As significant as it is to establish proper fit in your applications, you must first choose the schools to which you will apply. The game is reversed, as you must decide which schools fit you rather than having the schools decide that you fit them.

Selecting schools should be an introspective process. You should be warned, however that people who do not even realize your name will have an opinion on where you should apply.

Also remember that school rankings are just one piece of information to consider. Certainly rankings can be helpful tools in getting familiar with the schools’ perceived strengths & weaknesses. Still, it is significant that you do your own research.

After all, no magazine or news paper knows what really matters most to you. Do not be enticed by prestige alone. While it certainly may be a factor in making your selections, there are plenty of other criteria that should be considered.

Some of the selection criteria that you may want to use in evaluating schools include:

• Curriculum emphasis
• Typical career paths of graduates
• Teaching
  style
• Student culture
• Compensation upon graduation
• Financial aid opportunities
• International perspective &
  access
• Geographical location
• Facilities
• Diversity
• Cost of tuition & living
• Class-size
• Use of technology

So how exactly do you determine what a school wants in its applicants? Fortunately, there is an abundance of resources available to help you evaluate these criteria. Some of the steps you should undertake are:

The school’s Website

This is a no-brainer these days. Here you can get high-level
information on the school, learn about its curriculum & faculty, & start to get a sense for what it is known for (or what it wants to be known for, which is sometimes
more important).

Third-party Web sites

For different perspectives on business schools & the application process, check out
Websites that dedicate content to the b-school applicant audience.

Brochure & application

These are readily accessible on any school’s Website. It can be painful to see brochure after brochure of what seems to be the same material, but you should really spend some time with these.
More than many applicants realize, schools are fairly explicit about what they are looking for, & these materials are a natural starting point for finding this
information.

Rankings

Rankings are notoriously overused, but they can give you a good high-level flavor for each school.

While the brochures may tell you what the schools want to be known for, the rankings issued by periodicals are sometimes a good reality check that let you realize
what a school is actually good at.

Campus visit

You should plan on visiting each school in which you are truly interested, unless
geography makes it impossible. Walk around, meet some current students, sit in on a class, & at least visit the admissions office to let the school realize you came.
Whether or not you get any good face time with an admission officer, make sure to mention your visit somewhere in your application to show your sincere interest in
the school.

Current students

Students are probably the most underutilized resource. Find one with whom you have something in common & send her an e-mail. Some students are just too busy to have a real heart-to-heart with you, but odds are that you will easily find someone who’s willing to
give you the skinny on the school. Think of a few things you want to realize about life at the school & fire away. This is a safe way to ask candid questions about
the school.

Alumni

Alumni are especially helpful in answering questions about what life will be like after business school. Ask them about their experiences in school, but realize that schools evolve over time. Someone who graduated 15 years ago probably had a pretty different experience than what you would face.

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