I received my interview invitation on January 30th, exactly 3 weeks after the Round 2 application deadline (January 9th).
Going in, I prepared myself for an interview with a second year student—since that’s what I read on this blog, and in other places. (And the advice was greatly appreciated!) However, when I arrived on campus for my interview, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was being interviewed by the assistant dean. We went into his office, and from the beginning, the environment was extremely friendly and relaxed.
He told me a little bit about himself—his background, education, career, and what brought him back to work at Anderson—and expressed how much he loves interacting with students. This set the tone nicely for the rest of the interview, because I could see his genuine passion for the program and for student life.
With my resume in front of him, he asked me the following questions:
1. Tell me about yourself? (Maybe this wasn’t the exact wording, but it was a general question about my background, in reference to my resume.) During my answer, he also asked me a few clarifying questions.
2. Why do you want an MBA?
3. Why Anderson?
4. What are your weaknesses?
5. Tell me how you function in a team setting – what kind of leader are you?
6. Tell me about about a time that you lead a team (it can be work or non-work related)?
7. What clubs would you like to be involved with at Anderson?
8. Do you have any questions for me? (I asked him a specific questions about tracks vs. specializations, about how many extracurriculars were realistic given the course load, and a specific question about the AMR program, among others)
9. Where do you really want to go to business school?
Much of the interview was a free flowing conversation, and even the more “difficult” questions were asked in a gentle way that didn’t make it seem like he was prodding. I could tell he was trying to see if i would be a good fit for the culture, and we ended up talking a lot about teamwork, collaboration, and the nature of the student body at Anderson.
My advice is to get to know the program as much as you can, particularly the student culture, and decide for yourself if you think you’ll be a good fit. If you can demonstrate that you’ve done your research and made your decision intelligently, this will shine through in your interview.
Overall: I left with an exceptional impression of UCLA Anderson, surprised at how fulfilling the interview was in itself. Maybe I was lucky because I happened to resonate with the dean, but my feeling is that genuine human connection and interest in its students is the general spirit of Anderson.
BEST OF LUCK to everyone!
*Admitted February 15th and I couldn’t be happier.
