Make it Your Business to Know the Latest MBA Landscape

Get down to business by learning the latest MBA trends.

Chinese applicants have different motivations to get their MBA than their global counterparts. Consider crowdfunding to pay for your MBA. Top business schools often have the highest yield rate. The music world needs MBAs. Here’s what’s trending on the MBA landscape:

What Chinese applicants want

With well over one billion people within its borders and an economy that continues to grow at 7 percent (about twice as fast the U.S. economy), China is one of the world’s largest sources of business school applicants and GMAT takers. And while these prospective business school students have much in common with their American and European counterparts, cultural differences show motivation differences, according to new research from the Graduate Management Admission Council.

For example, Chinese applicants fall into the group of “Career Revitalizers” at a much higher percentage compared to applicants globally. “For programs seeking to attract more students from China, they may be particularly interested in assessing how they present their program offerings to seasoned professionals looking to advance their careers,” said GMAC President and CEO Sangeet Chowfla.

Financing your MBA

With the price of an MBA more expensive than ever (with a few exceptions), prospective business schools students naturally look for different ways to finance it. Most students take out loans, which could carry with them high interest rates. Others earn merit-based aid directly from schools because of their high GMAT/GRE scores or GPAs. A select few have that proverbial rich uncle. But there’s another way some students are looking a relatively new way to pay for it all—crowdfunding.

So how do you go about asking complete strangers to have faith in you and pay for something? One expert provides a few strategies and pieces of advice: “Make sure that your fundraising goal is realistic; don’t expect to raise enough to cover your whole year of tuition. Instead, aim to raise a portion of the cost to reduce your loan, to cover books, etcetera.” He also says to make sure any social media and online outreach looks uber professional.

Accepted v enrolled

It makes sense that top-ranked business schools, or those located in prime locations, would enroll a high percentage of students they offer admissions to. This is what is known as a school’s yield rate. Harvard Business School, as is often the case with lists like this, leads the pack. According to the statistics, 91 percent of all students who are accepted to HBS ultimately enroll there. Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, also among the most selective MBA programs in the world, has a yield rate of 84 percent.

Another school with a high yield rate is Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. While not as highly ranked as Harvard and Stanford, BYU commands a strong alumni network and many BYU undergrads are loyal to their institution.

Musical MBA

What you can do with a business school degree isn’t all consulting, banking, and entrepreneurialism. Some use their passion for music and MBA know-how to break into the entertainment world. Some business schools, like Henley Business School, have specialized programs for those who want to work in the creative industry.

Even some artists, like drummer Barry van Zyl, are getting into the MBA action. “My ability to analyse, process and manage data has grown. I’m having conversations with a confidence previously not available to me,” he says. (The Financial Times)

Take advantage of this holiday season to save on GMAT prep.

The post Make it Your Business to Know the Latest MBA Landscape appeared first on Business School Insider.