MBA diary: Grades aren’t everything

AT The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), there are two things our MBA professors say a lot: “Put your phones away!” and “Grades aren’t everything.” I must admit to not always following the first instruction, but I agree with the second piece of advice. An MBA presents conflicting pressures. It is an academically demanding degree, with a heavy “quantitative” component of finance and statistics, yet to prepare students for the real world it must force us to look beyond the very metrics and management theories we work so hard to master.

Of course, all schools aspire to teach business in more than the abstract. When we apply to business school, we know we are letting ourselves in for more than spreadsheets. Case studies, secondments to companies, and business plans for actual ventures are standard fare. Yet four months into a one-year MBA course at CUHK, I am still struck by my professors’ insistence that we stop fretting about grades. This is not an easy habit to break. Most MBA students are academic high-achievers. Having invested in an expensive course, we could be forgiven for seeing a high grade as a better return on that investment.