Today’s Wall Street Journal contains a very interesting Journal Report on Business Schools. For those that don’t subscribe, the Journal Report from the WSJ are basically a series of articles focused on a particular topic.

One of the article that caught my attention is also available to read on WSJ.com’s free content section. Entitled: “The Full-Time Adavantage” with the description of “Students increasingly are purusing part-time, online, and executive MBAs. But recruiters have their doubts.”

It’s a good read, regardless if you agree with the recruiters view or not. So check it out before its gone! In the paper edition, they also provide lots of interesting data in pie-charts format. I’m going to see if I can get those pie-charts posted up. I duno why, but I love ‘em charts and diagrams. (Update: Got one set of the pie charts up).

Othe related articles can be found here.

I know a lot of us are pursuing alternative MBA programs. I hope it’s okay to mention names because I’m not trying to put anyone on stage here. But if I remember right, Jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is pursuing a part-time MBA program, while Flexo at Consumerism Commentary is purusing an online MBA program.

If I can ever finish my bachelor degree, I may eventually join their rank and enroll myself in a MBA program too. Although at this point, I’m not sure if business school is the right choice for me. Mainly, I’m still unsure of my career path. How the heck do people choose what they want to do for a good part of their life!?

Anyhow, ranting aside.. I’ve replicated one set of the pie-chart from the article for you to look at. Online MBA program receive the most unfavorable view from recruiters. Remember though that these are the recruiter’s view on the programs, NOT of the students.


Assessing the Alternatives
How recruiters in the WSJ/Harris survey evaluated different types of M.B.A degrees when they were asked how effective they are in building students’ skill compared with full-time programs.



 

Want more statistics from the survey? Yeah I know you do. Here’s another:

Ranking the Attributes
Recruiters in the Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey rated each business school on these 20 student and school attributes. Here is the percentage of recruiters who ranked each attribute “very important.”
88% - Communication and interpersonal skills
87% - Ability to work well within a team
85% - Personal ethics and integrity
83% - Analytical and problem-solving skills
74% - Success with past hires
73% - Fit with the corporate culture
72% - Leadership potential
67% - Strategic thinking
63% - Likelihood of recruiting stars
54% - Well-rounded
52% - Willingness of the school’s students to relocate to the job location
46% - Student chemistry
36% - Students’ average number of years of work experienced
36% - Content of the core curriculum
31% - Overall value for the money invested in the recruiting effort
31% - School chemistry
27% - Faculty expertise
25% - Career Service Office
22% - Awareness of corporate-citizenship issues
21% - Student’s international knowledge and experience