Choosing B-Schools to Apply to: Creating Your Short List

Knowing that your top business schools have everything you’ve ever dreamed of is nice, but if they do not welcome people like you, will it be worth your while to expend effort and money applying? Conversely, learning that an MBA program that seems so-so would likely value your candidacy might prompt you to take a closer look.

The first thing you need to do when determining which schools to short list is to assess your profile. Until you know WHO you are, it’s virtually impossible to know WHERE to apply.

MBA admissions: Assessing the many aspects of your profile

Work experience: Take a look at your industry and company, your position, different factors that all come together to create your MBA admissions profile: how you compare to accomplished peers, how fast your advancement and/or how impressive your impact has been, and your leadership (formal and/or informal). What are the strengths? What are your weaknesses or challenges?

Academics: This part includes your undergrad GPA and transcript, grad GPA and transcript (if any), and GMAT or GRE scores. What are the strengths and weaknesses in each area, and how do they add up overall?

Goals: Where do you see yourself post-MBA? What industry? Function? Do you have specific function(s) in mind? Are you making a slight career shift or are you changing careers? What is the connection between your current work and your goals?

Extracurriculars: Extracurricular activities round out one’s profile, adding that extra sparkle that set apart applicants. Some programs add more weight to them, and some less. If you don’t have much to show here, it’s not too late – there’s still time to add these to your profile!

Other miscellaneous factors: On the negative side: honor code infraction, DUI, DWI, academic probation. On the positive side: obstacles overcome, extraordinary level of achievement in almost any area, and military experience.

With a clear understanding of your MBA admissions profile and your competitiveness, you can determine which schools are safeties, on-pars, reaches, and out-of-reaches.

Your top business schools: Determining your needs and wants

Above we talked about WHO you are. Now we’re going to move on to WHAT you need and want. In step one from our last article, you jotted down a few top priorities. Now it’s time to go into greater detail.

Here are some factors to consider in coming up with your short list of top business schools at the beginning of the MBA admissions process:

Academics: What is your ideal curriculum structure and approach (e.g., preset concentrations vs. flexible; case study vs. experiential vs. lecture)? Are you seeking particular strengths or disciplines? Are there professors you’re eager to learn from? Other factors to consider: degree of quantitative rigor, opportunities to take courses outside the b-school, and study abroad options.

Recruiting and career services: How important to you are career services? What services are most important to you? Which schools host heavy recruiting for both internships and post-MBA positions for your goals?

Extracurricular opportunities: Which clubs and extracurricular activities interest you? Other opportunities to consider: volunteering activities, arts or cultural activities, religious resources, and political opportunities

Brand: This factor is critical to some, insignificant to others, and somewhere in between for most. There is brand in your own perspective, and brand in the eyes of your prospective employers. Probably the latter is more important and less open to compromise. Do not mistake ‘brand’ for ‘ranking’. If you need a highly competitive program such as Columbia or Wharton to make it feel worthwhile, that’s fine. But the issue isn’t ‘top 5’; it’s the value of the specific school brand for your context.

Environmentandambience: Do you prefer a warm and open or a hard driving learning environment? A small, close-knit campus? Or a large, teeming one? A more conservative student body? Or a more liberal one? How important is diversity to you – geographic, ethnic, professional, or religious diversity?

Geography: Where would you like to be? On your home continent or abroad? Which region of the country? Country or city?

Other personal factors: Do you need special medical resources? Do you have a partner who also needs to be set up with school or work? Do you have other familial needs?

When looking at these factors, you may want to rank them – essential, very important, important, neutral, not important. That will help you better set your priorities and narrow down your short list.

Putting it all together: School research

Now it’s time to take your fully assessed MBA admissions profile, your measured and ranked list of wants and needs, and your long list, and start matching things up and crossing things out. To put it all together, you’ll need to have extensively researched the top business schools as we discussed in the first article. Take this information together with what you’ve learned about yourself to weed out the schools on your list that are simply not right. When you’re done, you should be left with a nice, tight list of schools – your short list – of top business schools that you are highly competitive at, with some risk and some safety measures taken.

How many schools should you apply to? This will be different for each applicant, but we would say that number may be anywhere from four to eight.