Blog

Choosing the business school you’ll attend is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. In fact, for the duration of your course, you’re likely to spend more time at school than at home; you’ll probably know more about the lives of your fellow students than about your friends’; your money will be used to pay for tuition and other study-related expenses; and so on and so forth. Ensuring that you attend a comfortable yet stimulating school, surrounded by like-minded people and certain that you’re investing your money wisely is therefore paramount.

Yet there are other issues to consider before you settle on a specific school, often overlooked even by rankings. This blog post suggests 4 things you should bear in mind in order to choose the school that’ll prove right for you.

1 – Location

The location of your school is paramount, for a number of reasons. If your aim is to quietly update your knowledge, focusing on study alone, perhaps dreaming of a career in academia, an isolated campus in a rural region may work for you. These campuses are more common in the US and in the UK, where many renowned schools take pride in their village-like headquarters. In continental Europe, higher education schools are usually located in major cities, close to corporate hubs, financial centers and political institutions. Studying in a city offers you more networking opportunities and a generally more active social life, a key factor to consider if you’re aim is to switch careers or launch your own business (personal connections are the #1 way to land a new job or find investors). Naturally, not all cities are alike: London, New York and Shanghai are perfect destinations for those who wish to enter the world of high Finance, while San Francisco and Lisbon are more suited for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Why should you consider Portugal for your MBA? Find out here.

2 – Corporate relations

Good schools don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re part of a system that connects students and lecturers with recruiters and market representatives, and invest massively in creating occasions for students to promote themselves and establish relationships that may advance their careers. Investigate your shortlist of schools’ online presence to understand whether they have official partnerships with companies and organizations, and how their departments of corporate relations work. The more agile a school is in this regard, the more you can trust it’ll help you achieve your post-graduation career goals (through internships, cultural exchanges, networking events, etc.).

3 – Alumni network

Being the only people on Earth who’ll understand the strains you’ll endure while studying, as well as the happy aspects of the experience, former students may help you both during and after your course. Not all schools have solid and efficient alumni networks, so contact former students to gather information on your shortlisted schools’ networks (alumni profiles; activities; traditions; etc.).

Need help understanding MBA Rankings and choosing a Business School? Read this blog post.

4 – International experience

Nowadays, many schools in the Western world have twin campuses in the Middle East, Africa or South America. Others have partnerships with specific schools, both in the West and elsewhere. Regardless of your post-graduation ambitions, they’ll unravel in a global world, so the possibility of participating in a cultural exchange or of taking on an internship abroad should be a priority when choosing your business school. Pay a visit to your potential school and talk to career and student services about the kind of international mobility they offer students who are taking the course you’ll enroll in, and under which conditions. Remember that an international experience can – depending on where it takes you – make up for any less advantageous characteristics of your home campus’ location!

Have fun during your enquiries and, as always, reach out to us if you have any comments or questions! Feel free to download our ebook below.