MBA from US or NOT

Desi_Heart · Post by **Desi_Heart** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:18 am

Dear Folks,

I have been a consultant for all my career fo 11+ yrs. As we know, in consulting, as you grow in knowledge / experience, you become Architect / Team Lead / Senior Consultant. But, unlike a full-time job in a Company, you can not get into managerial career.

I am thinking of doing MBA (executive MBA) in US, ($$$$) before returning to India. Got admission in an Ivy League B-School. But the option of doing MBA in India, which costs less $$$ also, looks attractive. Can't decide.

Has anyone gone through this dilema. What are the pro/cons doing MBA here in US or doing it in India at ISB. Has anyone done MBA at ISB / or similar institutes in India?

Would appreciate your input.

Thanks

ahirman · Post by **ahirman** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:57 am

Congrats for making it to a Ivy league school:

Search the forum and you will find related thread. The topic was debated greatly sometimes back with good participation from members who were than participants in some of the famous ones including, if I remember correctly, USC and UCB.

In nutshell the general consensus was (for US based part time MBAs)
1. ROI becomes debatable if: (ROI was discussed in length in the thread)
a. If your company is not funding the major percentage or
b. You want to return to India in immediate future post MBA

2. Career wise
a. A lot depends on individual and how he can make use of his past experience and networking in the b-school. Overall its difficult to make a stream change to new areas like MC/Strategic planning /Sales etc unless you have some experience in the related fields or your current company is ready to give you a chance post MBA. No platform like a full time MBA to change careers.

3. require a lot of commitment in terms of time even though the courses are part time.

I know people who have moved to IIMA and ISB. General consensus:
1. IIMA - small batch size, highly competitve to get in. Avg age is higher than most of the similar courses in India and great acceptability in market.
2. ISB: Large batch size with good percentage of 2-5 years experience. relative easier to get in.

Personally if you want to be in India or Asia based markets look at Indian schools or Asian schools (1 year full time courses).

Minor observation:
I have not heard of a consultancy firm where managerial designations are not there. Most of the MC firms and Big 4 have them. They are even there in pure tech consulting firms.

layman · Post by **layman** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:07 am

In addition to the points mentioned by Ahirman, age is also something one wants to consider while doing an MBA. Executive MBA for some one in managerial cadre already is best of both worlds because you get to do MBA and also advance in career using the MBA. For a person that is looking to switch after MBA, he is in a quandary. Let us say some one in technical cadre finishes MBA by the age of 35. Inspite of his age he has has to take junior positions in the beginning. In the snake and ladder game if one gets a snake early he can still recover. But, if he gets snake later, his subsequent ladders should move him up by leaps and bounds. One has to do MBA and switch early in career to swim with the MBA folks early to reap better rewards.

Desi_Heart · Post by **Desi_Heart** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:14 am

ahirman;268768Congrats for making it to a Ivy league school:

Search the forum and you will find related thread. The topic was debated greatly sometimes back with good participation from members who were than participants in some of the famous ones including, if I remember correctly, USC and UCB.

In nutshell the general consensus was (for US based part time MBAs)
1. ROI becomes debatable if: (ROI was discussed in length in the thread)
a. If your company is not funding the major percentage or
b. You want to return to India in immediate future post MBA

2. Career wise
a. A lot depends on individual and how he can make use of his past experience and networking in the b-school. Overall its difficult to make a stream change to new areas like MC/Strategic planning /Sales etc unless you have some experience in the related fields or your current company is ready to give you a chance post MBA. No platform like a full time MBA to change careers.

3. require a lot of commitment in terms of time even though the courses are part time.

I know people who have moved to IIMA and ISB. General consensus:
1. IIMA - small batch size, highly competitve to get in. Avg age is higher than most of the similar courses in India and great acceptability in market.
2. ISB: Large batch size with good percentage of 2-5 years experience. relative easier to get in.

Personally if you want to be in India or Asia based markets look at Indian schools or Asian schools (1 year full time courses).

Minor observation:
I have not heard of a consultancy firm where managerial designations are not there. Most of the MC firms and Big 4 have them. They are even there in pure tech consulting firms.

Ahirman -

Thank you for your time.

Sure, I will search the earlier thread. sorry, should have read that thread first :)

I am getting more inclined torwards doing it in India.

Thanks again.

ahirman · Post by **ahirman** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:56 am

I actually missed the EMBA part. My observations mostly apply to part time MBAs. EMBA is a different ballgame. The thread discussed mostly Part time MBAs in US and full time 1 year courses in India.

All other IIMs have come with 1 year courses too (barring I and K). You may want to check them out too especially IIMB/C.

dont know much about the EMBA in US just that they cost a lot of money (~100 K USD) and the participants are usually from senior or executive management. Its interesting that you got admitted to the course as I was under an impression that they are mostly for Senior/Executive management.

Desi_Heart · Post by **Desi_Heart** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:23 am

KRI,

Thank for the reply.

I agree with you.

If someone does MBA ( 1 year course ) either IIM / ISB, the cost would be:
Cost of Program: About Rs. 20 Lakhs
Opportunity cost: About Rs. 20 Lakhs ( i.e. Lost salary; again, this would vary, but for simplicity sake..)
=============
Total = Rs 40 Lakhs ~ About US$ 90,000 ( considering 1USD = 44 Rs.)
=============

If one does EMBA in US in a Top-10 school I see following cost:
Cost of program: US$ 100K -- 120K
Opportunity cost: Zero ( As you will be working during this period - Avg. annual Sal of US$120 K )
==========
Total = about US$ 100k -- US$120 K
=========

I see a difference of about US$ 10K - 30K between doing EMBA / MBA in India and in US.

It seems rational to go for US-EMBA program as the cost diff is about US$10k - US$30K. ( And at the end you get a US - Ivy League MBA .. yes, EMBA program awards MBA degree.)

Is this a rational thinking / or something is missing from this scenario/ thought..

What are your houghts? / thoughts of forum?

Thanks

oasis138 · Post by **oasis138** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:37 am

Desi_Heart;269889KRI,

Thank for the reply.

I agree with you.

If someone does MBA ( 1 year course ) either IIM / ISB, the cost would be:
Cost of Program: About Rs. 20 Lakhs
Opportunity cost: About Rs. 20 Lakhs ( i.e. Lost salary; again, this would vary, but for simplicity sake..)
=============
Total = Rs 40 Lakhs ~ About US$ 90,000 ( considering 1USD = 44 Rs.)
=============

If one does EMBA in US in a Top-10 school I see following cost:
Cost of program: US$ 100K -- 120K
Opportunity cost: Zero ( As you will be working during this period - Avg. annual Sal of US$120 K )
==========
Total = about US$ 100k -- US$120 K
=========

I see a difference of about US$ 10K - 30K between doing EMBA / MBA in India and in US.

It seems rational to go for US-EMBA program as the cost diff is about US$10k - US$30K. ( And at the end you get a US - Ivy League MBA .. yes, EMBA program awards MBA degree.)

Is this a rational thinking / or something is missing from this scenario/ thought..

What are your houghts? / thoughts of forum?

Thanks

desi heart,

I like the way you have organized the costs associated with doing an Part time MBA in US from a top school vs. full time in India from say an ISB
However i think you missed out on the time factor.
The ISB full time MBA i think can be completed in 12 months compared to roughly 2.5 - 3 years it takes for a part time mba from a top school.
So while I agree with you cost analysis for ISB I think you need to account for the time element for the part time MBA from a US school.
Besides costs one also has to look at intangibles.
1. Is your firm in US going to sponsor part or all of the education...and at what costs to you???
2. Can you change professions after a part time MBA (my answer is Yes if done from a top school and allowed to use career mgmt services) vs doing full time from ISB (someone above correctly said that its much easier to change professions after doing an FT MBA from ISB).
3. While you have 10-15 top schools here in US where you can try for a part time MBA in India your options for full time would be limited (unless of course you want to give CAT)

I am about to complete my part time MBA from a top 5 strategy school here and in my opinion(take this with a grain of salt) doing a part time mba (where the curriculum./teachers are the same as full time program), costs largely taken care of by employer with a rolling 2 year lock on money provided by employer... flexibility to continue to earn wages and an opportunity to change careers (though i dont plan to right now) have worked well for me.... but then on flip side going back to India in the last 2-3 years was not something that I had considered..but i did weigh in full time vs part time here..hope this helps.

ahirman · Post by **ahirman** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:33 am

Oasis, can you pls throw some more light on the "opportunity to change careers" part of your post. How much does a part time MBA (from top b-school) facilitates in terms of change of career like from IT Management to say PE or Strategy etc, and it what ways (full support of on campus recruitment office etc).

Agree with your post that full time MBA (whether India or US) vs EMBA (India or US) is actually apples to oranges comparison beyond the actual expense numbers. Both have totally different objectives.

Desi_Heart · Post by **Desi_Heart** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:38 am

Oasis138,

Looks like we have lot in common.

Would you like to communicate offline?

FYI - EMBA is a lock-step program and gets completed in 21 months. ( < 2 yrs). And the EMBA program is same (syllabus, professors,) as full-time MBA. There is part-time program also.

May I know which university you're doing MBA?

Thanks for your time.
BTW - I am Desi_Heart :)

oasis138 · Post by **oasis138** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:43 am

ahirman;269902Oasis, can you pls throw some more light on the "opportunity to change careers" part of your post. How much does a part time MBA (from top b-school) facilitates in terms of change of career like from IT Management to say PE or Strategy etc, and it what ways (full support of on campus recruitment office etc).

Agree with your post that full time MBA (whether India or US) vs EMBA (India or US) is actually apples to oranges comparison beyond the actual expense numbers. Both have totally different objectives.

w.r. t opportunity to change careers"

Most top schools have a Career Mgmt Center (CMC) which caters to part time students (ofcourse there is a CMC for full time students). In top schools you have every opportunity to work with the CMC usually they allow you to enroll in the last year of your PT MBA and start working with you in terms of resume/ interview related help but more importantly work with them to identify opportunities you are interested in.). However most schools where the employer pays a % of your tution fees need explicit letter from your employer stating that they are ok with you making use of a CMC... Of course if the employer did not pay anything then you are free to use CMC.

A see quite a few Indian friends at the top two schools I have access to here in Chicago and almost 9 out of 10 cases these are folks looking to change careers from IT to Finance/consulting/strategy etc. Depending on the year most of them have succeeded in their efforts..2009 was a relatively tougher for obvious reasons...
Compare that to Full time where you have less of a problem convincing a potential employer so as to why you want to change careers. Long story short outside of the caveats i mentioned (is employer paying your tuition) the CMC works with both FT and PT students..hope this helps....