By
Antonio Cerda
Project Manager, Panama City, Panama

Joining an MBA program - A student's viewpoint

One of the problems with Business Schools is that they tend not to see things from their customer's viewpoint. As they are in one of the most competitive sectors of education and are very dependent on revenues from their customers - they could do a better job in providing information and dealing efficiently with their customers. I have not yet started my MBA program - but I have learnt a lot already. Here is my case study - so far

I am 28 and single. I live in South America. I've worked in South and Central America, Europe and Asia. In 1997 I decided that I would take a full time MBA program from 1998. I started to look around in mid 1997. It was not easy to get details and make comparisons in order to get to a short list of 'possible' programs. One reason was that the choice was big - as I was interested in going to a part of the world that I had not worked in

Of course there are published guides and directories - but they tend not to be comprehensive - often just listing the Schools which have paid to be there, or covering only those accredited by a particular body, and they are often not up to date. So, if like me, you are looking internationally - you would need several guides and even then you could not be totally sure.

So the Business School Web pages seem like the main source of information, if you don't want to write to hundreds of Schools. But mostly they didn't tell me what I needed to know. I wanted a lot of data on the same aspects of several programs - but it was difficult to get. It is mostly promotional information. Also many Web sites don't enable you to contact the School for further information. Some only give you a single E mail address - typically mba@ or Admissions@ - and often that gives you the same automated reply what ever you ask. Nor was it easy to phone them, as often there was a time difference - and some Schools only provide a toll free number - which does not work from outside their country

However I did narrow it down to three programs - two in the north (northern hemisphere) and one in the south, mainly by getting information from other sources. I have friends in each of the three countries - so they were able to get me additional information. I E mailed or wrote to the Schools for further details and application forms. One came quite quickly - after only one request. I made three requests to the other two before I got anything. I decided to apply to all three. Two required GMAT which I had to arrange. All three required certified copies of prior education certificates - which are surprisingly difficult and expensive to obtain. Two required a transcript of my Degree - I didn't have such a document. All required references - and two of them required me to fix all that - i.e., to contact people in various parts of the world - send them forms, envelopes etc. Two of them required admission fees. One subsequently sent my local currency cheque back because for them to cash it would cost more than the cheque was worth. All of them had very long application forms - one was in Spanish - no difficulty for me - but strange for an international, English language MBA program.

All three Schools required an interview. One asked me to go to them - a 12 hour flight - on a particular day . I declined - and they eventually arranged it locally with a passing Faculty member. We had a nice lunch and chatted about local politics. I paid. I flew to New York for one interview which lasted 20 minutes and the other was by phone - it lasted an hour.

I got an offer from all three. I had applied to all in January/February . One came in June. One came in July and the other, after some chasing, in August. I should point out that two of the programs started in September so there was not enough time for me to give three months notice to my company. I accepted the one in the south - their program starts in February. I would have been my first choice in any case. It's a good program in a great place. I told my company I intended to leave at the end of the year.

I was told that I would receive full joining details two months before the program began. I was a bit worried because I was travelling a lot , so I checked the Web for the country's immigration details. I would need a study visa. The nearest Embassy was thousands of miles away - but they sent me the forms. More details were required to get into the country than to get into the MBA program. They needed a form saying that I had been admitted to a course of full time study- the offer letter was not sufficient. I had to supply a statement saying I had enough money and adequate medical insurance. I had to give names and addresses of people that I know in the country, and pay a $US60 fee. They needed my application with my passport 3 months before I intended to go to the country. They indicated that they would normally need two months to process my application. I also had to pay a returnable deposit of over $US1000. Much of this created major difficulties for me , but they were quite helpful when I explained - and I am now due make a journey of several thousand miles to the embassy at Christmas to finalise things.

If you plan to take an MBA program locally - you will not have these problems. If you plan to do an international program in another country - be prepared. None of the problems I faced were put there intentionally. I do not think that the Schools were deliberately trying to make it difficult for me. They were often very friendly when I got to know them - but they had not looked at things from this customers point of view . They didn't behave very internationally. In general they were not good at providing the information I needed.

Finally - I now look forward to starting my MBA - and continuing with my Business School learning.