Free Newsletters

   All InfoWorld Newsletters
Advice Line | Bob Lewis » Choosing an MBA program

April 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Choosing an MBA program

Dear Bob, and Bob's readers ...

I just came across this blog, and actually need an answer to a question at the moment - which MBA program to pick.

I have been accepted into Emory, Georgetown & Babson - from which I am seriously looking at Emory and Babson. Emory has a great leadership program and Babson, though not high up in rankings, is the top entrepreneurship school. Entrepreneurship is the field I want to focus on, however I am extremely impressed with Emory's program as well.

In addition, I am an international student and am going to return home to work in the family business afterward.

Any advice on which school I should attend or any advice on how to come up with a solution? Thanks!

- Trying to choose

Dear Choosy ...

If you're interested in entrepreneurship, the cynical answer is that your best choice is whichever school will provide the best personal network after you graduate. The knowledge is useful. Easier access to private investment money, personal introductions to potential customers and so on are far more useful.

So while I have no knowledge of the schools themselves, I'd advise choosing a school based on who else you would expect to attend. My guess is that in the long run, Emory would provide a more useful set of connections than Babson.

- Bob

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted by Bob Lewis on April 9, 2007 08:54 PM


RATE THIS ARTICLE:





 

  •  
  • COMMENTS




I graduated from a full-time MBA program several years ago. Based on my experience, you should make your choice based on a few things:

1) Who else will be attending? You will get just as much if not more knowledge from other students (assuming they have solid work experience) than the professors. The professors tend to work in abstracts and not in the real world.

2) The alumni network should be connected to the market that your family business is in or have connections at companies that would be helpful to your family business. You should do some research into what companies you would like to have a warm entre to -- ask the school who in the alumni networks works or has worked for those companies.

3) Ranking of the school is important at investment banking, VC or large companies (image conscious)...other companies are looking for your skill set and experience fits to the position in question. Since you are going for a family business, you need to be clear about what areas of business you want to improve your skills on -- focus on the school reputation in those areas.

Babson has a very good reputation for entreprenuership, but you can always get the book published from the Babson staff.

Posted by: Team Chaos at April 11, 2007 02:22 PM

I worked for a management consulting firm founded by a famous Harvard Business School professor. He spoke informally with our project group one day (about 10 of us) and this very question came up. His answer essentially echoed Bob's: the most important thing about business school is the contacts you make. Pick the school with the best name and best network. The advice from Team Chaos tells you how to evaluate that.

Posted by: Greg at April 12, 2007 01:08 PM

Go to Georgetown. They're tops for international business, and you'll find a lot of folks there to network with.

Posted by: Charles at April 16, 2007 10:52 AM

Three books. Three ways to change the world, your life, or at least Bob Lewis' bank account.

Leading IT: The Toughest Job in the World distills the world of IT leadership into eight learnable skills and gives you concrete, practical techniques for each one of them.

Bare Bones Project Management: What you can't not do makes project management manageable, even for first-time project managers with no formal training in the discipline.

ManagementSpeak: What managers say/What they mean … well, it won't help your career, and won't make you a better manager. Mostly, it will make you chuckle, guffaw, and maybe even chortle. Make friends - it's the perfect gift for anyone who has ever suffered through one of those meetings.

Order your copies today!





Technology White Papers

 

InfoWorld Technology Marketplace

» Technology White Papers Library

Technology White Papers by Topic

Technology White Papers E-mail Alert

Find out when the latest white paper is available:
 
 
» BUY A LINK NOW

Sponsored Technology Links