Request for Profile Evaluation

[anshulkamra]

Hi, I've been pretty confused with regards to my MBA options lately. I'm interested in settling down in India as a Management Consultant, hence I'm very very confused in terms of B-Schools viz ISB, IIMs or INSEAD maybe. One of my major concerns is with respect to brand value vis-a-vis ROI. Any form of suggestion would be appreciated. Here's a detailed info about my profile.

1) Work Exp- Senior Analyst with a Global Investment Bank handling an AUM of approx EUR 200 Million. I design cross asset indices / baskets based on client requests or quant strategies. This requires constant liaison with branches across the arms of the bank and across the globe.

Internship at a major Indian private bank

Summer Research Fellowship in France

2) GMAT= 710 ( Q50, V36)

3) College info: Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur GPA - 7.8 / 10
Major - Integrated Masters Statistics and Informatics
Year of Grad - 2011

4) Community Service - Involved in Bank's in-house CSR activities and an NGO working for upliftment of children on a weekly basis

Extra Acad - Co founded a first of its kind group for marketing technologies developed at IIT Kharagpur to the industry. This venture inspired similar groups at the other IITs

Successful in transferring at least technologies to the industry.
Led the group from it's infancy to approx 40 members
Organised road shows on behalf of the institute in various cities, to market technologies.
Led the team for 3 such road shows.
Led the team that organised first ever TEDx conference at IIT Kharagpur.
An avid photographer - Photograph put up in a gallery in Mumbai
Received multiple awards in debates and quizzes at school and college level

6) Target programs. INSEAD ISB
7)Post-MBA goal. To be a management consultant based out of India

[mbaMissionJenK]

Hi there,

It's great that you are doing your research at this point to determine what option will be best for you for your chosen career in management consulting. It sounds like you still have some more research and analysis to do, and there are a lot of potential considerations, including:

-staying in India vs global mobility: sounds like you are planning to stay in India, in which case you'll just want to focus on what the brand/reputation/job opportunities from the degrees you are considering are like WITHIN India, which may be very different from global brand/reputation/opportunities. Best advice-- do some research and talk to some people and hiring managers at a company or two that you would target working for after business school-- ask them what their perspective is on an applicant with a degree from the schools you are considering. Ultimately this is most important-- whether the companies YOU are interested in are likely to hire from that program, more important than global reputation for example. In general there is a lot to be said for ISB and IIM's within India; outside of India very generally they may not hold quite as weight in terms of branding, but that is not critical if staying in India for work.

-ROI: you'll want to research the costs at the various programs, take into account missed salary during the program, and compared with potential post-degree salary. Remember to consider that some programs (INSEAD for example, and ISB has an option) are one year, vs two years of tuition & lost salary and living expenses-- can make a difference in these calculations.

-class profiles: perhaps less crucial than the above, but the class profiles and therefore experience in terms of learning from others will likely be vastly different going to a program within India vs another country. That said, this may not matter especially if aiming to stay in India, but some like an even more international class and experience.

-job placements: you can find on each program's website as well as general websites like the FT Global Rankings, info on job placements and areas and often even companies for the programs, so review this info carefully

In terms of your profile, it sounds like you have strong quality work experience and global exposure, respectable GMAT score and academic background as well as community service/extracurricular involvement. One area of potential weakness when applying to certain programs (like INSEAD) is your smaller number of year of work experience. So much of the learning during business school comes from everyone in the class contributing their experiences, hence the emphasis on admitted students having strong backgrounds from which to draw from. So you would have to make the case within your application and interview for why NOW is right for you to get the degree, and that your experience is strong enough that you are ready for the program. Your essays will be critical in your admissions decisions.

Good luck on your research and application process!