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FEBRUARY 1, 2000 B-SCHOOL Q&A: ADMISSIONS Meet UCLA's Admissions Director A Conversation with Linda Baldwin, Director of MBA Admissions at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management
Q: In 1999, the Anderson School received a record 5,000 applications -- up from about 4,300 in 1998. What do you attribute that growth to? A: We've been recruiting more broadly. Our students and alumni have been reaching out to the people they work with and identifying candidates who they think [would be] strong additions to the school. Location is also a big factor. We're a school known for giving its students an opportunity to get both a theoretical foundation and the ability to apply what's learned. So our students can do independent or field studies in Silicon Valley, as well in the Biotech Corridor in San Diego. Or they can work in the entertainment industry. A lot of applicants want to make certain that they're able to connect with industries while in school. And our curriculum allows that flexibility. Q: What's the difference between the pool of applicants applying to Anderson in 2000, versus those who applied, say, five years ago? A: Their interests have changed remarkably. About three or four years ago, people were thinking primarily of having standard career opportunities in management consulting, marketing, and finance. Today, MBAs are thinking in terms of Internet opportunities, entrepreneurial opportunities working with startups, or working with smaller types of firms, and that has been a radical shift. Q: What about the professional experience today's students are now bringing to the table? A: The class profile is a little bit more diverse [in regard to work experience]. Certainly it's the age of commerce all over the world. So you're seeing people coming from the arts, the social sciences, and the biological and physiological sciences. These people are saying, 'I don't need to be a researcher, teacher, or a support-type person.' These individuals used to end up in those roles. Now they're looking broadly at opportunities to take their skills and make something happen for themselves in the business [world]. They want to go into biotech, private equity, strategy and business development. The MBA degree is the vehicle for doing that. You're going to see a lot of those individuals making that transition. The others are the individuals who are degreed -- doctors and lawyers -- who are willing to use an MBA as a vehicle for transitioning into a more active role. They want to generate business and have an impact on the organization, rather than simply be a member of the organization. And then you have journalists, humanities people, performers, fine arts people, etc.
Q: Where do the majority of UCLA's applicants hail from? A: Last year, of our total applicant pool, approximately 38% were international. It breaks down almost into thirds between what we call those from the West Coast, those from the East Coast and Midwest, and then those who are international. We're seeing increases from places like Minneapolis, Austin, and Seattle. We made a recruitment effort with some other schools, and that had an impact. We dedicated ourselves to going to six different locations this year that had not been [previously] covered well. Q: What percentage of your applicants are from California? A: About 30%. Q: Is Anderson's application growth coming from the school's domestic or international pool? A: The real growth is international. The Asian countries and the People's Republic of China are a big contributor to growth. But we also have growth from applicants in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. More people come to visit from those areas, too, because they're interested in technology and entrepreneurship. Q: Last year, 29% of Anderson's entering class was comprised of women. Given the school's explosive application growth, does UCLA expect to see that percentage increase in 2000? A: Our [1999] pool of accepted applicants was [comprised of] almost 31% female. [Of the class that enrolled at Anderson,] 29% are female. If you were to look geographically, you'd see that more females who pursue an MBA come from the East Coast and the Midwest. The decision to move west is a big one for a lot of women. It's a bigger risk for them, perhaps, without the benefit of knowing that there's a guaranteed reward at the end of the MBA. So they have to get over all those hurdles to make it to the west. There are those who have that spirit and will independently make that move. The other thing is that almost 80% of our international pool is male. [In the U.S.,] women who are targeted for [MBA] opportunities feel comfortable doing them. But in other parts of the world, you don't see [that willingness] as much. In other words, there's really an inequity in terms of international pools -- the participants in education at the higher levels are very skewed toward males internationally. What we try to do is select candidates who are the best and the brightest and who have the skills necessary to do well in our curriculum. One area that still seems to be slightly less developed [in our] women [applicants] is their quantitative skills. This year, after round one, we're seeing closer GMAT scores [between men and women]. Generally, women aren't highly represented in [statistics and calculus] undergraduate disciplines. But there were more women who were on target in terms of those quantitative skills and courses in our first pool of applicants. Q: How have laws such as Proposition 209 altered UCLA's recruiting practices? For example, can you and your staff attend or recruit at an event held by the National Black MBA Association? A: Some schools can select individuals to diversify their classes based on gender or race without any constraints. We are constrained by Proposition 209. But we found out that we could do certain events. If we participate in events which are predominantly male based, then we can't exclude women from attending. So our invitations go out to a broad range of individuals for events that we conduct. We do have men at women MBA events. It's just that we have to open up everything, which is expensive. We have to show that we have a track record of holding all sorts of events and that no groups are excluded from these opportunities. We spend a considerable amount of time recruiting, particuliarly in getting out the word that The Anderson School at UCLA is a great place to obtain an MBA education for students of color. We have to demonstrate how Anderson is a place where students of color participate in the widest range of leadership roles, and moreover that it is a place where there are fellowships and resources that they can access even in a [prop.] 209 climate. Moblizing our dean, alumni, faculty, and students in these efforts has been critical. This past year our Latino applications were up by 30% and our African-American enrolled students number doubled from the prior year, (the year that Prop 209 went into implementation). Today, what we're finding is that we can utilize our minority students and alumni to host events on campus, make calls, or e-mail applicants to give them a sense of the school environment and the opportunities at UCLA. Sharing their perspective with candidates decreases the negative perspectives that 209 may have caused. with candidates decreases the negative view of our school that 209 could have caused. Q: In early January, Anderson holds a diversity day for MBA hopefuls. How else does UCLA encourage diversity? A: We do a lot more. We start working on potential applicants in high school programs. We try to identify the individuals when they are sophomores or juniors in high school for this type of opportunity. And we work very closely with them. Current students act as mentors to them, and they give a good sense of what it's like to be in an MBA program. We also work with college-age students through the Riordan Program. We're not exclusively relying on applicants coming to us, we have people connecting with them. I try to delegate some of the responsibility to our students who are of color or [who are women] to follow up, because they are dedicated to making sure those candidates have someone who will support them throughout the process. Anderson also does selective mailings to GMAT test-takers. That's a service that allows us to identify individuals early who might be competitive applicants because of their high test scores. As I said, we saw a 30% increase in our Latino applicant pool, [that translated into] a 10% increase in enrollment. Latinos are California's increasing ethnic group. Business schools on the East Coast spend a lot of time trying to get Latinos to go to the East Coast. We expect to see double digit increases among Latinos [at Anderson] in the coming years. African Americans are tougher [for UCLA to recruit], because the largest African-American pools are on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Primarily, that's where their families are. And that's where they've had their life experiences and where there is a core of the African-American community. If you look at the percentage of African Americans in California, it is a declining group, not an increasing group. Q: Applicants can download applications, or submit them through Embark.com or Multi-App. Which is the most popular method among applicants? And which method is the most popular among you and your admissions committee? A: We don't really care because it all comes out looking the same for us. More applicants are using Embark this year, but last year 50% of our applicants used Multi-App and Embark. Embark has grown by at least 150% this year. Q: When is the best time to apply to Anderson? Is applying in an earlier deadline the best approach? A: During the first three rounds, applicants have a greater chance of being admitted because there are fewer applicants. But that doesn't mean that there aren't openings in round four, we just have fewer seats to fill in round four. Q: What application criteria should applicants be most concerned with: GMAT scores, essays, recommendations, or the undergraduate GPA? A: There is no order, it's a holistic process. And when we say holistic, all parts are considered. If they don't have the strong academic background, they will not be able to handle the work load. Q: What constitutes a strong academic background? Can that be demonstrated when applicants have a high GPA, or have completed a challenging course load in college? A: When we review a candidate, we're thinking, 'what was the nature of the courses that this individual under took during his four years? What was the trend of academic performance?' That's what a transcript tells us. What was the academic institution? Because there are different types of academic institutions. What was the commitment to breadth, to really challenging themselves, [in cases such as] the engineer who also took Japanese, or the business or economics major who also took courses out of their major? What else did they take on as challenges? We're looking for strong quantitative ability... Certainly we look to see how passionate [applicants] are in terms of the majors that they selected. We would assume that there would be a high level of commitment [to the major] and that it would be exhibited in terms of their performance in that area. Q: How does it look to Anderson if an applicant majored in Japanese, for example, and then went on to be a chef? What does that say about the candidate's passion for his or her major? A: We don't expect to see a straight line between major and career choice. Rather, we'd want to know the rationale for why an individual would elect to do that. And then [we'd look] also at their performance in their field of choice. Q: How does UCLA assess the GMAT? A: The GMAT is just an indicator that tells us a little bit about academic ability, but more importantly, it's an equalizer across different schools. So while one candidate may have a 4.0 GPA from Podunk University, and another has a 3.2 from MIT, we need something that shows us the norm for all of the people across the 800 different universities that we get transcripts from. We look at the component [scores] rather than the total, which is much more specific and informative. Q: What do you feel are competitive GMAT quant and verbal scores? A: Most admitted candidates are in the 90th percentile or higher for the verbal. The total applicant pool is close to that with about about 88%-89% on the verbal. So when you take 5,000 people and that's their mean, the verbal section seems to be pretty good. Our international applicants may have slighly lower verbal scores since English is their second or third language. There's a little bit of a lower pattern depending on what part of the world [test takers are from]. For international applicants, we look at their GMAT verbal section, their Analytical Writing Assessment (AWAA), their essays, and their recommendations to assess their written and oral skills. We're not going to say, 'There's a verbal [score] over here that looks like it's 52%. That person needs to be drummed out.' We would not do that. We would look at all the parts. For the quantitative percentile, most schools expect approximately 70% or higher. For us, the mean percentile is usually around 90%. We have concerns when we see a 70%. In that case, we'd look to see how the applicant performed in college-level calculus and statistics courses. Some applicants took AP (advanced placement) calculus courses [in high school], and were exempt from the courses in college. But it's really important for those applicants to take college-level courses. If I were going to give any message [to prospective applicants] at all, it would be to take one of those courses and get an A. It's very important for most schools. You don't have to take both courses at once, but get an A. That gives us the added insurance that if the quantitative GMAT isn't as high as 80% or 90%, we know the applicant recently performed at [a respectable] level [in a college calculus course] and we can take that into account. Q: What is Anderson looking to learn through an applicant's essays? How are the essays used to evaluate the candidate? A: The subjective portions [of the application] have become much more important. And the essays become our way of understanding who the person is, how they've developed, what they see as important, and what they've accomplished in life. From that perspective, we can determine how they would fit into our environment. (Editor's note: The Anderson School requires MBA candidates to complete four essays. For 1999-2000, they include: 1. "Please provide us with a summary of your personal and family background. Include information about your parents and siblings, where you grew up, and perhaps a highlight or special memory of your youth." 2. "Discuss a situation, preferably work related, where you have taken a significant leadership role. How does this event demonstrate your managerial potential?" 3. "Describe your most significant personal accomplishment to date, explaining why you view it as such." 4. "Discuss your career goals and why you want an MBA, particularly at this point in your career. Why, specifically, are you applying to the Anderson School?") Q: Who, exactly, is a good fit for Anderson? A: We're looking for somebody who is able to articulate their thoughts well, has a high level of involvement as a proactive person, and who takes on a lot of challenges and handles them well. And we want to see the methodology for handling those challenges. The right person knows how to use and mobilize resources, whether they're people, materials, or communications networks. We're looking for an individual who is also able to work with people, and has a desire, a passion to do something that is not simply incremental in nature. Most of these people [who are potential good fits for Anderson] are on a plateau and are looking to see what the next leap is that they're going to make. That's what we're looking for: the person who is ready to make that leap to the next level. Q: What kind of weight do you attach to extracurricular activites applicants performed in college? A: Applicants need to show that they can handle more than just academic work. The norm would be someone who can handle only one [activity outside of school]. We want to see if individuals can handle both academic and extracurricular activities. And it's the same way with their job. One of the important things as you grow and mature is that you realize that life is multi-dimensional, and that if you haven't had some practice before, then you're going to be in big trouble later on. The other part of that is that there are also people who have worked and had to work substantially to pay for college. We take that into consideration too. So if they did that in college, and it precluded their ability to participate [in extracurricular activities], we want to hear where they chose to work. And we would hope to see some type of a different pattern post-college, when they got the job. [These sorts of cases] show that social economics play a factor [in admissions decisions] and we're very sensitive to different people's social and economic situations. Q: Where should applicants mention such difficulties? A: Within essay #1 or in an optional essay. In the State of California, proposition 209 created legislation which resulted in language stating that we need to look at things like social economics, linguistics, and single parent families, as considerations. Our application will reflect some of that next year in eliciting a bit more information about the applicant's background prior to college -- their family life, their situation. We will encourage individuals, as we always have, to use the essays to reveal things to us. Bhe slight difference will be that we'll be asking for specific information on one's background, the educational backgrounds of one's parents, the home situation, language, etc. Q: Linda, you personally review about 15,000 essays each year. What essay mistake have you come across more than any other? A: Because individuals are applying to so many schools, the essays can be very generic sometimes. Applicants have to understand that the question about why the [applicant wants an] MBA and why [they want to attend the] particular school is really critical. Frequently, applicants gloss over that and cut and paste. The point is that every school, to some extent, knows what resources that student might utilize. And when the essays are very generic, that tells us that [applicants] really haven't done their homework. They should tell us how they see themselves fitting into the environment, what they'll give to that environment, as well as how they'll utilize resources in that environment. That's where we can tell whether an applicant is just sort of flowing through [the application process] with no idea, [or taking it more seriously]. The other thing we find on the essays is that applicants think that getting input from alumni, people at work, and friends for the essays is very important. Well actually, [quoting others] can homogenize their essays. Rather than hearing their distinct voice through the essays, we hear some other people's babble. So I would say, try to spend the time to really tell us who you are and make your story interesting. Q: It appears that Anderson is placing a lot more emphasis on the interview. A few years back, only 40% of Anderson's admitted candidates interviewed, compared with 80% in 1999. How does the interview fit into UCLA's evaluation of candidates? A: The interview becomes more important because the subjective portions have become more important. It's two fold: we get to know the candidate a little bit better and the candidate gets to know Anderson, and therefore can write a better set of essays. Applicants have to interview before submitting an application. Applicants can also do multiple activities on campus. They can sit in on classes, spend some time with students, go to group information sessions, and then interview. That way, they have greater insights about the school, and can be more confident in writing their essays. [The interview also allows you to] talk to us about what it is you want to do, and how the school can meet those expectations. Candidates [who have interviewed] fare better in the process. Q: How should an applicant prepare for an Anderson interview? A: I always [characterize] the interview as a dialogue, so that the person isn't as tense. This way, they're going to come into the dialogue thinking about how they might fit into our school and how the school might fit for them. I'd suggest that if an applicant comes into the interview with questions ready to ask, they're going to be much better off. They need to have reviewed the essay questions and have thought about some responses to those essay questions. Q: What kinds of questions should the MBA candidates expect to be asked? A: They'll be asked about their rationale for doing an MBA. They'll be asked about team dynamics, team interaction, managerial experiences, and accomplishments. Certainly what we'll be looking at is their ability to communicate their thoughts. We'll be looking at their interpersonal skills as they do some assessments for us, as well as their involvement with groups. The questions we ask are not the same for every candidate. So no, you can't prepare. Usually the people who prepare a lot sound like little robots, and you don't want to do that. Q: How many applicants are usually placed on UCLA's wait list and how many are lucky enough to be taken off and offered admission? A: Last year, we probably had a wait list that almost went to 200. That was because there were so many people out there who were applying. At the same time, the dot.com phenomenon was happening: accepted applicants were deferring enrollment to go to startup companies. So we needed to have insurance. The wait list becomes a vehicle of insurance for most schools. We took between 80 and 90 applicants off the wait list [last year]. That's pretty good. The wait list isn't a place where people just sit forever and ever. In the initial round, what you're looking at is trying to diversify the class. So if we end up, after the first round, with an applicant pool that's [comprised of] 31% engineers, then we really need to stop and put some of the engineers onto the wait list. I don't want a whole class full of engineers, accountants, or financial analysts. So I'm going to place some on the wait list to see how round two shapes up. So some people who are on wait list in round one receive responses by round two. We know that they are good, but we [might have been] concerned about over representation [of students with similar backgrounds]. Q: If an applicant is notified in the first or second round that they've been placed on the wait list, what's the best thing they can do to convince Anderson that they're a prime candidate? A: A couple of things. One, if they haven't had an interview, I want them to interview, whether it's with me or with an alum. Maybe they can help us answer some questions face to face. In some cases, some people are on the wait list because their quantitative scores are not as high [as other applicants'], they're enrolled in, let's say, a statistics or a calculus class, and we don't have the grade yet. So we're waiting for a grade. In those cases, they should just do well [in the class]. Don't inundate us with letters or e-mails -- but if something does significantly occur in your life, like a promotion, and you want to tell us, then it's fine to send us something in writing. We can include it in your documents. Sending another set of essays or lots of recommendations is not going to do the trick. Stay away from those extra recommendations. They're not necessary. Q: UCLA's MBA recommendations include a writing segement as well as a grid segment where recommenders rate applicants' qualities or traits. Which area of the recommendation does Anderson pay more attention to? A: Well, they're created so that they complement each other to some extent. The grid tells us what, in the rater's mind, are the relative areas of strength and weakness. So [marking the candidate as] "good" [under one quality] could be a weakness, because the reference marked the applicant "excellent" in all of the others. Then we look at the writing segment to see if that's in synch [with the grid]. Sometimes the [rater's] written work can be ambiguous. The grid can become much more specific. Q: Who should write the recommendations? Is it better to have a professional recommendation versus an academic recommendation? A: If you've been out of school more than two years, then definitely professional. If less, then maybe an academician might be preferable. Q: What type of candidate is not a good fit for UCLA? A: Good question. I guess an academically weak candidate who is very narrow in his or her accomplishments, and is looking at the two years as a chance to get a degree and get promoted quickly. That person really should be looking at part-time programs. But every other candidate who has a dream, and the academic abilities and accomplishments is a possible candidate for us. Q: Linda, what final message would you like to leave with Anderson applicants? A: They've got to come visit. I truly believe you have to know and feel the culture of the school. And the only way to do that is to place yourself in it. We have no control over what the [atmosphere] will be on any given day. In other words, we know generally what the culture of the school is, but we're not putting on a play every day, when anybody comes to visit. So what you see is really what we are. And the [prospective] student that comes and spends a full day gets a great deal of benefit. They understand so much more. People from the Ukraine, from China, from South America, from Argentina visit us every day. So if you don't come check us out, you're really doing yourself a disservice. If you're just reading about us in catalogs or in other media, that's not enough. Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. 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