Indian MBA Applicants more likely to be rejected from top b-schools
Written by Sameer Kamat
You thought it was fair game and your chances of getting into a top MBA program had nothing to do with your nationality? Not true, says John Byrne, former executive editor of BusinessWeek and founder of Poets & Quants. According to him the rejection rates for Indian candidates are ‘dramatically higher’ than any other nationality.
An Indian applicant is 3 to 5 times less likely to get an offer compared to domestic candidates from the US. In fact, European and Latin American candidates would also fare better than Indians. What makes the P&Q survey results extremely credible is the fact that the data has been supplied officially by B-schools to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Some schools that feature in the survey include prestigious names like MIT (Sloan), Fuqua (Duke University), Ross (Michigan), Purdue (Krannert), Olin (Washington University), Vanderbilt (Owen), University of Southern California’s Marshall and others.
Let’s take an example of a top-10 business school to understand the basic funda.
Assumptions:
– Class size = 250
– Number of applications received = 1000
– - – Domestic applications = 300
– - – International applications = 700
– - – Indian applications = 220
– - – China + other Asian countries = 200
– Selectivity = 25%
If you assume that this number is applicable you, that’s not true.
With no nationality-based discrimination, the domestic-to-international applications ratio (30:70 in our example) would be more or less reflect in the acceptance rate too. It doesn’t. In fact, it’s generally the exact opposite. On an average the domestic to international composition of an American MBA program is 70:30.
In our example above, the Selectivity figures for various nationalities would be as follows:
- Chinese applicants: 10%
- European applicants: 39%
- American applicants: 39%
- Latin American applicants: 26%
- Middle East applicants: 26%
- And the selectivity for Indians is a whopping [drumroll....] 8%.
That means in an MBA class of 1000, there could be less than 20 Indians!
Of course, these are hypothetical numbers to convey the idea of what P&Q was trying to say. Factors like yield (accepted to offered ratio) aren’t being discussed. The actual percentages will vary for each school.
The million (or maybe 100,000-150,000) dollar question – why is it happening?
B-schools and recruiters cited several reasons ranging from the need to maintain class diversity to language issues. But the main point relevant for Indian candidates was the dependency on gaining work permit visas after graduation. Admission officers are trying to put themselves in the shoes of recruiters and filtering out potentially high-maintenance candidates who’d have a tough time getting MBA jobs after graduation. Nip the problem in the bud.
So what is it that you can do to address that concern. Plenty.
- For starters, stop assuming that your GMAT score and the laurels you’ve won at work are the only criteria you should be bothered about. Get the whole story sorted out before you apply.
- You’ll find many application strategy and execution related articles on this blog. Spend some time digging through the earlier posts. Almost all of them have been written from an Indian applicants perspective.
- Stay up to date on the latest developments by subscribing to this blog (enter your email ID in the box at the top right).
For you as an Indian candidate, remember that the competition (much like charity) begins at home. Then if you survive, it gets bigger and tougher as other nationalities come into the fray. So right from choosing the right schools to getting the post-MBA and why MBA rationale, invest time in getting the application strategy as bullet-proof as possible.
Source: Poets & Quants
Cambridge University's MBA Director, Dr Jochen Runde, recommends the bestselling book Beyond The MBA Hype as 'required reading for anyone contemplating an MBA at an international business school.'
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Hi Sameer,
Firstly I appreciate as you are doing a great job.
My profile is follows. Your feedback is of immense value.
Education
Univ of Houston : Masters in Computer Science GPA 3.9
Bachelors in India : First class with Distinction (non -IIT)
GMAT : 720
Work Experience : 4 years as of this post in a start up in USA. I have grown along with he company in responsibility and position. Worked part-time during Masters in admissions office helping them with Statistics. 6 months after graduation started a website and shut it down in 2 months (Bad planning of resources, did this part-time).
Decided to join a starup then and switched jobs. Declined offers from big companies (Insurance and Housing not Google or Apple) and also the higher salary that was offered. Stuck with the startup for the last 3 years and grown with it along the way. The company sales increased 15 times from the time I started. I am wholly responsible for the Database and reporting side. One of the big fish in a small pond. Was given more than regular raises through out.
After successfully mastering the databases and improving them moved on to use the time I had to improve the business. Another part of my job which I voluntarily picked up, I work on improving the revenue for the company in the smaller profit generating areas. Was successful in improving the bottom line. Work with McCombs alumni on this project who is in a management level position.
Wish List of Schools
1) Booth
2) Stanford
3) Kellogg
4) Wharton
5) Duke
6) Columbia
7) McCombs
Long term goal : Becoming a management consultant. An MBA will equip me with skills I lack and honestly be able to get into consulting.
Have excellent recommendations.
I appreciate your time.
Hi MBA_Startup,
A few quick points:
- When you intially mentioned that your entire experience has been with a startup and then added that the company sales grew 15 times, I was mentally trying to connect the dots and thinking…’Great, our friend seems to have worn multiple hats right from day one and directly contributed to the growth of the company‘.
But then you clarified that your main responsibility was on the technical side (database and reporting). You got involved in business matters (you haven’t specified what you did) at a much later stage.
When you are applying to the top schools, try to take out the ambiguity as much as possible so that your story flows smoothly: ensure that questions like ‘what happened’, ‘why it happened’, ‘what did you do to make it happen’ become crystal clear to the reader.
- For a startup, growing the revenue 15 times in the initial years may not be as impressive as (say) growing a 5-10 year old company at the same rate. Adcoms will view this is in perspective. So every time you use numbers, evaluate what would make it easier for the reviewer to understand the impact – relative numbers or absolute numbers.
I’d have had other comments and questions on your choice of consulting, but will keep it short for now.
Bottomline is, the statistics mentioned in the post apply to many of the schools on your list. Also you’d be applying in Round 2 where things get just a little more interesting (if you get the drift) vis-a-vis Round 1. You’ve got a few good points (good GPA, startup experience) that many of your competitors won’t have. But don’t rely on just these, take it to the next level.
Also, think about what others who’ve been in bigger companies for 4 years will be talking about that may come up as a gap in your profile. Explain why these aren’t going to stop you from being a successful consultant.
Good luck, bro.
Sameer, thank you for a great insight. I applied to 3 colleges in the USA, I have an admit from Emoury. I am from a financial background with work ex in India, UK and China. What are the chances of landing up a good job in US in the banking and finance sector after an MBA from Emoury. Is it worthwhile to take this on in the current scenario. I have 2 weeks to decide. Your inputs will be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Digs,
Congrats on getting an offer from Emory. It’s a good school.
Finance and banking jobs were the worst hit in the US. Having said that I hear from current students that internships and jobs are coming back. So by the time you complete you program, hopefully things will be better (unless the economy drops another unexpected bomshell).
But irrespective of the economy, you’ll have to actively pursue the job hunt on your own. Read the MBA careers chapter in Beyond The MBA Hype to see why I say that.
Hi,
I have a gmat score of 710 and i am from the mumbai university with a 69% average in engineering i have been working for 3 years in a pretty reputed firm as a consultant i also ran my own startup for a while and currently run my own ngo do i have a shot at colleges like wharton booth and so on .I would like to get into management consulting
i would greatly appreciate your help
Gomzit,
A small request. We have recently launched our MBA discussion forum, so we can manage all MBA and career related queries in a central manner.
Can you please post a more detailed version of your profile on the relevant thread out there along with specific queries that you’d like me to address? Happy to share my thoughts.
Hi Sameer,
I’m an Indian IT male (IIM) who applied to a host of Univs in US and Europe in the past year. I finally ended up with offers from Boston University, Penn State University and IESE (Univ of Navarra in Spain). My goal is to get into tech-consulting post-MBA. Which among the above 3 univs would best serve my aspirations? Looking forward to your reply.
Sai,
We are managing all queries that aren’t directly related to the blog post on our MBA discussion forum.
Can you please post your query under MBA Admissions – General Queries?
Is it true tat indian mba finance wont get a job in america or london?
Tanu, please see my comment just before yours