Jibola Akindele
Jibola works in the Private Equity unit of a leading US bank based in New York. He has a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Univeristy of Lagos, Nigeria and an MBA degree from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, US.
The US Education System
From the perspective of an MBA programme, the US educational system is very different from what obtains in most African countries. In the US system, academic curricula are regularly updated, class participation is strongly encouraged and teamwork is greatly rewarded. Furthermore, professors are rated based on their teaching effectiveness. These ensure that the academic standards are maintained at a high level. I must mention here that plagiarism is a big offence and I would address it in detail a little later.
The average graduation age (bachelor’s degree) in the United Stated is 21/22 and most graduates are able to secure jobs upon graduation. Students interested in pursuing an MBA degree typically have an average of about 5 years post graduation work experience. However, five years work experience is not required in all business schools. Most top business schools require prospective candidates to have a minimum of two years work experience. Class sizes for full time MBA programs range from 75 (for smaller schools) to 1000 (for very large schools). Students come from diverse educational, social, religious and cultural backgrounds and this diversity is highly valued for MBA programs in the U.S. Cultural differences between America and Africa can easily be noticed in the classroom. It is not uncommon to hear professors been called first names by their students or professors having a drink with their students. This is neither construed as disrespectful to professors, nor does it lead to disrespect.
Attendance and class contribution plays a very important role in the US educational system especially at the MBA level. Some courses are graded solely on class contribution, therefore attendance is compulsory and students often have to inform professors ahead of time if they intend to miss a class. “Cold-calling” (calling students unexpectedly to answer questions in class) is also very common. Most often, students come prepared for lectures by reading assigned course materials ahead of the class. Most assignments are usually done as a group. Groups typically consist of about five individuals and diversity in backgrounds is encouraged when forming such groups. In general, students are encouraged to study hard and make friends while creating time to have some fun within the group.
Choosing an MBA Programme
Choosing your MBA School is arguably the most important decision in the entire process. Several factors are important when choosing your graduate school. Some of these factors that are often considered by prospective students in choosing the school(s) to apply to include career goals, programme ranking, tuition costs, available financial aid, available concentrations, programme location, alumni network, GMAT scores, school specialization, top employers of programme graduates. I would recommend prospective students to do an initial shortlist of 10 schools based on the top 3 criteria of importance. This should be followed by an extensive research on shortlisted schools including talking to current students and alumni before making a final shortlist on schools to apply to. It is advisable to apply to a minimum of three MBA programs. This increases your chances of getting into one and also helps to compare and contrast schools.
I will briefly explain some of the most important factors prospective students should consider when choosing a business school:
Business School Ranking
Many would consider this to be the most important factor when choosing an MBA program. The higher the school ranking, the higher your chances of getting a good job after the program. Recruiters usually have core schools (where they recruit lots of students) and non-core schools (where they recruit fewer students). Many top schools are in the core category for most recruiters and they recruit from these schools in large numbers. Another advantage of going to a higher ranked business school is that teaching effectiveness is perceived to be higher in the higher ranked business schools than the lower ranked business schools. Rankings do change every year so you may need to obtain the current rankings before applying to the business schools. You can find useful information about rankings from the websites listed below:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/
http://rankings.ft.com/global-mba-rankings
Prospective students should also take note of rankings by concentrations when applying to business schools.
Financial Aid
This is a very important consideration for African students in particular since most African students do not have access to student loans and may not get corporate sponsors for the program. I estimate that the minimum cost (including living expenses) of an MBA program from a reputable school may be as high as $100,000. So, prospective students should start thinking of their funding sources once they decide to pursue the MBA degree. Several business schools can co-sign/ guarantee school loans for students who cannot pay the school fees, an example of these schools include Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School and Emory University’s Goizueta School of Management. African students who may not have sources of financing but are considering these schools should not be deterred by the very high tuition costs. Several other business schools provide scholarships to African students as a way of encouraging African students to apply to their programs. Most business schools have scholarship information on their websites, so prospective students are encouraged to research school websites for scholarships and they may also ask members of the admissions team for possible scholarships.
Personal Goals
Personals goals are very important when deciding which schools to apply to. A thorough research of each school is necessary to know which business concentrations/ specializations are available in each school and the top recruiters for each school. Prospective students should also research what business schools are highly ranked in their particular area of interest. For example, the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business and the Wharton School of Business are arguably the top schools for Finance specialization, while they may not rank in the top five for careers in consulting. Prospective students thinking of pursuing a career in Investment Banking for example may consider applying to Wharton Business School, University of Chicago or Columbia University as their top choices while those interested in consulting may consider Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Harvard University or Emory University. The same goes for all the other fields of business. Again, prospective students should research these schools and speak to alumni and current students before deciding where to apply.
There are also some lesser known schools which provide a good business education without costing as much as the top schools. Please consult the rankings stated earlier for more information on such schools.