Importance of Business School Culture

Most students just ignore the culture of the school. It is very important to see what the culture of a school is like. You can find out abt the culture by talking to alumni and current students. All schools will tell you that students and faculty are very friendly and great, and they are. However, there are differences. For example, students at X school will be competitive but at school Y will not be so much. So, if you are the type of person who is very competitive, go for school X. This is even more important if you are an International Student. I have seen that things can be very different for international students. So I recommend that you talk to students from your country and get their point of views, and LISTEN to what they are saying. It would be very wrong to just assume that things will be different for you.

There is also a non academic part to the culture - social events, etc. Some schools are very inclined towards having a lot of social events and some not so much. So, if you are the kind of person who loves to go out and meet new people, you might want to choose a school that has a lot of social events.

Again, I cannot stress how important culture is for you as it will affect your experience and performance at the business school.

Tips for Selecting the Right Business School

Choosing which schools to apply to is often a very hard decision. I know that I had almost gone crazy when I was shortlisting the schools I wanted to apply to. With all the money that is associated with a b-school application the decision becomes even more difficult.

So, the best way to answer this question is to compare the things I DID when choosing business schools and the things I SHOULD have done.

Here is what I looked for in the business school (in order of importance):

1. Ranking: The first thing I did was took a look at the US News rankings and made a list of schools whose GMAT was in my range and that looked reachable. BIG MISTAKE!!
   
2. Salary: Then I compared the starting salaries of all the schools and picked the ones that I thought I would make it to.
   
3. Other placement stats: Looked at other placement stats like how many placed at graduation, etc. This was not a bad thing to look at.
   
4. Acceptance Rate: Basically wanted to see how competitive the schools are. This is a good thing to look at but there are other things to keep in mind. Even if a school at 5% acceptance rate, but you have what the schools wants and if you are a good fit, you will get in.
   
5. Tuition and Expenses: Looked at scholarship and loan options available. Important thing to look at.
   

Here is what I should have looked at (in order of importance):

1. Cultural Fit - Academic and Non Academic: Do you like and fit in the culture of the school? Case method vs lectures? Competitive school vs laid back school with no grades?
   
2. Placement Industry: What % of students are getting placed in the industry you want to be in. School X might be a top 10 school, and school Y top is ranked 20. But if 50% of school Y students are placed in marketing vs 10% of school X, you might be better off in school Y.
   
3. Location: Is the location a hot spot for your industry? If you want to be in tech, West coast schools are better than east coast school. For Finance, Rochester Simon will help you more than UCLA. Get the point?
   
4. Tuition
5. Placement Stats/Salary
6. Rankings

If you are one of the students who is taking into account the factors int he first group, you NEED to start looking at the second group. I can't stress it enough that if you ignore things like culture and placement industry, you will have a hard time finding internships/jobs.

More to come later.

Ask Me a Question

I thought it would be a good idea to let you readers ask me questions. These questions can be about profile evaluations, general MBA experience, pretty much anything and everything regarding an MBA in the US.

Post your questions as comments and leave your name so I can address my replies to you. Thanks :)

ps: leave your email if you want me to inform you when I have answered your Q.

About Me and True Confessions of an MBA

When I was applying to business schools, I always wondered what life would be during an MBA. I always wondered whether what the schools and current students say is true? Cuz no current student would talk bad about the school, no admission person would talk about the bad things either. So where can I find the truth? Unless you have a close friend finding the truth is almost impossible. The worst part about this is that, if I had known a few things before starting an MBA, plan of action would have been very different.

Now that I have completed my first year, things are not very different. I keep wondering about life after the MBA. Are all the things faculty and alumni say true? No faculty will really say that life after MBA sucks, and no alum will say that working at XYZ company is bad. If I can know what the reality is, I can plan for things accordingly. Sadly, there is no way to find the truth.

So what is the solution to this problem? I think this blog might be the answer for future MBAs. I will write this blog and talk about the real MBA experience - good and bad. I will cover things that I wish I had known, and things from my everyday life here in the US so future MBAs and read and make informed decisions. I will also write this blog after graduating to current MBAs can read and see what life is like post MBA.

I am currently a first year (well a 2nd year now) student at UNC's Kenan Flagler Business School.

Hope you guys enjoy reading my blog.

Anshul