This post originally appeared on Stacy’s “Strictly Business” MBA blog on U.S.News.com

So you’ve decided you want an MBA. You’ve ordered transcripts, taken the GMAT or will soon do so, and thought about your career goals. Now it’s time to start your school selection and research.

Most prospective MBA students spend a great deal of time agonizing over their school lists, the creation of which is the crucial first step before embarking on the application process. Both time and financial constraints generally dictate the length of one’s list—applying to more than 10 schools really isn’t feasible—so the process of creating the list requires careful consideration.

Before you start researching programs, it will be helpful to understand your own criteria and preferences to take your school selection past the level of rankings or mere brand recognition. Do you want to be in the city or in a rural setting? What type of coursework are you most interested in? Do you prefer a close-knit class or a large network? Do you need to be near a particular location for personal or professional reasons?

Some applicants start with a long list of schools, and as they progress through the application process, some schools fall off while others remain, for all kinds of reasons. Some schools remain because they are viewed as safety schools; others because their programs are a good fit.

I’m a big believer in the portfolio theory when it comes to MBA applications: Apply to a reasonable number of schools (somewhere around four) and make sure they vary in competitiveness. They should all be schools you would be excited to attend, but you may include what’s known as “super reach” or dream schools in addition to a few that are a safer bet. You never know what the application pool looks like in any given year, and at the end of the day, all you need is one admit, so spread some risk around.

[Learn how to map out your MBA timeline.]

When you have a target list of schools you’re serious about, it’s time to do the more qualitative research that will help you understand your fit with the program and community, and your interest in attending the school for two years of your life. Time and schedule permitting, a school visit is a great way to see classes for yourself, meet current students, and get a sense of the campus and city.

If you plan ahead and contact the admissions office, you can set up a class visit, perhaps lunch with students, and attend an admissions information session. Allow enough time to walk around campus and explore in between participating in formal activities. Those who are able to visit before applying will likely get a better sense of the program and the campus, and be more convinced—and more convincing within their applications—about whether it’s a fit.

If you can’t make it to campus, be sure to find school information sessions in your area. Here, you’ll have the chance to ask questions and also meet current students or alumni.

Speaking with students and alumni is a wonderful way to learn about a school, but try to avoid basing your entire impression of a school on a single graduate’s experience. You want to speak to as many students and alumni as possible, because each person’s experience is different.

A few other things to consider:

1. Never apply to a school that you will not be happy to attend.

2. It’s important to keep your dream school on your list. Otherwise, you may always wonder what might have happened.

3. There are plenty of great schools that can help you to reach your goals. Don’t get caught up in stereotypes, rankings, and rumors. Approach this with an open mind.

4. If you are interested in working for specific companies after you graduate, call the companies directly and ask them where they recruit.

5. Start with one key school and allow your list to change as you go through this process of self discovery.

Every top school stands out for one or more features, whether it’s teaching method, selectivity, ranking, or available specializations or programs. Even geography plays a huge role, which makes narrowing down your list such a challenge. Try to figure out how a particular school meets your personal and professional needs, and then turn the equation around to determine how or where you see yourself contributing to that community.

The school selection process is not a simple one, but it does provide a unique opportunity for self reflection. In the end, only you can decide which program is the right fit for your personality and goals.

While I don’t like to encourage clients to focus too heavily on rankings when they’re making their MBA program selections, I know those headed for b-school really can’t help themselves.

With that in mind, check out U.S. News‘s 2013 Best Graduate Schools Rankings, released today, and the Financial Times‘ seventh annual listing of the world’s top online MBA programs, also announced this week.

I’m pleased to see that my alma mater, Kellogg School of Management, has taken the number-one spot for part-time MBA programs, and is tied for fourth place in the full-time MBA rankings.

Do you see any surprises on these lists? How much weight do you place on rankings as part of your school selection process? Leave a comment below to let us know.

Are you banking on the belief that earning an MBA is the golden ticket for contentment? You may want to assess the satisfaction index of b-school grads that have gone before you, suggests a recent Forbes.com article on the most satisfied business school graduates.

Harvard Business School does top Forbes’s rankings when it comes to return on investment, but apparently, money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness—overall satisfaction with their MBA degrees ranks 20^th out of 50 U.S. b-schools, and their happiness level at their current jobs is ranked 31st. So just how does Forbes measure satisfaction?

Forbes reached out to 16,000 alumni that graduated in 2006 from more than 100 schools around the world to gauge satisfaction. We heard back from nearly 5,000 of them. We looked at satisfaction in three areas: MBA education, current job and preparedness relative to other MBA alumni. We averaged the three satisfaction ratings to put together our list of the most satisfied b-school grads.

Turns out, the most satisfied grads come from Stanford Graduate School of Business, which ranked in the top five among U.S. schools in all three areas of satisfaction in which alumni were surveyed, Forbes.com states. Stanford MBAs also ranked as the most satisfied two years ago when alumni were last surveyed. Stanford ranked second this year in the magazine’s ROI ranking.

Getting into über competitive Stanford GSB may kick-start the good feelings— 6,618 applicants competed for just 397 spots in the Class of 2013, Forbes.com reports. The second most satisfied b-school alumni are at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, and MIT Sloan School of Management, Chicago Booth School of Business, and Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business round out the top five.

Forbes separated out business schools located outside the U.S., so to learn who are the most satisfied MBA graduates abroad, follow this link back to the complete story.

The annual report of the world’s top 200 business schools according to MBA employers came out Monday on www.topmba.com. The QS Global 200 Business Schools Report provides an alternative to traditional MBA rankings by highlighting the value of MBA programs around the world according to the qualification’s end consumer—the MBA employer. Over 2,000 responses were received from 42 countries, making this the largest survey of its kind.

MBA employers were asked to identify the business schools from which they prefer to recruit. Respondents also identified business schools they deem to produce excellent hires in ten areas of elective specialization: finance; strategy; marketing; entrepreneurship; corporate social responsibility; information management; innovation and international management.

If you’re considering pursuing an MBA, the QS Global 200 Business Schools Report can help in your research process by identifying which business schools are meeting the needs of international employers and revealing some of the newer programs that are gaining in reputation.

Top Three Business Schools, by Region

 North America

1. Harvard Business School
2. Stanford Graduate School of Business
3. Northwestern Kellogg School of Management

Latin America

1. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile)
2. Business School Sao Paulo (Brazil)
3. Fundacao Getulio Vargas (Brazil)

Europe

1. INSEAD
2. London Business School
3. Saïd Business School (University of Oxford)

Middle East and Africa

1. University of Cape Town (South Africa)
2. American University in Cairo (Egypt)
3. University of Stellenbosch (South Africa)

Asia-Pacific

1. INSEAD-Singapore
2. IIM Ahmedabad (India)
3. Melbourne Business School (Australia)

Top Three Business Schools, by Specialization

Finance

1. Wharton School
2. Chicago Booth School of Business
3. London Business School

International Management

1. INSEAD
2. Harvard Business School
3. Thunderbird School of Management

Marketing

1. Kellogg School of Management
2. Wharton School
3. Harvard Business School

Entrepreneurship

1. Harvard Business School
2. Stanford Graduate School of Business
3. Wharton School

Operations Management

1. MIT Sloan School of Management
2. Harvard Business School
3. Wharton School

Information Management

1. MIT Sloan School of Management
2. Harvard Business School
3. Wharton School

Strategy

1. Harvard Business School
2. Wharton School
3. INSEAD

Leadership

1. Harvard Business School
2. Wharton School
3. INSEAD

Corporate Social Responsibility

1. Harvard Business School
2. Stanford Graduate School of Business
3. INSEAD

Innovation

1. MIT Sloan School of Management
2. Stanford Graduate School of Business
3. Harvard Business School

Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of QS says, “Despite the global economic turbulence, the report found record numbers of companies turning towards hiring MBAs. The qualification’s international appeal is becoming increasingly relevant in today’s globally interconnected economy.”

Full results by region and specialization on www.topmba.com.

An uncertain job market and increased reluctance to take on enormous amounts of student loan debt are just two of the reasons cited by Bloomberg Businessweek for the recent surge in interest in part-time and executive MBA programs. According to a Graduate Management Admission Council application trends survey published this summer, more than 40 percent of part-time and executive programs have seen an increase, while applications to full-time programs have dipped at more than two-thirds of responding schools.

For the 2011 Best Part-Time MBA and Best EMBA rankings, Bloomberg Businessweek surveyed 10,000-plus recent graduates from both types of programs at more than 100 B-schools. Among the part-timers, 58 percent identified themselves as either a job changer or a career switcher, which means access to the MBA career office is in especially high demand.

Top Five Part-Time MBA Programs

1. Elon University’s Love School of Business
2. UCLA Anderson School of Management
3. Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business
4. University of Nevada, Reno
5. UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Top Five Executive MBA Programs

1. Chicago Booth School of  Business
2. Columbia Business School
3. Kellogg School of Management
4. IE Business School
5. UCLA Anderson School of Management

Only 19 percent of respondents to this year’s EMBA survey were completely funded by their employers, down from 32 percent in 2007, says Bloomberg Businessweek. And 42 percent paid their entire tuition on their own, vs. 28 percent four years ago. According to the survey, prospective EMBAs want more than just strong core business teachings; they want access to classes in areas such as entrepreneurship, career advancement, and leadership.

Avid rankings watchers will no doubt notice that this latest EMBA ranking features a shakeup at the very top. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business has captured the No. 1 spot for the first time since the ranking began 20 years ago, ousting Chicago-area rival Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, which until now was the only No. 1 school in the ranking’s history.

Click through the links above to read the complete rankings for each category. To learn what criteria Bloomberg Businessweek uses to rank the schools, read this explainer.