The MBA Student Voice

Pre-Orientation Trip: Santa Cruz Island - Joint Post By Zafeer Khan & Britney Sussman

With orientation just a week away groups of Anderson students went on various excursions across the State from Yosemite to the Sierra Nevadas to Santa Cruz Island. I was lucky to be able to join fellow blogger Britney Sussman (see her comments below), along with eight other Anderson students for a two-day camping trip to the wonderful Santa Cruz Island. After a 1-hour ferry ride, we arrived at Scorpion Bay with pristine blue water and dramatic kelp forests. There was plenty of wildlife to spot from sea lions to foxes to whales (pictures below). Kit Hansen (Anderson ’15) answered all our questions regarding life at b-school so a special thanks to him. And thanks to our UCLA undergraduate guides, Spencer and Kaitlyn, for organizing action-packed days of hiking and snorkeling, as well as feeding us the best camping food ever.

 

The BS POV – I wasn’t able to attend A-Days, the official preview weekend for admitted students held back in March. Therefore this pre-orientation camping trip was my first opportunity to interact with my new classmates. I’ll admit that I was a little nervous heading into the excursion. What if we didn’t click right away? Would camping with complete strangers on a deserted island for three days be awkward? Would we bond over the lack of showers? Luckily my worries were squashed before we even boarded the ferry to Santa Cruz Island. Within the first hour, I realized that I was among an exceptional group of people. As Zafeer mentioned, there were only 10 incoming first-years on the trip, but I was immediately stuck by each person’s diversity, intelligence, passion, and all-around coolness. Our group had flocked from far corners of the earth: Chile, Japan, Bangladesh, Canada, New York, Atlanta, etc. Each had accomplished serious career milestones and had distinct visions for how he or she wanted to impact the future. It was great to share stories while we trekked all over the island, and despite all of our differences, there existed a special like-mindedness. The trip further confirmed why Anderson felt like such a good fit; it’s the people it attracts. And if the people make the place, this is going to be a great two years!

ANDERSON 16 – watch out, here we come!

Preparing for classes - Repost from FT

Originally posted on Financial Times MBA Blog - http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog/2014/09/09/preparing-for-classes/

Although we still have 10 days before our orientation, UCLA Anderson has kept us on our toes both professionally and socially. I was accepted onto the course in May and since then have received weekly emails from admissions and student affairs teams. Some of the activities are:

1. Meets-ups – A journey is best measured in friends. Both the business school and the students organise local meets in most major US cities and international locations such as Shanghai and Delhi. Since I have arrived in Los Angeles, I have been meeting students during Sundowners, a weekly UCLA Anderson happy hours get-together.
2. Career search – Although most applicants have a strong story for business schools, they are not bound to it once they get admitted. Business schools make us aware of different industries and functions, some of which may not even be on our radar. Over the summer, UCLA Anderson has shared various career guides and alumni work profiles for us to get a sense of each industry or function.
3. Networking – The buzzword of business schools. I have been consolidating my existing network and reaching out to second and third degree connections in my industry of interest.
4. Moving in - For international students, this is like starting a whole new life. We have to apply for fresh IDs, bank accounts and a social security number. Staying in university housing is an easy option but the set-up cost is still considerable.
5. Travel – For many of us starting school, the summer was the longest vacation we might ever have. I used this time to travel within India and spend some quality time with friends and family. I also arrived early to go on a three-day pre-orientation trip near San Diego.
6. Academics – Business school can be academically challenging and we were offered maths and excel workshops over the summer. Before school starts, we also have one-day refresher workshops in different core subjects such as finance and accounting. I also enrolled onto MBAmath.com, which offers some MBA preparation material.

I will continue to expand on each bullet point above in future posts. Please send any comments, questions, excel shortcuts, yardsale locations and unheard career opportunities via the comment box below. You can also follow me on Twitter @0jain

Pre-orientation trip near San Diego