• UCLA Anderson. Tomorrow, Monday, November 16, 2009 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET/6:00 PM GMT, Mae Jennifer Shores, Assistant Dean and Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, as well as other members of the UCLA Anderson community will participate in an Anderson admissions chat at Accepted.com. Bring your questions and get answers.
• Consortium. On Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 11:00 AM PT/2:00 PM ET/7:00 PM GMT, Accepted.com will host an online chat for those interested in applying through the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. Rebecca Dockery, the Consortium's Recruiting Manager, and current members of the Consortium will be available to answer your questions

Please set your alarms and join us in the Accepted chat room.

My comments are in red:

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Please be introspective and authentic in your responses. We value the opportunity to learn about your life experiences, aspirations, and goals.

All responses to essays must be on double-spaced pages that are uploaded in document form, except for Essay 4 for first-time applicants, which may be submitted as an audio or video file instead. (Please note the word limits in parentheses.)

First-time applicants -- 4 required essays:

1. Describe the ways in which your family and/or community have helped shape your development. (750 words)

This is an abridged version of last year's first question. For years, similar questions have prompted UCLA's first and one of its longer essays. That status reveals the importance UCLA places on getting to know you as a human being.

Choose 1-3 important elements from your background to discuss in this essay. You can focus on your community, family life, vacations, mealtime, seminal experiences or events that were formative. The key is to highlight particular topics and not write the sweeping (and superficial) bio. Avoid "I was born in Timbuktu and when I was 4 we moved to Outer Mongolia and then when I was ..." or the equivalent.

Note the inclusion of community in the question. Community is an important value at Anderson. If it has been important to you, you may want to focus on its role in your development.

2. Describe the biggest risk you have ever taken, the outcome, and what you learned in the process. (500 words)

New question. When did you make a decision with an uncertain outcome and significant possibility of loss, harm, or embarrassment along with the potential for high rewards? I know it's happened, so what would you consider the biggest such risk? How did you analyze the pros and cons, the downside and the upside? What were the results?  What did you learn?  How did you grow from the experience?

This question doesn't ask for a survey of all your risky decisions. It asks for the "biggest" i.e. one decision entailing risk. The question begs for an anecdotal response like that discussed in Tuesday's webinar,  Roadmap to Bold & Brilliant MBA Essays, which should be online sometime this week.

3. Describe your short-term and long-term career goals. What is your motivation for pursuing an MBA now and how will UCLA Anderson help you to achieve your goals? (750 words)

UCLA's is a pretty straightforward goals question. What are you goals? Why now? How will UCLA Anderson's program and strengths help you achieve your goals. As always be specific and make sure you answer all elements of the question.

4. Select and respond to one of the two following questions. We would like you to respond to the question by recording an audio or video response (up to 10Mb maximum) for upload in the online application. (Please note: The supported file types for audio files are: .avi, .wav, .mp3, .wmv, .midi, .wma, .aiff, .au, .mp4; the supported file types for video files are: .mov, .avi, .wmv, .mpeg). If you are unable to submit your response via audio or video, then please prepare a written response instead. (250 words)

a. Entrepreneurship is a mindset that embraces innovation and risk-taking within both established and new organizations. Describe an instance in which you exhibited this mindset.

b. What is something people will find surprising about you?

UCLA only gives two options this year instead of three, as it did last year, and option A is a new question.  As with all questions providing a choice, choose the option allowing you to present a different and impressive experience -- one not discussed in a previous essay. If you ever ran your own business or worked in a start-up, "A" may be the one for you.   And "B" could be perfect for someone with a distinctive hobby, interest, or twist to his or her experience.

5. OPTIONAL: Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the Admissions Committee should be aware? (250 words)

Two years ago, UCLA added the following: "Please do not submit redundant information in the Optional Essay." Good advice for all optional questions. For more suggestions, please see The Optional Question: To Be or not To Be.

If you would like help with UCLA's essays, please consider Accepted.com's UCLA Anderson Comprehensive Packages or our other MBA admissions consulting and editing services. And if you purchase before July 31, 2009, you can save 15% on all of our MBA editing and comprehensive packages.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Please be introspective and authentic in your responses. We value the opportunity to learn about your life experiences, aspirations, and goals.

All responses to essays must be on double-spaced pages that are uploaded in document form, except for Essay 4 for first-time applicants, which may be submitted as an audio or video file instead. (Please note the word limits in parentheses.)

First-time applicants -- 4 required essays:

1. Describe the ways in which your family and/or community have helped shape your development. (750 words)
2. Describe the biggest risk you have ever taken, the outcome, and what you learned in the process. (500 words)
3. Describe your short-term and long-term career goals. What is your motivation for pursuing an MBA now and how will UCLA Anderson help you to achieve your goals? (750 words)
4. Select and respond to one of the two following questions. We would like you to respond to the question by recording an audio or video response (up to 10Mb maximum) for upload in the online application. (Please note: The supported file types for audio files are: .avi, .wav, .mp3, .wmv, .midi, .wma, .aiff, .au, .mp4; the supported file types for video files are: .mov, .avi, .wmv, .mpeg). If you are unable to submit your response via audio or video, then please prepare a written response instead. (250 words)
   a.Entrepreneurship is a mindset that embraces innovation and risk-taking within both established and new organizations. Describe an instance in which you exhibited this mindset.
   b. What is something people will find surprising about you?
5. OPTIONAL: Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the Admissions Committee should be aware? (250 words)

The deadlines are not yet posted.

You will find in the special report articles on:

• Applying while or after a layoff.
• The series "MBA in Finance: Forget It?"
• The disappearance and reappearance of financial aid options.
• The wisdom of applying during times of financial uncertainty.

Please feel free to download and share Applying to Business School in Times of Crisis.

Please also use the comments to share your thoughts on the topics discussed in this special report.

As a member of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), we are conducting a survey to help us better understand MBA applicants’ goals and needs.  If you are or will be an MBA applicant, we invite you to share your priorities and views on the MBA application process. 

This online survey should take just 10 minutes to complete.  We would love to receive as many responses as possible before the closing date of Friday, March 20, 2009 - and AIGAC will be giving away an iPod Touch and two iPod Shuffles as a token of our gratitude! 

Thanks in advance for your participation!

Simply click here to begin. 

My question:

Given the weakness in investment banking, hedge funds, and financial services in general, how do you react to applicants who say they want an MBA to enter IB, PE or a related field that has been devastated by the economic downturn? Is the reaction "What planet have you been on?" Or, are you willing to consider those applicants because you feel the market for these skills will come back in a couple of years? Would you like to know that IB et.al. is the primary goal? Would you like to see a Plan B? Is your reaction different if the applicant is coming from IB or a related field as opposed to someone seeking the MBA to change careers?

UCLA Anderson's Assistant Dean and Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, Mae Shores, responds:

A few thoughts come to mind:

There is often a spurious relationship between what individuals identify in their applications as their intended career goal post-MBA and the careers they eventually pursue. In some cases, prospective students make their original career plans based on incomplete information or are attracted to IB, PE or VC for their "sex appeal." In other instances, students have gained exposure to a wider variety of academic disciplines and career areas during the MBA and change their professional goals based on new knowledge and skills.

We are facing an unprecedented time in the history of the global economy, where all the rules that applied to past economic downturns may not apply. While the shape of financial services and how business is conducted may well change, there will always be room for the brightest MBA students to pursue careers in finance and economics and be a welcome asset to the marketplace.

Given the uncertainty over the kinds of transformation that will occur with changes spearheaded by President Obama and the Economic Stimulus package, we do prefer that incoming students interested in IB, PE or VC have back-up plans or possess the flexibility to adjust to market demands. The beauty of the MBA, unlike degrees that are strictly devoted to finance, is the breadth and depth of skills one acquires that are applicable to broad industries, including the private, not-for profit and international agencies.

As admissions officers, we seek the best and the brightest students across industries and disciplines. We do not admit individuals based on their areas of interest as these do change during their two-year exposure to not only finance, accounting, statistics, and operations, but communications, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

Please let me know if I may help in any other way.

I decided to ask several admissions directors at schools noted for their strength in finance. I will be posting my question and their responses in individual posts over the next few days. There is no significance to the order in which I am posting the responses.

I found the directors' responses thoughtful and informative. I hope you will too.

1. Give yourself a break. Put the application away for a day, overnight, several hours, or at least a coffee break. (More is better, but don't miss the deadline.)
2. Print out the essay or any document that you want to proof. For some reason, changing the medium helps to restore your critical perspective.
3. Change your location when you proof. Move to an easy chair or to the kitchen table. Anywhere but where you have been writing and editing forever.
4. Read the essays out loud. E-nun-ciating. Reading aloud will automatically slow you down and prevent you from skimming. Additionally, your ear will catch awkward sentences and errors that your eye alone may miss.

If you want professional editing that saves you time, please check out Accepted.com's professional personal statement and application essay editing.

Looking ahead to 2009, we plan to make this web site and our services even better. We will roll out changes on the site throughout 2009.

We are currently wrestling with a question:  Whether or not to continue publishing recent posts from this blog on the Accepted.com home page.  What do you think?

We would really appreciate your taking a minute to answer a quick, 3-question survey and help us design this site in a way that suits you -- or at least a majority of you. Thank you very much for your time.

Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

While the podcast naturally has a strong Haas focus, it is relevant to MBA wannabes who think that finance as a field has disappeared as a result of the credit crisis and recession. It also highlights Haas' strength in this area.