Written by Sameer Kamat

Post-recession, there has been a general perception that financial aid for international students, especially securing a non cosigner student loan (i.e an education loan that does not require a U.S. cosigner) is difficult to obtain. It is true that the economic slowdown coupled with the increase in the number of defaulters have been the contributing factors causing many credit lenders to withdraw their student loan programs without a U.S. co-signer.

However the good news is that in spite of this, the MBA loan scenario is not that bleak as there are a good number of colleges offering student loans without a U.S. co-signer. Here’s a list to get you started.

Written by Sameer Kamat

‘Score high on the GMAT, scholarships will follow’ seems to be the general assumption when it comes to business schools that accept GMAT for their MBA programs. This is why there’s such a desperate rush to get obscenely high GMAT scores in the hope that they would not only get an admit from the best bschools in USA, UK, Australia, Europe and India, but also an icing on the cake i.e. GMAT scholarships.

Written by Sameer Kamat

After a securing a place in a business school, planning and arranging your MBA finances is of top priority. Assistantship jobs are a good way to financially assist your education expense by working in part-time positions within the university. Assistantship jobs offer a monthly salary or stipend and sometimes a reduction in the tuition or loan amount. Assistantship can be in different areas of work. Teaching assistantship, graduate assistantship and research assistant jobs come under this category.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Education loan forgiveness programs aim at reducing or cancelling the financial burden for MBA students. Sounds too good to be true, right? For Indian MBA applicants, the cost of attending the best MBA programs (MBA fees, cost of living) can be crippling. But there are business schools that offer such incentives (beyond the regular MBA scholarships) to some of their MBA students.

There are however several pre-conditions that you need to keep in mind in terms of whether you are eligible in the first place, when will these decisions be taken, how much of your education loan can be forgiven and what career goals make you prime candidates for such programs. Read on to find out more.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Pagalguy.com published an FAQ series written by yours truly for pagal guys (or puys, as the forum readers are known). It covered many basic questions that come up in the minds of applicants who have just begun their research on the best international MBA programs across the world. Titled ‘The Mother of all International MBA FAQs’ each Pagalguy MBA abroad post covered common questions related to a specific topic – GMAT preparation, MBA financing, MBA essays, MBA interviews, MBA recommendations and many more.

Written by Sameer Kamat

When MBA education costs are spiralling out of control, a full-tuition scholarship can mean a lot to Indian candidates with pockets that aren’t as deep as their other MBA classmates.
Smeal MBA granted a full-ride (100% tuition waiver) and more, in terms of a steady income (stipend) to Pushkal Kumar.
He stands tall and confident today, as the entrepreneur in him knows very well that he’s already got his RoI even before he starts his MBA program at a top school which enjoys a respectable MBA ranking for its Supply Chain specialization.
In this guest post, he describes how and what he did to get not only an admit but also a whole lot of free money from one of his top choice business schools.

Written by Sameer Kamat

The Richard Ivey School of Business in Canada offers something special for international MBA candidates that many of top schools in the US and Europe can’t – the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program. This allows MBA students to convert their study visa into a work-permit immediately after completing their program. This allows an additional 1 year to stay back in Canada. That’s a huge psychological advantage.
We recently caught up with the Associate Director of MBA Recruiting and Admissions at the Ivey MBA, Jenni Denniston and Julia Michienzi, Communications Officer. Instead of the regular questions about the MBA applications, essays, interviews and the case study approach that Ivey MBA is well-known for, we thought we should focus on 2 other aspects that may be more important for international MBA students – financing the MBA program (including scholarships) and getting post MBA jobs in Canada after graduation.

Written by Sameer Kamat

While selecting bschools, variations of this question pop up in the minds of MBA applicants. Other queries falling in a similar category are as follows.

- Which is the best 2 year (or 1 year) MBA program?
- Are US universities better than those in the UK or Europe?
- Should I choose international business schools over Indian MBA colleges?

All of these questions are natural to have and justified, considering how much you would be investing in the program. Ask most Indian applicants and most would have a standard answer.

Written by Sameer Kamat

The cost of attending a top MBA program can be substantial. But with some good financial planning, you would be able to sustain yourself during your MBA and after (assuming you spend some time hunting for a job and the income may not start immediately). If you are aware of the cost involved at various stages in advance, you would be in a comfortable position to make appropriate arrangements, be it applying for loans or getting partial aid through scholarships so that once you set foot on the campus, you do not face any financial hurdles.

There are many costs which prospective students tend to oversee, so having some basic idea about the various aspects involved would ease your MBA journey.

For convenience, we would categorise it under:

Written by Sameer Kamat

Accepted.com has been at the forefront of MBA Admissions consulting since the early 1990s. Linda Abraham, founder of Accepted.com, shares her knowledge and experience with MCB readers on a range of topics: choosing the right schools (using rankings, two year versus one year programs, brand vs scholarships), top-5 mistakes to avoid in an MBA interview, top-10 do’s and don’ts for MBA essay writing, what you should be doing 6-9 months before you apply and much more.