{"id":48502,"date":"2020-05-01T06:40:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T13:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/researching-mba-programs-when-you-cant-visit\/"},"modified":"2020-05-01T06:40:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T13:40:05","slug":"researching-mba-programs-when-you-cant-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/researching-mba-programs-when-you-cant-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"Researching MBA Programs When You Can\u2019t Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

A big part of putting together a winning MBA application is demonstrating that you are the perfect \u201cfit\u201d for the school you are applying to, and that you are excited about that specific program and school. The schools’ websites only get you so far; they start to blur together as the top schools all offer cutting edge courses, acclaimed professors, legacies of recruiting power at sought after companies, and best in class experiential learning and networking. So, researching which schools are the best \u201cfit\u201d for you comes down to something much more subjective:\u00a0 the school\u2019s culture and your personality.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the time of year when you should be doing this type of analysis:\u00a0 researching schools, determining which schools you want to apply to, and creating your talking points for how each school is a great fit for you, and you for it. Historically, the best way to assess fit was simply to visit. Sit in a classroom, see how everyone engages, and determine if it\u2019s a place where you\u2019d like to spend two years. You can\u2019t do that right now, but you can still learn about the schools – it may just take a little more effort and creativity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are our suggestions for learning about the MBA programs virtually:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Talk to People. <\/b>Next to sitting in on a class, talking to current students and recent alums is hands down the best way to get a sense for the culture of a school. You\u2019re probably really skilled at Zoom right now, so I recommend setting up a few virtual \u201ccoffee chats\u201d with at least two alums or current students from each school you are considering.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Ask the Right Questions.<\/b> If you ask someone \u201cwhy did you choose\u201d a particular school, they will likely cite all of the stuff you already know (rankings, location, jobs etc). So we recommend that you ask questions about their experience instead. Here are a few ideas to get you started.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was orientation like?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat surprised you about your MBA experience? What didn\u2019t you expect?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was the most popular thing to do at your school? Event, class, club activity etc?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat stands out as the most impactful experience you had in b-school?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you wish was different about your experience?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would you do differently if you went back?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you engage with your classmates now (if an alum)?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat advice do you have for an applicant to your school?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBased on your experience, how would you describe the culture of your program?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Video Content >\u00a0 Written Content<\/b>. The schools publish blogs that we find helpful for information and facts. But to get a sense for the culture of the school, the video content and webinars are way more helpful. In lieu of being able to do their usual city tours, schools will being going virtual, so look for these events in the near term. They generally fill up fast when offered live, so we expect the same to be true virtually.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Call Them.<\/b>\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know current students or alums, call the schools and ask to be put in touch with a current student. All of the top schools offer something like this and it\u2019s a great way for you to ask your questions and get to know the program. Make sure they take your name when you call the school and ask for this (they might keep track).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Forums & Guides (with a grain of salt)<\/b>.\u00a0 There are a number of sites dedicated to providing MBA advice. The problem is that a lot of it is crowdsourced (eg. forums). The school guides that many offer for free can be very useful as starting points and helping you parse out some subtle differences in programs. But remember that someone\u2019s view of a schools\u2019 culture and feel may be different than how it feels for you. So, use others\u2019 opinions as a starting point and data collection, not as a way of classifying schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a year where we expect the competition to be high, it\u2019s important to stay focused; and right now is the time to be nailing down your story, resume and of course \u201cfit\u201d with your target schools. If you need a good starting point for your school research, you can take the fit quiz on our site located here: <\/span>School Selection Quiz<\/span><\/a>. Remember, this is just a starting point.<\/span><\/p>\n

We hope everyone is staying safe and hanging in there! Reach out if you have any questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

www.vantagepointmba.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post Researching MBA Programs When You Can’t Visit<\/a> appeared first on Vantage Point MBA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A big part of putting together a winning MBA application is demonstrating that you are the perfect \u201cfit\u201d for the school you are applying to, and that you are excited…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1955,775,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-vantage-point-mba","category-admission-consultants","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48502","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\/167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}