(Photo: Edd Morgan)

In a month or so, b-schools, which were practically silent all of last month and April will resound with the ‘at-home’ chatter of students. The second year guys have probably started filling up hostel blocks already while the first year students will make it there soon. We are certain that freshers have a lot of questions right now – what to read, what to wear etc. In the article below, seniors try to answer a few.

What to read before joining b-school?
Those who are fretting over the selection of what books to read before the start of business school can take it easy.

Vipin Mohan, a second year student from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai says that there are some books which are sacrosanct and must be read before the start of school. “For example, Philip Kotler’s ‘Marketing Management for the marketing guys and Sunil Chopra’s Supply Chain Management for the operations guys. In addition, one should also take up some light reads such as Jack Welch’s Straight from the Gut, The Machine that Changed The World by James P Womack, Daniel Jones and Daniel Ross and Freakonomics by Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt,” says Vipin. The SP Jain student adds that The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford and The 8th Habit by Stephen R Covey are good for starters too. According to Vipin’s peer Chetan Heda, books such as Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Fish! by Stephen C Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen should also be on the list as well, as they give students an insight into the business world.

And Nishika Bajaj, alumnus of the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi University says that a fresher must read books covering the fundamentals of accounting, economics, operations/production and marketing basics. “If not from a Commerce background, just buy Tata McGraw-Hill Fundamentals of Accounting and that should give a working knowledge of accounts,” she adds.

The gadget must haves

Having a laptop with a decent processing speed and Microsoft Office of the 2007 version is a pre-requisite for any management student.

Vipin is not in favour of using netbooks as that means downloading of heavy software which can make the system slow. “We at SP Jain are provided with a list of basic hardware and software requirements so we know what to get before hand. It is the same practice in many other schools too.”

Stressing on the importance of having a smart mobile phone, Manas Ranjan Kar a second year student of Narsee Monjee Institute for Management Studies,( NMIMS) Mumbai says, “It is necessary that one has a phone through which you can access mail easily and also download so that one can browse on the go.” Manas adds that it is helpful if one has a mobile version of The Economic Times and other important dailies. “Also, Quick office and Adobe reader are basic but very important applications for opening documents and PDF files.” He also recommends that students start subscribing to Wharton and Harvard Business School websites.

Sushrut says that with regards to many of the bigger b-schools, a hardware company does provide laptops at a discounted rate.Ameya Joshi of XLRI School for Business and Human Resources say that a basic calculator is fine to start with and over time more fancy items can be procured. Ameya adds that people do equally well without owning a smart phone. “But what they should not miss out is reading newspapers everyday. They give sufficient global and domestic knowledge which is important for course work ,”he believes.

Mobile Phone Apps
There are a couple of phone apps which are used in b-schools. Some of these include,

Thumb Jot – which helps students take notes, eliminating the need for manually writing them down.

The Wall Street Journal Mobile Reader – which is a real-time news wire app which provides latest updates form the Wall Street Journal.

Documents to Go – for those possessing Android, iPhone and Blackberry. It is used to view and edit file types like PDF,Microsoft Office documents including Power Point Presentations.

Evernote – this app allows photos, web screenshots, typed text and spoken information to be recorded and organised, offering features such as searchable text in photographs. Manas says that he used this app for an international project where his team members were in four different corners of the world.

Dragon Dictation – With this app, one can record speech into the device and watch as it is instantly type. One can dictate a text message, e-mail, social media post, tweet and status update, or even send notes and reminders to oneself.

The wardrobe
The usual notion is that one cannot go informal in a b-school but that’s a total lie. Nishika says that clothes are really no sweat as b-school students can wear what they want. “Some faculty may have restrictions on clothes such as daring shorts and off-shoulder tops. Going comfortably casual with denims and t-shirts should be just fine,” suggests Nishika.

Sthitaprajnya has asked around and been told to keep a set of traditional clothes handy for formal functions. The scene at XLRI is slightly different as there is a strict requirement of saris for a course or a two. At IIM (Lucknow), on the other hand, one is expected to wear formals which is plain tee shirt and trousers for company presentations during the placement season. Some schools ask students to get blazers stitched at a common place near or on the campus so that the style remains constant, while some schools also provide material for the same.

Doctor, doctor
The demanding life in a b- school can mean a lot of aches and pains. Popping a pain killer is quite a common occurrence but Sthitapragnya advices against its excessive usage and recommends that daily exercise is good to keep the body and mind healthy.” In addition, a first aid kit equipped with anti-acidity, fever and digestion medicines is good, so also an antiseptic bottle. Generally, all schools have a medical advisor,” she adds. Ameya on the other hand says that last year there was a medical doctor in her batch who used to voluntarily practice for couple of hours in the morning and evenings.” Sushrut who himself is a doctor says if his colleagues approach him for minor ailments, he does suggest medicines.

Gyaan
All the second year students and alumni stress the importance of establishing rapport with the seniors. Sometimes it so happens that a senior is actually younger to a junior by way of age or work-ex – and these dynamics are interesting to observe. Here is some general advice seniors have to give.

Sushrut: “Most cliched advice is that MBA helps you establish a network so get to that as soon as you can. Once you have that life will get stable. B-school education is not merely academic and the major part is learning soft skills, taking part in competitions and extracurricular activities should be taken seriously.”

Nishika:” A b- school student manages roughly 4-6 hours of sleep considering the work load but there are ‘after-hours’ sessions with seniors which should not be missed anyway. Here extremely useful gyan for surviving b-school, managing grades and placements is disseminated.”

Manas: “It is a common phenomenon that students change their specialisation four months into the course. Many of them are finance enthusiasts who find it difficult to cope and then change to either marketing or Human Resources, so be prepared for that. Also, sometimes even four hours of sleep is a luxury with assignments piling up everyday. Squeezing in some time to rest during the day is a good idea.”

Chetan : “A student is exposed to an incredible number of activities during the MBA course ( apart from academics) which includes industry projects, exchange opportunities, international competitions, conferences, extra-curricular activities etc. Take up as many as activities as possible as they increase the takeaway from the course multi-fold though one should be judicious in planning and prioritising these activities.”