Dear Classy Career Girl,

I am planning to do my MBA at a small private college which has total of 6000 students (both under-grad and grad). Does this in any way affect my chance of getting an internship or future career?

Do employers look for students from only good reputable colleges or do they see only the degree (MBA)? Does it matter if I choose a private or public business school?

I am an international student planning to do management studies in USA. Please help me to proceed and get over my doubts in choosing the right business school for me.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Future MBA

Dear Future MBA,

It totally depends on what private or public college you are thinking about.  Many private schools have great career services offices that will help you get placed in a job and internship. Some private schools even have better career services programs than public schools.  So I would definitely ask some questions about the career services program is at the school you are thinking about and how many people find jobs after graduation.

Private or Public Business School – The Experience is What You Make of It

The other part of it is that it is what you make of it.  No school or career services program is going to find you a job. You have to do a lot of the work yourself such as networking and job searching in order to find that position after school.  Really, if you have the drive and motivation, I think you can find a job after graduation at whatever school you choose.

For some positions, like working at a top consulting firm or being an investment banker in NYC, you probably have to go to a top-ranked MBA program. But, if you are flexible in the location you end up in and what you end up doing, then it probably isn’t too big a deal what school you choose. I would check the rankings of your school just to make sure that it is doing well and looked upon well by the ranking organizations.

You could also ask the career services program at the school what industries and companies usually hire from their university. That will tell you a lot, too. If the companies that hire at that school are companies you think you would love to work for someday, then that would probably be a great opportunity for you!  (Also note that during the MBA program, your motivations, and interests could definitely change by everything that you are learning so always be open to those changes)!

Do employers look for students from only good reputable colleges or do they see only the degree (MBA)?

Employers will look at what school you went to because not all of schools are the same. An MBA from Harvard is different from an MBA from an online school. You might want to research the reputation that school has just make sure before you start the program. Or, talk to someone who went to the school to make sure they were happy with the school and that it has a good reputation in the community.

Hope this helps!!

Anna