Calling all UCLA FEMBA Applicants: (2018 Intake) Class of 2021!

I received few messages over the holidays about my experience of interview on Super Saturday so I decided to share here for the benefits of others who are applying or looking to apply for future rounds.

Personally I wouldn't call it an interview, I felt it's more like a optional opportunity for a current student (interviewer) who hasn't read your application nor essays to know more about you in the 30ish-minutes chat, he or she can then recommend you in ways they see fit.

I arrived about 30 minutes before the scheduled time. On the check-in list there were about 15-20 people interviewed in the same time slots, few were fly-in. All of us were waiting in the hallway of the library, I guess we were all quite nervous because there weren't too much conversation going on. When the time came we were led to library for a brief 10 minutes introduction about the interview. Then they started to call us by name, I was among the first few got called that my interviewer and I just decided to sit outside the library and started to chat.

I didn't get many (if any) hard questions during my interview. Make sure you know how to answer basic questions such as walk through resume, future goals, prior job transition (how and why?), background, why UCLA and any numbers you put in the resume. Oh and one question I didn't except was how I prepared GMAT.

After the interview, my interviewer took me to the hall downstairs for an informal coffee chat with program director and some current students for networking opportunity.

Overall it was a pretty positive experience. Don't over stress yourself preparing the questions, if you did the research ahead of time while writing essays you should have known the program very well. Just know your resume, go out there and be yourself.

Just be relaxed. You're interviewing with a current student or alumni of the program. You'll get asked about your resume so if course be prepared to talk about what you're proud of and your successes. Be sure to know why you want to spent $140k and commit your next 3 years to an MBA too. There isn't a right answer of course but have an answer.

You'll get an opportunity to ask about the program and work life school balance. Getting an interview is over half the battle in my opinion. I feel like over half the people in my interview block were admitted.

I'll be there Saturday for class and I'll try and drop by between classes.

Sent from my Nexus 6P

Talk about something that sets you apart from everyone else. Adcoms don't want cookie-cutter candidates. What's that one personality trait, activity, or passion that would make the adcom say "wow! this person's interesting". Also, don't start the essay with "I am unique..." It's tacky. Dive right into it and tell a story. Then, summarize it with "I am unique because..." in the last paragraph.

Is everyone invited to interview?

Asking because I got this email right after I applied:

"Congratulations! You have successfully submitted your online application to the UCLA Anderson School of Management's Fully Employed MBA Program.

To sign up for an optional interview on February 3rd, 2018, please follow the link below:

REGISTER FOR FEBRUARY 3RD, 2018 INTERVIEW ».

Please make sure you have ordered/sent all EXAM SCORE(S), OFFICIAL HARD COPY UNDERGRADUATE TRANSCRIPTS and GRADUATE TRANSCRIPTS (if applicable). Your application will not be reviewed until all necessary official documents have been received.

It is important that you keep your original email address used on the application, and equally important that the address femba.admissions@anderson.ucla.edu is added to your 'safe' list, or otherwise not filtered out as spam. This will permit us to send you pertinent emails through the course of the admissions season.

Your admissions decisions will be released through the online application system on the admissions notification date for the round in which you applied.

Thank you for your application,

Fully Employed MBA Admissions
UCLA Anderson School of Management"