In the forums one of the most frequent questions I see is "which school is right for me" or "can you help me choose a school" or "do you know of a school" etc. The problem with answering those questions is that choosing the right school is impossible for someone to do for you. They can suggest, point you in the right direction, even offer options but ultimately it is a personal decision that you, the student has to make. After all it is you that will do the work and ultimately pay the tab.
So here's a little exercise to help you decide on choosing a school.
Write down the top 10 criteria you have for a school. For example when searching out my MBA program some of my criteria was as follow:
- I.) The school needs to be regionally accredited.
- II.) The MBA needed a Leadership emphasis.
- III.) The curriculum needed 12 classes or less.
- IV.) The program must be under $15K.
- V.) The school needs to be campus based with an online program.
- VI.) The school needs to have accelerated courses.
- VII.) The school needs to have 1 quantitative course combined finance and accounting.
- VIII.) The school needs to have a good reputation.
- IX.) The school needs to have a good support program.
- X.) The school needs to be AACSB or ACBSP accredited.
I then take these 10 criteria and apply a number in order of priority with "10" being the highest and "1" being the lowest. Think of it in terms of dollars, $10.00 is worth 10 times more than $1.00. Make sense?
So now let's assume my criterion was as follows:
The school needs to be regionally accredited. = 10
The MBA needed a Leadership emphasis. = 7
The curriculum needed 12 classes or less. = 6
The program must be under $15K. = 9
The school needs to be campus based with an online program. = 5
The school needs to have accelerated courses. = 8
The school needs to have 1 quantitative course combined finance and accounting. =2
The school needs to have a good reputation. = 4
The school needs to have a good support program. = 3
The school needs to be AACSB or ACBSP accredited. = 1
As you can see, in my criteria of comparing two different schools I have assigned "The school needs to be AACSB or ACBSP accredited" as the least important of the 10 and "The school needs to be regionally accredited" as the most important at "10". Of course you make your own list and assign your priorities according to your opinions and desires.
Now in comparing two different colleges, for example let's compare Ashford University and Texas A&M Commerce.
Ashford scores in:
The school had to be regionally accredited.
The MBA needed a Leadership emphasis.
The curriculum needed 12 classes or less.
The program must be under $15K.
The school needs to be campus based with an online program.
The school needs to have a good reputation.
The school needs to have a good support program.
The school needs to have accelerated courses.
The total score was: 52 at 3+4+8+5+9+6+7+10
Texas A&M Commerce scores in:
The school needs to be regionally accredited.
The MBA needed a Leadership emphasis.
The program must be under $15K.
The school needs to be campus based with an online program.
The school needs to have a good reputation.
The school needs to be AACSB or ACBSP accredited.
The total score was: 36 at 10+7+9+5+4+1
As you can see Texas A&M Commerce has some things going for it that Ashford does not as Ashford has some things going for it that Texas A&M Commerce lacks in my opinion. But in the end Ashford scores higher overall than Texas A&M Commerce does. Thus Texas A&M Commerce is eliminated from my list.
Just keep going like that until you emerge with a winner. If you end up in a tie extend your criteria to 15 or 20 things instead of just 10.
I hope that helps.