country, industry, job function, etc. Networking and being proactive on searching for opportunities outside of traditional on-campus recruiting will also be important. Our Parker Career Management Center will be a tremendous resource throughout the job search process.
How is career switch viewed at Anderson? Since I'm currently working in banking sector and would like to move over to media and entertainment, I'd like to know if career switches are common amongst students.UCLA_James: There are a ton of people at Anderson switching careers. Most switch at least industry or function. Some, like me, switch both. The key is to be able to find the relevant skills you have developed in your previous roles that can help you in your post-MBA role. The areas that you are lacking are what you will need to develop during school through you summer internship and possibly through academic internships.
The echo Jessica, Parker CMC is fantastic! I can't say enough of how big a help they have been with the whole internship/job search process. Parker CMC was recently ranked the #2 MBA Career Management Center by the Economist.
UCLA_Jessica: Much of the career search/prep process starts even before school begins, since recruiting for summer internships start almost immediately in the fall quarter.
James, can you please elaborate a bit more on the MEMES center?UCLA_James: Here is a link to the MEMES center site,
https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/centers/memes. But in short the center plays a huge role in determining what entertainment related courses to offer, getting guest speakers and companies to come to campus, etc. In talking about the various academic centers like Easton or MEMES, one thing that has been great about my experience is seeing how fast Anderson can create a new course with cutting edge and relevant content. It has been great! Last year I took a class taught by an ESPN marketing exec, which wasn't offered before. The Marketing department wanted to offer this course because of the changing landscape of TV advertising
Could you please describe what kind of fluency is required from candidates? Some candidates have never lived among native speakers of English. That is why, I am sure it worries many applicants.UCLA_Jessica: Since all classes are conducted in English, we expect students to be able to participate and contribute in that environment. Demonstrating both written and verbal english communication skills are important because students are constantly working in groups, turning in assignments, giving presentations, etc. Also for non-native english speakers who plan to recruit for jobs in the US, english fluency will be important to present well to recruiters and companies.
During my recent campus visit there were several comments that anderson is moving up the program starting next year to better align with other MBA school recruiting timelines. Does this include both academic course load or is it primarily career and networking?UCLA_Jessica: Thanks for mentioning this! Yes, we are planning move our start date to August, vs. September, for incoming 1st year students, to help you with the transition back to school and give you more time for career prep as well. We are still ironing out the details but once everything is finalized, we will let you know.
James, how is the scene with the various clubs at Anderson? Some like the surf club and wine club sound quite interesting. How has been your experience in being part of the clubs?UCLA_James: There are more clubs at Anderson than I could ever imagine fully participating in. It has been great! The social/interest club has been a fun way to connect with other students in a non-typical b-school setting. The surf club has been a lot of fun. Even if you have never surfed before, you can join. We are actually having a surfing 101 day in a couple weeks! Another great benefit of Anderson, you can go to the beach in November!
[b]jessica Do you know how accurate or up to date the Applicant Status page is? I am just wondering as I sent my test scores almost three weeks ago[/b]
UCLA_Jessica: There's always a delay between the time test scores are sent to us and when we receive them, then upload the status in the application screen. If you don't have an update by next week please contact the admissions office.
Are there any opportunities/cross department courses to pick up foreign language?UCLA_James: Students are able to take classes outside of Anderson. So if your interest is learning a foreign language, I am sure there is something you can do. That being said, Anderson has so many great course offerings, it may be hard to give up an elective for a non-Anderson class.
Chat TranscriptAttachment:
Nov 20
26 Oct 2015, 22:35
