# Pre-MBA 12-Week Roadmap: [Your name, programme and start date] > A week-by-week preparation plan for the 12 weeks between admission (or the end of your job) and the first day of an > MBA programme. It covers quantitative skills, Excel, financial accounting, finance, economics, statistics, case > reading, business writing, career exploration and logistics, with hours per week on three tracks, a deliverable > and a checkpoint for every week, and a link to the primer or template that teaches each topic. It is for admitted > full-time and executive MBA students, especially career changers and anyone several years away from formal study. > Source basis: the content assumed by the core courses of leading international programmes (see > mba/mba-core-curriculum-map), the learning research of Dunlosky et al. (2013) and Cepeda et al. (2006), and the official pages cited for > each dated fact; all wording and examples are original. > Replace every `[bracketed]` value and every row marked *Example*. This is a planning aid, not admissions, legal, > immigration or financial advice: check your school's admitted-student instructions and the official pages linked > here before you rely on any fact. ## Document control | Field | Value | |---|---| | Document ID | [PRE-MBA-PLAN-001] | | Learner | [Your name] | | Programme and format | [School A, full-time two-year MBA / School B, executive MBA] | | First required date (week 12 ends) | YYYY-MM-DD | | Week 1 start date | YYYY-MM-DD | | Track chosen | [Light 6 h a week / Standard 10 h a week / Intensive 15 h a week] | | School pre-term requirements | [Online accounting module due YYYY-MM-DD / quant waiver exam YYYY-MM-DD / none published] | | Reviewed by | [Mentor, second-year student or coach] | | Last updated | YYYY-MM-DD | | Version | [0.1] | ## Contents 1. Purpose and when to start 2. How the plan is built 3. Step 0: assess and choose a track 4. The plan at a glance 5. Week-by-week plan 6. Hours budget by area 7. What each area should achieve 8. Checkpoints 9. Logistics timeline and dated facts 10. Career exploration before day one 11. Weekly routine 12. Progress tracker 13. Common mistakes 14. Self-test ## 1. Purpose and when to start The first term of a leading MBA programme is the busiest of the degree. Core courses in financial accounting, finance, microeconomics, statistics and organisational behaviour run in parallel; cases are discussed daily; learning teams form in the first week; and recruiting events for internships start within weeks at many schools. Students who arrive with rusty algebra, no Excel fluency and no idea how to read a balance sheet spend their evenings catching up, which costs them sleep, class participation and the relationships the programme is meant to build. This roadmap moves that catching up into the 12 weeks before the programme, when your time is more flexible. It does not try to teach the core: the aim is that the first week of each core course feels like review of familiar vocabulary, not a new language. That target is reachable in about 120 hours (the standard track), spread over 12 weeks. Start 12 weeks before your first required date. Many schools hold pre-term sessions, orientation, a quant camp or learning-team activities one to three weeks before the first class; count back from the first of those. If you are still working full time, the light track (6 hours a week) is realistic; if you have left your job, the intensive track leaves time for logistics and rest. ## 2. How the plan is built **Prerequisites first.** Finance needs algebra, exponents and Excel; valuation needs accounting; regression needs descriptive statistics. The plan therefore runs quant and Excel first, accounting second, finance third, economics and statistics fourth, and case work last, when you have the vocabulary to read cases well. **Spacing and retrieval.** Each topic comes back in later weeks (the "review" items in section 5) and each checkpoint is a test, not a re-read. Distributed practice and practice testing were the two techniques rated high utility in the review by Dunlosky et al. (2013); for retention over months, gaps of days to weeks between reviews work better than cramming (Cepeda et al. 2006). **Worked examples, then problems.** Every primer in this library uses the solved, half-solved, unsolved pattern (Renkl and Atkinson 2003). Do the half-solved example before you look at answers. **Deliverables, not hours.** Hours are a budget, not a target. Each week ends with a file: a solved exercise set, a linked Excel model, a case prep sheet, a memo. Deliverables make progress visible to you and to a mentor. **Balance.** About 60% of the hours go to academic preparation and 40% to cases and writing, career exploration, logistics and review. Arriving organised and rested is part of being ready. ## 3. Step 0: assess and choose a track Complete mba/mba-readiness-self-assessment and the 12-question diagnostic in mba/pre-mba-quant-refresher in week 1. Then pick a track. | Your situation | Track | Hours a week | Total hours | |---|---|---|---| | Strong quantitative background (engineering, finance, economics), Excel daily, readiness 4 or 5 in most areas | Light | 6 | 72 | | Mixed background, readiness 3 in several areas, or several years since formal study | Standard | 10 | 120 | | Humanities, arts, public sector, military or clinical background without accounting or finance; readiness 1 or 2 in two or more areas | Intensive | 15 | 180 | **Skipping rules.** If your diagnostic score is 11 or 12, replace quant hours with Excel or finance. If you hold an accounting or finance qualification, take the primer self-test in week 1; at 80% or more, replace that primer's hours with economics, statistics or case practice. Keep the checkpoints even when you skip content. **Compressing the plan.** With 8 weeks, merge weeks 1 and 2, 5 and 6, and 9 and 10, and use the intensive hours. With 6 weeks or fewer, do the diagnostic, the accounting primer, the finance primer to NPV, the Excel drills and one case prep sheet, in that order, and leave the rest for the first term. ## 4. The plan at a glance The plan has three four-week blocks, each ending in a checkpoint, and a logistics thread that runs alongside from week 1 to arrival. Academic topics follow their prerequisites; case work, writing and career exploration grow as the academic load falls. ```mermaid flowchart LR A["Week 1: assess, choose track, logistics list"] --> B["Weeks 1 to 4: quant, Excel, accounting"] B --> C["Checkpoint 1, week 4"] C --> D["Weeks 5 to 8: finance, economics, statistics"] D --> E["Checkpoint 2, week 8"] E --> F["Weeks 9 to 12: cases, writing, career, mixed review"] F --> G["Checkpoint 3, week 12"] G --> H["Arrive: orientation and pre-term"] A --> L["Logistics thread: visa, funding, housing, health, kit"] L --> H ``` ## 5. Week-by-week plan | Week | Focus and templates | Hours (standard) | Deliverable | Checkpoint or review | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Readiness self-assessment (mba/mba-readiness-self-assessment); quant diagnostic and sections 3 to 5 (mba/pre-mba-quant-refresher); Excel drill D1, relative, absolute and mixed references (mba/pre-mba-excel-modeling-drills); logistics master list (section 9) | 10: assess 2, quant 4, Excel 2, logistics 2 | Readiness scores, diagnostic score, track chosen, logistics list with owners and dates | Track recorded in Document control | | 2 | Quant sections 6 and 7 (growth, percentages); Excel drills D2 (lookups with XLOOKUP and INDEX-MATCH) and D3 (conditional sums, counts and averages); accounting primer sections "The accounting equation", "Debits and credits" and "Accrual accounting and adjusting entries" (mba/pre-mba-accounting-primer); first career reflection | 10: quant 3, Excel 3, accounting 2, career 1, logistics 1 | Quant Exercise C solutions for sections 3 to 7; Excel workbook with drills D1 to D3 | Review: week 1 diagnostic misses | | 3 | Accounting primer sections "The three statements and how they link" and Worked example A (Northfield Trail Rentals, year 1); quant review; Excel drill D4, pivot tables; read mba/mba-case-reading-guide once | 10: accounting 4, Excel 2, quant 1, cases 1, career 1, logistics 1 | Worked example A's three linked statements rebuilt in Excel from the journal | Review: percentages and growth, 5 mixed problems | | 4 | Accounting primer sections "What changes with IFRS 18 from 2027", Worked example B, Exercise C and the primer self-test; ratios with mba/mba-ratio-analysis-card (the primer itself has no ratio section); Excel drill D7, charts; quant sections 8 and 9 (probability, descriptive statistics); Checkpoint 1 | 10: assess 2, quant 2, Excel 2, accounting 3, career 1 | Ratio analysis of Northfield Trail Rentals using mba/mba-ratio-analysis-card; error log entries (mba/mba-error-log) | **Checkpoint 1** (section 8) | | 5 | Finance primer sections from "Single sums: future value and present value" to "NPV and IRR: Worked example A" (mba/pre-mba-finance-primer), with the Excel financial functions they use (`NPV`, `IRR`, `PMT`, `XNPV`); accounting review; first practice case | 10: finance 4, Excel 2, accounting 1, cases 1, career 1, logistics 1 | NPV and IRR model with a sensitivity table | Review: three statements from memory | | 6 | Finance primer Worked example B and "Risk and return basics" (returns, portfolio risk, CAPM), then WACC in mba/mba-capm-wacc-card (the primer stops at CAPM); statistics: sampling and confidence intervals (academic/stats-sampling-distributions, academic/stats-confidence-intervals); Excel drills D5 (data tables for sensitivity) and D6 (Goal Seek and Solver); first pass of mba/mba-formula-sheet | 10: finance 4, quant and statistics 2, Excel 2, cases 1, career 1 | WACC calculation for a fictional company; formula sheet with your own notation column | Review: TVM, 5 mixed problems | | 7 | Economics primer sections 1 to 5: opportunity cost, supply and demand, elasticity, marginal analysis and profit maximisation, market structures (mba/pre-mba-economics-primer); finance: DCF overview; statistics: hypothesis testing (academic/stats-hypothesis-testing) | 10: economics 4, finance 2, quant and statistics 2, cases 1, logistics 1 | Elasticity and pricing worksheet | Review: CAPM and WACC | | 8 | Economics primer sections 6 to 9: GDP and growth, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates; statistics: regression (academic/stats-linear-regression); first full case prep sheet (mba/mba-case-prep-sheet); Checkpoint 2 | 10: assess 2, quant and statistics 2, economics 3, cases 2, career 1 | One completed case prep sheet; regression on a small data set in Excel | **Checkpoint 2** (section 8) | | 9 | Two cases with prep sheets; business writing: one-page memo (business/memo, mba/mba-business-communication-card); finance review with an integrated Excel model (drill D8, a small three-statement model); career: self-assessment and industry research, draft mba/mba-recruiting-plan | 10: cases and writing 3, finance 2, Excel 2, career 2, logistics 1 | Two case prep sheets; one memo with a recommendation in the first paragraph | Review: economics, 5 mixed problems | | 10 | Two more cases, practise speaking to one in 2 minutes; statistics: interpreting regression output (mba/mba-regression-for-managers-card); career: networking tracker (mba/mba-networking-tracker), conversations with second-year students or alumni if your school's rules allow; housing and arrival | 10: cases and writing 3, quant and statistics 2, economics 1, career 2, logistics 2 | Two more case prep sheets; networking tracker with 10 to 15 names and a question list | Review: hypothesis testing and regression | | 11 | Mixed problem set across all areas (interleaved); Excel drill D9, modelling conventions and checks; draft learning team charter ideas (mba/mba-learning-team-charter); budget for the programme (mba/mba-budget-during-program); logistics: travel, insurance, banking, kit | 10: assess and review 3, Excel 1, cases and writing 2, career 1, logistics 3 | Mixed problem set marked; programme budget; logistics list 90% done | Review: everything, interleaved | | 12 | Checkpoint 3: readiness re-assessment, final formula sheet; draft mba/mba-two-year-plan; one last case; travel, arrival and rest | 10: assess and review 3, cases and writing 2, career 1, logistics 4 | Re-assessment scores; final formula sheet; two-year plan draft | **Checkpoint 3** (section 8) | Total standard-track hours: 120 (10 a week for 12 weeks), computed from the table. ## 6. Hours budget by area | Area | Standard (h) | Share | Light, x0.6 (h) | Intensive, x1.5 (h) | |---|---|---|---|---| | Assess and review (including checkpoints) | 12 | 10.0% | 7.2 | 18.0 | | Quant and statistics | 18 | 15.0% | 10.8 | 27.0 | | Excel | 16 | 13.3% | 9.6 | 24.0 | | Accounting | 10 | 8.3% | 6.0 | 15.0 | | Finance | 12 | 10.0% | 7.2 | 18.0 | | Economics | 8 | 6.7% | 4.8 | 12.0 | | Cases and writing | 16 | 13.3% | 9.6 | 24.0 | | Career exploration | 12 | 10.0% | 7.2 | 18.0 | | Logistics | 16 | 13.3% | 9.6 | 24.0 | | **Total** | **120** | **100%** | **72.0** | **180.0** | ```vega-lite { "$schema": "https://vega.github.io/schema/vega-lite/v5.json", "description": "Standard-track hours by area over 12 weeks (computed from the plan table)", "width": 360, "height": 220, "data": {"values": [ {"area": "Assess and review", "hours": 12}, {"area": "Quant and statistics", "hours": 18}, {"area": "Excel", "hours": 16}, {"area": "Accounting", "hours": 10}, {"area": "Finance", "hours": 12}, {"area": "Economics", "hours": 8}, {"area": "Cases and writing", "hours": 16}, {"area": "Career exploration", "hours": 12}, {"area": "Logistics", "hours": 16} ]}, "mark": "bar", "encoding": { "y": {"field": "area", "type": "nominal", "sort": "-x", "title": null}, "x": {"field": "hours", "type": "quantitative", "title": "Hours (standard track)"} } } ``` ## 7. What each area should achieve **Quantitative skills (mba/pre-mba-quant-refresher).** Rearrange any formula for the unknown, solve for a growth rate or a number of periods with logarithms, find the maximum of a quadratic profit function, handle percentage changes, points and margins without errors, compute an expected value and a conditional probability with a tree. Target: 11 or 12 on the diagnostic re-take. **Excel (mba/pre-mba-excel-modeling-drills).** Build a small model with inputs, calculations and outputs on separate areas; use absolute and relative references correctly; use `XLOOKUP` or `INDEX` with `MATCH`, `SUMIFS`, pivot tables, data tables, Goal Seek and the financial functions; add checks that flag errors. Target: build a three-statement model or an NPV model from a blank sheet in under 60 minutes. **Financial accounting (mba/pre-mba-accounting-primer, with mba/mba-ratio-analysis-card for ratios).** Record transactions with the accounting equation, explain how net income, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement connect, tell profit from cash, and compute and interpret the main ratios. Know that IFRS and US GAAP differ in places and that, as of October 2026, IFRS 18 replaces IAS 1 for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027 (check https://www.ifrs.org). Target: explain where a depreciation charge appears in each statement. **Finance (mba/pre-mba-finance-primer, then mba/mba-capm-wacc-card for WACC).** Discount cash flows, compute NPV and IRR in Excel with the right timing, explain why risk raises the discount rate, compute a cost of equity with CAPM and a WACC. Target: value a five-year project and explain the decision in two sentences. **Economics (mba/pre-mba-economics-primer).** Use supply and demand to predict price and quantity changes, compute and interpret an elasticity, explain marginal cost and why price exceeds it under market power, and read the main macro indicators (GDP growth, inflation, policy rates, exchange rates). Target: explain why a 10% price cut can lower revenue. **Statistics (academic/stats-* cards).** Describe data with the right summary, explain a sampling distribution and a confidence interval, set up and read a hypothesis test, and interpret a regression coefficient and $R^2$ in business words. Target: read a regression table and say what it does and does not show. **Case reading and discussion (mba/mba-case-reading-guide, mba/mba-case-prep-sheet).** Read a case in two passes, identify the decision maker and the decision, build the analysis that supports a recommendation, and be ready to open the discussion in two minutes. Target: four case prep sheets by week 12. **Business writing (business/memo, mba/mba-business-communication-card).** Lead with the recommendation, support it with three reasons and numbers, and fit it on one page. Target: one memo a reader can act on after reading the first paragraph. **Career exploration (mba/mba-recruiting-plan, mba/mba-networking-tracker).** Know which two or three functions or industries you want to test, what recruiting for each looks like at your school, and which questions you will ask in the first month. Target: a one-page draft recruiting plan. ## 8. Checkpoints | Checkpoint | Week | Test | Pass bar | If you miss it | |---|---|---|---|---| | CP1 | 4 | Quant diagnostic re-take; accounting primer self-test; build three linked statements from a blank sheet | Diagnostic 10 of 12 or more; self-test 75% or more; statements balance | Move 2 hours a week from career to the weak area for weeks 5 and 6; book a session with a mentor | | CP2 | 8 | Finance and economics primer self-tests; NPV model from a blank sheet in 45 minutes; one case prep sheet reviewed by a classmate or mentor | Self-tests 75% or more; NPV correct including timing; prep sheet states the decision and a recommendation | Repeat the finance worked examples; cut one case in week 9 | | CP3 | 12 | Readiness self-assessment re-take; mixed problem set (20 questions across all areas, 60 minutes) | Readiness 3 or more in every area; mixed set 70% or more | List the two weakest areas in mba/mba-two-year-plan and plan support in term 1 (school tutoring, study group, office hours) | Record each result in section 12. Checkpoints are for you: no school sees them, so mark honestly. ## 9. Logistics timeline and dated facts **Relative timeline.** T is your first required date at school. | When | Task | Template or source | Owner | Done | |---|---|---|---|---| | T-12 weeks or earlier | Read the school's admitted-student portal: deposits, required pre-term modules, waiver exams, immunisation and health forms, document deadlines | School portal | [You] | [ ] | | T-12 weeks | Confirm funding: scholarships, sponsor letters, loans, savings; build the programme budget | mba/mba-funding-scholarship-plan, mba/mba-budget-during-program | [You] | [ ] | | T-12 weeks | International students: request the school's immigration documents and start the visa process as soon as the school allows | mba/mba-international-applicant-plan, school international office | [You] | [ ] | | T-10 weeks | Housing: school housing application or private search; avoid paying deposits to unverified listings | School housing office | [You] | [ ] | | T-8 weeks | Health insurance (school plan or waiver), vaccinations, prescriptions | School health services | [You] | [ ] | | T-6 weeks | Laptop, software required by the school (some programmes require or recommend Excel for Windows; check), accounts and multi-factor authentication | School IT page | [You] | [ ] | | T-4 weeks | Banking, phone, partner or family arrangements, moving logistics | [Your list] | [You] | [ ] | | T-2 weeks | Travel and arrival; for US F-1 students, plan entry within the permitted window (see below) | School international office | [You] | [ ] | | T | Orientation, pre-term, learning team | School schedule | [You] | [ ] | **Dated facts (checked 2026-10-28).** These change; check the official page and your school before you rely on them. | Topic | Fact as of October 2026 | Official source | |---|---|---| | UK Student visa | You can apply from outside the UK up to 6 months before your course starts | https://www.gov.uk/student-visa | | US F-1 student visa | A student visa can be issued up to 365 days before the program start date, but entry to the US is permitted no earlier than 30 days before that date | https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/2023/05/what-to-know-about-new-student-visa-guidance and https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/student-visa.html | | US federal student loans | Grad PLUS loans are no longer available to new graduate borrowers from 1 July 2026, apart from an interim exception for students already enrolled and borrowing in their programme before that date; Direct Unsubsidized Loans for graduate (non-professional) students are capped at USD 20,500 a year and USD 100,000 in aggregate, within a USD 257,500 lifetime maximum | https://studentaid.gov and the Department of Education's loan limits FAQ (May 2026) at https://fsapartners.ed.gov | | US work visas after graduation | H-1B rules, fees and court decisions changed repeatedly in 2025 and 2026 | https://www.uscis.gov; see mba/mba-international-applicant-plan | Rules in other countries (Canada, the EU, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and others) differ; use the immigration authority's own site and your school's international office. This template does not tell you what to do about visas, loans or tax: write your questions down and ask the school's office or a qualified adviser. ## 10. Career exploration before day one Recruiting for summer internships at many leading programmes begins early in the first year, sometimes with company presentations in the first weeks. Use the 12 hours in this plan to arrive with a short list and good questions. 1. **Reflect (week 2).** Write down three roles you could see yourself in after the MBA and, for each, what attracts you and what you are unsure about. Keep it to one page. 2. **Research (weeks 3 to 8).** For each role, find out what the work is day to day, which skills are tested in recruiting (cases for consulting, technical questions for banking, product sense for technology), and the typical recruiting calendar at your school (career centre pages, student club pages). 3. **Plan (week 9).** Draft mba/mba-recruiting-plan: two primary targets, one back-up, the skills to build in term 1. 4. **Talk (week 10).** Set up mba/mba-networking-tracker. Speak with second-year students and alumni about their experience. Many schools and employers follow rules or shared standards on when and how employers may contact first-year students; check your career centre's guidance before contacting firms directly, and do not apply or interview before the school's permitted dates. 5. **Do not over-commit.** Club leadership, competitions and recruiting all start at once. Decide in week 12 which two clubs you will join, using your recruiting plan. ## 11. Weekly routine | Day | Standard-track routine (about 10 hours) | |---|---| | Monday | 90 minutes: new primer material (read, then Worked example A) | | Tuesday | 90 minutes: Worked example B and Exercise C; log errors | | Wednesday | 60 minutes: Excel drill on the week's topic | | Thursday | 90 minutes: second topic of the week (statistics, economics or a case) | | Friday | 60 minutes: retrieval session (flashcards in mba/mba-concept-flashcards, review items from section 5) | | Saturday | 2 hours: deliverable, plus career or logistics block | | Sunday | 30 minutes: update the progress tracker, plan next week, rest | ## 12. Progress tracker | Week | Planned hours | Actual hours | Deliverable done (Y/N) | Checkpoint score | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 *(Example)* | 10 | 9 | Y | Diagnostic 7/12; readiness 2 in accounting and finance | Chose standard track | | 2 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | | [ ] | | 3 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | | [ ] | | 4 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | CP1: [ ] | [ ] | | 5 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | | [ ] | | 6 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | | [ ] | | 7 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | | [ ] | | 8 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | CP2: [ ] | [ ] | | 9 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | | [ ] | | 10 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | | [ ] | | 11 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | | [ ] | | 12 | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | CP3: [ ] | [ ] | ## 13. Common mistakes | Mistake | Why it hurts | Better habit | |---|---|---| | Starting with finance because it feels most "MBA" | Without algebra, Excel and accounting, finance becomes formula memorisation | Follow the prerequisite order: quant, Excel, accounting, finance | | Reading textbooks cover to cover | Passive and slow; most of the content is taught again in the core | Use the primers, do the problems, stop at the "can do" target | | Skipping the diagnostic | You study what you already know and miss real gaps | Take it in week 1 and route from the score | | Leaving the visa and funding until the last month | Long lead times; a missing document can delay arrival | Start both in week 1 | | Ignoring the school's own pre-term requirements | Required modules and waiver exams have their own deadlines | Read the admitted-student portal first and adapt the plan | | Practising Excel only by watching videos | Recognition is not skill; speed comes from typing | Build each drill from a blank sheet | | Over-committing to recruiting before day one | Early commitment narrows options before you know the choices | Explore, plan, then decide in term 1 | | Cramming in the last two weeks | Little long-term retention; arrive tired | Spread study over the 12 weeks with review items | | Not writing anything | Case write-ups and memos are graded from week 1 | Write one memo and four case prep sheets before day one | | Treating logistics as someone else's job | Housing, insurance and banking eat the first week if unsolved | Keep logistics in every week's hours | ## 14. Self-test 1. Your first class is on 1 September, and your school holds a required pre-term session from 18 August. On which date does week 1 start? 2. You scored 12 of 12 on the quant diagnostic. What do you do with the quant hours? 3. Why does accounting come before finance in this plan? 4. Two weeks running you studied 6 hours instead of the planned 10. What does the plan tell you to do? 5. You missed CP1 on accounting. What changes in weeks 5 and 6? 6. What is the total number of hours on the intensive track, and how many of them go to cases and writing? 7. As of October 2026, how early can a US F-1 student enter the US before the program start date, and where do you check that before you book a flight? 8. Name two learning techniques this plan builds in and where each appears. ## My notes and next steps | Item | My entry | |---|---| | Track and weekly hours | [Standard, 10 h; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday evenings and Saturday morning] | | Areas I may skip (with test score) | [ ] | | School pre-term requirements and dates | [ ] | | First three calendar entries | [YYYY-MM-DD: readiness self-assessment; YYYY-MM-DD: quant diagnostic; YYYY-MM-DD: logistics list] | | Mentor or study buddy | [Name, how often we check in] | ## Sources and further reading - Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., and Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: a review and quantitative synthesis. *Psychological Bulletin*, 132(3), 354-380. - 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. - Renkl, A., and Atkinson, R. K. (2003). Structuring the transition from example study to problem solving in cognitive skill acquisition: a cognitive load perspective. *Educational Psychologist*, 38(1), 15-22. - Roediger, H. L., and Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention. *Psychological Science*, 17(3), 249-255. - GOV.UK, Student visa overview, https://www.gov.uk/student-visa (accessed 2026-10-28). - U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Study in the States, "What to know about new student visa guidance" (May 2023), https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/ (accessed 2026-10-28). - U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, loan limits frequently asked questions (May 2026), https://fsapartners.ed.gov/, and https://studentaid.gov (accessed 2026-10-28). - IFRS Foundation, IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements, https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ifrs-18-presentation-and-disclosure-in-financial-statements/ (accessed 2026-10-28). - OpenStax (free; CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 by title), https://openstax.org/: *Principles of Accounting*, *Principles of Finance*, *Principles of Economics*, *Introductory Statistics*. - Further reading (by name only): Berk and DeMarzo, *Corporate Finance*; Mankiw, *Principles of Economics*; a case-method guide such as Ellet, *The Case Study Handbook*. ## Answer key 1. Count back 12 weeks from the first required date, 18 August, not from the first class: week 1 starts on the date 84 days earlier, 26 May of the same year. 2. Replace them with Excel, finance or case practice (skipping rule in section 3), but keep the checkpoints. 3. Valuation and capital budgeting use accounting concepts (cash flow versus profit, working capital, depreciation), so finance is faster and deeper once accounting is in place. 4. Switch to the next lighter track (standard to light) and keep the checkpoints (section 12 guidance). 5. Move 2 hours a week from career exploration to accounting for weeks 5 and 6 and book a session with a mentor (section 8). 6. 180 hours; cases and writing receive 24 of them (16 × 1.5). 7. No earlier than 30 days before the program start date on the school's form; check the DHS Study in the States and State Department pages and the school's international office. 8. Any two: spacing (review items each week, checkpoints at weeks 4, 8, 12), retrieval practice (diagnostic, self-tests, Friday flashcard session), worked examples with fading (every primer's A, B, C pattern), interleaving (mixed problem set in week 11 and CP3). ## Revision history | Version | Date | Author | Change | |---|---|---|---| | 0.1 | YYYY-MM-DD | [Your name] | First version from the template, dates set | | 0.2 | YYYY-MM-DD | [Your name] | *Example:* CP1 missed on accounting, moved 2 h a week from career to accounting for weeks 5 and 6 | ## Standard and licence note Structure aligned with the prerequisites of the core curriculum common to leading international MBA programmes, as summarised in mba/mba-core-curriculum-map, and with published learning research on spacing, retrieval practice and worked examples. The plan, wording and examples are original. Dated facts were checked on the official pages listed on 2026-10-28 and will change; check the current official version and your school's instructions. The template is not affiliated with or endorsed by any business school, government agency or lender. Template licence: MIT.