Sink or Swim? Making the Most of your MBA Study

Every MBA candidate has their hurdles, but some people face larger challenges than others, and it’s worth highlighting three:

Unfamiliar subjects in the core MBA curriculum

Key parts of the core curriculum may have little or no relation to your existing knowledge base. This is a call to dig out the textbooks and start preparing ahead of time. It’s also important not to be deterred by MBA peers who do steam ahead. Rather than only seeing them for their competitive edge and sinking into a bleak and inconsolable depression, consider asking them for help - you can always return the favor later.

Nisha Asher did her MBA at Duke's Fuqua School of Business and says that after getting a poor score in a statistics quiz, “it seemed like this grade alone would prevent me from getting a good stats grade, would prevent me from getting good job interviews, and possibly keep me from getting my dream job. In hindsight, I’ve realized that stats class was just another color in the crayon box, and one low grade isn’t the end of the world and doesn’t mean that I’m a complete failure." So, even if one of your marks suffers, it can be a small blip in the grand scheme of things.

Re-programming your mindset after a long hiatus from study

For some MBA students, being out of the university system for years presents a somewhat intimidating obstacle. It’s worth edging into a study routine sooner rather than later - for example, why not get the business school's required reading list in advance of the course?  

Adjusting as an international student

Getting used to a new environment is challenging enough, but language can present itself as a major hurdle for many MBA candidates. Kaz Kawaguchi from Japan describes his pre-MBA study week at Babson College as,"the toughest moment for me. I remember that I couldn’t participate in the first group discussion at all. Even though we were all international students, other team members spoke English very fluently and aggressively expressed their opinions during the discussion. I needed more time to come up with and express my ideas than others, and the discussion topic had changed while I was thinking about it." Kawaguchi chose not to be disheartened by this incident, nor by other group situations that made him feel excluded or snubbed. Instead, he used the school’s speech resource center to improve his English, engaged in extra-curricular activities that would allow him to further develop his communication skills in real time and focused on achieving his own goals without worrying too much about what others think. Now a winner of the Babson Global Student Leadership Award, and with his MBA well and truly earned, Kawaguchi is an example of how perseverance pays off.

While you may feel like you’re in a well-greased uphill struggle, it’s good to be reminded that every MBA student slides. A successful MBA will see the challenges not as struggles but as a series of tests to be passed – they may have even taught themselves (or naturally) enjoy the experience of being tested. Take it as granted that you’ve fulfilled the credentials required by the business school – you’ve clearly demonstrated your strengths at interview and you have been deemed a good fit for a reason.

If you are lagging in one subject (or more), if language is tripping you up, or if the mad juggle of things to do feels overwhelming, remember that these same travails have been experienced by members of many an MBA cohort before you. Grit is needed to get to the glamorous top, and as former first lady, Abigail Adams once put it, “it is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues.” Therefore, persevere if the MBA and what the qualification has to offer is truly your objective – the reward of genuine vintage champagne (no hose) is sure to follow.