5 Steps to a Graduate Business Degree

Sakshi Education

You have decided to get a graduate business degree. What is next?

Although there are no short cuts, following this proven five-step process can help you streamline the process:

Assess Your Strengths
Whatever your future goals may be, you first need to take an objective look at yourself—your past experience, your motivation, and your abilities—through a detailed self-assessment.
Let’s be honest—making the decision to pursue a graduate b-school degree isn’t always easy.
Whether you’re looking to change careers, start your own business, or get ahead, take the time to look at the bigger picture of your life first. It’s the smartest move you can make before applying to a graduate program.
By clearly knowing your skills and goals in advance, you’re more likely to impress admissions professionals as someone who is motivated and prepared. You’ll be able to speak convincingly about your strengths and experience and how they relate to your career and educational goals at a particular school—this can make all the difference.
Start Simple
Begin with these simple questions:
- Why do you think a graduate business degree is right for you?
- What do you have or do you want to have in common with business professionals?
- What future careers fit your personal strengths, interests, abilities, and values?
- What kinds of business schools, companies, and corporate cultures seem to be the best fit for you?
- Take your time and write your answers down. Let them sit overnight before reviewing them again and making additional notes.
Decide Your Career Path
The best time to think about the future is now—especially when it comes to your career. Whether you’re in or entering the working world, it’s in your best interest to start planning for your future now.
MBA applicants who have solid career goals tend to do best in the admissions process and are most likely to be happy with the outcomes of their degree.
But don’t try to do things in reverse and figure out your direction later—typically, MBA programs don't allow you the time or opportunity to change your mind about what you want to study.
If you have a career plan, it will also be easier for you to choose the school, program, courses, and MBA concentration that will help you succeed. MBA programs are very different from one another and have different strengths. Also, they have recruiting relationships with different companies, which means that you should make sure that the schools you apply to can help get you a job where you want to work.
Just as you look for the schools that suit your goals, admissions officers look for applicants who are a "good fit" with their programs—people whose goals match what the program has to offer. Being able to talk about your career plan in a realistic and convincing way is an important part of showing that you are a good fit for a business school.

Getting the Expert Help You Deserve
It's one thing to have career aspirations, and it's another to make aspirations real by matching your dreams with your actual experience, abilities, and preferences.
Taking Charge of Your Career
Take the time now to define realistic career goals, while learning as much as you can about the career or job you wish to pursue. Then all the decisions ahead of you will be easier. You'll know whether an MBA is right for you, what to look for in a school, and how to handle the admissions process. And you’ll be much happier with your options when you graduate.
Know How You Fit
Whether it’s in an interview or in your application, admissions representatives will want to know that you can succeed academically and professionally in their program. You need to make a convincing case for your abilities.
Business school admissions officers want to know whether you have the ability to succeed both academically and professionally.
Therefore, it’s critical that you know your own abilities and goals and how they fit in with the schools where you are applying.
Here's how to put the best face on your presentation:
- Be honest. Admissions professionals can tell when someone is just saying what they think the admissions committee wants to hear. Tell the truth about what you are looking to get out of the MBA degree, what your goals are, what you are passionate about, and why you are interested in their school and program.
- Be realistic. It's one thing to say you want to be a great chef, but that may not be practical if you’ve never even boiled an egg. Make sure that your career goals are based on an accurate assessment of your experience and skills. Also, check that your credentials match the typical admissions requirements of the schools to which you apply; you want to apply where you have a solid chance of being admitted.
- Be proactive. Share not only what you hope to gain but also what you want to contribute. Student interaction is an important part of the MBA education. Show that you'll be a valuable member of the learning community.
- Be knowledgeable. Know about the school and program where you are applying. Show that you are familiar with the given school and why you are a good fit.
- Be a good fit. Part of being a good fit for a school has to do with the culture and the community. A visit to the campus and talking with former and current students can help you figure out if you fit in. Cultural considerations should also help you decide where to work. Companies in the tech sector, for instance, typically have a different culture from consulting firms and investment banks. Know what kinds of cultures will be best for you.
- Be ready. Your post-MBA employment options will depend largely on your pre-MBA exposure and experience, so make sure that you have enough pre-MBA experience to help you take advantage of all the benefits your degree offers. Find out the expectations of MBA employers and MBA admissions committees in terms of your experience. If you don't have enough right now to benefit fully from an MBA, get some more experience, further define your goals and apply later.
Study For and Take the ENTRANCE Exam
Starting well in advance to study for the ENTRANCE exam gives you the opportunity to use some outstanding preparation materials.
Choose a School and Program
How should you select the graduate business school and program that best matches your present interests and future career goals? There are many factors to weigh in making your choice.
In graduate business education, it’s all about choice. Schools offer full-time and part-time MBA programs on their campuses and online. They offer specialized Master’s degrees in Finance, Marketing, Accounting, and other fields. There are traditional 2-year programs and accelerated 12-month programs. Many schools have created programs that deliberately tailor their focus to specific industries and professions.
Business schools are actively looking for candidates who come from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. More than half of all current graduate business students majored in fields other than business in college.
When considering which schools interest you the most, think about the career, lifestyle, financial issues, and curriculum that are important to you in making your selections.
Getting Your Application Together Admissions officers want to know you as a person, not just a GPA and a Test score. They will look at your entire application and make critical judgments when selecting candidates for their program. In other words, they take into account your total experience.
Schools will use:
- Academic record, recommendations, and work experience to judge your potential for success in a program relative to the overall applicant pool.
- Test scores to predict how well you will do academically in their core curriculum.
- Work experience, extracurricular activity, and letters of recommendation to help them gauge your professional promise.
- Interviews and essays to determine why you want to earn a degree and how you will use it in the future. These parts of the application will also help schools learn about your communication skills.
As you’re completing your application, also consider:
- What does your competition look like? Evaluate the school’s past applicant statistics against your own strengths and weaknesses.
- What would you add to a class?
- How can you enrich the school’s learning environment?
- Are your career goals attainable?
- How competitive are you?