Choosing a business school and an MBA program is not always easy. In this webinar, however, you will gain invaluable insights into evaluating b-schools and MBA formats. Dr. Don Martin, former Dean of Admissions at Chicago Booth School of Business, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and Wheaton College (IL), talks about some common pitfalls when choosing a business school and smashes myths about MBA degrees.
Dr. Don is the founder of Grad School Road Map, a valuable resource for prospective graduate students. Thanks to his over 28 years’ rich experience in coaching students, Dr. Don has helped more than 600 business school applicants, with a 97% acceptance rate and more than $16 million in funding. Grad School Road Map is not reserved only for those pursuing an MBA, but any Master’s degree, JD, MD, or Doctorate.
How to choose the right business school
Choosing the right business school is a complex process that every prospective MBA student goes through. In this webinar, Dr. Don explains that this process cannot be taken lightly as it plays a crucial role in one’s career. He goes on to emphasize the importance of doing your own research and including enough institutions to form a proper comparison.
Creating a list with various criteria, including fees, location, curriculum, and campus, can help applicants narrow down options.
He also reminds us about a common mistake many prospective students make: trusting word-of-mouth recommendations. After all, as he says, perception is where you end up, not where you start out.
Mistakes when choosing the right business school
Dr. Don continues the webinar, focusing on more mistakes one can make. While completing an MBA degree can help you enhance your professional options or change careers, you have to find the right reasons for yourself.
Some of the questions to ask are:
- Have I included only top-ranked institutions?
- Am I doing it because my family wants me to?
- Is money after graduation my main motive?
If the answer is Yes, then you are choosing a b-school for the wrong reasons. Because, as Dr. Don advises, you should choose not the best school but the school that suits you the best.
Choosing the right MBA format
Choosing the right business school is not enough. Prospective students should also decide what format can suit their needs the best and what they will learn from it. Dr. Don explains that full-time, part-time, online, and hybrid programs all have their pros and cons.
Full-time programs, for example, can help you graduate faster and immerse in the study process. However, they can limit your work options. Part-time degrees can come to the rescue, allowing students to continue working. Yet, completing a part-time degree takes longer and may come with limited funding options.
An exciting format is pursuing an online MBA, which one can complete from the comfort of their home. That said, while they are convenient and sometimes cheaper, they lack the social networking aspects that business studies come with. Hybrid formats are another alternative, a great mixture of lectures and online courses, which, unfortunately, are offered by limited institutions. In fact, not all degrees are available in every format.
In the end, while all schools and formats can benefit you, the measure of success remains persistence and determination, not rankings or money, Dr. Don concludes.
Should you wish to purchase Dr. Don’s book, watch the full webinar to get a special 50% discount code.
