UCLA FEMBA

thanks for your words of encouragement. just worried that i won't hear back until april, june, or even august (from what i have heard in the past) and i'm still waiting to hear back from usc. at this point, if i am admitted to the abroad program in barcelona, i will more likely accept the offer.

in regards to the on-campus interviews, either an alumni or current student will conduct the interviews- which will be at the most 30 min. they know nothing about your profile and will be seeing your resume for the first time. you will have the chance to elaborate on your experience and then they proceed to ask you five questions. not sure if it will be the same for R2 but from what i remember there were some pretty obscure questions such as 1) which of your (past or present) bosses management style do you like the best and why, 2) what is something FEMBA program will help or change you for someone that depended on you before you joined the program (cant quite remember the exact question anymore). there were also the typical.. why anderson? why FEMBA?

hope this helps some of you! but as Andersonbound had mentioned, the interview may only marginally enhance your app but it doesn't hurt (especially if you are local). good luck.

Anyone else going to the info session tonight?

I was waitlisted at UCLA too. Still crossing my fingers. But I did get the thumbs up from USC so at least I have a school to go to in the fall if Anderson decides not to take me.

I received a letter today from FEMBA admissions and not sure how to proceed with this "review":

To schedule a one-on-one phone conversation to review your application with myself or one of my team, please call our office (xxx-xxx-xxxx) during business hours and ask for John Lopez. John has access to our calendars and will schedule you.

Not sure if the purpose of this review is to further screen out waitlist candidates or to review weak points in my app or ...? I'd like to go in prepared before speaking with anyone there. Has anyone on Anderson's waitlist called in for a review?

For those interested: Last year, 68 total applications were initially placed on the waitlist. Of the 68, 40 were subsequently offered admission (59%).

Thanks guys.

hey guys! i got the response from USC: my first acceptance and it feels great. i am also crossing my fingers but we will lose out on the $1,500 if ucla comes through. cheers!

I have my "Application Review" this afternoon so I can tell you how it goes.

Cool, good luck!

Okay finished my application review. Took about 15-20 minutes. Overall I think it went well. I'm feel pretty good about it and Dylan gave me some good suggestions. Did let me know what the weaknesses in my application were and how to strengthen them. I believe it's beneficial to do the application review if just to assure UCLA that you are serious about the program. I was told that this is the first time they do application reviews for us souls in pergatory. Dylan was very easy to talk to, had a positive tone, and was supportive. He did say, however, that they are in no rush. So keep that in mind.

Thanks for the update and glad to hear it went well. By chance, did you get a sense for why they introduced a review this year? Should the review be treated like another interview or more of an open discussion or more like a performance review? I think it's great that Dylan takes time out of his schedule to speak with the WL candidates--did you feel that any of his points were a surprise or were his criticisms as expected?

Overall, I'm really relieved to hear that you felt like the review was beneficial.

It seems that because they added a 5th section this year, they want to make sure they fill the program with good applicants. Treat this like a performance review. If you have questions for him, make sure to have them ready because he's available to honestly respond. I wasn't surprised by any of his criticisms as they are the same concerns I had for myself. He did, however, give me a goood idea as to how to improve and prepare.

Hello Kdagreen,
Quick qn. When you say FEMBA added 5th section, that should mean more seats now than last year? I remember Dylan mentioning this during lunch that he did get approval from Dean to increase the seats if needed (something like from 288 to 310 or so).

IndianJaguar

Yes that's correct. They did add the 5th section so there are more seats available than last year.

Were there any contingents, e.g. if you get your GMAT score up x pts you're a shoe in? I can't imagine too many other areas where you can improve since GPA is a given, extracurricular activities are just extras, maybe career advancement?

Yes he did say that if I had a better GMAT score I would be in. But I'm not going to retake the GMAT. Also said that if there's a change like a promotion or I take a Business Math course at my local JC to let him know. He said even if I do nothing it he's optimistic. But he suggests to do the math class just for my own benefit.

Has anyone yet answered Essay 3, "What are your career goals as they relate to pursuing the MBA degree? Discuss your plans to have your UCLA MBA facilitate you being either a career enhancer, shifter or explorer* If your interests are entrepreneurial, are you already an entrepreneur, or do you plan to be an entrepreneur and if so when and how?"

I am getting uncomfortable with the last part of this essay. While starting my own company is certainly a long-term goal, I don't consider my reasons for pursuing MBA as entrepreneurial, and hence don't want to bullshit about writing "How" will I become an entrepreneur.

I attended the info session last week and was pretty impressed. I liked the meet& greet earlier in the session, and got a pretty good feel.
Also stuck around at the end to hear Dylan talk about admissions this year, and how the added 5th section helped matters for us applicants.

The only downer was getting a parking ticket since I was 18 minutes beyond my meter time!! Fail!!

Anyways, I'll be applying within the next two weeks.

Hello levfin,
If your aim is not to become an entrepreneur, though you have some plans, I think it is not necessary for you to ramble about it. You may be a career enhancer or switcher, and if that is the case, mention that in detail. Everybody does not want to be an entrepreneur and no school will specify that you need to have that in your essay. So my 2 cents is to write clearly what you plan to do with your MBA and how.

IndianJaguar