By
Andrea Coutu
First Year Student - Executive MBA Program, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada

Reflecting on the First Semester

Well, the first semester is over and what a relief! I wasn't sure I'd have the energy to survive the last two or three weeks of classes. But I made it!

I see there are several people asking about the GMAT on the Questions and Answers page on this site. Despite what I thought, it is a necessary predictor of performance. So, if you find yourself with a lower GMAT score, do whatever you can to bring your reading, writing, analysis, stats, and math up to speed. I spent the summer in a math course and it was absolutely necessary for my success in this fall's stats course. To succeed in b-school, you need a strong foundation in the basics so you can do case analyses and other assignments. Otherwise, you'll fall behind in readings and assignments, as you struggle to refresh your knowledge of the basics. So go easy on yourself and learn the basics before you sign up!

Things I would do over:

1. Focus on success, rather than worrying about whether I talk enough in class or whether I need to spend just one more hour on a paper. On the other hand, I had a great semester, so maybe this is not totally a mistake!
2. Remember that I'm here to improve my human capital. As a wise classmate noted to me, it's not about whether you get a B or an A. It's about the difference between what you knew before and what you know afterward.
3. Focus more on lecture notes than textbook readings, since the exams/assignments focused on the notes. (This may vary from school to school.)
4. Start my research paper earlier, instead of thinking it would be like everything else I've ever written. When you've spent several years with humanities and social sciences styles, including MLA citation, it can be a shock to the system to switch to management science and psychology and APA citations. There's new jargon to learn.
5. Order pizza less often. I am absolutely sick of pizza. We ordered it for every team meeting, which got to be a bit much the week we had three meetings.

Things I'll do again:

1. Keep up with readings. By staying on top of my work, I gave myself the opportunity to re-read anything I didn't understand the first time.
2. Re-write. By writing papers ahead of time, I afforded myself time to improve my research, writing, and analysis.
3. Ask for help. Professors, classmates, and friends can shed light on concepts and learning styles.
4. Sit at the front of the class. No matter how much I disliked statistics, I could never let my mind wander while the professor was just three feet away.

In looking back on my first semester, I realize now that, in the end, your MBA success depends on what you put into your studies. While I'm a student at Canada's #4 business school, I can see the real value comes from improving my knowledge. With just a few months of study under my belt, I'm already excited by the prospects of applying my new skills and knowledge to my work. Before, my entire world was about marketing. Now I can see more of the organization, including office politics, accounting, statistics, economics. Business school has expanded my world.