It's going to be Babson

For my second post it's probably appropriate to quickly recant my MBA journey to date, leading up to making my decision on where to go. The link to Babson College on my links section is there for a reason - that's the B-school where I'll be heading for the next two years.

Why Babson? Well, I want my post-MBA career track to be as an entrepreneur. I'll talk about my views on entrepreneurship a bit later (it's pretty late here in Sydney), and from my research it seemed as though Babson, with its focus on entrepreneurship, just seemed like the perfect fit for me. I did get accepted to Indiana Kelley and Boston University SOM as well, and have been shortlisted for interview with London Business School (the interview is supposed to happen on Wednesday, actually), and waitlisted for Dartmouth, but I've decided to go with Babson.

In summary, this was the thought process I went through:

• Indiana Kelley - great school, proven track record in marketing and finance, majority of grads went to work in the Midwest for Fortune 500s (57% in 2004). Of the three US schools I have, it probably has the most well-organised career office. Entrepreneurship program still in relative infancy. I'm looking at working in the East or Northeast, and they didn't place too many there.

• LBS - great school, particularly if you want a truly "global" MBA. No one nationality dominates their student body. Great entrepreneurial program and access to VC firms in London, as well as consulting firms and IB (if you want to do that). In terms of prestige and pedigree it's probably the best of the bunch. But they only placed 10% of grads in the US, where I want to work. Plus I've got a Greencard that I don't want to lose. I've been putting off the INS for 10 years here in Sydney and I think I've used up all my lives - I'm sure if I went to London to study for another two years I'd lose my Greencard. Not to mention I haven't actually been accepted yet, just shortlisted for interview.

• Boston University - another great school but from my research it's not as strong an entrepreneurial school as Babson is. Stronger in finance I'd say, and has a good relationship with Wall Street (though probably not so much in IB). I kind of applied to BU as a fall-back option, but they offered me a $10K a year scholarship which was very tempting.
  

• Babson - the school's approach to learning, the innovative curriculum, the chance to meet with people who share the same spirit that I do, and the focused faculty, as well as the "fit" of the school which I feel is right for my needs - these all contributed to my reasons for making Babson my first choice. Plus Babson have also offered a scholarship ($5K a year) which sweetened the deal. My only concern was (and is) the Careers Office at Babson, which was apparently really bad in 2003-04 but has been completely restructured and should hopefully be in much better shape this year when I'm going to need it.

• Dartmouth - excellent Ivy school just outside the so-called G7 of B-schools. Small and cozy, but with a great rep for general management. Two issues though: 1) I only made it to the waitlist; and 2) it really didn't have as great a rep for entrepreneurship, venture capital or private equity.
  

Babson was always my first choice (the second was LBS, but I've since cooled on LBS as I've decided I want to work in the US). Still, it was a tough decision to make as it's all about planning for my future - which school will give me the best chance to realise my career goals? Also, it's unrealistic to expect to be able to start up a business right after graduation, so I needed to consider recruitment and placement opportunities for each of those schools. Plus, there was this little part of me which wanted my parents to be happy with the choice I made. I know that's probably irrational, but it's the way I am - I just want them to be happy with my choice.

Anyway, that's about it for tonight. I need to work out whether or not I should go through with the LBS interview. I suppose I could do it for practice, but I hate wasting people's time. I hate going through that whole facade of saying "yes, I'm really keen on your school and I really want to live and work in London, etc." when I'm actually not. But who knows - they may be able to place me in the US. But what about my Greencard? It's very important to me.

I'll sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning. But for now, it's Babson.