How to achieve good grades at MBA school

Before anything else, let me define "good grades" for the sake of this blog post.  
Good grades mean grades 3.5 and above (at AGSB, the highest is 4.0. They don’t give grades in between, so the next best grade after 4.0 is 3.5).  


There are many tricks to achieving good grades. I’ll let you in on some things I know =):

Be friends with people who also obsess about grades. 

People who obsess about grades put you on your toes all the time.  Make sure you have their phone numbers as they have all the information about deadlines and where to get solutions to class cases. 


Be very engaging with professors in class.

Remember that it’s the professors who give grades. So it helps if your professor knows you exist. One way to do this is by being very responsive in class. Whenever the professor says something, nod in agreement. Make comments. Ask questions. Of course, this advise doesn't work if your comments or questions are not smart. The moment you start with nonsense, your professor will put an invisible x mark on your name. You're doomed for life.

Be on guard with certain “evil" professors

There are professors that are simply evil incarnated. They won’t give 4.0 because they think mortals like you don’t deserve it. So no matter how much you study, the highest you can get is only whatever ceiling they set. Always be on guard with these professors. Before enrolling, make sure to know who the assigned professor will be. If you know these devils are there, don’t enrol. Wait 'til someone more human will be assigned.

Don’t go absent

Being absent in class is one of the worst things one can ever do while taking MBA. If you’re taking Exec MBA, you only have 4 whole-day meetings or 8 sessions per subject. Missing one of these sessions is like missing one month worth of classes. 

Remember, you are more important

There are times when group assignments and team assignments happen at the same time. When you need to prioritize, make sure to prioritize yourself. Who cares about teamwork? :P