NRI Admission to IIM

[EmByeaa]

Originally Posted by rpradeephere

Congrats! Great news.

What kind of work did you do in the US at California? What was your job profile like?

A normal hardware engineer!

[indiapore]

Originally Posted by rascal84

i just have few doubts though- is there a refund policy ?

IIMs to refund fees if admissions cancelled- Education-Services-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

[aryanmba]

Originally Posted by EmByeaa

Hi all - just to rest some nerves, I applied only to IIMB. So technically I should not affect others' chances
On the other hand, though I have sent in the draft, I am not decided on whether I will be attending B.
It will be great if some of you guys can share your perspective/suggestions on my quandry-

1) Is IIM better than top US Bschools in terms of prospects?
I know it depends on a plethora of variables, especially boils down to 'where' I want to be.
Lets just say that I am equally open to continue in the states or pack my bags to India. In terms of ROI, you can repay the loan ~3 yrs out of an ivy league.

2) What can IIM actually do to your career?
Well, I am not talking about the few outliers who make ~$400K straight out of IIM. Where do average people land up? I am frankly concerned about making ~12L p.a after two years when my current pay is way ahead (even after taking the geographic variation into consideration)

Ultimately, I want to transition from tech to mgmt oriented roles (strat) and I am looking for a MBA to open those doors for me. So the question comes to - Which MBA will make more sense at this point in my career! I really wish I knew the answer to this. But the good thing is - I still have ~2 months to decide

Cheers and ATB for all those waiting on your decisions.

If you have plans to be in US, even for few years, then you should do MBA from US. I am working in HR and I can tell you that people in US hardly care for any MBA outside US/Europe.

Also, if you plan to apply for Green Card then MBA from US will help you get EB2 category. However, with IIMs there is lot of confusion as degree is PGP. You won't believe that CA of India is equivalent to Bachelor in Commerce in US(as per US agencies).

However, if you plan to be in India then why to spend money after US MBA, do it from IIM or any other top 10 MBA insti.

Hope this helps !

[blackstubble]

Hi Puys
Im new to PG and hunting for more such Overseas applicants as myself. I got mixed and confusing replies from IIM L regarding the status of my application. The admission Incharge, Prof Saji Nair, when contacted, said applicants will be shortlisted for INTERVIEWS based on their SOP's, Recommendation Letters and GMAT score. I also have a call from IIM K and the interview is scheduled to be held on 21st April. I was under the impression that Lucknow hasnt yet decided on the shortlist. But when I contacted them again today, they said results will be out along with the CAT takers.. without any interviews!!!
Now this has put me in a fix!!

Any of you overseas applicants who happen to know more than me.. pleasse shed light on the subject. Were interviews held and some poor souls were not notified of their rejection (like me)? Or they are not conducting interviews at all ? (Like Bangalore)??

[indiapore]

Originally Posted by blackstubble

Hi Puys
Im new to PG and hunting for more such Overseas applicants as myself. I got mixed and confusing replies from IIM L regarding the status of my application. The admission Incharge, Prof Saji Nair, when contacted, said applicants will be shortlisted for INTERVIEWS based on their SOP's, Recommendation Letters and GMAT score. I also have a call from IIM K and the interview is scheduled to be held on 21st April. I was under the impression that Lucknow hasnt yet decided on the shortlist. But when I contacted them again today, they said results will be out along with the CAT takers.. without any interviews!!!
Now this has put me in a fix!!

Any of you overseas applicants who happen to know more than me.. pleasse shed light on the subject. Were interviews held and some poor souls were not notified of their rejection (like me)? Or they are not conducting interviews at all ? (Like Bangalore)??

I can confirm that there were no interviews and the procedure is similar to IIMB

[rpradeephere]

@eeyemba:

Views are strictly mine. Biased and whatever. Since no one replied to this, i thought of chipping in from whatever research I had done.

1) Is IIM better than top US Bschools in terms of prospects?

We need to look at this from a different point of view. If you can get an admit from the top 7 (HSW, Chichago GSB, MIT, Kellogg, Columbia) I would say its much better to do from there, mainly from the experience point of view. Whether you will get a better job is a difft issue (it depends on your relative standing in class in terms of profile). But it will open more doors in terms of intl network, alumni being in senior position etc.

From 8 to 15 rank: Tough to say. One needs to take a call. Very very subjective. Though I would still say do an US MBA mainly for the experience and not in terms of prospects. Prospects are again relative. If you have a wonderful profile and can get a I Bank/Mgmt consulting shortlist (which is very competitive in B Schools ranked 8 to 15) do from US. Else, chances of getting a shortlist in IIM ABC may be higher.

From 15+ rank: IIM ABC would be better in terms of chances. i.e. If you have a very good profile, getting into I Bank/Mgmt consulting from IIM ABC would be easier than from those instis.

But remember one important thing. From IIMs most students join an I Bank or a Mgmt consulting firm as an analyst and after 2 years become an associate. But if you get a job in an I Bank or Mgmt consulting firm from US B school you will join as an associate. Only if you have relevant work ex would you get to join from ABC as an associate whereas in US, relevant work ex is not necessary. And you don't have relevant work ex.

2) What can IIM actually do to your career?

IIM ABC: If you want to work in India, its very good to do from these since they are wonderful brand names in India and will open doors. Basically, whatever door a HSW will open in US, similar doors will open if you are from ABC in India.

If you want to work in US, ABC gives an opportunity to get a front end job there which is otherwise not possible from India. But thats it. It may still take sometime for ABC junta to establish themselves there and the brand becoming well known. If you want to make a shift away from the typical firms from wall street which recruit at IIMs, it may be difficult to land a shortlist in US since the brand name is yet to become famous.

In ABC, if your profile is good, you can make a 20 LPA+ to as high as 30-35 LPA (including bonus) in Indian I Banks. I am not considering the outlier 50 LPA+ jobs which 1-2 get in PE firms.

If you end up in tier-1 consulting, its 18 LPA-20 LPA.

General mgmt firms, tier-2 banks, non i banking banks, tier-2 mgmt consulting etc from the industry pay less. 10-16 LPA with 10-14 LPA being the norm.

I have written above mainly from career perspective. Since that was your question. Learning environment in top 15 US B schools would definitely be better than from IIM ABC due to the fact that most students would have work ex and discussions in class will be better and more insightful. ABC is also slowly shifting towards people with more work ex. A few years back, 60% of a class were freshers. These days its dropped to 30%. A 3 year work ex is not a substantial work ex. Its somewhere inbetween. So you will fit at both places.

[EmByeaa]

Pradeep, I must say that your reply was by far the most lucid and helpful response I have got!
I agree with each of your opinions as it was the same idea I derived by talking with a handful of IIM/M7 alma matter.
The tough fix is - I made it to the interview of ALL those M7 schools (but for H and chicago - didnt apply) but couldnt convert any and waitlisted at one. So I am contemplating whether to continue working for a year and re-apply.
Again IIM is a bird in hand. There is no guarantee that I will crack into any of the M7 next year - especially with the much increased applicant pool .. thanks to the looming recession!
Am I prepared to take that risk - dont have the answer yet, but feel that things cannot go awfully wrong with IIM-B either!
Once again, thanks a lot for your very informative post!!

Cheers

[rpradeephere]

Originally Posted by EmByeaa

The tough fix is - I made it to the interview of ALL those M7 schools (but for H and chicago - didnt apply) but couldnt convert any and waitlisted at one.
Cheers

Thanks for your comment.

Did you mean the above quoted?

You got interview calls from

1. Wharton
2. Kellogg
3. Stanford
4. MIT Sloan
5. Columbia

Is it so? !!!!

Did you get interview calls from all these in the same year?

Basically your profile this year has given you an interview call from Wharton and Stanford !!!??

Your reply to my question on work ex profile seemed like "I am plain jane hardware engineer"

What is so different in your profile that you got 5 interview calls?

My advice:

It does not take much brains to figure out that you screwed up your interviews. My feeling is re-apply next year to M7 including H and Chicago (provided you want to study there). Don't join IIMB this year. Maybe apply to some schools in 8-12 too with a good mix. Work really hard on interviews and crack it.

The reason I am telling not to join IIMB is:

1. GMAT score is same next year too. Hence that is not an issue
2. SOP would be good once again.
3. Apply to IIMA and IIMC also next year to increase chances. Not sure whether you did this year.
4. I dont see any reason hence B should reject you next year.

If you deserve to get a interview admit from Stan, don't join IIMB this year.

One thing, If you join B, I feel you will be in the top 5-10 candidates who join B and hence you have a very good shot at a PE firm and get some kick .... pay package. (Unless you did some stuff for kids in mozambique and got the shortlists, which may not matter much to PE firms. Assuming something in your professional academic profile was excellent)

[PRGKT]

Originally Posted by EmByeaa

Pradeep, I must say that your reply was by far the most lucid and helpful response I have got!
I agree with each of your opinions as it was the same idea I derived by talking with a handful of IIM/M7 alma matter.
The tough fix is - I made it to the interview of ALL those M7 schools (but for H and chicago - didnt apply) but couldnt convert any and waitlisted at one. So I am contemplating whether to continue working for a year and re-apply.
Again IIM is a bird in hand. There is no guarantee that I will crack into any of the M7 next year - especially with the much increased applicant pool .. thanks to the looming recession!
Am I prepared to take that risk - dont have the answer yet, but feel that things cannot go awfully wrong with IIM-B either!
Once again, thanks a lot for your very informative post!!

Cheers

EmByeaa,
Things definitely can't go awfully wrong with IIMB, but if you can crack one of the M7 schools or LBS/INSEAD next year(or convert the WL this year) nothing like it. All the M7 schools have instant name recall in most parts of the world - India included.
With the recession - the applicant pool is likely to shrink. Common sense says that you stay in the industry during the good times and spend the recession period studying so that by the time you graduate, the market would have recovered.
But bschool applications sadly don't follow that pattern. In 2000, at the height of the tech boom, schools witnessed their highest volumes in years but by 2002, the market had crashed and the application volumes had come down.
The app volume recovered slowly through the years '04, '05, '06 and peaked in '07/'08.
The market is likely to come down in 08/09. So will the application volume.

The catch is - IIM ABC can guarantee you a job even in a bad market . Even H/S/W can't do that esp because you are an International. Even if you find a job, finding consult/IB might be a challenge more so because you are an International student who doesn't have consult/IB experience.
It is upto you to make the decision.

PS:If I were in your shoes, I would have taken IIMB.

[EmByeaa]

Umm I should say that you seem to know a lot about US Bschools
And Yes, got all those interview invites for this year.

I am not sure as to where I conked up. I did suspect my interviews after a few initial rejects but then got it out of the window after I got rave reviews from a professional mock interview session. Anyway, the interviews for these Bschools are very basic in nature. As long as you know your story / purpose and exhibit decent communication skills, you should walk through.
On analysis, I feel my 2.5 yr work ex fell on the shorter side at these schools. I'l never know until I get my feedback from W and C (btw the only schools which does provide FB)

On the other hand, it is NOT trivial to re-apply to these top notch schools for just the below reason -

The app season is ~6 months away. I dont see myself doing something extraordinary in the next few months to justify 'new-content' in my essays or add the 'wow' factor