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How did you choose what career to pursue?

What is the best way for a prospective MBA student to choose which schools to apply for to pursue a career in international business?

  • The listings, rankings, reviews, etc. are never-ending, each school has its own good things to say about itself on its website.  How does a prospective candidate cut through the crap to make a short-list of schools to apply for?

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    First, I have to say that in today's world, business is international.  The world is so connected, and running a business globally is just part of doing business.  I believe that any of the top business schools have a global focus.  They have courses that focus specifically on this aspect of business, but it is also woven throughout the curriculum.  So with that said - how do you choose a program that is right for you? The rankings are an initial reference point - you are smart to not make them your bible.  Take a look and jot down ten -15 programs that peak your interest.  Go to the websites and see what resonates, what does not.  In order to know what resonates, you need to know what you are looking for:  location, size of school, special programs, study abroad opportunities, the faculty, teaching styles, the Dean, the reputation, student culture, strength of alumni network, What appeals to you?  If you can narrow down your list a bit - great.  The final refuning should be done through more in depth research.  Talk to students, alumni and if possible - visit the school (that's the very best way to get a feel for a program). This is a very personal search, so don't be swayed by what anonymous others say in forums or how a school is ranked one year.  Rankings change and no one knows what is best for you better than you do.

Stacy Blackman at Quora Visit the source

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I have some personal interest in this question myself. I can share with you what I've learnt from a bit of research that I have done. My primary source for data analysis has been Linkedin and each school's career report and curriculum.   Broadly in terms of student diversity and global reach. US MBA's  boast of an international mix in their students. But their real percentages seem very limited. Most US B-schools have 70% american students and the rest 30% seem to be from the rest of the world. Within this 30% it seems Indians and Chinese dominate the mix followed by other folks from other asian countries and then 5-6% each from Europe, Africa, Latam and Middle east and Oceania. So in a class of 100, the mix would approximately by : 70 americans, 7 chinese, 7 indians and 15 Rest of the world approx.   Also to note,the economic hinterland of US B-schools seems very regional and some cases sectorial ( eg, Columbia GSB - Finance / NE USA ; HAAS/ UCLA - West Coast industries like media and tech ) . In most cases the alumni density truncates as one moves further away from the home state in which the school is based. So the the global reach of US B-schools in general is much vaunted only in paper.  That said Harvard and Wharton seem to stand out in terms of geographical distribution of their alumni. So if you are looking at US I think you can safely bet on Harvard and Wharton for a global pedigree.   European B-schools seem to have an eclectic mix of students. Most B-schools seems to have atleast 10-20% of their class for each major continent. So it terms of student diversity Euro schools win hands down. In terms of alumni dispersion, Euro schools seem well dispersed in most places except US and lot more diverse in terms of alumni presence across different economic sectors.   So in terms of placement diversity and student diversity Euro schools win out.   Curriculum wise US B-schools seem to much more richer. Most of tier 1 US B-schools seem to have an emerging markets focused institute. Some of them have very specific program like MIT's G-lab, or Ross's MAP where you can undertake intenational projects or Tuck's Global consulting project which aims to expose students to global business with a focus on 3rd world countries.   So to cut the crap and cull a list to a few good schools :P  I'd recommend INSEAD, LBS, IMD, HBS and Wharton as the top global schools. For safeties I'd recommend Euro Schools like Said, Judge, HEC, IESE

Kaushic Kalyanaraman

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