MBA Exam Preparation Plan Template

MBA Exam Preparation Plan: [Course and exam]

A plan for preparing for MBA core exams in the three formats you will meet most often: open-book case exams, quantitative exams (closed or open book) and take-home cases. It covers how to read the exam format, a four-week timeline with study hours, the materials to build (index, formula sheet, framework map, Excel checks), timed practice, a minute-by-minute time budget, exam-day routines, and how grading curves and grade non-disclosure policies work in general terms. It is for core-year MBA students, Executive MBA participants and admitted students who want to know what MBA assessment looks like before day one. Source basis: retrieval, spacing and interleaving research (Roediger and Karpicke 2006; Rohrer and Taylor 2007; Dunlosky et al. 2013), self-regulated learning (Zimmerman 2002) and the case-method literature (Christensen, Garvin and Sweet 1991), written in our own words. Grading and disclosure rules differ by school and course: always follow your syllabus and your school's current policy. All numbers in examples were computed in Python and are fictional. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example.

Document control

1. Know your exam

MBA core courses assess in a few recurring formats. Each tests something different, so each needs a different kind of preparation. A case exam rewards structured judgement under time pressure; a quantitative exam rewards set-up and accurate calculation; a take-home case rewards depth, clear writing and good time management over a day or two.

Exam profile (fill from the syllabus):

2. The preparation process

Preparation is a loop, not a line: practise, find errors, fix them, practise again until scores stabilise and the error log closes. Materials are built during term so that the final four weeks go to practice.

3. Timeline and study hours

The plan below starts four weeks out and rises to a peak in the last full week, then tapers so you arrive rested. Hours are additional to normal class preparation. The example totals 37 hours for one major core exam.

4. Exam materials to build

Tabbed index (open-book exams). One or two pages listing every concept, framework and formula, with where to find it in your notes and one line on when to use it. Sort it by the questions the exam asks ("is this industry attractive?", "should we invest?"), not by lecture number.

Formula sheet. Start from mba/mba-formula-sheet, keep only what your course uses and add the Excel function next to each formula (for example =NPV(rate, CF1:CFn)+CF0, =PMT(rate, n, pv), =NORM.S.DIST(z, TRUE)). If the exam is closed book, the act of writing the sheet is still the best review you can do.

Framework map. A one-page diagram of how the course's tools connect (see the Mermaid map in mba/mba-core-curriculum-map for the whole core).

Excel check templates (if laptops are allowed). Small, tested sheets for the calculations the course repeats: an NPV and IRR block with a check cell, a break-even block, a WACC block. Test each against a worked example from the cards before the exam, and never bring a sheet you do not fully understand.

Answer skeleton. For case exams, a rehearsed structure (section 7) you can write out in the first minutes.

5. Practice under exam conditions

Testing yourself improves retention more than re-reading the same material (Roediger and Karpicke 2006), and mixing problem types trains the hardest exam skill: recognising which tool a problem needs (Rohrer and Taylor 2007). A timed practice exam does both and also reveals time-management problems that untimed study hides.

Rules for a useful practice exam:

1. Same length, same materials, same tools as the real exam. Phone away.
2. Score it against the solution or rubric strictly; partial credit only where a grader would give it.
3. Log every lost point in mba/mba-error-log with its error type.
4. Re-study the cards behind your top two error types before the next practice exam.
5. Discuss answers with your learning team only after each person has attempted alone, and only where the course's collaboration rules allow it.

Practice log:

In the example, the score rose by 20 points over four attempts, and the error types moved from set-up to judgement and communication, the pattern of someone whose technical base is now secure.

6. Quantitative exams

A routine for each problem:

1. Restate the question in one line: what decision or number is asked, in which units.
2. Write the decision rule or formula before computing (for example "accept if NPV > 0; flows are incremental, after-tax, and exclude sunk costs and financing").
3. List the inputs from the problem and mark the ones you must derive.
4. Estimate the size of the answer (order of magnitude, sign).
5. Compute, showing steps so a grader can give partial credit.
6. Check: units, sign, reasonableness against the estimate, and Excel conventions (=NPV discounts the first value one period; =IRR needs at least one sign change; =PMT returns a negative value for a positive loan).
7. Interpret in one sentence: what the number means for the decision.

Where an exam allows Excel, check each output against a quick hand estimate; a wrong range in =NPV gives a confident, wrong number. Where it does not, practise the hand forms (annuity factors, perpetuity formulas, contribution margin arithmetic) on the cards' Exercise C problems until they are automatic.

7. Open-book case exams

Reading routine. Read the questions first, then skim the case for structure (situation, exhibits, decision), then read in depth with the questions in mind, marking facts and exhibit numbers you will use. See mba/mba-case-reading-guide for a fuller method.

Answer structure. For each question:

1. Recommendation or answer in the first two lines.
2. Three supporting arguments, each pairing a course concept with case facts and, where possible, a number from the exhibits.
3. The main risk or counter-argument and how to manage it.
4. Next steps (only if the question asks for action).

Worked example A (fully solved): time budget. A 180-minute open-book exam has four questions worth 40, 25, 20 and 15 points. You reserve 15 minutes for reading and 15 for a final check, leaving 150 working minutes, or 1.5 minutes per point.

Write the clock time each question ends at the top of your answer sheet. When the time is up, write a two-line conclusion and move on: the first points on a new question are cheaper than the last points on an old one.

Example B (half solved). A 120-minute exam has three questions worth 50, 30 and 20 points. You reserve 10 minutes for reading and 10 for checking. Working minutes: [ ]. Minutes per point: [ ]. Q1: [ ] minutes, Q2: [ ] minutes, Q3: 20 minutes.

Exercise C. Your next real case exam: fill the table below from the syllabus and the exam cover page, then rehearse it on a practice exam.

8. Take-home cases

A take-home case gives you a day or more, so the grader expects depth: a clean model, an argument that uses the exhibits, and a memo a manager could act on. Plan the hours like a project. The example below fits a 48-hour window.

Rules to confirm before starting:

• Collaboration. Many take-home exams are strictly individual even when cases in class are team work. If the rules are unclear, ask the instructor in writing before you start.
• Generative AI. Course rules differ widely: some ban AI tools, some allow them for specified tasks with disclosure. Follow your syllabus; if it says nothing, ask. See mba/mba-ai-use-policy-check.
• Sources. Whether outside data or readings are allowed, and how to cite them.
• Format. Length limits, exhibits, file type, submission time zone.

Use the memo structure in mba/mba-case-write-up: recommendation first, analysis with exhibits, risks, next steps.

9. Exam-day strategy

Night before and morning:

• Materials packed: index, formula sheet, notes, calculator with fresh battery, laptop charged, charger, ID.
• Exam software installed and tested (if used); offline Excel templates open correctly.
• Route and arrival time planned, 20 minutes early.
• Normal sleep; no new topics after the evening before.

In the room:

• Read the instructions and every question before answering; mark point values.
• Write the time budget and end clock times at the top of the page.
• Start with the question you can answer best, if the order is free.
• Show set-up and steps; state assumptions explicitly when the case leaves something open.
• When stuck for more than 3 minutes, write your best partial approach and move on.
• Keep the final 10 to 15 minutes for checking numbers, units and that every question has a recommendation.

If something goes wrong (illness, technical failure, a family emergency), contact the programme office before or as soon as possible after the exam and follow the school's procedure; do not try to explain it later in an answer.

10. Grading curves and grade non-disclosure

Curves. Many MBA programmes grade core courses on a curve: the instructor ranks performance and assigns grade categories so that each category holds roughly a target share of the class, sometimes set by the school and sometimes by the instructor. Others use criteria-based grading, where every student who meets a standard receives the grade. Under a curve, your grade depends on your position relative to classmates, so a hard exam does not by itself mean a low grade, and a high raw score can still land in a middle category if the class did well.

Worked example (curve logic). On a fictional exam the class mean is 65 and the standard deviation 10. A raw score of 72 gives $z = (72 - 65)/10 = 0.7$. If scores were roughly normal, that would sit at about the 75.8th percentile (=NORM.S.DIST(0.7,TRUE) returns 0.758). A raw score of 80 gives $z = 1.5$, about the 93.3rd percentile (=NORM.S.DIST(1.5,TRUE)). Real score distributions are often skewed, so instructors use ranks rather than a normal curve; the example only shows why relative position matters.

What this means for preparation:

• Points are worth the same wherever you earn them, so the time budget matters more than perfection on one question.
• Clear structure and explicit recommendations help a grader compare answers quickly and fairly.
• Do not let classmates' talk about "the curve" change your plan; it is outside your control.

Grade non-disclosure. Some business schools have a grade non-disclosure policy, often adopted by student vote. In general such a policy means students do not share course grades or GPA with recruiters during on-campus recruiting, and employers agree not to ask; the aim is a collaborative class culture and room to take hard courses. Scope differs by school: some policies cover only the recruiting process, some apply until an offer is accepted, and some are informal norms. Pre-MBA information (undergraduate record, test scores) is usually outside the policy. Check your school's current policy with the career management centre before you put any grade on a resume or answer a recruiter's question; also note that some employers and later graduate programmes may ask for transcripts after the policy period.

11. After the exam

1. When the solution or feedback is released, compare your answers line by line and log every lost point in mba/mba-error-log.
2. If you think a question was graded in error, follow the course's regrade procedure in writing, within its deadline, pointing to the specific part of the answer and the rubric. Some courses regrade the whole exam when a request is made, so check the procedure first.
3. Write three lines in mba/mba-learning-journal: what worked in your preparation, what did not, what you will change.
4. Keep the cards for this course in your review rotation: recruiting interviews test the same concepts months later.

Common mistakes

Quality checklist

• Exam profile complete and checked against the current syllabus.
• Index and formula sheet finished and tested on a practice exam.
• At least two full timed practice exams scored and logged.
• Top two error types re-studied with the matching cards.
• Time budget written and rehearsed.
• Collaboration, AI and materials rules confirmed in writing where unclear.
• Logistics and exam-day checklist done.

Self-test questions

1. Name three differences between preparing for an open-book case exam and a quantitative exam.
2. A 180-minute exam has 100 points; you reserve 15 minutes to read and 15 to check. How many minutes per point?
3. Why does a tabbed index sorted by question type beat one sorted by lecture?
4. Give the Excel convention that most often causes a wrong NPV, and the fix.
5. Under a curve, why can a raw score of 70 earn a higher grade on one exam than a raw score of 80 on another?
6. In general terms, what does a grade non-disclosure policy cover, and what should you check before listing a grade on your resume?
7. What are the two most important rules to confirm before starting a take-home case?
8. Why should the study hours taper in exam week?

My notes and next steps

Exam: [ ]. Plan start date: YYYY-MM-DD. Weakest topics: [ ]. Practice exams booked on: [ ]. Questions to ask the instructor or teaching assistant: [ ].

Sources and further reading

• Roediger, H. L., and Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
• Rohrer, D., and Taylor, K. (2007). The shuffling of mathematics problems improves learning. Instructional Science, 35(6), 481–498.
• Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., and Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
• Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: an overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–70.
• Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.
• Christensen, C. R., Garvin, D. A., and Sweet, A. (Eds.) (1991). Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion Leadership. Harvard Business School Press.
• Further reading (by name only): Ellet, The Case Study Handbook; your school's academic integrity code, grading policy and career centre recruiting policy.

Answer key

Example B. Working minutes $120 - 10 - 10 = 100$; minutes per point $100 / 100 = 1.0$; Q1 50 minutes, Q2 30 minutes, Q3 20 minutes.

Self-test.

1. Case exams reward judgement, structure and a defended recommendation, so you practise whole cases timed and build a question-sorted index; quantitative exams reward correct set-up and calculation, so you practise many mixed problems and checking habits; materials differ (index and answer skeleton versus formula sheet and calculator fluency).
2. $(180 - 15 - 15) / 100 = 1.5$ minutes per point.
3. Exam questions arrive as problems ("should we invest?"), not as lecture titles; an index keyed to questions gets you to the right tool in seconds.
4. =NPV discounts the first value one period, so including the year 0 flow in the range undervalues the project; write =NPV(rate, CF1:CFn)+CF0.
5. A curve assigns grades by relative position: 70 on a hard exam with a low class mean can rank higher than 80 on an easy exam with a high class mean.
6. In general, students do not disclose course grades or GPA to recruiters during recruiting (sometimes until an offer is accepted) and employers agree not to ask; check your school's current policy and scope with the career centre.
7. The collaboration rules and the generative AI rules (plus allowed sources and format).
8. Recall and performance depend on being rested; the learning is already done, and light retrieval keeps it available without fatigue.

Revision history

Standard and licence note

Structure aligned with the learning research and case-method literature cited above. The plan, examples and checklists are original text written for this library; examples and numbers are fictional. Grading, disclosure, collaboration and AI rules are described only in general terms: your school's current policies and your course syllabus always take precedence. This template is not affiliated with or endorsed by any business school. Template licence: MIT.