Making the Final Decision

You’re in! All the hard work has finally paid off and you got into business schools. Yes, plural. Now you have to make a decision and don’t know where to even start. Below are some events and factors, which will help you, decide where you’ll end up.

1. Go to Admit Weekends. This is especially important if you haven’t done any campus visits to the schools previously. Before you go, get a list of what’s most important to you in a business school. When you’re at admit weekend, talk to current students about the factors you’ve determined are most important in a business school. This can range from opportunities for your partner if he/she is coming with you, cost of living, opportunities to travel, study abroad, etc.
2.  If you can’t go to Admit Weekend, go see the campus anyway.  Some schools have admit weekends on the same weekend and unfortunately for you, science hasn’t progressed enough for you to be in two places at once (although if they figure that out, our lives would be so much simpler). When two of your schools’ events fall on the same weekend, schedule a campus visit at another time and ask the same list of questions you had before. Although you will not be meeting as many of your potential future classmates, you can still get a good grasp of what campus will be like.
3. Talk to Alums and current students. Current students will give you an idea of what it’s like going through school and alums will provide the added benefit of giving you an idea of life after school. Look at your list and talk to as many students about their experience (the good, the bad and the ugly), so you can get a grasp on life during and after business school.

Cacilda Teixeira Forté Fellow and MBA Candidate 2015 University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler Business School)