9 Points to keep in mind while choosing a B-School - International

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April 19, 2008

(1). 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 draws as many as 400 companies to campus, of which roughly 300 are US-based recruiters and 100 international recruiters. INSEAD and LBS attract 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 subscribe to Top MBA/ Careers, the most important online jobs network for MBA students.

(2). Return on investment – Candidates are not looking for low cost MBAs. Generally they are looking for a long term career profit measured by accelerated career progression and salary uplift – the problem is measuring this!

(3). International reputation – is the most important selection principle; reputation amongst recruiters is an indicator of the superiority of a programmed. As a rule, the stronger the reputation of a school, the higher the salary at the end of the programmer (but for weaker candidates this may be counterproductive, as too high salary expectations can lead to a frustrating job search).

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

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

(6). Profile of participants – Longer average level of work experience, average GMAT score, percentage who are from overseas, educational background, languages required, achievement of alumni are all important differentiators.

(7). Cost – Most potential MBA students give the impression willing to make a serious monetary speculation as long as they can be influenced of the value of the long-term return.

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

(9). Teaching style – The actual method by which a programme is delivered can be crucial. Quality of faculty research - A school’s standing for producing original research influences overall prestige, but plays second fiddle if there is no obvious career advantage for the candidate.

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