Was your MBA really as good as you thought?

[mary_davis75]

After seeing so many posts about getting cold feet and as application season is starting I thought some people might want to offer either words of encouragement or caution from their experience at their MBA. So I'd love to know if you think your MBA was worth it, how has it affected your life, what you would do differently, and if you want to share where you went that's also cool!

[johnthomas]

MBA has been good for me. This is what my takeaway was during my MBA in 90s

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1. Stay on top of everything : I cannot overemphasize this. You'll have to contend with an avalanche of work everyday - academic and extracurricular.
2. Talk to everybody: You'll have a few great friends on campus, but don't spend all your waking hours with them. You may well end up working with, sitting across the table from, or otherwise doing business with one of your former colleagues. Be on talking terms with as many colleagues and professors as you can.
3. Sweat the small stuff: Life at business school is competitive. Quite like swimming in a tank filled with piranhas. If you want to get ahead, pay close attention to detail on everything you do.
4. Learn for life ahead, not just the exams: Your professor's notes and slides may help you pass with an okayish grade, but it takes more than a midnight cram to succeed in the real world. Make full use of the experience and knowledge your professors and colleagues bring to class. Go beyond your textbooks and learn as much about a subject as you can.
5. Participate: Contribute to class discussions. Join clubs and committees. Burn the midnight oil. This is probably the last time you'll be able to try out your ideas in a safe, controlled environment. Experiment and explore as much you can. Do not, for the love of Kotler, be a wallflower
6. Don't fall in love: Not everybody is a Chetan Bhagat. Nothing is a greater distraction than a love interest on campus. If you must have a significant other, be warned that you’ll barely have any time for them, and will almost certainly end up nursing a broken heart.
7. Don't bite off more than you can chew: Being on two committees is all right. Two committees and a live project will be somewhat strenuous. Three committees, two live projects, and organizing the seniors' farewell will break your back.
8. Be busy, but not insanely so.
9. Don't pull all-nighters: Be an early riser instead. Better still, learn to prioritize, so you're able to catch six hours of Shuteye every night.
10. Keep your grades up: Good grades get you gold medals, tuition refunds, and fancy certificates. Bad ones land you in academic purgatory, and could result in a year-drop or even termination.
11. Treat your grades with more respect than you did in your undergraduate years.
12. Enjoy the stress: You'll have a ton of it. Use it to your advantage and become productive. Don't let it turn you into a panicky mess.
13. Be a rockstar intern: Your internship will figure prominently on your CV. A good show there could potentially get you a Pre-placement offer, or at least give you much to talk about in your final-placement interviews. Be curious, take on work, and treat the internship as though it were a full-time job.
14. Work on your weaknesses: Weak in English? Volunteer to be the writer in your assignment groups. Not a great speaker? Work on delivering great class presentations. Math not your schtick? Work with the TA after class.
15. Life post business school will probably never afford you this great an opportunity to work on your weaknesses.
16. Never be a freeloader…: That one guy who takes on your work has an ulterior motive - he wants to squeeze out for himself as much learning as possible. Show up, participate in discussions and take on your fair share of work
17. Don't be the poor guy who does all the work while his groupmates are drinking or at the movies. Delegate and hold your groupmates accountable.
18. Don't chase packages: That 25-lakh package is a sugar-coated poison pill if it's a profile you dislike, or in an industry that doesn't match your interests. Chase roles, not packages.
19. Party: The black-tie corporate parties you'll attend for the next few decades aren't nearly as much fun as the 1 AM hostel parties at business school. Sacrament and music shall flow in equal measure. Develop a taste for Pink Floyd.
20. Write a book: At the end of it all, you'll want to write a book on those two fantabulous years, only to find that your boss cares more about your project reports than your creative pursuits. Do a Five Point Someone on your life at B-school