An undergraduate degree in business is in your future. You've made your decision. Congratulations! You may discover, though, that that decision was the easy one. Next is the weighty matter of deciding to which school you should apply. And, if the applications are already in, if you're accepted by more than one, which one should you choose?
Obviously, in the end, only you can decide this, but we might be able to help with a few words of advice. First off, you probably want to go to the very best school that you can. There are lots of undergraduate business school rankings you can consult. However, it isn't necessarily quite that easy. There are other things you ought to consider as well.
Take an example: are you clear what the term business means to you? It's actually a pretty big tent, as umbrella phrases go. What about all those sub-disciplines? Not every school offers the same options. If you arrive, and early on get enthused about specializing in marketing or global supply chain management, what if the school you selected either hasn't got a specialized stream in that or they offer it, but the industry considers it a weak program? What do you do then? Transfer to another school? Settle for studying something that doesn't interest or excite you?
Well, there are a couple options to consider. First, if you know in advance what areas of business studies you want to specialize in, there's no reason to choose a school that offers a full menu of options. That your school offers specializations in real estate, quantitative analysis, information systems and insurance does you no good if the marketing program you'll be in is considered rather pedestrian in the field. If you know what you want to do, get yourself to the school that does best what you want to learn.
On the other hand, if you haven't figured it out or you have doubts about the direction in which you're leaning at the moment, choosing a school with a full menu of options may well be the way to go. Not only will you get a taste of alternative options, but if you conclude you made the wrong choice, changing into a program more suited to your goals will be a lot easier if it's just a matter of filling out a few forms and going to the classroom down the hallway.
Incidentally, let's be honest, as keen as you are on business at the moment, you wouldn't be the first student in history to change majors mid-stream. Following the same logic as above, attending a larger university provides you a lot more options if part-way in you decide an undergraduate business degree isn't the thing for you after all.
And here's a further consideration that you might want to keep in mind. There's still a lot of romance attached to the brick and mortar college. And there are obvious advantages to it. However, if you're certain about what you want to study, an online education could be the way to go. Huge savings are a real possibility. Wouldn't it be nice to not graduate into debt slavery? Yet, you may not be sacrificing as much as you first think. In fact, the sophisticated tools for online group cooperative work employed in these educational settings are remarkably similar to the kinds of skills and technologies that drive the modern global business world.
So, when you look at undergraduate business school rankings, don't get too caught up in who gets the gold star from the ranking organization. There are a lot of factors to consider that apply to your own circumstances. And at the end of the day, it is your education. Use the information available to make a choice that works for you.
Obviously, in the end, only you can decide this, but we might be able to help with a few words of advice. First off, you probably want to go to the very best school that you can. There are lots of undergraduate business school rankings you can consult. However, it isn't necessarily quite that easy. There are other things you ought to consider as well.
Take an example: are you clear what the term business means to you? It's actually a pretty big tent, as umbrella phrases go. What about all those sub-disciplines? Not every school offers the same options. If you arrive, and early on get enthused about specializing in marketing or global supply chain management, what if the school you selected either hasn't got a specialized stream in that or they offer it, but the industry considers it a weak program? What do you do then? Transfer to another school? Settle for studying something that doesn't interest or excite you?
Well, there are a couple options to consider. First, if you know in advance what areas of business studies you want to specialize in, there's no reason to choose a school that offers a full menu of options. That your school offers specializations in real estate, quantitative analysis, information systems and insurance does you no good if the marketing program you'll be in is considered rather pedestrian in the field. If you know what you want to do, get yourself to the school that does best what you want to learn.
On the other hand, if you haven't figured it out or you have doubts about the direction in which you're leaning at the moment, choosing a school with a full menu of options may well be the way to go. Not only will you get a taste of alternative options, but if you conclude you made the wrong choice, changing into a program more suited to your goals will be a lot easier if it's just a matter of filling out a few forms and going to the classroom down the hallway.
Incidentally, let's be honest, as keen as you are on business at the moment, you wouldn't be the first student in history to change majors mid-stream. Following the same logic as above, attending a larger university provides you a lot more options if part-way in you decide an undergraduate business degree isn't the thing for you after all.
And here's a further consideration that you might want to keep in mind. There's still a lot of romance attached to the brick and mortar college. And there are obvious advantages to it. However, if you're certain about what you want to study, an online education could be the way to go. Huge savings are a real possibility. Wouldn't it be nice to not graduate into debt slavery? Yet, you may not be sacrificing as much as you first think. In fact, the sophisticated tools for online group cooperative work employed in these educational settings are remarkably similar to the kinds of skills and technologies that drive the modern global business world.
So, when you look at undergraduate business school rankings, don't get too caught up in who gets the gold star from the ranking organization. There are a lot of factors to consider that apply to your own circumstances. And at the end of the day, it is your education. Use the information available to make a choice that works for you.
About the Author:
Thomas Ryerson is a regular contributor to the blog, Undergraduate Business School Rankings, click here.
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