I just wanted to put in a post to re-iterate what Anil said. I have been wanting to comment on the quality of posts on this thread for some time now but I haven't done so coz I am a newbie and haven't really contributed anything so I didnt think it would be right of me to judge. But now I really would like to put in a couple of comments.

I have been disappointed almost everytime I have opened this thread now. I am curious to see what life in premier Indian B-schools is like and always look forward to updates in the life@IIM's threads. So far, all I have been able to gather is - awe at actually having to study and attend classes on time, happiness coz there are parties, girls are good/bad, silly class participation and nicknames and your timetable of L-square parties and quizzes. Frankly, I am unimpressed with life@IIMB. Highly unimpressed. There is not one contribution that distinguishes IIMB from any other B-school.

I know there must be much much more to this life coz this is one of the top three schools in the country and it MUST have a lot more to offer. I can understand that have only been here for a couple of months but guys, do remember that an outsider IS going to judge the B-chool based on the calibre of its students. When I read juvenile posts and magnified 'IIMB ROCKS' posts - I am NOT convinced that IIMB rocks.

Talk about your profs, your clubs, your peer interaction, your courses, your guest lectures and everything else also along with details of your parties. Dont get me wrong - its just that I dont want to know ONLY about your parties and the fact that omigosh! you have quizzes and have to study 100's of pages. That may be new to you but its the norm in any decent B-school.

You guys are intelligent. Now just show professionalism. Show quality. Show character. Prove that IIMB rocks.

Oh yes cooldexter - this 'freezing employment' is another big problem in many cos-specially the bigger ones. They do take students for internship but dont hire them later coz they are not increasing their head count. These students get left in the large. This problem affects the Americans as well though.

Another factor that just occured to me was communication/networking skills of Indians. Its not as big a factor as others and u can choose to ignore what I've written next but it does play a small part nonetheless. MBA's that are hired typically have to talk to a whole lot of pple(most of whom are Americans) esp if they are in the core marketing kind of jobs. Building relationships with clients, peers, is very important in such jobs. Now Indians can talk a lot (and talk very well) about their work, but when it comes to 'small talk' with AMericans - they freeze. And this 'small talk' is VERY important to make connections in the US - believe me Americans love to blah - ALL of them - whether they are the VP, CEO whatever - most Americans have no airs and can talk for hours on an end to a person they've just met. And we Indians almost always fall behind - one coz we are not used to talking to strangers like that in our culture and secondly, the subjects we talk about are different - we start off with personal stuff(where are U from, what are U doing, and the like) - they start off with weather, football, NBA, food and go on n on.
Companies recruiting are not blind to this. They want pple who can make and keep contacts...It doesnt matter in technical(MS-type of jobs) jobs but MBA jobs - yes.

So one thing I'd advise any desi who is doing his MBA is - in the course of 2 years, learn to talk like these Americans. Be with them (I'm saying this coz desis tend to form desi gangs in colleges) learn what they say - how they react to different situations - these characteristics will also certainly help U in some level.

I hope I havent digressed too much.

At this point, the economy as such is down in the US. Though things are picking up now, Americans(even ones from HBS) are still finding it **not so easy** to find jobs. But yes, it definitely is tougher for Asians.
For one, there is this whole outsourcing lash. Americans figure that with all their jobs going to India, let the jobs that remain in America go to Americans. This is a BIG phenomenon affecting all universities and MBA/MS students.
Secondly, there is the H1 cap in place again. The H1 quota got over by Feb/March this year. Though students typically get work permit for a year, the companies just dont wanna get into the H1 game. They prefer Americans/green card holders so that they dont have to go in for the F1-H1 conversion. This also reduces the choice of companies the Asian students can apply for.
Another thing thats happening is that many companies come, and recruit Indians for 'plum' positions in their centres in India. The salaries are very good but then most students take a $100000 loan and prefer to get jobs in US so as to be able to repay the loan faster.
And of course it also depends on the capability of a person. Most companies have a rigorous selection process with anywhere b/w 5-15 individuals from the co take separate exhaustive interviews. If the company is a small one, even the CEO might interview you. There is no automatic selection just coz U are an HBS student.

With all these factors put into place, yes, getting a job is becoming increasingly difficult for Indian students. But all said, don't let this deter you. if U are a deserving student, chances are very high that you will land up with a job. I have Indian friends who have landed up with very challenging jobs this year and they were from schools ranking 10-20, not HBS. With HBS, deserving students will almost certainly get jobs.

Hope I've made sense.

In a distance learning course, you'll get study material by post and will be rquired to go someplace to give exams once a semester. As far as I know, you wont have to attend any classes. So interaction with other students is at a minimum.
In a part time MBA, you'll be required to attend evening classes. In Delhi, I know MDI has a part time program. Classes are held for 3 hours a day everyday and its a 3 year program.
Part time MBA is better coz a lot of MBA learning come through interaction with the class/profs. Hope this helps.
I replied in this thread of urs coz the new one was a duplicate and will most likely be locked.

Phoebe's sisters name - Ursula

Rachel worked in - Blooming Dales

From google.

Nowadays, almost any google query regarding CAT or any other MBA related exam shows up a pg.com thread! Good Work!

While we are at it - ne idea how ICFAI Gurgaon is? One of my friends has got waitlisted for Gurgaon - any inputs would be highly appreciated.