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(4.6) |
I'm currently a first year student in the part-time weekend program. I think the work/life/school balance is tough but it is rewarding. I am enjoying the course material and I feel energized by my cohorts. I feel like all of my classmates are intelligent and push each other to think differently and learn more. The faculty is top notch! They are entertaining, present content in an easily understandable manner, and engage the class well in discussion. I also feel the facilities are top notch on a beautiful campus. I love that Anderson students also have access to world class business and thought leaders speaking on campus. There is a lot of opportunity here and business school is truly what you make of it. If you're going to attend just to finish classes and get a grade then you probably will not enjoy it.
Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
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Specialization in a particular area (e.g. Finance, Consulting, Healthcare, etc)
The school's main value "sharing success" is what drives the whole campus life.
What I love about this program:
- the diversity of the student body: many student with different backgrounds and target industries. 30% of the student are international and even among the US students, there is a huge diversity. It is really important for me beacuse I can really learn from my classmates' experiences.
- The Parker career center is amazing. The people who work there really dedicate their lives to the students and they gave me tons of help during my recruiting process.
- The LA location. LA is becoming one of the most dynamic cities of the world. Many startups are also moving from the bay area to LA and this enhances the entrepreneurial environment that you can fell when you live in LA.
- There is no competition among the students. We all help each other and share success. I'm sure this attitude will last after the end of the program.
The professors have an outstanding background. Each class is like a TED talk, so engaging!
Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
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So far, I've enjoyed it at Anderson. By and large, my classmates are sharp and fun to be around. The culture is truly collaborative and everyone keeps their ego in check, which might not be the same at other top programs. The career center has been excellent about ensuring that everyone has the preparation they need to apply for internships, and the 2nd-year students are extremely helpful resources as well.
This is a great spot to be if you're in tech. By virtue of its LA location (Silicon Beach 10 minutes away and Silicon Valley a 1.5-hour flight) and its west-coast alumni network, there are a lot of easily-accessible opportunities for all sizes of tech companies, from startups to giants. While it might be tough to land your exact dream job (and unless you're at Stanford/HBS it will be tough regardless), the wide array of companies and roles allows just about everyone to find a place where they can fit and be happy. Sure, it might be just a tiny bit harder to get the interviews you're dying for compared to an M-7 school (slightly lower rank/brand, plus sooo many people want to be in tech here so it crowds out interview slots), but the range of opportunity and ease of making connections definitely makes up for it.
If you're into marketing, entertainment, or entrepreneurship, this is also a great place to be. However, if you want consulting/PE/VC you might be better off going purely for the highest-ranked school you can get into, though. There's no way to sugarcoat it, but some job tracks only really seek out the bluest of blue-bloods, and UCLA, while a great school, isn't going to give you the sexy brand you need on those career tracks. If you're not looking at those jobs, though, UCLA is a fantastic place to be!
On top of everything else, it's a blast to live in LA and I can absolutely guarantee your quality of life will be much higher at UCLA than any other top-15 program.
Tech: Huge range of companies actively recruit here and there are tons of alums all over. Due to the high volume of people applying to the "big" companies (Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, etc) you might have a harder time getting interviews at those than at other top schools with higher ranks. However, beyond that, it's much easier to get into tech here than most other places due to location, you'll just have to do less legwork in general, plus you can always get connections through academic internships.
Consulting/PE/VC: If this is what you want, you should try to get into an M7, the numbers don't lie. It'll just be easier for you that way. Anderson is a much better tech/marketing/media/entrepreneurship school than it is a finance/consulting mill.
Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
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When I was going through my own b-school application experience a year ago, it became apparent that any and every business school was trying to position its "collaborative culture" as the selling point. Needless to say, I took the stuff I heard with a grain of salt and after hearing "collaborative culture" for one too many times started to roll my eyes at the expression.
After spending more than a quarter at Anderson, I will say this definitively: Anderson's culture is its selling point. Anderson students are collaborative and supportive beyond my expectations. They are positive, extremely hard-working, and genuine. Most of all, they are inclusive. I'll put it more bluntly- there are no assh*les here, and if you know you are one, you probably shouldn't apply here. I used to pride myself on my humility, work ethic, and intellect, but people here blow me away. I'm constantly trying to keep up- in a good way- with my classmates.
In many other schools I have attended, I have seen cliques and an atmosphere of exclusivity develop, not because people are mean or immature, but because there doesn't seem to be a strong enough bond holding together the student body in the long run.
At Anderson, it's a whole different vibe. Almost everyone here is in some ways switching or pivoting their careers. You have former financial analysts hoping to do marketing, former teachers recruiting for management consulting, former auditors looking to start their own entrepreneurial ventures. We all have a common experience that seems to be a natural glue that allows anyone to connect with everyone at anytime.
My advice to future applicants is to throw yourself into the experience when you do get here. There is so much available here for you- academic internships, case competitions, great classes, bright classmates, a supportive alumni network. Don't let your two years go to waste by not taking advantage of these things.
Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
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The program gave me a chance of exploring different career paths. The culture of the school is very strong. Classmates do share success so you can always find someone willing to help in any matter you might have. My section is like a small family and we look after each other. The school is very welcoming for international students and we are supported with a dedicated career advisor. Even if one's career goal is not to become an entrepreneur, the school provides so many opportunities that with a good idea a start-up can become your side activity. The school is filled with business opportunities and if that is what you are looking for, this is the school for you.
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The quality of the student body has surpassed all of my expectations! Everyone is supportive, helpful, and friendly, especially when it comes to the internship/job hunt. It's not a backstabbing culture; people prepare for an interview for the same position together and are genuinely happy to see another Anderson person get a job (even one that you had been going for).
As far as applying, it's important to emphasize that you have done your research about Anderson's culture and how you can get involved with the student body; interviewers are screening for fit and how you will contribute to the community.
Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
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I wasn't sure about applying to Anderson. Honestly. I was a rankings focused person and I was concerned about schools that fell just outside the top ten. But, I never thought about a few things: 1) UCLA as a whole is world renowned and has a global reputation that exceeds that of many Ivy Leagues. 2) The proximity to the epicenter of tech makes a huge difference if you are interested in tech 3) People are the most important part of the MBA process. Period. My professors are amazing, all but one have been phenomenal. They are not only the top of their respective fields, but they are also great people with personalities! I didn't expect that. I often thought that most top academics were reminiscent of Ben Stein. Not so. There are cool ass super smart people out there. My classmates are just great. I don't make friends easily but at Anderson the people are so welcoming. The school truly fosters an anticompetitive environment. We are in this together seems to be the theme among my entire class. I hate the word collaborative so I won't use that to describe the school. Looking out for your peers and the school as a whole is the best way to describe Anderson students. I really love my experience thus far.
I think I learned more about practical business in the first quarter than I learned in all of undergrad. The professors are great at relating to people and they are extremely accessible.
Rankings (in terms of what you learn and the people you are surrounded by) to a degree don't mean a ton inside of the top 15-20. I'd put the caliber of my classmates up against any business school in the world. Period.
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My dilemma at this time in 2015 was to choose between Anderson, Oxford-Said, UNC, HEC, Olin and a waitlist at Booth. My unbiased review is from the POV of a 1st year who is bang in the middle of peak recruiting for internship 2016. Ultimately, I chose Anderson and I'm glad I did, and here's why:
Brand:
I've been pleasantly surprised by the strong brand recognition Anderson commands on the west coast. Everywhere i've been, from San Fran to Seattle, people in recruiting circles highly value the Anderson Brand name.
Career Services:
I've friends who've went to Ross, Booth and Stern. I wouldn't be saying one is better than the other but I can categorically say that Anderson's career management center (Parker) ticks every box that the top 5 schools do and many more. The sheer amount of services they provide and the support for summer recruitment I've seen is something to behold. In fact we have a 100% summer employment rate and that is in no small part due to Parker.
Curriculum/Acads:
Anderson operates on a quarter system, which could seem challenging at first, especially if you're an international and are recruiting for Consulting or IB. The grade curve is as you'd expect, but the curriculum and professors are top-notch.
Social/Cultural insights:
"Share Success" is the motto here and I've to admit Anderson is an extremely tight knit community. One of my professors in the Ops class mentioned that the biggest challenge he faces with Anderson students is to get them to disagree with each other in class. We watch out for each other and that's something you won't find at most top 10 B schools.
Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
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REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED ****@anderson.ucla.edu [?]
Anderson is a great fit for students that value a sense of community, a well-run and supportive school administration, and lots and lots of career-specific advice.
Our small class size means I know nearly all my classmates by name. The social scene is varied and inclusive - we do plenty of bar-hopping, but also make time to play frisbee on the beach, go for hikes with our dogs, and play a game of pick-up basketball or tennis.
Visiting professors have commented to us that they prefer teaching Anderson students (as opposed to other top CA schools that I won't mention) because our students are less arrogant and more willing to learn.
The administration / student services are really helpful and responsive to the student body. I have frequently been surprised at the level of "behind the scenes" work that was done to make this two years an amazing experience for us!
First quarter is very lecture heavy - it's a lot about absorbing concepts (economics, accounting, statistics) and less intellectually stimulating. Second quarter dives into case-based teaching and is more focused on discussion and application.
Our career services are AMAZING. I didn't totally understand the value of that before I came here, but it is hugely helpful. We are required to go through a ton of prep work (resume reviews, mock interviews, etc) but it's all in order to make sure that we have a ton of internship options to choose from. Career services knows every student incredibly well and is able to provide targeted, thoughtful advice about everything under the sun related to the recruiting process. This is *especially* important if you're a double switcher (changing both industry and function).
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I was pleasantly surprised to see the opportunities present in the school to work with big and small tech firms along with start-ups. Students can do part-time internships with firms while attending school and leverage the experience while recruiting.
The biggest strength of the school is the career services and culture at the school which means at any given time, you have at least 10 people working with you and for you. The kind of support you get from student clubs in terms of facilitating networking with companies and preparing for interviews is unmatchable.
Lastly, LA as a city offers a lot to everyone be in terms of recruiting, entertainment or fun. It defines the experience of MBA for a student.
Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
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Admissions Team
