Kellogg Class of 2018: Now What?

To Do List3. Create a to-do calendar. Make sure you list the key dates for all the schools that have accepted you for Admit Weekends, enrollment deadlines, and finally the deadline to make up your mind and send in your deposit to your future alma mater. This year’s enrollment deadline at Kellogg is April 28th and requires a $2,000 non-refundable deposit so that the two-year admits can start the MBA program in September of 2016.

4. Taking care of business. Send thank you notes to everyone who helped you get into our target schools, decline your offers from other schools, tell your boss you’re leaving and lay the groundwork for a possible return (you never know if you’ll want to go back), let your network know where and when you’re going, and assess your housing preferences and investigate options.

Class in the NYU Stern School of Business - Ethan Baron photo

Class in the NYU Stern School of Business – Ethan Baron photo

5. Prepare for class. What do you think is the best time to learn the basics of finance? When you’re buried in case studies and projects or have the free time to study at your pace? The answer is obvious. It could be helpful to take an accounting, finance, or MBA math course before the start of school. The best way to do that is by signing up for a free MOOC or, if you are especially ambitious, apply to Harvard Business School’s online business basics course, HBX. That program has been offered to HBS’ own admits as a way to get a head start on an MBA program.

The question to ask yourself: How much of the material you are about to encounter as a first-year MBA will be brand new to you rather than subject matter that you’ve studied in the past or mastered in a previous work context? Can you acquire syllabi for MBA core courses and purchase text books to read in advance (if anything, to make the process of absorption and learning that much smoother once you are in the thick of business school life)? If there are obvious knowledge gaps – such as a lack of exposure to financial modeling via Excel, you can take a few video courses on the Internet to get you up to speed.

DON’T MISS: ACCEPTED TO BUSINESS SCHOOL? NOW WHAT? or TEN THINGS I WISH I’D KNOWN BEFORE GETTING MY MBA

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