The Final Countdown

In those 10-odd months before I began the application process, I had been through enough literature on an international MBA to last me a few years. It was time to make a decision. My rather complex database and evaluation model threw up the suspects:

USA: Anderson (UCLA) and Stern (NYU)

UK: Said (Oxford) and Judge (Cambridge)

Europe: RSM (Rotterdam) and HEC (Paris)

Australia: AGSM (UNSW, Sydney)

Singapore: NUS

With this eclectic mix of eight schools on my target list, I braced myself for the next phase -- figuring out the details of application and funding.
Prospective students, if the foregoing ramblings make the rigmarole seem like a labyrinthine process that presents a risk of getting more entangled rather than a solution to getting sorted out, do not despair! As you immerse yourself into it, you will realise that several options have a tendency towards self-elimination because of the sub-conscious bias or preference you have towards certain attributes of a school. The true test comes only after you have arrived at your target list of 6-10 schools and must decide which ones to dedicate application resources to. Until then, you may as well bask in the attention when a colleague or peer taps your knowledge bank for advice on deciding which B-school to choose.

Author is Maithilee Shirgaonkar, who has done her MBA from Said Business School, University Of Oxford.

Reference; rediff,testfunda