Pursuing an MBA

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Introduction

Pursuing an MBA, or a Master of Business Administration, is a big commitment and you want to make sure you are aware of all the issues before committing yourself. Below are resources that contain a wealth of information to help you make your decision.

Why Should I Get an MBA?

The following resources will help you get a handle on all of the issues involved in pursuing this degree.

Why an MBA
http://www.petersons.com/GradChannel/articles/whymba.asp
This article discusses the pros and cons of pursuing this degree.

MBA Style Magazine
http://www.mbastyle.com
This site includes tips on how to buy interview clothing and how to succeed in that interview once you get there.

Foreign MBA.com
http://www.foreignmba.com/
This is an excellent resource for students who are considering pursuing an education in the United States. It includes advice from other students on how to network, get a job and interview in the United States. It also contains an unofficial list of companies known to hire foreign nationals.

You may decide that an MBA is not for you. If so, the following resources can help you beef up on the topics MBA students study.

The Ten-Day MBA : A Step-By-Step Guide to Mastering the Skills Taught in America's Top Business Schools by Steven Silbiger. Quill, 1999. ISBN: 0688137881

The Complete MBA For Dummies® by Kathleen Allen, Peter Economy. IDG Books Worldwide, 2000. ISBN: 076455204X

Choosing a B-School

Once you have decided to go for it, you need to decide on which business school to attend. The choices are overwhelming, but the following resources may help you narrow them down.

The Princeton Review
http://www.review.com/business/index.cfm
The Princeton Review ranks business school programs and their site also contains articles on whether or not you should consider pursuing an MBA.

Business Week Online
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/index.html
Business Week online offers its own school rankings and advice.

US News &World Report
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/mba/mbaindex.htm
US News &World Report also ranks business schools but does it by subject of specialization as well.

Peterson's Guide to MBA Programs. Peterson's, 1999. ISBN: 0768902622

Peterson's MBA Distance Learning Programs. Peterson's, 1999. ISBN: 0768902827

B-School Requirements

In order to be accepted to a business school you may have to take the GMAT or Graduate Management Admission Test. The resources below are designed to help you study for this test.

Graduate Management Admissions Council
http://www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT
This site also contains information on how to schedule an appointment to take the test as well as how much it costs and other important information.

Gmat 2000-2001 Kaplan, 2000. ISBN: 0684870088

Cracking the Gmat 2001 (Cracking the Gmat Cat With Sample Tests on Cd-Rom) by Geoff Martz. Princeton Review; 2000. ISBN: 0375756248

If you are from a country other than the United States, you may also have to take the TOEFL or the Test of English as a Foreign Lanuguage. You can find more information about this test in the resources below.

TOEFL
http://www.toefl.org/index.html
This site will help you ace the TOEFL and provide you with other valuable information if you are considering attending school in the United States.

How to Prepare for the TOEFL Pamela J. Sharpe. Barrons Educational Series,1999. ISBN: 0764172913

The following resources contain information about other possible requirements.

So You Wanna Get into a Top Business School
http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/bschool/bschool.html
This site discusses all of the points necessary in gaining admittance to a good business school.

MBA Career Resources

You should begin your job search well before you graduate. The following career web sites specialize in MBA jobs.

MBA Job
http://www.mbajobs.net/
This web site allows you to search jobs specific to MBAs and post your resume to be viewed by potential employers.

MBA FreeAgents.com
http://www.mbaglobalnet.com
MBA Free Agents offers non-traditional job opportunities including positions with start-ups and consulting firms.

Finding Other Resources

Professional Associations can be great sources of information. The following associations offer news, events and great networking opportunities.

National Black MBA Association
http://www.nbmbaa.org/

National Society of Hispanic MBAs
http://www.nshmba.org/

The Association of MBAs
http://www.mba.org.uk/

If you are at your public library and want to find books on this subject, look under the following Dewey Decimal classification numbers:

378.73 - Directories to MBA programs.
378.155 - Directories to MBA programs.
650 - MBA topics, Test study guides.

If you are at an academic library and want to find books on this subject, look under the following Library of Congress classification numbers:

HF 5500.3, HD 38.25 - MBA career advice.
HF 1131 - Directories of MBA programs.
HD 31 - MBA topics.
HD 30 - Test preparation.

If you are at home and want to find web sites on this subject, try searching the following search engines with any of the key words in this document:

Google
http://www.google.com/

All the Web, All the Time
http://www.alltheweb.com/

This pathfinder was created by Kristine Ferry.