Several people have asked us about the MCB’s history and origins.
While working on my MBA application, I struggled a lot in terms getting access to the right data, the right process, the right approach. And there was very little I could do about it then as everyone in the media was hyping up the MBA without talking about the other side of the story. So it was difficult to build a complete picture of what I was getting into. The real good MBA admissions consultants in the world that I was aware of were all located outside India and their sky high fees made it impractical to even consider hiring them. So I went about the process the hard way, like most Indian MBA candidates still do.
I thought it was unfair that Indian MBA applicants, despite the potential, were not able to approach the extremely competitive international MBA admissions in the right manner, while others who were earning in dollars could engage international MBA admissions consulting firms and strengthen their application further.
So I started MBA Crystal Ball to make it a level playing field as far as possible, well at least for the guys we work with. Most of the candidates who come to us have excellent credentials (many IITians and those with fantastic corporate experience). But they also have big question marks on the approach as they just don’t know how and what to present in their applications. Our undergrad education doesn’t train us to address the introspective (almost philosophical) topics that business schools ask for.
We have been able to reach out to many Indian candidates out there and make a positive difference to their efforts (several success stories and testimonials). But we know there are many more who can benefit. So that’s our focus for now. If you’ve been reading our forums for long enough or interacted with us over the phone or email, we know you’d agree with us when we say it’s much more than a business for us. Of course, all the free advisory work and just noble intentions alone won’t work and we’ve got to make the initiative self-sustaining.
The vision for MBA Crystal Ball is to see many more deserving Indians get access to the opportunities that currently seem out of reach. As I keep saying, Indians have spent a very long time in technical roles within India and outside. It’s time for us to start moving up the value chain – in business roles and in the board rooms. Deeper down, I also hope some of them will come back to India, if not immediately after graduation, then after a few years. It’ll be good if they can divert some of the efforts to stimulate our own economy.
We aren’t backed by big corporate bodies, venture capital funds or powerful well-connected godfathers in the industry to act as our evangelists. We are dependent on you to act as our brand ambassadors.
If you think this initiative and our efforts are worth encouraging, please share this on your website, blog, facebook page, twitter, smoke signals and any other way of getting the word out there.
hai Samir a great one. Yours is a practical blog 🙂
Tell me how can I link your post to google buss or face book.
Now do you think the difficulty level in getting foreign MBA admission for Indian learners is more when compared to learners from other nations say for eg. chineese learners.
keep it up.
Thanks, Prasanna, for the kind words. On Facebook, you could just post a comment on the wall with a link to this post. If you have a blog, a short mention about our initiative will be greatly appreciated. We’d be happy to add a trackback for your site on this post.
To answer your other query, most international candidates face challenges when applying to American and European business schools. But Indians have the additional challenge of having to tackle the competition within the toughest applicant pool globally. So it gets more complicated.
Hello,
I will definitely write about you on my blog…
Dhanyavaad, Pranjali. I’ve updated the main post to add your name/blog to the bloggers-who-support-us list.
Hi Sameer,
It is a great initiative and good source of information for Indian junta. After going through this, the first thought that came across my mind that an average Indian student has a very little knowledge about International MBA programs during their college life and whatever they know just leads to various misconceptions. Being a final year student, I can say there are only a few who dare to think beyond IIMs 😀 . What I really want to say that Indian students fail to develop some relevant qualities during their college life.
Well, wouldn’t it be great if a person knows right from the college that what might be the recipe to crack the fierce competition to get into one of the most coveted international b-schools. Let us know your views on this and if you feel the same then what should be done on this front?
Cheers
Dishank
Dishank,
You are right. It can be extremely confusing for a newbie to get a hang of what’s involved in the process. We’ve been trying to address these topics on our discussion forums (Businessweek, GMAT Club, Beat The GMAT etc). Do check them out as they’ve been in existence for much longer than this blog.
Of course, we’ll keep your suggestion in mind as we work on future blog posts as well.
Like many of your friends (and competitors) have already done, you might want to sign up for the email subscription (top right box on this blog) to ensure you keep getting the regular funda sessions and the knowledge builds up over time.