Any MBA aspirant about to join a Business School would hear a common myth, "You won't get time to even sleep at the Business School." Well yes, I can safely call this a myth from my experiences so far. The truth is that if one has their objectives of studying at the b-school clear, one can easily find the luxury of abundant time for everything.
Time is a scarce resource but at a Business School, it's the most valuable asset, the efficient utilisation of which bears rich dividends at the end.
Here are some of the common aspects on which one spends time at a B-school:
Preparing for Classes:
Only about 50% of the students prepare for the next day's class readings. This would take a maximum of 2 hours daily for those students. However, this is an important feature for anyone who doesn't want to spend sleepless nights just before exams.
Lectures/Classes:
On an average, there would be 4-5 hours of lectures per day and it totally depends on the number of credits and kind of courses one has subscribed to. In a b-school, as one progresses from Year 1 to Year 2, this number only decreases. The reason for this is two-fold, number of credits needed decreases or simply one stops caring about the lectures in PGP-2.
Academic and Non-Academic Activities:
Well, this is one aspect which covers most of the day for a Business School student. Academic activities include group projects, assignments, field research, etc which vary from term to term and day to day at the b-school.If someone says that one doesn't get time to plat once in a B-School, he/she has never been to a B-school before. In fact, from my own experience, I have learnt 2 new sports in my last 8 months as an MBA student. If the institute provides facilities, one must make the best use of it. There are students who spend 2-3 hours daily in activities like Gyming, Swimming, Squash, etc. Moreover, these non-academic activities don't affect grades at all. As at this stage of life, one is mature enough to know, what needs to be done and at what time.
Preparing for placements and the dream Job is another aspect which takes a lot of time. People call it the resume building exercises. Participating in competitions and accredited activities are a part of it. Another aspect of this is taking new initiative as members of clubs, committees and events. Being non-academic in nature, this is the exciting side of being in a b-school, where one gets some relief from the monotonous life of lectures.
Lastly, I think the major chunk of the day is spent with the people around. Making friends and spending time with them is something which one spends the maximum time in and is still left unaware of it. Some people call it networking, that will help them in the future. But the real essence is in the plethora of things one gets to learn from the people around. People from diverse cultures, diverse backgrounds, different sets of knowledge and experience, previously unknown to each other come together and become each other's support system at a B-school. Neither the classes, nor the grades but the time spent with these friends during the 20 months of MBA, is what one remembers, cherishes and reminisces till the end.
To summarise, 20 months of MBA is a short period to do everything that one wants to but still, it is enough to do a lot of things, provided one has the zeal and the intention to do the right things at the right time. The second year of MBA makes you realise this; when you feel you could have done so much more in the first year and especially for anyone going on the Student Exchange programme. So to all those MBA aspirants out there, my advice to you is to forget all the myths and make the best use of all the time at the b-school and don't worry, you will still have enough time to sleep as well. To all the current MBA students of the batch of 2018, you still have a year to accomplish, achieve and make sure you don't crib at the end of this journey that you didn't have time to do something memorable during your MBA life.
So go out there, experience new adventures, make new friends, value and cherish the exisiting ones , study and work only where your interest lies because at the end This is The Time of Your Life, Which will Never Come Back.
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