So, you’ve decided to get your MBA? As in, you’ve done the calculus, and you are definitely taking two years “off” from the “traditional” workforce in order to better yourself at a business school.

Are you crazy?! You say you want to be an entrepreneur? You don’t need the MBA degree for that! Or do you …? At least for this post, let’s assume you do.

NOTE: Personally, I did find my MBA experience to be the wellspring of discovery, opportunity, networking and self-confidence that I would have struggled to find in another setting. The education is valuable, your classmates are inspiring and, perhaps most importantly, that “.edu” email address is one of the most effective means of convincing a VIP to chat with you over coffee. It was the right call for me, it may or may not be for you. But let’s assume it is.

As a budding entrepreneur exploring business school options — or really any degree at an institution of higher education — here are some key questions to ask of schools to which you are considering applying. These questions will help you separate the wheat from the chaff, and you could be surprised to discover that schools that are the best fit for your needs may not be ranked by U.S. News at the top of the list. Just as the MBA experience is for some and not for others, any of the Top 100 business schools has the potential to be a great or terrible fit for you depending on your goals and needs.

1) What is the quality and range of the startup ecosystem in the city / region of the MBA program?

Are there major companies such as Google, investors such as First Round Capital and/or events such as SXSW? Are the prominent startups in the community relevant to the industry you are targeting?

E.g., New York is a great place to pursue a “FinTech” startup; Washington, DC is a great place to pursue an “EdTech” startup; just about any city in Texas is a great location to pursue an energy startup; and the Silicon Valley / San Francisco Bay Area is a great locale to pursue just about any startup.)

2) Who are the top entrepreneurs and companies among the MBA alumni?

Past 40 years? 10 years? Past 5 years? Any famous entrepreneurs who are alumni of other programs on the campus?

It is important to know who the prestigious, influential and/or successful alumni are. Not only does a powerful alumni base hint that there may be “something in the water,” but you will want to call upon these people for mentoring, introductions, or even investment.

(You can find some of this information on AngelList’s “colleges” section, but is important to poll schools directly as well. For example, the venture capitalist Bill Gurley is one of the most famous graduates of my alma mater, The University of Texas’ McCombs MBA program, yet he does not have a profile on AngelList.)

3) How easy is it to get in touch with top “founderati” among the alumni?

Is there a web portal for discovering and messaging the alumni? How often do they return to campus? Do students routinely meet with them?

4) Is the MBA program and the greater university on the radars of VC firms and top accelerators?

Do top VCs and startup accelerators actively comb the campus looking for startups to back? Do they view a degree from a given MBA program as a significant factor in determining the quality of a team?

5) Is there a student startup accelerator on campus or a VC fund investing in students’ startups?

Are these managed by students? Are there opportunities to join independent VC funds of this sort such as Dorm Room Fund and Rough Draft Ventures?

6) What is the nature of the“startup culture” on campus?

Is there even a startup culture at all? Is the “startup geek” label a badge of honor on campus or is it a pejorative term? What percentage of students in the MBA program are pursuing their own ventures and/or early-stage ventures? What is the percentage campus-wide?

7) What kinds of “fast hatch” startup events take place on campus or nearby?

Does the campus or greater community feature student startup-catalyzing programs such as 3 Day Startup, Startup Weekend and/or “Major League” hackathons?

8) Are there student business plan / startup pitch competitions on campus?

Are these competitions university-wide or are they focused on MBA students? Are they open to students from other schools? What prizes — both in terms of financial and network access — are available to the winning teams? Are the teams that win still going strong, or does this competition have a history of winning teams which disband immediately after the prize money is collected? (I.e., do the competitions trend in favor of entrepreneurs or “wantrapreneurs” …?)

9) Does the school sponsor students to compete in and travel to other national business plan competitions across the country?

If so, how much funding is available? Is there a professor or administrator with a proven track record of effectively coaching student teams for competitions?

10) Are there “entrepreneurs-in-residence” (EIRs) on campus?

Who are they? How approachable are they? How connected are they? More to the point, how much can these “EIRs” help you and will they do so?

In my own experience, I was lucky to be part of a team working with the McCombs School of Business’ EIR, Brett Hurt, founder of Bazaarvoice. Brett went way beyond the call of duty to catalyze student entrepreneurship on the campus of The University of Texas, hosting fireside chats with successful founders and VCs, organizing office hours with leading founderati and accelerator scouts for the likes of Y Combinator, and generally making himself available regularly to chat with students who were pursuing startup ventures.

11) Is the program characterized by silos?

Or do diverse interactions pervade? Does the MBA program isolate itself from the greater university — both graduate and undergraduate students — or are there courses and/or organizations and/or events that regularly enable students of all ages and disciplines to mingle and collaborate? Does it have programs or organizations which collaborate with entrepreneurial students at other schools?

12) What is the likelihood of receiving a merit scholarship?

How much will you likely be paying for school, tuition and cost of living combined?

NOTE: Startups rarely afford founders a comfortable salary in the early months or even years, even with funding, as investors put their money into lean teams with low burn rates. It is very hard to pursue a startup when one is expected to pay off significant student loan debts. As the much-respected VC Mark Suster observes, “It’s hard to start companies and take risks when you’re $150,000 in debt.” This is one reason that many first-year MBAs who are interested in startups end up bailing out of this mindset in their second years and taking “traditional” MBA jobs. Simply put, be wary of becoming an indentured corporate servant as a result of your MBA-related debts. Startup life is not for those with grandiose lifestyle expectations, especially in the early years.

13) What kinds of startup-related student organizations exist on campus?

Are they effective in legitimately inspiring and supporting students to launch new ventures, or do wantrapreneurs dominate and the clubs exist largely to give students “officer” roles for their resumes? Are there enough clubs to meet the needs of the campus community? Are there too many? Are they well funded? Are they well connected? Are the club events valuable, or just excuses to drink beer?

14) Which career paths dominate in the MBA program, as well as across campus?

Could the non-startup career choices of your peers (e.g., management consulting, corporate finance, brand management, etc.) be of value to you in your entrepreneurial pursuits?

15) What courses and concentrations are offered that are relevant to launching or investing in new ventures?

Are there pioneering courses offered, such as data mining courses and “programming 101” for non-engineers? Who is teaching the entrepreneurship and new venture courses? Are they full-time faculty or adjunct? Are they well connected?

NOTE: In many instances, non-PhD. and/or adjunct faculty members may be the most valuable mentors, as they likely have significant and relevant professional experience “in the field.” In my case, two of the best sources of both guidance and support in my student entrepreneur experience were administrators who did not actually teach any courses. Both individuals had worked for startups and were well-connected both locally and nationally to top entrepreneurs and investors.

At the end of the day, all of the opportunities (or lack thereof) at a given MBA program cannot make (or break) an entrepreneur. You get from the MBA experience what you put into it.

You may have noticed that I listed questions about classes last. Indeed, much of one’s startup education should occur outside of the classroom, and much of the value is in the networking opportunities that only students are privileged to experience. As Mark Suster, a Wharton MBA, notes:

I tell people that if you’re going to go to a top school then the people that you’ll be friends with there will be lifetime friends. And if you go to a top school then no doubt your peer group will all end up 15 years later as senior “captains of industry.” So for me the most compelling reason to go is the network of friendships you’ll form and the importance of this as part of your future network.

I also tell people that if they do go to make sure that they don’t spend all of their free time trying to graduate top of their class. I tell them not to be so entrenched in working on their startup ideas that they don’t build deep, meaningful relationships with their peer group. Don’t forget that long after you forget the CAPM pricing model, how to do regression analysis or how to calculate NPV without a spreadsheet — your network should endure.