Before you move to your college virtually or physically, you should know a few things about life at B-schools. It is very different here, in comparison to a typical undergraduate college. Life is very fast-paced, and there is a strict deadline for nearly every activity. The folks are quite competitive too, which can be expected from them, given the fact that they have slogged years in jobs and have seen how tough it is out in the outside world. People have worked hard to get here, and they are going to work even harder to extract full benefit from it. So, in order to survive, you need to plan. Currently, I am assuming that most of you are in your home and have plenty of time on hand. Hence, it is a perfect opportunity for you to prepare yourself for the upcoming days.
In most of the colleges, the first few terms comprise basic courses from different domains. For example - you will be taught Financial Reporting and Analysis, which is a basic course in Finance. You will also be taught the fundamentals of Marketing, Economics, Statistics etc. Those of you who are from commerce background would probably have done these courses in your college. You guys can revise the concepts and will be good to go. But others, like the engineers, who aren't familiar with these topics, must self-read these to prepare themselves to avoid lagging behind their prospective batchmates.
But don't worry too much. Because as I have said, these are the basic courses and are not hard to understand at all. B-schools know that many of the students are learning these courses for the first time in their life. So, the professors will teach you from the basics. But, they pick up pace very quickly. And the fact that you will have to compete with your batchmates, who might already know these stuff will make things a little tough.
So, it might be a good strategy to prepare in advance. This will smoothen the academic load, and you can participate in many other activities in the college instead of slogging day and night into studies. So, I have prepared a list of most common courses for you that are taught in Indian B-schools over the first few months. I have also included links to free course videos/resources for you to check out.
| Course | Domain | Link for Free Resources |
| Financial Accounting/Financial Reporting and Analysis | Finance | Introduction to Financial Accounting |
| Microeconomics/ Basic Economics | Economics | Microeconomics - IIT Kanpur |
| Marketing Management | Marketing | Marketing Management - IIM Bangalore |
| Operations Management | Operations Management | Introduction to Operations Research - IIT Madras |
| Organizational Behaviour | Organization Design | Organizational Behaviour - IIT Kharagpur |
Please note that you don't need to earn a certificate for the above courses. Simply, watch the free videos and learn the concepts.
Go through the above courses to put yourself ahead of everyone else.
Please put your comments below, to tell me what else you would like to know from me. I will try to write about those things in my future articles. Till then, signup and stay connected.
Best of Luck !!
Comments
Sanchit Singh
What other certificate courses one need to do in finance
15 May 2020, 09.17 AM
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RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
Hi Sanchit, You don't need to get a certificate for above courses. Those courses will be taught to you in your college. I have put the list so that you guys can can self read it, before going to college. It will definitely give you an advantage. So, simply watch the free videos and learn the concepts.
15 May 2020, 10.12 AMEdited |
Mamta Wagh
First link of finance and accounting is not available. Can you share some other link for that?
15 May 2020, 09.39 AM
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RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
Thanks for informing, Mamta. I have updated the link.
15 May 2020, 11.04 AM |
Abhishek Tilak
Really helpful resources for freshers. This will definitely help in preparing and setting a base for whats to come in MBA. Thanks a ton!
15 May 2020, 10.20 AM
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RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
Thanks Abhishek
15 May 2020, 10.26 AM |
R C
Please provide us information and resources regarding the soft skills or courses we need to pursue to get an edge in the summer internship in all the MBA streams in your next article. This article is very helpful. Thanks
15 May 2020, 10.51 AMEdited
Jatin Bangali
Sir, How can we make our profile during this lock down period which will help us in cracking the personal interview round. Also do we need to do some courses and certification which are available online?
15 May 2020, 12.50 PM
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RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
Just do something productive, maybe an internship or upskill yourself (online courses etc). The thing is that you need to show yourself as an active and dynamic person. If you can show that you were doing something productive even during the lockdown period rather than just sitting in your home, then it will be awesome.
16 May 2020, 09.58 PM |
Raj Vaibhav
Appreciated
16 May 2020, 08.02 AM
Aishwarya Phadnis
A Passionate future HR!
Good article, it will also be helpful for mba aspirants to engage themselves during this lockdown period. Can you write an article for students who wish to pursue mba in future. I am an Engineer and I have plans to do mba, but before that I think that I should get some experience in management field so that it will give me an exposure that will indeed help me during my mba and also it will give me a clarity on which specialization to choose. What is your say on this? Is this a right thought? I would like to know the opinion of an IIM student.
16 May 2020, 02.18 PM
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RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
Hi Aishwarya, I have already written an article. May be this will give you some clarity. Link - https://insideiim.com/mba-from-an-iim-what-to-expect-1/?src=rishi
16 May 2020, 02.54 PM |
Aastha Modak
what should be the steps taken if we are lagging behind?
16 May 2020, 08.27 PM
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RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
Just complete the above courses sincerely. That will put you in a far better position than your classmates.
16 May 2020, 09.51 PM |
RITESH BONDE
Hi, could you please expand on the subject of campus placements(marketing and hr) for those who are not academically strong, a gap of 2-3 years for cat preparation, and no job Exp. summer internship preparation tips, overview. does online certification help during placements?
18 May 2020, 11.37 AMEdited
AKSHAY RAJ
Akshay is a various reader and loves reading fictional novels especially the ones by George Orwell and Paulo Coelho. He is supposed to be an Electronics & Communications engineer by degree. This year he is joining IIM K for his MBA.
Thanks for sharing it.It is very beneficial. can you suggest some other free course for accounting as I didn't like the above one
18 May 2020, 04.35 PM
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RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
Just check the syllabus and do any course you like.
18 May 2020, 06.00 PM |
varnit garg
hlo, its a humble request , plz tell about the various internships and short courses which can i do to build my exp and confidence, i am a 12th passed student and want to know that how can i pursue and from where can i get such opportunities, and how earn from learning at this age
18 May 2020, 05.17 PM
+Read Replies (3)
RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
Hi Varnit, It will be best if you talk to your seniors who have done well in their career. I don't know much about your current profile. Hence, I won't be able to give a better suggestion.
18 May 2020, 06.02 PMEdited |
varnit garg
hlo, thnx for replying, i could not get much guidance from here, i am a 12th student of 2019-20 batch, one exam left, commerce student, interest in marketing, stocks, adv, managing, ca aspirant too,
19 May 2020, 11.30 AM |
RISHI KUMAR
Rishi Kumar, IIM Calcutta || IIT Madras
You should now focus on getting admission in a nice college. Find out which colleges will be best for what you want to learn. You can google about the colleges. Then try to get admission there. And once you are in a college, you can start building your profile.
19 May 2020, 12.21 PM |