MBA with a class size < 50 students. Is it worth it?
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02 Jul 2012, 13:42
Many MBA students get attracted to smaller MBA classes thinking that they will get a personalized experience which they cannot get in a school with a bigger intake.
This is the biggest myth floating around.
* A smaller MBA class means less number of alumni to seek career support from.
* A small MBA class means less number of people to network with in the MBA class itself and even lesser number of students wishing to pursue your career direction.
* A small MBA class means less revenue for the school from the program, many a times which leads to less focus of the school in providing quality support system to the students.
* A small MBA class means very few recruiters visiting the campus to hire MBA students not because of the reputation of the school but because of it being less economical. Mind it, recruiters may visit the campus to hire students from other courses but MBA recruiters will be very few. This is because it costs money for the company to visit a campus & perform all the hiring activities. These MBA recruiters may come from a nearby country or other international location, even coming from another city within the country costs much. These recruiters do not visit schools with very small MBA classes because there is a high possibility that they will hardly find many suitable candidates who would be interested in a job with their company or may be 3 or 4 from a class of say 35 will show interest. Out of which just one may actually have the skills & profile to enter the company. So 1 out of 35 corresponds to 4 out of 140 which reduces the hiring cost per person by 75%. If you don't believe it, try contacting HR managers of mid size & smaller companies which have formed the bulk of on campus MBA hiring in the last few years. Even big companies follow the same strategy.
* A small class also corresponds to very few Specializations & Elective courses available at the school, as the number of students opting for a particular elective may be very small which would deem the particular course unprofitable or very expensive for the school. Check the course content (subjects offered) of most MBAs with smaller cohorts & you will find very few electives & choice of subjects on offer as against a school with a large batch size. It is common sense.
Hope it helps.