As you continue your business school research and narrow down your list of favorites, there are several things to keep in mind throughout the process. Here are my eight suggestions for cutting through the clutter to determine which MBA program truly is the best fit for you and your career path.<\/p>\n
1. RANKINGS ARE NOT TATTOOS. THEY AREN\u2019T PERMANENT<\/b>: The \u201cbest\u201d MBA program in the country might not be the best program for you. Choose where to apply based on the No. 1 school FOR YOU.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only ranking that really matters, and it\u2019s the only ranking that isn\u2019t temporary.\u00a0 Know what the best schools are, but only apply if they\u2019re the best for you.<\/p>\n
2. DON\u2019T ROUND UP:<\/b> You know those average numbers and admit profiles the schools send out or post on their website? Yeah, those. Read them!\u00a0 Be honest about where you fall. If you\u2019re under the bar, the school is a reach. It\u2019s great to shoot for the stars, but not okay to bank on them.<\/p>\n
3. SIZE MATTERS<\/b>: Or does it? Compile a list of what matters to YOU. You\u2019re the one going to business school. So be honest and be specific about what you\u2019re looking for in a business school program. Then become an expert in the programs that offer what YOU need.<\/p>\n
4. GET REAL<\/b>!\u00a0 When you\u2019re applying to b-school, everyone\u2019s going to have an opinion on where you should be applying.\u00a0 But since they don\u2019t have to get in, it\u2019s important for you to get real with yourself. Ultimately, the opinion that really matters is yours.<\/p>\n
5. B-SCHOOL IS NOT A BLIND DATE<\/b>. Whenever possible, go visit the schools. Sometimes what you see online and in a brochure is nothing like what you\u2019re actually going to get on campus.<\/p>\n
6. YES, YOU DO WANT TO FIT IN<\/b>!\u00a0 B-school can be long and lonely if you\u2019re not a fit with the school culture.\u00a0 Talk to alums and current students. Get a feel for the school and get a feel for the types of students on campus.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to be in the trenches together. You want to feel like your colleagues are \u201cyour people.\u201d<\/p>\n
7. YOU SHOULD BE DAZZLED.<\/b>\u00a0 Go to info sessions for target schools and ask real questions.\u00a0 This is their time to impress you.<\/p>\n
8. CONSIDER THE SOURCE:<\/b>\u00a0Online reviews can be super helpful, but consider the source.\u00a0 It\u2019s possible that the person writing the business school review is either a current student who thinks their school is the best or a disgruntled applicant who didn\u2019t quite make the cut.\u00a0 Get as much information on each school as possible, but don\u2019t get sucked in.\u00a0 And if a source is anonymous, go ahead and question \u2013 or ignore \u2013 the opinion.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
This post originally appeared as the second installment of a new series B-School Admissions Tips You Can\u2019t Live Without<\/strong><\/em> on the MBA website Poets & Quants<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n If you are looking for guidance on your MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly<\/a> and comprehensive<\/a> consulting services. Contact us<\/a> to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews<\/a>, and check out the company\u2019s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As you continue your business school research and narrow down your list of favorites, there are several things to keep in mind throughout the process. Here are my eight suggestions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[812,147,824,827,989,1906],"class_list":["post-19922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-advice","tag-mba-application","tag-mba-rankings","tag-school-research","tag-school-selection","tag-stacy-blackman","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19922"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19945,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19922\/revisions\/19945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}