UCLA’s Anderson School of Management revealed that applications to the school’s full-time MBA program rose by 32 percent for the 2013-2014 admissions cycle.
The unusual increase, in a year when application volume at many schools either flat or slightly down, means that MBA applications at Anderson have raised by more than 60 percent in the past four years. The latest increase follows a seven percent decline in the year-earlier after a 22 percent gain the prior year.
The school attributes the increase to a variety of factors. Some of which include a reduction of the number of essays and letters of recommendation required to apply as well as increased recruiting efforts that have led to deeper engagement by applicants.
Also in common with many other schools, Anderson cut the required essays and recommendation letters to one each from two a year earlier.
“We did expect some increase by lowering barriers to entry but we didn’t expect the magnitude of increase,” says Rob Weiler, associate dean of the MBA program at Anderson. “The greatest percentage of it I would attribute to increased outreach on a lot of fronts.”
The school also more aggressively used “tailored emails” to prospective applicants so that applicants interested in studying finance received different messaging from the school. Anderson said it also used its own students and alumni to talk up the school to potential applicants.
“We were able to tighten the connection a little bit with the emails and then there is a significant buzz among our current students who are our best advocates,” adds Weiler. “We see a lot of people who say ‘I have a friend in the first year class.”
