The MBA Student Voice

Slumdog Blogger

Hi readers,

I have been away from blogging for some time now and there is no excuse. Well, there are maybe 482 business school related excuses but the most important is that I had no idea how consuming school would be. I'm sure you have heard it all before but there really is no way to prepare for all the options and activities thrust at you. Let me bring you up to date through some writing I have been doing for Business Week on their MBA Journals.

Business Week First Entry

Business Week Second Entry 

Business Week Third Entry  

I will try to add insight about last semester. For now its time to study for my corporate finance midterm. The WACC and CAPM beckon...

Fall Quarter Begins!

The UCLA Anderson 2008 fall quarter is in overdrive as everyone dives head first into classes and tries to come up for air every now and again. Maybe if classes were the only place to focus our attention things would approach manageable. The class of 2010, like all classes before them is presented with a overwhelming buffet of options to partake in outside the classroom. On top of all career related activities through Parker Career Management center, there are professional clubs, social clubs, and identity clubs to join and participate in. These are far from passive participation where the club sets up activities or presentations and you attend at your leisure. No, the students at UCLA Anderson truly run the school; it is up to us to organize these events. We get to tailor the clubs to what we want and get more reward therein.

For example, the Entertainment Management Association saw interest in Entertainment Consulting and is planning a 101 series on the subject. The 101’s are a series of events when professionals come in and give an hour or two briefing on the ins and outs of a particular industry (Investment Banking 101, High Tech 101, Entrepreneurship 101, etc). The Entertainment 101 was the other night and it was mind blowing.  The speaker/professor was Gigi Johnson, president of Maremel Partners, an entertainment consulting firm. She spoke about the challenges facing the general industry as it transitions into the digital age. The transition will be daunting but exhilarating to be a part of. I’m just glad I have two years to think about it before I apply my MBA knowledge to the subject.

UCLA Anderson Class of 2010 MBA Orientation- A Taste of the Future

MBA Orientation for the Class of 2010 at UCLA Anderson has been completed and everyone has survived… barely. MBA Orientation was like getting swept up by a tornado, turned around and upside down, and then thrust back into your life not knowing what really happened. UCLA Anderson had one week to prepare the Class of 2010 for the beginning of the quarter and they did not waste one second. From 8am until 6pm we were engaged in mixers to meet classmates, Parker Career Management Center seminars, practicing our section cheers (“Dontcha wish your section was hot like D?”), playing kickball and dodge ball on Game Day, reading and discussing a case on how it all went wrong for Reebok circa 1988, and volunteering for C4C (Challenge for Charity).

Perhaps the most auspicious event was titled “Professor Introductions” on the calendar. We were all eager to meet the professors and get more information on what we were facing on Day 1. After a relaxing day of skit practice, we received our syllabi and were sent into anxiety attacks. "You want us to read all this by when? There is a group assignment due the first day of class? What is the S&P 500?"

The UCLA Anderson MBA is going to be a juggling act. Part of the challenge will be adapting to my surroundings and figuring out when to do what. I don’t pretend to have it figured out, but wise men once told me that ”knowing is half the battle.” The orientation festivities ended with the infamous 80’s Party, where the UCLA Anderson Class of 2010 showed that it can play as hard as it can work.

How I Got to an MBA and UCLA Anderson

Hi everyone,

I am a member of the incoming Class of 2010. Having come to the MBA from a rather unconventional route, I hope I can provide insight for those who are approaching the MBA option from similarly untraditional waters.

Professionally, my career has taken some twists and turns. I began my career at Cowboy Pictures, a small film distribution company. Unfortunately, Cowboy went bankrupt nine months after my arrival. I moved into book publishing at Random House and stayed for four years, spending the last two and a half as a Business Analyst for the Crown Publishing Group.

As I considered my next steps professionally, it became clear that I was in skills limbo. I wanted to combine creativity, communication, and analytics into a position in the entertainment industry. Enter the MBA. I incorrectly assumed that the MBA was a place for bankers and traders. I saw the options that existed for an MBA degree after researching the class offerings and alumni careers

In the end, I chose UCLA Anderson School of Management. While Anderson’s location and industry connections align perfectly with my career goals, there are many other factors that brought me here. I am attracted to the variety of experiences amongst the student body: consulting, financial services, health care, technology, marketing, non-profits, and media. As a large part of my education will come from my classmates, I am looking for professional, cultural, and social variety therein. UCLA Anderson also did a spectacular job of showing the collaborative and passionate nature of its community. The students and alumni have been available to answer any questions I had throughout the process. Ultimately though, Anderson offered me the best professional opportunity. The strength of its teaching, international program, media research center, and class offerings are the ideal place for me to take the next step professionally and personally.

My advice to those beginning the process would be to try to find which school is right for you. Each school has different strengths academically, professionally, socially, and personally. By blogging my experiences, I hope to share UCLA Anderson’s and help you decide if this is the place for you.