Ross 2012 - Calling All Applicants

This is like a very multi-part question and the answers would differ greatly. I will try to answer from my perspective as a Ross Student non-international. (My response will probably be applicable for GM recruiting for most schools)

Preferably is not exactly how I would put it. If you are invited to interview, you should have equal chance of getting the job. With that said, the difficulty will lie in getting to the interview. Companies are basically, no sponsor or will sponsor, and they say it right off the bat. In fact, at Ross when you apply it's highlighted in BIG RED LETTERS.

Unfortunately, many US companies do not sponsor. I will randomly throw out a number I hear, about 30-40% non-consulting/non-finance companies will sponsor internationals. You can verify it by visiting the webpages of companies you are interested in. With consulting almost all major firms (except Accenture) and I believe nearly all Investment Banks will sponsor. This is not a Ross thing. This is a company thing. So it will be the same for Kellogg, Booth, etc. (There can be exceptions to this rule, but those are very isolated cases)

With the second comment about GM requiring more people skills, I wouldn't really say that's a quality of GM that stands out. GM is very broad, but for the most part, consulting and marketing would require more soft skills than general management. P&G spends a great deal of time focusing on personality and communications skills. As a group, General Management is not the hardest to get into if you just want a GM position. IB/Consulting/Marketing are probably harder based on competition. However specific popular industries may be harder if you don't have any background in the field, such Tech, Healthcare, etc.

I think if you're really interested in General Management, you should research specific industries rather than group GM as a whole. It's almost like the catch all bucket. (This is true for most other schools too).