Join our online Q&A: the secrets of successful MBA applications

Coronavirus has created widespread economic uncertainty and forced a switch from classrooms to online learning over the past year — yet demand for many MBA programmes around the world has increased.

That brings new considerations for potential candidates: whether to apply to business schools now, which ones to approach, and how. So the FT has brought together a panel of experts linked to leading institutions to help readers decide — in a webinar on Thursday March 11, at 5pm GMT.

Rising tuition fees and the opportunity costs of giving up work for study have raised questions about the value of business education, and how to balance short-term sacrifices with the benefits of learning new skills, building networks, and progressing or changing a career.

The FT alone ranks 100 top global business schools which offer a wide variety of MBAs in different countries, sometimes combining periods on different campuses.

Applicants need to consider factors including location, duration, specialisms taught and fees charged. They may also be interested in the diversity of the student body and faculty, opportunities for international experience, and variable commitments to courses focused on social responsibility.

Many will need to take the GMAT business school entry test, and are seeking advice to understand more about the best tactics to prepare for the exams, application letters and interviews.

Our panel includes:

• Eddie Asbie, interim executive director of admissions and financial aid at SC Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University;

• Virginie Fougea, global director of admissions and financial aid at Insead;

• David Simpson, recruitment and admissions director, MBA and Masters in Finance, London Business School; and

• Donna Swinford, associate dean for student recruitment and admissions, MBAs, at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

They will be joined by Joy Jones, chief product officer and general manager, assessments, at the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC); and Tarini Sundar, MBA (2020, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management), a product marketing manager at Salesforce.