What is it like to be an MBA student at UCLA Anderson School of Management?

My good friend Mark Zee, a second year student at Anderson, joined the show to discuss his experience at UCLA. Mark is truly a non-traditional candidate, graduating from Princeton University in 2003, acting in Asia for 6 years, starting an import/export business in Singapore, and then working in educational consulting and finance in Houston, Texas before applying to business school in 2012. Mark shares how he tied all this experience together - and linked them to congruent career goals - in only a few essays.

In this episode, Mark and I discuss:

• Why Mark chose UCLA Anderson
• Application advice to non-traditional & older candidates
• The importance of professional clubs at Anderson & how Mark found his entertainment internship
• Mark's take on Anderson's culture - "a school is only as good as its students"
• Hot industries and career opportunities for Anderson students

How would you like to grab coffee with one of the world's most experienced MBA admissions consultants and pick his brain on what makes a successful application?

This week I asked Paul Bodine, author of Great Applications for Business School, and owner of Paul Bodine Admissions Consulting, about his best advice to clients and admissions trends. Paul has helped hundreds of candidates since 1997 get into the likes of Harvard, Stanford and Wharton. This is a conversation you don't want to miss!

In this episode you'll learn:

• The 3 pillars of a successful application (which stand the test of time)
• Why you must make sure your goals are organic to what you've done
• The importance of authenticity in your application - and how to achieve this
• Recent application and admissions trends
• Paul's strategic and tactical advice to clients on what to do with less essays
• Tips to ace group interviews and multimedia essays

Are you struggling with post-MBA career goals in your application? Top business schools are looking for well-researched and realistic career goals. But exactly how can you do this? Especially when you're strapped for time?

Steve Dalton, Senior Associate Director of the Career Management Center at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and author of the 2 Hour Job Search, joined the show this week to share his systematic formula to efficiently and effectively target potential employers and secure the first interview.

Steve has delivered 2 Hour Job Search workshops to over 20 business schools, and his process is now part of the Fuqua MBA curriculum. I am a huge fan of the book and think it's a must read for not only MBAs, but MBA applicants as well. You'll also get a sneak peek of the strategic and tactical career guidance you'll get at a bschool like Fuqua.

In this episode you'll learn:

How to rig the job search in your favor and avoid artificial desperation
How to generate a list of 40 target employers in 40 minutes
The 3 pieces of data that are both easy to find and predictive of job search success
Steve's LAMP method for prioritizing which employers to target
Why systematically building internal referrals at your target employers is the key to securing interviews in the online era
How to focus on "boosters" (people willing to help) vs. "obligates" or "curmudgeons"
How to prepare for informational interviews - whether for job searches or MBA programs
How to answer common interview questions like "Tell me about yourself" and "Why this MBA program?"
The TIARA framework to systematically build likeability with strangers
What Steve advises Fuqua MBAs to succeed in their job searches
And much, much more...

Don't miss this episode if you're planning your post-MBA career goals or looking to change jobs.

Most of the top-ranked business schools in Asia are in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. But what if you can't afford to leave your job or city to pursue your MBA? IE Business School and Singapore Management University (SMU) have teamed up to help such professionals in South East Asia and launched a 10-month blended MBA, which combines residential segments in Singapore and Madrid with weekly online classes and forum discussions.

Most people (including myself) consider "online MBAs" a way for business schools to scale and make more money. But after speaking to Dr. Gregor Halff, Associate Dean of General Management Programs at SMU, and Dr. Lieven Demeester, IE-SMU MBA Academic Director, I learned that students can expect as much - if not more - time spent with professors than in a traditional face-to-face MBA format. Gregor calls this small-group learning supported by technology; the expected class size is 30 students.

Graduates are awarded a joint-degree from IE and SMU and get access to both schools' alumni networks and career services. At 74,900 SGD, the tuition is 20% more than SMU's MBA program, but also 30% less than IE's MBA program. Students take 18 core courses, 3 courses focused on management in Asia, and must complete a real-world 10-month consulting project with teammates.

Listen on for the insider's scoop on this new program...

Darren's take: this blended program is ideal for professionals in SE Asia who a) don't want to leave their job and b) want get a high-touch, top-tier joint MBA degree in just 10 months.