Before you have a checklist with tick marks, you need to see why some ‘CAT aspirants’ applications are moved to trash before the selection round. A pat on your back will help you. Aspirants have approximately three months to prepare for the CAT exam. You might be very excited to get the ticket for securing a seat at top B-school and upbeat about the group assignments and case studies that in the front of you. However, there are certain preparations still left for you to do before going inside the school.
Chalk out your career and align them with your B-School plans.
Firstly, plan out – what are the professional and personal goals you want to achieve spending your time in B-Schools. With many decisions to make, like the club to join, the internship to go for, specialization to take up, company to follow and the job to land in. Do your homework on these little things before the course hit you hard during the first week itself.
What after B-School?
If you are a fresher and, want to learn what works in the business planet? You are coming with industry experience and want to change your area of specialization from, let’s say, sales and marketing to finance? Or do you want to take up international research or assignments after the B-schools. For deciding these little things for your career, you need to follow these simple tips before stepping into your dream college.
Interacting with seniors will provide immense networking opportunities:
Since most of the MBA college provide two years full-time MBA course, you will have ample opportunity to talk to your seniors regarding the B-school that you are joining. You can talk about how did the B-school help achieve the overall goal of your senior? What are the mistakes that you should avoid to learn better being in the school? Seek all the information like these from them – this way you will not only have an upper hand in networking but also will gain the big picture of your career goals.
Research on the professors who are going to teach you: Research on their area of expertise and how can you gain from their lectures? Having a brief understanding on the basic subjects and connecting those dots in the real business world, would help you in asking questions about them to the professors who are experts in the field.
Do your Homework – Literally.
Don’t forget that most B-schools add marks for the level of activeness and interactions dine during the lectures. The lectures in B-Schools are actually considered as discussions and less of a lecture. Do understand the importance of that and start preparing the basics of the subjects like –
What is finance?
What is the role of HR?
Why operations there as a specialization?
How does marketing help a business?
Real life examples and case studies will help you discuss within the class hours.
If you have figured out which specialization you want to take up – then do your research in the industry and target a company before joining. You should be having your target company before joining the program. Use websites like glassdoor and indeed to get an insider view of the company and research about the industry. If you have chosen your specialization, then figure how your skills, that you are going to acquire in the B-School, is going to help the company. This will keep you motivated all through the course and will help you set a destination to go to.
Have an open mind: An open will help you strategize, visualize and plan your B-School life in a better way. We believe that the question of “Why MBA?” should end with the question – How do I make the most out of my favorite B-school? Don’t forget to have fun while learning.
