Creating A Portfolio Strategy For MBA Applications

by Stacy Blackman Consulting, Jan 30, 2011

Business strategists typically face a number of choices when deciding what individuals to target. To make their work easier they begin by segmenting their users into groups of buyers that have common characteristics. Business school candidates also do this; however every business school candidate will segment the market differently. For some, an MBA program that is regularly ranked between 15-20 might be a reach school. For other candidates, it will be a good bet. Based on how strong you believe your candidacy to be, you will decide where you fit. This will often be a good place to seek outside help.

Measuring how competitive your MBA application will be is an art not a science. That doesnt change the fact that you are going to have to make some hard decisions about which set of business schools you want to further pursue.

In the end, your strategy will be a combination of how competitive your application is and your risk profile. Your risk profile is concluded by your ability to tolerate risk and how much you would like to attend business school next year. Some candidates are determined to go to an MBA program and cannot take any risk. These candidates will want to apply to a range of business schools. Others are only willing to invest in an MBA program if they will be attending a highly sought after institution. These candidates may only apply to one or two of the most competitive business schools.

As a note, one thing to consider is that applying to any more than about six business school during a single application season is probably impractical. Thus, we recommend that you focus on a core portfolio consisting of about four to six MBA programs.