As well as the choice of the school itself, the physical location of your chosen MBA has a significant impact on your business school experience too, both inside and outside the classroom. It’s very unlikely you wouldn’t take location into account, at least in some respects, when deciding where to study your MBA, but it’s maybe not going to seem as important as the business school’s reputation or the course content. So, how much does location actually matter?
Many people aspire to hold positions of responsibilities in Managerial roles, such as that of a CEO, CFO or CMO, whereas some aspire to be entrepreneurs in the future. The most common approach to enter and excel in a managerial career is by completing an MBA. If approached in the right way, MBA can prove to be more than just a certificate added to your existing arsenal of courses and certifications. It opens your eyes to many aspects of the business world which otherwise would not have been of knowledge to you.
Deciding the place where one pursues their MBA is of utmost importance to people, given how corporates prefer colleges based on their history and reputation. Universities globally, such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale and IIMs in the case of our country, tend to get a chunk of the reputed corporates who pick up their students for corporate roles, whereas these corporates don’t tend to go to other B Schools to hire. The location shouldn’t be decided, keeping the job opportunity at the end of your MBA tenure in mind, but should be selected keeping in mind the courses you would like to study during these 2 years, to gain knowledge on the domain of study.
An MBA shouldn’t be perceived as an entry ticket to a managerial career but rather as two years of your life which you dedicate to improving yourself as a person and your knowledge on various aspects of your domain, through additional reading of books, business magazines or journals. Earning your MBA from a highly reputed B school would give you a great boost at the initial stage of your career, but the curriculum would be very hectic, given which one would not get enough time to work on individual development and knowledge enhancement. On the other hand, earning your MBA from a lesser known university might not give you a great boost right at the start, but once you have enough valuable experience in the domain of choice, you would be able to scale up the corporate ladder just as smoothly as an MBA grad from a highly reputed B School.
Consider the example of Warren Buffet. He does not have an MBA, but has successfully built Berskhire Hathaway and is also known for his great managerial skills apart from being known as the best investor alive to date. He spends a lot of time enhancing his knowledge by reading books and newspapers and even today, at the age of 88 is known for reading up to 500 pages per day!
Thus, MBA should be treated as a course that helps you enhance your domain knowledge and get useful business insights to the global business environment, rather than just a starting point to a golden managerial career. Location shouldn’t be the sole deciding factor on the MBA, but the courses taught in the university, faculty handling courses and the usefulness of the course with respect to your career aim should be kept in mind while deciding where to pursue your MBA.
Life Inside the Classroom
The location of a school matters less when it comes to life inside the classroom – after all, a good school is a good school, no matter where it is. However, where your school is based can have a real impact on your academic experience, as it may affect the number and quality of speakers that come to visit and give talks, as well as the connections you can make at school-organized networking events.
When choosing a school, it’s a good idea to take into consideration where you want to do your MBA internship, as your chosen location can have a big impact on this. You should already have an idea of the sort of industries and companies you’d be interested in before you start your MBA course, so focusing on locations with links to internships in your preferred industry could be useful to consider. For example, schools in California may be useful if you’re interested in the tech industry, while London is likely to be a good choice of study destination if you want to pursue a career in finance.
You can also explore schools that offer formal affiliations with other business schools or international campuses, allowing students on one program to study at the other campus and access both alumni networks. The University of Bath School of Management, for example, offers global residencies at 50 institutions worldwide for MBA students. These formal affiliations can not only double your location, but also double your network.
Life Outside the Classroom
Studying an MBA will be some of the most intense years of your life, so it’s important to be in an environment where you feel safe and comfortable and are able to take some downtime when you need to. Don’t just visit the school campus or buildings when you’re deciding where to apply. Take a couple of hours, or even a day, to explore the place it’s in, so you can establish if it’s somewhere you could see yourself living (or even working after graduation).
Taking your own personality into account is vital when deciding the right location for your MBA. If you prefer smaller towns with fewer people, you’d probably be unhappy and stressed in a non-stop, bustling city like New York, and may value the small campus experience offered by, for example, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business instead. Don’t feel pressured to go for a school with a really good reputation if you know you won’t enjoy living there. You should also consider your financial situation when deciding where to study, as some cities are far more expensive than others.
You may also want to get involved in professional associations within your business school city, such as the American Marketing Association, so check to see if there are active local chapters near your school. These can be useful for networking and discovering new opportunities, both during your studies and after.
Life After the Classroom
The most important thing to consider about study location is whether it will provide enough opportunities for career progression. Certain cities are simply superior to others in terms of both internships and post-MBA employability. Even if you don’t intend to stay in the city where you studied, the networking opportunities in certain cities are invaluable. A contact you make in London may lead to job opportunities back home in Chicago, for example.
Plus, some cities are good to be based in for specific companies; for example, Mumbai is a headquarters to many FMCG companies along with being the fiancial capital of India. Think about industries and cities you’re interested in working in after graduation and take that into account when making your decision. It’s also worth considering alumni networks in the city or town – particularly the size and level of activity within the network – as these could prove very useful both during and after your MBA.
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