About Max: Max is originally from Chicago, IL but grew up on the westside of LA in Santa Monica. After graduating from Santa Monica High School, he decided to get back to his midwest roots by attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison in pursuit of a degree in marketing. While the cheese was great, the warm weather in LA was calling him back after graduation. From there, his path to Anderson has been anything but linear. He started his career working in creative marketing for FX Networks and after four years decided to take a sabbatical to work and travel as a scuba instructor. This adventure took him to Honduras, Indonesia, Cook Islands, and Hawaii. It was during this trip that thoughts of a career switch to sustainability and social impact started to take root. Max saw a lot of plastic in the ocean and wanted to be a part of the work to combat pollution and the climate crisis. Upon returning to LA, Max landed a job running the marketing department for a recycling company and also founded the non-profit, DiverSeaFy, which provides scuba certifications for students from underrepresented communities. He ultimately decided to pursue his MBA at Anderson in an effort to dive deeper into corporate sustainability and drive more impact.

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If you’re reading this, I assume you’ve found yourself on UCLA Anderson’s waitlist. While it’s tough to cope with the uncertainty, I would advocate for a reframe and instead see this as a positive. There are a lot of applicants who didn’t make it to this point and there’s still hope. I was in the exact same position this time last year and it did eventually work out so I am here to reassure you to stay the course! 

I was on a ski trip in Mammoth Mountain the week I was expecting to hear the decision. I had one earbud in my ear the entire time I was on the slopes so I wouldn’t miss the call from Anderson admissions. The call never came. While that 5-hour drive back to LA was disappointing and filled with questions and self-doubt, I returned home to an email notifying me of the waitlist decision.

At that point, I immediately started doing what you’re doing right now, researching what the next steps were. From my experience, the first thing you should do is be sure to fill out the waitlist interest form with any updated information since you first submitted your application. Use the Waitlist FAQ as a resource. The next advice I would give is to stay positive and stay connected! If there are representatives from Anderson that you’ve met through your application process, either faculty or current/former students, update them on your status. Our Anderson community is a tight one and demonstrating your continued interest is meaningful. Be sure to submit any updates via your waitlist interest form in your admissions portal.

In continuing the dialogue with one of my Anderson contacts, one piece of advice I found helpful was to find opportunities to improve my application. For me, that translated to taking an online MBA math prep course and completing another online course on sustainability since that was my intended area of focus if admitted to Anderson. I had some quant experience from my time in managerial roles but there were many concepts like statistics and finance that I hadn’t touched since my undergrad. I found the MBA math course to be extremely helpful in building my confidence before the MBA. Along with the math course, I was simultaneously taking SDG Academy’s Climate Action: Solutions for a Changing Planet. I had been aware of some of the topics covered in this course but others were new like the implications of agricultural initiatives on climate crisis mitigation. Taking this course solidified my knowledge base and set me up with a better foundation in my Leaders in Sustainability Certificate coursework.

As soon as I completed the two courses, I updated the waitlist interest form with the certificates I had earned. Taking these proactive steps served to both keep me from being idle during my time on the waitlist, and they improved my preparedness for the program. A few weeks later, I received the call from admissions that I had been waiting on since back in March. I was overjoyed to say the least. Looking back, I’m grateful for the way things played out because without that time on the waitlist, I don’t know that I would’ve taken those courses which ultimately helped set me up for success here at Anderson. 

Smooth seas don’t make a skilled sailor. You have to appreciate the speed bumps in your journey because those are what ground you and build your resilience. A core trait necessary in navigating your Anderson MBA!

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• Student Blogger: Max Bracey ’26
• Undergrad: University of Wisconsin-Madison ’12
• Pre-MBA: Head of Marketing & Communications at PreZero US
• Leadership@Anderson: President of Net Impact, Consortium Fellow, Energy and Cleantech Association Director of Partnerships, Black Business Students Association Director of Cross-Program Relations, Admissions Ambassador Riordan Scholars Mentor, Outdoor Adventure Club Director of Sustainability 
• Instagram: @snaxwell9