7 Ways To Prepare For Your First Year In Business School

7 Ways To Prepare For Your First Year In Business School Image via pixabay.com 1. Connect. If you’re just about to head off to business school, you may feel tempted to cut all your ties and start anew. After all, this is a new chapter in your life, right? Well, maybe, but networking is a concept constantly emphasized while in business school. There’s no need to start that process completely over. Connect or reconnect with professors and alumni you knew in the past. If they’ve gone to business school themselves, they can help you understand what you need to do before business school and what it will be like during. These are invaluable resources because they’ve already been there and done that. 2. Do a self-assessment. Optimizing your strengths in business school is the key to success. You may not have all the typical qualities a good business student has, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be just as successful. However, in order to capitalize on your strengths, you need to know them. Go out of your way to find out more about yourself and your leadership style in general. A trusty Myers-Briggs may be in order, or you can splurge on the Gallup Strengths Finder. Both, or any other tests you find, will help you better utilize the assets you already have to leverage your way to the top. 3. Prepare for recruiting. Something that most schools do when all the students arrive in the fall is hold large recruiting fairs with companies to provide various opportunities like internships, part-time work, co-ops, and even full-time jobs. The competition for these spots will probably be fierce, so it is beneficial to prepare ahead of time so your CV isn’t being made at the last minute. Look through your credentials, update your CV and resume, your LinkedIn, and any other professional contacts you may have. Practice a respectable and unique greeting for when you meet these professionals. You’ll be much more likely to create a lasting impression and score some huge opportunities if you’re prepared. 4. Don’t expect to know everything. You may have flourished in your previous years in school, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll do just as well in a competitive business school. The standards will be higher and you will work harder than you ever have before. You’ll probably flounder just a bit at first getting adjusted to the rigorous life that is business school. If you let every mistake or misstep get you down, this isn’t going to help you learn and do better. Recognize ahead of time that you’re going to make mistakes and learn from them as you do. This will only help you grow into a better and stronger student. 5. Review what you do know. However, knowing you’ll make some mistakes doesn’t mean you should make all of them. A lot of mistakes can be prevented by simply remembering what you already know. So much time can be wasted trying to relearn old information which can mean you’ll start lagging behind or get overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do at once. Most firsthand accounts of first year business school students say that most of the work is quantitative and methodical. It is likely just learning calculations and other similar things. But if you know and remember most of them, you’ll already be ahead of the game. 6. Attend an orientation. Most business schools will also host some sort of orientation for their new students before the semester starts. However, students that already have previous schooling may forego these because they think they’ve already adjusted. However, most new business school students will compare the first semester of business school to be as disorienting as living in another country. Everything is different. When you’re starting, if you aren’t acclimated, you’re going to spend a lot of your time just trying to figure basic things out instead of really learning. Attend the orientation to get a head start. 7. Just ask. Honestly, if you’re having any questions or qualms about business school, just ask the university. Even during the summer they’ll have at least a few advisers or professors on hand to answer some questions. They’re also the most likely to give you detailed and specific information about the university that you couldn’t really find out otherwise. You may not like calling or contacting people you don’t know, but the payoff may be worth it. Hopefully you’ve found some ideas you feel comfortable and confident to carry out before your first year. Whatever you do, don’t forget to go in with an open mind, ready to learn and to absorb everything business school has to offer you. Learn more about Kaplan’s test prep options and start building the confidence you need for Test Day.