The Road to Business School

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The road to business school is certainly a daunting one; however the MBA admissions process can be extremely fruitful as TopMBA.com finds out.

In fact, with average MBA salaries in North America and Western Europe reaching over US$86,000, fresh graduates regularly see take-home pay in the region of three times that of fresh undergraduates. But where does the business school road start?

For the majority of those wishing to attend business school, the road starts off with an MBA fair. Here, MBA hopefuls are able to meet with representatives from business schools based all around the world. Often, these events can help those considering enrolling on an MBA program to decide whether it’s the right choice for them.

Duncan Ochieng visited the QS World MBA Tour fair in Nairobi in April 2009. At the time, he hadn’t decided on whether the ‘whole MBA bit’ was really worth the effort. “But then I heard a representative from one of the business schools speak and I realized that I was able to identify with what he was saying,” Ochieng says. “I was able to go through the MBA fair at full throttle in order to find out as much as I could about the available schools.”

MBA admissions tests

Prior to attending an MBA fair, it can be useful for those further down the road to business school to take one of the MBA admission tests, such as the GMAT or GRE. This way, those who have decided that an MBA is the right choice for them can use their score to decipher which schools they are likely to be able to gain acceptance at, maximizing their time at an MBA fair.

US national Shruti Malani decided to attend the QS World MBA Tour twice; the first time to assess her options, and the second with her test-scores in hand to impress the business school representatives she met.

“It was extremely helpful to have the top MBA programs represented in one location and made it easy for prospective students like me to get their questions answered without individual appointments with each of the admission teams and MBA students or alumni,” Malani explains.

“It was also the only MBA fair I found to be truly international in its representation, which was of particular interest to me as I wanted to attend a business school outside of the United States.”

After her second MBA fair, Malani completed her journey down the road to business school, successfully gaining admittance to London Business School in the UK.

MBA scholarships

A real bonus of QS’ MBA fairs is that all attendees qualify for the US$1.2m worth of MBA scholarships they offer. Winner of the 2011 QS Community Scholarship, Matthias Wölm ensured that he made the most of his time during his MBA fair.

“Many attendees at a fair tend to simply collect prospectuses and ask simple questions that they could easily find out elsewhere.

“Like me, those that are close to applying to business schools when they attend an MBA fair need to plan which schools they want to speak to. Then you can research the different programs that each school offers.

“Know what your interests are, and work out which questions you want to ask the representatives. This way, you are sure to get more out of such an important event.”

The fall 2011 QS World MBA Tour starts in Latin America at the end of August, before continuing to destinations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. To start your journey down the road to business school, find out more about the world’s leading set of MBA fairs on the QS World MBA Tour homepage.