Post #32 The social side of #Sloan @LBS

It has been 2 months since we got started on Sloan. We are half way through the first term and most of us enjoyed the mid term break of one week. It is getting intense in March with a number of group assignments, individual assignment due.

Amidst this hectic schedule, there are a bunch of social activities happening on a regular basis that provide the much needed relief. Some of the events organised by our classmates include Chinese new year party, Belgian beer tasting and Maslenitsa (Russian traditional pancake week). The upcoming events include Holi (Indian festival) and England Vs Denmark football match.

LBS also has plenty of events organised through various clubs. The biggest annual cultural event ‘Tattoo’ was celebrated last month. Diversity at LBS offered the opportunity to experience the food and dance from all parts of the world.  Then we have the weekly sundowners on thursday night, where you can relax with a drink at the end of an hectic week while getting to meet with students from other streams.

The rich academic experience at LBS is complete with the social events that offer an opportunity to bond with and make friends for life.

Post#31: Sloan Commencement @LBS – the journey begins #lbs_sloan

Sloan Commencement @LBS – the journey begins.

Finally the day has arrived.   61 of us (Sloan Fellows) from 28 different nations arrived in London to start our Sloan Journey at London Business School on 6^th Jan 2014.  Kudos to our admissions team for getting together such a brilliant class with an average work experience of 15 years and with such a great diversity – engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, bankers, politicians, military, non-profit –you name it and we have atleast one person with relevant experience in the class.

It has been 2 weeks since the programme started and it has been both hectic as well as fun for me to be back in the classroom after working for13 years. It was mixed feelings on day one as we embarked on the Sloan journey. We started with orientation on day 1 and it was very well organised by the programme office. The classroom layout was in place with our nameplates arranged on the desks.

We got started with the ‘Executive Leadership’ course, which focussed on NEO personality assessment and 360 degree survey results that we completed prior to arriving here.  One of the key reasons for doing Sloan for most people was to become more self-aware than ever before. Both NEO and 360 are a step in that direction where NEO tells you what you think of yourself while 360 survey tells you what others think of yourself.  I heard from most of my classmates that they received a more honest feedback through 360 survey after leaving the organisation than they were with the organisations. The course requires you to write a personal development plan in which you address some of the areas of improvement. We also had an interesting real life case to solve as part of this course.  Case solving is interesting and this is where diversity plays a key part, as you get to different viewpoints on specific topic.

In the first week we were also grouped into study groups. A typical study group consists of five students – key criteria being geography & industry function. My study group consisted of a British, Chinese, Japanese and myself. This group will do all the group exercises together for the core courses. The idea is that you will become an effective team player by working in groups with different dynamics. I personally never worked with a Japanese and was glad that I had a Japanese in my study group.

We also got trained on speed-reading. Speed-reading teaches you techniques on how to get through loads of reading materials quickly and effectively. One has to read a lot of preparatory materials for each class and it is practically impossible to get through all of this by reading word-by-word or line-by-line. After speaking to a few alumni, I decided to focus most of my reading on courses that will be critical for my next role. I have decided to put most efforts into these courses and kind of do speed-reading while preparing for other courses.

Other activities in week 1 included opening dinner on day 1, a class photo and a networking event with alumni that gave some useful insights/tips for getting through the Sloan courses.

Week two was more hectic with a few other core courses like ‘understanding top management’, ‘marketing’ and ‘Managing People & Organisations’ starting this week. We had a lot of prep work as well as some group exercises to do during this week. Week two also had a briefing from ‘Career Services’ on using the online ‘Portal’ for creating CV and applying for jobs. There will be more events from career services on networking, CV & cover letter writing in the coming weeks.

Week two ended with a team-building event in an offsite event for two days at a hotel in Windsor. Team building event was lot of fun while getting to know more about each other in the class, learning more about the values of leadership and the importance of teamwork.

I have a lot of reading to do for the next week and also registered for a few club events.  I will try to post regular updates atleast once a month so that I can provide some useful insights to prospective students. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me if you need any specific information. I think the application process for next class will be open soon, good luck to all prospective applicants.

Post #30 Finding Accommodation near London Business School

There are several ways to look for accommodation in London: from online portal of London Business School(you get access once you accept the admission offer)  where you can search for accommodation or post a requirement in classifieds section to real estate agents, student hostels and professional movers. The school provides access and pointers to all these resources.

You can find a lot of information on the various classifieds websites, estate agents in the survival guide  put together by the partners club. Please refer to the section “2. Survival Guide: Getting Settled”, it has very detailed information on housing and estate agents. There is an agent “JAC Strattons” right opposite to the school who does not charge letting fees for LBS students. The apartments near to school are very small in size, but as you go a bit far, you will get larger spaces for same rent.

Please factor at least 2 to 3 weeks to find accommodation in London. As you will get quite busy once the school starts, it is advisable to arrive early or lock in temporary accommodation for at least 2 to 4 weeks of your initial stay in a bed & breakfast hotel or in a place nearby through portal. Quite a few students advertise short term accommodation during christmas/new year as they want to let the place during the vacation period.

Some Tips:

1. Check if the stove is gas or electric if it matters you

2. Check if hot/cold water mixer tap is in place as houses are old here

3. You can definitely negotiate on rent as well as ask for additional furniture

4. Ask clearly what it means by ‘furnished’ and what exactly do you get

5. Mind that getting internet connection takes time, some times up to a month

6. You can also negotiate on lease term, deposit and also rent if you pay the rent for complete lease period at once.

7. Be aware of the holiday season in second half of December as some of the estate agents might be closed during this period.

8. Last but most importantly, make sure you or one your friends/relatives sees the place in person before booking long term stay as the actual house may be quite different from the advertised photos.

Most of the Indians in the class who are staying alone without families went to YMCA India student hostel. YMCA is a good value for money as they serve breakfast and dinner (Indian food) along with accommodation at a very reasonable rate of 750 GBP per month if you stay for more than 6 months. Please check the official website for up to date information.

Please note that YMCA is a typical hostel accommodation and room sizes are very small. You have a single bed, study table and wardrobe along with a wash basin. The bath rooms are shared. However I found that there is a good hygiene maintained as you would expect in any western country and the food is homely. So if you are single, on a budget and cannot cook and can survive only on Indian food, this is the place.

Several of my classmates with families (especially those with kids) started moving from October onwards in order to search for schools, hunt for accommodation and settle down before the classes start.

Coming to me, I decided to stay in a shared accommodation for 3 months and then bring my family.  This will give me enough time to cope with studies in the first term and also let winter subside before my wife and 6 month-old kid join me.

I decided to stay very close to school so that I can save time and also transportation costs. I got my accommodation through portal classifieds. My approach to looking for accommodation on portal was a bit different. There were several exchange students who were at LBS for Oct to Dec term. I just contacted those students who posted on classifieds and requested them to see if I can take their place from Jan. A few of them connected me with landlords and I finalised one. The advantage of this approach is that you can finalise your accommodation a bit early without waiting until end Nov or early Dec as the rental property moves quite fast in London.

Please plan well in advance for accommodation to ensure you move smoothly and settle down.

Post # 29: Scholarship Application Experience for Sloan #LBS_Sloan

As a winner of Sloan 2014 award, I would like to share my experience on the scholarships application process.

London Business School does offer scholarships for Sloan Fellows.  There are several scholarship awards the details of which can be found under the scholarships section here.

It is important to note that you need to submit a ‘Statement of Financial Support’ in order to be considered for Sloan Awards.

The decisions are made between Aug and Oct every year.  So it is essential that you have your admission offer in hand prior to above timeline and submit ‘Statement of Financial Support’ on time.

I treated ‘Statement of Financial Support’ like any other application essay and spent enough time on this.  As part of the prep work, I reached out to scholarship award winners in the current batch, thanks to linkedin. They did share their experience with the application process and also some valuable inputs.

Below is a summary of the essay approach:

• Show all the calculations in GBP
• Make sure you answer the essay question to the point, especially on the sources of funding, income, expenses etc
• Show the expenses in a logical flow
• Be honest about your financial situation
• Add a brief note about why you deserve a scholarship
• Follow all other tips I mentioned in my essays post.

There are other scholarships dedicated for women and those coming from not for profit organisations in addition to Sloan awards. Please check the school website for complete details on this.

Post #28: UK Tier 4 Student Visa Interview Experience in India

I recently got my tier 4 student visa to pursue Sloan Programme at London Business School. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the admissions team and visa compliance officer for all the help provided during the application process. LBS provided a step-by-step guide to fill the application forms and also organised a webinar detailing the visa process followed by a Q&A session.

The visa requirements are dependent on various factors and keep changing from time to time. Please check UKBA website or contact visa compliance officer at LBS for more details. I encountered a few surprises and wanted to share this information for the benefit of other applicants in India.

1. Appointment Time: I suggest to book an afternoon interview slot. My visa appointment was scheduled for 11:30 AM and I was on time at VFS office (authorised agent for UKBA visa applications) along with my wife and kid in Hyderabad. We finished the biometrics and other paper work formalities within 30 minutes. I was asked to wait for 3 hours to attend a visa interview with visa officer in UK (until UK morning time). VFS could have communicated this earlier as I ended up waiting with a 5 month old kid just for the interview.  I also provided feedback to VFS that student appointments must be provided only in the afternoon slots in India so that applicants need not wait for long time. VFS mentioned that they are just agents and UKBA has to take such decisions. I wish UKBA takes this decision for the convenience of student applicants.  I am also planning to provide this feedback to UKBA through their website.

 2. Fee Payment: VFS does not accept credit cards in India.  I applied for visas through VFS in other countries and they have accepted credit card. I assumed VFS would accept credit card in India as well. I had to rush to a nearby bank to withdraw cash. They do accept Demand Drafts. The visa application fee is  30000 INR approx.  per applicant and note that the fee is the same for dependants as well as infants.

3. Medical Reports: As an applicant from India, I had to submit a medical report for Tuberculosis. While my wife and I underwent X-ray test, my son was not required to go through x-ray. The medical officer issued a certificate based on our reports for my son. It takes a day to get the X-ray reports, so make sure you plan in advance for medical tests. It is mandatory to provide medical test report when you submit visa application.

 4. Visa Interview: The interview was through a video-conference in a kiosk at VFS office. The interview lasted for 10 minutes. Visa officer was friendly and was typing notes as I spoke during the interview. The location was a bit noisy and audio clarity was not good enough. I got similar feedback from some of my classmates who attended interviews in other cities in India.

Below are few questions asked during the visa interview. I am sure this is a cake walk for Sloan students, as they would have prepared for these for LBS interview :-).

1. Introduction- Confirm your name, date of birth and course applied for?
2. Why UK?
3. Why LONDON?
4. Why LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL?
5. Why Sloan?
6. What other schools and countries have you considered?
7. Did you understand  all the questions asked ?

Good luck for other applicants, hope this information is useful.

I am on vacation in India and just getting back to studies. My next post will be on accommodation and pre-programme preparation/reading list for Sloan.

Post #27: An evening with @LondonBSchool Alumni #LBSWAC

This post has been due for some time now. Last couple of weeks had been very hectic as I am in the process of winding up in my current role in Melbourne and moving to India for a short break before I join LBS in Jan 2014.

While I am eagerly looking forward to get started on Sloan Programme in January, I got this wonderful opportunity to attend the worldwide alumni celebrations in Melbourne last month as a prospective student (Thanks to our admission manager who connected me with a Sloan alumnus in Melbourne.)

It was a gathering of about 25 alumni from across the programmes in Melbourne.  It was a very well organised event in a grand setting yet intimate at Tasma Terrace, a heritage building in Melbourne.

I was impressed with the diversity of the alumni: members included very senior people who graduated even before I was born and leading corporations to the most recent graduates.

I received a warm welcome from all of the alumni even as a prospective student. They shared several anecdotes of their good times in LBS. More importantly they provided valuable advise on various topics like accommodation, clubs, school events, study groups etc.

Coming to Sloan Alumni, I met two of them who graduated about 10 years back. One of them is playing a leadership role in one of the universities in Melbourne and the other is in the process of setting up his own venture. Both of them did emphasise that there is as much learning from peers as from faculty in the Sloan Programme given the quality of class profile.

The event was also open to partners and I am glad that I took my wife to the event. She had the opportunity to interact with other partners and got some good tips on living in London. She is more relieved now and looking forward to moving to London along with our 6-month-old baby. Here is what she told me after the event – ‘everyone I interacted with told that the time spent at LBS is one of the best times of their life. This is something to look forward to.’

It was a fun filled evening with some drinks and a lucky draw. As a prospective student, I had the privilege of doing the lucky draw with some LBS merchandise as prizes. I noticed that most of us did not carry business cards when we were collecting them for the lucky draw. We debated a bit on the role of business cards in this digital age and if they are going to get obsolete in a few years from now. By the way, I was handed over LBS branded business card holder case as a gift :-). I have the tendency to keep business cards in my laptop bag, I should make it a point to carry a few in my new case going forward.

I am really looking forward to the eventful year at LBS.

Post #26: How To Open a bank account in UK from outside UK?

When it comes to logistics for moving to UK for the Sloan Masters Programme – there are two important things to take care of:  Accommodation and Bank account opening in UK.

I will write in detail about the bank account opening process in this post while accommodation will be covered in a later post.

Based on my online research and interaction with alumni, I have found that UK banks insist on a local address proof if you have to open a bank account within UK.  As a student, it will take some time to find accommodation and then get a lease document or utility bill as an address proof. However, you may want to have a bank account from day 1 of landing in UK or even earlier where possible so that you can transfer funds to that account prior to arrival.

After exploring options online, I learned that we can open a HSBC account from almost 45 countries across the world. See http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/overseas-account-opening for details.

The process was straightforward. I walked into a local HSBC branch in Melbourne, Australia.

I submitted the following documents:

• LBS Sloan Offer letter
• Passport
• Driver’s license

If you receive admission in LBS and are living in any of the 45 countries listed on the HSBC website, I strongly recommend opening a bank account prior to arrival.

However for any reason if you are unable to do so, make sure you carry enough GBP (currency/traveler’s cheques) that can help you sustain until you find accommodation. Also make sure you authorize someone in your home country to transfer funds once you open a bank account in UK. Not all countries permit forex transfer online.

The school provides you with two copies of enrollment confirmation letters specifying the course duration and the fees already paid by you. You can use these letters for opening a bank account or finding accommodation.

Please note that UK banks do not permit to open a bank account with school address for security reasons.

Post #25: How I sold my property in India remotely (from Australia) to fund my studies?

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I decided to sell my apartment in India to fund my fees for Sloan Programme.

Even though there are several education loans available in India, I decided to sell my flat for the following reasons:

1. I did not have an eligible co-signor within immediate family (parents, sibling, spouse)
2. Interest rates were very high for loan against property
3. My property price appreciated to decent levels and has been saturated at this level for some time now. I thought it is the right time to exit.
4. I am personally against debt with high interest rates and thought that self-financing means more peace of mind enabling me to focus on studies and utilize my time efficiently at once in a life time experience in LBS without any pressure.
5. I am also confident that post Sloan I can secure a job with decent income and buy a good house of my choice down the line :-).

I was thinking whether to write this post or not in this blog, but decided to blog for two key reasons:

1. Selling my property was part of my LBS Sloan Journey
2. There was no clear information available anywhere on internet on ‘how to sell a property in India, if you are outside India’.  Even after talking to several people and also multiple Google searches, I could not get the right information. I want  to share my experience to help others who might be in a similar situation.

If you are outside India and want to sell a property in India, there are two ways to do this:

1. Grant a ‘GPA’ – general power of attorney to one of your trusted family members or friends in India. GPA enables the person to act on your behalf for all transactions (can sign your bank cheques, can sell your property and pretty much be your proxy for all legal transactions)
2. Grant ‘SPA’ – special power of attorney to one of your trusted family members or friends in India. SPA is for a specific purpose/transaction, here in my case for selling my property to a particular buyer.

I went for SPA as this would solve my purpose given that I have identified a buyer and wanted to sell a specific property.

So what is the SPA process?

There are two parts in getting the SPA done.

Part A: SPA documentation and attestation

1. Contact a documentation writer in India and ask him to create the SPA documentation. SPA mentions the following:
   1. Whom you are granting the power
   2. What is the purpose? If purpose is to sell a flat, this also specifies the buyer details and the agreed selling price as well. This means that this SPA can be used only to sell to a specific person to whom you agreed to sell.
2. Get this SPA document printed on Indian revenue stamp papers and ask them to courier to your address. Note that each page should be printed on a stamp paper of Rs20 or higher.
3. Once you receive the SPA document, go to Indian embassy in the country where you are staying and sign in front of the consular officer. You need to provide finger prints as well.
4. Consular officer will take your finger prints, fees for document attestation (40 AUD in Indian Consulate in Melbourne).
5. Note that you would need two witness signatures from persons of Indian origin
6. Indian Consulate generally returns the documents after attestation within 2 hours on the same day or on the following day

Part B: SPA Registration

1. Send the attested documents back to India
2. Ask your documentation lawyer to register this in the registrar office
3. As part of registration, SPA authorized person has to provide finger prints in registrar office
4. The standard fee for registration is INR 1000. Be mindful that the agents may mislead you saying that you need to pay 1% of the sale deed value. Infact my agent told it is 1%, then he brought it down to 0.1% and when I questioned him on what is the amount he would provide a receipt for, he came down and said official fees is only INR1000. So make sure you ask for a receipt and do not end up paying high fees.

For example if you are selling the property for INR 50,00,000 , then 1% is 50,000 INR and 0.1% is INR 5000. So it makes a huge difference.

5. Once you register SPA, the person you authorized is ready to sell the flat on your behalf to the person mentioned as buyer in the SPA document

Sale Deed Registration Process:

1. In addition to SPA, you also need to get the sale deed documentation done by your documentation agent or lawyer on a revenue stamp paper and courier it to you.
2. Make sure the details on SPA and sale deed match for buyer name, SPA authorization name etc.
3. You need to sign on each page of the sale deed document and send it back to India
4. On the day of registration, your SPA and buyer would sign the same sale deed document in front of the registrar
5. As a seller, you will not incur any costs for sale deed registration. Buyer will take care of the stamp duty fees.

Tips for successful execution:

1. Make sure the name, address of buyer, seller and SPA authorized person are in line with the ID proof used for registration
2. Use a reliable courier service as it is a painful process to get the documentation done again and again
3. Make sure you sign as per your passport when you sign in the SPA at Indian consulate
4. Last, but most importantly, ensure that all the cheques are issued in your name and not on SPA name prior to execution. Have a clause in your sale deed and SPA for this.

Hope this helps. Please reach out to me if you need any additional information.

Post #24: Financing for LBS Sloan Masters Programme

When I started blogging one of my colleagues read the title as ‘my lbs (s)loan journey’  (read loan instead of Sloan) :-). I have been researching on the various financing options available in India for some time now and hence the delay in this post. I now realize that loan process is consuming a considerable amount of time and effort in my sloan journey.

I have consolidated inputs from multiples sources for this post. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow admits from India and students in class of 2013 who did a considerable amount of research on the loan options available in India.  I am awaiting information from my fellow admits in other countries on the financing situation. I will keep updating this post as and when I get more information for other countries.

LBS had a tie-up with HSBC to offer loan for Sloan Masters Programme. However, this was discontinued after the 2008 financial crisis. As I mentioned in ‘Comparison of Sloan Fellows Program’ post, the key challenge for LBS Sloan students is to secure loans from banks in their respective countries.

How much do you need to budget for Sloan Program in London?

I arrived at the below figures after talking to current students and alumni. This is some basic data which any student will  begin with.

Please refer to the survival guide put together by LBS Partners club for details on expenses, housing, local transport, medical facilities etc.

Single students:

Total Budget: 70K GBP (INR conversion @90Rs per GBP – 63 lakhs INR)

Breakup:

• 51k course fees
• 19k living expenses. Living expenses are around 1600 GBP per month (1200 for accommodation for 1 bed room apartment, approx 400 for other expenses).

Family Expenses: 80k GBP (INR conversion @90Rs per GBP – 72 lakhs INR

Breakup:

• 51k course fees
• 29k living expenses. Family expenses vary based on the size of family and the amount spent on rent.

Financing in India for LBS Sloan:

I will divide this section into four parts:

1. List of Banks
2. Challenges in securing loans from above banks
3. Other options
4. Path forward

1. List of Banks:

LBS provides a list of banks that students can talk to for loans in various countries, see the documents containing list of banks for various regions below.

• Americas
• Middle East and Asia
• UK and Europe 

Below are a few banks in India with whom we have interacted with in the last couple of months.

a) Credila: LBS financial aid department recommended ‘Credila’ as several students  availed loan from credila in the past.

• Maximum loan offered: No upper limit (meaning you can get full funding for course fees if you have collateral to support)
• Rate of Interest: 13.5% (can negotiate a bit based on co-applicant’s credit history)
• Repayment Tenure: 5 to 7 years.
• No moratorium: Simple Interest to be paid right from first month after disbursement
• Co-applicant accepted: Mother/Father/Spouse. Co-applicant should be earning atleast 15 lakhs INR per annum along with a good credit history to get a loan of 40 lakhs INR.

b) State Bank of India: SBI is the largest public sector bank of India with reasonable interest rates. However we need to provide lot more documentation and do multiple trips to bank as the customer service is not as good as Credila (which offers loans at door steps). Even though this is a lengthy process, this is the best option so far for Indian students.

• Maximum loan offered: 30 lakhs
• Rate of Interest: 12 to 12.5% (can negotiate a bit based on co-applicant’s credit history)
• Repayment Tenure: 12 years
• Moratorium: 1.5 years (you have 6 months after course completion to start repayment)
• Co-applicant accepted: Mother/Father/Spouse/In-laws.

c)  The Paras Education Foundation (TPEF) loan:

If you see the financing section, there is an institution called ‘Paras Education Foundation’ that provides loans to students from across the world if you have co-signor who is a US citizen or has green card. Their interest rates are competitive and provide loans for upto 65000 USD.

I had a detailed discussion with them. The bad news is they stopped providing loans for students in UK from last year. They asked me to check with them again in October which is too late I guess for class of 2014. I want to note that they were not very responsive based on whatever interactions I had with them.

2. Challenges with Credila/SBI:

Both banks require the co-applicant to be from immediate family as mentioned above. However, the average age of Sloan fellow is 38. This implies that most of the parents and in-laws of Sloan fellows are already retired without any income or a small pension income.  Not all spouses work and meet the income requirements.

The harsh reality is these banks do not accept the co-applicant to be a friend or other relatives even if you have collateral that is double the value of loan.

3. Other Options:

There are a couple of other options which we are exploring right now.

1. Loan against Agriculture Property: The interest rates are low on loan against agriculture land. Those who have agriculture properties can explore this option.
2. Top-up on Home Loans: HDFC, SBI and a few other banks offer top-up loans for those with good credit history and already have an existing home loan. Note that you need to be residing in India when you apply for this loan. I am still trying to get more details on this.

4. Path Forward:

LBS currently has tie up with Prodigy Finance to offer loans to MBA/MiF students. We (admitted students for class of 2014) think that Sloan fellows deserve a loan and there is a strong business case to offer loans to Sloan fellows for the following reasons:

• Sloan fellows come with an average of 16 years of experience and are already earning good salaries and have collateral to offer
• Sloan fellows get into good roles with decent salaries post program which is evident from the past career reports. So repayment should not be an issue for Sloan students.

We have approached LBS financial aid department to help convince financial institutions that Sloan fellows deserve a loan. This in turn also helps school to attract the best talent from across the globe while the students can focus on other preparatory work if financing is taken care.

I hope this information helps prospective students to plan well in advance.I will keep updating this post as we gather more details.

Please check the loans section on official website for more details.

Post #23: How I am Preparing for LBS Sloan classes?

It is important that you prepare well in advance for the Sloan Masters Programme so that you can participate actively in the class discussions and also make the best use of your time at LBS.

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, Admissions officers give a lot of weight-age to what you can contribute to the class when evaluating the applications. Generally all admitted students would have demonstrated what they would contribute to the class in their application. So it is important to prepare well and fulfill that promise.  Class participation involves the following:

1. Sharing your own professional experiences
2. Sharing what you have read like current affairs, subjects (eg: marketing, strategy, leadership etc) in relevant contexts
3. Asking relevant questions

As part of the preparation, it is important that you spend at-least 2 hours per day in reading as this will help you in two ways:

• To cultivate the habit of reading and gear up for studying long hours once you start your Sloan classes.
• To be able to relate to whatever examples professors quote about the current economy, politics, business etc and participate actively in the class discussions.

 What should I read?

I classified my reading list into five broad categories:

1. Prerequisite courses: Sloan students need to complete some pre-requisite courses online prior to start of the program. The access to portal (LBS intranet portal) will be provided by end of June 2013 giving you about 6 months to complete these courses. It would help to have a good grasp of the fundamentals so that you can follow the classes well.

2. Current affairs: Most of the professors quote examples of current affairs in their lectures. To be able to relate and understand better, it is important for you to be abreast of current affairs. So I started reading ‘The Economist’ and ‘Time’ magazines on a regular basis from last month.

3. Management Books: I started reading a few books on leadership and strategy. I will be adding a ‘Reading List’ page soon to this blog.

4. Case Studies:  I also want to read cases available on Portal in advance and list down the questions that I would like to discuss with my peers and professors.

5. General Reads:  I am using apps like ‘Flipboard’ to follows the news in the areas of my interest. I am also following companies, professors and several publishers like Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, a few accomplished leaders, research organizations, Industry trends on twitter/linkedin and reading their feeds on a regular basis. A tablet like an ipad will be a good companion to any b-school student if the right apps are leveraged and used efficiently for reading.

So why am I reading so much even before the course starts?

Sloan is an intense 1 year full time academic program.  The more I read, the better I am prepared. I can use any spare time during the program for networking, organizing and participating in club events and explore what the school has to offer in my areas of interest.

What else I am doing other than reading?

Identify a topic and prepare for Sloan for Sloan’s’: 

The current class (2013) introduced a new weekly event entitled ‘Sloan for Sloan’s’ where current students present a subject from their career to the class. This is a great opportunity for students to learn from each other  in addition to the regular classes and  group assignments. So far subjects have ranged from a lesson in Hollywood script pitching to the tumultuous times of the Brazilian economy .

So I am planning to think of the topics to present and be ready with my presentation before the classes start.

Professional Networking:

I informed everyone in my network(manager, ex-bosses, colleagues/ex-colleagues,  friends) about my admission in LBS Sloan. I have also reached out to my mentor, current students whom I know and also alumni to seek their guidance. I also connected with my classmates (admits for class of 2014).

I am sure my fellow classmates would also have started preparing for the classes. As I learn more from them, I will keep updating this post to add additional information.