The thought of living and studying with a group of like-minded people as you go through extremely fast-paced days and grow every moment is as exciting as it sounds, and that is what MBA is to a great extent. As you spend the majority of your time with your colleagues and share the most memorable, fun moments you soon develop a language of your own for situations you’ve now aced handling after having done for the umpteenth number of times. Here are a few things that you can’t miss hearing from every MBA grad ever!
That's just pfaff
One of the first brushes with a reality check in an MBA institute is people calling you out for trying to sound smart with no real substance. And you wouldn’t realise how much you did that till you are at one. Jargons, fancy one-liners, and dramatic pauses play their part only when backed by real ideas and sound logic. The need to point out this habit time and again has given it its own term – pfaff (pronounced – faf), and you wouldn’t miss hearing it echo through b-school campuses.
PS – If you join a b-school you will start using it (for all the right reasons) sooner than you think.
No DCP, please!
An MBA is all about peer learning and sharing ideas with your colleagues. This is not just limited t your dorms but is an extensive part of your class learning. The flow of discussion in any lecture is seldom a one-way monologue by the professors, but a plethora of arguments and counter-arguments with participation from everyone in the room. This is encouraged by the professors by having a component of class participation in your grading scheme as well. Now, here is where people don’t hold their horses and go too deep into it, to the extent of being desperate for those brownie points. Not to worry, you get called out for that too as your batch mates label your DCP (desperate class participation) the moment its spotted. A friendly advice – don’t let it happen too much or you’ll be tagged the DCP Baadshah in no time!
When’s the deadline?
With assignments, presentations, competitions and a lot more lined up at all times, you’ll forever be required to manage your time efficiently and feel the time crunch. It is only normal for you to lose track of all that’s happening around you, as go enquiring ‘When’s the deadline?’. Doing this is not only necessary to keep track but also recommended to stay on top of things, as timelines are sacrosanct, while last-minute extensions are a thing you leave behind in your undergrad.
When’s the study group meet?
One of the best parts of your academic life will be being a part of a study group that the institute forms for you. A lot of your assignments and submissions will be done as a part of it, and working with people from diverse academic backgrounds and completely different perspectives on the same topic will expose you to a great spectrum of ideas you would have easily missed otherwise. But as people find their interests and get involved with various activities on campus, each one of your study group mates will be on their own tight schedule and meeting with them as a group requires some (read: a lot) of planning. From multiple time shifts to a few cancelled meetings that find out about after reaching the venue for it, you will constantly be typing out ‘When’s the meet?’ on your Whatsapp groups.
Do you have a spot on your team?
You will see yourself become far more ready to new experiences and challenges from the get-go at a b-school. This will include the endless corporate and inter b-school competitions where you participate in as a team with your peers. Finding the right team is key here, and very likely you will be going through a lot of permutations before you finally land the one that’s just right. When the stakes are as high as this you will not hesitate to go out scouting and asking ‘Got a spot?’.
With plenty going on in your MBA life you’ll pick up on a whole lot of new habits as you build yourself up during these two exciting years. Knowing these pervasive b-school phrases that every MBA participant say, adds to your ammo to make the experience a lot more fun from day one!