UCLA Anderson has officially announced its essay questions and deadlines for the 2022–2023 application cycle. Once again, the school has one required essay question and one optional essay question. This year, however, UCLA Anderson has updated its required essay question, now focusing on a recent personal or professional achievement.
Located in the creative capital of the world, UCLA Anderson offers access to a thriving business community. One of many noteworthy aspects of a UCLA Anderson education is the school’s Parker Career Management Center, which frequently receives praise for its resourcefulness in helping students expand their networks, build relationships, and ultimately achieve their MBA goals.
If you are looking to join UCLA Anderson’s MBA Program, take a look at the class of 2024 profile to see if the school may be the right fit for you. Accepted students had an average GMAT score of 711 and an average of 6 years of work experience. The class of 2024 consists of 35% women and 47% international citizens.
The Upcoming UCLA Anderson application deadlines are as follows:
Round 1: October 5, 2022
Round 2: January 4, 2023
Round 3: April 12, 2023
2022–2023 UCLA Anderson Application Essays:
We look forward to learning about your perspectives and plans via your essay responses. Essays complement the answers you provide throughout the application to show us your whole profile. The best applications are introspective, genuine and succinct in directly answering our questions and showing clear plans for the future.
Essay 1: Tell us about a recent personal or professional achievement and how it connects to your MBA goals. (250 words maximum)
Strong essays describe the impact of your achievement and clarify its connection to your future MBA plans in the short- and long-term. We look forward to learning about the specific ways your achievement helped set you up for future success.
Optional Essay: Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the admissions committee should be aware? (250 words maximum)
To write winning Anderson MBA essays, Personal MBA Coach recommends reading our tips on writing winning essays along with our school-specific advice below to make sure you are up to speed on the basics of MBA application essay writing. Now, let’s take a look at Anderson’s essay questions.
Essay 1: Tell us about a recent personal or professional achievement and how it connects to your MBA goals. (250 words maximum)
Strong essays describe the impact of your achievement and clarify its connection to your future MBA plans in the short- and long-term. We look forward to learning about the specific ways your achievement helped set you up for future success.
This UCLA Anderson essay question is new for the 2022–2023 MBA application cycle. Personal MBA Coach welcomes this change, as many applicants look for additional opportunities to expand on their past success. With a relatively short word limit, try to select an example that is easy to explain.
If you have a unique project that you have worked on, the UCLA Anderson essay can be a great way to share this. Similarly, this essay could be a good opportunity to discuss a unique or particularly strong extracurricular achievement.
Be sure to include specific results and show how this accomplishment is tied to your MBA goals. For those who are not changing careers, this connection should be easy to make. Applicants who are planning to switch industries should think more broadly about the skills they have acquired through this achievement and how they will leverage these post-MBA.
Keep in mind that, given the wording of the question, candidates should ideally focus on ONE achievement.
Optional Essay: Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the admissions committee should be aware? (250 words maximum)
The optional UCLA Anderson essay should be answered only by those with extenuating circumstances. That said, the program assures that no preference is given in the evaluation process to those who choose to respond to this optional essay, so please use your best judgment.
Short Answers: UCLA Anderson has also included two short answer goal questions (remember that the character limits include spaces):
Describe your short-term and long-term post-MBA career goals. (600 characters maximum)
Need help articulating your MBA goals? Check out Personal MBA Coach’s blog for guidance.
How can UCLA Anderson help you achieve your career and/or personal goals? (1000 characters maximum)
As you think about your future career and/or personal goals, consider your skill gaps and how a UCLA Anderson MBA will help you to close these gaps. Be sure to demonstrate an understanding of UCLA Anderson’s culture here.
For more information on how to approach these short answer questions, check out Personal MBA Coach’s blog on short answer questions and other MBA application extras.
