Key Takeaways:

• Business clubs at UCLA have a challenging recruitment process, with 55% of business clubs requiring applicants to submit a written application, participate in a coffee chat and go through a final round interview.
• Information sessions overlap heavily during weeks zero, one, and two of fall quarter, with 64% of information sessions being held during week one.
• Acceptance rates for business clubs tend to be below 40% based on the given data, where clubs with more applicants have a lower acceptance rate.

As spring quarter approaches, clubs are opening up their applications for new members once again, providing more opportunities for students to get involved in different organizations on campus. 

These application processes vary from club to club, and it is common to see recruiting activities and events happening throughout the beginning of the quarter, especially during fall. 

To get a more comprehensive overview of business clubs at UCLA, The Stack analyzed club data from the fall 2025 quarter to examine the application types and recruitment timelines. Clubs were invited to self-report their data, with 24 out of 53 registered business clubs disclosing information.

The First Impression

Before the Enormous Activities Fair takes place during week zero, students can learn about clubs online. Beyond showcasing club activities with a gallery of photos, social media platforms serve as a primary form of outreach for most business clubs.

The Stack found Instagram accounts for all 24 business clubs that self-reported their information. Many clubs post summer recaps, introduce their board members, and announce their recruitment schedules before the school year starts. Interested students are able to learn about the clubs before applications open.

Application Process

Business clubs at UCLA are primarily split into two types: those with an application and those that are open to all. Only two business organizations – Delta Sigma Pi and Sigma Eta Pi – are fraternities, which have a rushing process. One business organization – Beta Alpha Psi – is restricted to those that have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA.

The above graph shows seven clubs being open to all and 43 clubs having an application process. 

Luke Graham, a second-year business economics student, said he founded a chapter of General Equity Management at UCLA to democratize financial education for UCLA students. He added that he uses an application process to screen applicants that will show their commitment to the club.

“I wanted to focus on making sure that there was a quality group of people who are dedicated to this club, dedicated to make it better,” Graham said.

The qualities that clubs are seeking differ from club to club, however. 

“We’re genuinely looking for them to have the problem solving abilities and the critical thinking that you would then need to perform well in a client project or perform well in a consulting internship,” said Aarushi Maheshwari, a third-year economics and political science student and the co-president of Bruin Strategy Network..

With most business clubs requiring at least a two-step process, clubs try to discern the full extent of an applicant’s character, personality and problem-solving abilities. Critical thinking and an analytical mindset is crucial in a business environment. 

Recruitment Timeline

Club recruitment processes contain three main parts: a written application, coffee chats, and interviews. 

Written applications – which are used by 44 out of the 53 business clubs – are typically composed of a resume review, technical questions, or specific questions about the club itself. 

Coffee chats – used by 30 out of the 53 clubs – are group interviews that occur after the initial application screening. Members of the club and the board schedule these coffee chats in order to learn more about a potential candidate beyond their application. 

The final phase of a recruitment process is the live interview. Depending on the club, there may be two rounds of interviews, where one might be a group interview with a case study. Thirty-two organizations did a single-round interview process, whereas 9 organizations did two rounds.

Most clubs have an open application window of twelve days, with most applications closing at the beginning of week two, and most interviews being completed by the end of week three.

For the fall quarter, most clubs start recruiting during week zero.

Ishani Saran, a third-year cognitive science student, said the biggest drawback of applying to so many clubs is needing to go to informational sessions and networking nights.

Clubs typically host informational sessions where they outline their mission, describe the types of projects they work on and the events they host, go over their recruitment timeline and give tips for their application. Some info sessions conclude with a networking period where prospective members can speak with current members one-on-one to demonstrate their interest and to gauge the culture of the organization, Saran said.

The dates and times for info sessions overlap heavily, especially because clubs have to wait until the evening to avoid interfering with class times. 

“I came in with experiences that weren’t easily standardizable into the US system,” Saran said. “Having the opportunity to go to info sessions and talk with members and be able to communicate what I’d done was far, far easier than someone reading my resume who may not have understood the scale of impact, for example, in my home country.” 

Acceptance Rates

Acceptance rates among UCLA business clubs vary widely, reflecting differences in club size and recruitment structure. Several organizations with large applicant pools admit only a small fraction of applicants. 

For example, clubs such as The Bruin Investment and Trading Group and International Business for Bruins accept fewer than 5% of applicants while receiving hundreds of applications each recruitment cycle. In contrast, some smaller organizations accept a much larger share of applicants, with acceptance rates exceeding 40% and nearing 100% in a few cases.

At the same time, the data also reveals significant variation among mid-sized organizations. Clubs with similar applicant numbers, roughly between 80 and 150 applicants, show acceptance rates ranging from about 15% to 50%. This spread suggests that selectivity is not determined by size alone, but also by differences in recruitment structure, evaluation criteria, and organizational priorities. 

While many business organizations operate selective recruitment processes, the level of competition varies substantially depending on the club’s size, focus and available membership capacity. 

Maheshwari said that one thing that the Bruin Strategy Network looks for in candidates is leadership.

“If you’re … not in a leadership position, even if you’re the least qualified person in a room, you still need to take initiative to make yourself stand out,” Maheshwari said.

The emphasis on initiative reflects how recruitment extends beyond resumes and prior experience. As applicant pools grow, clubs increasingly look for signs of potential, including leadership, communication and demonstrated interest, to differentiate between candidates with otherwise similar qualifications. 

Out of the 19 clubs that provided acceptance rate information, six of them have an acceptance rate that is less than 10%. For many, putting so much effort into the recruitment process only to get rejected can be demotivating. The competition of business clubs is often overlooked, especially for students who have never applied to these clubs before, Saran said.

“You get a few acceptances, but you get a lot of rejections from college clubs, which can be demoralizing when you start off,” Saran said. 

She added that for students to get started in a space, they want to join a club to gain experience. However, those clubs also require students who are interested in joining to already have experience. 

“It’s kind of like chicken and egg,” she said.

Winter and Spring Recruitment

Being rejected in the fall does not necessarily mean that students are barred from applying again.

“It’s human to feel a little bit bad that you didn’t get in,” Saran said. “But at the end of the day, if you want to get experience a certain way, you just have to ask for it, and not applying means that you’re definitely not going to get in.” 

The availability of winter and spring recruitment ultimately broadens access to these organizations, allowing students multiple entry points rather than a single high-stakes moment. 

After the Offer

After being accepted into a business club, members typically participate in a training preparation program before they get started on real-world projects. Graham said these projects then offer opportunities for members to learn how to collaborate in a group setting and apply their knowledge to industry level situations.

However, it is not only the professional experience that makes the clubs worthwhile. 

“When I came here first, I floundered. I didn’t know where my place would be,” Saran said. 

She said that clubs helped her find a sense of community among people with similar interests. 

Other students also share a similar sentiment. 

“From my own personal experience as an international student, coming into UCLA and having absolutely no family in America, this club has become my family in a very genuine and honest way,” Maheshwari said.

About the Data:

The club list was gathered through the Student Organizations, Leadership, & Engagement public search feature, filtering by Undergraduate and Business clubs. There were a total of 58 Undergraduate and Business clubs, although clubs with an inactive Instagram were discarded from the dataset. These findings are based on the 53 business clubs that remained after filtering. Out of those 53 clubs, 24 clubs provided all information requested, three clubs did not provide all information requested, and 27 clubs had no response. Information requested was based on the fall 2025 cohort.