Ask Libereka - How to choose a business school, funding, etc.

Hi

The 2 year MBA ecosystem has become pretty complicated in terms of who it really serves and what is a good time for people with varied experiences and backgrounds to pursue one.

GMAC's own reports in recent times have clearly stated that while the demand has gone down particularly for the 2yr program variant across the board, it remains the best option for a certain set of personas (they identified some 7-8 of such personas). Which means that someone's definition of good ROI from a high-tuition program is not necessarily the same as someone else's. Therefore, loan of 200-250K (or debt, rather) that one will carry into the corporate life post MBA will depend on both the relevance of someone's background/ persona in that country, the competition quotient (how many such talents are available to companies v/s the total number of jobs available) as well as the point in the career they are at. Sadly, most ROI calculators ignore such micro factors, and therefore I will urge you to go ahead and do these calculations yourself.

I think with respect to any "compromise", wherein one is looking to go for a lower ranked school or program due to low-tuition alone, it will be a wrong call to make. That's because - primarily, lower ranked programs find themselves at that position due to either their lack of research, infra, or batch profile to have any amount of academic or employer reputation. I experienced this first hand when we compiled the QS World MBA Rankings, and while I never subscribe to such elitist rankings tables, I don't have any reason to not believe the hard data that goes behind such lists.

If you have the right profile, then hold out for the best ranked school you have got and "ask" for scholarships. There are options outside the academic ones that they provide, and most often than not, the premium you pay right now is paid back in multiples when you complete the program.

I hope this helps. I am happy to take up any followup question as well.

Thanks