UCLA Anderson MBA Interviews

The UCLA Anderson MBA Interview questions revolve around your reasons for an MBA, career goals, interest in UCLA Anderson, and professional/personal experiences as outlined in your application materials. As an interviewee, you should be prepared to provide concise yet insightful responses showcasing strong communication skills, demonstrating knowledge of our program, and ultimately expressing why you are a great fit for UCLA Anderson. The style is very conversational – be prepared for an exchange of ideas, and come with a few thoughtful questions to ask your interviewer. Our interviews are about 30 minutes in length and mostly conducted by 2nd year students, either on-campus or via Skype. Remember there’s no preference for one platform vs. another so utilize whichever one fits your needs best.

As stated on the official website –

“Interviews are a way for us to get to know you as an individual and understand how you’d fit into our community and benefit from our career counseling. UCLA Anderson is a very collaborative school which is why the majority of our interviews are conducted by second year full-time MBA students. We feel that it is important to include our current students in selecting the next class, and they are also the best resource for you to ask how student life really is here.

Here are the five most important interview tips to help you succeed:

Treat the interview with the same professionalism that you would an employment interview. Be on time, dress professionally, and make sure that your resume is up-to-date.
Be prepared to succinctly walk your interviewer through your resume in 2-3 minutes, highlighting key milestones and achievements.
Be clear about why you are pursuing an MBA and why UCLA Anderson is a good fit for you. Know yourself, where you’ve been, where you want to go, and how UCLA Anderson fits in your story.
Treat the interview as a conversation. The interview is an opportunity not only to share your story, but also to learn from your interviewer.
Showcase your personality, share what you are passionate about, and demonstrate how you can contribute to our community.

Remember to relax, be genuine and enjoy getting to know your interviewer.

Who will interview you, and how long will the interview last?

Like most business schools, the UCLA Anderson interview is taken by a Career Management Team. The interview is usually done by one member from the team. The interview typically lasts for 25-30 minutes or may extend to 35-40 minutes in some instances.

Will the interviewer have read my application?

It is always safer to assume that the Panel members have access to your complete application. In most instances, they would have read it completely. Unless the school specifically says that it will be an blind interview. Mostly North American Business schools in US and Canada have an Blind interviews, European and SE Asian schools conduct interviews via Alums or panels which have full access to your entire application.

How can you prepare for your interview?

Like most MBA Interviews, your interview will mainly revolve around a pretty similar set of MBA interview questions. You can never predict what questions will be asked, but with enough research, you can predict what are the most commonly asked questions in these interviews. We have created a short FAQ list below to get you a jump start, and we also have a free guide linked below to help you prepare for these commonly asked interview questions.

UCLA Anderson MBA Frequently Asked Interview Questions

Professional experience-related questions

Tell me something about yourself, or Walk me through your resume.
What are your short-term and long-term goals?
Why MBA? or Why now? or Why an MBA at this stage of your career?
Why UCLA Anderson?
What is your Plan B? in case your primary goal does not happen?

Personal qualities-related questions

What are your key strengths? Can you give some examples, please?
What are your key weaknesses? Can you give some examples, please?
How can you add value to the Class? or Why should we take you?
Any reasons why we should not select you?
Interests and Hobbies related questions – why do you do it, what have you achieved/learned?

Frequently Asked Situational & Behavioral Questions

What is your leadership style? Can you give an example of a project you led?
What would you describe are your greatest achievement to date?
Give me an example of a time you failed.
Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict. How did you handle that?
Give me an example of a time when you did not meet a client’s expectations. What happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation?

The last one – Do you have any questions for us?

Can you please tell me how international exchange students and schools are assigned?
How club leadership is selected?
Any other questions you may have in regards to the program.

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 1

Applied Round 2, Interviewed on January 19th, 2017. Was interviewed by a Second-year student in a small conference room on-campus, took exactly 30 minutes. The interview was blind, but the interviewer had reviewed my résumé beforehand.
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Walk me through your résumé.
3. Why are you pursuing an MBA? (I answered this like a goals question)
4. Why Anderson?
5. Interviewer asked 3-4 behavioral questions centered around core principals at Anderson (i.e. leadership, teamwork, collaboration)
6. Do you have any questions for me?
This was my first interview of the season, and was way more laid back than I had been preparing myself for. The interviewer took notes on my resume the whole time, but otherwise there were no surprises and conversation flowed casually and naturally.

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 2

Went on campus to the Anderson school of business, dressed in appropriate business attire for a relaxed discussion-style interview

Blind interview with a 2nd year student, he only saw my résumé.

Questions:

Outside of your professional life, what are you interests and hobbies?
Why are you pursuing and MBA?
Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
Given your prior professional and personal experience, what can you contribute to Anderson?
Tell me about an experience in your life in which you failed.
How will you become involved in the student body and culture at Anderson?

The interview was very relaxed. The interviewer made clear that he is not involved in the final decision process but being interviewed is a good sign and he will submit his write up of the interview to the admissions committee in a prompt manner.

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 3

Interview was ~30 minutes on campus and pretty informal. The interviewer asked pretty basic, behavioral questions:

Walk me through your résumé.
Why an MBA/Why now?
Explain a challenging situation and how you overcame it.
What would you have done differently?
Anything else on your resume that you’d like to talk about?

The interview felt much more of a “fit” interview rather than being roasted about resume details. I’d recommend preparing by ensuring you can speak to your résumé, have a clear perspective on why MBA/Anderson, and having a few “stories” you can pull from to address behavioral questions.

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UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 4

I was interviewed by a 2nd-year student via skype in late October, approximately 3 weeks after the application deadline.

The interview was blind-based, conversational and casual. The interviewer was very friendly and he shared a lot about his experiences at Anderson. He gave me some good comments during the interview, so I felt quite positive and enjoyed it very much.

List of interview questions:

Self-introduction
Career goal, a few follow-ups regarding specific types of company, location, etc.
What do I do with my current job
Why MBA? Why Anderson?
Teamwork experience
Specific clubs interested
Questions to ask him

The interview lasted for ~30 minutes. There were no unexpected questions. I asked him about his AMR project experience and what surprised him the most after he went to Anderson. I felt that the Anderson community was very diverse and collaborative from what he shared, and the students are very proud of being part of it.

I ended up getting the admission offer with a scholarship.

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 5

This was a blind interview. The questions I was asked seemed pretty standard:

Tell me about your education and career path to this point in your life (He had my resume in front of him and I walked him through it).
Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
What interests you about the career move you want to make? (After telling him I want an MBA to get into consulting.)
What about UCLA Anderson interests you in particular?
Tell me about a time you were in charge of a project.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a superior

Afterward, he gave me time for questions. Overall, the interview was fine. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and I was much less nervous about it than my others. That could be due to it being over Skype. Just be prepared to tell your story and answer a few behavioral questions about your work experience. Also have something to say about why you want to go to UCLA. Ended up on the wait list, but got accepted to my top choice.

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 6

I had a Skype interview with a second-year student named Lance on February 14th, 2020. It lasted for about 25 minutes, and I enjoyed talking to him. The interview was more like a conversation, and I had a great time. Here are some of the questions I was asked:

Can you tell me a little about yourself?
Why do you want to pursue an MBA? And why do you want to do it now?
How do you think being at Anderson will help you achieve your goals?
Are there any non-professional clubs that you’re interested in joining?
Can you describe your experience contributing in a team?
What sparked your interest in Finance? (since I want to do an MBA in Finance)
Could you share your experience with community service? (since it was mentioned on my resume)
Do you have any questions for me? I hope this information is helpful! Good luck to all of you! 🙂

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 7

A current second-year student took my interview for the UCLA MBA program, and she was nice and friendly. It was a very casual conversation where we both got to talk, and the interviewer seemed interested. We only had about 30 minutes to talk, and she tried to keep it within that time frame as much as possible. Here are the questions she asked:

1. Can you tell me about yourself?
2. Why do you want to pursue an MBA? Why now?
3. What are your long-term and short-term goals? (We also talked about Anderson’s diverse student body and student-led culture. She wanted to know how I would contribute to the Anderson community.)
4. How can you contribute to Anderson?
5. Can you share a time when you had to manage differences at work? How did you feel about that experience? (She asked me a follow-up question about my feelings regarding that experience.)
6. Tell me about one of your strengths and how it helped your team achieve their goals. At the end of the interview, she gave me five minutes to ask any questions I had.

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 8

I recently had an interview over Zoom for the UCLA Anderson MBA program. The person interviewing me was a friendly second-year student who engaged in the conversation. I felt at ease because he provided feedback after each of my answers. Here are his questions:

1. Can you tell me about yourself?

2. Why do you want to pursue an MBA?

3. Why is now the right time to pursue an MBA?

4. What are your long-term and short-term goals?

5. Do you have a backup plan if you don’t get a position at an MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) consulting firm? (The interviewer mentioned how competitive it is and wanted to know what you would do if you didn’t secure a spot at one of those firms.)

6. Can you share a time when you experienced conflict within a team and how you resolved it?

7. Tell me about a situation where you used your strengths to make a positive impact within a team.

8. What do you think you can contribute to the Anderson community?

9. Do you plan to join any extracurricular clubs at Anderson?

The interview lasted about half an hour, and in the last 5-10 minutes, I had the opportunity to ask my questions.

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 9

I had an interview with a second-year student. He introduced himself and talked a bit about his background. He also mentioned how much of my application he could see. Here are the questions he asked me:

Can you tell me a little about yourself?
Why do you want to pursue an MBA? Why is it the right time for you?
How do you think being at Anderson will help you achieve your goals?
Are there any non-professional clubs that you’re interested in joining? 5. Can you describe your experience contributing in a team?
What initially sparked your interest in Finance? (since you want to pursue an MBA in Finance)
Tell me about your community service experience (since it was listed on your resume).
Do you have any questions for me?

Overall, I enjoyed the interview and felt a personal connection with the interviewer. Regardless of the outcome, I gained something valuable from our conversation.

UCLA Anderson Interview Questions – 10

My Zoom interview was with a second-year student, and he was charming. We had a friendly conversation, and he kept adding points or agreeing with what I said. Here are the questions he asked me:

1. Can you tell me about yourself?

2. I mentioned that I’ve worked on machine learning in analytics during the first question. He asked me how I got into that field. Did I teach myself or receive formal training?

3. Why do I want to pursue an MBA, and why did I choose Anderson (referring to the specific program or school)?

4. What are my short-term and long-term goals? Do I have any preferences for where to work after completing my MBA?

5. He asked about my leadership experience and how I keep my team motivated and functioning effectively.

6. I mentioned that my current job’s senior-level team members are based in the USA. He asked if it has been challenging to work in that setup and what my experience has been like.

7. He inquired about how I plan to get involved in the Anderson community and which clubs or activities I intend to participate in.

8. Finally, he asked if I had any questions for him since our post-MBA goals aligned; he was very interested and engaged during the interview.

Overall, it was a relaxed conversation, and the interviewer was friendly and polite.

UCLA Anderson MBA Interviews