The $64,000 Question, Part 2: What can I do to prepare for the quant classes?

This is the fourth in a series of “MBA Building Blocks,” posts that focus on the key things pre-MBAs should be thinking about and doing before they start school.

So, now that you’ve done a little thinking about yourself in part 1 of this post, let’s get down to business.

The Classes

In case you haven’t gotten your hands on a typical first-year schedule yet, the major quant classes you’ll likely be taking are Accounting, Statistics, Economics (either Micro-, Macro- or both) and Corporate Finance.  I say “major,” because depending on your program, there may be others.  In fact, another class that will probably involve lots of numbers is Operations, but most of the math in Ops is likely to be pretty basic so I’m not going to focus on it here.

What You Can Do

So, is the suspense killing you already?  Well, here’s a short list of ideas that is by no means all-inclusive, but should give you a start. I’ve listed them in approximate order of time, effort and money involved from least to most:

1. Online research
   An interesting site I’ve recently come across is QuickMBA, which is broken down by subject/class and has some information on key concepts (for both quant and non-quant classes).  Also, if you Google “basic accounting concepts” or something along those lines, you’ll have many sites to choose from to read up on the basic things that are likely to be covered in your classes.
2. Talk to current students/academic advisers/professors
   I’ve listed these three groups of people in the order that you should probably reach out to them – and the likelihood they’ll be able to help you.  Keep in mind that if you go to a current student or academic adviser at your school ask, “Should I prepare for X class?”  You’ll likely get a somewhat wishy-washy answer.  But if you ask, “I’m looking to prepare to for X class, what do you recommend if I don’t have much experience with this subject?”  You’re likely to get something that should be a little more helpful, especially if you make it clear that you’re serious.
3. Get a copy of the textbook you’ll be using (and the syllabus from this year’s class if you can)
   If you do end up talking to an academic adviser and/or a professor, you probably want to ask which textbook you’ll be using in the class you’re asking about, and see if they can share the syllabus from this year’s class, too.  Once you know which textbook is being used, you can pick up a copy at the school bookstore, try to buy it from a current first-year who no longer needs it (if you’ll be using the same book they used) or buy it new/used via the online bookstore of your choice (my personal favorites are Amazon.com and Half.com, which have pretty comprehensive textbook areas).
4. Take an online class or an offline class at a local college
   Taking a class, either online or off-, is probably above and beyond what most pre-MBAs need, but it’s certainly an option.  Before you spend the time and money that this step is going to require, you’ll probably want to see if your school offers some sort of “math camp” or “jumpstart” for these quant classes before your regular classes start.  Many schools do and some even mandate that pre-MBAs take diagnostic tests to determine if you need to participate in these pre-school sessions, which is like built-in prep.

The Reality

Since it’s easy to get carried away with this stuff, and some people will never think they’ve done enough, let’s take a step back here and remember the following:

• You’re going to school to be trained in business administration (i.e. management), and whatever sub-specialties you choose.  You’re most likely not going to b-school to become an accountant or a statistician, and if you are, you’ll end up registering for a bunch more classes on those subjects.  Your goal with these required classes to learn the basic concepts.

• These are introductory classes.  That doesn’t mean they won’t be hard – they likely will be – but it means you don’t have to come in with a complete understanding of these subjects, just the building block concepts that you likely learned in undergrad or high school.

• I’m going to repeat myself from part 1, but keep this in mind – the people who understand the rigors of the curriculum the best – the administration – already believe you can succeed because they admitted you into the program.  Trust their judgment.

• Finally, remember why you’re going to school and that “getting really good grades” probably isn’t on your list.  Be more concerned with getting what you need out of these classes vs. trying to ace every test and project.  But I’m getting ahead of myself, there will be plenty of discussion about b-school grades in a future post.

So there you have it.  Pre-MBAs, what are you planning to do to prepare?  What have you done already?  Any questions that weren’t answered above?  Please post a comment.  MBAs and post-MBAs, what did you do and how did it work for you?  Don’t be afraid of the comment box, use it!