Hi Folks @
admissionado,
I seek thy wisdom once again as i come to crossroads of making the final and one of the most important decision .
So, currently I have two admits :
1) Washinton University-olin business school ($10k/sem scholarship)
2 ) ISB- Hyderabad (500,000 INR scholarship)
I have been contemplating which one to go even before i got the result of ISB and i am pretty sure that i am utterly confused right now.
I have made a pros and cons list for both.
1) Short term goal achievement : I want to end up in Management consulting arena post my mba and although ISB does provide greater opportunities but the competition there is insane (with an ever-growing batch size of 770 !!). At olin, out of the MBBB only couple of Bs come and some other boutique consulting firms (which, from what i have heard does not sponsor visa). At olin the batch size is just 140 !
2) Investment: $30,000 in ISB and $80,000 at olin (all expenses covered). Not thinking much in terms of investment right now(naive in that arena i guess).
3) Country diff: Really want to come to diff culture and study in different country other than India. Coming to US was once a dream but as an indian going to ISB was also a dream ! *confused*
4) Visa risk : Well, the bill to increase the H1B numbers is still pending with congress, although it was approved last june ! and I recently realised MBA does not come under the STEM category (Used to think that M stands for management *Facepalm*) ..
i have talked to current students at olin and 3-4 out of 10 job postings offer visa.. and according to the Career center director at olin, last year almost 1/4 of the international students returned to their home country . If i am going to invest 80k, the thought of going back to India and repay my loan in INR scares the hell out of me ! I think this is a risk which is always there with a school in early 20s ranking !
5) Branded for Life : Olin does carry a brand name in mid-west but i believe its not that famous in other areas . For ISB, well, in India its the best ! even scoring few points above IIM-Ahmedabad despite its huge batch size ! Any advice here ?
6)DUration of program : the two programs are completely different . Initially i wanted to go for a two a program which would help me understand and transition into post MBA role.
ISB is a 51-week roller coster, i will graduate by this time next year for crying out loud ! !! but the seniors at ISB say "it will transform you, so what if you sleep 4 hours a day for a year" .. it will definitely save me year of my life (opportunity costs will run high !) The number of academic hours put in ISB is equal to a two a year program but there will be less time to do anything else..
For a two year program i can do much more .. improve myself in so many ways.. *utterly confused !!*
Did i miss anything ? Is there any other factors i should be considering ?
Additional advice from you guys ??
Thanks ton in advance.
Lin