by Starbuck21

Created on: June 03, 2008

Applying to business school is a labor-intensive pain in the neck. Each school's application includes 3 to 4 essay questions on difficult topics. You can spend hundreds of dollars in Kaplan classes prepping for the GMAT, which takes several hours to complete. Interviews are often necessary and may require you to trek all over the country (or the world).

So, while you're brooding on what boss to use for the required recommendations, take a moment to make sure that you are applying to the schools that fit you best. You don't want to waste time on applying to an institution that's not a good fit for you. Here are some of the factors to consider when selecting an MBA program.

Firstly, you should have a heart to heart with yourself. What are your long-term goals? What industries are you considering? What kind of job do you want? While it's not necessary to know exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life, having at least basic idea of your long-term hopes with aid you in best selecting a school. Additionally, think about your needs in the short term. Are you comfortable moving to go to business school? What kind of culture are you looking for?

Once you know what you want (sort of), now you can consider the business schools themselves. There are a few free sites you can look at to conduct some preliminary research on business school programs. Business Week has an extensive site that covers many aspects of business school other than academic programs. For a modest yearly fee, you can get even more information. Another good resource is mba.com.

The next step is to take a look at the individual schools. Most MBA programs have their own sites that include information on academics, faculty, extracurriculars, and career statistics. Some schools even include blogs from current students that detail student life at these places. You should also be able to find contacts for officers of specific clubs. Most of the student officers I contacted were happy to answer my questions. There are also plenty of independent blogs written by MBA students willing to share their personal experiences with their business schools.

Lastly, you should visit as many of the schools you plan to apply to as possible. While the Internet is an excellent source of information, nothing beats actually going to campus and experiencing classes and student life first hand. All of the business schools I visited opened classes and student events to applicants and newly admitted students.

I have saved the proverbial 800-pound gorilla for last: school rankings. While it's awesome to be able to have a big name school on your resume, I believe that there are lots of lesser-known business schools that have great programs and offer great opportunities to their students. Business Week and US World and News Report both rank business schools, and their rankings offer a good way to get started with your search. However, it's not the only thing to think about. You want a school that's the best fit for you, not just a place with a big brand name.

Best of luck on your search!

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