This article will list 5 of the MBA schools that produce some of the highest paying graduates in the world (results taken from the Financial Times).
1. Stanford University Graduate School of Business
The Stanford University GSB ranks fourth overall on the list of the best MBA schools in 2010. When speaking in terms of weighted salaries, however, this is the school that tops them all. The average alumni weighted salary is above $164,800 per year.
2. Harvard Business School
To this day, this is the only MBA school to have educated a US president, George W. Bush. Currently, this school ranks second with an average weighted salary per alumni of just under $161,900 per year. Harvard Business School is ranked third overall in 2010 and, among the schools on this list, HSB has the highest rate of alumni employed within three months of their graduation.
3. University of Pennsylvania Wharton
Wharton is currently ranked as the second best MBA school in the world, and it holds first place in the rankings over the past three years. With an average alumni weighted salary of over $160,800 per year, this school ranked 3rd on this list, though among this top 5 it also has the highest rate of employment within three months.
4. Columbia Business School
Coming in fourth on this list is Columbia Business School, which ranks as the sixth best MBA school overall. This school has an average weighted salary per alumni of over $160,6000 per year.
5. MIT Sloan School of Management
Finally, MIT Sloan ranks eighth on the overall list of best MBA schools, but it has the fifth highest weighted salary average per alumni at over $154,000.
Though you should never choose your MBA school based on the amount of salary that its graduates get, it is useful information to know. Keep in mind that the best MBA school for you will be the one that can develop you to your fullest potential, and this often requires choosing a school that you are comfortable in, happy with, and contented with.
Your business school application is probably one of the most important chapters of your life. It is in this crossroad that you are going to make a lot of important decisions. It is actually in your application that you can change the course of your life and future. 2012 MBA Applicant can give you tips on how to come up with an effective MBA application essay.
Crafting a winning MBA application essay
# Think of what you want to say before you start writing. Put your thoughts down on paper, and then organize them in a cohesive manner. You could either use this as a rough blueprint for your essay or to ensure that you don’t forget to add all that you want to in the course of writing your essay.
# Make your essay personal; your desire to get into the college must come across through your words. This means you must write your essay on your own instead of outsourcing it to someone who you think is better suited to the task. While you can take their help, make sure the effort is all your own.
# Your reasons for wanting to study an MBA and to join this particular institution should be corroborated through other aspects of your application form, like the recommendation letters, your GMAT scores, and your academic grades. So if you want to say something just because you think it will touch the admissions panel, think again. The best essays are those that are true and spontaneous.
Before you start writing, you have to brainstorm for the topics or issues that you are going to include. You have to make an outline to guide you. It is also important that you make your essay personal. After all, the purpose of the personal statement is to let the admissions committee know who you really are and what is your attitude towards success. Your goals also need to be included. Through your essay, you need to show that you are goal-driven. Being honest and spontaneous is definitely a key in coming up with a winning essay.
The blog (2012 MBA Applicant) also puts importance to the technicalities of the MBA application essay.
# Don’t go off on tangents or be too verbose about one particular subject or topic. Be as concise as you can and ensure that your flow of your narration is natural and continuous and that it does not jump abruptly from one issue to the other.
# Don’t use words that you don’t understand or because they sound good and are bound to impress. When you use flowery and bombastic language, you come across as pretentious and overeager to impress with just your use of words.
# Once you’ve written your essay, read it over a few times to ensure that there are no spelling or grammatical errors. If language is not your forte, get someone who does not need a dictionary and who knows their verbs from their adverbs to look it over. An essay filled with mistakes does not make a good impression even if what you have to say is interesting.
It is important that your essay displays conciseness. You also have to avoid sounding superficial and pretentious. You can do this by not using highfalutin words. And lastly, you have to edit and proofread your work to ensure that it is free from error.
Your MBA application essay should give a four-dimensional image of yourself. Check out this blog for other more helpful essay writing tips.
Don’t just answer the essay questions. Treat each essay as an individual piece of written art work instead of an examination paper. This means:
- No repeating of the question (even partially) in your opening sentence. For example, when the question is What is your biggest professional decision so far? don’t begin your essay by saying My biggest professional decision so far is … Makes you sound like a repeat-after-me machine (no offense!)
- The opening paragraph sets the tone of the full essay so be a bit more creative. Make a little drama, tell a story, describe a scene — visualize your ideas!
- Use more powerful words. Vary the length of paragraphs (by the way, they look too long.) Don’t be mono-tone. Use a little artistic writing techniques. Be interesting.
Like your CV, the essays serve as a vivid portrait of you and you don’t want it to look like a thousand other people.
Think about your poor readers (adcom) who go through hundreds of essays a day. They need something that catches their eyes and keeps them from dozing off. Something that makes them want to read on, and better, makes them laugh or ponder.
Recollect your personal experience and bring yourself back to the day that important decision was made or that idea was created. Relive it in your essay and excite yourself and your readers!
You have to make your essay as interesting as possible. Sure, your essay should talk about yourself, but give it enough touch of creativity to make it attention-grabbing.
Your personal statement for your MBA application should be well-written. You need to choose the topics that you should include well. It is also necessary to ensure that the technical details are excellent. On top of these, you also need to incorporate enough dose of creativity to make your work interesting.
Going through the MBA application process is not very easy. There are exams that you have to pass, essays to make, and interviews to go through. Although the application process is a bit difficult, the prize would be worth it. If you pass the MBA application process with flying colors, you can secure a brighter future. To pave your way to a prestigious MBA school, make the necessary preparations as early as possible. But before you do that, make sure that your decision to pursue MBA study is well thought of. MBA Channel has various tips to help you decide and prepare for your MBA application.
Considering your reasons for getting an MBA degree
The MBA decision
Different people decide to do MBA for different reasons. There is no one single best reason to do an MBA and its subject to individual needs and thinking. I like to split these group of reasons to two buckets.
1. Push factors
2. Pull factorsPush factors are those reasons which makes a person move away from current state of life. In the MBA perspective, the so called push factors can any of the following
* Sheer dislike for the current job and its career prospects
* Having achieved enough at the current career function and the need to grow to the next phase of career
* Need to change the current intellectual path and look out for a different way of life altogether
* Being tired of the busy work life needing for a change in lifestylePull factors are those which draws one towards a MBA program, ideally independent of his current state of affairs.These can include variety of factors like
* A great B school with top notch MBA program
* The transformational experience promised by every good MBA
It is important that you make your decision as early as possible so you can focus your future efforts in reaching your goal. You have to weigh the push and pull factors mentioned above in order to come up with the best decision.
Preparing your MBA admission essay
The essays and Interview – It becomes very important to personalize your candidacy as you project it to schools via your essays and interview. Be yourself and tell them the truth. Don’t try to be someone who can please the AdCom. Never try to wear a facade of someone who is not you. Here is excerpt from Interview with Sara Neher, Admissions Director, Darden School of business.
“I don’t always expect people to reveal as much about fit as I think some schools might. I think that if you tell me who you are, what you’re about and what you want to accomplish, I’ll be able to see if you’re a fit or not. It’s more important to me that we get personal details, because one of the mistakes people make is regurgitating the Web site back to us. You telling me that you want to take so-and-so’s class or the case method is important because of what we put on our Web site is just a waste of your word count. It shows me that you can read our Web site, but it doesn’t show me anything about who you are.”
The statement above was quoted from an MBA blog. This sums up what the MBA application essay should be about, and that would be about yourself.
Your decision to go or not to go to MBA school will have a great impact on your future. This is why you have to give yourself enough time to determine if you really want to pursue an MBA degree. You have to weigh in the push and pull factors, and if you decide to pursue an MBA degree, start preparing an essay that tells the world who you really are.
