Maybe you're already in an MBA program, and you're finding it a little tougher than you thought it would be. Maybe you're due to start a program this fall, and you're starting to think about how you can make the most of it. Or maybe you're just weighing the option of taking the B-school plunge, and you're wondering what issues you should look at before you leap.

No question about it: There's no business like the business-school business. At last count, nearly 300,000 people were pursuing an MBA degree at a U.S. institution. Meanwhile, at most MBA programs, the number of applicants continues to grow each year, in some cases by 20% or more. But a couple of questions are worth asking: What do all of these people get out of going to business school? And how do they get by while they are there?

Perhaps nothing you learn in B-school will matter as much as what you learn about B-school -- because how you approach this two-year experience will largely determine what you take away from it: in the way of knowledge, in the way of connections, in the way of a job.

The best teachers are students. In this edition of Toolbox, seven leaders from the class of '99 -- heads of student government and editors of student-run newspapers at top-ranked programs -- offer some hard-won insights and some surprising pieces of advice on everything from how to study to how to party. Why learn such lessons the hard way -- when you can let these hard-charging students learn them for you? So let the learning begin!

Name: Michelle LeBlanc, 27, one of three executive officers in the student senate; MIT Sloan School of Management.
Job before B-school: International-business analyst at Textron Inc.
Summer internship: Marketing analyst at 3M Corp.

What I've learned

Keep your eye on the ball -- or it will blow right past you. Many people go into business school not knowing exactly what they'll do when they finish. Nothing wrong with that: There's no better place to investigate various career possibilities. But you need to have a clear idea of what's important to you, or you'll end up following every other MBA into consulting or investment banking.

It can be difficult to stake out an independent career path in B-school -- in part because the pressure from recruiters never lets up. Then, in November of your second year, consulting and investment-banking firms start waving fat salaries and signing bonuses at you. When 60% or more of your classmates are accepting offers from those firms, you'll be tempted to go that route too.

I seriously considered going into consulting, but I decided against it once I remembered what I care most about: I want to have some control over my work life. I want to work from a home base instead of constantly living out of a suitcase. And I want to be able to take charge of the projects that I work on.

Coordinates: Michelle LeBlanc, leblancm@mit.edu

Name: Dan Sullivan, 28, coeditor of the Cold Call Chronicle; Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.
Job before B-school: Aide to Mark Warner, then a candidate from Virginia for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Summer internship: Investment-banking summer associate at J.P. Morgan & Co.

What I've learned