Excellent news! I’ve just received the result of the last exam I did: Strategic Planning and it turns out that I’ve managed to get a B. I would have preferred to get an A (of course), however the problem with this particular exam was that there’s no wrong or right answer to the questions that were posted. The answers were a matter of opinion though one had to weave in different principles that were learnt through the course. The biggest issue in this case is always one of time; there’s only so much one can write in three hours, but I obviously didn’t write enough.
Anyway, for those who didn’t know, I’m currently doing an MBA (that’s a Masters in Business Administration) with Heriott Watt, a university based in Scotland (Edinburgh to be more exact). As I couldn’t afford to take the time off necessary to do a full-time course, I’m doing it by correspondence. It’s therefore taking me a few years to work my way through the syllabus, but I’m learning lots as I go along and managing to apply what I’m learning to my job. The interesting thing is that what I’m learning on my job actually is helping my studying, so it’s a great win-win situation. I’m currently more than half way through the course now. I was planning on trying to do Project Management and Organisational Behaviour in December, but it really depends on whether I can make my way through two courses in the required time.
So how to I study? Well, the first thing is to read through the text for each course. This is usually quite daunting as each text can easily span 600 pages. The great thing about this degree is that, besides sending you the text, you can also read it online and download a PDF version of the text. This means I can study pretty much anywhere, which is pretty convenient. Once I complete my first reading, I’ll go through the text again, taking notes of salient bits this time, then I working on memorising my study notes.
Degree Revision can be pretty daunting, mainly because of the extent of the material you need to cover, but there’s lots of help online too. From revision websites to advice from people in the same situation; there’s lots you can find on the Internet to help you learn and motivate yourself. What about you? Are you studying anything at the moment ?
Congratulations on the exam score. Hard work and studying pays off every time. While others were out drinking beer and partying, I had my face in the books because I knew I could down a pint for a few dollars instead of paying tends of thousands for it. University is for learning. Get your partying done earlier.
Also, glad to see someone blogging about MBA via correspondence. It is something I’ve meant to look into for awhile.