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Are you dreaming of an MBA from UCLA Anderson? [Show summary] UCLA Anderson’s Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions, Alex Lawrence, explores the opportunities awaiting future MBA students, as well as the changes Anderson is making to campus life this fall to provide its students with a safe, rewarding MBA experience. Learn about Anderson's unique MBA program, as well as tips for submitting an acceptance-worthy Anderson application [Show notes] Alex Lawrence is the Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at UCLA School of Management and an Anderson alum who earned his MBA in 1999. Prior to that, he earned bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering. After earning his MBA, he worked in management consulting for four years and then returned to UCLA Anderson as director of the Riordan Programs before becoming Assistant Dean for MBA Admissions. Can you give an overview of the Anderson full-time MBA program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [2:08] Anderson emphasizes early specialization and hands-on experiences. We're like the typical two-year MBA program, having core classes with electives following that. I think one of the distinctive features, especially since we were the first school to have this as part of the requirement, is that all of our students have to complete one of two hands-on exercises or opportunities, that being the applied management research project, where you get a chance to work with an organization on a real business challenge or a business creation option. We were the first ones to create that opportunity for our MBA students. In addition, we're not a one-trick pony in the sense that we're not just a consulting school or a finance school. There's a lot of different areas that our students can be interested in or focus on. That variety makes our campus, our culture, so much more distinctive than other campuses, because students come in with diverse backgrounds and diverse interests. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNyw9J9NHFU Other than the lockdown and pandemic, what's new at UCLA Anderson? [3:37] One of the big things is that we launched a brand-new campus, a brand-new facility building, which is spectacular. Before this virus situation went down, the students were really enjoying it, the visitors who were coming, prospects, as well as those who had just been admitted and are still coming, the class of 2022 and beyond. Fantastic facility. Our new dean at that time, Tony Bernardo, he's still short of a year of being in the program, though he's been here on the campus for over 20 years, so we had a new dean in place as well. Those are two of the biggest things. What don't people know about Anderson that you would like them to know, on a bigger scale? [5:03] I alluded to it a little bit earlier, talking about the variety of choices that students can look at. Very few people know that in the Los Angeles area alone, it's number one in the world for small business activity. I say that because when you look at the culture, when you look at the opportunities that many of our students are exploring and that our alumni are currently participating in, it's a very entrepreneurial culture. It's a very entrepreneurial environment. That's why I made it a point to mention the BCO (Business Creation Option), which is younger than the AMR (Applied Management Research)  opportunity as well. With our accelerator that is on campus, many of our students do still look at that opportunity of becoming an entrepreneur. Many may still focus on some of the traditional career choices (tech, finance, consulting), but as a secondary, they all also are pursuing some entrepreneurial ventures as well. When you look at the types of companies that alumni have started or are currently engaged at, it's so diverse. The last thing I'll mention is that for as long as I've been here, I've seen this increase in the number of students who are doing internships beyond just the...