Student Perspectives: 3 Tips to Prepare Your Finances For Your First Year in Business School

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About Jenny: Jenny Muliawan is a first-year full-time student at UCLA Anderson. Prior to business school, Jenny lived in the Bay Area, and worked in the world of People & Culture. In her free time, she enjoys exploring new walks with her dog, and finding the best matcha flavored snacks in town.



When I learned that I was admitted into UCLA Anderson, I had to quickly figure out how I was going to pay my way through two years of this experience with my savings. While I was privileged and lucky to receive a fellowship that covered 85% of tuition, there were still so many unknown variables for which I didn’t know how to prepare before starting business school. Now, a year into this amazing full-time program, I have learned 3 lessons about money management that I wish I knew before school started:

  1. Add in a 20% buffer into your budget for hidden costs

These hidden costs are the little costs of being involved and socializing in business school. These include the small day-to-day costs such as the coffees, boba teas, and tacos that you start purchasing, as well as the larger costs to attend club/school events (ie. fees and outfit for AnderProm ) and trips (e.g. weekend trip to San Diego or Las Vegas).

  1. Be mindful and selective of your experiences

There is so much to do in business school, and the reality is that you won’t be able to attend every event. I paid for multi-year membership dues for 8 different clubs at the start of the program, and have only been able to make it to a few of the club events. About $1000 is now a sunk cost. Give yourself some time to settle into school and figure out the cadence of your schedule. Don’t feel like you have to purchase everything immediately due to FOMO - I’ve had to miss out on many paid experiences due to last minute changes to my schedule. You can sign up for clubs at any time during the year so don’t feel the need to do it the first week of school.

  1. Spend time learning about the loan process and other assistance programs

Even if you don’t think you’ll need a loan or financial assistance, be proactive and spend a few hours learning about how loans work by scheduling a call with the Financial Aid office and plugging some numbers into loan calculators like the one available on Juno. If you know that you will be applying for a loan, consider doing so while you’re still working to get a better interest rate. You might also learn that you might qualify for some programs such as CalFresh after submitting your FAFSA application. Use this time as a learning opportunity.



Student Blogger: Jenny Muliawan ‘23

Undergrad: University of California, Berkeley, B.A. Cognitive Science

Pre-MBA: Senior Manager, People & Culture, Redbubble

Leadership@Anderson: Director, Admission Ambassador Corps; Director of Admissions, WBC

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