Hello folks!
This Sunday, you have already taken the first step towards inching closer to your dream b-school. I hope a lot of you have smoothly/turbulently sailed through the online test with positivity and flying colours. For the rest, it is never the end. There are more exams coming up that will give you ample opportunities to book that particular seat in your target MBA college. Thereafter, it is just the web you weave for your dreams, and try to discover the ways of achieving them.
Shedding the preparation
gyaan aside (do not worry, I will get back!), I will talk about a typical day here at IIM Lucknow. It is not anything too fancy or exciting to write about. But, count me on the fact that your days at any b-school are going to witness a similar pattern. So, why not have an earlier look?
- Sleep - Let me get this straight. It is a trade-off. Either you sleep, or do something else which might be helpful here or there over the two years. It just does not imply that you compromise on that proper nap. But yeah, overdoing it will render something that will leave something to be missed out. So, that is how the day starts. It may straightaway land you under your shower (unlikely in the case of guys) wondering about your class, or you may have to rush for an 8 a.m. quiz.
- Classes - For the first-year students, the classes mostly begin in the first half, and continue till afternoon. On a jam-packed day, the schedule might offer you lectures till six in the evening. And yeah, extra lectures can be taken anytime, say 11 p.m. (ask the second-year guys). Also, Sundays are unsure. You might have to sacrifice your sleep even on the worldwide accepted holiday of a Sunday, if necessary (the attendance rule applies at IIMs as well; that too more stringent ones).
- Surprise Quizzes - If you thought that the 8 a.m. quiz was the end. Embrace the change! You most likely will never know or anticipate when the prof might come with surprise quizzes. I am not a fan of these quizzes, at all. Fortunately, but not always, you might miss a one or two.
- Evenings - The evenings can take any form, depending on your choice or the activities/events the Institute pumps into your routine. Assignments continue round the trimester. So, there can be small meetings among your group members. If not the assignments, some are also occupied with the preparations of various case competitions that keep coming. Or, you can always make time if you like to indulge in sports, gym or something different. Again, it is a trade-off. You gain something at the cost of something else. Narrow down to your choices wisely!
- Nights - An average day might just go in preparing for the next morning (honestly!). Something will always be there on your to-do list to finish off. Become a fan of reminders. Parties also form part of the regular schedule out here in the night. They are crazy. Choose your group, your mates, your batch-mates, the seniors or even more - the party keeps getting bigger. The night is never that dark.
Other activities that keep occurring might also find a way into your routine. And, there is no way you can miss them. Guest lectures, alumni talk, campus events, and et cetera. They all form part and parcel of the daily life.
Do not think that it is too much. A few months into the system, and you are all set for the acceptance. One thing is sure that the life you are going to live here is going to be entirely different from the one you had. The onus is on you whether you make it worth the fight that is going to come up in GD and PIs, or just leave it out. A whole lot of people (the alumni) have lived through it. You are no less. I welcome you!