Anderson School of Management

-The MBA program was fantastic in its learning, opportunities it opened up, networking it allowed and overall value for money. The program was rigorous and fun.

-I appreciated the personal attention/one on one time the professors afforded us in the classroom setting. The professors are of the highest quality, and at the top of their industries. No other school offers the GAP (Global Access Program) that offers a legit, real-world international consulting experience. Plus, the FEMBA program makes it possible to study abroad as a working professional with the one-week long study exchange programs in a variety of different countries.

-Overall the program is run well and met all of my expectations. The only improvement I can think of would be to expand the class offerings to more specific topics that might interest students whose careers are already on a specific path.

-Anderson far exceeded my expectations with regards to the caliber of the student body. I truly believe that the best and brightest go to Anderson and the value of the experience had as much to do with learning from my student colleagues as it did with my professors.

-Career services for the part-time MBA students need to be improved. Almost all of the job postings and interviews were geared to starting positions. It was almost entirely geared to the full-time students. The career services department needs to provide the same level of services to the part-time students. The part-time students, I feel, are being short-changed. Also, any sort of interviewing processes need to be streamlined for the part-time students. Currently, there is too much additional training, too many "hoops," to jump through for the part-time students in order to attend the interview sessions that currently exist. The administration needs to be more responsive to the needs of the part-time MBA students. It is often difficult to reach anyone on the telephone if there is a question or concern.

-The part time MBA curriculum at Anderson is as rigorous as the full time curriculum. We have access to the same great professors and activities such as clubs.

-The career center is good, but understaffed. I would like to see them spend more time networking with recruiters in the local large companies so that they would be able to help provide networking opportunities for students who find themselves unemployed during the program. Many times, the career center staff did not have the connections to help in peoples' job searches, only advice to give on how to network. A more 'connected' career center would help make our job searches more effective, and take less time.

-While rigorous, I gained a lot out of the program. The people I met, the shared goals and values. The program's caliber of students was just amazing. The GAP project really gave me the tools to go out and build my own business and to help others do as well.

-I think the part time program could be a bit smaller. The trend I've noticed recently is that class sizes have increased and there are more students admitted/attending, which may lower the quality of learning (especially from the numerous teachers who opt to grade their own papers rather than handing them off to a TA).

-The Anderson MBA broadened my perspective of business, from a somewhat narrow view of finance, to a more complete view from start-up initiation to global operations management, and optimizing capital structures. I was amazed by the breadth and depth of student talent, representing a wide variety of industries. The program also opened the door to a large network of professionals here in Los Angeles, but also internationally. More importantly, the MBA education enhanced my career credentials, particularly as I transitioned employers during the program.

-Separating the part-time students' career services from the full time students'. FEMBA and EMBA students are a different product - more experienced, more mature, more dedicated - and therefore need to be marketed to potential employers differently from full time students. As part-time students we were expected to participate in all the same networking/career events as full-time students in order to apply for the same positions, which was impossible due to current job demands. What's most impressive about the Femba program at UCLA is that it offers equivalent rigor, expectations and opportunities to the full time program. It is definitely a challenge to balance work life with school (and a personal life), but the scholastic experience, the academically talented community, and the social opportunities make it highly valuable to anyone in the Southern California business world. It seems to me that while a number of other schools offer part-time programs as "business school light", Anderson does a fantastic job of tailoring the Femba program to meet the needs of a fully employed community without adulterating the experience.

-I am a proponent of even more hands on experience -- less theory, more application.

-I cannot think of another school that can compete with Anderson in terms of total package. The instructors are beyond top-notch, and I continue to be surprised even into my 3rd year. The students are competitive, yet friendly and always willing to help. There is definitely a spirit of teamwork and camaraderie that was woefully missing from my prior experience at UC Berkeley. If you are committed to success, you can achieve it at Anderson.