MBA First year at NMIMS

MBA is claimed to be a covetable and prestigious degree. Once very valuable because it was possessed by a rare few, now has become the next ‘BE’. And who can blame it? With hundreds of B schools popping up everywhere, every Tom, Dick and Harry has gained access to the degree.

With a similar kind of thought process (about the degree being covetable and all) I took the MBA entrances and got admitted into NMIMS. Supported solely by a few scary stories and my own vivid imagination, I stepped into the college on the first day, not knowing what to expect. I still clearly recall the first week of orientation where I ended up meeting so many students from all over the country that I had trouble matching their names, faces and states by the end of the week. Overall however, the orientation was a pleasant though slightly hectic and overwhelming process. With many students sailing in the same boat of excitement and nervousness as me, I got prepared to begin my first year at MBA albeit enthusiastically. I also learnt my first lesson during this week.

“NMIMS is at par with Harvard Business Schools because of its Harvard style classrooms and the pages long Harvard Cases that we are expected to study and analyze!”

The first week post orientation was nothing like I expected. We were plunged headlong into academics and committee interviews. The first 2 weeks in fact offered little respite from filling lengthy google forms and giving rounds and rounds of interviews for different committees of our choice. Some were friendly, some grilled but all of them together left us drained by the end of their processes. Here was my second lesson learnt at MBA.

“MBA is all about creating and filling Google forms!”

After the results of the interviews I assumed that we will get time to settle in. But no. No week, no month, no trimester in the first year offers any respite or the time to gather your bearings and make sense of things. There are always class tests (or quizzes as they are called – up until now I always assumed quizzes are voluntary competitions and generally fun. MBA ruined the word for me!), presentations, midterms, projects, competitions or if not that there are parties that we need to pay at least a grand for. Here I learnt my lesson number 3.

“No matter what commitments we have, exams, presentations or competitions – there is always time to party. And if it offers unlimited food & booze for a grand, then who cares about what is on with the next day?!”

But MBA was not only about all these parties and commitments. It was also about lectures, attendance, class participation and the one word that all of it correlated to – Marks! Attendance especially was a hanging sword with a leeway of just 20% allowed. Lower than that – grade down. So a mad scramble to preserve and obtain attendance was the norm. Here I learnt my next lesson or rather a few terms that the MBAs grandly use.

“DCP does not mean Deputy Commissioner of Police but is a title of Desperate Class Participation awarded to the person who interrupts the professor the maximum times in a lecture with statements that may or may not be important, sensible or even relevant.

GAS does not mean an element in the vapor state but Generally Accepted Shit used by students to increase the length of their answers in exams or create an impression of knowing a lot in lectures or interviews.”

The first trimester is filled with numerous competitions. Some of them are extremely serious and important – for instance intercollege competitions or inter B-School case study competitions organized by companies. Students slog hard in order to win rewards and Placement offers. But some competitions are organized by the college committees for fun. And these competitions taught me my next lesson.

“Every such tiny competition is important for the sole purpose of a CV pointer. If you want more CV pointers take on a corporate project. But if it is an inter-division competition, then there is nothing more important that the honor of your own division!”

Every trimester we were promised by the seniors that the next one would be better. And we spent every trimester waiting for the better trimester to come. Well at least the seniors were helpful and motivating. During the placement season when the schedule became crazier still, the seniors did a great job of answering our doubts, prepping us up. The second trimester is generally the worst. It starts with long days and never ending nights with a complex formatted and painfully detailed CV and ends with ongoing summer placement processes and trimester final exams. In the midst of this, dream companies make appearances on campus, and the academics (which have taken a backseat for obvious reasons) have to be managed. Here I learnt my sixth lesson.

“The length of your CV is directly proportional to your belief of getting placed at a good company!”

By December the third trimester starts. This is a tricky one. Because it starts at a slow pace, punctuated with the Christmas break and a WeCare internship (I will get to that later). However the beginning is deceptive. For no sooner does the WeCare internship end than we get piled on with extra lectures, class tests and all subject presentations to be completed in a matter of weeks. The WeCare internship is a unique concept to NMIMS. All students, based on their hometown and work preferences are allotted to an NGO where they are supposed to work as per the NGO demands for 3 weeks for free. The concept is a beautiful one – kind of like CSR activities done by the corporates and most students end up having fun and learning a few harsh realities. But the 3 weeks offers such respite from college, lectures and deadlines that at the end of the 3 weeks we are suddenly jerked and jolted into the fast paced trimester again. My next lesson was after the internship.

“The WeCare internship is not a sabbatical from college or a holiday at home but means real work. And the end of the 3 weeks is just the beginning of a pile of work relating to it involving reports, viva and poster presentation!”

Despite everything, the end of first year offers not just relief but also a bit of sadness. For the first year though hectic is also enjoyable. There is a lot of competition no doubt. There are few rivalries and many bitter moments too. But if you are lucky enough, you end up finding a few like-minded individuals even in this competitive atmosphere. And that is what keeps you together. The second year offers more opportunities in the form of interesting subjects, projects and competitions but it also means more responsibilities in the form of mentoring the juniors. Above all, second year offers one final realization.

“It’s the last year of our lives as students!”