Guest Post By Matt Symonds, Fortuna Admissions

How to best prepare for the complexity and uncertainty of today’s business world? To drive your career forward in any sector, an MBA from one of the world’s top business schools will give you the fundamentals. In addition to offering a foundation in economics, finance, ethics, accounting, strategy, operations, and marketing, the MBA is now combined with lessons in leadership, decision analysis, communication, and entrepreneurial thinking to create value and empower students to embrace change.

Guest Post By Caroline Diarte Edwards, Fortuna Admissions

The MBA is designed to be a life-changing experience, positioning you to pursue your highest career aspirations. At the same time, the amount of time, money, and effort you’re gearing up to invest means that where you go to business school stands to be one of the most significant life decisions you’ll make. It’s vital to do your homework to find the best business school for you.

Will your employer pay for you to go back to school?

If you don’t know the answer to that question, it may be time to speak to someone in your Human Resources office or dive into the benefits information provided on your employee intranet. Many employers offer tuition assistance programs as a way to help recruit and retain a qualified and well-educated workforce, but making the most of your tuition assistance dollars is not always as easy as it may first appear.

Guest Post By Judith Silverman Hodara, Fortuna Admissions

A few months ago, my Fortuna Admissions colleague interviewed an MBA graduate named Paul Heslop, who serves as an Operations and Planning Chief for the United Nations. Among Paul’s bevy of unique distinctions is directing peacekeeping efforts in 17 countries, clearing thousands of unexploded mines and bombs, and defending multi-million dollar budgets to the UN Security Council. Oh, and before pursuing the MBA at London Business School, Paul had the distinctive privilege of accompanying the late Princess Diana through an active minefield on her trip to Angola.

Guest Post by Kristen Beyers, Fortuna Admissions

She exuded a sense of urgency, this college senior seeking my counsel on applying to Stanford Graduate School of Business’ deferred admissions program. She had done her research around women’s social entrepreneurship in the global economy, understood her unique value proposition, and was compelled in pursuit of this passion and singularly focused on having an impact now. She was clear why the MBA was essential to accelerating her ambitions—from GSB specifically—and she didn’t want to wait the expected five-plus years to realize her professional dream. This client also happened to be an academic rock star with impressive leadership exploits.

When it comes to financing an MBA, don’t believe everything you hear. Myths abound, and you should consider the expertise and experience of your advisor before taking their education finance advice. In her latest contribution to the Fortuna Admissions blog, College Coach’s Shannon Vasconcelos takes on the top five rumors she’s encountered about financing business school.

A Guest Post by Lisa Bevill, Fortuna Admissions

Are there embarrassing pictures of you on Instagram? Or are you tagged in a Facebook photo from a best friend’s party that you wouldn’t show your mom? Maybe you took to Twitter once, in a fit of frustration, with a thinly veiled insult directed at a teacher. Or you’ve put off creating your LinkedIn profile.

Guest Post By Judith Silverman Hodara, Fortuna Admissions and former Head of Admissions at The Wharton School

Do you have to spend your summers on Wall Street if you’re interested in pursuing an MBA or a future career in business?

Certainly not.

‘Tis the season—for holiday parties, shopping, and preparations. But for high school seniors, it’s also the season for finishing up their college applications. And with that in mind, the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation has some help for those students working on the Columbia University application. Host Beth Heaton covers that topic, as well as soliciting some great advice on the role that leadership plays in an MBA application and also some guidance for parents getting a late start on saving for college.

While many students come to the decision to pursue an MBA later in life—long after attaining their undergraduate degree and experiencing the professional world, there is a subset of future business leaders who have had their sights set on an MBA from their time that they were in high school.  If you know that business school is your end-game—or at least a non-negotiable step toward your end-game—should your goal be to get that MBA as soon as possible?