If anyone of you considers postgraduate studies abroad, the best way to start is - EARLY! And by early I mean a year in front. People that get accepted in the first round have all kinds of privileges, such as getting the best accomodation at minimum price.
THE TESTS
First of all you would have to do when you have decided to go for MBA is to get good results on your English (TOEFL) and General Management (GMAT) tests. Schedule them early! You have to schedule at least a couple of months before the desired term, if not more. TOEFL is more common, but GMAT you can do at only a handfull of locations and in peak time you might have a problem getting a vacancy.
My best reccomendation on the tests is - GET VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THEM! There is a throng of preparation materials available, you can find reccomendation on the internet, but I would like to emphesize one very important tool that got me very high results - TestMagic forum (www.testmagic.com) . People there single out some very tough questions and then discuss them. Mind you - not every answer there is correct, but the important part is that people give and confront their oppinions of the matter, so you can get your own reasoning that will help you on the test.
Getting a high score on both tests will make things much easier to get a scholarship. Since you get the results, register your profile at MBA sites such as mba.com and mbatour.com. With the high test results, especially GMAT, you will get offers from all kinds of universities, sometimes even with grants and scholarship options. I would say that over 600 GMAT is good, over 650 is great. To see if you are ready, use the prep software and the provided tests that are pretty close to real. I got 680 first time, 700 the second and ended up with 690 on the real deal.
SCHOLARSHIPS
I was unaware about the plethora of opportunities for student grants and scholarship for postgraduate studies untill I got into this matter deeper. The first step is to watch out for public ads in your local newspapers. As a matter of fact, thats how I got mine. I saw an ad in a local newspaper about USAID World Learning program that had a project for help to our country through leveraging the human resources (Big thanks to the American people!), so I applied, did my homework with all the essays, recommendations etc. and got selected. Yey!
Here I would like to break some myths about it. Scholarships are staged and issued to a narrow circle of people. NOT TRUE! Believe me, the institutions issuing the scholarships only want a good candidate that will accomplish the goal of the scholarship. So, I want to tell all my readers THAT EVERYONE OF YOU HAVE A FAIR CHANCE OF GETTING A SCHOLARSHIP IF YOU WORK HARD AND PREPARE WELL! The next place to look for a scholarship is your government site and the ministry of education. There are always actual opportunities there.
Third place to go for is the schools themselves. There are programs sponsored by various donors that grant scholarships to a small number of students each year, so take a good look at the school site. Furthermore, check out sites of foreign institutions, such as USAID or the British Council - you might get your treat there.
The fifth I mentioned previosly - with a good GMAT you'll get offers in your email. And finaly, you can always talk to your company and try to get some financing.
CHOOSING THE POTENTIAL SCHOOLS
Since I took on this endeavor to learn about management and establish myself as an enterpreneur, initially I had the only target to get into a business school. Luck and opportunity is always a factor, and mine was that I got the scholarship in the very beginning. I The scholarship was very flexible and I had the choice of selecting the business school.
In selecting the school you have to make your priorities. One thing I had in mind is that 2 year MBA is too much, as I am a family man, and I wanted an English speaking country. Hello England :)
I took the following into consideration:
- 2 top schools (Oxford and Cambridge) a very synonym of good education
- 2 great schools with good program (Cranfield and Manchester) for their excellent MBA curriculum
- 1 lower level school, still quality (Exeter)
- 1 late school (Asghridge) course starting in January
- 1 local school (Thesalloniki) case I have any kinds of problems with UK
This scheme keeps all my options open. You can start to apply early on the schools on the top of the list, and if you are not admitted in the round you may include the next levels. Applications do cost some money, but only for the very top ones. Cambridge is also with no application fee.
APPLICATIONS
Every school has different applications with different questions. I submitted 4 applications and got offers from all of them, so this may be a good advice:
- Be totally honest, do not forge information, do not lie and do not engage other people to do your writing
- Get reccomendations from people who are known professionals or academics and they know you very well. They WILL be consulted by the school.
- Think about what are your own qualities, knowledge and experience, and how could you contribute to the classes. Be sure to put that in your essays
- Think about the motives and benefits of the education, not only to you but for your company, local community and even country. Be sure to put that as well.
- Be yourself and let the essays show yourself as a character
GETTING ACCEPTED
Collect all the offers and make a decision. As soon as you make the decision, notify the other schools of your decline so some other person can get their place. Keep in mind of all the pros and contras of your decision. In my case, Oxford is THE top quality education and image, thriving with people and networking opportunities, but it is very expensive to live there and housing is a nightmare more about that later).
Thats all for now folks - next time about making your arrangements from abroad. Seeya!
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