[twiceblessedman]

Originally Posted by mini3

I think swetha's question is on top of everybody's minds ... i have a more specific query... i have come to understand that at Great Lakes, or for that matter most other B- schools , the profiles offered to candidates at the time of placements , depend , to a large extent on their work - ex and positions held by them pre-MBA.(please correct me if i am wrong here) .This naturally extrapolates to the fact that a person with just about a year's experience will have to start pretty much from the scratch and the profile is likely to be " management trainee" or something similar.
As a person with just 15 months experience, given the slump in the placements, my chances, realistically speaking may not be great. I realise its entirely my call to decide if I wanna go for it this year, but I just want to know if it is possible to defer an admit for the sole purpose of gaining more work experience. Is such a provision available at Great Lakes?

Hi,

Well, as of now, we dont have a policy of offering a deferred admit......you know i have a slightly different opinion from Aztec when it comes to the economy.....i feel that indian economy is going to re bound in the next 6 months which is the opinion held by Kris Gopalkrishnan, Infy CEO as well....we have already seen the first 1 year of a recession that lasts 18 months on an average and 6 more months to go........added to this Goldratt, the famous management guru has openly said in the press that industrial output will recover in the next 2 months......some of you might have read this article in the TOI....he has also mentioned that the current crisis is due to sentiment and there is no evidence to suggest that demand for goods and services has gone down.....it is the case of companies keeping their inventories down in anticipation of low demand.....the last thing he mentioned was that when the demand does go up drastically in the next few months, those companies that had engaged in firing people would be badly exposed to the sudden spurt in demand......however, Aztec is right in saying that the US economy hasnt bottomed out yet......i just wanted to give the other side of the coin for a debate that is usually one sided......your appetite for risk is in question here.....so, yes, it is an individual decision....

[anirudhmarathe]

Originally Posted by twiceblessedman

Hi,

Well, as of now, we dont have a policy of offering a deferred admit......you know i have a slightly different opinion from Aztec when it comes to the economy.....i feel that indian economy is going to re bound in the next 6 months which is the opinion held by Kris Gopalkrishnan, Infy CEO as well....we have already seen the first 1 year of a recession that lasts 18 months on an average and 6 more months to go........added to this Goldratt, the famous management guru has openly said in the press that industrial output will recover in the next 2 months......some of you might have read this article in the TOI....he has also mentioned that the current crisis is due to sentiment and there is no evidence to suggest that demand for goods and services has gone down.....it is the case of companies keeping their inventories down in anticipation of low demand.....the last thing he mentioned was that when the demand does go up drastically in the next few months, those companies that had engaged in firing people would be badly exposed to the sudden spurt in demand......however, Aztec is right in saying that the US economy hasnt bottomed out yet......i just wanted to give the other side of the coin for a debate that is usually one sided......your appetite for risk is in question here.....so, yes, it is an individual decision....

My two cents :

If we try to sum up both these sides - that becomes my view.

I too strongly feel that US economy is in for some more crunch for sure (credit card defaulters as aztec pointed is surely going to happen), its a cascading effect thats gonna be witnessed now. Their whole idea of securitizing sub/mid-prime debts to toxic derivatives instruments have boomeranged for them. I remember reading an article when i was just getting into the groove of stock exchanges/instruments that the very base on which US economy (I-Banks to be specific) is leveraging the growth is not sustainable - but like many of us I too ignored for the plain fact that its just a virtual hypothesis and with more investors preferring complex financial insturments over orthodox bonds/FDs is surely gonna sustain the growth.

Unfortunately Americans spending/saving habits didnt let this happen.

In domestic markets I feel its far too undervalued, What we saw was massive sellin because of bad (US) sentiments and cash outflow by FIIs. One more attribute to this fact was domestic financial (cash rich) giants didnt rescue as aggressively as one would have desired.

I too feel that the scenario in India would stabilize if not bounce back sharply in 6-8 months. Barring a few export oriented sectors I feel things would change for the good. Also export oriented sectors like IT have some things to cheer about (temporarily) if you look at the $ rates prevailing, that too I feel is just because of sudden shortage of USD and would be back to 45rs a $ level in 6 - 8 months.

Apologies if this was boring

Regards,
Aniruddha

[whisperingwinds]

Hi Aztec,

To add on to shweta's query,i would like to give my opinion.
I do understand that great lakes had inversted a lot in terms of infrastructure(new campus),but still I really find no rationale for such a steep fees hike.See,whenever a college infrastructure is build,it is the stake owners who contribute to the infrastucture.This is the investment that recovers years after the college is run.Take e.g. MDI(a bschool,not govt aided nor govt run).It has a world class infrastructure comparable to the best in india.Now when this campus was build(in 90's) ,it didnt at once start charging hefty fees to recover the cost at the earliest.It started with a modest fees and over the years,it has established itself as a reputed B school and now it commands such a fees(which is still less than great lakes).What I mean to point is that although a fees hike is unavoidable,a compromise could have been made in the percentage of increase.Perhaps the time guidelines for recovering the cost of the infrastructure should be relaxed.

I want to press upon another point of view here.With the economy in shatters and the prospects of placements bleak,there is already a considerable stress on the applicants who want to be a part of the batch of 2009.As you could have sensed from many posts above,there are already negative vibes floating across the applicant pool regarding the fees hike.And many of the worthy students will not be able to join the institute just cuz of the hefty fees.This is not only a disadvantage to the students but also a disadvantage to great lakes as it will have to compromise on the quality of the students getting in finally.What I suggest is that although some hike is unavoidable,some compromise should be made on the percentage of hike.This will decrease the risk quotient and will increase the risk appetite for the applicants.
Perhaps when the happy days come back again(economy bouncing back and placement scenario improving),then a considerable increase in the fees can be looked at.

I shall be obliged if the adcom members could bring this concern to the management so that relevant steps can be taken.

Regards,
Zubin

Originally Posted by aztecmonk

DNA: Money: Crisis bigger than subprime awaits US
Yes, mid prime and credit card default will kick in soon. No second thoughts on that. The question is - would one make a meal of it or not.
Reiterating for the nth time. Go to any b school in the world - you will get educated but you have to get yourself a job by letting the education sink in. As Uncle Bala says - Great Lakes will do the marketing but you have to do the sales.
MBA is no longer a short cut to the VP's chair but is a sure shot way to move up the ranks in an organization quicker than graduates.
Choice is yours!

Cheers,
Aztecmonk.

[prakamo]

Hello Friends,

Collected some of the documents regarding GL.
This can certainly help us make a proper decision.
They may be pretty old too.


NYU Stern
Why MBA @ Great Lakes? The World as I see it
Fall Project @ Great Lakes My Perspective

Any news abt results? TBM/AM please confirm us the dates.. 1/2 or 6/7 or 10th march.

[agrawalansh]

Originally Posted by whisperingwinds

Hi Aztec,

To add on to shweta's query,i would like to give my opinion.
I do understand that great lakes had inversted a lot in terms of infrastructure(new campus),but still I really find no rationale for such a steep fees hike.See,whenever a college infrastructure is build,it is the stake owners who contribute to the infrastucture.This is the investment that recovers years after the college is run.Take e.g. MDI(a bschool,not govt aided nor govt run).It has a world class infrastructure comparable to the best in india.Now when this campus was build(in 90's) ,it didnt at once start charging hefty fees to recover the cost at the earliest.It started with a modest fees and over the years,it has established itself as a reputed B school and now it commands such a fees(which is still less than great lakes).What I mean to point is that although a fees hike is unavoidable,a compromise could have been made in the percentage of increase.Perhaps the time guidelines for recovering the cost of the infrastructure should be relaxed.

I want to press upon another point of view here.With the economy in shatters and the prospects of placements bleak,there is already a considerable stress on the applicants who want to be a part of the batch of 2009.As you could have sensed from many posts above,there are already negative vibes floating across the applicant pool regarding the fees hike.And many of the worthy students will not be able to join the institute just cuz of the hefty fees.This is not only a disadvantage to the students but also a disadvantage to great lakes as it will have to compromise on the quality of the students getting in finally.What I suggest is that although some hike is unavoidable,some compromise should be made on the percentage of hike.This will decrease the risk quotient and will increase the risk appetite for the applicants.
Perhaps when the happy days come back again(economy bouncing back and placement scenario improving),then a considerable increase in the fees can be looked at.

I shall be obliged if the adcom members could bring this concern to the management so that relevant steps can be taken.

Regards,
Zubin

Hi Zubin,

I second your opinion...

And I too believe that GLIM may loose out some of very good students coz of such high fee, that too, at this point of time... If fee would have remained the same then aspirants wouldn't have also thought of not joining the institute.

It would be great that if students or members of Adcom can put this view to the management on behalf of all the aspirants of GLIM this year.

[neakaushal]

Originally Posted by agrawalansh

Hi Zubin,

I second your opinion...

And I too believe that GLIM may loose out some of very good students coz of such high fee, that too, at this point of time... If fee would have remained the same then aspirants wouldn't have also thought of not joining the institute.

It would be great that if students or members of Adcom can put this view to the management on behalf of all the aspirants of GLIM this year.

i too agre with the thoughts posted above..reason being 10L being too high to give as a part of fees in these bad times..other courses charge max upto 8 in india.inspite of it being aspiring to be a global course,it shud take into account the indian scenario.

[sunandh]

I called up the adcomm guys today afternoon. They told me the results will be out tomorrow mid night

[thrust]

Originally Posted by sunandh

I called up the adcomm guys today afternoon. They told me the results will be out tomorrow mid night

i wish you are cent percent right...however, i will not keep my hopes up for tomorrow looking at how the date for short-list got pushed on for almost a week... I desperately hope I don't get into the same old routine of refreshing the site every half an hour again! ...keeping fingers crossed...

Thanks.

[twiceblessedman]

Originally Posted by whisperingwinds

Hi Aztec,

To add on to shweta's query,i would like to give my opinion.
I do understand that great lakes had inversted a lot in terms of infrastructure(new campus),but still I really find no rationale for such a steep fees hike.See,whenever a college infrastructure is build,it is the stake owners who contribute to the infrastucture.This is the investment that recovers years after the college is run.Take e.g. MDI(a bschool,not govt aided nor govt run).It has a world class infrastructure comparable to the best in india.Now when this campus was build(in 90's) ,it didnt at once start charging hefty fees to recover the cost at the earliest.It started with a modest fees and over the years,it has established itself as a reputed B school and now it commands such a fees(which is still less than great lakes).What I mean to point is that although a fees hike is unavoidable,a compromise could have been made in the percentage of increase.Perhaps the time guidelines for recovering the cost of the infrastructure should be relaxed.

I want to press upon another point of view here.With the economy in shatters and the prospects of placements bleak,there is already a considerable stress on the applicants who want to be a part of the batch of 2009.As you could have sensed from many posts above,there are already negative vibes floating across the applicant pool regarding the fees hike.And many of the worthy students will not be able to join the institute just cuz of the hefty fees.This is not only a disadvantage to the students but also a disadvantage to great lakes as it will have to compromise on the quality of the students getting in finally.What I suggest is that although some hike is unavoidable,some compromise should be made on the percentage of hike.This will decrease the risk quotient and will increase the risk appetite for the applicants.
Perhaps when the happy days come back again(economy bouncing back and placement scenario improving),then a considerable increase in the fees can be looked at.

I shall be obliged if the adcom members could bring this concern to the management so that relevant steps can be taken.

Regards,
Zubin

Hi Zubin,

We are all rationalizing creatures here and everybody's rationale is colored by their emotions or intrinsic motives.....this is routine social psychology that i have learnt in my course and i dont want to go into details....MDI is a govt aided institute as far as i know (i might be wrong). It was started in the 80s in collaboration with the indian govt and profs from leading b schools like Kellogg......it was meant to train indian bureaucrats.....and i am not surprised that they spread their risks over so many years.....they had something to fall back on.....while the privately run institutes dont have that luxury......we cannot subsidize the course the way the govt and govt aided institutes do......all this negativity is just born out of the recessionary mindset and nothing else.......i have given a detailed reply to this same query......check this out.....

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-an...009-a-155.html (Great Lakes Admissions 2009)

I know quite a few private institutes that have raised their fees this time without offering an explanation.....while we have always maintained that the fee rise is in tune with the increased expenses of the infrastructure....we see ourselves as a 1 year program offering world class education, the likes of which is hard to find in some of the preferred destinations abroad......i know first hand that in places like Singapore, Malaysia, people find it hard to get jobs even when the economy is doing well coz companies dont have the practice of visiting campuses the way it happens in india and yet it is a sought after destination for the quality of education (plus what i call the abroad factor..the oomph of the place + the rationale to not equate spending in a different currency with Rupees).....so my argument rests that amongst the 1 year programs well known in mba circles.....we are no where close to what they charge, currency arbitrage or otherwise)

The management takes a call on this....and we will see if anything can be worked out but i cannot guarantee anything as of now....

Yes, we may lose out on a few people who had anyway made up their minds to go elsewhere.....but i would call upon the others to ask yourself if you are thinking short term or long term......if you are thinking long term, you will recover your investment inspite of the economy a little later owing to the recession and i know that this is the case with other b schools too when you spend 2 years away from work and the lost opportunity to earn right away as compared to a year later.........what the recruiters think matters and they have been saying that quality here is improving all the time......so, i would request you guys to think for yourselves....consider your priorities, your reasons for an MBA and your opinion of the institute and not be influenced by either side of the argument.....

[sunandh]

Originally Posted by thrust

i wish you are cent percent right...however, i will not keep my hopes up for tomorrow looking at how the date for short-list got pushed on for almost a week... I desperately hope I don't get into the same old routine of refreshing the site every half an hour again! ...keeping fingers crossed...

Thanks.

For the past one week I have been calling them every day and each time they were telling the same thing Feb 28th. So I hope its true