UCLA or USC MBA program?
When you get right down to it, it really doesn't matter in the long run where you got your MBA. USC may have a bit more prestige, but I'm not sure the program is that much "better". Either one would be fine. As for being more affordable, they both will be pricey, but UCLA should be less expensive, since it's supported by public funding.
Can I get into a MBA program at UCLA or USC?
I'm afraid you don't have a shot at either of those schools. It would be easier to tell you where you could go if you had taken the GMAT, but the current grades and scores for places like that are way up there. If you had a really strong GMAT score, you could try for a place like LMU or Pepperdine, but the GPA alone won't get you there.
MBA in CA- CSUN vs. UCLA?Cost vs. Name?
Im really torn right now and would appreciate some advice. Given my background and test scores, I feel I can get into either school. But with UCLA costing about $100,000 for the entire program and CSUN costing just $16,000, would the name and prestige of UCLA make it worthwhile. Summarizing some of the arguments I have heard in the past, most people say that if you plan on staying on the west coast, CSUN is gaining more and more weight. But if you plan on leaving CA or joining a large company, UCLA is clearly the way as no one will know what a CSUN is. =) Please help..I'm really torn right now and would absolutely appreciate some feedback. Thanks in advance!
I graduated from UCLA. Where should I go to get my MBA? In California or elsewhere?
Run a financial analysis: are there any MBA programs in California except Stanford and Haas that are normally a financial positive on average, for instance? (MBAs are really overall financial disasters, aren’t they, outside the top 10 or so?)Can you get into Harvard or INSEAD? (If so, why settle for the provinces?)Why are you pursuing an MBA?
Is UCLA a good college for business?
As a graduate of UCLA's business program, I think I can answer this question for you. The short answer: no. The long answer: depends on what type of person you are. To start with, UCLA doesn't have an undergraduate business program. We have a business-economics program, which is under the College of Letters and Sciences. The curriculum consists mostly economics and accounting, and lacking courses in management, finance, marketing, and etc. Our famous Anderson School of Management (ranks #10 in the US News MBA ranking) has little to do with the undergraduate program other than offering an accounting minor. A good business program is usually defined by having great career related resources for students. This is what UCLA lacks the most in my opinion. While we still have all the big finance/accounting/consulting firms come to our school to recruit, there's no enough guidance or assistance provided to help us capture these opportunities. Comparing to USC's Marshall School of Business, we definitely lack resources. To sum up, just like most big public schools in the US, resources are there, but no one teaches you how to utilize them. HOWEVER, if you are a motivated person who can manage to stay on top of things, you will still be able to enjoy a lot of resources at UCLA. When I was a student there, I went to all the career related clubs for networking opportunities and attended multiple mock interview and career workshops to learn sharpen my interview skills. I was lucky enough to have 5 job offers when I graduated in 2008 (in the middle of the financial crisis). On the other hand, I had friends who had no idea when the recruiting season started. I then went on to attend USC's MBA program (and dropped out to start my own company). I have to say that students at UCLA are a lot smarter than those I met at USC. I do believe UCLA students are more capable but mostly come from middle class or low income families. This in turn forces a lot of them to settle on jobs to become middle class. While USC has a much better entrepreneurial environment because most of USC students' parents have some business background (base on what I saw). Therefore students are more likely to take risks. If you are considering coming to either school in Los Angeles to study business, I would recommend USC.
UCLA Business Economics major - Future plans (careers/graduate) / other comparison (Haas/Marshall) questions?
Today I was accepted into UCLA with a business economics major selected. I did a lot of reading on the school and this major today and heard some things that are making me skeptical about going there. I heard that the business-econ major is essentially an econ major and is recognized as such. So, I am wondering what sort of jobs are available to me after graduating with this degree. Are most career paths centered on econ? If I chose to go to graduate school, how likely would I be to get into a good MBA or law program? I have not heard from Berkeley or USC yet. But if I did, what advantages would I have going to Haas or Marshall (other than networking) over LA? Obviously Berkeley is the most prestigious of the three, but is it worth going there if I would prefer to be at LA? I ask about Marshall because I currently do not know if I will be accepted into Haas. Lastly, I honestly do not know about how college in general is structured and what all of the limitations and mechanics are in choosing a major/minor. I have heard that they highly encourage/require doing an accounting minor (which I have no problem with). What are my other options concerning minors? If I wanted to switch majors how likely am I to be able to do that? I know bizecon is a pretty competitive major in the first place. Thanks in advance to anyone with helpful advice. I know a lot of these answers can be found in forums and such, but I'm getting a lot of mixed signals. So getting some direct answers would definitely be nice. One last thing, would it be pretty easy to transfer into Haas after a year at LA (with a good GPA of course) just because they are both in the UC system? I've been hearing that a lot of people that are declined from Haas have been accepted by LA for econ. (They add business to the name to make the major more attractive to business applicants)
Which Business school among Ross, Darden and UCLA Anderson is better suited for a career in high tech product management?
Lest anyone call me out for concealing a conflict of interest, let me say upfront that I am the President of the High Tech Business Association (HTBA) at UCLA Anderson. And I am 100% sure that of the schools mentioned, and probably many others, we are the best business school to go to in preparation for a career in Tech Product Management. This is thanks to our West Coast location, perfect size (375 per class), volume of students seeking careers in high tech (around 1/3), and the HTBA's and administration's commitment to accelerating Anderson's reputation as a top tech school.Some top companies (Google, Facebook) do require CS degrees for PM, which you won't get at ANY b-school. But what you are guaranteed at Anderson are excellent management skills and strong networking opportunities with top companies - what any company not requiring engineers seeks. We have a tech case competition in the fall each year that provides learnings for students and exposure to top tech executives. We are able to host PM Education sessions with people like Mark Thomas, Google PM, when he happened to be in town at the Google Venice campus. We host "tech treks" or on-sites in top companies all over the Bay Area, Seattle, and LA every year. Small to large companies recruit directly on campus, and incubators and start-ups are in our backyard in "Silicon Beach."For one success story, look no further than myself, a 6-year real estate developer prior to school who was a PM intern at Amazon in Kindle this summer and received a full-time offer.I hope it's clear I could go on and on, but the HTBA's mission speaks for itself: we have two goals - to make Anderson the number one name in tech recruiting, and to get every single student the job in tech they want.
How should one prepare for the full-time MBA interview at UCLA Anderson?
I graduated from Anderson in 2013, and I was part of the AAC (Anderson Admission Corps). The interview process has undergone a lot of changes, and interviews are now solely done by current students and admission staff.During my interviews, I focused on a few main areas:1) Can the candidate answer my questions in a clear and concise way?Tips: Stay on topic and don't talk TOO much, but make sure you get me the details I'm looking for. Be personable and be yourself. But be professional! We're looking to make sure you're not crazy, and that you will represent the school well in an interview.2) How good is the candidate's case for getting an MBA, and why Anderson? Tips: Make sure you do your research. Know why you need to get an MBA for your career, and know why Anderson specifically is a good fit for you. Read up on what makes Anderson different... there is plenty of info online. Also, know your short and long-term goals.3) Would the candidate contribute well to the Anderson community?Tips: With this area, I was looking for leadership potential or something unique that the candidate could bring to the school. Are you passionate about anything? Do you like to take the leadership role in activities? Do you have new ideas? Will you contribute in the classroom or in a club or both?4) Do I like this person?Tips: This is the toughest area, because you can't click with everyone. Sometimes you just get an interviewer who you don't mesh with, and there's nothing you can do about that. Hopefully you blow them away in the other areas. I looked to see if I wanted a candidate as a classmate. Would I want to travel with them? Work with them in a group? Would I want them being a fellow Anderson alum in the workplace?Make sure you have one or two good questions to ask at the end of the interview. Interviewers typically like to talk about Anderson, because they feel like experts on the program and want to brag. Don't ask anything that is too easy to find online... go a level deeper.Good luck!
Will an MBA from Cal State LA as opposed to an MBA from USC or UCLA (or any other MBA program in the Loyola, Pepperdine, etc. area), have a dramatically different impact on my resume to HR or the Hiring Manager generally?
Yes and no.....If you have a job and your employer wants to Pay for your MBA while you continue to work, and you will get a nice promotion when you complete your MBA, then Cal State LA is perfect. You get the degree for free and then you continue to work for the company, gaining experience. You either move up the management chain or switch to another company (or eventually both) . However, you are viewed as an Experienced manager with a MBAOr you are deciding on a career change and you believe you need an MBA for that. So you quit your job and get a MBA and hope to get into a great post-graduation job. That calls for a Highly Ranked MBA program like UCLA (#15) or USC (#25) combined with cost (in-state should be less expensive at UCLA unless you live close to USC).All the best.