Academic Preparation

Math for Management is an online course created by the Anderson School of Management to help incoming MBA students refresh their math skills, and is ideal for any student who would benefit from a comprehensive review of mathematics. Topics include algebra, differential calculus, logarithmic and exponential functions, probability, and statistics. There are no prerequisites for the course.

If you need a summer class filled with lots of drill and practice, this is it. If you need a course with a professor teaching the class, explaining concepts, and doing examples, but with the convenience of attending online whenever you are able, this is the course for you.

The instructor's lectures are delivered as a sequence of short video clips that students watch via web browser. Each clip addresses an individual concept or problem. This class is created to be a self-study program, with live assistance available from the instructor when needed (phone, email, virtual or in person).

You retain access to the online material as long as you are a UCLA Anderson student. This means you can come back and refer to the videos if you are feeling rusty on a particular concept that you need to apply in class.

Excel for Management is a hands-on Excel tutorial to show you the features and functionality of Excel through the solving of business-related problems and applications. The course won’t simply show you where to click or provide a list of shortcuts. All of the teaching is done through problem solving.

If you are an investment banking Excel whiz, then this course may not be for you. However, the instructor has included not only the basics of Excel but also lots of tricks, tips, and enhancements to turn you into an Excel pro.

David Ravetch has taught Excel to advanced students and still been able to show them things that they have never seen before. This is a testament to the robust nature of the program. Topics included are absolute and relative cell referencing, pivot tables, pivot charts, macros, some VBA (Visual Basic for Applications, the programming language of Excel), data validation, a whole slew of functions, applications from finance, statistical applications, goal seek and solver, formatting, sorting and filtering, formatting and conditional formatting, text functions, what-if analysis and so much more.

These skills will give you a much-needed leg up for your MBA studies, and you’ll also find yourself using them long after you leave UCLA Anderson. You retain access to the online material as long as you are a UCLA Anderson student. This means you can come back and refer to the videos if you are feeling rusty on a particular concept that you need to apply in class.