How To Make The Most Of Your Online MBA

From planning out your time to switching off from distractions, find out the key things you need to do to make the most of your Online MBA

When the pandemic closed business school campuses and forced students to take up their studies virtually, it sparked a boom in online education.

Demand for Online MBA programs rocketed, with applications to programs rising by 43.5% in 2020, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council’s (GMAC) 2020 Application Trends Survey. And as schools have invested in the technology needed to seamlessly transition to the virtual world, the gap between the in-person and online classroom is closing.

But, how can you make sure as an Online MBA candidate that you are optimizing your learning in the virtual classroom? In this BusinessBecause video, we look at everything you need to do to make the most of your Online MBA.

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1. Stop viewing your studies as a chore.

Desiree Anderson, an HR and mindset coach with decades of experience, says that manifesting and envisioning the life you want after your studies and focusing on the ways your MBA will help you achieve your dreams can be really helpful.

2. Make mental and physical space for your course.

Studying from your bed or kitchen table can be tricky. As Linda Buchan, assistant professor at Heriot Watt advises, “block out chunks of time in your diary, ideally an hour as a minimum, to focus on your studies. Often we find our MBA students do this in the evenings or weekend, or even take annual leave to focus on their learning.”

3. Minimize distractions and maximize your time

Stop checking your emails and using LinkedIn while studying. If you feel like your mind is drifting off slightly while you study try physically logging out of your emails, or setting up an out of office, to dedicate time to study.

4. Just because teaching isn’t in person, doesn’t mean you can’t network.

Chat in breakout rooms and make sure you make an extra effort to understand the ways your classmates work when working on group projects. Equally, take the time to talk to your lecturers and tutors. Their help could be invaluable in making the most of your MBA.

5. Apply your learning to your life.

There are really important links between the digital skills, leadership skills, and financial skills that you are gaining theoretically on your course, and they will have brilliant applications in your working life.

Download the BusinessBecause Online MBA Guide 2021