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MBA School Shortlist

A reasoned MBA shortlist: format and region chosen, schools scored against your own criteria, cost and return modelled, visits and conversations logged, and a round plan you can apply from.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for MBA School Shortlist, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

204

Starter tasks

🎓 Finance & Business Certifications

MBA School Shortlist

Choosing where to apply for an MBA: full-time, part-time or executive formats, rankings and fit, cost and return, class profiles, visits and an application round plan.

  1. Post-MBA goal statement to steer school choice
  2. Full-time, part-time, executive or online format decision
  3. One-year versus two-year programme choice
  4. Region and country of study decision
  5. Weighted school selection criteria
  6. Application season budget
  7. Longlist of twenty programmes
  8. Your profile against published class profiles
  9. Reach, target and safer school tiers
  10. School comparison tracker
  11. Weekly school research hour
  12. Admissions events calendar
  13. Round deadline and decision date watch
  14. Monthly shortlist review and rescoring
  15. Student and alumni conversation pipeline
  16. Scholarship and fellowship deadline watch
  17. Annual employment report refresh
  18. Admissions blog and newsletter intake
  19. Reading an MBA employment report
  20. How MBA rankings are built
  21. Curriculum and core structure comparison
  22. Case method, lecture and experiential teaching compared
  23. MBA funding routes explained
  24. Visa and post-study work rules per country
  25. Test policy check across the shortlist
  26. Total cost of attendance model per school
  27. Opportunity cost of time out of work
  28. Rough return on the degree per school
  29. Employer sponsorship conversation
  30. Placement test for your target industry
  31. Recruiting geography fit
  32. Culture and community fit scorecard
  33. Admissions consultant decision
  34. Cutting the longlist to a final shortlist
  35. Application round plan by school
  36. Final school list sign-off before Round 1
  37. Campus visit trip
  38. MBA fair or admissions tour attendance
  39. Virtual information session sprint
  40. Early-career applicant and deferred admission options
  41. Shortlisting with a partner or family
  42. Caribbean applicant shortlist considerations
  43. Part-time MBA fit around a full-time job
  44. Executive MBA shortlist for senior managers
  45. Non-traditional background shortlist check
  46. Dual-degree and joint programme assessment
  47. Specialist MBAs and concentrations in finance
  48. Reapplicant shortlist rethink
  49. Choosing between admits and scholarship offers
  50. Shortlist advice for a colleague or mentee

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Post-MBA goal statement to steer school choice

Every later choice on this list, from format to region to the final five schools, gets easier once you can say in two sentences what you want to be doing three years after graduating. Writing that down first stops rankings from choosing for you and gives you a test to apply to every brochure and webinar.

First tasks

  • Write the job title, industry and city you want three years after graduating
  • List three reasons that path needs an MBA rather than another route
  • Ask a mentor or manager to read the statement and challenge it
  • Save the final statement at the top of your shortlist notes
  • Reread the goal statement and revise it if it has shifted @recurring(quarterly)

Full-time, part-time, executive or online format decision

The format decides almost everything else: whether you stop earning, whether you recruit through the school, how old your classmates are and which schools are even in play. Settling it before you build a longlist avoids researching programmes you would never attend.

First tasks

  • List your hard constraints on income, family, location and time
  • Compare full-time, part-time, executive and online formats in one table
  • Mark which formats run structured on-campus recruiting
  • Record the format you chose and why

One-year versus two-year programme choice

Many European and Asian schools run intensive one-year MBAs while most US programmes take two years with a summer internship in between. The trade is lower cost and less time out of work against an internship that lets career switchers test a new industry before committing.

First tasks

  • Decide whether your target career needs a summer internship to break in
  • Estimate months out of work for a one-year and a two-year programme
  • Note schools that offer both lengths or an accelerated track
  • Add programme length as a column on your longlist

Make it yours.

Install MBA School Shortlist, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.