My advice to those starting business school.

These are the pieces of advice that I wish I had known when I was starting business school. I’ve compiled them based on my own reflections and my collecting of bits of advice I was given by others along the way*.

“What is one piece of advice you would give to someone starting business school?” — This is the one question I always get asked from prospective students. While I understand their hope for one key takeaway, each student’s ambitions and the experiences provided by each school vary significantly from one to the next, which makes identifying the single best piece of advice an impossible task. As such, I have decided to lay out my top pieces of advice on how to take advantage of the experience which I believe can be broadly applicable to anyone going to business school.

1. Take advantage of your .edu email address

Take advantage of the access you get from being a student. This small window as a second-time student allows you to email and connect with those you would not have had access to in the past. People, especially alumni, are willing to be helpful and supportive of students as they figure out their career path and life aspirations. This access greatly diminishes upon graduation, so take advantage of it now.

2. Seek out opportunities that everyone doesn’t look for. The interesting one-of-a-kind opportunity.

There is a very strong “follow the herd” mentality in business schools. Much of it coming from the competitive nature of the student body seeking to secure prestigious corporate jobs. Unfortunately, this guides a majority of extremely intelligent and dynamic students into a narrow set of advertised career paths.

Instead, use the resources you have at business school to look at other career options and unique opportunities. Leverage your classmates, faculty, campus speakers and alumni to find those jobs which might not have a formal job description. Get creative! These types of roles are distinct and my friends who took the chance on these opportunities found them rewarding.

3. Write down one thing per day whether its from a class, an activity or a feeling which stuck with you.

Business school goes by very fast. Not only is it hard to do everything, but it is even harder to retain the material you’ve learned and remember many of the things you did.

By writing down one thing per day, you will more easily retain the important things, make sure you are learning something important every day, and will give yourself a way to easily reflect in the future. Don’t be too prescriptive about what this thing needs to be — if something catches your ear or changes your perspective, write it down.

4. Take advantage of the available resources in the space you care about, especially those that are less advertised.

Most schools have advertised resources, whether it’s an entrepreneurship center, on-campus conferences, or special professor office hours. My advice is to take advantage of these, but also go beyond these resources and get creative about where you can learn more and get involved. These ‘hidden ’ resources are usually the most valuable as they tend to be more personal and less utilized.

• Joining a club at a nearby school that may not exist on your campus or resurrecting an old club and connecting with the past alumni club leaders.
• Reaching out to undergraduate professors or PhD students in your sector of interest to see if you can talk to them about their research or if there is room for you to get involved.
• Accessing the job boards of other schools (many schools have job board reciprocity, if you ask)

5. Pick a set of places you want to travel and stick to it.

If you plan on traveling during business school (which I highly recommend if possible), make sure you have a plan for where you want to go. It is easy to get wrapped up in the excitement and FOMO of big, pre-planned trips, but these can be the least rewarding because of the lack of intimacy and self-directed discovery.

Two years goes by quickly so make sure you have a list of places you want to visit and stick to it by organizing those trips yourself or convincing a small group of friends to join you.

6. Do late night small group sessions with people who are different from you. These are the times when you really learn and get to know people.

Some of the richest interactions I had with classmates were those after a good home-cooked dinner where people felt more at-ease and willing to open up and share their views on the world. Make it a goal to do these with people you wouldn’t normally interact with or converse with, as those are the people you are likely to learn the most from.

Many schools informally have some type of “dinner club” sign-up sheet where people can sign-up to cook or attend a dinner being cooked at someone else’s home. These are great ways to really get to know people outside of day-to-day activities.

7. Seek to learn more specialized knowledge outside of the classroom than inside of it.

Inside the classroom you gain perspective, learn how to debate, and challenge ideas. But to get better at a specific role or function you want to go into, you need to put in the work, study, and practice outside of the classroom. I would recommend that for every hour of work you do to prepare for in-class learning, put in 1–2 hours of out-of-class learning through self-study, reading, networking, and online classes in your area of focus.

8. Find part-time internships or formal side projects — mostly during your second year.

Internships are the best ways to learn in business school and being a student affords you the ability to take on various short-term engagements that would not have been previously possible as a full-time employee. Try a few different things out, as it is both helps you grow your network, filter and test out different career paths, and grow new unexpected skill-sets.

9. Find an on-campus mentor.

Usually this person will be a professor. This is the people that you can turn to in times of uncertainty. Build your relationship with this person. They will be able to pass on advice, point you to specific colleagues for help, and be an advocate for you on campus. I would recommend doing at least one dinner with them per semester.

10. Learn a new skill — totally unrelated to business.

The time flexibility you will have in business school is unparralleled and there is no better time to pick up a new skill. Think playing guitar, becoming a certified as a yoga instructor, or learning a new language. Because time may seem hard to come by, I would recommend blocking off specific time on your calendar each day or week for practice. After 18 months , you will find that the time flew by and at the end of it all you also left business school with a totally new skill under your belt.

*I graduated from Harvard Business School in 2020 and co-founded an investment firm that I still run today.