A Complete MBA Guide including program structure, fees, course structure, top business schools in USA, Canada, Europe, UK and Australia
What is an MBA?
An MBA (Master of Business Administration) is a widely accepted Post-graduate (Master’s) degree, which aims to -
- imparts a strong understanding of business concepts and theory
- provides internships, group assignments, projects and other practical opportunities implement classroom learning in real-world
- develops essentials business skills including leadership, communication and negotiation
- opens up doors to international career growth, and
- hone entrepreneurial skills and attitude
Finding the right business school, preparing your application, interview and other aspects of application process can be overwhelming for you. It takes a lot of time and effort.
However, if you can streamline your MBA application process to get admission into the MBA program that fits best with your background, intersst and career goals.
What is the average MBA duration?
Duration of an MBA program depends on its type.
MBA programs come in a many different formats. Here are thse most common types of MBA programs:
- Full-time MBA,
- Executive MBA,
- Part time MBA,
- Online MBA courses…Phew!
Each program one has its pros and cons.
Though there is no single best format, the full-time MBA format can get you the biggest boost to your career.
The average duration of full-time MBA programs can range between 1 to 2 years.
You’ll find programs like INSEAD that are shorter than 1 year.
The duration of part-time programs can extend up to 3 years, since students are working and studying at the same time.
What is the typical MBA course fee?
MBA abroad fee for top business schools can be very high.
There are many low-ranked business schools for which fee is low.
And it’s not just the tuition fees that you need to consider. You need to consider living expenses as well.
In addition, you should also consider your opportunity cost. Say, you are a working professional and getting an annual salary of Rs 15 lakh / year. If you go for a 2 year MBA program, your opportunity cost would be Rs 30 lakh.
So your total cost of MBA is the sum of tuition fee, living expenses and opportunity cost.
I am ignoring miscellaneous costs such as flight, visa, application fee etc.
What subjects does the MBA program cover?
A MBA guide on Majority of MBA programs cover the following core subjects:
- Accounting
- Economics
- Corporate finance
- Strategy/Frameworks
- Human Resource Management
- Organizational Behavior
- Leadership
- Marketing
- Information Technology
In addition to above core courses, you’ll be able to choose electives from any specific area that you want to specialize in.
Read More - Comprehensive Guide to studying MBA in USA
What are teaching techniques and methodology for an MBA?
MBA programs can have typical lectures.
In addition, there are the following two popular methodologies that are common across most of MBA programs:
Case study method
To learn about and succeed as a business leader, you need more than theoretical learning in the classroom.
As part of Case study method, students are given case study describing different business situations and are expected to think through and come up with best possible practical solution.
The given case study may not have all the data to take a decision, which happens most of the time in real life. So you need to collect missing data, as much as possible, organize and analyze it as per the context of the case and arrive at a decision.
Your final answer is only one part of the solution. How are are arriving at that solution is equally important. And that’s the biggest learning of a cast study method.
Group work
Group work is another way for you to enrich your learning experience.
In your MBA class, you would form your group typically with 4-5 students from diverse cultural and professional.
Interactions with your group members would be an excellent opportunity for you to understand others’ point of view and way of thinking.
Success of your group depends on full co-operation of and participation from each team members.
Group work is excellent methodology to inculcate teamwork to students.
What are the top MBA schools around the globe?
Top MBA Schools in USA
- University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
- Stanford University
- Harvard University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
- University of Chicago (Booth)
- Columbia University
- Northwestern University (Kellogg)
- University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
- Yale University
- Duke University (Fuqua)
- University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Ross)
- Dartmouth College (Tuck)
- New York University (Stern)
- University of Virginia (Darden)
- Cornell University (Johnson)
- University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
- Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
- University of Southern California (Marshall)
- University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
- University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
Top MBA schools in Canada
- University of Toronto
- University of Montreal
- McGill University
- University of Alberta
- University of British Columbia
- Western University
- York University
- Simon Fraser University
- Concordia University
- McMaster University
Top MBA schools in Europe
- Erasmus University Rotterdam
- INSEAD
- University of Amsterdam
- University of St.Gallen
- VU University Amsterdam
- Eindhoven University of Technology
- HEC Paris
- IE University
- Maastricht University
- University of Munich
Top MBA schools in UK
- University of Warwick
- University of Cambridge
- City University London
- Imperial College London
- London Business School
- Lancaster University
- University of Manchester
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- University College London
- University of Nottingham
Top MBA schools in Australia
- University of New South Wales
- University of Melbourne
- Monash University
- University of Queensland
- University of Sydney
- Griffith University
- Queensland University of Technology
- University of Technology Sydney
- Australian National University
- University of Auckland