Tidbits on UCLA FEMBA Super Saturday
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13 Nov 2007, 11:49
I went to the Super Saturday interview event at UCLA last weekend.
Random notes below:
- According to UCLA, interviews are not required but highly recommended.
- Looking at UCLA deadline calendar, Super Saturdays happen on the first Saturday after the deadline of every round - R1 deadline was last Wednesday, and the Super Saturday event was on the immediate Saturday. Applicants submitted their applications before the deadline are eligible to sign up for an interview spot. The application should be substantially completed by the time of interview (e.g., all personal information, essays, fees paid...etc), items such as transcripts, recos, GMAT can be pending.
- Candidates are adviced to arrive 20-30 min early. Late or no-shows will adversely affect the application.
- Dress code: Business attire, dress like visiting important customers.
- From my observation, most people bring a portfolio (candidates need to provide 2 copies of current resume).
- Candidates were asked to fill a blue, half A4-size card after registration. The applicant fills one side with personal information, the other side has a set (4-5) of questions for the interviewer to fill in for evaluation purpose.
- The interview took place at the career center, where there are 8-10 small interview rooms. It appears that all interviewers were either current students or alumni (I was talking to an alum).
- I did not write down all the questions on the other side. From reading the questions the school wants to get an impression of the candidate through F2F interaction. It is a short interview, only 30 min. After the interview, the interviewer will write the impression (in point scale, from 1 - 5) on things from "whether the candidate's motivation for MBA makes sense" (i.e., prepare to talk about why MBA) to overall impression for the candidate (in scale as well, from "very negative" to "very positive").
- I had a chance to chat briefly with the admission director, Dylan Stafford, who indicates the school allocates about 10% of the seats for R1(i.e., ~25 admits). He said R2 usually receives the most applications and the school has ~40% of the seats for R2 (I did not have a chance to ask, but I believe R1 candidates will be evaluated in R2 as well). Hence there are about ~50% of the seats for R3, or likely, R1+R2+R3.
- Also from Dylan, he indicates the school may send R1 admit notifications as early as around Christmas. The official communication date for R1 is Jan 18, 2008. I expect most R1 applicants will be notified close to the Jan 18.
- My rough calculation of the number of candidates interviewed on that day: there are 6 interview time slots, each time slot has 10 candidates. The conservative estimate will be about 60 candidates interviewed. It is clear the number of submitted applications will be above this number. I have no information to estimate how many applicants submitted but not interviewed.
Anybody in this board attended the event? Anything additional to share?