A common refrain that I heard prior to starting my MBA was not to take the academics too seriously. Sure, we have to do well, but the majority of folks that I spoke to who earned their MBAs – from friends to a close professional mentor – assigned more weight to the networking elements of the program than the grades. Moreover, I have had conversations with several WSB professors that, to my slight surprise, have corroborated this sentiment. What matters is the learning, not the marks we get.
Internalizing and putting this advice into practice, however, has been no easy task. Like many young adults starting their college careers, I had a rough wake-up call during my freshman year at Georgetown University approximately 12 years ago, where I discovered the hard way that I would have to put in far more work than high school to do well. Although I was able to recover from my freshman year, which was the lowest point in my academic career, this experience left me with a borderline unhealthy focus on excelling and giving myself little grace for errors. With this history in mind, I entered my first set of classes in more than eight years with the goal of not making the same mistakes I did as a young adult. To do so, I hit the books hard, spending many late nights and weekends in a breakout room or the RMI suite in Grainger Hall, sometimes to the alarm and jokes of my friends.
However, unlike freshman year, where a student’s only real priorities are to study (in addition to enjoying some newfound freedom), MBA candidates have a second and arguably more important goal: professional development. Between scouring job boards, researching companies, having coffee chats, attending networking events, and preparing for interviews, the level of work within this part of the MBA journey effectively amounts to a part-time job. Add coursework to the mix, and you have a lot of competing priorities vying for our attention.
Perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve learned this semester is that allocating 100% to both coursework and professional development is not sustainable. At times, the internship hunt will take precedence and classes the other. To be clear, I am a firm believer that the effort I put into my coursework will translate into my ability to hit the ground running at my internship or job. Moreover, as people who voluntarily choose to become students once again, MBA candidates should put a strong effort into their learning. That said, academics are not the only priority, and we students must make time to build connections and professional communities.
Very few people, if anyone, will ever ask about grades. Many people, however, will ask about the intangibles of the program: How did you contribute to your community? What lessons did you learn about leadership? What were the biggest takeaways from your program? Answering these questions requires getting my nose out of the book and playing an active role. Candidly, I am still trying to figure out what this balance looks like. However, I at least have come to realize that all the folks that gave me advice may have been on to something.