I have been asked by MBA 365 to shed some light on several topics: MBA tuition financing and who should apply to international MBA programs.

MBA Tuition Financing

Unfortunately I can’t generalize for all European business schools but it appears that most schools offer financing alternatives. What I can tell you about ESADE is:

“ESADE offers MBA Student Loan Agreements for all nationalities through exclusive arrangements with large Spanish banks to specifically meet your needs. The majority of MBA candidates finance their tuition fees through student loans from lending institutions around the globe. Spanish banking institutions show their commitment to ESADE Business School by providing optimal lending terms to all ESADE MBA candidates (regardless of nationality). Our partner banks cover up to 100% of the tuition fees.”

My US classmates who have gone through La Caixa bank to obtain their loan have told me that the process was very simple and seemingly only required a signature. The ease of the process and the fact that the loan is denominated in Euros instead of US dollars, thereby eliminating the currency conversion factor, has led the majority of my US classmates to choose financing arrangements through the Spanish banks.

International Programs

My decision to attend a European MBA program was primarily driven by the pursuit of post MBA employment in Western Europe. I saw the large European alumni network and the proximity of the school to major European cities as a major advantage. What I realized upon arriving at ESADE is that international programs don’t just facilitate employment in a given location; it provides you the unique experience of being in an international community of students. When ESADE states that 47 countries are represented from the student body it is not a statistic liberally adjusted through creative ways of assigning student body countries of origin, but an accurate representation of people’s nationalities.

Yet, aside from all the soft intangible, we are here to find jobs after the MBA and to be quite frank, those wanting US based jobs will be better off attending an American MBA. The alumni network will be stronger in the US and access to recruiters will be better. That is not to say it isn’t possible to obtain a job in the United States from a European business school. I and several others have been able to obtain summer internships in the US but I feel that if you are set on living and working in the US, it would be more advantageous for your career development to attend a US MBA program with an extensive US based alumni network and corporate recruiter relationships.

Bryan,

ESADE Class of 2011

Every spring, a small amount of prospective MBA candidates are left with nothing but rejection letters and questions, mostly that begin with the phrase “What if.”  What if I wrote a better essay?  What if I scored higher on my GMAT tests? What if my grades were better or my recommendations were stronger? What if I worked for a Fortune 500 company to bolster my acceptance chances?

I ask my clients another type of question that empowers them to think very differently at the beginning of their search. What if you applied to six to eight first choice programs where you were within the admission range and where you could imagine yourself enrolled at any one?  In other words, why would you apply to programs if you’re really not that interested or they’re beyond your admissibility?  Why invest your money, time, and hope in something like that scenario?  My advice for prospective students has always been to focus on what’s within your reach. Think about how your education and career could be transformed at an appropriate program based on your goals and outcomes.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to help a prospective MBA student who was rejected to the four schools that she applied to for fall 2010. When I looked at her transcript, resume, and test scores, I wondered why she had applied to Tier I programs with Tier II credentials.  Plus, she only applied to four schools, a further gamble in the admission process. Her options are more limited now.  This could have been avoided with a little planning and advice.

If you go beyond eight applications, focus can be lost, more money is spent, and the pressure mounts to complete all applications within deadlines. If you go below six, as mentioned above, and you reach a beyond your admissibility, you may be left with nothing but rejection letters, frustration, and most importantly, lost time.

You’re probably wondering what “first choice programs” are?  They are the six to eight programs on your list that you would be happy enrolling if you are accepted.  Simply put, first choice programs get you thinking that even if you are rejected to all but one, you will be excited to go to that one. It’s moving away from your mindset of putting programs into the three traditional categories: elation, content, and tolerance. Attitude is critical in successfully graduating from MBA programs. Use this philosophy in the admission process too.

MBA admissions can be daunting. With a little planning, though, the process can be effectively streamlined, making the admission process a worthy investment in the end.

Liam Dunfey, M.A. is the lead admissions counselor for MBA365.com.  To learn more about the MBA365.com Admissions Consulting Services please click here.   Liam can also be reached via email at ldunfey@mba365.com

As Madhavi mentions in her post, strong extracurricular activities are a must for any serious applicant. Since most applicants to top programs will probably have a solid GPAs and mind-blowing GMAT scores, strong participation in extracurricular activities is one of the main places on your application where you need to stand out (in a good way, of course).

Where do you find a good outlet for your charitable involvement? One often overlooked example is your alma mater’s alumni association. If you’re not currently a member of your alumni association (or better yet, you didn’t even know one existed), sign up immediately!

A university’s alumni association exists mainly to promote the goals and interests of the university in the broader community. It raises the university’s ability to raise money, gain political clout, recruit students, and enhance its image. The best part is, most alumni associations rely on alumni volunteers’ help. Getting involved is often a great opportunity to showcase or develop your leadership skills and show initiative in giving back to your community.

There are various ways to get involved. If you no longer live near the area where you went to college, look into starting a local alumni club. Alumni clubs across the country host various social, networking, and volunteer events to promote the spirit of their university. If a local club already exists, sign up and volunteer your services in planning various club events or running the club.

You can also visit your alumni association’s website to find out information regarding the structure of the association; often, you can volunteer to sit on various committees or even run for the board of directors. Not only is this a great way to show your commitment to you alma mater, it is also a fantastic networking opportunity. Look for opportunities that will allow you to showcase or develop skills that you lack in your work experience.

Getting involved with your alumni association has many tangible benefits for prospective MBA applicants. Some schools, such as HBS and Tuck, actually look for evidence of applicants’ post-graduation involvement with their schools – it shows that, if accepted, the applicant will continue to be involved with the school. If you’re looking for attractive extra-curricular involvement, look no further than your alumni association.

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MBA365.com is looking for MBA students or recent MBA graduates for the following programs:

Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, Wharton, MIT, Chicago, U Cal Berkeley, Dartmouth, Columbia, Yale, NYU, Duke, UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia (Darden), Cornell, U Texas, Georgetown, UNC, and USC.

You will become the official MBA365 blogger for your school!   Become a part of a growing community and provide visitors with insight into what it’s like to be an MBA student at your prestigious university.   Your posts will be featured within an exclusive community for your school (see cornell.mba365.com for an example) and your posts will have the potential to be featured on the front of MBA365!   Along the way, you’ll get some great notoriety and get some cool free stuff!

Interested students can send writing samples to us at info@mba365.com along with a short background of yourself with more information about your school.  If you don’t see your school listed above, feel free to give us a shout anyways as we may still consider you.  Good Luck!

-The MBA365 team

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Accelerated MBA programs, also referred to as One Year MBA Programs, are full-time MBA programs that generally take between 12 to 15 months to complete. The term “accelerated” refers to the fact that students are able to complete these programs faster than a traditional full-time MBA, which typically requires a two year commitment. While accelerated programs are a relatively new phenomenon here in the U.S., most European MBA programs have traditionally followed this format.

Accelerated MBA Programs have steadily gained popularity in the U.S. due to the growing reluctance of applicants to take two years out of the workforce. Tuition costs for accelerated MBA programs – another major consideration for MBA applicants – are often a fraction of the cost of a two year program. Currently, over 90 accredited business schools around the world offer a one-year MBA program with many schools expected to add the option in the future.

The curriculum in Accelerated MBA Programs typically covers the same material as a traditional MBA, albeit at a quicker pace. Some programs require students to have taken some business courses prior to enrolling in the program to ensure that they will be able to keep pace and manage the heavy workload. Most accelerated programs typically do not offer students an opportunity to do an internship.

The information below shows the student profile of people currently enrolled in Accelerated MBA programs, both in the U.S. and abroad:

Source: WSJ Survey

Recruiters and hiring managers typically view the accelerated MBA degree in the same light as a “regular” two year degree, so anyone looking for a quicker – and cheaper – way to give their career a boost should definitely consider this option.

A NY Times article describing the woes of the Venture Capital Industry interviewed a couple of VC veterans who had this to say about MBAs:

“The biggest names in the industry are concerned about low returns and are blaming several factors: funds that have grown too large, the M.B.A.’s that have invaded the industry and older partners who have lost touch with what is new in technology.”

[They] also attribute the venture industry’s struggles in part to the business school graduates who now populate Sand Hill Road offices, taking the place of the entrepreneurs who first formed venture firms.”

When asked to elaborate, the veterans offered this piece of insight:

“When too many venture capitalists serve on a start-up’s board with “no proper judgment, who have never built a company,” they tend to get too involved in running the company and, in high-pressure situations, imagine problems that do not exist, Mr. Horowitz said. “Their insecurity and own anxiety filters into the advice,” he said.”

Last time I checked, you had to have an MBA from Harvard Business School or Stanford to even think about breaking into Private Equity or Venture Capital. Simply put, private equity firms hire almost exclusively from the very best MBA programs because the schools’ networks translate into fund-raising dollars. The ability to display how many HBS grads you have on staff in the pitchbook you show investors is also a plus.

Maybe instead of generalizing all MBAs as thoughtless robots that that lack “proper judgment” the VC industry should rethink its hiring practices when it comes to recruiting young talent. Each MBA program has different strengths and weaknesses which are irrelevant of its ranking, brand name or alumni network. Not to say that HBS and Stanford don’t have their share of talented individuals, but diversifying the ranks to include a variety of graduates certainly seems like a good idea.

It is always easy to point the finger at someone else when things are going badly; considering the fact that you are responsible for creating the problem and working to solve it is a more difficult choice.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal surveyed over two thousand students and alumni of 48 business schools to access the quality of Accelerated MBA (One Year) programs. The respondents were surveyed on a variety of topics such as: program flexibility; career services; usefulness of the training; and whether or not their degree protected them from the recession.

The results were then used to put together a ranking of one year accelerated MBA programs. While the rankings themselves offered few surprises – European schools took the top three spots and Kellogg and Babson rounding out the top five – the students’ responses yielded some interesting insights.

Most respondents said that the determining factor in their decision to pursue an accelerated MBA was, unsurprisingly, the ability to re-enter the workforce more quickly. More importantly, most thought that their degrees prepared them to land higher-paying jobs and adequately prepared them to excel in a global business environment. According to the respondents, recruiters and hiring managers view the accelerated MBA degree no differently than a regular, two-year degree. Many also cited the ability to gain international exposure, although this was not the case for most U.S.-based programs.

So was the Survey a good one?

One could argue that comparing both U.S.-based students and European students was a major flaw in the survey – domestic students actively chose a one-year program versus a comparable two program, while many international students had little choice; a decision to attend a European school automatically meant that they would have to attend a one-year program. A survey of only U.S. based students probably would have yielded a more accurate overview of why students chose an accelerated MBA program and how they felt about their experience.

An even better experiment would have been to compare the experience of students in a one year MBA program versus those at two-year program – at the same school. The results could shed light on some of the more pressing concerns, such as whether some schools focus more of their recruiting efforts on two-year MBA students relative to their one-year counterparts.

One of the most important considerations for any potential student, but especially for an MBA candidate, is the cost of tuition and living expenses. With university costs skyrocketing and the job market remaining uncertain at best, a decision to go to business school has serious implications. The difficulty of this decision can be magnified even further depending on a candidate’s individual situation. For example, an older candidate may already have a family who relies on their income and might prefer to stay in their current geographic location. Alternatively, someone who is earlier in their career might have significantly more flexibility when it comes to leaving their existing career and choosing which school to attend.

The increased availability of accelerated and One Year MBA programs means that candidates have more choices than ever and the ability to find the specific program that represents the right combination of academics, location, cost, and time commitment. Regardless of your current situation, however, it is important to keep in mind that the true cost (value) of an MBA goes well beyond tuition, books, and supplies. Furthermore, the true cost of an accelerated or one year MBA can be drastically different and, often, much less than a traditional MBA. Therefore, when evaluating your options, it is important to consider the following:

1) Direct costs. This includes items such as tuition, room and board (if separate or different than your current living situation), books, supplies, etc. Traditionally, one year MBA programs cost about 20-40% less than a traditional MBA, although this varies significantly by school. With total costs for traditional MBA programs nearing $150,000, in some cases this difference could translate into $50,000 to $60,000. When you also consider the increased interest (compounding!) that you may incur as a result of taking on a larger student loan, the gap is even larger.

2) Foregone wages. This is a critical component in making your decision and should be considered in much the same way as any direct cost. Many candidates often get so caught up in how expensive tuition is, that they forget to consider how much more they are giving up in foregone wages by going back to school. Remember, although you may have grown comfortable making $75,000 a year (with all the benefits), all that goes away when you leave your employer. Because of the accelerated nature of a one year program, however, you could be back in the workforce in as little as 12-15 months (as opposed to 2+ years). Depending on your current salary (especially if you are an investment banker or consultant), this difference could be worth more than the entire cost of your MBA.

3) Career path. Are you eligible for a big promotion next year? Does experience mean more than education in your industry (or the industry you want to join after school)? These are questions (and potential costs) you need to consider when figuring out the true cost (value) of an MBA. If you are on the verge of a management-level position, not only are you giving up your salary while you are in school, but also a potential promotion, raise, and bonus to go with it. This can be another advantage of a one year program, as it keeps you out of the workforce for much less time.

Keep in mind that while we would consider the above items as the most critical items, there are many questions you must ask, given your specific situation. Furthermore, there are many benefits of a traditional MBA program (a topic for another article), like potentially better recruiting opportunities, that we have not discussed here. Ultimately, however, for many candidates, the financial and career path benefits of an accelerated MBA program are too large to ignore. What are your biggest considerations as you go through the research and application process for business school?

A Business Week Article recently discussed the increasing costs of funding an MBA degree and ideas on how to help pay for tuition and other expenses. It was an interesting article and focused on how students need to be cost conscious regarding any decisions they make while attending school. Keeping a close tab on your budget and what your expenses might be before even attending school is something that MBA students should be doing from the start. Most students just assume that once they finish up school, they will immediately obtain a high paying job, in which they can pay off their student loans overnight. While I agree that most students achieving an MBA degree have a better chance of finding a higher paying job upon graduation, in this economy nothing can be considered a sure thing.

The article also noted that students should be aware of any of the scholarships and financial aid programs that each MBA Program is offering. The author recommends “keeping financial aid folders for each of the schools to which you applied”, which we would also consider to be a very important step in your application process. Many of today’s MBA programs offer considerable amounts of financial aid and students would be amiss to not take advantage of the services that many of these schools offer.

Another important step noted is to keep a close eye on your expenses while both applying and attending business school. As previously noted, students should not make the assumption that some high six figure salary job will fall in their lap following graduation. Expect the worse and the better off you will be. So, as the article notes, it’s probably best to “Bring a brown bag lunch, nix your Starbucks habit, or quit hanging around the mall on sale day”.

Something that many students often overlook while trying to decide between business schools are the in-state costs and hidden expenses. While tuition costs are the biggest expense incurred, things such as “traveling for the job search, purchasing business attire, and attending networking events” are all expenses that can truly add up. Compare the various schools you are considering, making these “hidden” expenses a part of your overall budget, and you’ll be ahead of the game.

Lastly, the article speaks to determining how much money it is that you will have to borrow. After exhausting any potential scholarship/grant money (it is noted that it is tougher for MBA’s to get scholarships), look to what loans are available. The article recommends notes various options of aid for students one of which is a federal loan which is provided at fixed interest rates. “Graduate business students can take out up to $8,500 in subsidized Stafford loans, which are based on need, do not accrue interest on the loan while your are in school, and come with a fixed interest rate”.

Funding your MBA is certainly a challenging proposition and we would recommend that students certainly look into all of the options (including aid, scholarship and grants) available at each particular school they are considering. Cutting back on expenses before and while attending business school while also tempering salary expectations upon graduation are steps that every potential MBA student should consider.

The GMAT is one of the most crucial elements to a prospective business student’s application to any MBA program. The following three steps outline a program that anyone can follow and hopefully have you on your way to scoring over a 700 on your GMAT in only 2 months!

1) Develop a Consistent GMAT Study Plan and Stick to IT!
Developing a study plan that will get you ready for test day is one of the most important parts of your planning for the GMAT exam.  Developing this study plan will keep you on a stringent path and increase your probability of achieving a solid score on exam day.  Steps to take in order to create this game plan include:

– Figure out your time-line for Studying

Most students typically take an average of about 2 to 3 months to study for the GMAT.   Some have told me that they have been able to ace the GMAT in 3 weeks, yet others have needed from 6 to 12 months of study time. Regardless, you need to figure out what is going to be best for you.  Determining which days of the week you can study will be helpful too.  But deciding on what your time frame will be, will let you determine how much time you need to devote to every day of study.

– Use Excel to create a GMAT tracking spreadsheet

I strongly suggest creating a spreadsheet which allows you to track every problem set and practice exam that you take. Create columns in excel which list possible answers, what you answered, correct/incorrect, and why you might have answered the problem incorrectly. Mark the problems with an “X” which left you completely baffled or that took you quite some time to answer. By revisiting these questions you can refine your knowledge and definitely pick up some points on exam day.

2. Get the Right Materials!

I recommend one of the following books in your preparation:

– Kaplan Premier Program

– Manhattan GMAT Set of 8 Strategy Guides, 4th Edition

– Princeton Review GMAT

Each of these books explains the layout of the GMAT, an idea of the questions that you will see, and just great information on how to organize your studies.   They also provide some great practice questions and are a very good start in order to get in gear for acing the GMAT.  Starting with one of these guides first will be a great strategy, and once you are comfortable with the material you can then switch over to the The Official Guide for GMAT Review as they include questions from actual GMAT tests.

Now since you’ve set a schedule, have a spreadsheet to keep track of your progress, and have started working on one of the aforementioned GMAT review books, you’re ready to finish up your studies.   You can use the Official GMAT Guide to focus on your problem areas and try to narrowly focus your study on the areas which need the most work. Continue to use your excel spreadsheet to track your progress and work to improve your overall knowledge.

3)  Practice Makes Perfect!
Now is the time to start taking some practice exams under real exam conditions.  In order to score a 700 on the GMAT you will need to take several practice tests.   I  would recommend that you take a practice test on a weekly basis, probably at least a month out from your actual test date.   I would recommend that you work at least 30 problems from each category of the GMAT each week.   One the weekend, I would take one timed test, but make sure that this is timed  and under real test conditions.  Don’t sit in front of the TV or your computer!  Go to a library or an office and stay focused!!    Be sure to give yourself the full 3 uninterrupted hours to take a Computer-Adaptive Test to follow the real structure of a GMAT exam.

So you are now on your way to acing the GMAT!  What are you waiting for!  Go get your books, set your schedule and start cranking away on some problems!