A Day in the Life of a First-Year MBA Student

I’m sure many of you have heard just how busy business school students are, but what does a typical day look like as an MBA student? To help shed some light on this topic, I’ve outlined a typical day in my life as a first-year student at the UCLA Anderson of Management.

7:00am: Wake up (after hitting the snooze buttons a few times), shower and prepare my business formal outfit for recruiting activities later that day.

7:45am: Leave apartment in Santa Monica with 3 granola bars, 1 banana, my backpack and suit/heels.

8:30am: Arrive at first ACT (Anderson Career Team) team meeting, focused on consulting. ACT teams are led by two second-year students and focus on industry-related prep (e.g. consulting, marketing etc.).

10:00am: Attend second ACT team meeting, focused on marketing.

11:30am: Change into business casual outfit, and join talk with Dean Olian sponsored WBC (Women’s Business Connection). Eat lunch!

12:45pm: Attend Communications class on Personal Branding.

2:30pm: Attend Marketing class on Targeting and Positioning.

4:15pm: Meet with Learning Team to review Statistics case and Economics problem set.

6:30pm: Change into business formal and attend MCA (Management Consulting Association) Fall Firm Kick-Off.

8:30pm: Drive back to Santa Monica, drop by Whole Foods to pick up food to-go for dinner.

9:00pm: Arrive back home. Eat dinner while studying for Accounting.

10:30pm: Unwind with some dessert and take a quick walk with my boyfriend to our nearest Pinkberry.

11:30pm: Come back home and SLEEP!

So there you have it. A typical day in the life of a first-year business school student. As you can see, lots to look forward to!

Diana Lin, Forté Fellow
MBA 2013, UCLA Anderson School of Management