Linda Baldwin of UCLA's Anderson School discusses the nuts and bolts of how the process works there

Linda Baldwin has been director of MBA admissions since 1991 for UCLA's Anderson School, No. 12 in BusinessWeek's 2000 B-schools ranking. That makes her one of the most experienced observers of the MBA applications scene.

Baldwin offered admissions tips to an audience of B-school applicants during a live Web chat on Aug. 28. BusinessWeek Online's Jack Dierdorff and Brian Hindo hosted the chat. An edited transcript follows:

Q: How is the admission scene this year different from last year? Do you see a rise in Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) scores or in grade-point averages (GPA)?
A: I anticipate that the number of applications for fall 2003 will be slightly up, based on the number of inquiries that we have had for catalogs this year. I doubt we'll see a rise in GMAT and GPA. GMATs at top-tier schools are hovering around 700 -- that's the median. I don't believe that there will be substantial increases. As for GPAs, they've been fairly level for the last few years, typically in the range of 3.4 to 3.6 for top-tier schools. I doubt if there will be much change.

Q: With the current business scandals, are B schools changing their curriculum to focus more on ethics?
A: We have always had a well-attended business-ethics class -- in fact, it's one of our high-demand courses. However, we are integrating business ethics a lot more into our core courses, not just as a stand-alone course.

Q: Any new academic initiatives this year that you can highlight?
A: We're continuing to improve and enhance our curriculum. We're trying to ensure that business ethics, globalization, entrepreneurialism, and diversity are integrated in it.

Q: What sectors are Anderson strong in? Does the school offer any health-care-focused tracks, similar to Duke's Health Sector Management program?
A: We're a general management school. However, we do have a number of areas that attract both applicants and employers. They include finance, entrepreneurship, entertainment, and health care/biotechnology, to mention a few. In terms of health care, we have several options available. First, for those who pursue an MD at UCLA we offer an MD/MBA program, which is targeted toward medical students in their third year who would like to get an MBA. Then, we offer the MBA combined with a masters in public health, which is a three-year, two-degree program and is particularly popular among those who are interested in health-care administration.

A number of our prospective students come from health-care and pharmaceutical environments, and there are opportunities for several things. 1. Rather than pursue a concurrent degree, you can utilize your electives to take courses in the public health school. 2. You can do your field study with a health-care organization or a biotech organization. 3. You can do academic internships and/or independent study. Our students do those in the Los Angeles area and in the [San Francisco] Bay Area. So the key is, we do have dual-degree programs, but we also have many other ways that you can make your program more health-care-oriented.

Q: How would you differentiate Anderson from some of the other top-tier West Coast MBA programs, like Stanford or Haas?
A: First and foremost is how we differentiate ourselves from top-tier schools nationwide, which is that we offer an academic foundation where one can obtain solid skills. In addition, we offer a myriad of opportunities to apply that knowledge. We have a thriving business community, and through our academic internships, our applied integrative projects, and independent studies, students can apply what they learn.

In addition, our flexible curriculum allows students to choose more than one area of concentration -- or no concentration at all. So after the core, with the 14 electives, students have ample opportunity to explore other areas of interest. And of course, it goes without saying that we have a collaborative and collegial student body that really emphasizes teamwork. Partly, that's related to our size, which is approximately a class of 330. So students get a lot of individual attention and get to know each other quite well.

Q: A recent article from a Stanford Graduate School of Business professor questions the value of an MBA. How are you and your colleagues responding to that?
A: The study contends that students aren't getting enough opportunity to apply their knowledge. We don't feel a need to respond to the study because our curriculum has always provided an opportunity to apply academic learning. Moreover, in my experience, the bottom-line payoff is not always the quantitative aspects -- students simply going to an MBA program for a certain salary boost. The two years' investment in the MBA is a time to take stock of where you want to go in the future and to retool and to reflect on what you're passionate about. It is a critical opportunity to invest in yourself.

And our curriculum allows students to do that broadly -- I mentioned three ways in the previous answers: the integrated application projects, the opportunity to engage in academic internships, as well as independent study. Some students also exercise the opportunity to develop business plans and to work with up-and-coming small and midsize businesses while they're in school.

Q: Does the Anderson School add or subtract points from a GPA based on the perceived competitiveness of an undergraduate school?
A: We don't have a point system, first and foremost. We view the quality of the school experience -- which includes the rigor of the major -- along with the performance over time within the context of extracurricular activities and possible work demands. Do we know which undergraduate schools are perceived as more competitive? We do have some knowledge of the competitiveness of undergraduate institutions. However, that doesn't have a meaningful impact on our decision to admit or deny.

Q: Exactly how does work experience play into admissions? Specifically, does executive-level management experience give someone a better chance to gain admission?
A: Work experience is one of the criteria we use to measure an applicant. However, there is no maximum or minimum in terms of work experience. Each year, we provide prospective applicants an idea of the mean years of work experience of our incoming class. However, there are individuals who have less than two years of work experience and those who have more than 10.

It's the quality of the work experience that's most important. The nature of the work experience is individually assessed based on the candidate's ability to tell us what they have accomplished over time, and then it is looked at within the context of why they would desire an MBA.

So our decision is not based on titles or years of work experience. Candidates for our full-time MBA program have included individuals directly from undergraduate programs, as well as individuals who have worked a number of years and have obtained the title of senior vice-president or even president of a division or a company. So it runs the gamut.

Q: Are out-of-state applicants at a disadvantage due to the UC system's preference for California residents?
A: No, they're not. In fact, we welcome out-of-state candidates, and they may comprise a good portion of our class. There is a misunderstanding that undergraduate admissions criteria are the same used for the MBA program -- they aren't.

Q: How does UCLA assess GPA from institutions that have a different grading system -- for example, the percentage system in India?
A: Typically there is a first-class, second-class system. It isn't difficult to assess the different transcripts. We are never looking at GPA in isolation. We're always looking at the GPA in the context of other academic measures. This includes Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores, GMAT scores, and Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) scores.

So it's never a stand-alone per se. We also have training in assessing different transcripts from countries all over the world.

Q: How can somebody with a GMAT score in the mid-600s and three years of work experience outperform somebody who has a high-700s GMAT score and five years of work experience?
A: The selection process for Anderson is holistic. We definitely will take into consideration GMAT, GPA, and work experience, but we will also -- very importantly -- look at leadership qualities, essays and recommendations. Taking all those factors into consideration, we then make a decision.

Hypothetically, the person with the 700 score and five years of work experience might have no extracurricular leadership experience, may not have any involvement with a community of professional organizations, and may have written a very poor set of essays. If that were to occur, the person who was in the mid-600s with only three years of work experience, and possibly a very strong GPA with great leadership qualities, excellent essays, and a fantastic interview might be a better candidate.

Q: How is graduate study experience in fields other than the MBA evaluated in the admission process? Also, can a good graduate GPA offset a poor undergrad GPA?
A: Yes, we look at ALL the academic work one engages in. For example, a candidate who performed poorly in a calculus or a statistics course might take a course after graduating at a community college, junior college, or a university extension and earn an A or B grade. Or if they went on to graduate school, they might earn an A or B in the stats course. And that would go a long way toward making that candidate more viable in terms of their quantitative skills, for example.

Q: Is it advisable for candidates to apply while unemployed due to the current market, or should one wait and apply after being reemployed?
A: Candidates, probably over the next couple years, will come in with resumes with shorter periods of employment and probably some periods of unemployment. This reflects the market. You don't need to wait if you can: 1. Make a good case based on your experience prior to your unemployment, or 2. Show you've been engaged in meaningful activities during your unemployment period. And there are a lot of people who have. We've seen a lot of candidates with unemployment periods on their resumes -- some whom we admitted!

Q: During these tough times, some people had to accept demotions in rank and pay just to keep a job. How does this affect their chances of admission?
A: You will, as a prospective applicant, provide us with information that explains your situation. You can do that through the essays, our optional question, or you can do that through the forms that we provide for work experience. Each application is reviewed individually, and so your efforts to shed more light on your situation will help us understand you, your circumstances, and how you might fit at Anderson.

Sometimes a recommender will explain the situation and talk about how the person has given so much to the organization, which might not be reflected in their current title or compensation. Your supervisor or manager can provide that, and a client can provide some insight as well.

Q: Realistically, how much can recommendations help or hurt your application? The consensus seems to be that for the most part, they can hurt you but not really help all that much.
A: Recommendations are a critical part of the application. They can both hurt and help. A good recommendation that speaks very specifically about the candidate, their leadership quality, the impact he or she may have had on the work environment, the perceived future potential, can be very persuasive.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for reapplicants?
A: I would suggest that any reapplicant write the school to get the reasons they were denied. Simply send an e-mail or a written correspondence. Once they've received a response from us, they should heed what we've written -- but also, remember that incremental change is not always that significant. Remember that the pool is always getting more competitive, so they need to always improve in all the other areas that we assess -- work, leadership, involvement -- and they need to include an additional recommendation that continues to make note of their progress.

Q: As the number of applicants increases, do you see the same ratio of male vs. female applicants? Do you assess female applicants the same way as you would male applicants?
A: All applicants are assessed the same way -- there's only one set of criteria. I anticipate that there will be more females in the upcoming classes as the percentage of female undergraduate degree holders continues to increase.

Q: Do companies hold executive MBAs on the same or higher level than MBAs?
A: The executive MBA program is typically for an individual who may be on average around 41 with approximately 10-plus years of work experience. It is a program at Anderson that allows people to attend on the weekends so they can continue to work. These individuals are usually not targeted by recruiting companies and are not a part of the career-services process. They typically have great jobs -- which they plan to stay in. The recruiting companies come specifically to recruit our full-time students.

Q: Would an MBA candidate who has expressed interest in an MBA concentration or program (like real estate) that has relatively few participating students have an easier time being admitted, possibly because of the school's desire to have the program grow?
A: Individuals are assessed based on our criteria, and we have no separate selection process for the real estate program. We would look at the candidate's work experience, academics, leadership, professional involvement, and essays to decide whether they would be a good fit -- for us, and for the real estate program.

Q: Does Anderson subscribe to a grade-disclosure policy or not, and why?
A: Students are graded on an A-F grading system. Students' grades are shielded from the public unless students wish to divulge that to employers on their resumes. It has been the practice in management consulting and sometimes in investment banks to look for grades and GMAT scores in their applicants. We do not inhibit our students from offering that information. We would not divulge your GPA -- that would be strictly confidential.

Q: What do you see as the scope for MBAs moving forward in this bad economy? The job prospects for the MBAs going out in 2002 have been very bleak, and the worst hit have been the international students.
A: My crystal ball is as good as anyone else's, and it's very difficult to project what the job opportunities will be in the future. However, MBA graduates from Anderson have done fairly well, and I believe they will continue to do well.

Perhaps there may be a change in terms of the types of employers. Traditional employers in management consulting and finance may not be seeking as many hires, so students will need to go to the new industries -- such as pharmaceuticals, biotech, and media -- or seek opportunities with midsize companies.

I still believe they will be compensated well, both in terms of the work responsibilities they are given and the remuneration. People sometimes think that if you go to a small place you don't get to do stuff that is meaningful -- but you do get to do meaningful stuff, and you get compensated. That isn't unusual.

For further information about UCLA's Anderson School, visit its Web site. And for admissions info, articles, Q&As, and more coverage of management education, explore BusinessWeek Online's B-Schools channel.