A little while ago, I received a couple of questions in response to a post that I wrote about various post MBA opportunities. Here’s the comment in full:

After reading both articles, I’m curious what sources you used to research the MBA program. I find myself overwhelmed at the information available on the internet and the fact that I have to weed through advertisements to find the real stats and information.

Were you saying in your other post that you are not fronting any money out of pocket for your program what-so-ever?

I’ve also been told by a number of people who have completed their graduate work to just pick the school that requires the least amount of credits and will be the least expensive. Some people give the reasoning that it is just another piece of acquired paper that the employer wants to know that you have. What do you say to that?

Thanks for your insight and feedback!

So, there are a couple of questions here, and I’ll just answer them one at a time in order. To research the different MBA programs and ultimately choose one, I used (for lack of a better term) a funnel approach. I more or less started with the U.S. News and World Report rankings of the best graduate business schools. I wouldn’t say that I was all that concerned with the specific rankings, but I used it as a starting point to find the schools that I would look into further. I also narrowed the field of schools by geographic location; I wanted to stay in the southwest region if I could, and I didn’t want to be on the west coast or up in the northeast.

Once I chose about 5 to 8 different schools that I could be interested in, I started looking into them in more detail using information from U.S. News and more importantly from the individual schools’ websites. Among other things, I looked for the program specialties and the size of the entering class.

As for the second question, I was fortunate to receive a generous financial aid package from Arizona State so that the out of pocket costs for the program will be minimal at worst. I think everything would have been covered except that the tuition cost has gone up this year compared to last and I have to buy an approved laptop for the program.

For the third point, I’ve heard similar comments myself and my answer is two-fold. If you are planning on staying with your current employer and the culture is such that you just need an MBA to check the box in order to move up, then the least expensive and the fewest credits could be the best option for you. On the other hand, if you’re looking to get your MBA full-time and make a significant change to your career, either by accelerating yourself into leadership or by completely changing your career path, I think that the type of MBA program does matter.

For one, you can look at the average starting salaries of graduates from the different schools. There really is a pretty wide range from the top of the pack on down. This information is available from U.S. News or from each school’s website individually. Aside from this aspect, and I think more important, is the network that you will gain from the school and the fact that you will be an alumni. And as I briefly mentioned before, each school usually has a specialty or at least has some programs that are stronger than others. If you’re interested in marketing vs. entrepreneurship vs. supply chain, then you’ll want to look into schools that are stronger in your area of interest. These specialty rankings can also be found in U.S. News and World Report.

Hopefully some of this has been helpful in answering the questions. If anyone has any other questions, feel free to ask them in the comments or email me directly using the contact form.

I thought I’d list some of the things that I’ve read over the last little while that might be worthwhile for some of you out there as well. But I’ll leave that last part up to you…

Here’s an interesting article from Tim Ferriss where he basically publishes his notes from the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. It’s usually beneficial to here what the Buffett has to say.

Since I have an interest in real estate, I found these two articles informative. I’ll call them number 1 and number 2. They’re both from the same blog and someone who has made a lot of money in real estate.

Over at Guy Kawasaki’s blog there’s a great question/answer post entitled, How to Escape Corporate America.

Well it’s been a long wait, but I’ve finally received the economic stimulus check. I don’t have any specific plans for the money other than to help pay for things that we’re already doing and would have bought anyway. Of course it’s always nice to get some extra cash, but it’s not going to change our spending habits or encourage us to splurge.

If you’re still waiting on your check, they’re still being sent out according to your social security number. You can check the IRS website to see the schedule and find out when you can expect your check.

It’s interesting how so many people have so many different views about credit cards. Some people think that they’re evil and should never be used while others see them as useful tools. I happen to think that they can be extremely useful as long as they are understood and are used responsibly.

If you’re looking to find more information about credit cardsand find the type is best for your needs, then you can visit the site CreditCardsClub.com and browse around. You can find information about business cards, travel rewards cards, cash back cards, and many others. So check them out for more information.

With all the talk about the run up in food prices, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on keeping your food bill down these days. I’m a firm believer that complaining about increasing prices will get you nowhere and do nothing to change the situation. Instead, you need to focus on things that you have control over and ways that you can change your situation. Here are a few of them:

1. Change What You Buy. There’s no law that says you have to continue buying the same things that you’ve always bought in the past. Prices haven’t gone up on everything these days. If dairy products have gone up, just purchase less of them and choose cheaper alternatives. If it’s the packaged foods that have gone up, make your own “hamburger helper”. It’s just ground beef, noodles, and seasonings anyway, a far cry from rocket science. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to return to some of the basics either. Rice is still cheap, as are beans. And take a look at the fruits and vegetables that are in season instead of buying just your favorite all year round.

2. Change How You Shop. If you’re one of those people that plans what you want to make during the week and then goes and buys the needed items, maybe you should change your approach. Instead, browse the grocery store circulars and find the loss leaders and other things that are on sale. When these items are cheap, stock up on them. Your meal choices then come from what you have on hand. It’s actually quite simple, but if you’re not used to doing things this way, it can take some getting used to. For example, I have an unofficial rule that I only buy meat (such as steaks, chicken, pork chops) that is $2 a pound and under. I buy what’s on special and that’s what we eat. Pretty simple.

3. Change The Quantity You Buy. There are two parts to this one. First of all, I’m sure most of us could stand to eat a little less. And eating less means you don’t have to buy as much. Secondly, many items can be purchased cheaper in bulk. Use your head with this one though; don’t buy pounds and pounds of perishable items that you’re going to end up throwing away. But you can buy pasta, rice, beans, can goods, etc. in large quantities and they’ll last a long time. You can even buy huge bottles of olive oil for much cheaper than the smaller ones and then just refill the little one. These are just some examples, but you get the idea.

The point here is to think about things that you can do to keep your food expenses in line instead of just complaining about rising food prices. I’m sure I’ve missed many other ideas, so feel free to share yours in the comments.

Businesses are always looking for new prospects to market their products and services to. And business mailing lists are nothing new these days, but SalesProspects.com is a company that provides customized and targeted mailing lists based on your criteria. Check out the link to learn more about them and see if they’d work for you.

As of Tuesday night, Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party. And the actual Presidential race can now begin between him and John McCain. Whatever your political views may be, you can be sure that their respective economic agendas will be at the forefront of this race. And as a primer for what is sure to come, this article from CNN Money gives an overview of both candidates’ views on various aspects of the economy.

It’s an interesting read at the very least to get informed about both of their views. And we should take the time to understand what their views are on specific issues. It shouldn’t be enough to vote for someone based on their campaign slogan, “Change we can believe in”, since change just means something different, not necessarily better. Likewise, another recent campaign slogan is “Leadership we can believe in”, yet the direction that leadership takes needs to be something you actually want. The point is to get informed to make a good decision, instead of just a bandwagon one.