Meet UCLA Anderson’s MBA Class of 2018

Colin Meade

UCLA, Anderson School of Management

Assistant Dean’s Scouting Report: “A great combination of intellectual strength and wanting to make a difference.”

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: A financial analyst with a passion for healthcare, volleyball, and seeing people smile.

Hometown: Carlsbad, CA

Fun Fact About Yourself: For a semester, I taught a 2-unit course at UC Berkeley in Public Policy titled, “Social Issue as presented through It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”

Undergraduate School and Major: UC Berkeley 2012; Economics major

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

AMN Healthcare, Accounting Specialist. Jun ’12 – Apr ‘13

AMN Healthcare, Financial Analyst. Apr ’13 – Apr ‘15

High School English Teacher, Ministerio de Educación de Chile. Apr ’15 – Jan ‘16

Volleyball Coach (Beach / Indoor), Wave Volleyball Club. May ’16 – July ‘16

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Hopefully through my classroom teaching experience, one day I can say I was responsible for motivating the youth I taught to aim higher. For now, I am proud to say that I supported an internal division at AMN Healthcare helping it grow from a team of 13 people to an organization that delivered over $50 million in annual revenues. The growth, which included expanding to its own building was due to its success in providing a great workforce service to the post Affordable Care Act healthcare industry.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? The best advice I can give is the “Why MBA?” question that you will undoubtedly get in interviews is a question you should have an answer for before even deciding to apply (maybe not an interview level answer, but a thought in your heart). This is because if you foresee how you can use an MBA to create a great career and make positive change in the world, your essays and interviews will reflect your desire and enthusiasm and any MBA program will be excited to bring you into their family. As far as the GMAT goes, the test itself can be draining, so a few nights of good sleep in a row and a hearty breakfast is also my best advice.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? As a Californian through-and-through with a great passion for volleyball, I was looking for a school with top-quality faculty to improve my skills (both technical and soft side) and a school with great connections and career resources for the Southern California job market; Anderson fulfills both those characteristics wonderfully.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? I am motivated by the fields of finance and healthcare. At this point in my life, my goal is to use my finance and analytic skills to help a healthcare provider become more efficient. I am confident in finding this dream job and being able to have a positive effect on the average patient’s experience when they seek medical care.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? My number one goal every day is that, after every interaction with someone, that person leaves either having been helped or just feeling more positive about life. I hope that after my Anderson experience, my classmates and peers feel like my contributions in class and in academic projects helped them learn and become better versions of themselves; and if we have some memories of laughing and having fun along the way, then all the better!