MBA After Engineering – What To Expect When You Join A B-School?

Your Peers

I remember how I was intimidated by few of my batchmates who had some sort of exposure to subjects like accounting, economics and so on. Tallying those balance sheets seemed to be an impossible task to me while it was a cakewalk for me. I spent the initial weeks wondering whether I’d ever be able to make sense of all these new things being thrown at me one after the other. However, as time passes, you will realise that things are not as twisted as they seem. A little self-confidence and help from your peers are all you need.

Your Seniors

Seniors indeed require a special mention because they are your saviours at every step as you struggle to come up with the new MBA life. Seniors at my b-school always went the extra mile to ensure that we were all geared up to take on challenges such as a position of responsibility, placements and many more things that scare us when we join a b-school. As engineers, we are always grateful for those finance sessions given by seniors just when we need them.

The Pedagogy

Gone are the days when the lectures are all about one faculty going on and on until the entire class dozes off. The teaching methodology followed at b-schools is quite engaging and it comes as a wave of fresh air for us Engineers. The lectures are usually conducted as case-based discussions. The cases are real-life stories which makes things interesting and relevant. One unusual thing I encountered here is the “Class Participation” evaluation. Yes, everyone is expected to contribute to the discussion positively.

The MBA Lingo

We all know how engineers have their own slangs that are quite famous. Enter MBA and you learn the MBA lingo which never fails to amuse me. I’ve learnt terms like Globe (general comment made to sound intelligent, but which doesn’t clearly answer the question asked), DCP (desperate class participation), PIPO (punch in-punch out), bakar (senseless banter) and the list runs long.

The Hectic Life

There are days when you don’t have a second to spare. There are batch-meets that happen at midnight, assignments that go on till the wee hours of the morning, exams that are back-to-back (unlike engineering), pre-reads that are to be done before every lecture, grade cuts, some presentation due and what not. Things often get hectic and you struggle to get enough sleep to sustain. But there are also days when you binge-watch the entire TV series (rare times though).

All in all, it’s a different experience but an enjoyable one, nonetheless. As an engineer, it’s better not to have rigid opinions and specific expectations from MBA life. Exploring everything and going at your own pace will help you discover where you actually fit and what you really want from these two years of MBA. In the end, it’s not about Engineering or MBA, it's all about you!