BSchool Research

Guideline while researching bschools : (in no particular order)

-- About the school
• What is the school culture like? What's the student body like?
• Is the school a general management one or major based? Strength in any particular business area?
• Bschool professors - any particular prof. that you are interested in working with? Student-to-faculty ratio.
• Study and project trips, Clubs and other programs
• How will this bschool and its programs help me in my goals?
• Bschool location- city or in university town (city == $$expensive)
• BSchool courses - which courses interest you? How are the courses taught?
• Career options after bschool - which companies recruit for internships and for fulltime opportunities?

-- International Students
• Loan and finaid options for international students
• Support network within the university
• Percentage of internationals accepted; percentage from your country
• School's influence,intitatives and network in your home country
• Help with visa and other international student matters
• TOEFL requirement - most bschools waive this requirement if you have already spent some considerable amount of time living and working within the US

Some points from my own research:

Stanford GSB
- Top 5 business school with Small size
- Experiential learning opportunities where you can experiment, practice, and learn by doing
- At the Stanford Graduate School of Business, leadership means taking full responsibility for changing an organization for the better.
- 6-to-1 student-faculty ratio
- has certificate program in Global Management, PMP , plus there are 4 special centers - Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES), Center for Social Innovation (CSI)
- Customized Curriculum after 1st semester

Wharton
- Top 5 bschool
- Run largely on student initiative
- Student’s top choice: finance
- Great focus on team initiative
- Has many programs, conferences and other opportunities- e.g. Global Immersion Program, Global Consulting Practicum, Wharton Small Business Development Center, Business Plan competition, Leadership Ventures, Global Treks, Wharton Entrepreneurial Program
- Close to NY city (approx. 2.5 hours drive)
- Large student body (800 enroll each fall)

MIT Sloan
- Sloan Values: Innovate, Learn, Collaborate
- Programs include Sloan Innovation Period (SIP) - a one week period between semesters to work with the faculty , Independent Activity period
- Centers include MIT entrepreneurship center
- Global Entrepreneurship Lab is the flagship international internship course
- Annual Business plan competition – MIT 1K, MIT 100K
- Greater MIT network
- Slightly more focussed on Quant within the courses

You may choose to do this bschool research by spending few hours or days or months. That's really upto you. What you uncover here is important though. Alternatively, the market is flooded with "Get into the top MBA school" books. Most of them have already researched the bschools for you. You can supplement all that by talking to current MBA students, admission officers and dig deeper into aspects beneficial to you.