Business schools, in general, must keep pace with rapid change, particularly as technology significantly influences business. Technology and analytics skills are essential for success, yet leaders must also possess complementary soft skills to inspire teams to achieve their goals and have a positive impact on the world. UCLA Anderson believes that these are characteristics of what it calls a “transformative leader.” The business school’s curriculum and culture support its students’ development into such leaders.

UCLA Anderson’s website claims that its culture is distinguished by three pillars:

1. Share Success: We believe in inclusive collaboration for meaningful results.
2. Think Fearlessly: Our faculty and students arrive at innovative solutions to solve complex business problems. 
3. Drive Change: We are Transformative Leaders who catalyze action around a purpose, to create organizational and societal impact. 

Anderson’s culture plays a significant role in shaping the school’s students into the transformative leaders of tomorrow, inspiring them to make a real difference in the world.

The adcom provides the following preamble to its application essay prompts:

Essays are meant to complement the information provided throughout your application to highlight how an MBA fits into your career goals and journey. Strong essays are introspective, genuine, and succinct – while showcasing a clear vision for your future and the impact you plan to make on the Anderson community. Essentially, we want to learn more about who you are and why an MBA from UCLA Anderson is the right next step in your life.

Don’t be fooled by Anderson’s short-answer approach to its application essays. Often, shorter essays are just as challenging to write, if not more challenging, than long ones because you must have clarity on what you want to convey about your candidacy in a more limited amount of space. Take the time to consider what you feel is necessary to share in your application. Determine which critical elements of your candidacy to highlight in your essays, possibly in greater depth than your resume, transcripts, or other application sections provide. Do not respond to these essay questions until you have spent time reflecting on your past experiences and plans for the future. Understand what motivates you to earn an MBA and why you want to pursue your chosen career path.

Ready to get to work on your UCLA Anderson application? Read on. 

Short Essay #1 

Describe your short- and long-term post-MBA goals, including your desired role, industry, and examples of target companies. How will an MBA support your path to achieving your goals, and which UCLA Anderson resources do you expect to rely on most to reach them? (250 words)

A plausible short-term goal is an absolute must for this essay. As the prompt indicates, you’ll need to share the role you desire in a particular industry and list target companies. While the long-term goal is generally thought of as eight to ten years after you graduate, make sure you show how your short- and long-term goals connect. While you will never be locked into this stated goal, what you share with the adcom helps them, in part, determine whether your short-term goals make sense given your experience. 

The second half of the prompt is designed to assess how you will bridge the gap between your experience and the requirements of your goals, especially your short-term goal. Before you begin writing, determine the skills required for your professional objectives, the skills you have already gained, and those you still need to build during the program. Identify ways you can develop your needed skills through the curriculum, experiential learning, club leadership, and other parts of the MBA student experience. Don’t make the mistake of making general comments. Be specific, and demonstrate your deep knowledge of the Anderson MBA in this essay.

Short Essay #2 

How do you hope your UCLA Anderson classmates will describe you by the time you graduate? What qualities and/or values do you want to be known for, and how will you demonstrate them as a student leader and community member? (200 words)

While allowing you 50 fewer words for this essay than you have for Essay #1, the adcom wants to understand how you will contribute positively to the Anderson MBA community. Reflect on past situations and ways that you have had a positive impact on a broader group. Consider the values and qualities that enabled you to make that impact. How were others affected? What difference did you make? Based on this exercise, what reputation will you build over the two years in business school? How will you apply the same values and qualities that you identified from your past during the MBA experience to build your reputation?

Short Essay #3 

What is the first thing you would tell your classmates about yourself upon arriving at Anderson? (50 words)

This prompt is designed to elicit a fun fact about you, though you have a mere 50 words with which to respond. This is an opportunity for you to inject your application with a bit more personality, sharing something unique, personal, and memorable about yourself. Be sure it is something that you haven’t already presented in another part of your application.

Optional Essay

Are there any extenuating circumstances or additional context you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (250 words maximum)

Whether you are applying to Anderson for the first time or as a reapplicant, this optional essay allows you to convey information to the adcom that you haven’t been able to include elsewhere in your application. It is entirely optional, so use your discretion in deciding whether to write this essay and what to share in it. 

Reapplicant Essay 

Reapplicants are those who submitted a completed MBA application within the previous two years (that is, who applied for the MBA program starting in 2025 or 2026) and received a final decision. The process to reapply is streamlined:

• Create a new application.
• Indicate on the Program page of the application that you are a reapplicant.
• Reapplicants are required to answer the Short Essay Prompts. It is suggested, but not required, to also answer the Optional Essay. 
• Submit only one new recommendation (can be same recommender as previous application)
• Watch for decision notifications according to the standard release schedule.

You will have the opportunity within the reapplicant section of the school’s application to highlight any updates to your candidacy since your previous submission. Have you obtained any licenses or certifications during this time? Perhaps you took on a leadership role at work or are serving on a community board. This is a chance for you to shape the narrative about your growth and how you have enhanced your candidacy.

UCLA Anderson application deadlines

	Application deadline	Decision release date
Round 1	October 1, 2026	December 11, 2027
Round 2	January 6, 2027	March 26, 2027
Round 3	April 7, 2027	May 14, 2027

Source: UCLA Anderson website

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with UCLA Anderson directly to verify its essay questions, instructions, and deadlines.***

UCLA Anderson class profile

Here is a look at UCLA Anderson’s full-time MBA Class of 2027 (data taken from the UCLA Anderson website):

Applications received: 3,064

Class size: 307

Mean GPA: 3.5

Middle 80% GPA range: 3.1-3.8

Mean GMAT 10th Edition: 703

Middle 80% range GMAT 10th Edition: 670-750

GRE average combined score: 325

GRE Verbal average: 162

GRE Verbal range: 157-166

GRE Quant average: 163

GRE Quant range: 156-169

Pre-MBA industries:

• Technology: 20%
• Finance: 19%
• Other, Energy, Law, Hospitality: 10%
• Consulting: 9% 
• Government, Education, Impact, Public Sector: 9%
• Healthcare: 8% 
• Media/Entertainment: 8%
• Marketing/CPG: 7% 
• Manufacturing: 4% 
• Real Estate: 3% 
• Retail: 3% 

Average years of work experience: 5.6 years

Undergraduate Majors:

• Business: 30%
• Engineering: 22%
• Humanities/Social Sciences: 21%
• Economics: 13%
• Other: 8%
• Biological/Physical Sciences: 6%

Women: 46%

LGBTQ+: 9%

Military veterans/Active duty: 4%

International students: 35%

Students switching careers: 84%

Average age: 29

Age range: 23-43

You’ve worked so hard to get to this point in your journey. Now that you’re ready for your next achievement, make sure you know how to present yourself to maximum advantage in your UCLA Anderson application. In a hotly competitive season, you’ll want a member of Team Accepted in your corner, guiding you with expertise tailored specifically for you. Schedule a free consultation today!