This post is talking about the Which MBA? fair from 2014. As far as we know, The Economist still offers those, and they may still be valuable to you, but we have no idea when the dates are.
We’ve said it before: When you’re considering going back to school, there’s a lot of options out there. Hopefully you made an educated decision on why the MBA is specifically the right degree for you.
And maybe you’ve got a bunch of irons in the application fire still – we’re far away from any Round 2 schools rendering decisions. It’s not time to give up hope quite yet!
But we do know that a lot of people are showing up in these parts without a concrete strategy in mind. Maybe you only recently decided to pursue the MBA at all. If so, then Round 2 was likely a flurry, and who knows if your aims will hit their targets? We hope they do!
In case not – or in case you’re looking for a more off-the-beaten-track option, which ALWAYS coincides with easier-to-get-into school – then we’d encourage you to keep your mind open, and continue with your research projects.
One great way to do that is with The Economist’s Which MBA? online fair that’s happening in early February. (EssaySnark is not getting compensated in any way for talking about this fair or these schools, though if you click through that link, it is being tracked that we sent you there.)
The schools that participate in the Which MBA? fair are often ones that don’t get the same amount of luv from the BSer community. These are schools that are looking to increase their reach. Yes, many of them are lower-ranked and lesser-known – but that doesn’t mean they should be discounted out of hand.
The next Which MBA? fair on February 5, 6, and 8 will include admissions people from schools like University of California at Riverside, HEC Montreal, and Georgia State. This is just a partial list; there’s about a dozen or so that are participating.
Maybe you haven’t considered applying to any of those schools. But guess what? If you show up for one of their free online webinars, you might realize that they’re a possible fit for you – and even more valuable, you will have an opportunity to interact with admissions people in a safe environment.
You can also get a sense, from listening to what applicants say, for what is a good question to be asking and how to present yourself. (Sometimes people say really silly things. This will help you learn from their mistakes!)
Sometimes, hearing what someone else asks the school about will open up a whole new category of ideas that you didn’t realize you should be interested in.
We know, we know – the schools we named in this post aren’t necessarily considered the sexy ones. But guess what? A small percentage of all the BSers in the world end up successful with the sexy schools. Oodles and oodles of BSers end up elsewhere.
How do you know which school can offer you what you need to get ahead if you haven’t investigated all of them? This is an efficient way to learn about a bunch more schools with no investment on your part whatsoever – totally no risk.
And if you’re really really impatient to head to bschool this Fall, then maybe exploring a few more opportunities could be wise (especially if there are some flaws on your profile).
Not everyone needs to take advantage of this. But some of you may want to. Keeping options open is a good thing indeed.
The Which MBA? fair starting February 6th is free. It’s online. You can sign on in your pajamas. For some of you, it might be worth a little of your time.
Tell us what you think.