MBA Class: First month is the trickiest
“First month of MBA class is the most confusing and most difficult. Sleepless, overworked, and overloaded – that’s the situation for all of us. It’s either do or die,” says Arhaan Malik, second year student at IIM Lucknow.
Shiksha.com spoke to various current and former MBA students at top B-schools across India. Every person we spoke to had the same view: The first month of MBA class is the most difficult hurdle to cross in the two-years of management studies.
According to Vinayak Singh, ex-student of MICA Ahmedabad, “This first month (or first week) is like a litmus test. If you survive this, you’ll survive through the two-years of MBA.”
So what exactly happens in these first few days?
“On one hand, students are loaded with assignments and surprise quizzes. The assignments are long, tedious, difficult and demands precision. Along with this, we have seniors screaming on us. They are judging us, putting us through different tasks and expect us to comply to their demands," says Singh.
Apart from rigorous assignments, freshers are also asked to perform various tasks by the seniors. These tasks could range from acting on stage, hacking into a secure cyber zone (mostly illegal stuff) or random mid-night session of standing on guard in front of the entire college.
On the basis of one's performance in these tasks, combined with the pressure of handling assignments, freshers are then given the charge of various clubs such as cultural committee or placement committee and so on.
"There's a logic behind all this madness," explains Haider Ali, PGP student at IIM Ahmedabad. "Once out of college, MBA students go through various stressfull situations. Managers need to learn the art of surviving. The first year helps you deal with this stress. The first month is like a strong dose of what's about to come in the future. If you can survive this, you'll survive anything," he says.
Every MBA college has their own initiation process. At MICA Ahmedabad, the first month process is known as culturalisation.
"We were often woken up in the middle of the night for a grilling session with the seniors during the first month. Back then, it felt intolerable. After barely managing to complete the assignments, we had to work it out the seniors. But looking back, I think such activities can easily eliminate the weaker links. We end up being stronger. By the time culturisation got over, we could survive through anything " recalls Singh.
Both faculty and college authorities are aware of the first-month inititation process, confirms the students Shiksha.com spoke to. "No one objects to this. The B-school brand is mightier than the student. No one wants weak-links in their colleges," says Vinayak.
All the names in the story have been changed on request.
