How Bschool Applicants Select List of Schools to Apply

Question

A recent survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council finds that nearly three-quarters of prospective MBA students find a college's website to be a key part of their decision-making progress when it comes to choosing a program.

According to GMAC, the business school websites were found to be more influential on students' decisions than published rankings, which were more influential than traditional advertising.

The survey also found some differences among MBA students depending on their age group. For example, those under age 30 were more likely to place a greater emphasis on a school's reputation for job placement, while those over age 31 were more likely to value the convenience and location of a business program.

The younger students were more likely to be concerned about a program's cost, while older students reportedly place a higher value on accreditation and curriculum, as well as the overall classroom experience.

Also, the survey reported that respondents on average apply to three graduate business schools, while overall, an MBA program's quality and reputation was found to be the top factor that affects a student's decision.

https://www.gmac.com/gmac/NewsandEvents/ ... cision.htm

monkbent · Answer

Three

Man, and to think I did seven...

Rubashov1 · Answer

The poor quality of Duke's website was certainly one of the reasons behind my decision not to apply there.

bostonsparky · Answer

I found it interesting how some schools would have excellent websites about their MBA program but once you drilled down a bit, aka to specific clubs, professors, programs etc there was a big dropoff in quality. You figure that most schools must have a fulltime webmaster to take care of all of the high traffic parts of their website, but after that its in the student's hands.

falibay · Answer

I never used the website quality in my decision process. Even if it has been all text and links, like the Berkshire website, I would still have picked the same school.

It seems odd that people who consider the quality of the website, especially when choosing among the Top 10-20.

I would definitly not have guessed the results of that survey.

Rubashov1 · Answer

That would be an upgrade for Duke's website. They made it all fancy and stuff, to the point that I found it incredibly frustrating to locate the information I needed to make the decision whether to apply. :cry:

FormerArmyDude · Answer

.

chineseburned · Answer

I am mega confused here. Aren't reputation and accredititation strongly correlated? If so, doesn't the second paragraph contradict the first?

spiridon · Answer

I totally agree with u rca215. If a school fails to present an effective website, that definitely tells about how non-coherent they are to attract and encourage students to apply.

ratings are interesting to look at, but u will be the one attending the school, not a BW journalist

Jerz · Answer

My selection method consisted solely of the US News Rankings, a bottle of Maker's Mark, a trained monkey and 5 darts...

Seriously though, I am surprised people put that much weight on the quality of the website. I certainly used the information available on the schools' websites as part of my research, but didn't consider my judgment of the quality of website design in deciding where to apply. In all honesty, I thought most schools' websites were pretty difficult to navigate and find all the information I was looking for.

bb · Answer

Bump - good thread!

staind · Answer

Nice article. I just finished reading Freakanomics recently and I remember there was some study done that showed people would be willing to pay more for the same beverage if it was bought from a more upscale looking place as opposed to a run down place. If the average person is willing to pay more for the same bottle of beer based on where they buy it from I can see how websites can alter the average person's perception of a University. Perception matters and thats why websites matter - because for most people the website is the first point of contact with the university.

How Bschool Applicants Select List of Schools to Apply

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards