Part III: Guess its my turn for what I look for in schools

So I don’t really have a set way in how I am going about figuring out what schools I am going to apply to. People keep asking me do I know where I am applying yet and the answer is no. First off it depends on my GMAT and I am not positive about it but will probably be taking that in August and applying Round 2 for Consortium and other places. I am different for Motown and Ms. HR because I have a family so they are a main consideration that I have to think about it looking at schools. The order that I pretty much think about when looking at a school is: concentration, recruiting, location, scores/academic performance, and also will it fit for my family.

• Concentration – My concentration is Marketing…well high-tech marketing because I want to work for a company like Apple or Google as you know. Most schools have marketing so it’s not like I can’t find a school that doesn’t offer it.
• Recruiting – Since most schools have marketing I am looking at what companies recruit there for full time and internships. 
• Location – The companies I want to work for are pretty much Silicon Valley areasish (not a word, I just made it up) so I am looking California, but I’m not going to just look there because I am also looking at the good ole alma mater…Michigan.
• Scores/academic performance – I know I’m going to be outside of the GPA for schools so I am not even going to worry about that at this point, so the GMAT is what I have to focus on and try to apply to schools that I fall at least within the range of the GMAT when I eventually take it.
• Family fit – This also goes with location because my bf has a job with a big company that has locations all over but who knows if he wants to be in a rural place or city or wherever. Pretty much will figure that out when I get accepted places haha. Since my little one will be about 4 I will need to be looking at schools for her, so that goes with location and school selections for her/daycare places. Also I want a school that is welcoming to people with families (ie. Penn – really good about people with families).

I mean costs, class size, clubs, and culture are also things I consider but not at this point because I am still trying to narrow down my list of schools both for the Consortium and non-Consortium. Since essays and application deadlines are starting to come out I should start working on that, but I’m not going to have a real list until after my GMAT.

Anyone else with a family got some ideas or recommendations? I’m open.

-mads mom.