Top 5 Things To Do Before Going To A B-School

Are you planning to go to a B-school? It’s a dream of many and it’s awesome that you are closer to your dream. If you’re reading this, I am assuming that you are at the stage of picking a B-school or packing your bags to leave for the new phase of your life.

If you are still deciding what school to go to, please read my post on tips to choose a management school before reading this. But if you feel you need to read more, better stick till the end of this post.

1. Be confident about your B-school choice

I’ll never be able to emphasize enough on the importance of choosing the right school/college. It decides what you’ll learn, whom you’ll meet and what you’ll end up doing after college. The chances of this going good or bad are equal. The only thing that makes a difference is right school/college.

Do your research well before picking the school, enquire about all the courses available, ask about the course curriculum, meet with the alumni and invest in a good brand like SP Jain School of Global Management or likewise.

What I like about them is their multi-country learning model. Global exposure is very necessary for a B-school pass out. You will also benefit by having a learning model that allows you to learn about global business.  In fact, their Global MBA course is based exactly on this model and allows a student to study in Asia, Middle East, and Australia to gain actual experience in the global business landscape.

Choose the exact course carefully

Understand that you have plenty of options. I don’t mean the fields of specialization here. Those are the obvious things you’ll need to decide but at the same time, you can consider doing shorter B-school courses to gain immense experience.

Such courses may be sparse for undergraduates, but if you’re going to pick a course for post graduation, short courses can be even better than the conventional ones, at times. For example, an executive MBA would be the most lucrative option for a person like me. Of course, there are pre-requisites for such courses but if you can meet them, you’ll be lucky.

Remember not to get allured by fancy names and campuses. Think more about education standard, crowd and placement record than anything else.

Also Read: How to get into management programs globally?

2. Work on your soft skills

Soft skills will help you go through the first few days of meeting so many new people and then will help you excel in your co-curricular activities as well as in placements.
Through my own experience, I can tell that every student thinks about working on soft skills only when it’s time for job interviews. It’s the worst time to focus on that.
Rather focus on it before you join B-school and spend your education years in honing these skills. From your first day of college, you’ll realize how helpful these can be. Don’t ignore.

3. Master these technologies – MS PowerPoint, Google Spreadsheets, Emails

Most of the times, we bury ourselves in books and chapters while ignoring the basic things that can not only improve our performance at the B-school but also help us throughout our professional career.

First is Email. I still remember my business graduate friend calling me one day and asking on how to write a proper email. Oh yes! She also needed me to format her resume because she couldn’t figure out how to.

I am considering you much more focused on your career than this dear friend of mine and I hope you understand what an impact such basic skills can have on your career and scores.

Google spreadsheets are another basic technology you should know how to use. If you don’t know already, it’s just a refined and better version of MS Excel and it will help you even in your personal life when you have to manage finances and do some basic calculations.

Lastly, MS PowerPoint is most important for B-school students. Your life will be pretty much all about presentations – in and after college. So, master how to use the software and combine this with your excellent presentation skills to be an outstanding student.

4. Work on your presentation skills

For the longest time, I thought it was relevant only to the college I studied in. But after talking to many people from different streams and different colleges, I realized that presentation is as important as any other thing that may affect your scores.

Now, don’t limit your thinking. Applications of such a skill are immense. It will begin with you impressing your teachers, scoring great marks in assignments and then excelling at your exams. It won’t stop there. It will also help you get some great job offers. Remember that I am talking about overall presentation and not only about the one you do as an assignment.

Did I tell you that my first job offer from an MNC came just on my presentation about this blog? Yes! This very blog that you’re reading and the blog and job profile had no connection whatsoever. I ended up asking the interviewer out of curiosity on why he still selected me and I am sure you can guess the one-word answer I got – presentation!

5. Strengthen yourselves

It won’t be easy. Going to a B-school and becoming one of the smartest individuals on the Earth doesn’t happen so easily. You’ll meet crazy people who may make you feel horrible. You’ll have a crazy workload and you’ll have never ending assignments with deadlines just a moment away. You’ll have the pressure of your family, and peers to score good and it may take a toll on you.

Also Read: How to be better at time management?

My best advice to any would-be college student is to take a deep breath every time you think it’s too tough. Calm yourselves down. Let yourself focus on just the activity in hand and nothing else at any given time. Work like a horse with blinders on. And you’ll be able to make it.

Coming back to from where I started, a good B-school will truly help to implement all of it in the best possible manner. So, pick it wisely.

Are you still facing any trouble in making a decision or sorting out an issue? Ask me in the comments and I’ll be happy to help.