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MBA freshers: A Survival Guide to the first fortnight at your new b-

school
by Lajwanti D'souza on 08 June 2010 
in  First-year Survival Guide, Freshers
43 comments

In about a week’s time, most business schools in India would have welcomed the new batch of
starry-eyed students, the first-year ‘freshers’. Carrying with them a lot of anxiety and much
hope, they would be busy checking out the campus and the classrooms, wondering about
roommates, making their first friends or scouting for paying-guest accommodation, all part of
the first-fortnight buzz at a b-school. To make this new journey for the freshers less
maddening and more enjoyable, ex-students and senior MBA students provide advice and tips
on what to carry, what to leave behind, books to buy, software to install, grooves to get into
and more.

Books – both light and serious

There is no better way to learn life, than to live it, say many second-year MBA students adding
that no book can prepare you for life in a b-school. However, there are some books which may
help make the process of learning more gratifying.

Ankush Trakru, a 2007 alumnus of the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi is certain
that books likeMind of a Strategist  and Michael Lewis’s Liar’s Poker  are good for a start.
“These books will give students a general feel of what to expect,” he says.

Harshal Modi, ex-Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune is certain that
there is no better book that about-to-be-b-schoolers must read than Welcome to Advertising.
Now Get Lost  by Omkar Sane. Arun Kapur of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM),
Bangalore pushes for Stay Hungry Stay Foolish  for those who wish to eventually start thnieir
own business. Binoy Cherian also recommends Sidin Vadukut’s Dork  or Chetan Bhagat’s
books as they will add to the zest of college life. Chetan Shetty from the National Institute of
Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai suggests CK Prahlad’s ‘Fortune at the Bottom of the
Pyramid ‘.
As our own recommendation from PaGaLGuY, we suggest that you read Snapshots from Hell:
The Making of an MBA , a funny but intense account of author Peter Robinson’s first year at
the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Apart from the casual reads above, some suggest books to get comfortable with numerical
analysis and accounting. Binoy Cherian from the class of 2011 at Chennai’s Great Lakes
Institute of Management has a list to share. “I recommend  Financial Accounting – Tools for
Business Decision Making  because this book uses International Financial Reporting Standards
and hence is different from the accountancy textbooks recommended in Indian high schools
and undergraduation.” Cherian also suggests Business Statistics: A First Course  to attain
comfort with business statistics.

Binoy also recommends that all students, irrespective of the MBA they are studying in get a
conceptual understanding of statistics,  presenting data using charts and graphs in Microsoft
Excel, numerical measures such as Mean, Median, Mode, Variance, Standard Deviation,
Probability, Probability distributions including Binomial, Poisson and Normal distributions
before they join up.

Deep Agarwal from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai has an
even more basic list. His list includes How to Read a Balance Sheet  for engineering students.
For students from the science background, he recommends online resources to get their
knowledge of statistics in place. “These will be of practical help,” he assures.

Those such as Divya Morparia, a 2009 alumnus of the Mudra Institute of Communications,
Ahmedabad (MICA) and Avinav Thakur from International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi
feel that just reading the newspapers everyday, especially the pink papers is a good enough
start to get around at a b-school. Sameer Joshi from IIM Calcutta shares that view and adds
that having cleared the Common Admissions Test (CAT) and other entrance exams, the
student already has his basics in place, so no extra reading is really required for the initial
days.

Binoy suggests that before the classes officially start, one should catch up on all the sleep that
they can get as it is the only thing that freshers are going to miss in the coming days. “It’s
good if you learned how to read quickly. With about 150 – 300 pages of pre-reads (preparation
before class) everyday, it just gets difficult if one does not know how to read fast and recollect
all that they have read. Quick reading and summarizing is an important art.”

Laptop and software

Chetan and Sameer swear by Microsoft Excel and declare that it is by far the most important
software that all MBA student need to have on their laptops.

“Every business process needs Excel, whether it is sales or supply chain. In fact, most
companies use Excel so when students go for their summer internship, they find it very difficult
to cope with the responsibilities unless they know the software really well,” says Chetan.

Both Ankush and Harshal stress on the importance of Microsoft Powerpoint and urge that it is
a must since all students need to make Powerpoint presentations whether in the classroom or
during summer internships. Ankush adds that it is good to acquire basic skills in photo and
video editing software because it always helps in enhancing the quality of presentations. Divya
Morparia advises that students install software to read all common e-book formats.

Vivek Khanchandani and Chetan recommend SPSS  and Minitab  as handy software for
statistical analysis. “Since they are statistical tools for any marketing and sales team, students
should learn them.” Chetan adds that the student versions of these tools are cheaper and
easily available.
Binoy says that it  makes sense to invest in a good anti-virus software. “Students tend to use
the school network extensively and share data using pen drives, so having a good anti-virus
makes sense. Some colleges might be choosy about allowing downloads. So it is better to
download the instant messengers, browsers, games and other tools before going to campus.”
Binoy adds that Counter Strike  is a big hit in colleges, so it might be a good idea to acquire it.

For those buying a new laptop, Binoy recommends the Apple Macbook. “It helps in making
better presentations. Apple provides discounts to students. Just show the Apple guys your b-
school admission offer letter.”

What to wear

One pictures the MBA prototype in a crisp suit with a tie to boot, shining leather shoes, all
under a halo of confidence. But it is not just suits and sarees at b-school. Senior MBA students
say that the new MBA’s suitcase should have a little of everything, as no two b-schools have
the same dress code. Binoy says that at Great Lakes 99% of the students wear t-shirts and
jeans 99% of the time. He recommends that apart from daily casuals that one wears to class,
students should carry at least two pairs of formal wear and a blazer if the college hasn’t
specified a uniform. “The formal wear will come in handy during presentations, competitions
and summer placements.”

Some suggest to get formal clothes stitched on campus because a few colleges prescribe a
signature colour. Avinav Thakur from IMI Delhi says that in his college, formal clothing needs
to be in a particular colour. “Sapphire blue was the colour for the suits and it looked good too.
Having a class with students sitting in a range of diffferent coloured suits looks odd.” Avinav
suggests that one could also hold stitching formal clothing till one actually settles down at
college since many colleges have their own tailors who do a good job.

Hello Senior

There are no  rules to getting into the good books of seniors at a b-school. Most seniors say
that acquaintance with the juniors is an ongoing and automatic process. According to Nikhil
Kulkarni from SIBM Bangalore, the process to get to know the juniors begins two months
before they actually step into college. “We start meets with new joinees in every city, so
students generally meet other students and seniors even before they actually join school. So
getting to know the seniors is not a big issue in our college,” he says. Deep from NMIMS
Mumbai, which is not a completely residential school, says that being active on Facebook and
Orkut is another way to know your seniors and peers. “Knowing them beforehand gives you a
headstart once you enter college,” he states.

Though ragging is legally banned in India, it’s still a paper tiger and just like at other degree
colleges, b-schools too have their share of ragging. Avinav Thakur assures that ragging in
MBA colleges is very light and harmless compared to engineering or what appears in
newspapers and television. Ravindra Kumar from Fore School of Management, Delhi gives
straight advice. “Get involved in the ragging process. That’s the best and fastest way to know
everyone.” Divya Morparia advises that students should enjoy whatever kind of ragging that
takes place. “Ragging will not kill you, it will only make   you stronger. So make the best of it
and get to know your seniors at one go.” She adds however, “Feel free to ask seniors to stop
when you think they have crossed the line.”

Nikhil on the other hand says that the induction programmes are quite a learning experience
for the fresher and nothing extra is needed.

Making friends, lafdas

Thanks to social networking, most students get to know each other even before joining. The
remaining, they get to know during the college’s induction and orientation programmes. About
love stories on the campus, seniors insist that MBAs are humans too and what has to happen
will happen. In fact at b-school, apart from a degree, many people also find their life-partners.
Ravindra Kumar says that your approach to the opposite sex differs with colleges. “When I
was doing MBA in Delhi, I found women taking the initiative but in Pune, the guys usually had
to take the first step.” On an average, most b-schools in India have majority male student
forces. But as Vivek Khanchandani says that at MBA level, students are already in their early
to mid-20s and mature enough to deal with people from the opposite sex.

Don’t lose yourself

The unanimous advice that all senior and ex-students give is that MBAs need to enjoy their b-
school days. Avinav Thakur says that MBAs have to learn to enjoy life and look beyond their
classrooms. They have to know what is happening in the world and stay tuned to it. “Cutting
yourself off from everything else and just concentrating on studies is not the way it should be.”
Deep states that students should also acknowledge that just getting into an MBA is not the end
of everything. “I have seen students who after getting into a b-school forget about doing well in
it. They get destroyed as people, because for them getting into a particular institute was the
only aim.” Divya  says that while hard work is important, stress should be handled by
concurrently having a good time too.

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