School selection

It is fair to say that taking an MBA at a top school is not a fashionable choice for budding executives in Scotland. The alumni network is largely non-existent, and there are few places to turn to for a point in the right direction. So, where to begin? For any serious prospective MBA student searching for a top programme, rankings tables are a good start. Looking at them can be a confusing game, though: how can one programme be first in the Wall Street Journal and not even feature in The Economist? And how can something be 10th in the US rankings in Business Week and 4th in the global rankings? First lesson: take rankings with a pinch of salt. Personally, I didn’t see the merit in researching how each of these separate rankings were compiled and what factors they took into account – I just accepted that schools that were mentioned on at least a couple of them were worth a further look. US-based schools were my focus? Its position as the world's only superpower may be in serious jeapordy, but I am still in awe of the place. The American dream is my dream. The Constitution gives me hope. It isn't perfect, but it's as close as I have found and I want to be a part of it. So, I made a list of around 20-25 US schools that I wanted to research and made their websites my first port of call. Can you really choose where you want to spend two years of your life and the school you want to be an alumni of by how good the website is? No. But in the absence of unlimited time, I was willing to rule some schools from my preliminary list out on that basis. At least I would find out exactly where each was located (the importance of which shouldn’t be underestimated) and get a ‘feel’ for the schools. Beyond that, key factors for me were: - Brand - Alumni - Faculty - Focus - Geography. My initial list (the schools I chose to send my GMAT results to) were Harvard, Columbia, Chicago and Tuck. Nothing like setting the bar high, then!