Passing the good word and earning Karma points...

Three straight day of postings. Wow~ I'm a blogging fool.

I've received some questions from applicants regarding shortlisting B-schools. Here's my advice to them. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

[applicant],

I haven't done much on B-schools in the US, so I can't provide which school is better then another for your profile. Majority of my research has been on B-schools in Europe.

Tip;

Instead of finding the schools that will accept your profile. Find out what you want from this MBA and research the schools that provide what is important to you. Simply put; rather then you matching what they're looking for. Find the schools that will match up w/ what you're looking for.

Key items that are important to me, that I used to short list schools. This will be different from your criteria, but it can be a useful example.

• Career changer or career advancer - I'm a career changer
• What I wanted to do post MBA - Consulting. **removed my comments to protect the innocent (me, ok I'm not that innocent)**
• Region I want to work/live post MBA. - Europe. Rule of thumb, businesses local to the region will hire from that area's B-school. Thus you get better chance of work/live in that region.
  
• Student body - Smaller class size and international diversity are very important to me. I want to make friends and contacts around the world. US B-schools can not match the international and depth of diversity of European schools.
• Non MBA related lifestyle - I love backpacking through foreign countries. Surfing and snowboarding are also very important to me. Guess what I'll be doing w/ my free time through Europe? hehe... You're in school for two years and you can't study every single minute of that time. What do you do for fun? What's your passion? Will that location allow for you to pursue your non-MBA interest.
• etc, etc.

List the things important to you. Then research the schools's websites. Read the student's blog for insider information, the glossy brochures/websites don't tell you. Make contact w/ the Admin people. Surprise, they're actually really helpful once you know what you want. Remember, they want a match also. It's a two way relationship. Make contacts w/ the Alumni. Yes, they will tell their experience is the best and they highly recommend their school. But they do provide valuable, very valuable information, high lights and low lights. Develop a repore with them, so they see who you are. That way, they can also see if you'll be a match for that school. I rather get honest helpful opinion, instead of hot air expanding my ego. Be courteous and buy them a drink or lunch. They are spending their free time for your interest. If it's a match, now you have an alumni that can vouch for you to the B-school.

Hopefully that helps.
Earning the good karma points.