This blog post is part of our “Application Insider” blog post series that provides insider information, tips, and advice about applying to the UCLA Anderson MBA program.

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APPLICATION INSIDER TOPIC:

ACADEMICS

In addition to your professional success, we want to make sure you’ll be academically successful when you’re here at at UCLA Anderson. A majority of your courses will involve group work and it’s important that all teammates can contribute equally. Through you research, you may have found that UCLA Anderson’s core is rather rigorous. So with that in mind, we need to be sure that our MBAs can handle the academic rigors of being a part of our top business school learning environment — during your two years in our MBA program, you will master business fundamentals through our core curriculum and also dive deep to specialize via our abundance of elective courses. Though you will embark on this challenging academic journey, you will not be alone as we offer abundant and individualized academic support. Additionally, our collaborative culture will allow students to learn from one another with their learning teams. 

So to ensure that all students are academically prepared to handle this learning experience, we carefully screen all applicants’ prior complete academic performance to determine if they can thrive here — this includes:

• Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees, plus Additional Courses: we will analyze the whole undergraduate record, including if you attended multiple schools (including community college). If you have additional degrees, such as other graduate degrees, we will also evaluate those. Any courses after earning your undergraduate degree (such as through a Community College or Extension program) will also be taken into account, however, it will not be counted towards your overall undergraduate GPA.
• GPA: Although your undergraduate GPA from the institution you earned your degree from will be static, rest assured that specific GPA is not the only element we look at…in fact, it is quite the contrary! The GPA is important, but it is just one data point since every transcript tells a story. If you feel like your undergraduate GPA is not the highest, there are still actions you can take to boost your academic profile that are completely optional. Such examples include professional designations such as a CPA or CFA can give the Admissions Committee more data points to consider. You can also take quantitative business classes (such as accounting, finance, and statistics) at a local college or Extension courses and include those transcripts in your application. 
• Program Rigor: we will take a deep dive into your academic profile by determining the rigor of your undergraduate school (we have information for most schools around the world!) and major.
• Transcripts: when we look at your transcripts, it’s not just the grades we see. We look the the classes you took, consider things like major changes, the rigor of your coursework, and trends in grades.
• Academic Designations and Accolades: academic accolades are considered to get a better sense of the context of your achievements. These may include special merit-based designations, such as Cum Laude, Honors, and Department awards. 
• International Applicants: we will evaluate your transcripts based on your country’s own system — please do NOT convert GPAs into an American 4.0 scale. 

Here are some answers to top frequently asked questions about academics from our applicants:

Q. Should I be worried if my GPA is not that strong?

A. We understand that not everyone will have unblemished records, and if there are weak spots then we will actively try to find offsetting strong points in your academic records, such as: upward trends in grades, final two-year GPA, and quantitative coursework.

Q. I did not take any quantitative undergraduate classes — how can I show the Admissions Committee I can handle the work?

A. Prior quantitative coursework is a plus since the MBA program core is quant-based, but we have no admissions requirements for specific quantitative classes. If you have not taken any prior quantitative classes (or you did not do as well as you would have liked), you can show us you can still handle the quantitative rigor of our program through other elements of your application that include: post-undergraduate quantitative courses via community college/extension program, strong quantitative score on the GMAT/GRE, and/or demonstration of quantitative and analytical skills/experiences in your work

Q. My background is not business-related — is this a problem? 

A. Short answer is…definitely not a problem! We aspire for academic diversity to add value in the classroom — you’ll see in our class profile that only 26% of our class has a business-related undergraduate degree. The core curriculum you will take in your first year will help ramp up and level-set your business knowledge base. Overall, the applicants we tend to like are those who consistently performed above their peers in similar schools and concentrations.

Q. Do I need to send in hard-copy transcripts when I apply?

A. On a logistical note, please do not send us hard-copy documents unless we request them (generally this will happen if you are invited to interview). The scans you upload with the application are sufficient for our preliminary evaluation. Please see our application requirements website for more information on academic evaluations and other aspects of the application.

Just remember that the application review process is one that is very holistic, so you do not need to only rely on the academic portion to be a successful applicant. The academic environment at UCLA Anderson is fast-paced and challenging, and we welcome those who are well-prepared to come join in for the benefit of all!

Check back for more “Application Insider” blog posts that will cover information and tips on the many aspects of applying to the UCLA Anderson MBA program!

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