Which b-school -2 !

This is in continuation to my previous post "Which b-school?". I had 9 colleges in my mind and after exploring the websites of b-schools and talking to current students i have decided not to apply to Emory and Kelley. So, that means i have no safe school in my list. I am going to apply to 2 schools in R-1 and other 2 in R-2 next year.

Also, a further research enabled me to flag some schools as reach schools and others as stretch. I am able to shortlist 3 of my target schools but still have to shortlist the 4th. Adding to my confusion are Tuck, Cornell, INSEAD and Duke {yes, i have added one more name to my list but then the good news is that i have crossed out 3}

Below is my updated list:

1. Cornell ---> Reach --- wrote a detailed post about Cornell. confused

2. Wharton ---> dream school --> Stretch -- Applying in round-2 next year. Wharton passes the test that one of the fellow blogger had mentioned {My mom knows about this college}. Brand name: for me it can't better than this, Culture: After reading student blogs, talking to Alums and students i feel that Wharton has a culture which promotes learning. You learn, have fun, meet great people from diverse backgrounds. Grade non-disclosure policy in place {very imp for me}. Placement stats are fabulous {can you believe Mckinsey and Boston together recruited close to 100 students last year}. All in all Wharton remains my dream school.

3. Kellogg ---> Stretch ----> Everything about Kellogg is awesome. Has a tremendous Brand value, International appeal, Excellent General Management Program. Above all Kellogg is pioneer when it comes to "Team Work". {In all my posts i am cribbing about team work, collaborative culture. There is a reason behind it which i will explain in another post} Students are supportive, curriculum is what iam looking for and not to mention the great employment statistics of the school {career development services are one of the best among top b-schools}. I cannot explain all my reasons in words, after talking to students, going through website, brochure etc i had a hunch that i would fit nicely in Kellogg. Applying R-2 next year.

4. INSEAD ---> Everything is wonderful, only confusion that i have in mind is whether i want to attend a 1 yr school or not? From what i have heard {students in US b -schools}, 1 yr programs don't give as much opportunity to learn and enjoy the MBA experience as 2 yr programs give. Have to call one INSEAD student this week and will discuss this in detail with him. confused

5. TUCK ---> Stretch -- Great b-school and one of the most selective schools in US. Excellent General Management curriculum, Great Faculty (esp Strategy and Ops management), One of the most close knit community with fabulous Alum network. Alums are too supportive. Remote location (i would love to spend 2 years in Hanover), No. 1 in terms of ROI (Forbes 2007 ranking, ROI matters a lot). Tuck students enjoy good Intl mobility though Tuck is not a very popular brand outside US but i read one of their Adcom officer mentioning that Tuck is trying hard to spread its name outside USA, which is a good sign. A bit confused, whether i should apply or not?

6. EMORY ---> safe school ---> Dropped--> after to talking to current students i realized that Emory lacks a good Career development cell. Also, the recall value of brand "Goizueta" is not too great. In case one wants a global career then Emory is not a very good choice.

7. Kelley --> safe school ---> Dropped --> Too good for Marketing but nothing else to boast about.

8. Chicago Booth ---> Booth is a great college and in a previous post i had written that i might aply to Booth next year. Only issue i found with the school is its culture. After speaking to current students and after trying to contact alumni i found that people in Booth are not as helpful as in other top b-schools. I had read that Chicago alums don't share very strong bonds with the school and i could sense that during my conversation with a few of them (may be i selected the wrong set of people). While students at Darden, Kellog, INSEAD, Emory etc were enthusiastic about discussing their school {despite their hectic schedules}, Booth's students were hardly responsive. No matter how great the curriculum or career support at Booth is, i don't want to end up at a college wherein i can't fit. Dropped.

9. Darden (though its heavily tilted towards case method) -- > I am applying to Darden in R1-next year. Had a conversation with a current student (Paige) and all my inhibitions twards case method were gone. Paige's passion about Darden was infectious. The learning model and collaborative culture at Darden appealed me a lot. Moreover, after thoroughly understanding the Darden's culture, learning model and curriculum i think i will be fortunate if i get to attend this school. Career development services offered by the school are great. ROI per se school ranks 4th (Forbes 2007 rankings). And the general management curriculum is something that i am looking for. And i feel Darden is a reach school.

How to make the best use of a meeting with an alum or a current student!

Today i called up one of my friend who's pursuing his MBA from a top b-school and realised that i need to have a set of questions ready which i can ask current MBA students or alums. Would like to share these questions so that you may make the best use of call/meeting with an alum or current student.

1. Always ask about their experience at the school. What did they liked, what turned them off etc etc. I asked my friend that "if you can travel back in time would you still like to come to this school?"

2. What is the learning model at your school? How comfortable you are with the curriculum? Does the learning model ensures that you grasp the fundamentals or do you feel out of place?

3. Whether you have to work independently or you work in teams? (I would prefer a school where i have to work in teams)

4. Does the school believes in grade non disclosure or not? (I would prefer a school which does not discloses the grade of the students.)

5. What is the size of the class? How well you are able to network with the rest of the class? How many people you know from your batch?

6. HOW IS THE FACULTY??

7. Are the students overly competitive or they are co-operative?

8. How do you find the alum community?

9. Are you proud to carry the name of "xyz" b-school or do you feel otherwise?

10. What would you suggest in order to strengthen my application for "xyz" school?

11. What do you like most and hate most about the school?

You can weave these questions and any other that you feel are relevant around your conversation with a current student and get a fair idea about the school.

Which b-school??

Its been a long time since i started looking out for my target b-schools. It started with Melbourne Business School and moved to I.E Spain then to IMD and halted for sometime at Wharton. The search is not complete yet but i have figured out how to find the school of my choice. When i started, all that i did was to go through some b-school rankings and then select the school whose name sounded cool (Like Yale Management School, don't know what was so cool about it. I think it was the effect of reading John Grisham Novels) ! (I know i was one jock when i started my MBA prep, on second thoughts i still might be one).

Initially, i wanted to attend a b-school which would not cost me a fortune (e.g: NUS singapore) then i wanted to attend a school in South Africa (South Africa has a good climate). I just wanted to do an MBA (for the heck of it, almost all my classmates are MBAs now, how can i stay behind). But, soon i got out of that rat race, i asked myself whether i really wanted to do an MBA? And once i got the answer in affirmative with some solid reasons (will share my reasons in another post) i was determined to find some good schools where i would fit in.

I approached my b-school search process with following factors in mind:

1. Fit ---> Now thats most important for me. I have to spend 2 years of my life in the school and I would not like to go to a school which promotes cut throat competition among students. I won't prefer a school where all students want to do is care for grades. I would like to go to a school which promotes team work and a culture where one learns a lot from his/her peers. In short i would prefer colleges which have a grade non disclosure policy ( I hope this policy helps in fostering a culture where people actually learn and don' run after grades.).

2. Reach ---> I dont want to waste my time, money and effort on schools which are outside my reach. When i think of it Harvard, Stanford and LBS come to my mind. (i think i need to learn to think big)

3. Typical career Paths followed by the grads ---> Need to get in touch with some of the alums

4. Learning Model --> for me this is the 2nd important thing after Fit. What good an MBA degree will be if i dont learn anything. The school that i would opt for should have a right mix of case, experiential and theoretical learning. (Cornell's model comes pretty close to my ideal learning model)

5. Brand value ---> Brand matters! atleast for me it does. It will be the last degree that i would pursue and the brand of my alma mater would be stamped on me for the rest of my life. Gucci commands respect and premium price in all the corners of the world.

6. Faculty in courses of my choice ---> whether school can give me world class faculty in the courses that i think will be instrumental in shaping my post MBA career. Columbia is famous for its Finance Faculty and other courses take a back seat. I have a preference for strategy so i would put a cross in front of Columbia.

Right now i have following schools in my mind and i need to research these schools at a deeper level before i further trim the list to final 4:
1. Cornell
2. Wharton ---> dream school
3. Kellogg
4. INSEAD
5. TUCK
6. EMORY ---> safe school
7. Kelley --> safe school
8. Chicago Booth
9. Darden (though its heavily tilted towards case method)

I will reasearch each of the above mentioned school in great detail and will post the information as and when i get it.