After working hard on MBA entrance-exam preparations for one year, Aarya received an admission offer from the two-year agribusiness program of a premier business school. While she aspired to be a part of that premier business school, she had no interest in agribusiness. While deliberating, she received an offer from a brand new, but buzzworthy, global one-year executive MBA program in General Management, in a mid-tier business school. The program boasted excellent placement for its first batch of students. While the program was typically geared towards students with a considerable industry experience, being new, it also allowed some exceptions for “well-deserving students” with little or no experience.
Aarya was worried whether, being a candidate with a minimal experience, she would be a good fit in the executive MBA program. Which of the following considerations would BEST help Aarya in taking admission in the one-year executive MBA program?
Answer: D
Stakeholder and criterion: Aarya has two offers: a premier school's agribusiness MBA, a field she has no interest in, and a new one-year executive MBA in General Management. Her worry is fit, since she has little experience. Her goal from the start has been a lucrative, fast-growing career. The best consideration links the executive MBA to that goal.
Why option 4 is best: if the executive MBA gives her a better chance of advancing in a field she cares about, it outweighs the fit worry and the mid-tier tag. Interest and career progress are exactly what she is seeking.
- Option 1: lack of confidence to prepare again is a weak, negative reason. In any case she already holds another offer.
- Option 2: the agribusiness programme not being flagship is a point against that offer. It does not answer whether the executive MBA suits her.
- Option 3: start-up attention to the programme is indirect. It does not speak to her interest or her fit.
- Option 5: a scholarship is a financial plus, but it does not address fit or career direction.
Answer: Option 4