Surviving the First Semester: Best Practices from Georgia's Full-Time MBA Students

By Rob Grabowski, MBA '20

The first semester of full time MBA programs is generally seen as the most difficult. For myriad reasons, the first semester brings about anxiety and stress for those brave enough to leave their jobs and come back for continued education. It may be that it takes some time to get back into the swing of class and homework, or maybe it’s the front-loaded course content, meant to prepare the new business students for the intense recruiting period ahead, or could it be the recruitment period itself? Jumping back into the job search is not an easy thing to do. You could be worried about any or all of these realities that you will face in the first semester, but do not fear, because it has been done before and you were admitted for a reason. You have the capability and competencies to crush your first semester, and we’re here to give you a few tips from current UGA MBA’s that should help ensure that!

We polled the current class of MBA’s and have included the best responses to help you crush the first semester:

How did you survive the front-loaded course content?
“Working with my team on all projects. We all have diverse backgrounds and there is always someone in the group that can help.”
“Time Management.”
“Live each day like it is a work day, get to the business school at 8 and leave at 5. Don’t just show up for class and go back home.”

How did you survive National Black (MBA recruiting conference attended by 1,000’s of MBA’s)?
“Be aggressive with recruiters.”
“Do prep and gather interviews beforehand by applying online.”
“Visit your top 5 companies in the first 3 hours of the day. This is when you will be most successful.”

What best practice helped you the most in the first semester?
“Don't be afraid to ask questions in class if you don't understand something. The professors really do want to us succeed.”
“Put everything you need to do in a calendar or planner - be ridiculously thorough.”
“Listening to the 2nd Years.”
“Prioritize job search and don’t focus on grades.”
“Strategic approach to recruiting – i.e. 5 applications a week.”

Whatever your strengths are, it is going to be important that you prepare for the transition into the MBA program. It takes finesse and strategy to perform at a high level, and hopefully you can glean some helpful hints from these suggestions. These best practices helped those before you succeed, so know that if you implement them as well, they can help you survive and even excel in the first semester of your full time MBA program.

Comments

The Bike is the Answer: Charlie Mustard and Jittery Joe’s Coffee

Like many other schools during this pandemic, the University of Georgia has been closed since mid-March, and students and staff are working remotely. In lieu of in-person meetings and events, MBA Admissions staff launched a podcast, Dawgs on Top, to bring the program to a larger audience. In Season One: The Rona Files, we covered Georgia football, provided highlights of the first annual Graduate Women’s Business Association Summit, and heard more about the student veterans experience, the March trip to South Africa, and our Non-Profit Board Fellows Program. In Season Two: Town & Gown, we focused on the Athens community and interviewed local business leaders. One of those interviews was with Charlie Mustad, owner and Head Roaster of Jittery Joe’s Coffee. Jittery Joe's Coffee opened in 1994 on Washington St. near the 40 Watt Club and was open 24 hours a day to serve everyone: students, townies, and artists. Since then, it has grown into a roaster on Barber Street and 14 loca...

Meet the MBA: 1st Year Vishakha Tiwari

A native of Northern India, Vishakha Tiwari has worked for KPMG in Bangalore, India, and as a Business Analyst for Accenture. She has worked for various causes such as education, gender equality and with different NGOs. Tiwari is now pursuing her MBA, concentrating in Strategy with additional focus areas in Analytics. Tell us about your hometown and what you were doing before the MBA program. I am from Patna, one of the oldest towns in the northern region of India. Patna is known for its hospitality, exceptionally decadent cuisines and its contributions to the Indian Independence movement. Before the MBA, I was working full-time as a Management Consultant with KPMG in Bangalore, India. I have worked on several client service transformation, revenue diversification, project management and claims analytics projects. I have also worked with Accenture as a Business Analyst between 2016 and 2019. My undergraduate major was Electronics and Electrical Engineering. Outside of work, I w...

Crystal Ivey Pivoted Careers with a Georgia MBA

By Crystal Ivey, MBA '14 I graduated with my bachelor’s in marketing and finance in 2009 at the onset of the recession. Entry-level marketing positions were practically non-existent, so my first job out of school was as a case manager with the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS). But I didn’t give up on my dream of brand management. Fast forward a few years, I decided to try again to break into the business world in brand management – this time using an MBA as my launch pad. This was also very special for me, because, as a first generation college student, an MBA was always one of my goals. I chose the University of Georgia’s MBA program for lots of reasons, but the most important factor for me was to not go into a lot of debt achieving this goal. I wanted a highly ranked program – one that would create opportunities - but not a huge financial burden. I found all that and more at Georgia. The MBA Career Management Center (CMC) connected me with MBA alum...

Georgia MBA Programs

Search This Blog