Ultimately, finding the best and most appropriate business school requires more than following trends and assessing rankings. Dennis and Smith offer an approach that is designed to help prospective MBA students cast their nets widely, thinking more expansively, creatively, and strategically, with both short- and long-term implications in mind. Discussing the pros and cons of a formal business education (in the context of evolving attitudes toward management and the role of the MBA in developing successful leaders), the authors help readers identify their underlying motivations for pursuing an MBA, learn how to read between the lines of the popular rankings, and utilize the concept of return on investment (ROI) to evaluate programs on the basis of their contribution to long-term professional and personal goals. At a time when one-fourth of all master's degrees conferred are in business, Finding the Best Business School for You offers practical insights for making wise decisions and getting the most out of the MBA experience.
The truth is that, in response to changes in the global business environment, many schools are redesigning their curricula, forging closer ties with businesses, and giving students more freedom to customize their degrees. Some of the most innovative programs are being designed at public universities and other institutions out of the spotlight.
About the Author: Everette E. Dennis is the Felix E. Larkin Distinguished Professor of Communication and Media Management at Fordham University, where he heads the Center for Communication. He is the author or editor of many books and articles on media and communications, higher education, and institution building, including Media Debates, Issues for the Digital Age, Higher Education in the Information Age, Demystifying Media Technology, and The Media at War, the textbook, Understanding Mass Communication, and Media Freedom and Accountability (coeditor, Greenwood, 1989). He has served as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the editorial boards of Communication Law and Policy and the Journal of Religion and Media. He was the founding president of the American Academy in Berlin, founding executive director of the Media Studies Center at Columbia University, and a senior vice president of the Gannett/Freedom Forum Foundation.
Sharon P. Smith is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for National University and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the National University system. Prior to this appointment, she was Dean of the Faculty of Business, Dean of the Schools of Business Administration, and Professor of Management Systems at Fordham University. Author of two books and over two dozen articles and research reports on labor policy, management, and economics, she is a member of the board of governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and was a member of the board of the Security Traders Association Securities. Previously, she was a senior research economist at Princeton University, a senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a district manager with AT&T, and served as president of the NASDAQ Stock Market Education Foundation.
