5 realities that first-year MBA students face head-on!

For the MBA class of 2023, a range of realities awaits them - B-School experiences that are a bolt out of the blue for the students. From realizing that grades do matter to the astounding speed of the B-School, the MBA newbies know that this is once-in-a-lifetime of an experience that no brochure or elevator pitch can teach. MBA sets forth the journey to find themselves in the way and navigate their own complex worlds to provide an ethical foundation so that they can be the torch-bearers of tomorrow. Here are five flavored realities that the first-year MBA students have recently realized (or will realize, for sure):

The Oogway style: Your mind is like water, let it settle and self-introspect!

Students enter B-Schools harboring a preconceived notion - that it is all about getting ahead in their careers and upskilling their business minds. While that cannot be denied, the time in B-Schools is more for self-introspection and setting out on a journey to discover oneself both personally and professionally. One realizes that the world of business is not limited to a particular field, as MBA grads share experiences of hearing refreshing stories of their classmates who belonged to other fields. 

On top of everything, what also came as a revelation is that there is no right answer because ‘it always depends’. Students who stepped into MBA from an engineering background were familiar with either knowing a thing or not knowing it. They chomped the numbers till the equation worked. However, MBA trained them to start thinking in grey, instead of black and white. Because most problems were solved on the way it was approached, i.e, ‘it depends on how you look at it.’ This was a life lesson - opening your mind to a host of ideas and perspectives that encouraged diversity, discussions, and collaborations. 

Oh, buddy! MBA is more than just networking

Students already expect B-Schools to be busy and exacting but it was an eye-opener that they were pulled into different directions on any given day - balancing academics, case competitions, recruiting, socializing, networking, student leadership, and whatnot. Maintaining an equilibrium amongst all these can be tiring and it constantly requires you to assess alternatives. Learning how to set own priorities and make decisions is a life-saving skill that MBA rigorously coaches. It also prods you to scoop out time for some self-care activities whether going on a walk, skipping, getting some extra sleep between exhausting days of interviews, classes, and meetings. 

MBA is not synonymous with just building a network, which means that some connections made here stay for life. People are not only career-focused and come from Type A backgrounds. People come from diverse settings - they are fun, engaging, genuine, and the most creative ones. 

Rankings, grades, and ______ ?

Rankings are generally considered the ‘end-all, be-all’  and an indispensable determinant of job prospects and internships. A program’s reputation will only get someone a little far. What matters eventually is ‘how hard you are willing to work for what you want.’  It also depends on the risks, the initiatives you are willing to shoulder, your way of seeking out resources, showing up wherever you want, and expanding your network.

The undergraduate life is such that it compels us to focus and maintain a decent GPA even if it means taking easier classes to get the grades. But at B-Schools, grades don’t matter either. MBA grads get a new perspective about academics as they take classes only for future use in the industries of their choice. MBA teaches everyone to view academics as another facet of B-School that works in tandem with extracurriculars, club leaderships, part-time jobs, and case competitions. 

Avengers, assemble!

B-School is characterized by its group-based curriculum. A significant portion of one’s grades depends on the group projects, which are either selected mutually or assigned, depending on the course and the professor. Each project brings along with itself the opportunity to learn in a better way. Teams are created keeping in mind the strengths, weaknesses, and working styles of each individual, which finally improves the team’s leadership skills and collaborations.

At B-Schools, there is no ‘Type’ - because there are so many students who come from a non-traditional background. People who have no prior education with regards to consulting, finance, or marketing have worked as military veterans, educators, and leaders in the non-profit space. MBA students are not a monolith - they come with a wide assortment of creative and innovative skills.

The best surprise that greets the students of B-Schools in a span of two years is the way they look at business and operate in the corporate world. It undoubtedly trains you to digest news and media more critically so that analyzing data becomes easier and you can make informed decisions. Coming from different socio-economic backgrounds, one’s classmates can come from all walks of life and their conversations can shape your perspective even more!

What if you don’t want to be a shoe? What if you want to be a purse? Or, a hat? (E.V.O.L.V.E)

People come to study in B-Schools for various reasons. It is more than fighting for a small number of seats. Paths diverge once you set your foot at your MBA destination. It is a personal journey where students customize their experience to suit their career goals and hence, use their time differently. B-schools teach you the relevance of time management because there are too many things to be involved in. One has to ruthlessly prioritize what must come first, and this definitely is a great practice for one’s career. 

MBA has a welcoming atmosphere, where you are allowed to take risks and make mistakes. This surely is a heads-up for MBA grads to seek out their own opportunities to try out different things. It is a wrongly held notion that MBA is all about travel and networking, it is also about a rigorous curriculum. The class pushes you to be conscious of the material and apply it practically when you start interning at a particular company, getting immersed into a full-time job, or when you’re driving value daily.

MBA has evolved as subjects that did not come under the ambit of management- climate change, diversity and inclusion, climate change, business, and sustainability, and reporting are at the center stage today. No one is too different - your classmates will come from a background as diverse as yours, and you will not be the only one to learn a business course for the first time. At this place, you can get stressed, have as much fun, build your sense of humor, forget and learn things, and connect with people on a personal and professional level. Without a second thought, these realities are a testament to the fact that an MBA will train you for a lifetime of experiences.

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