PythaGURUS Consulting: Scholarships for Top MBA Applicants

[PythaGURUS]

Dear Applicants,

A lot of you ask me about scholarships and financial aid. I wanted to address your queries in this email, and show the way forward.

Working with the global MBA community for past 11 years, I witnessed the progressive thinking these top programs create to encourage a sense of great diversity in their classes. A lot of Indian applicants were able to afford MBA programs worth 1 to 1.5 crores and did not have to pay anything more than the plane ticket and the living expenditure.

An Indian female applicant named Salika gathered 3.17 crores of scholarships from 4 top tier US MBA Programs, and had to take a tough call of picking one over the other. Another applicant named Vipasha had 100% tuition from one of the Top 10 US MBA programs, and her scholarship was worth more than 1.5 Crores. There are many more examples of Indians getting into top US MBA Programs with scholarshipr ranging between 40 lakhs to 2 crores. They could pursue an MBA from a Top global school at a price equivalent to or cheaper than than the cost of doing MBA from India.

How can an Indian applicant pursue MBA from a top international b-school at a price cheaper than that in India? What are some of the things these applicants can do to maximise their chances for getting funding for their education?

a. Focus on employability: While writing stories for these business schools, you should articulate the reasons for picking that particular program, and help the school see that you have done your groundwork. All of these programs are interested in finding out "Why are they your first choice?" and you got to start your research ahead of time. You should also clearly assess what are your current handicaps, and what aspects of the program will help you remove your handicaps. Employability is a very important criterion for these programs not only for an admit but for scholarship too. Your only chance to prove that you will not be a liability on them, and will find your way out is through the employability essays. Focus on clear gaps, and very clear path you will choose after you graduate.

b. Finding the right match: Different schools have different criterion for picking up candidates while creating the desired mix of classroooms. Some programs have more international and diverse group than the others, and will be more keen on rewarding scholarships to ease the financial burden of these applicants. Also, some programs also

c. Networking your way in: IIT's or IIM's never asked us "Why do you want to join IIT Delhi or IIM A?" and we never got trained in communication. However, international programs have a very different mindset. The goal is that networking exercise is to REALLY REALLY FIND OUT - what that school is meant for you. Your goal is not to tell them - why they are good. The goal is to tell them WHY THEY ARE MEANT FOR YOU ? And this time and stamina. Also, some schools do not have a "WHY THIS SCHOOL?" essay question. So, you can prioritise the networking activities accordingly. You should also plan the networking exercise based on the Essay topics. Duke Fuqua has a very strong contribution requirement- and that is a part of the School DNA. Your answer should not be generic. Duke is also known to emphasise a lot LOT on Why DUKE in the interviews, and they are not looking or you telling them things that they already know about them from the website. Your goal is not NOT to describe their school to them. I know I am harping a lot on the networking activity as it will be a surprise for a lot of you, and that is why I also get you started on this right in the first week. Do spend a lot of time on this.

d. Expression on the essays: This candidate will have a very candid expression on the essays. Remember: They are not driven by heavy-weight vocabulary on your essays. It is more about story telling and expressing your life. It is more about "Why did you do whatever you did?". It is about "What matters most to you?". You will also have very effective letter of recommendations. PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT WRITE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS YOURSELF. Have your bosses write those for you. Take this SERIOUSLY.