Hi all,
I always knew that pagalguy was one of the best forums for aspirants of MBA schools in India; however, I wasn't aware, until yesterday, of its utility for international B-schools as well. Anyhow, my bad, never got down to checking the website before submitting any of my apps or preparing for any of my interviews - it would have surely been useful. Now that I'm done with the apps and have got a few admits, I just wanted some advice from the junta:
Since this year was my 'Target Asia-Pac Year', I applied to a few Asian B-schools: got dinged from ISB and NTU after an interview (was unwell and could hardly speak :P) but managed to get through CEIBS, CUHK, HULT, and NUS.
I have four years experience in the market/business research & analytics industry and plan to specialise in strategy for a consult-based job. Although my CFA can make life a wee bit easy if I decide to specialise in Fin, but somehow down the line, I've realised mainstream/core Fin. is not me - although, I'll be more than happy with bits and pieces of Corp. Fin. and M&A; Advisory. Not keen on working outside India in the long-term, i.e., more than five years.
Therefore, with some preliminary due diligence, I've boiled down to the following conclusion and would highly appreciated if yu puys could let me know your thoughts on this.
CEIBS: A highly ranked school (across all B-school rankings) with good post-MBA salary figures, good for consulting too; however, I have this feeling that the figures are a bit skewed and applicable moreso in the case of Chinese students. Mandarin remains a perennial concern and a lot of people have told me acquiring business proficiency in Mandarin takes years, forget reading and/or writing. The very pleasant people on my interview panel scared me further by stressing 'a lot' on the importance on knowing Mandarin before even dreaming of getting a job after the MBA program!! The cost of living is a bit lower than in both Singapore and Hong Kong; but, of the three locations, may not be the best for a desi.
CUHK: A very good school with a wide CUMBA alumini network in Mainland and around; its location in HK makes it particularly interesting for the people interested in Fin - but, as I mentioned earlier, I'm not bullish on Fin. Cost of living is higher than in both Shanghai and Singapore. However, a scholarship worth HKD 100,000 makes it even more difficult to turn down!!
HULT: Not considering, to say the least
NUS: I guess the best (of the choices that I have) in terms of brand value, alumini network in Asia (recruiters in India know about NUS), decent multicultural place to live in with India-friendly work/visa/immigration rules, and Singapore, being the Asia-Pac headquarters for most major consulting firms, is a good hunting ground for a consulting role. I'm almost certain that I'll go with NUS but just wanted to confirm, and confirm soon!!
Any thoughts will be highly appreciated.
Also, please note, everything in this post are just my thoughts and are in no way intended to offend anyone or any school.