50 new messages, sent in the last hour alone, await me in my Outlook.  No, I'm not a celebrity with lots of fan mail (oh, how I wish that were true!).  Nor am I a CEO of a Fortune 500 company with a multitude of email requests.  Rather, the scene I just described is nothing more than a typical day of the MBA.  "An exercise in time management skills," is what my classmates and I often coined for this task of perusing our emails.

Even with email overload and all, I reflect fondly on my MBA experience.  I recently graduated from the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School (SBS), an intensive, 1-year course renowned for its (95%) international student body and Harry Potter-like setting.  For me, this was a year of personal and professional exploration.  For many, it also represented a “last” chance at freedom from the duties of working life; an opportunity to escape from reality, if you will.

As I reflect, I am reminded of the advice given to me by previous years’ students.  Buy this book, but don’t buy that book.  Take this elective, but avoid these professors.  And so on and so forth.  Now that I too have become an alumnus, it’s my turn to bequeath some pearls of wisdom to you, the new batches of MBA candidates around the world.

Tip #1:

From the start, make a list of your goals for each year and for your entire MBA experience.  In the case of 1-year programs, one list will do.  The aim of creating these lists is to give you focus.  Now, you might be thinking, “I am quite focused.”  This may very well be true.  But remember, the MBA breeds groupthink!  It’s quite easy to get caught up in the craze of the moment, whether that’s practicing case studies for consulting interviews, attending multiple recruiting events or running for leadership positions of more than one club.  Of course, let’s not forget attending the numerous social activities as well.  While the MBA is meant as a time for exploration, be wary of stretching yourself thin.

Tip #2:

Strive to make a positive impression on your classmates.  As I’m sure every career advisor has urged you in the past, network, network, and network.  Your b-school classmates are just that, your network.  Therefore, the last thing you’d want to happen is to fall into the “nice person, but horrible teammate” category; that is, those individuals you’d hang out with but would never choose to work with.  With entry into this category comes the demise of any hope of obtaining professional references from your peers.

Besides being part of your network, your classmates are your teachers.  To this day, I remain thankful to my peers for introducing me to their industries, their varied perspectives and their cultures.  Similarly, you’ll find that much of your learning during the MBA will occur outside the classroom, in conversations with your peers.

Tip #3:

Organize and/or join a trek!  A trek is a student-organized, business trip that endeavors to expose participants to the cultures and business practices of a specific city/country.  This past spring, I joined my classmates on a week-long trek to Nigeria and Ghana, and even stopped by Ivory Coast to visit the home of another classmate.  My first time on the African continent, I had no notion of what to expect.  What I gained from the trip, however, were first-hand insights into the business customs and languages of different sectors within each country.  Participating in this trek turned out to be an invaluable experience and one of the highlights of my MBA education.

 

The list can go on and on; and as always, I welcome more tips from other alums to add to this list.  For now, I hope these key pieces of advice will start you - the next batch of MBAs- off on the right path.  I look forward to hearing about your experiences and to reading your own words of advice to subsequent batches.  From a former MBA to the new MBAs...I wish you all the best of luck!