After reading the title if you have already answered it with ‘it depends’ you have already earned your MBA. However, this is for the ones who are yet to select one and scrolling through GMAT club, I am sharing my experience after going through nine months at the one-year full-time MBA at IIM Bangalore.
There are a few assumptions here! As long as you have a top quartile academic record and GMAT or CAT scores; along with a the required work experience, you are a good candidate for most B-schools. So do not get into the’Beggars are NOT Choosers’ mindset. Although some amount of anxiety is normal, but do not doubt yourself. There is a third criteria career spikes – extraordinary feats in your career, that fetch brownie points. But I will save this for a later blog on MBA admissions.
One Year vs Two Year MBA
Answer depends on whether you are pursuing an MBA in USA or Europe as well as India. If MBA is a part of of your immigration plan to North America, including US and Canada, then you will only have an option of the two-year MBA. Whereas, if you unroll for an MBA in Europe, it will be a one-year program. Although there are two-year MiM (Masters in Management) programs, they do NOT classify as flagship MBA programs.
But if you’re in India and have the luxury of choosing between the one-year MBAs of IIM or ISB and the IIM two-year PGP course, then answer depends on your age, patience, and experience. Since CAT has an age limit, your option will be crossed off automatically. And patience also matters as after the age of thirty it might be difficult for many to pause their lives and livelihood to get back to school. In which case, a two-year MBA might test your patience.
Usually two year programs have 15-20% more credits, translating to 5/6 extra subjects. But this may not be a lot to miss out on – since two year programs are designed for candidates with fewer years of work experience, these extra subjects are only meant to bridge this gap.
However, experience is the most important factor as it relates to the kind of peers in your class and job roles available during placements. The opinions (CP – Class Participation) and cross-learning with peers is an important part of the experience, although diversity is expected, older candidates might expect more maturity. Usually the one-year MBA programs have an 6-8 years of work experience, providing mature peers and leadership roles in placements.
Schools: IIM or Oxford vs ISB or INDEAD
Before divulging into the topic, I will make it clear that this is merely a personal opinion based on my preferences and it may not be an accurate representation.
All schools have a different brand perception. When you think of the top US schools including Harvard Business School, Wharton, Yale SoM, Berkeley HaaS, or Stanford GSB; despite the various rankings I believe that the experiences are different but cannot be quantified. The kind of school you would want to be associated with should have more to do with the culture and alumni than with FT rankings!
Personally, I believe that legacy is a highly significant constituent of brand value. Another factor that I considered was the alignment or sync of my values and beliefs with those of the institute. Hence, I had only applied to four schools, including IIMA, IIMB, IIMC, and Oxford Said, and refrained from the applying to ISB and INSEAD.
However, if your primary motive is to get into your dream job or dream job through the MBA, you should check the placement records of the institute. These reports will give you an overview of the companies participating in placements, roles available, and percentage of students placed. And this is definitely a more objective way of selecting a B-school.
Total Cost – Tuition + Living Expenses
Financing an MBA includes not only tuition but also living expenses. As unlike other two-year programs where you have an option to earn through student assistantship programs, most MBA programs offer neither the opportunity nor time. This is an important factor as the kind of financial anchor (investment / liability) you incur through your MBA dictates following years of your personal and professional life.
Since you can always borrow or attempt at securing a scholarship, financing should not be a major concern; however, you should keep these costs in mind while calculating your ROI and preparing to make the leap. One more thing, few bank loans provide an option to add monthly living allowances to your loan amount. But since it is not a major amount, you will have to brace yourself with savings and frugality until you receive your sign-up bonus.
Hence, given that you have to sustain your out-of-pocket expenses, where you pursue your MBA matters. If you’re doing an MBA in India your living costs would be much lower than Europe or North America. Furthermore, while weighing the costs against expected salaries, you should also consider the higher cost of living in most North American and European cities.
Although an MBA in India fetching INR 30 – 50 Lac CTC in Bangalore, Mumbai, NCR, or Hyderabad may not seem as lucrative as USD 160k in New York or San Francisco, parity adjusted comparison will convey a different, yet real, image.
Closing Thoughts
The list of things that you need to consider can be quite exhaustive; however, I weighed in on to the factors that were more significant for my decision. Moreover, I have been too lazy to expend efforts involved in developing a fuzzy logic model to arrive at rankings for the factors.
Cover Image Source Good Free Photos on Unsplash
Savvy Munshi 