How to choose a school
Janice Chalmers
How can you tell a good business school from the bad and the downright ugly? By using the criteria AMBA uses to accredit schools. Just one in six business schools makes it through the accreditation process
To suss out a school, look at:
The curriculum: Does it match your needs? For example, is there too much emphasis on finance, not enough on marketing; is there the right balance of teaching and project work? Or is it too research-based (this would make it more like an MSc in management)?
The lecturers: How much real business world experience do they have? Have they spent all their lives in academia? How international are they? Where did they gain their own qualifications?
The school's publishing record: How respected is the business school in the world of business?
The students' age profile: Most MBAs are in the 25-35 age bracket. One of the main benefits of an MBA is to learn from the experience of others. If they are all 23, they won't have that much experience to share.
The nationality of students: Are they all British, all from Asia, or a balanced international mix? And which do you want?
The CVs of former students: What types of students do this course? For example, are they mostly young City types, are they mostly British, are they public sector?
The students' post-MBA professions: Check out what your predecessors went on to do - did they all join a bank? Are they mostly in industry? How many of them went into the field of your choice?
Library facilities: Is it open 24 hours a day? What are the IT and database facilities like? How many main business journal subscriptions does it have?
Links to business: Is the school connected to particular businesses? And what does that tell you about the bent of the course? For example, if it's supported by heavy industry, the syllabus might be heavily weighted to production or operational management.
Careers support: What facilities are on offer? How much support are students given once they've finished the course? For example, for how long can you carry on using the school library's facilities? How much canvassing do they do on your behalf?
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