Moral Mazes

MBA-Moral Mazes
“System is fair in the long run” is one of the most frequently used phrases by the LUMS faculty and it takes special position whenever students complain about their grades. If this statement is read against the grain, one can infer that the current system has flaws and it is fine not to get dishearten due to a lower grade because somewhere along the way looms a higher grade. This then suggests that intellect and hard work have little or no role to play in the final evaluation.
From personal experience, I can say that the faculty enjoys immense discretionary powers and most of the times; the impressions are what weigh more than the actual performance. With the exception of a handful of instructors, the majority does not even make an effort to explain the grading system or give feedbacks on individual performances. Students on the other hand are expected to fulfill every criterion which the teachers lay out. Ironically the entire grading system is supposed to follow statistics [read objective measurement] but the faculty relies on its subjective assessment while grading and makes no effort [openly so] to objectify it.
For a first year student it is important to get acquainted with the rules of the game as soon as possible. Based on my own experience, awareness to the following rules along with a certain degree of hard work may stand a student in good stead. * It is not necessary to prepare case studies to make a good impression on the instructor. In fact it is your ability to talk your way out of a situation. I must confess that after the few first classes in the beginning of the program, I lost interest in reading cases and I would just sit in the DRs listening to others or just looking at the exhibits at the end of the cases. That prepared me just fine to take part in the “vigorous intellectual activity” in the class. * Learning how to control your emotions especially your facial expressions is a key to get a good quartile. One should