About Jessica: Jessica was born in Taiwan and grew up in Vancouver, Canada. She studied Political Science at the University of British Columbia, which led her to work for the Canadian Federal Government where she helped businesses avert layoffs during downturn and develop strategy to contribute to the labour market. Jessica chose UCLA Anderson for the people, culture of share success, and the amazing Anderson alumni network to support her pursuit of a career in consulting. In her free time, she loves playing ultimate frisbee, spending time in the outdoors, and all things food related.

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Congratulations on your acceptance to Anderson! This is an incredibly exciting yet nerve-wracking time as admissions offers come out. The questions that often come to mind during this time are, “is the admissions grind finally over?”, “where should I decide to go if I have multiple school offers?”, or “how do I fund my MBA?!” However, before you start asking all these questions, I want you to take a pause and breathe. For some of you, this has been a process that’s taken anywhere from a few months to a few years. If your MBA application process was anything like mine, it has been an incredibly trying and time intensive process. Before thinking about all the logistical pieces, I want you to take some time to decompress from all things MBA applications. Spend some time with your loved ones, rediscover a hobby that you had to place on the back burner to study for the GMAT/GRE, or do something on your bucket list you’ve always wanted to do! This is a special time before you start your MBA program to reconnect with yourself and those around you.

If you’ve already taken some time to decompress, here’s where the big questions start coming into play. I’ve categorized the key questions into four areas that can be found below. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list so if you have any additional questions, reach out to the Admissions or AAC team! 

Decision

If you have already accepted your Anderson offer, congrats and welcome to the amazing Anderfam!

If you are still deciding, this is one of the first big decisions you will need to make for your MBA. I encourage you to talk to current students or alumni to get an idea of how the culture and people resonate with you. Anderson truly embodies a “share success” mindset where team success is just as important as individual success, which really resonated with me and was a key reason I chose Anderson. I also encourage you to think about where you want to live in the short/medium term (not just the 2 years of business school). Anderson has great connections to the LA community in all key industries; therefore, many grads tend to end up around the area (although grads really do end up all over!). If you’re excited about life in LA, then welcome home!

I also encourage you to take the opportunity to come to admit weekends such as AROW or A-Days if you can to meet your potential classmates! This is the best way to imagine what life at Anderson and LA will be like! For me personally, AROW was instrumental to me in knowing that I could find a sense of home at Anderson.

Logistics

For finances, we have an amazing team at Anderson that is equipped to answer your questions on how to finance your MBA. Reach out to the Admissions team and also check out Financing Opportunities information here.

For those who are moving from outside LA, do not worry! There are many housing resources that will come out over the next few months. Keep an eye out for housing emails and make sure to check the Slack. I remember before school started, there was a Google document for first years to find roommates, buy furniture from folks moving away from LA, and sublet for the summer.

Introspection

You might also be wondering how you should be involved during your time at Anderson. The MBA experience flies by super fast, so take some time before summer orientation to think about what your ideal Anderson experience would look like (of course, with some flexibility), whether it’s club leadership, joining a sports team, or creating something new at Anderson. I also encourage you to come with an open mind. You never know if you’ll find something that sparks joy, so while I encourage you to dig deep on what matters to you for your Anderson experience, be open to the exciting Anderson journey that awaits you!

Have fun! 

The last area is to HAVE FUN! Whether that’s taking some relaxation time, going on a trip, or checking something off your bucket list, take this time to enjoy yourself pre-MBA. As I said earlier, the MBA flies by incredibly quickly, so I highly recommend taking the time that you can to recalibrate and recharge before starting school. For me personally, I went on a trip to Japan and Taiwan to see family and made sure to spend time with friends and family before making my move to LA.

I know that this is a lot of information, so if there is one thing you take away from this post, it would be to take the time to think about what matters to you for your MBA experience. And finally, welcome to Anderson! I look forward to seeing you in a few months!

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• Student Blogger: Jessica Lai ’25
• Undergrad: University of British Columbia ’19
• Pre-MBA: Canadian Federal Government
• Leadership@Anderson: Director of Admit Events, Admissions Ambassador Corps; Director of International Students, Management Consulting Association; Director of Community, Women Business Connection; Consultant, Anderson Strategy Group, Director of Community, Taiwanese Students Business Association; Section Social