Indian MBA vs foreign MBA
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:40 pm
While the interest in international business schools has gone up substantially over the last few years, the level of awareness around the fabled foreign MBA unfortunately hasn’t kept pace.
Of course, there’s a tremendous amount of information on the internet – on business school websites, discussion forums and blogs. But if you really analyse it, you’ll realise that the real, factual content gets bulldozed under the marketing material and speculative discussions.
The disconnect is bigger for Indian applicants compared to their international counterparts. Indian applicants have to deal with two different creatures that are referred to by the same 3-letter acronym, but look, sound and behave quite differently.
Most of us are familiar with the typical Indian MBA program and how it works, as this is what we’ve grown up reading and hearing about. So it’s only natural to assume that an international degree with the same name would be very similar.
Here’s a quick comparison of full-time MBA degrees offered by International and Indian bschools.
Typical candidate profile
The traditional Indian MBA programs attract 22 year old candidates who’ve spent very little time in the corporate world. In contrast, the average age in international programs is around 26 years (much higher for European programs) and most candidates have around 4-5 years of work experience (part of it in managerial and leadership roles).
Entrance Exam
Apart from the CAT, Indian applicants have a mind-boggling choice of entrance exams to choose from. For most of the top international universities, it boils down to just one – the GMAT. Of late, some top bschools have started accepting GRE scores as well.
How applicants shortlist bschools
In India, there’s a clear pecking order with the IIMs being the top choice for most applicants. Nobody will ask if you and the IIMs you are applying to are ‘made for each other’. International Bschools, on the other hand, place a LOT of importance on ‘Fit’ to ensure there’s mutual compatibility between the applicant and the bschool. Sounds strange? This is often a confusing aspect for many Indian applicants.
Admission process
For both, Indian and foreign MBA programs, the admission process can include standardised test scores, interviews, essays (or statement of purpose), recommendations and a CV. However the weights assigned to each of the individual components differ considerably. The entrance exam (e.g. CAT) scores form a very important parameter for Indian institutes.
For the top bschools the CAT percentile cut-offs are ridiculously high. This is primarily a reflection of the level of competition for these schools. For international schools, the GMAT score is important, but there are no cut-offs. This makes the overall candidate shortlisting process comparatively opaque, as a high GMAT score may not guarantee you an interview invite and vice versa.
Program duration
The conventional Indian MBA program is for 2 years. International schools offer programs with durations ranging from under a year to 2 years.
Cost of the program
As a rough estimate, a good Indian program can cost between Rs 5 - 20 lakhs (including tuition, cost of living etc). International programs can cost between Rs 40-75 lakhs for American programs and over Rs 30 lakhs for European MBA degrees.
On the brighter side, many international schools offer scholarships, loans and part-time work opportunities to lessen the financial burden. More on this later on in this ebook.
Class composition (Diversity)
While both kinds of programs try to increase the diversity in the class – in terms of backgrounds, qualifications and work-experience – the applicant pool for Indian bschools is quite different from the international bschools.
For starters, in an Indian program, you’ll be studying with - [dramatic pause] - Indians. But apart from the nationality, international programs also offer much more diversity in the class, and outside (if the bschool is part of a bigger university).
The learning process
Both formats use a mix of pedagogies to facilitate the learning. But in addition to the traditional approach to knowledge transfer (professor to student), there’s a greater emphasis on knowledge sharing (peer group learning).
International programs allow students to tap into the rich real world experience and the diverse backgrounds within the class. This allows the learning process to have multiple dimensions.
Post-MBA careers
In India we are used to the concept of campus placements. Many Indian applicants who turn their attention towards foreign options often want to know which bschool offers a job guarantee. There is no job guarantee!
In international bschools, you’d have a Careers Team. But considering the diverse backgrounds that people come in with and the wider range of career options they start exploring (beyond the regular management consulting and investment banking jobs), it’s tough for the Careers Team to be able to ‘place’ them. So job hunting is pretty much an independent, self-driven process.
For those who don’t come in with the right expectations, it can be quite a challenge navigating through the MBA maze. With the right knowledge, planning and effort, not to mention, just the right sprinkling of luck), MBA graduates can (and often do) get jobs with lucrative compensation packages and career paths that are the envy of their non-MBA peers.
Hope this comparison provides you with a good idea of how the international MBA programs differ from Indian MBA options. Do spend some time carrying out further research in each of these areas.
Once you’ve got a deeper understanding about the differences, the next step in the process would be to evaluate if an international MBA is what your career really needs.
Reach out to us if you are confused and need some personal career counselling.
Of course, there’s a tremendous amount of information on the internet – on business school websites, discussion forums and blogs. But if you really analyse it, you’ll realise that the real, factual content gets bulldozed under the marketing material and speculative discussions.
The disconnect is bigger for Indian applicants compared to their international counterparts. Indian applicants have to deal with two different creatures that are referred to by the same 3-letter acronym, but look, sound and behave quite differently.
Most of us are familiar with the typical Indian MBA program and how it works, as this is what we’ve grown up reading and hearing about. So it’s only natural to assume that an international degree with the same name would be very similar.
Here’s a quick comparison of full-time MBA degrees offered by International and Indian bschools.
Typical candidate profile
The traditional Indian MBA programs attract 22 year old candidates who’ve spent very little time in the corporate world. In contrast, the average age in international programs is around 26 years (much higher for European programs) and most candidates have around 4-5 years of work experience (part of it in managerial and leadership roles).
Entrance Exam
Apart from the CAT, Indian applicants have a mind-boggling choice of entrance exams to choose from. For most of the top international universities, it boils down to just one – the GMAT. Of late, some top bschools have started accepting GRE scores as well.
How applicants shortlist bschools
In India, there’s a clear pecking order with the IIMs being the top choice for most applicants. Nobody will ask if you and the IIMs you are applying to are ‘made for each other’. International Bschools, on the other hand, place a LOT of importance on ‘Fit’ to ensure there’s mutual compatibility between the applicant and the bschool. Sounds strange? This is often a confusing aspect for many Indian applicants.
Admission process
For both, Indian and foreign MBA programs, the admission process can include standardised test scores, interviews, essays (or statement of purpose), recommendations and a CV. However the weights assigned to each of the individual components differ considerably. The entrance exam (e.g. CAT) scores form a very important parameter for Indian institutes.
For the top bschools the CAT percentile cut-offs are ridiculously high. This is primarily a reflection of the level of competition for these schools. For international schools, the GMAT score is important, but there are no cut-offs. This makes the overall candidate shortlisting process comparatively opaque, as a high GMAT score may not guarantee you an interview invite and vice versa.
Program duration
The conventional Indian MBA program is for 2 years. International schools offer programs with durations ranging from under a year to 2 years.
Cost of the program
As a rough estimate, a good Indian program can cost between Rs 5 - 20 lakhs (including tuition, cost of living etc). International programs can cost between Rs 40-75 lakhs for American programs and over Rs 30 lakhs for European MBA degrees.
On the brighter side, many international schools offer scholarships, loans and part-time work opportunities to lessen the financial burden. More on this later on in this ebook.
Class composition (Diversity)
While both kinds of programs try to increase the diversity in the class – in terms of backgrounds, qualifications and work-experience – the applicant pool for Indian bschools is quite different from the international bschools.
For starters, in an Indian program, you’ll be studying with - [dramatic pause] - Indians. But apart from the nationality, international programs also offer much more diversity in the class, and outside (if the bschool is part of a bigger university).
The learning process
Both formats use a mix of pedagogies to facilitate the learning. But in addition to the traditional approach to knowledge transfer (professor to student), there’s a greater emphasis on knowledge sharing (peer group learning).
International programs allow students to tap into the rich real world experience and the diverse backgrounds within the class. This allows the learning process to have multiple dimensions.
Post-MBA careers
In India we are used to the concept of campus placements. Many Indian applicants who turn their attention towards foreign options often want to know which bschool offers a job guarantee. There is no job guarantee!
In international bschools, you’d have a Careers Team. But considering the diverse backgrounds that people come in with and the wider range of career options they start exploring (beyond the regular management consulting and investment banking jobs), it’s tough for the Careers Team to be able to ‘place’ them. So job hunting is pretty much an independent, self-driven process.
For those who don’t come in with the right expectations, it can be quite a challenge navigating through the MBA maze. With the right knowledge, planning and effort, not to mention, just the right sprinkling of luck), MBA graduates can (and often do) get jobs with lucrative compensation packages and career paths that are the envy of their non-MBA peers.
Hope this comparison provides you with a good idea of how the international MBA programs differ from Indian MBA options. Do spend some time carrying out further research in each of these areas.
Once you’ve got a deeper understanding about the differences, the next step in the process would be to evaluate if an international MBA is what your career really needs.
Reach out to us if you are confused and need some personal career counselling.