Great experience at Anderson, but maybe not for everyone.

Experience during the program

My Anderson experience has been pretty good so far (one quarter in). What really exceeded my expectations was the focus on career services - Anderson has a class that's required for first years that takes you through everything from perfecting your resume to networking etiquette to interviewing tips, and while some of the info is not applicable for everyone, it's still extremely useful to see everything from start to finish, and it shows that the school is focused on the right thing - getting you the job you want. I chose Anderson because of its proximity to large tech companies and have been happy with my recruiting experience so far. There are a LOT of alumni in that field and tons of second years who interned at the big name companies so there are a lot of people to talk to and get information from. I did find that the first quarter was pretty overwhelming - 4 classes plus networking/informationals and prepping applications. I believe they are changing things slightly next year to reduce some of the workload so that first years can really focus on their career prospects. As far as culture goes - I love it. It probably errs on the side of being more homogeneous than other schools because a lot of people are already from the LA area, so if you are looking for a TRULY diverse class, maybe this isn't the ideal school. But I still find that everyone is extremely smart, supportive, and ambitious. The social scene is probably a little different too - you're not confined to just hanging out on campus and there are tons of opportunities to explore and check out new places, which I happen to love. I do hear that the class becomes a little fragmented by the 2nd year because everyone kind of does their own thing with their group of friends. My advice to applicants is to really think about what makes Anderson unique and figure out if those are qualities that you want in a school and a lifestyle, because although it's the right fit for me, I could easily see why it's not a perfect fit for everyone looking for the traditional MBA experience. As much as people on GMAT Club like to say that the social scene and quality of life are not as important as rankings, I think they're EXTREMELY important and should not be taken for granted.

Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (4.0)

Strengths of the program:

Career opportunities provided by school
Culture & Student Support
Specialization in a particular area (e.g. Finance, Consulting, Healthcare, etc)

Best fit at this program:

Tech
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Brand/Ranking