Strategies for B school research

Hi,

I am going to apply to MBA next year and I am starting to research the schools I am interested in. This includes reading related blogs (HBR, Wharton Magazine, etc.), following the schools on social media, meeting with my personal contacts who are associated with schools i am interested in, etc. etc.

but this is a lot of information to process and keep track off. What are some research strategies/organizational frameworks you have used to keep track of all the info you gather.

here is what i attempted to do. per my consultant quantitative mindset, i created a relational spreadsheet in excel, linking schools to faculties, focuses, classes, etc etc. in principle it was a great idea and i can share my spreadsheet with you, but i think i overthought the whole thing. i just got lost in the minutae and pretty soon gave up that approach.

thanks.

 
Best Response

You are definitely over-thinking this. What I would suggest is: 1) Make sure you know why you're going back to school. This sounds trivial but a lot of candidates don't seem to have a good answer for this 2) Based on 1) and the research and networking you've done, develop a list of 5 - 10 schools that will set you up for success in what it is you want to do. 3) Visit those schools and talk to faculty and students. Ask students why they chose that school - see if these answers resonate with your interests and goals. Attend classes if possible 4) Based on 3) whittle down / reshuffle your list to 5 - 7 schools with a clear rank order priority and apply. 5) Go the school you get into with the best ranking in step 4) 6) ??? 7) Profit

 

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