Where To Go To Business School Based On Your Personality Type

By Elana Goodwin on June 10, 2016

This article is brought to you by Kaplan, the leader in test prep for over 90 standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.

There are many ways we describe our personalities — bubbly, independent, charismatic, innovative, enthusiastic, etc — and our personalities are a huge part of who we are. As such, when making a decision about where you should go to business school, it’s important to consider how your personality type would do at different schools.

A popular personality test is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which ultimately allows a person to classify themselves using bigger characteristics — Extraversion (E), Introversion (I), Sensing (S), Intuition (N), Thinking (T), Feeling (F), Judging (J), and Perceiving (P), which led to the creation of 16 basic personality profiles. These 16 profiles can more broadly be sorted into four categories — Analysts, Diplomats, Sentinels, and Explorers — with four different personalities per category.

You can easily take a test to figure out what type of personality you are, and then use your results to help you figure out the right school for you. Here’s a rundown of some of the best business school programs for certain personality types according to the MBTI.

Photo Credit: pixabay.com

Logician (INTP). Logicians are innovative inventors with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Some of the common characteristics of this personality type include strong creativity, enthusiasm for new ideas, rationality, and imagination. As Logicians are more suited for independent learning and less rules, colleges like Cornell University, Rice University, Princeton University, and University of Texas – Austin would be better fits for this personality type.

Commander (ENTJ). Commanders are described as bold, imaginative and strong-willed leaders, who always find a way — or make one. Some of the common characteristics of this personality type include natural leadership skills, charisma, confidence, and determination. There are a number of universities with exceptional business school programs that would challenge these personality types and be a good fit including Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago.

As Commanders and Logicians more widely fall under the Analyst umbrella (in addition to Architects (INTJ) and Debaters (ENTP)), there are many schools that both types would do well at, including Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Stanford University, and University of California – Berkeley.

Logistician (ISTJ). Logisticians are primarily described as practical and fact-minded individuals, whose reliability cannot be doubted. Common characteristics of this personality type include integrity, logic, dedication and honesty. Those with this personality type will typically do better at school with fewer enrollment numbers and a smaller learning environment. Great schools for Logisticians to consider include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Emory University, Georgetown University, and Washington University in Saint Louis.

Executive (ESTJ). Described as excellent administrators, unsurpassed at managing things — or people — some of the common characteristics of this personality type include reliability, organization skills, leadership abilities, dedication, and patience. Executives would do well at a business school that boasts a stable and traditional environment that offers opportunities to lead, including Yale University, Duke University, George Washington University, Minnesota State University – Mankato, University of Hawaii – Manoa, and Stockton University.

Both Executives and Logisticians, which fall under the broader Sentinels category (along with Defenders (ISFJ) and Consuls (ESFJ)), would do well at schools like Stanford University, Harvard University, Rutgers University, among others.

Entrepreneur (ESTP). Entrepreneurs are described as smart, energetic and very perceptive people, who truly enjoy living on the edge. Falling under the broader Explorer category, common characteristics of this personality type include originality, risk-taking, sociality, and energetic. ESTPs have a natural ability to negotiate and possess innate business savvy, but would do best in business schools where the learning environment is more flexible and social. Some of the best business school programs for Entrepreneurs include Rice University, Loyola Marymount University, Washington University in Saint Louis, Babson College, Saint Joseph’s University, Wake Forest University, and Saint Louis University.

Many of the characteristics of the other personality types in the MBTI would suggest those individuals may be better off pursuing other areas of graduate study rather than business school. However, no matter what personality type you fall into, there are exceptions to the rules and even times when your personality type may be an asset to you in business school, even if your category wouldn’t typically be recommended for b-school. If you’re really set on going to business school and know exactly what you want to do with your degree, don’t let the MBTI and your personality type characterization deter you from your goal.

That being said, if you’re not sure whether you want to go to b-school or not and want to figure out whether business school is the right education fit for you, taking the personality test using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator may help you decide your next step and give you a deeper understanding of yourself, and what kind of career is ultimately the right one for you.

Learn more about Kaplan’s test prep options and start building the confidence you need for Test Day.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format