Taking an MBA is likely to be one of the biggest investments of time and money that you ever make 

The programme fee alone at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania—one of the world’s highest-profile business schools—is currently $107,922 over two years. And there is more than just the fee to consider. If you decide on a full-time programme in Europe you will typically be out of the workplace for at least a year. Opt for a school in North America and this could stretch to two years. Students at Wharton forgo an average basic salary of $76,193 a year while attending lectures. Making the correct choice of school and programme is thus on a par with selecting the right house, perhaps even spouse.

Indeed, to be successful professionally it is not even given that you need an MBA at all, as many executives and entrepreneurs will testify (see article). Although demand for the qualification has reached unprecedented levels in countries such as India, mostly satisfied by the hundreds of local business schools that now crowd the market, current uncertainty in the job market and an entrepreneurial preference to just roll up your sleeves leaves many in the Western world uncertain. 

Schools in The Economist’s ranking of MBA programmes insist that they can help boost students’ career opportunities and open new areas of expertise and mobility. Indeed, surely the degree is worth pursuing only if it brings with it a sufficient level of professional advancement and personal development. But can an MBA still be considered a gateway to the top table? Do programmes really produce confident, self-aware graduates who can build exciting careers? What is more, if, as is often claimed, what is taught varies little between schools—if an MBA has become nothing more than a commodity—does it matter where you end up? 

The answer is yes: it still matters. The market is tougher, the degree is under scrutiny, but for many professions, getting an MBA from the right school is a way of landing a better job and of accelerating a career. 

Getting a degree from the wrong school, however, is not. Finding the right school is not just about looking at rankings, or choosing one considered as “prestigious”. The key to making the right choice is understanding why you want to take an MBA, and what you expect it to do for you. So let’s look at some of the key reasons for going to business school and what direction each might point you in: 

“I want to change career direction” 

The great majority of MBA graduates, and certainly the bulk of the most successful ones, use the qualification to build on skills and experience they already have. “Very few employers will recruit you to do something you have never done before, simply because you have three new letters after your name”, says Graeme Read of Antal, an executive-recruitment firm. If you are really set on a complete change of direction you will need to aim for one of the very top schools, where organisations are often buying future potential rather than current abilities. However, remember that wherever you study, an MBA will always be just part of a process, not a guaranteed ticket to the boardroom table. 

“I want to set up my own business” 

No serious business school will tell you that they can create entrepreneurs out of thin air. But what they can do is develop any entrepreneurial skills that you already have. The schools with the best records in this area tend to have a faculty which combines traditional academics with those from the “coal face” who have developed their own successful businesses. It’s also worth looking for a school which draws students from a wide range of cultures and nationalities. As Patrice Houdayer, dean of EMLYON in France, puts it: “Start-up businesses can go global almost immediately these days, so it’s essential to get first-hand knowledge of how business is conducted in key markets around the globe.” 

“I want earn more money/get a better job/ be more mobile”

You’ll be hard pressed to find an MBA graduate who actually lost money (or perhaps more accurately, will admit to having lost money) on the business-school experience. However, the days of eye-watering starting salaries and signing-on bonuses are over, or at least on hiatus. The real value of the qualification often only manifests itself over time, so look for a school that is going to help you develop the skills and capabilities you will need in the long run, not just the day after the graduation ceremony. A school’s location also matters, so give some serious thought to where you want to be based in the long term. Many schools have strong regional ties with a particular industry or recruiter, but only a handful enjoy a global reputation and influence. 

“I want to build a network of contacts” 

Many veteran MBA graduates will tell you that the most useful thing they got out of business school was an address book. Consider what sort of network will benefit you most. Many of the highly ranked schools have invested heavily in creating diverse classes that will generate contacts around the globe. Great if you are planning an international business career, less useful, however, if you are going to focus on the public sector in your own country. 

“I want to develop international experience” 

An increasing number of students are opting to take their MBA abroad. But if you decide to follow them, don’t just be won over by such immediate attractions as a good climate and pleasant surroundings. “The international opportunities that my MBA offered were a huge draw, beyond the obvious attractions of studying in the Bay Area,” says Alex Pitt, a British national whose global career has so far taken in an MBA at Stanford in California, a management consultancy in New York and a business-development company in Dubai. During his time at Stanford he also helped to organise a study trip to India and Pakistan and complete an internship with a media start-up in South Africa. You can check an MBA’s international credentials by looking at things such as the availability of international exchanges or study trips, and the number of countries in which students get jobs when they graduate. 

You might also consider which languages could be of use to you in the future. Nearly all top-ranked programmes are taught in English, but simply living somewhere like France, Germany or China for a year and interning with a local company will leave you with a degree of fluency that could prove invaluable later on. 

“I want to develop my knowledge and experience but I don’t want to break the bank” 

As we have seen, an MBA is expensive. But if you are willing to look beyond of the obvious big names and consider one of the up-and-coming players, there are some attractive deals available. A number of schools have kept fees relatively low. Furthermore, in the wake of the credit crunch, schools are developing new financing options for international applicants. While Harvard has drawn on credit unions, Duke (Fuqua) has agreed to underwrite loans itself. In Europe, insead and Vlerick Leuven have opted for a low-interest loan scheme based on a student’s future earning potential rather than their financial history, and gives them up to seven year after graduation to clear their debt. Most schools will offer scholarships, sometimes covering the entire cost of the programme, to the right students. 

Other considerations 

It might sound obvious, but a school’s location should be a key evaluation, and not just because you might want a job in a particular region. It is no surprise that the business schools at Chicago, New York and London all have excellent reputations in the field of finance. They are right next to the financial markets and can more easily attract guest speakers from financial institutions, or offer a strong network for summer internships and post-MBA careers. Schools on America’s west coast can similarly benefit from ties to Silicon Valley, while other regions offer a gateway to areas of expertise, such as aerospace, luxury brand management or bio-tech. 

You might also evaluate a school based on specialisation. Beyond the generalist nature of the MBA qualification, schools have carved reputations in certain areas such as entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, nonprofit, real-estate, it management or health care. The schools not only work hand in hand with the related industry, but also have faculty who have developed an area of expertise. They might have an incubator to attract venture capital for entrepreneurial business plans, or offer work-study programmes that give students a hands-on experience of working with ngos. The profile section at the back of Which MBA? lists schools’ particular strengths. 

So beyond The Economist’s ranking, think of the criteria that matter to you before drawing up a list of potential MBA programmes. You then may also find that you are not just limited to a handful of schools that dominate the top of the b-school rankings. Research the characteristics of the schools, find out more about the student experience, and how students are achieving their personal and professional goals. Ultimately it is in both schools’ and candidates’ best interests to find the right fit.

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