Who Is An MBA Applicant? What Do They Want?

Just who are the applicants for MBA programs knocking at the Business school doors? What are their expectations of the program? Where do they see themselves after graduation? All these questions are sought to be answered in a survey.

The QS TopMBA.com Applications and Aspirations Report 2018 has found the MBA applicant to be in the average age group of 28 with men (28.2) slightly older than women (27.8). The oldest applicants are from the US & Canada (29.6) and the youngest from Asia Pacific (26.2). Women make up 41.9% of the total applicants.

More than half of the applicants (55.8%) across the world reported at least four years’ work experience while 16.9% stated that they had less than a year of employment.

Overall, 46.5% of the respondents declared that they chose to acquire an MBA in the hope of landing a leadership/general management position. However, for applicants in Eastern Europe (54.6%) and Africa & Middle East (49.7%) gaining international experience was the top priority.

As far as funding the MBA is concerned more than half (52.9%) of the applicants hoped to get a scholarship followed by private loans and personal savings.

The average MBA applicant proposed to fund 33.3% of their total education costs with either their own funds or those from their family. About 41.0% of MBA applicants across the world stated that they would not enrol for an MBA in the absence of a scholarship.

Interestingly, women were twice as likely as men to consider careers in media/advertising (12.8% vs. 6.4%), HR/recruiting/training (12.5% vs. 6.3%), and non-profit/charity (10.8% vs. 4.8%).

The most useful information sources used by MBA applicants in their decision-making process are discussions with admissions staff and alumni, as well as the official business school webpage.

While the majority of 58.7% respondents chose the US as the most favoured location for MBA studies, the United Kingdom drew 36.9%. A total of 11 countries were individually selected by at least 10% of the respondents.

International recognition of qualifications (36.7%) and the desire to work in the country afterwards (36.6%) were the top reasons for destination choice by global MBA applicants.

In terms of school selection, scholarships and financial aid availability are priorities for aspirants from Africa & Middle East (62.8%) and Asia Pacific (55.7%). For all other regions, the reputation of a specific business school is the most selected criteria.

Entrepreneurship/innovation is the leading intended specialization for MBA applicants, selected by 35.6% of respondents, followed by international management (34.6%), and strategy (32.6%). Only residents of Eastern Europe did not report entrepreneurship/innovation as a top three intended specialization.

The full-time MBA is still the favoured method of delivery, considered by 83.4% of applicants when compared with part-time (28.6%) and online (15.8%). Online interest is more common in Western Europe (22.1% of respondents) and US & Canada (18.0%) and less common in Asia Pacific (7.3%).

Consulting continues to rule the roost as the favourite choice for a post-MBA career with 40.2% of the respondents selecting it, followed by Finance (34.4%) and technology (26.5%).

Interestingly, women were twice as likely as men to consider careers in media/advertising (12.8% vs. 6.4%), HR/recruiting/training (12.5% vs. 6.3%), and non-profit/charity (10.8% vs. 4.8%).

The applicants also believe ‘leadership’ is the skill that recruiters most seek in MBAs.  This box was ticked by 54.2% of respondents this year and followed by problem-solving (46.1%) and business acumen/commercial awareness (38.5%).

Career progression was the most important factor when choosing an employer (41.2%), followed by salary and benefits (37.0%) and international opportunities (32.5%).

An ambitious 60.5% of MBA applicants can see themselves running their own business in 10 years’ time. Not limited to selecting only one response, 49.4% of respondents also reported the desire to become CEO of a company.(Image Source:flickr.com)