Dear Class of 2012,
Welcome to Manchester Business School.
I hope you all are ready for a life changing experience, and one that you will remember for the rest of your lives. This past year has been an eye opener to say the least – the things you come across, the people you meet, the diverse backgrounds you encounter, the overall experience is unparalleled in my opinion. Having gone through what you all are about to embark upon, I think I stand in a good position to provide you with the “Top Ten Tips” for your first year here at MBS.
So here we go.
1. NETWORK. You will hear this word endlessly during the first term and throughout your first year. CMS, external speakers, your seniors, everyone will tell you to NETWORK, NETWORK, and NETWORK. Sure, its great to network and you will get many opportunities to do so at MBS with all the events that are planned for your class. But remember, your NETWORK starts with your class. The 128 students in the class of 2012 is your immediate network – try and get to know as many of your class mates as possible for you will be kick starting your career again together in 18 months time. In the longer term, it is your ties with your class mates that will count.
2. PRE-MBA. Many of you are coming back into student life after a long time so the motivation to dig into the books, do your readings, and be prepared for all the classes will of course be there amongst majority of you. But that can wait for the autumn, winter, and spring terms, which will suck the life out of you. You will work harder in those 9 months than you ever have in your life. So use the relatively relaxed time during the PRE-MBA to go around Manchester, partying, and doing everything that you won’t have time for once the real stuff starts.
3. INVITATIONS. Accept them all! You will get invites for parties, events, conferences, discussions, staff-student meetings, and a whole lot more. Go everywhere and don’t miss anything – especially where there is free food and drinks to have! These events are great platforms for interaction and learning – make the most of them.
4. STUDY GROUPS. Some people are used to studying individually, while others are used to studying with friends around them. Form your study groups. The amount you learn through discussion and interaction with your colleagues is significantly more than what you learn by reading a book by yourselves. If you are not used to group study, then try to get accustomed to it. You will have loads of group work to help you get used to it – use that for exams as well. Try and go through the pain together – it hurts less!
5. WATCH YOUR WEIGHT. Well I should be the last person commenting on this, since I have lived on burgers and pizzas for the last year. Finding time to cook at home will be difficult, but try and do so. Bulk shopping for groceries and taking turns to cook for 6-8 people can really help. Burgers and pizza just make u tired. If you want delivery numbers for Dominos and Pizza Hut, give me a shout!
6. M&A. You will hate this project. It will be challenging and it will be time consuming. You will feel like there is nothing else to do in this world besides M&A. It will stretch you and it will test your patience and nerves. For majority of our class, this was probably the most stressful project. BUT try and learn as much as you can from M&A because it is one project that brings together everything that you learn during the first two terms – corporate finance, marketing, accounting, strategy, operations management – you will apply concepts from all the courses in this project. For me personally, it was one of the best learning experiences at MBS and it will surely help you during the spring project and later in the IB.
7. VCIC. Take part. All of you should take part in this. Only 25 of you will benefit completely from it since there is an initial round with the MBS competition involving the top 5 teams. If there is an MBA learning experience outside the classroom, then VCIC it is. Besides M&A, VCIC was surely one of the best learning experiences of my time at the MBA. Once again you apply corporate finance, strategy, and marketing – anything that makes you apply concepts from more than one field is surely worth trying out. Form your teams now, check out http://www.vcic.unc.edu/ to understand how it works, and start preparing. The competition will be launched soon.
8. INDIAN / PAKISTANI FOOD. There’s nothing like it! And there’s plenty of it in Manchester. I know Americans, Mexicans, Greeks, and Europeans who have started loving this kind of food since they have been in Manchester. Akbar’s, East Zeast, and Zouk are surely the best Indian / Pakistani restaurants you will find here – forget Curry Mile and go to these places. For the best North Indian / Lahori style dishes, go to Akbar’s and East Zeast. If you are a fan of nihari and paayas, go to Zouk. If you visit Zouk, make sure you try the lobster – lobster meat cooked in Indian spices – there is nothing like it. Everyone will tell you about Curry Mile but the food isn’t that great but if you have a sweet tooth, make your way down to Sanam – jalebis, gulab jaman, gajar halwa, ras malai, and the works! Aaloo poori also available. And right across the street from there you can find kulfi and falooda. Anyone’s mouth watering?
9. SCHENGEN VISA. If you are from Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, or any other Middle Eastern country – apply for your Schengen visas now and try to get a multiple entry one. Your class mates will make plans to travel around Europe, one of the best advantages of doing an MBA in this part of the world. Most of your classmates will not need a visa to travel to these places but you will. So do it now and don’t miss the plans!
10. WORK HARD, BUT PARTY EVEN HARDER!
I hope you all enjoy your stay here. You will love it, but at times you will also hate it – but don’t worry, bad times will pass. What’s more important is the overall experience and I can assure you that it will be one hell of a ride!
All the best.
Umair Q.
