About Dani: An LA native, Dani attended the University of Virginia and received her B.A. in Mathematics. Wishing to continue exploring the East Coast, she joined Morgan Stanley as a financial analyst and moved to Baltimore, Maryland. After a few years of missing the warm weather and relaxed culture of Southern California, she chose to attend the UCLA Anderson School of Management. As a FTMBA student in the Class of 2025, she is currently using her MBA to pivot into consulting where she can further develop her business toolkit and pursue her passion for problem solving.

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You did it! You got into business school! You put down your deposit and marked your calendar with your start date. Now what?

You are probably joining various Slack groups and chatting with your future classmates. They might even be thinking about attending some conferences over the summer. Maybe you’re excited to join some and hesitant about others because you don’t know if it will be worth it. I attended both the Consortium Orientation Program (OP) and Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference. As a Consortium Fellow, I had the opportunity to learn and connect with a variety of people across many industries as well as submit my resume which led to an unique internship opportunity. Forté’s Leadership Conference was very motivational and as a woman entering business school, I felt supported and built connections as I began to learn more about consulting.

Conferences are an excellent way to start networking with companies early and begin to narrow down your internship search. No matter if you already know the exact industry and function you want to pursue or if you are still exploring, conferences are helpful opportunities to learn and speak to practitioners. It would be helpful to take a look at which companies will be attending the conference and do some preliminary research on which organizations you’d like to learn more about. Begin to craft your story and what you are hoping to get out of both business school and the conference. And don’t forget to prepare your resume! You never know who might ask for it and it’s best to be prepared because it could lead to a future internship opportunity. UCLA Anderson will provide support through resume workshops and small group meetings to help you prepare for the conferences so you are not going in blind.

While the professional opportunities at conferences are usually the draw, it is truly the friendships that I built that I am most grateful for. Starting a new chapter of your life can be scary and it was nice to connect with fellow classmates ahead of school and know that when I arrived on the first day that I wouldn’t be alone.

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• Student Blogger: Dani Motte ’25
• Undergrad: University of Virginia ’19
• Pre-MBA: Financial Operations at Morgan Stanley
• Leadership@Anderson: VP of Finance, Management Consulting Association; VP of Admissions, Alliance for Latinx Management at Anderson; Director of Community, Admissions Ambassador Corps; Director of Velocity Operations, Women’s Business Connection; Riordan MBA Fellow Mentor
• Instagram: @dani_kristine