For many students, the ‘MBA experience’ is as humbling as it is exciting. Anyone who’s taken the MBA program will tell you that it’s a very visceral experience – both the highs and the lows and there’s really very little that can prepare the student for it.

‘Immersive’ is perhaps the best way to describe this two-year course. Apart from classroom learning, there is so much else the student can do towards achieving self-discovery, and social and academic growth, that one always has to keep his eye on the ball lest he loses sight of his goals.

However, the student should not feel panicked because many of his classmates feel the same way. This article acts as a study guide for MBA students and helps them out with some tips on how they can maximize their time better.

Avoid Comparisons with Other MBA Students

Different to the under-graduation experience, in business school, the student is constantly bordered by other bright minds. Consequently, comparing one’s performance to that of his peers is often pointless. Also, since each student comes from a different professional, academic and cultural background, baselines vary wildly.

The best way to measure one’s performance is to set a baseline for himself and compare his progress against his own benchmark. This will help the student realize that his growth as a student and as a person is enormous, which is its own reward.

As competitive as the program may often seem, the student must remember that the MBA experience is not really a competition. The student should not forget that he enrolled in the program to achieve some very specific career goals, and all that matters is getting there.

Don’t Seek Perfection in Every MBA Subject

It is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information the student has to process. However more than that, it’s the sheer number of new concepts the student has to grasp and then use instantaneously.

A good tip is to remember that the student does not have to master every single new concept. The student has signed up to get an understanding of business, acquire new tools and skills, and take his first steps towards becoming a leader.

Get the ‘Inside View’ While You are Doing the MBA Program

To get the most out of the MBA experience, the student must set up ‘informational interviews’. These are mock interviews, which are a great source of information about an industry or a career that the student is interested in.

He could either set up an interview with an ‘insider’ or tap his network to get an expert to speak to him. The discussion, which takes place outside the formal interview environment, will give the student valuable intelligence that he would otherwise not be privy to.

The student can ask these experts what they do, what the prospects are, to point to potential career paths and what advice they have. Informational interviews can add valuable contacts to the student’s network and help him build relationships within his career domain.

Take Risks: Explore All Facets of the MBA Program

A large part of the learning process takes place outside the classroom. The student has to evolve socially and academically by pushing his boundaries.

Taking classes and attending seminars on subjects that never interested him before, and joining clubs on campus will bring out facets of the student’s personality that he never knew existed.

Taking the plunge will expose the student to new ideas and ways of thinking. It’s all about self-discovery with a view to developing the skills of the student and building a solid network.

Learn Time Management: One of the Best Study Tips for All Students

Learning to prioritize while multi-tasking – otherwise called ‘time management’ – is the only way the student can successfully navigate through his studies in business school.

The workload is enormous and so are the opportunities to learn. An MBA program is a delicate balancing act that clearly favours those who can multitask.

Many experts advise those who may question their decision to sign up for an MBA program: ‘Every year, thousands of candidates find themselves in the shoes of the student. They eventually find their own momentum and graduate with flying colours. The student should just keep his head down and keep moving forward. The MBA program is a great way to discover one’s hidden strengths.’

Set Goals: Know Why You are Pursuing the MBA Program

The student should write down all of his goals. The student should, on a sheet of paper, write down all the subjects he is enrolled in and write the marks he wants in each class.

The student should also write down the overall grade he wants to get in his MBA program and then define the steps he needs to take to get there. Every student has a different aim for admission into an MBA program, some may want to learn management theories, others might want career advancement and so on.

By setting up a plan and sticking to it, the student can make sure he gets what he wants out of his MBA program. Students should pin this up in their rooms, and all the places where they can see more of it as the more they see it, the better.

Cross Lateral Movement: An Exercise to Boost Your Brain

This movement gets both hemispheres of the brain working at the same time. An easy way to do this is to take the right hand and touch the left knee, then have the left hand touch the right knee.

The student should repeat 15-20 times and should avoid studying without doing this exercise first. He should also do it often while he is studying.

The benefit of this exercise is that it helps the student’s concentration. It increases his focus and clarity of thought, which will help him get more out of his MBA program.

Ask Questions to Yourself and the Teacher

Questions make the brain search for an answer. Experts have often said that questions are to learning what an ignition is to a car. They jump-start the brain, make the student pay attention in case he is having trouble concentrating, and they release chemicals in the brain which make learning easier.

When a student is attending lectures and seminars, he should always be ready to ask questions. The more questions he asks, the more likely it is that he will gain new insights into whatever subject he is studying.

He should also take advantage of his professors by asking them relevant questions about what they are teaching him. This will not only help him understand the material better but also make him look like an informed student.

Turn on the Baroque Music

One of the secret study tips, not everyone knows about is the power of music. Just remember it has to be Baroque, not just any classical music. Studies have found that the student can increase his learning efficiency by 25%-400% when he listens to Baroque music while studying.

Baroque music has the power to reduce stress and increase focus. It helps the student stay in a positive mood which is essential for learning.

Use Colour When Taking Notes

The brain is more enthused with the use of diverse colours. The student should use red for important information such as what will be on a test as the brain is naturally drawn to the colour red.

The student can use green for formulas and formulae-related topics. He should use blue for his main points, yellow for keywords and purple to highlight the titles of sections he is studying.

These colours help him better comprehend what he has written down by making the notes more visible and easier to read later on. This will also help him remember more of the material in his MBA program.

Use a Cover Card When Memorising Something

If the student is using the Cornell method, then he should use the cover card to cover up the note section so that he can test himself. The student should read the question, give his answer, and then move the cover card to see if his answer was correct.

The beauty of the Cornell method is that it helps the student to actively recall the material he has studied. This way, more of what he studies will stick in his head and he will get better grades as a result.

Focus and Don’t Multi-Task

Our brains are extraordinary machines, but they can’t grip the whole thing at once. There is basically too much going on in our sensory surroundings for us to assimilate. To be effective, we must direct our concentration to just one or two tasks at a time.

The student should not be tempted to multi-task while he learns. The student should minimize his distractions and focus his attention on the task at hand.

This might sound counter-intuitive in times when multi-tasking is celebrated. But research shows that if you focus on one task at a time, you will learn more efficiently and make fewer mistakes.

MBA program aims to make students well-rounded managers. They are being prepared to handle hundreds of things at a time. At such times, giving your all to one task at hand is going to see things with more clarity, make better decisions, solve problems more quickly, and get things done more effectively.

Sleep Well, Learn Well

Learning isn’t easy, and being able to focus is important for digesting new information and understanding concepts. When one gets a good night’s sleep, he feels fresh and attentive the next day.

Sleep is also critical for what happened the previous day. Extensive work in both animals and humans shows a crucial function of sleep is to re-process and consolidate what happened during the day. This replay of activity patterns during sleep happens in our brain too, hundreds of times each night.

As a result, the connections between our neurons change, helping the patterns become embedded in the brain. In additional terms, sleep plays an essential part in storing our memories for the long term.

Test Yourself as Practice and as a Learning Method

The “testing effect” is a deep-rooted observable fact in learning. Basically, we learn much better by trying our own familiarity than by re-studying the matter.

So if the student has got an exam coming up, he should not just re-read a textbook and highlight important passages. Instead, he should test himself by doing practice exams. The process of actively recalling information helps deeper learning take place, and it works even better if the student can check whether his answer is correct.

The student does not have to wait until exam time to capitalize on the testing effect. As he reads through a textbook, he can give himself mini-tests, trying to recall the major points of each chapter he finishes.

Even though researchers are still trying to figure out the brain mechanisms at the back of the effect, there is an ample body of evidence suggesting the testing effect is real and powerful. The student should make use of spacing out their studies and practising recall to get better grades in his MBA program.

Space Out the Learning During the Semester

Teachers and parents are always telling students that cramming is the wrong way to learn, and for good reason. It just isn’t as effective as spacing learning over days, weeks and months. This is known as the “spacing effect”.

Whenever one practices something, he gives the brain the opportunity to strengthen the connections between neurons.

The strengthening process is comparable to how hikers wander through a forest from worn paths over time. The more hikers, the more distinctive the path, just like frequent practice helps lay down well-built neural pathways to stock up memories.

Even though the finest spacing strategy isn’t known, we are familiar with the fact that an increasing schedule is better than a contracting schedule. In other words, it’s better to review the course material after a day, then a week, then a month, rather than the other way around.

Conclusion

Being successful in the MBA program requires hard work and dedication. But by following these study tips, MBA students can be sure to get the most out of their learning experience.

A combination of sleeping properly, testing themselves regularly, and spacing their studies will help students feel more organized and motivated in their studies. With these strategies, MBA program students are sure to reach the full potential of their degree program.