How I Got to Anderson

"I personalized essays to reflect my contribution to the school's culture and mission. More important, I made sure to tap serious and relevant recommenders"

By Alejandro Tinajero

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Alejandro Tinajero
UCLA
MBA Class of 2010

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By the time I graduate with an MBA from UCLA Anderson in the summer of 2010, five years will have passed since I first contemplated going to business school. Five years!

In the beginning, I had more questions than answers. I wondered why working adults might interrupt careers to go back to school for two years. I also pondered what a successful application to business school looked like.

To find answers, I visited schools, interviewed MBA candidates and graduates, and spoke to admission representatives. Since I live in Los Angeles, I visited local schools, like Drucker, Anderson, and Marshall, and attended MBA fairs. But my search begot more questions. Soon I was flying out-of-state to visit East Coast schools to learn what other programs had to offer. In the beginning I knew this much: Business school could push me through the glass ceiling at work and even offer me an opportunity to reinvent myself should I choose to go that route instead.

I spent 10 months preparing for and taking the GMAT. I did not think it would take so long, but I wanted to be well prepared. For this reason, I hired Kaplan and twice completed their GMAT classroom course followed by private tutoring. Their programs forced me to study and prepared me through simulated test environments and test questions.

Essay Importance

Three months remained between completing the GMAT and the application deadlines I set out to meet. (On the advice of several admissions representatives, I chose to apply in the second round, which usually closes at the beginning of January.) If I could do it again, I would complete the GMAT in the summer months and spend more time on the applications, since the essays seem just as important as high GMAT score. Since I had limited time to complete and submit five applications, I went back to Kaplan to hire an admissions consultant. My consultant, Dr. Tony, offered sound advice on how to structure and refine my admissions essays and kept me on assignment.

Choosing what schools to apply to was an easy decision since I wanted to stay in Los Angeles. Most of my pre-GMAT research had been focused on the program at UCLA Anderson. That strong bond came across clearly in my application essays and, I think, helped to win over admission committee members. But I also applied to other programs in and outside of Los Angeles and California, such as Darden, Ross, and Stern. Like Anderson, these programs offered powerful learning environments within a diverse context.

Completing the applications was no easy task. On a technical basis, this was an exercise in attention to detail—cross the Ts and dot the Is. But, below the surface, any successful application demands a deeper understanding of the fit between you, the applicant, and what the program stands for. Fail to articulate this relationship, and your chances of getting accepted will be diminished. I know this because it happened with some of my applications.

With my successful applications, I had all my ducks in a row. I personalized essays to reflect my contribution to the school's culture and mission. More important, I made sure to tap serious and relevant recommenders—former colleagues who could write meaningfully about my work ethic and back up the claims in my essays about fit between applicant and program.

Meeting with Recommenders

My recommenders were people who either supervised my work, including my most recent supervisor, or people familiar with it. Whenever necessary, I offered writing points to my recommenders, which they may have employed in their recommendation. Plus, I also met with each one to highlight the themes of my applications to ensure they were familiar with my admission strategy.

After my applications were submitted, the only task left, whether or not I gained admission to B-school, was to pay off all or as much debt as possible. The last thing I needed was to have to worry about paying off debt without an income.