What should one look for when souting for an narrowing down business schools? Todd Garner takes account of the b-school experience in the US and presents a checklist for students.

In response to competitive demands of corporations and increasing globalization (both of which require tomorrow’s business leaders to be flexible, manage workforces and internal structures that cross cultural and political lines), graduate business programs are diversifying and redefining themselves. You’ll still graduate with a firm grounding in the staples of business education - finance, strategy, operations, management, marketing and the like – but you’ll also learn how to work in teams, how to motivate others, and how to look at the ‘big picture’ when solving problems. What should you be looking at in order to choose the right B-School, given the current trends?

FIRST THINGS FIRST
Have a clear objective before beginning your MBA or even applying for an MBA. The best way to maximize your return on investment is to first choose a school that is consistent with your passion. Different schools have different strengths. Your objective may be to maximize real life learning, build a network and/ or get a diversity of experiences. It’s understandable that you would want to attend a ‘top’ program, but what’s more important is that you find a school where you will blossom. The school has to be a good fit for you and vice versa.

For the admissions committee, the essays determine whether you are a good fit for their institution. Remember, your undergrad performance and GMAT scores are only a part of the application. Don’t give up on applying to a school you really want to study at, just because your GMAT is below their average. Schools place a lot of importance on work experience and extra curricular activities. As such, schools don’t have cutoffs of any sort, but rather look for passionate, intelligent, innovative leaders who will contribute to the class and to the business world.

PRE-MBA WORK EXPERIENCE
There is a terrible myth out there that most MBA programs require or expect five years of work experience, and unfortunately, many people believe this myth. This means that wonderful candidates with no, one or two years of work experience assume that they can’t get in, which is untrue. Please remember that an average includes many numbers, so if a school has an average work experience of five years, there are many below that figure and many above it. What’s more important is what you have done with what you were given.

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL, INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULA
Across the US, graduate-level business schools are reshaping curricula to teach students the importance of solving problems by synthesizing a variety of subjects, such as marketing courses with information technology to prepare marketing managers for using data mining, customer relationship management an...