Calling All AGSM MBA Applicants for Jan 2016 intake

No I meant top 20 American or top 4 European schools. At those schools firms recruit globally so you can select their Australia office for interviews. If you go to one of those schools and aim to work in Australia with a PR, you're not losing much by not physically being in Australia but you also open more doors for yourself at other locations.

At AGSM and other regional schools, you will only get to interview with local offices so you have fewer options and as I stated previously investment banking and top tech firms don't even recruit at AGSM.

For example one of the four Australians in the Class of 2016, who was one of the more employable students, decided to drop out of AGSM after 1 term to go to Cornell. He said that everything at Cornell from career services to the caliber of other students were vastly superior.

I don't know anyone at MBS so I can't speak for that school but I've met a lot of people at MGSM and they seem to be similar quality as AGSM.

Hey Guys,

i have got interview call for AGSM R3,
Pl share your interview experiences and what kind of questions were asked ?

n

For those who are not aware, "session 5" at AGSM was designed for the large percentage of students in recent years who were not able to get sponsored or obtain PR themselves and enrolling in "session 5" allows these students to qualify for the temporary 485 visa. "Session 5" involves students who are not able to get PR paying extra tuition and spending a few more months at AGSM so that they can obtain temporary work permit, so I don't see how enrolling in "session 5" can be considered "exciting."

Jithehr mentioned that a few Asians were able to obtain positions at Accenture. However he didn't mention that all of these people had previous background in IT and that all of positions were in IT consulting. IT consulting has almost nothing to do with the content taught in MBA program and mostly has to do with technical skills in CRM software.

There are a few success stories from AGSM every year. Ironblu is one this year and jitheshr may be one as well. However as I alluded to previously, these success stories number approximately less than 20% of the class each year. For prospective students who want actual numbers, go look up the class roster from 2014 and 2015 and then look them up on Linkedin. Most likely you'll find that less than 20% of alumni you would personally want to trade shoes with.

The people in Accenture are working for IT strategy, not for IT consulting, so your facts are misplaced. There are only two people, I know of who have opted for session 5. And Session 5 is a good deal, because you do internship and get Australian experience which is tremendously valued.

Enough people are placed in Westpac, EY and PWC who were not toppers. I do not know where you get your racism allegations from.

1. IT strategy and IT consulting are the same thing. Some firms call it IT strategy and others call it IT consulting.

2. 20% of the Class of 2016 is approximately 10 people. Exactly how many people are placed in Westpac, EY, or PwC? I bet it's a lot fewer than 10 people.

3. I didn't allege any racism. I simply stated that it's difficult for people who come from developing countries to obtain good jobs due to cultural and language barriers.

4. It's pretty telling how some people who try to defend AGSM resort to completely off topic personal attacks when they run out of logical arguments and have nothing else to say.

In your earlier post you said that there were 100+ people in the last cohort. Now you say that 20% of 100 is 10 people. But then you think IT strategy consulting is the same as IT consulting and IT consulting is only about CRM.

I said that the Class of 2014 and the Class of 2015 (2 cohorts) totaled 100+ people. Please read my previous post again.

I said that 20% of the Class of 2016 is approximately 10 people.

IT consulting is not "only about CRM." For example at McKinsey's IT "consulting" arm they almost never build CRM but rather focuses on high level strategy.

https://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/ ... technology

However a large part of Accenture's IT "strategy" arm builds CRM software.

https://www.accenture.com/lu-en/service ... rview.aspx

Your facts are incorrect. based on your own link Accenture provides end-to-end strategy services. The guys from AGSM placed with Accenture strategy aren't working on CRM.


From your own link:
"Accenture teams with organizations to create the technology strategy and agenda and position the business for the future.

Accenture provides:

Strategy and implementation: Using experienced strategists and skilled implementers, we help develop a pragmatic approach that can be implemented rapidly and effectively.

Comprehensive, end-to-end IT strategy services: We help address all aspects of IT change—from initial opportunity assessment, planning and strategy development through implementation.

Extensive experience: Our worldwide implementations combine with ongoing Accenture High Performance IT research to provide powerful intellectual property, methodologies and diagnostic tools that help business leaders achieve their goals while reducing cost and risk.

Global reach: We bring together the skills and knowledge of a global network of experienced industry and business process professionals."

My facts are correct. Based on my own link and the text that you yourself quoted, "Comprehensive, end-to-end IT strategy services" obviously includes CRM software.

Accenture itself advertises how it likes to build CRM software for clients.

https://www.accenture.com/us-en/sales-c ... index.aspx

Accenture IT strategy consultants do not build CRM Software. You are now mellowing down from "mostly does CRM" to "includes CRM"

You are incorrect again. A simple Linkedin search reveals that at least some "IT strategy consultants" at Accenture build CRM.

For example, https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinetranvan

Sorry that I didn't use the same verb twice.

An objective assessment of AGSM for people who wish to join AGSM. I believe I have made a mistake. The first start to making a progress in life or solving a problem is to admit your mistakes.
Now before any of my beloved classmates who attack me personally as to why I haven't left AGSM yet, well the reason is unfortunately I am not from a rich family who can afford to leave a program midway after having spent somewhere around $60,000 AUD.
And for the same reason considering that I feel duped to a certain extent by AGSM I am voicing my concerns and my observations and the shortcomings I observed here at AGSM. Please keep your comments objective if you want to benefit this community on GMATClub. FYI, I already have a job so you do not have even that avenue to make a personal attack on me.
Thirdly do not make a ridiculous request and ask me to reveal my identity. All of you know how vindictive we (AGSM Class of 2016) are as a group and how vindictive our administration is. Who (administration) instead of addressing or even recognizing the issues in spite of their noble intentions are failing on every attempt to do so.

Lets deal in facts and not passionate responses since we all are in the same boat of having spent a fortune at AGSM. Ethics demand
lets give the potential candidates the real picture so they can at-least save themselves from making the mistake.


About the School:- The campus location is excellent in terms of beautiful beaches around the campus. Campus facilities are if not like Harvard or MIT at least on par International Standards - No questions about it. So who ever said it has broken chairs or smelly toilets is blatantly lying.

About the faculty:- As with any school, some professors are good some are not. But yes there aren't any rockstar professors like Aswath Damodaran (@ NYU), David Juran (Columbia), Michael Porter (HBS), Roberto Rigobon (MIT), Clay Christensen (HBS), Risa Mish (Cornell) etc...



Point being in terms of faculty horsepower ROI at AGSM is pretty low. But again in defense of AGSM I would say is it fair to compare? HBS, Kellog, Princeton these top dogs have endowment in excess of a billion $$. AGSM is not as well supported by the Industry in Australia because Australian Corporate Sector doesnt value MBA as other countries do. So I would say AGSM is not to be blamed here but having said that AGSM's charges almost as good as 1 year MBA programmes at other top institutions which I believe is poor value.

About the Students

Just google the current profiles of the cohort, and I would say before you consider paying your first installment, have a 30 min talk with them. You will realise couple of things as GurlGiggly has rightly said and has portrayed most balanced picture.
(1) Most of the clowns have lied on their resume (They neither have the experience nor the academic rigour to survive a normal masters program in UNSW)
(2) I believe one or 2 have got a job at the most
(3) For most of them this is the BEST EVER THING WHICH HAS HAPPENED TO THEM OR MIGHT HAPPEN TO THEM.
I would request the potential candidates to ask themselves "Would a normal person who has made an investment worth $80,000 AUD confess that they have made a mistake? Especially when they are coming from countries with weaker currencies?"

The other Aussie who left for Cornell is if I am correct the most hated in AGSM because he spoke his mind. Some of our classmates are so blinded by rage that when the other guy who made negative comments about AGSM majority of my classmates jumped to a
conclusion that it had come from this Aussie who left AGSM to go to Cornell. The reality is a lot of my classmates are jealous. And the best part is this guy at Cornell, he is least concerned. What my classmates don't know is the guy who left for Cornell had the character and guts to not just speak his mind (privately amongst us - the class) but also to the AGSM administration at the highest levels as per what I know. As a result of all this I have come to respect him. And I would highly recommend anyone seriously considering AGSM should contact him. He is a very helpful guy just google "IBM Australia + Cornell MBA Candidate Class of 2016". You will find his contact details on his LinkedIn.

So to my classmates - who blamed this Aussie who left for Cornell, for your information the guy when he left gave a scathing but HONEST (as per what he believed) review to the administration which includes our Director and other people.

I would strongly recommend you to also talk to Fudu (the guy who made quite a few defensive statements for AGSM earlier in the thread). Additionally do talk to Jiteshr. They happen to be the smartest of Class of 2016. Infact I believe Jiteshr has worked for IBM Australia and I am pretty confident he may be back with IBM Australia (Australia is a country known for its sarcasm- please read between the lines).
Additionally talk to our other star classmates such as one who claims to be an entrepreneur but I am confident he can't write up a business plan, another has been a salesman before MBA in Telecom section but can't sell you or convince you of a single idea in any of the projects we have done together. I thought Salesman are pretty good at Convincing.

Once you talk to our stellar defenders of the brand (AGSM) you will realize the shallow depths of their expertise, claims on LinkedIn, scholastic inaptitude.
Oh and Please speak to our VP of student council he is a brilliant guy. (Start understanding Australian Sarcasm here). You may also wish to speak to our Editor in Chief of AGSM's monthly Student Magazine. She is such a brilliant person that she cannot constitute a single sentence in English Language despite doing an MBA in an English Speaking country where medium of instruction is English, without making cardinal and at-least a dozen grammatical mistakes. But dont worry there is a team in administration which regularly babysits her in removing these glaring mistakes and there by save the day.


About the Career Services at AGSM Career Services at AGSM are very helpful and critical. Unfortunately they despite their best efforts and intentions can only do so much when the quality of students is so shallow that Australian Corporations are not willing to recruit. I believe AGSM Career Services are pretty good if not the best. And they are doing the best they can given the circumstances. Both in terms of receptiveness from Australian Industries (in terms of recruiting MBA graduates) as well as student quality.

International Exchange:
Some of our champion students of Class of 2016 have claimed they are going to Kellog, Wharton, Duke or whatever..Well the reality is THEY ARE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS. It doesn't make them bright overnight. Secondly exchange universities have an unsaid understanding that they don't fail incumbent exchange students and grade them leniently.
Thirdly it is of no use on the resume. How I know well ask our seniors who have been on exchange to some of the premier MBA programs on the planet.
Fourth point - Going on exchange is not an indication of equal calibre in terms of scholastic aptitude or employability or anything really. Its a paid vacation in a nutshell.

IN SUMMARY:
My recommendation:
Unless you believe in yourself that given your experience before MBA you can get a job in Australia do not enroll at AGSM. You are better off spending that kind of money somewhere else. Infact in my opinion if you think you can get a job in AU without doing an MBA here then it would be a big mistake to invest your money in AGSM.
ROI is next to $0.
If you are son or daughter of a big shot and want to do an MBA while having a year long party at famous Sydney beaches come to AGSM.
Let me reEMPHASIZE - Do not spend your parents or your own hard earned money here.
There is a very good reason there is a term "Kangaroo Court". AGSM's current cohort is a "Kangaroo Court". For those who don't know what it means, "Kangaroo Court" is a term coined for a "Mock Court", basically where fools get together and debate on matters which they have no understanding off of the ability to understand.

Thank you all for sharing your opinions. It appears, everyone is left with doing some due diligence about what is fact and what is a perception/opinion. That's true for anything - it is a matter of perspective and the same thing can look very different to two people. For example, I would disagree about the Exchange Experience. It was a highlight of my MBA - I have attended a very different school with a very different student mix, and it was the top school in that region. Having access to that is worth something, esp if you would not have been admitted to that particular school in the first place. Additionally, the exchange schools often provide certificates, honorary degrees, etc that can be useful on the resume or for access to the alum network - i got an honorary degree from the school i attended... On the downside, of course, the exchange program does get in the way of recruiting and fell more into a category of a "fun experience" rather than something that strongly contributed to my career goals or employment opportunities, not directly at least. Something to keep in mind!

Good Luck!

Hey Guys,

I am planning to take GMAT this August. Will it be possible to apply in the third round of AGSM. I hold a PR.
Can anyone suggest me whether I will need an admission consultant for AGSM application or I myself can give a try?
Is it very difficult to find admission offer in third round?


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