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Best websites for MBA students and aspirants

Among the thousands of websites related to the international MBA degree and hundreds of new blogs popping up each season, it can be difficult for aspiring MBA students to choose a select few good MBA blogs to follow.

But with all the changes that are happening each year (entry requirements changing, deans getting hired/fired, program structures getting revamped, post-MBA salaries rising / dropping, and once popular / high ranking MBA programs falling from their pedestal), it does help to track a few top MBA sites and portals to keep yourself abreast of what’s happening.

In order to keep things objective (and the fact that you are already on this site & aware of what we have to offer), we’ll exclude MBA Crystal Ball from the list.

The other filter we’ll use here is to restrict the list of MBA websites to those that have a journalistic flavour. That means skip all the how-to sites (just like ours) that primarily focus on technicalities like writing MBA essays, tackling MBA interviews, cracking the GMAT exam.

Our regular disclaimers apply. This isn’t a ranking of MBA sites and there is no pre-defined methodology at play. if we like ’em, we include ’em. As simple as that.

5 Top MBA websites for students and aspirants

 

Poets & Quants

URL: http://poetsandquants.com/

This is by far the best MBA website for aspirants right now. It entered the field when Businessweek was at the top of the game. And within a very short span of time, it’s overtaken most other leading MBA sites globally.

Unlike the other top MBA sites that are hosted as a sub-domain under a bigger brand, P&Q is a niche site that focuses only on the international MBA program. The articles are highly in-depth and written by professionals who’ve been published on other top publications like Fortune.

In their comments section, you’d see several readers accusing it of being over-focussed on Ivy League names (Harvard topping the list) and having a soft corner for elite American programs in general. However, you might also see the occasional article on Canadian, European and Indian MBA programs.

For some of our articles on MBA Crystal Ball, we’ve quoted facts and figures from P&Q surveys. Like this one – Indian MBA Applicants more likely to be rejected from top b-schools
 

BusinessWeek | Business Schools

URL: [Edit: Seems like bschools aren’t a priority for BW now]

For a long time, this used to be the watering hole for international MBA aspirants. The big product that pulled in eager MBA applicants was their MBA ranking.

They were among the first big publications to host MBA student blogs – a trend that is being followed by other sites (like Financial Times) now. Competition to be featured as a student blogger on BW was tight. You not only had to be attending a popular MBA school, you also needed to have the articulation skills of journalists to write periodic content that wouldn’t put the hosting publication to shame. And all this while juggling the regular course load in the program.

Their MBA portal also had a thriving discussion forum (our thread providing free advice was among the most viewed). That forum is now dead. The volume and frequency of MBA articles and business school related updates have gone down. Hope they can pull up their socks and get back in the race that they once dominated.
 

Financial Times | Business Education

URL: http://www.ft.com/business-education/mba

Similar to the earlier two, the Business Education section on Financial Times (FT) also covers a wide range of relevant articles and hosts student blogs as well. [Trivia: Someone we helped get into a top European MBA program has also been an FT student blogger. Our alumni group is going places!]

It publishes the FT MBA Ranking, which is quite popular and credible, as it includes a global mix of bschools and their methodology has also been gaining in credibility vis-a-vis some rankings that focus too much on a specific geography or spring up surprises.

FT hides its main editorial content behind a paywall to encourage readers to subscribe. Strangely, the tech sophistication doesn’t stop (jugaad-oriented) readers from reaching the same article via Google search.

Fortunately, the MBA content on the Business Education section is free i.e. not blocked behind a paywall. However, some sections such as the MBA student blogs, require a free registration. Technicalities aside, it is an excellent site with great content.
 

Economist | Which MBA

URL: http://www.economist.com/whichmba

Though the publication has been at the receiving end from other leading publications for its Which MBA rankings (unexpected bschool names getting unexpected ranks), the main strength of the Economist group is journalism.

This is reflected in its MBA articles as well. Like its fellow publications, the Economist covers campus updates, MBA diaries, MBA careers and management ideas. However, apart from regular advertisements, it seems like most business publications are looking for ways to increase (hold on to?) their revenue streams.

The Economist tried something unusual. In contrast to the other leading publications that focus mainly on news and analysis, the Economist team has started offering an online GMAT preparation course.
 

BusinessBecause

URL: http://www.businessbecause.com

Among the new entrants, BusinessBecause is among the most promising. Positioning itself as the Business School Network, it’s been launched and managed by journalists with excellent credentials.

Maria Ahmed (co-founder of BB) who wrote a guest post for us (Why Do An MBA In Europe (UK, France, Spain)?) graduated with a Master of Science (MS) in Journalism from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University.

Unlike the traditional publications like the Economist, Businessweek and Financial Times, BusinessBecause is a 100% online publication (similar to P&Q). They’ve used social media well to gain traction and make a mark fairly quickly in the online world.

The other differentiating factor for BB is that they offer a premium (subscription based) job focused section for graduating MBA students and alumni.

Are there any good international MBA sites for students that we’ve missed out?


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Sameer Kamat
About Sameer Kamat
Founder of MBA Crystal Ball. Author of Beyond The MBA Hype & Business Doctors. Here's more about me. Follow me on: Instagram | Linkedin | Youtube

10 thoughts on “Best websites for MBA students and aspirants”

  1. Good list MCB! Enlightening. I have been researching a course for my son and a couple of other good resources for me have been:

    1. USNews.com – good overview of US courses
    2. Bloomberg.com – again good for u.s. for instance this ranking was helpful in discovering prog. outside top 10. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/slideshows/us-news-best-business-schools
    3. Forbes.Com – The rankings are again useful in evaluating ROI (imp for a dad!)

    keep up the good work!

    Ajay

    Reply
    • Hi Sameer,
      I am an Indian Female with a Commerce background. I completed my BCom (Hons) from DU, SRCC and was placed in Singapore with a Mining Conglomerate. In the last 3 years of my journey with Rio Tinto, I have held roles in Finance (Singapore and Perth, Australia) and then transitioned to HR strategy and Reporting in London Headquarters. So I have done 4 countries in the last three years with the same company with vertical movements across the globe. The catch is my GMAT score is 680 ( Q49 V34).

      I have pretty decent EC background : Leadership roles in various college societies. Basket ball player in school and pivotal role in School Student Council. My CBSE 10th and 12th marks were 97.4 and 95.25 % respectively. My college does not facilitate a GPA but I was in the top 10% of my batch of 570 students (percentage : 80/100 in under-graduation).

      Can you please advise me the colleges that i should be targeting with respect to my GMAT score. Many thanks.

      Reply
  2. Hi sameer, i’m dilip from hyd.I basically wanted to ask/clarify my douts about abroad education apparent from education now I’m study B.SC (statistics) final year & this year I’ll be completing my degree so,having only 15 year education is enough or should I wait for 1 more year..to study MBA abroad…!

    Reply
  3. Hello Sameer,

    Myself suresh, Am having 8+ years of experiance . I have crossed my age 33.

    Educational Qualification: BE & PGDBM.

    Am planning to do MBA in US b School . Just i want to know is there any age limit for Full time MBA in US b school.

    How about the chances for 30 plus to admitted in good b School.

    _______________
    Thanks and Regards,
    Suresh.

    Reply
  4. Hey Sameer,

    You must include sites like pagalguy.com, beatthegmat, gmatclub etc to this list and expand it from top 5 to top 25 or something 🙂

    Regards,

    Reply
  5. I have done my graduation this year and I’m giving mba exams.Im unsure about getting a good college so my alternative plan is to gain some work experience and then go for mba abroad.I wanted to know that if I work in a bpo right now will it count as work ex if I apply abroad later?If I get a decent college in India this year will it help later in campus recruitments?I just want to know if its a good idea to join a bpo because as a graduate in zoology hons there are’nt many job options right now.I dont want to waste time sitting home since I’ve dropped an year for mba exams.Please guide me!

    Reply
  6. We are running audit and legal firm in Chennai. We require dynamic MBA who can take care our business into next level. We are struggling to get more clients and retaining the same.

    Reply

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