Meet UCLA’s Incoming MBA Class of 2017

Members of UCLA Anderson School’s Class of 2017

It’s easy to associate UCLA with glitz, glamour, warm sunshine, and breezy beaches. The school is just a 2.5 mile jaunt from Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. And the ocean is right down Sunset Boulevard. But that’s not the main reason why top-flight professionals are flocking to UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

“Anderson is the perfect mix of rigorous academics, strong career services support, active student life, and a multicultural and lively city,” writes Lucerna Huayanay, an incoming first year who most recently headed sales and marketing for a Peru-based manufacturer of maternity clothes.

HIGHLY ECLECTIC AND ACCOMPLISHED CLASS

Alex Lawrence

Huayanay is just one member of an electrifying 2017 Class, who’ve seemingly seen-and-done it all before stepping foot on campus. “We have a former marine who managed intelligence support to fifteen countries while living in Asia,” boasts Alex Lawrence, Anderson’s assistant dean of MBA admissions and financial aid. “As a former startup founder, he is looking to return to Indonesia and start a business that deters piracy and human trafficking in Southeast Asia. One student is a member of UCLA’s Ebola Response Team who intends to drive change in the nursing profession on a global scale. Another student is an entrepreneur who founded a health-focused technology company, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors, launched technology products used by thousands of users and built a global team in Romania, London, and the U.S.”

Indeed, Anderson has assembled one of the most diverse classes anywhere this fall. They include political operatives, teachers, engineers, computer programmers, consultants, sales reps, financial analysts, and media mavens. Professionally, 24% of the class arrives with finance backgrounds, the same percentage as the Class of 2016. Technology rose two percentage points to 22%, followed by consulting, which again drew 20% of the class. Academically, 22% had earned their bachelor’s degree in engineering (down a percent from last year), which was followed by business (21%) and humanities (18%) – numbers roughly equivalent to the previous year.

In the past year, Anderson’s full-time program received 3,533 applications, down from the 4,129 apps it collected in 2013-2014. Despite this, the class size swelled from 354 to 370 students, resulting in a still rigorous acceptance rate of 19.8% (up from 17.8% the previous year). At the same time, GMAT averages dipped slightly (from 714 to 713), with the class’ 3.47 average GPA higher than similarly-ranked schools like the University of Michigan (Ross) and the University of Texas (McCombs). Overall, the incoming class’ GMATs spanned from 580-780, with undergraduate GPAs ranging from 3.0-4.0.

Demographically, 30% of the 2017 class are women, the same percentage as the previous year. At the same time, nearly a third (32%) hail from overseas – 41 countries in total. In addition, 27% of the class includes American minority students.

Go to next page to access student profiles of this year’s incoming class.