# What are the toughest MBA courses to study for?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-toughest-mba-courses-to-study-for/540385>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 22, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-toughest-mba-courses-to-study-for/540385 "2010-05-22T17:45:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Spin\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Spin\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spin_Master)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-toughest-mba-courses-to-study-for/540385/1 "2010-05-22T17:45:41Z")

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I plan on starting an MBA program in the near future and I’m going to use the time I have now to study and prepare for the toughest courses I’m going to take. My goal is to graduate at the top of my class.

The typical MBA program consists of these courses:

Accounting Information Analysis  
Quantitative Methods for Business Decisions  
Business Policy & Strategy  
International Business  
Managerial Economics  
Financial Management  
Business Leadership  
Marketing Administration

Which topics should I focus most of my efforts on now while I have ample time to prepare for them?

If possible, could someone list those courses from what is generally considered hardest to easiest?

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**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-toughest-mba-courses-to-study-for/540385/2 "2010-05-22T18:01:03Z")

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It largely depends on your background. People who are coming in with highly developed quantitative skills tend to find the more technical courses easier, whereas they may struggle a bit with the courses that are oriented towards soft skills. People who are less quantitative may have the opposite experience.

Also, what do you hope to gain by graduating at the top of your class? Most employers won’t value that as much as you might hope, and if you forgo networking in favor of studying, you’re really not going to be getting as much out of the MBA as you would otherwise.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-toughest-mba-courses-to-study-for/540385/3 "2010-05-22T18:36:44Z")

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Moved from **General Questions** to **In My Humble Opinion**.  
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