To most of you, I am very much like one among you. Bitten by the education and MBA bug and embarked upon the path to do my masters in business about 5 years ago. Succeeded in getting into a top 30 US school in 2008-09 only to realize that I cannot…
To most of you, I am very much like one among you. Bitten by the education and MBA bug and embarked upon the path to do my masters in business about 5 years ago. Succeeded in getting into a top 30 US school in 2008-09 only to realize that I cannot afford the expenses to study abroad.
Re-thought the entire life plan, re-applied with different strategy in 2010-11 to a selected assortment of schools. There were many many rejects, many heartbreaks, but as it so happens always in life, you just need one thing right to counter the millions of wrongs. I am currently doing my full-time MBA in a school I picked as one of my top choice for a variety of reasons, and I am so glad that I have had enough strength to see through what I had started a few years ago.
I was an active participant last year, especially in a specific B'school's thread, and I found the entire experience of being with the applicants, sharing their stories, making friends and learning throughout the process to be exhilarating.
I am creating this thread, to not give advice, or be a consultant, or offer essay editing service, or promote anything. If there is someone out there who is hesitant about MBA in US, about job market, about economy, or just about taking a leap of faith, I promise we can discuss about that to death here, offer mutual insights and be helpful to each other and let everyone see through their endeavors.
So let me start with my background. I did my schooling and undergrad in India, and after working for 5 years, I am doing my full-time MBA from a US school. So if you got anything to say...bring it on!!!
And btw,all the best in your application process.
very much conventional question....total investment involved in mba outside....???
loans offered...?? wat percentage...???
most importantly...average placements in INR...job locations n other oppurtunites...???
at last MBA in india OR outside...??? ur insights welcomed
Hi techcrazy00,
Since you are the first person to reply to this thread, that too soo quickly, I am going to be extra nice to you. Btw, should have put a disclaimer, I am not a consultant, just a student. I know about only one school, and I believe everyone knows about only one school unless they are crazy and do MBA from many schools, or just was a staff over there at so many schools!!
So let me go question by question.
"total investment involved in mba outside....???"
For me, very little, as I have a tuition waiver plus a graduate assistantship. If I am sensible enough about my expenses, I might even save some $$$. But hey, am I ever!!! I might reveal more, but as I promised I wont promote anything, I wont say anything about my program, but if you are curious, you know the ways to find out where I am from. (Hint: Just search for my posts)
When people talk about investment, they just mention $$, well they should, as it is a big factor. But you should also consider the time you would be putting in that program, the time you'll be away from your dear family and friends (as I am), your significant other(s), job etc. Money can be earned anytime and in anyway you want. But you never get back your time. So I would say keep that in mind before you jump into the MBA bandwagon.
"average placements in INR...job locations n other oppurtunites...???"
Long story short, placements suck. It is the truth. It is the relative truth. Placements suck everywhere, the % are just gold-coated, and you would be surprised how even the top schools do that. I am from a top 50 school btw (as per forbes and businessweek), so it would come into 2nd-ish tier school. BUT, a big BUT (no pun intended), you CAN get an internship or a job in my opinion, and only God knows how hard it is going to be as even I am starting the process of getting an internship. (So more gyan to come!!). For me, it is scary, as I never had to "hunt" for a job when I wanted one in India. But you got to understand that you are now at the middle or top of the pyramid, so it is going to be that difficult to not slip down and to climb forward. So far, what I have got is that the best ways to land something is through fairs, competitions and networking (I'm sure you know that already). Now the way you get it, that entirely depends on you.
But avg MBA salaries would be 110,000+ for top, 90,000-95,000+ for the remaining tier 1, and anywhere between 70-90k for the rest. One thing, the location and function of a job matters. People look at NYU for example and go, "oooh, so much starting salary...drool drool..." A friend of mine who is in NY tells me that you got to earn more than that to live with dignity in NY :-). And as always finance and consulting pays extra $$$, mostly in form of bonus, so performance linked.
"at last MBA in india OR outside...??? ur insights welcomed". I'll be honest. Only god knows how many times I have tried to get into IIMs. The closest I came was getting a call once to IIMK. And if you did search me on PG, you would have known that I was very much involved with a specific Indian B-school last year. I didn't make it thru. I didn't make it to many colleges to which I applied to. But I did get into a couple, and chose one. It is weird, I was talking to my classmate today, as to how different the entire experience is from India. You have got to see it, live it to believe it. I am pretty sure, heck, I'll even bet my life on it, that the way of living -- not just education -- is so entirely different, and if you haven't stepped out of India as I had before, you should try it. I was saying to my classmate that I thank god everytime I didn't get to make it to anything out there. Else I would have missed everything here. May be its the place (#1 party town in US :wink :wink). I am not saying the grass in greener, I am saying, it is not grass, just something else. Buttttttttttttt, it all boils down to you, what do YOU want from MBA. Career growth?, ridiculous $$$?, or the experience. I wanted the experience more than the others and I hope my answer made sense to you now.
Oh I missed one. My bad.
"loans offered...?? wat percentage...???" You know a school is a good..no no..great school if they offer "no-cosigner loan." Period. Everything else is not AS GOOD AS these schools. If you go by rankings...probably I would say,, till UTA-Austin you will find no-cosigner loans?
So if you are taking loans via school, everyone who applies gets it so there is no concept of percentage, don't worry. However, you would be surprised as to how much scholarships do the top schools offer to offset their ridiculously expensive tuition and living expenses.
Now getting a loan in India, if you an Indian that is. You need some sort of guarantee or collateral if you taking a loan to study abroad. Banks advertise all they want, but basically they don't believe any person going abroad. Can't blame them. Your dad or mom should be earning 20k+ together to be even considered by some banks. I didn't take a student loan, I hope I don't have to, and I can't explain how liberating it feels to be not financially obligated to anyone or anything while studying.
Oh I missed one. My bad.
"loans offered...?? wat percentage...???" You know a school is a good..no no..great school if they offer "no-cosigner loan." Period. Everything else is not AS GOOD AS these schools. If you go by rankings...probably I would say,, till UTA-Austin you will find no-cosigner loans?
So if you are taking loans via school, everyone who applies gets it so there is no concept of percentage, don't worry. However, you would be surprised as to how much scholarships do the top schools offer to offset their ridiculously expensive tuition and living expenses.
Now getting a loan in India, if you an Indian that is. You need some sort of guarantee or collateral if you taking a loan to study abroad. Banks advertise all they want, but basically they don't believe any person going abroad. Can't blame them. Your dad or mom should be earning 20k+ together to be even considered by some banks. I didn't take a student loan, I hope I don't have to, and I can't explain how liberating it feels to be not financially obligated to anyone or anything while studying.
Hey thedarkland,
Your initiative needs to be applauded here .. So, here I go clap :D
Man, trust me you have come as a savior for aspirants like me who are so not sure of the market in US and are equally worried about the ways to finance the program. Hell, more, they have tried 3-4 times to get into an IIM (or ny insti, dat wud do justice their profile) - at least, I have - and are now taking the final plunge to the land of (not so many now) opportunities. (US of AA+) :P
I will try to dig your posts to know more about u
this weekend. However, all I can say is that I also want to go to US for the experience and learn whatever I can. I believe all that is directly proportional to the amount of financial obligation I ll hv .. Your thoughts on this ?Furthermore, wats ur take on top schools ? Is it wise to study on a $100k loan, I agree even though dre is no cosigner required , still a loan is a loan ..
Cheers man!! Thanks for the thread ..
See it basically boils down to what you want. For some, they just want to have the brand on their resume, they dun care what it takes or what it costs, they just want it. It is a prestige issue, may be in-laws expect,may be arch enemy has one, may be bro has one, or a friend. Second, there are those who are clear about their goals, and know where the have to be to get what they want. Clearly you cant sit for Texas pacific group at Duke...its possible only at Harvard. Then are are those who may not even heard abt the school until a few years ago, but that suddenly became the ultimate goal in life, and if they dun get it..they think all life is gonna waste. Now you tell in what category you'll fall. But having said that, a brand is a brand. If you have Harvard in your resume, it means SOMETHING. It will mean something. Others lower...mehh. So it basically boils downs to how much u can get out from the program. Ppl call this "fit" for the program. You could be in KFC, but if you want Veg patty, then there is no use right. To answer to the 2nd part, many institutions offer a very generous $$. Top schools dun advertise much abt it, coz well, they dun have to. As I mentioned earlier, u also get no-cosigner loans. Havent heard anyone who wasnt able to attend harvard/stanford coz he/she cant afford one. Below is a a list of some schools who offer very transparent funding opportunities.
1. Duke - Tuition repayment if you work in non-prfit for 2 years or so. If you get a state sponsored job then its even great as you dun have to get into H1B lottery
2. Darden/Kellogg - Offer a lotta funding for deserved candidates.
3. UMD Smith/Penn state/Ohio state - GA = Instate tuition+stipend which drastically reduces expenses. (Only for 1st year, but can be extended to 2nd year)
4. georgetown mcdonough - generous scholarships which will reduce 70-80 of total expenses. But still that 30% gonna be expensive coz well, you are going to be living in georgetown.
5. UTA/Emory/UNC - Very expensive, put possibility of a full waiver for deserving candidates.
6. Wisconsin - Full tuition waiver + stipend. Can be extended for 2nd year
7. GTech - full waiver + stipend. Very hard to get, especially for intl students.
8. Georgia Terry - Full tuition waiver + stipend. Generously given to almost all intl students.
9. Indiana Kelley - a few students get up to 60k for 2 years easily. For kelly, thats an excellent deal.
10. Boston univ - almost all who apply for dual MS-MBA program get 90% of their expenses taken care. Plus since u r doing MS too, I think you can extend OPT to 29 months.
11.Notre dame Mendoza - Actually u dun even have to get some $$$ here. The part time jobs at univ pays you so much that you can live aaramse. But you do get funding if you apply early.
12. MSU Broad. Full waiver +stipend. Very well known for SCM and logistics. One of the best actually.
... and many many more.
So now you dun tell me that you dun like even one from this list. Basically almost all public schools offer generously, save a few like Ross, Hass etc. All of the schools are really great...once you get in, dun fret too much abtb what u haven't got, but try to make good use of what you have.
Always a pleasure to have mod's blessing!!
A very specific "gyan" which I wanted to share early so that this post is on the first page. Are you looking to apply for Fall 12 intake? Then my questions to you are,
1. Have you shortlisted your 3 recommenders?
2. Have you given them your entire biodata, say why you wanna do MBA and all?
3. Have you given them the profile of each of the schools you will be applying to?
4. Have you given them the format of the recommendations for each of the schools you'll be applying to?
5. Have you given them a list of general questions that almost every school asks?
6. Have you given them a sample letter of recommendation?
7. Have you always treated your recommenders with respect?
If answer to any of the question is "NO", think and correct as soon as possible. Especially those ISB people with R1 in Sep 15th, your recommenders should have at least got a 1st draft. Also for the other schools who have early bird applications such as Duke, Columbia, Kellogg all of which comes in October-ish. Make sure you give your recommenders enough time, coz mostly they wont have any. You obviosuly would have chosen a pretty senior guy in your office to give more weight to your app. But as it so often happens, he/she is busy. Plus you dun want them to put in any half baked recos. You wanna look good. You want them to make you look good. So give them their space and time.
Just for reference, I sent pts 1 to 6 in July, and I got the first set of recos from Oct 1st week onwards. If you have answered no to pt#7, go and redo point#1.
hey darklard its a nice initiative that u have taken to start this thread 
btw i often come across this term in various bschool threads applying to xyz school in r1 or r2 what does this actually mean...i hardly have any knowledge regarding mba in abroad ...:D..
Ah a fellow Chennaiite. Always a pleasure.
No da vinci code thing here; the R stands for Round. Since univs get a lotta application and they give profile based call, which means that they have to look into all the applications they have got and not just filter based on some predefined cut-off score based on academics or some entrance exam. They do get overwhelmed, and just to make sure they treat those who put in their applications early, schools give some deadlines. If you apply before this deadline, you will know your status by this date. The lesser the number, earlier is the deadline. R1>R2>R3...etc. Some people get waitlisted and they know realllly late but thats a different story.
R1 is usually oct-nov types
R2 is usually dec-Jan types
R3 is around March-ish.
...
If you are an intl student,especially an Indian, you got to get into R1 or R2. Not that you won't get into if you apply later, just that, its many times more difficult.
Hello Riaz,
I got a few specific queries:
1. Are the scholarships/merit aids function only of GMAT and academics?
1.a) For schools such as BU, Notre Dame (so essentially 25+ranked schools), I have seen candidates with 770 in GMAT and getting 100% tuition fee waiver. Though it might not be right to comment on how their profile was, how their essays were, however, a clear pattern that seems to emerge is direct proportionality b/w the merit aid and GMAT score. Your thoughts ?
1.b) For top 25 schools esp. those that provide co-signer, how difficult it is to get a merit aid? Would you agree that in case of top 25 the schol would be a function of not only GMAT but also of essays, resume, profile et al.
2. How is Maryland Smith esp. for Marketing Analytics/Consulting (not tech)?
Cheers!
Thanks for coming here :-)
1a. Not exactly,..but I have known instances where scholarship wasnt given to an admit just coz the GMAT wasnt on par. Any GMAT over 740 shud give you some good opportunities to get scholarship. Reason being that a guy/gal with high GMAT or academics will improve class average. Those averages come on website, those averages are discussed by prospective applicants, heck..those averages are even part of ranking mechanism. Beyond all the diversity crap...schools want to attract high scoring applicants, and the best way to attract is to give $$. I can tell u many instances of guys with 780 GMAT score without aid. Well...$hit happens.
b) Again...continuing to what I discussed on page 1, getting merit aid in pvt school is diff. It is easy in getting in public schools. Any many of the aids are to attract foreign students, as they really understand that people cannot a foreign MBA.
2.) I am not from Maryland..but I'll try to have a UMD MBA student answer to your question right here. Might take a day or two.
Hey there!
I am a first year MBA student of UMD and have just undergone my first week of orientation (not yet done with it). The UMD program is very comprehensive for any one looking to move into consulting background as they have a lot of strong contacts in that field. Having said that, I myself want to go into a career of marketing and had my first introduction to marketing courses Smith offers. I can tell you there is a lot of number of courses to choose from and that doesn't only mean you can take courses with your cohorts from full time program, in fact you can also take courses with part time exec MBA students which is a great opportunity to build a strong foundation for your networks. If you are looking for some specific courses for marketing or consulting, let me know so that I can get you some information. I am fairly new to the program but I can surely help you make an informed decision.
Best,
Shweta
Thanks for coming here :-)
2.) I am not from Maryland..but I'll try to have a UMD MBA student answer to your question right here. Might take a day or two.
Okay that was fast. Thanks a bunch! 😃
Hey there!
I am a first year MBA student of UMD and have just undergone my first week of orientation (not yet done with it). The UMD program is very comprehensive for any one looking to move into consulting background as they have a lot of strong contacts in that field. Having said that, I myself want to go into a career of marketing and had my first introduction to marketing courses Smith offers. I can tell you there is a lot of number of courses to choose from and that doesn't only mean you can take courses with your cohorts from full time program, in fact you can also take courses with part time exec MBA students which is a great opportunity to build a strong foundation for your networks. If you are looking for some specific courses for marketing or consulting, let me know so that I can get you some information. I am fairly new to the program but I can surely help you make an informed decision.
Best,
Shweta
hey Shweta
I am plaaning to apply to a bunch of Schools for Fall'12.I am also planning to apply to Smith.My work background is in Quality and Business Analysis (IT-4years at matriculation). I am looking to work in IT consulting post my MBA.Can you please throw some light on the consulting opportunities at Smith.Also apart from IT consulting i am also open to mgmnt consulting options.Any clue as to how would the profile differ in both these areas i.e. Mgmnt Consulting & IT consulting?
Rahul, Shweta is a "guest" here, and I am not even sure she checks PG these days. I would suggest you to send her a pvt msg on pagalguy just to nudge her. I'll leave this is for a day or two to see if she replies.
Thanks for understanding Riaz. Yeah I am really not often to PG these days as I am trying to catch up on things out here and may be then I will be comfortable paying a visit on your thread surely . It will be my pleasure :)
About the questions which Rahul asked. Hey Rahul, I got to know that many seniors have moved into both IT and marketing consulting successfully but if you are from an IT background - it will be easier for you to venture in that field. Having said that you can always opt for some other field as well but again depends on how much time and effort you are willing to put into that.Both the areas would fetch you jobs in case you have some kind of experience. Hope this helps !
If any questions jus leave a message with the darklad and I will try answering to the best of my knowledge.
Take care
Shweta
To add on to what Shweta has said, a LOT of consulting companies recruit from UMD Smith...true, and you will find that many will fall under government consulting. Some times...these ppl dun recruit "foreign" ppl for those jobs strictly because the projects are for US government. Do proper research on those aspects especially when you are heading to schools in and around DC such as UMD and Georgetown.
There are many instances where you are completely shot down irrespective of who the client is, just coz you dun have a green card. Accenture anyone?
To add on to what Shweta has said, a LOT of consulting companies recruit from UMD Smith...true, and you will find that many will fall under government consulting. Some times...these ppl dun recruit "foreign" ppl for those jobs strictly because the projects are for US government. Do proper research on those aspects especially when you are heading to schools in and around DC such as UMD and Georgetown.
There are many instances where you are completely shot down irrespective of who the client is, just coz you dun have a green card. Accenture anyone?
Hey,
I agree with you on the govt. jobs particularly in case of UMD smith. But, is this true for Georgetown as well ?
Thanks!