Why Anderson?

First off, I am absolutely thrilled to be joining UCLA Anderson’s Class of 2016!  Since officially accepting the offer, I have just gotten more excited about the program and what the future holds in store.  From a hand-written note from the Admission Director to the outstanding Career Management Center, there are so many reason that led me to deciding to attend Anderson.

Students
One of the very first things that impressed me about Anderson was the quality of the students, starting with my interviewer.  He had a very impressive background and I could feel his entrepreneurial spirit.  Our conversation was engaging.  I was excited to talk with him through the entirety of the interview.  He was also extremely helpful in answering my questions regarding his experience at Anderson.  If I was going to be classmates with individuals like him, I knew would be in a place where learn and grow because of my peers, not in spite of my peers.  Throughout the application process, as well as since be accepted, I have found that Anderson students have been some of the most, if not the most responsive, friendly, genuine, and helpful students I have talked to.  Of the students I contacted or was introduced to, 100% of them responded and took time to talk with me.  The only other school that came remotely close to that was Tuck.  All the students I spoke with at Anderson were down to earth and very friendly.  A few even offered me a place to stay while I look for housing.  I appreciated the fact that after I was accepted I was assigned a buddy by the admission office.  I was also contacted by an alumni and spoke with him about his experience at Anderson.  Another thing that really impressed me compared to some of the other programs was the amount of advice Anderson students gave me in terms of preparing for school and a career transition.  The advice has been extremely helpful and will definitely help me hit the ground running.  I am really looking forward to becoming a part of the Anderson family.

Location
One factor I didn’t think would be too important to me while I was researching programs, but has become increasingly so has been the location of the school.  For my career goals, to transition into tech, aside from perhaps the Bay Area, I couldn’t have picked a better location.  Plus, having grown up in California, I am looking forward to returning to my home state and enjoying the great weather!  No more snow 2014!!!  In relation to location, one thing I really like about Anderson is they offer academic internships.  With the relatively strong tech start-up scene in the Los Angeles area, this will give me the opportunity to further gain and develop the needed skills and experience while in school to land a job in tech post-MBA.

Career/Technology
Along the lines of location and career, another big plus for Anderson was the strength of their tech club, the High-Tech Business Association, and the amount of different offerings for students interested in tech.  With nearly a quarter of the students from Anderson going into the tech industry, the school has put a lot of resources into developing this area of their program.  With some of the other schools, I felt like I would have to put a lot of personal effort into being able to get anywhere near the experience I would at Anderson.  Another big draw to the program was that Anderson’s Career Management Center, Parker CMC, has consistently be ranked one of the top MBA career management centers.  From all my conversations with Anderson students, the strength of the Parker CMC is one thing that came up in almost every conversation.

Community
Although there are a ton of other reasons I chose Anderson, the last one I will talk about is the community.  I have kind of mentioned it throughout this post, but all of the students and fellow admits that I have spoken to have been very down to earth, friendly, and receptive.  I initially really wanted to be a small town to make sure I got the tighter-knit, community feel from the program I attended.  However, after the experience I have had thus far with Anderson, I am confident I will get the tight-knit community feel while being in one of the most vibrant cities in the world!  Needless to say, (although I have said it a few times already) I am excited for the next two years.

Making a Decision

It has been a little over a month since hearing from Tepper and Darden, and about two months since hearing from Anderson, that I was admitted to their 2016 Classes.  After all the long nights and hard work that went into GMAT prep, applications, etc., it felt great to finally be on the other end, deciding where to go to school.  I had no idea how difficult the decision would be.

So, after taking a few weeks to think thing through, and numerous conversation with current students, alumni, fellow admits, I have decided, in the words of the great Christopher Wallace, “I’m going going back back to Cali Cali,” to spend the next two years earning my MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.  I am so excited to join the Anderson Class of 2016.

Like I said before, this was not an easy decision.  Tepper is a great school, but it really came down to Anderson and Darden.  From my previous post, I am sure you can tell that I had a great experience visiting and interviewing at Darden.  I loved the campus and enjoyed the time I spent with current students and professors.  But in the end, the more I researched, talked to students, and reflected on my goals, Anderson was the clear choice.  Since deciding on Anderson, I have had the chance to meet up and talk with several future classmates.  I can’t wait till the fall!

Welcome to UCLA Anderson! from UCLA Anderson on Vimeo.

Accepted!

Since interviewing at Tepper two months ago, and Darden about a month ago, I have been counting down the days till March 24th.  When I first started the whole MBA admissions process, I felt overwhelmed with the studying for the GMAT.  I always thought it would get easier.  Then came applications…  I would have gladly studied for the GMAT again.  Once those were submitted, then came the waiting.  Waiting.  All the waiting has by far been the most difficult part of the whole process.

Well, finally all the waiting has come to an end.  Monday morning, I received a call from the adcom member that interviewed me at Darden… I am in!  It was quite a rush of emotions.  I was excited and relieved.  From my previous post, I am sure you can tell how much I enjoyed my trip out to Charlottesville.  I am looking forward to possibly joining that community!

Later that day, I got an email from Tepper with a link to a video.  Assuming they wouldn’t send a rejection video to applicants, I was sure I was accepted.  I logged into my account online to double check.  I was in!  Two acceptances in one day, it was definitely nice.

After the high of the acceptances wore off a little, the reality of having to make a decision between these three amazing schools.  I am still waiting to hear from Darden regarding potential scholarships/fellowships.  Unfortunately they don’t give that information on the phone.  I have to wait till I receive the physical acceptance packet.  Unfortunately Tepper didn’t offer me anything.  So now it’s time to figure things out.  I think I will have a bit clearer of an idea in the next couple weeks.

"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." - Keri Russell

Darden Interview

A few weeks back I traveled to beautiful Charlottesville for my interview at Darden.  This was my first time in Virginia, and it definitely left a great impression, although the flight out there was another story.  Because of my work schedule, I was forced to take a red eye flight to and from my Darden visit/interview.  My flight left around mid-night local time.  I was already beat after a long day.  I was looking forward to getting some sleep on the plane.  However, a guy in the seat across the aisle keep getting into his bag that was sitting right on top of my suit in the overhead compartment.  I kept waking up because I was paranoid he was going to wrinkle my suit!

I finally arrived in Richmond with just enough time to pick up my rental and head to Charlottesville.  The drive from Richmond to Charlottesville was beautiful and very scenic.  It was nice to have a little over an hour in the car to again mentally go over my answer to the famous Darden interview question, “Tell me your story.”  I reviewed all the key points I wanted to emphasize.  By the time I arrived at the Darden Grounds, I was feeling pretty confident about my interview.

It was a really pretty day.  The weather was good, a little windy, but not too bad.  I had a few minutes to kill, so I walked around campus before checking in with all the other interviewees.  I was really impressed by the campus and the surroundings.

I checked in around 10:45am.  I was greeted by a kind lady named Virginia.  I got a kick out of that.  I was just in time for the financial aid session.  Afterwards I sat in the admission’s lobby chatting with some fellow prospective students.  It was humbling to be around people who had accomplished so much.  I had enough time to down a Dr. Pepper and wake myself up a little before my interview.

I interviewed with a member of the admissions committee.  She was very friendly and made the interview very conversational.  The interview was completely blind.  She ask me to tell her about myself.  She wanted me to go into my background, talk about my childhood, etc.  She said she would interject from time to time with questions.  The interview went great!  Overall, I think it was the best one yet.  Because of the format, I felt like I was able to paint a broad picture of myself.  I didn’t feel limited by specific questions or anything like that.  I left the interview feeling confident and very happy with the way things went.

After the interview, I had lunch with a few students, a professor, and other prospective students.  It was great to get to pick the brain of a professor at one of the best business schools in the country.  He provided some great school and career insight.  After lunch we went on a tour of the Darden Grounds.  Needless to say, it was beautiful.  I am very impressed by the facilities.  During the tour I ran into a student I had chatted with a few times on the phone.  She knew I was interviewing that day, so she was on the lookout for me.  We only had a couple minutes to talk, but it was nice to meet her in person and catch up.

When the tour was over, I walked around a little more and talked with a few other people that were interviewing that day.  I knew I needed to get back to the airport, but it was hard leaving when the weather was so nice.

Overall, I was very impressed by the admission team, students, and faculty at Darden.  I was also blown away by the caliber of the other individuals interviewing that day.  I knew I would be lucky to be a member of that community.  It was hard knowing that I wouldn’t hear back from Darden for another month.  That is a long time to have your fingers crossed…

In the spirit of my Darden interview, here is an awesome quote by Thomas Jefferson:

"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." - Thomas Jefferson

An Invite from Darden and Some Good News from Anderson!

Not long after coming off the highs of getting interview invites from Tepper and Anderson, I got another long-waited for email… an interview invite from Darden!  I was excited.  I immediately started looking for flights out to Virginia.  When I signed up for my interview, there were only five days to choose from and I could not do four of those due to work obligations.  Luckily, the one day that did work for me also happened to have the cheapest flights.

It was nice having a few weeks between when I received my interview invite and my actual interview day.  My previous interviews, the most I had between receiving the invite and interviewing was about a week.  Right after I booked my flight, I started prepping for the interview.  Darden has a get website and a ton of videos.  For anyone interviewing, I highly recommend spending a lot of time on their website.  I was also able to talk to a few students and learn more about their experience at Darden.  In addition to all that, I used mbaMission’s Darden School Guide, Clear Admit’s School Guide, and Clear Admit’s Interview Guide.  All of them were extremely useful, especially the Interview Guide, I definitely recommend it.  Getting into all of those materials, and especially talking with the current students really got me excited about Darden and my upcoming trip to Charlottesville!

One morning, a couple weeks after getting an invite from Darden, I woke up a little bit earlier than usual – around 4am.  I looked at my phone to check the time and noticed I had a new email.  It was from Anderson.  I opened it up and it said that my application status had been updated.  I clicked on the link and logged into the application portal… I had been accepted!  Man it felt great!  I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to get up and go running.  The whole time I was running, I couldn’t stop smiling.  I felt so relieved to have at least one acceptance in my pocket, finally, after two years!

Later that day I got a call from a member of the admission committee at Anderson welcoming me.  I was informed I had also received a fellowship as well!  I was ecstatic!  Needless to say, I am so grateful and am looking forward to possibly being a member of the Anderson community.

Next up, Darden interview…

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

A Pleasant Surprise... Followed by Another

I think I wrote about this before, but it is a strange combination of feelings you get after submitting an application.  For me there is a sense of relief, but also an uneasy feeling that everything is now out of my hands.  After submitting my round two applications, I did feel confident that I put together the best applications I could, and whatever was going to happen.

About a week after submitting my application to Tepper, I received an unexpected email.  An interview invite!  I was pumped, especially because I was expecting it to be at least three to four weeks before I heard back.  Luckily I had already started prepping and I scheduled my interview for a couple days after receiving the invite.

I interview with an Adcom via Skype.  It was a really good experience.  The Adcom was very kind and represented the school very well.  Overall the interview went well.  I felt like it was very conversational, and I felt like I was able to paint a fairly good picture of myself with the time I had and with the questions I was asked.

The day after my Tepper interview, I received another unexpected email... and invite from Anderson!  I gave myself a little more time than I did with Tepper to prep for my interview.  I was pretty happy that I didn't have to take time off work because Anderson had evening interview options (Good call Anderson, good call).

My Anderson interview went well too.  Not as well as my Tepper interview, but I was happy with it.  I interviewed with a Second-year student.  He was really down to earth and created a very conversational and relaxed interviewing environment.  I felt like I wasn't able to express myself as well, but I felt like it was more due to the questions I was asked, not because I was stumped by a question or anything.  I'll tell you what though, the Clear Admit Interview Reports definitely helped me prepare for both of my interviews.

Two down, two to go. It was a nice feeling to have only a couple weeks after submitting my applications.  If anyone has any specific questions regarding my interview experience at either of these schools, feel free to shoot me an email or post your questions in the comment section.

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." - Thomas A. Edison

Moving On to Round Two

It is difficult coming off of all the exhaustion that goes into prepping and putting together applications.  When I submitted my last round one app, I thought/hoped it would be the list time I would have to think about an MBA application essay, resume, etc.  But as fate would have it, it wasn't.

While I was waiting to hear back from my round one schools, as a contingency plan, I began working on essays and applications for a few other schools.  However, now knowing for sure my round one fate, I needed to kick it up a couple gears.  There were a few schools that I really liked, but decided not to apply to in the first round because I didn't want to spread myself too thin: Darden, Anderson, Tepper, and Fuqua.

Round two apps were much easier and faster than round one.  It was nice to have my strategy, goals, stories, etc. all honed from my previous applications.  I was able to get those four applications in with very little trouble.  I submitted all for apps between 1/4 and 1/7.  I was really hoping this time would be the last time I would have to submit a b-school app.  Now began the waiting, which I fully expected to be as long and painful as it was in round one…