Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hi All,

For internationals - does it really matter which REGION OR COUNTRY you come from? I can see a plethora of Indians on this forum and GMAT test takers I am sure would be super high in India, even the meet up in Delhi section had the most number of responses!!!

I obviously consider this a good thing - GMAT test takers and potential MBA applicants have support locally and can also meet like minded people.

But is their a downside?

My questions for all of you:

Is there such a thing as a competitive demography for B-schools?

Does it really have an effect on the application process - that so many people from your region (India or even China) are applying? I am going to applying from India - so will I directly be competing against other applicants from the country for regional spots?

Would like comments from everyone including admission consultants who are the experts!!!

Thank you all for your comments in advance.

Cheers
SP237

Hi,

Well there are two perspectives on what you are asking. From the B-School's perspective, this is of course a good thing. For the mere reason that the more the number of international applicants, the more diversity they can show. Also overall numbers increase, selectivity factor comes down... All in all a good show for them.

The problem mainly arises for the candidate. One thing is for sure, no B-School has any kinds of quotas for region/demographic. So it's not like X number of Indians will be taken and Y number of Chinese will be admitted. However, there is an upper limit to it. In the sense, they want to mantain a somewhat equitable distribution and hence would want to limit the number of successful candidate from one particular region at one point. The number of Indian candidates applying, to the number of Indian candidates who are successful is very high. Also, Indians (and Chinese) have a very competitive outlook and thus end up with the mindset of not really applying with a score of less tan 700 (most do this, Seriously!) Hence, not only is it a competitive pool in general, but it is ultra competitive due to the kind of scores and profiles you would be competing against.

However, we strongly urge students not to focus too much on this aspect. Get a good score, put in a solid application and you should be set. Because at the end of the day B-Schools want to see students with a potential for success studying there. It won't matter much if they add 5 more students from a particular region if they are good enough. But if they are not good enough, there is no hesitation in decreasing the intake by 5.

I hope this makes things a little clearer and answers your queries.

All the best.

Regards,
Team Appreview

Hi AppReview,

Thanks for your mature and detailed comment. That should clear things up for me and possibly others from the region.

Thanks again,
SP237