How to Choose the Right MBA Program

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A Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is a highly coveted post-graduate qualification. But for someone on the anvil of pursuing an MBA, the decision on choosing the right MBA program is far from an easy one to make. Given the thousands of local and international colleges offering the course, how do you choose the MBA program that is best for you?

Decide Between Full-Time Versus Part-Time MBA Program

A full-time MBA program is typically for two years and requires students to attend classes in person as per a fixed schedule. Some business schools in the U.S. also offer a one-year accelerated full-time MBA program. Full-time MBA programs prefer students with few years of work experience instead of fresh graduates.

Choose a full-time MBA program if –

• You have worked for a few years and want to take an academic break.
• If you can afford to not earn for a couple of years.
• If you want to have the complete MBA experience.

A full-time MBA will give you ample opportunities to work on projects, case studies, and participate in discussions with faculty and peers. A full-time MBA program will hone your ability to present ideas and convince others, and to work with a team.

A part-time MBA is better if you think that you simply can’t afford to take time off from your career, or have just graduated and want to earn as you study. A part-time MBA offers greater flexibility. However, a full-time MBA program is a more valued qualification to have than a part-time MBA qualification.

After having worked for seven to ten years, you can opt for an executive MBA program. These MBA courses are also part-time and range from a duration of 18 to 24 months depending on the student’s availability to attend sessions and submit projects.

Assess Your Reasons for Doing an MBA

Before you enrol for an MBA program, be realistic about how an MBA can help your career. An MBA is not a prerequisite to professional success (neither is a college degree for that matter). While most would agree that an MBA from the right school can boost your career opportunities, companies are not going to hire you because you are an MBA.

An MBA cannot help you change your career trajectory. Most people do an MBA to build on existing qualifications. If you are an engineer, an MBA will help you understand the various aspects of business and open opportunities in the management cadre. Employers too are looking people with a consistent track record, and see an MBA as an added qualification, rather than the primary criterion, on which they base their hiring decision. For most professionals, career mobility as defined by the ability to move from one industry to another is determined not by whether they have done an MBA, but by their capacity to convince others of their merit.

An MBA cannot make you an entrepreneur, but it can hone your existing entrepreneurial skills. You could benefit from an MBA faculty that includes people who have set up their businesses. Also, today companies increasingly serving local as well as global customers. As a wannabe entrepreneur, you’d be better off studying at an MBA college that attracts people from diverse cultures to get a first-hand knowledge of dealing with people from different nationalities.

Don’t Limit Your Chances of Admission

Once you have shortlisted the MBA schools you’d like to get into, don’t undermine your chances of admission just because you don’t fit the perfect applicant mould. Most MBA colleges want to hire a diverse set of students and are more keen on people with potential. So even if you have a lower academic record than another candidate, your extracurricular activities, summer projects, and other work experience, may make you a more desirable candidate.

Apply to a mix of business schools. For instance, apply to a few B-schools with a higher average GMAT than yours, along with schools which match your GMAT score, and a few schools where the required GMAT score is lower than your GMAT score.

Choose the Best Ranked B-School You Can Get Into

An MBA is likely to be one of the biggest investments in time and money you will make. An international MBA at a top institute such as Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania costs more than 1,00,000 USD for two years. The cost of MBA programs in the UAE ranges from AED 40,000 to AED 609,000. If you are currently employed and plan to pursue a full-time MBA, then you also need to factor in the loss of income for the time that you will not be working.

Most students compare their MBA school options on the following parameters –

1. Quality of student life

2. Reputation of faculty

3. Teaching method – Focus on projects and internship versus classroom learning.

4. Infrastructure – Technological tools and other facilities for education and research; student accommodation

5. Cost of studying

6. Placement of students on completion of course and the starting salary

7. Location of the institute – For some students, proximity to home is an important deciding factor.

While these are all sound factors to consider, the one simple rule to follow is to go to the best business school you can get into. MBA aspirants get lost in trying to figure out which institute is the best for their existing qualifications, but the fact is that all the reputed MBA colleges will equip you will the skills expected of a management graduate. Students from Kellogg, Wharton, and Harvard have gone on to spearhead major companies in the U.S. Silicon Valley, even though these colleges do not have a reputation for ‘tech’.

A survey by the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School of 750 GMAT takers revealed that the most important attribute while choosing an MBA college is the prestige of the institute, which is best measured by the success of alumni.

As a final word of advice, choose your MBA program basis offers on hand, but also compare other factors (such as cost and location) that are important to you.