Note: Edited and updated to reflect current situation. I have a degree in economics and english from a top-5 non-Cali public school with a 3.5 GPA. I have a 750 (46Q/48V/7IR/8AWA) GMAT and will have 6 years WE helping run my family business (helped grow it from $52 million to $106 million revenue during that time at matriculation. I want to live in the west, specifically in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, or California. I want to get a strong management/innovation/entrepreneurship/leadership education and am open to several career paths, including working for a start-up, working for a retailer with a culture/product I believe in (Patagonia, REI, North Face, Starbucks, etc.), or management consulting. Running the $100m family business in the south is my backup if I find after an internship that the other more traditional MBA paths aren't for me. Going into this, I thought I had a very good shot at a top 10 school. However, I only got an interview to one, Dartmouth (initiated by Dartmouth), and was rejected at all of them. I applied to all of them at the Round 2 deadline, which was obviously a mistake. I also regret applying to Harvard, Wharton, and Columbia instead of Ross, Fuqua, and Darden, which were probably better matches. My application list updated with results: 1. Berkeley Haas - will receive the official deny on March 24 2. Harvard - denied without interview 3. Wharton - denied without interview 4. Yale - denied without interview 5. Columbia - denied without interview but pointed me toward their EMBA Americas program (once a month for a week in NYC) 6. Tuck - denied after Tuck initiated interview 7. UCLA - in with 60% scholarship 8. UW Foster - still waiting 9. Vanderbilt Owen - in with 90% scholarship UCLA and Vanderbilt are both awesome options, but I'm pretty disappointed I didn't get into any of my top choices (Haas, Yale, and Tuck were my top 3, and I thought I had a decent shot).

Hey man, Congratulation on your acceptance. I would absolutely take the 60k and go to Anderson. Straight after college, I went on a vacation to LA and I attended Anderson event. I absolutely fell in love with the school, everybody was so friendly and nice. As an international student I liked it that Anderson basically guarantees a loan for foreign students without US co signer. I am now doing a 1 year MSc program in Germany in Europe but I am still 24 and after 4-5 years after I get enough experience I would definitely apply to Anderson and get a job in LA. To live in LA is like to be on vacation every day. With that being said, Stanford and Berkeley would still be my #1 an #2, but since you tried at Berkeley anyway and it didnt work, UCLA is an absolutely fine choice. And btw, I would take 60k at UCLA vs no money from Berkeley any day.