Focus on Fit When Choosing Which MBA Programs to Target
If you seek a business school environment where you’ll truly thrive, focus on fit over ranking and brand. While the latter two are important, if you don’t feel at home from the moment you set foot on campus, you won’t get the most out of the MBA experience.
When you focus on fit, you should consider the three C’s – curriculum, culture, and communication.
For applicants who must ultimately choose between two or more admissions offers, this post should help clarify matters. For those still in the research phase, keeping these three qualities in mind will serve you well as you narrow down your list.
Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant.
Is the Curriculum a Good Fit?
B-schools regularly revamp their courses to keep up with trends in leadership and innovations in the world at large. Common changes include more required and elective experiential courses, plus new opportunities for students to customize their learning experience.
All general management MBA programs will provide you with the fundamentals of core management skills. The next step to determining fit requires you to find out just how well the programs align with your post-MBA career goals.
Top business schools are known for their strengths in specific fields—finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, health care, real estate development, etc. Now more than ever, business schools are getting STEM certified to attract MBA students looking to blend technology with management. So, start by narrowing your list based on how well the program can prepare you for that industry.
Listen to B-Schooled Episode #157: 12 School Selection Considerations *Beyond* the Rankings
If you have laser-focused career goals, consider business schools that offer a concentration in your area of interest. You might also prefer a school with a more versatile curriculum from the beginning that you can really tailor to your needs. Choose a program with a curriculum that suits you and your learning style best.
Is the Culture a Good Fit?
Understanding the prevailing culture at a school will help you decide whether the program is a good fit for your personality. You can begin your assessment by determining whether the culture is predominantly competitive or collaborative.
Size and location often play an important role in this regard. Larger programs in urban centers, such as Harvard, Wharton, and NYU Stern, typically feel much more competitive and intense.
Smaller business schools and those located in rural settings, such as Dartmouth’s Tuck School, usually foster a close-knit community feeling. Here, many students live on campus and socialize with fellow students and faculty regularly. MBA programs with smaller cohorts take pride in their down-to-earth, collaborative cultures.
Now more than ever, URM applicants are taking a closer look at the diversity initiatives at their target programs. “For Black, Latinx and Indigenous students, in particular, the digging has to go much deeper,” explained Chicago Booth MBA Brian Billups on the MLT blog. “You’ll want to ensure your school for the next two years feels like a home.”
After all, matchmaking goes both ways, Billups noted. Talk with current students, alumni, and admissions staff and ask questions to help you decide if the program meets your needs.
You are trying to figure out whether you can thrive—professionally, educationally, socially, and mentally—in this program, Billups said.
There’s no right or wrong when it comes to a school’s culture. It’s simply a matter of choosing the environment that’s best for you.
When You Focus on Fit, Good Communication is Key
You may also want to consider whether the admissions team seems genuinely interested in getting to know applicants, too. A great way to gauge this is by seeing how often and how much engagement the admissions committee offers.
Take, for example, the admissions blog at Chicago Booth School of Business. This resource gets updated weekly with application tips, student profiles, school events, and other thoughts.
In recent weeks, the blog profiled several MBA students for Hispanic Heritage Month, explained what happens after you submit an application, and highlighted how Boothies have fun with fellow students. This level of attention to attracting and engaging potential students speaks volumes about the kind of experience Booth students can expect to have once on campus.
Finally, applicants should check out the insider intel coming from school-sponsored student blog posts. (The HBS MBA Voices blog is a great one to check out.) These resources help you learn more about the daily experience at your target schools.
Choosing where to pursue an MBA is a huge decision. A focus on fit will help you narrow down the options. Do your homework and understand the strengths and potential drawbacks of each option. Knowing yourself and how a particular school suits your professional goals and needs is the essence of making the right choice.
***
Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership to hourly help reviewing your MBA resume. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.Â
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford.  Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year.  Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×