Posted by - koushik - on 25 August 2013 - 10:47am

• Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 12 December 2013 - 12:38pm

  Hi there,

  you decision to do an MBA makes sense for me. When you start your MBA, you will have around 3 years of work experience and that's a great start into the program.

  As for the countries, this question is too general in my opinion. You should either clarify how the school and program should look like - e.g, what benefits it should provide you with and what requirements it has - and then search for schools/programs that come close to your ideal MBA. The country can be used to distinguish between programs, of course, but rather according to the logic: Where do you want to work after the MBA and where do you want to live for one or two years?

  Your sentence "As in India, reputed universities provide On-campus placement to students, but in the other countries not even a single university guarantees job after MBA" confuses me. First, on-campus career services if offered by nearly every good school in the world. Second, campus career services are no guarantee that you find a job. They just increase the likelihood and support you in finding a job. In fact, there is never a 100% guarantee - even though it is difficult to expect that a Harvard graduate would not find a job (the question then rather is: what kind of job). Finally, I want to share with you my very personal opinion. In my opinion, it is NOT the school's responsibility that you find a job; instead, it always your own responsibility. The school should help and support you - but at the end of the day, you need to be sufficiently self-engaged to get a job, whether via the school's services or outside the school; whether in the country where the school is located or abroad.

  Having said that, I recommend you to FIRST reflect a bit more on your personal goals. An MBA is not about getting a job or not getting a job. An MBA is about how you can learn something and build up competence, about enriching your CV with a renowned degree from a maybe renowned school, and about building networks.

  So, what do you want to learn in an MBA, where do you want to become better? You said "marketing", that's great. Hence, you can either search for Masters in Marketing (they are cheaper than most MBAs by the way) or you can search for MBA programs with a concentration in marketing.

  As a next step, you compare these programs content-wise and structure-wise. Where are the differences in the curricula and program structure and which programs do you prefer?

  Then you reflect on your personal career goals and where you want to work later on? Which industry, country or region, job type, and employer. For example, if you want to work for silicon valley companies and none of them recruits at your school then this may be a signal that the company does not know or appreciate that school. If you want to work in India after the MBA and your favorite employer here has never heard of your school... maybe not the best choice.

  So, you need to match your employer goals with the school's reputation. For this, you can (1) learn about employers recruiting at a school via the schools' websites (any good school should have it there), (2) by contacting the school's admissions office, (3) by talking to alumni of the school, and (4) by asking your favorite employers directly.

  When you have a final list of MBA programs that meet your expectations with respect to content and reputation, you can further sort some programs out if they are too expensive for you or if they don't offer many scholarships etc. As for the Financial Aid, check the Financial Aid websites of the schools: How many scholarships do they offer? Merit-based or need-based? What are the requirements? etc.

  So far for the moment. I think you have some new ideas now to move on and do some research in the field.

  Best wishes
  Thomas

  by Thomas Graf

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  • Posted by - satsharma - on 12 December 2013 - 3:34pm

    hi,
    thanks for the valuable advice. your each and every statement is 100% genuine and mind changing. I hope that I will find a good B-school. Now I have to tailor my list accordingly. The key factors that I have to keep in mind are:
    REPUTATION
    DURATION OF THE PROGRAM
    LOCATION OF THE PROGRAM
    FEES
    FINANCIAL AID
    EMPLOYEE REPUTATION

    I guess now I can shortlist the schools. but still whenever i'l need you, I will definitely contact you
    I request you to kindly extend your mail-id so that I can have good advice's and suggestions from you.

    Thanks in advance.

    Sat prakash sharma
    (satprakashsharma@gmail.com)

    Reply

• Posted by - satsharma - on 10 December 2013 - 9:56am

  hello,
  I have 2 years of experience in automobile industry(designing, cost management and global supply management), I aspire to pursue MBA(Marketing) from a reputed business school. I am really confused about deciding a country for my MBA program, kindly guide me about the reputed schools for the same. As in India, reputed universities provide On-campus placement to students, but in the other countries not even a single university guaruntees job after MBA. If someone is investing so much for this program at least their should be a job guarantee by the university. This is the reason I am so much confused for pursuing higher studies. kindly guide me. kindly guide me about low fees universities having good reputation providing placements and financial aid. their is a great confusion for MBA in USA, Europe or Australia.
  kindly guide me.

  Reply

• Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 25 August 2013 - 2:31pm

  Hi there,

  thank you for your question. There are several steps I want to recommend you to get good answer.

  A good starting point to identify schools with "general" quality indicators is: (1) Watch out for schools with an internationally recognized accreditation. (2) Do some investigation in where a school is ranked in several distinct rankings on management education.

  Then you need to define or clarify what a "good" school means for YOU. For example, do you want to work for McKinsey or JP Morgan or in the consulting or investment banking industry? Then you should - as a first step - research schools where these employers recruit from. Do you have a general interest in the IT industry in the UK? Then you should try to find out which program has the best connections to this industry.

  You can find the tuition fees and financial aid options on the schools' websites. As a rule, the higher the general reputation a school has the higher its tuition fees. In other words, you pay for the school's reputation that may spill-over to the school's graduates. If you blindly choose schools that are ranked in top positions you likely pay too much. Hence, the second step mentioned above (the personal analysis of your goals) is important. Maybe you don't need "top-schools" - maybe a lower ranked school is perfect for you as long as it has the necessary contacts to your target industry. Another strategy - somewhat more unspecific - is that you build a bucket of schools with high reputation and then choose the program with the lowest tuition fees.

  Good schools also have financial aid because they know that some of their target groups cannot afford he studies. They offer need-based and merit-based scholarships, for example, either by themselves or by affiliated companies. Often times you can apply for more than one scholarship and also get more than one. As for the merit-based scholarships, make sure that you achieve a high GMAT score (minimum 650) and write good essays. Schools also offer special loan options with low interest rates, in cooperation with regional banks.

  Summary: Start broad and then narrow down your selection. Start with general quality criteria and then narrow the school selection down according to YOUR quality criteria. Then investigate the tuition fees and financial aid options and re-rank the schools.

  Best wishes
  Thomas

  By Thomas Graf

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  • Posted by - koushik - on 25 August 2013 - 2:48pm

    hello Thomas,

    Thanks a lot, i got some tons of questions to ask. i just wana make career in companies like Google, Facebook et. And more over my budget is $ 12627 which is eight lakh rupees in the Indian currency. i some how discovered that European countries provide good quality of management programs with low cost is that true ? i express my deepest gratitude for helping me out.

    Thanks in advance,

    we shall continue the discussion sir,

    koushik,

    Reply

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 25 August 2013 - 3:31pm

      Hi Koushik,

      thank you for your question. I recommend you to refine your perspective on Masters in Management somewhat. European countries have all sorts of programs, ranging from better quality to less quality or from more expensive to less expensive programs. It would be an inaccurate simplification saying "European countries provide good quality of management programs with low cost".

      If I see it correctly, you seem to be on a very early level without knowing too much on management education so far. This is very normal and a good starting point. Now you need to refine your assumptions (allow yourself to perceive an educational landscape as being more complex), and start to research programs and schools. By doing this you will automatically gain knowledge and a sense of how different programs are and which ones meet your exectations.

      In order to save time and to have a point to begin with, I recommend you a structured approach of investigating in (1) quality, (2) tuition fees, and (3) financial aid by following the road-map that I outlined above.

      Best wishes
      Thomas

      By Thomas Graf

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      • Posted by - koushik - on 10 October 2013 - 9:49pm

        i decided to go for UK for my masters in 2014. Could you please tell me are there any business schools without GMAT.so that i can filter accordingly.

        thanks,
        S.Koushik

        Reply

        • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 11 October 2013 - 7:46pm

          Hi there,

          thank you for your question. Worldwide, about half of the MIM programs do not require the GMAT. They may not require any analytic test; or they may require the GMAT BUT also allow for alternative tests (GRE or on-campus test). We don't have a database on this. however - so you will need to check this one by one - or simply do the GMAT, just to be save.

          best wishes
          Thomas

          by Thomas Graf

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          • Posted by - koushik - on 12 October 2013 - 3:37pm

            hi Thomas,

            thanks for your answer that's so fruitful.could you list colleges in uk which have good reputation.. i found a list in the times ranking .. and no where else...

            thanks in advance..

            Reply

            • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 14 October 2013 - 12:22pm

              Hi there,

              thank you for your question. Please have a look at my first comment (the first one, above) again. I have dedicated some time to write it and I want to make sure that you read it carefully. There you find a clear roadmap how you can identify schools with a "good reputation".

              (1) Check the accreditations. If a school has such an accrediation, you know that it has quality.
              (2) Check rankings BEYOND the FT MIM Ranking. If the school is ranked in international MBA rankings you know that it has reputation (that likely spills over to the MIM as well).
              (3) Clarify your goals - e.g. your target industry or employer - and screen he schools websites' to see if companies from that industry or even your target employers recruit on the respective campus. If they do, you know that the school has a "good" reputation.

              Best wishes
              Thomas

              By Thomas Graf

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