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.