Choosing which MBA program(s) you should apply to is one of the most important—and certainly one of the earliest—decisions you need to make in the application process. Yet we often see candidates who have not fully thought through their options before targeting business schools. These applicants typically end up in one of the following predicaments:
- They selected schools based solely on rankings and thus applied to programs where they were not competitive, ending up with no options at all.
- They applied to a range of schools, but after they got in, they realized they did not actually want to attend any of them.
So, how do you avoid these mistakes?
First, you should compare the possibility of going to business school with your other options, rather than looking at it in a vacuum. In other words, rather than asking yourself, “Where do I want to go to business school?,” ask, “Where would I want to go to business school more than I would want to stay in my job (or look for a new job)?” Or, phrased differently, which MBA program is the “worst” one that would still be better than remaining at your current job, and which is the “best” one that would be worse than staying where you are? Note that “worst” and “best” here do not refer to a school’s objective quality; we are referring to how well—or not—a program matches your specific personality and needs. Once you have identified these two schools (the “worst” one you would go to and the “best” one you would not go to), you will have positioned yourself not only to be accepted to business school (by applying to “safer,” more appropriate options) but also to be accepted at programs that you would actually want to attend.
The next step is to factor in other criteria that matter to you. Our Insider’s Guides address and explore nine key factors to consider when selecting schools, such as location. Would you prefer to live in a city, where you will have easier access to recruiters but less of a community feel on campus and potentially higher living expenses? Or would you want to be in a college town, where the community and network are strong, but fewer resources are available off campus?
Another factor to consider is a program’s primary teaching method (pedagogy). For example, Harvard Business School and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business both use the case method exclusively. The case method requires a tremendous amount of reading and problem-solving, both alone and as part of a group, before you even get to class. This appeals to some learners but not to others. By contrast, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business is very hands-on, with students required to complete a Multidisciplinary Action Project in which they solve a real-world problem for a company. As you narrow down your school list, think about whether you prefer to learn via traditional lectures, the case method, or a more hands-on, project-based approach—or a combination of these.
You should also consider whether a school offers career opportunities and academic specializations that align with your goals and will therefore help you more easily advance professionally. A truly thorough exploration of an MBA program involves at least nine main criteria, and we have mentioned only a few here. Download our Insider’s Guides to the programs you are considering for more information, insight, and advice.
