9 tips: When Choosing International B-School?

Posted by chintan

March 20, 2008

(1). International reputation is the most important selection criterion; reputation amongst recruiters is an indicator of the quality of a programme. As a rule, the stronger the reputation of a school, the higher the salary at the end of the programme (but for weaker candidates this may be counterproductive, as overly high salary expectations can lead to a frustrating job search).

(2). Scholarship availability Most MBA applicants admit that a scholarship would be nice, but not essential to their choice of taking an MBA. However, receiving a partial or full scholarship can make a big difference to a candidate’s choice of school. Anyone lucky enough to have a choice of schools can actively seek financial incentives.

(3). Career placement record Helping candidates in their job search is a key component of the MBA. Each business school has a career service department. Some schools attract companies to come on campus to interview students. The Wharton School in Philadelphia attracts as many as 400 companies to campus, of which roughly 300 are US-based recruiters and 100 international recruiters.

INSEAD and LBS draw between 100 - 200 companies to campus, most of which are international recruiters. Today, the majority of MBAs find their jobs through an off-campus search and over 100 business schools donate to to TopMBA/ Careers, the leading online jobs network for MBA students.

(4). Return on investment Candidates is not looking for low cost MBAs. Generally they are looking for a long term vocation advantage deliberate by go faster career progression and salary uplift – the problem is measuring this!

(5). Specialisations As candidates become more recognizable with the business school arena, they begin to narrow down their collection based on school strengths, which match their own interests. Though many MBAs are general management programmes, an increasing number emphasize areas of particular strength.

(6). Rankings These assessment tools exert an important influence on school reputation, but with the explosion of rankings in recent years, there is evidence of growing skepticism and a desire on the part of applicants to ‘dig deeper’.

(7). Teaching style The actual method by which a programme is delivering can be crucial. Quality of faculty research - A school’s standing for producing original research influences overall prestige, but plays second swindle if there is no clear career benefit for the candidate.

(8). Profile of participants Longer average level of work experience, average GMAT score, percentage who are from overseas, educational background, languages necessary, success of alumni are all important differentiators.

(9). Cost Most potential MBA students seem willing to make a grave financial investment as long as they can be persuaded of the worth of the long-term return.

Share These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.