Can somebody help me - International MBA with specific goals

Question

Hello All,

This is going to be my first post here but i've been a regular at this forum, reading all those informative posts.

Here is my brief Profile:
Age 27, Post graduate: M.E. - Electrical Engineering from NJ.
Work experience - 3.5 years in the Telecom domain
Currently working with the AT&T labs as an Engineering Consultant.
GPA - 3.66, GMAT - taking this week 
Extra Curricular - United Nations volunteer, and currently leading a Charitable organization's project to establish a research center in India and Uganda for the Education of Visually Impaired children.

I'm planning to do an International MBA with a focus on Asia as i want to work in the Emerging markets of Asia. I would like to shift my career from Engineering to Management. I would (ideally) like to work with a VC firm evaluating and helping fund new age high-tech companies in Asia. Eventually i would like to become a EIR and help companies develop and improve their business.

Owing to my specific needs I've shortlisted some schools as follows (in the order of my preference)
1. INSEAD - Singapore campus
2. HKUST
3. NUS/CEIBS
4. HKU MBA

And now here is my question (huh finally!!):Can anybody suggest some schools that i can add to the list - I'm looking for advice on some European business schools which would guide me to my desired path. I see that there are many ppl admitted to Oxford/cambridge and many people have a lot of knowledge about European Business schools. Could anybody suggest some schools which fit my requirements??

Thanks a lot and sorry for such a long post.

bsd_lover · Answer

Hi ghk you can find information on Euro schools in the rankings thread here : ranks-and-clusterings-of-various-international-b-schools-78320.html. Both INSEAD and LBS have a superb brand in Asia and they will lead you to your VC / Non profit aims. Oxford and Cambridge also have a strong brand in Asia (owing to their strong undergrad brands). I believe Oxford has a strong reputation in non profit. On the other hand Cambridge is in the "silicon valley" of UK (hence might have better connections with VCs). I would add these four schools to your list.

togafoot · Answer

Can't give too much advice on European Schools, but can give you advice on schools in Asia because I'm currently doing my MBA there.

ghk · Answer

Thank you very much for your response.

bsd lover - So can one say that Oxford Said and Cambridge Judge attracts considerable number of Asian recruiters owing to their reputation. Can some current student throw some light on this please? I was also planing to applying to ESADE and to go on an exchange program to some Asian Bschool and search for a position or to develop some contacts. Is applying to ESADE even worth it?

togafoot - I've been religiously following your HKUST posts as it is one of my top choice schools. Can you advice me other schools in HK/China? I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about CUHK? What is you opinion? Also, do you have any tips on HKUST application? Any advice on other Asian schools would be of great help in my decision making.

Thanks a lot.

togafoot · Answer

Actually, our current head of careers service is a CUHK Alumni!!!! That's because the HKUST MBA was in existence when he did his MBA. He's the ex-CEO of campbells soup Asia. The CUHK MBA, is not as diverse as the HKUST one, there are a lot more local students in this course and this is the main reason why I did not apply there. It did not appear to have a 'global-mindset', it's a good local school and has a strong alumni network within Hong Kong because it has been around longer so has more people in 'higher' positions. HKUST is very finance strong and has a lot more Alumni in this area, the key difference is reputation and brand. HKUST MBA are much more powerful in this area and this has meant that the school has been able to attract some very strong faculty onto the course.

Other schools in Asia, well, frankly, if you want to work in Singapore, then you are better off going to school in Singapore because it gives you more networking opportunity when youa re based in thh country in which you want to work in. NUS, NTU etc. would be decent choices for Singapore. 
If you want to secure work in places like Japan, then its tough... The MBA is not really a desired qualification by many Japanese companies (International companies in Japan will be interested), plus you will need to learn Japanese. Places like Hitotsubashi and IUJ would be your best bets because you can learn the language whilst you are there.

ghk · Answer

Thanks for that information. I desire a more international approach to my MBA. So i think i'll pass on the CUHK mba. I dont want to work in Japan. The desired location would be HK/Singapore.

BTW any thoughts on  HKU MBA ?? I really like their tie-up with LBS which i'm most interested of their 3 options. LBS is a great school for Finance and i though may be i could gain a lot from studying there and also make some contacts in London!!! What do you think about its reputation in HK?

togafoot · Answer

To be fair to HKU, it's the best university and has the highest reputation in Hong Kong... for undergrads. The MBA is a different story, the LBS link up is no different to exchange programs from any other school. It's for 1 term and you get the same benefits when you exchange from any other school e.g. access to careers service, added onto alumni etc. (We have 5 people going to LBS and around 10-11 people going to NY Stern)

The best benefit from HKU will be their undergrad alumni because of HKU's history and reputation, it means that some of their undergrads (from a long time ago) will be in high positions, so you may be able to get access to some of them. However their MBA is not so strong and is even younger than the HKUST one.

ghk · Answer

Thanks Togafoot,

My intent is not to compare HKU with HKUST. Although HKUST is my first preference I would like to apply to HKU too to be on the safer side. My main concern is about the HKU MBA program. I understand that it is a very young program (7yrs old i guess) and i would like to know how good the program is or how well the students in the program are placed. But most importantly I would like to know the worth of an MBA there - Are there any disadvantages of this program? Are there some cons to it? For example like you said CUHK mba program lacks the diversity and it is extremely local. Similarly are there specific reasons why one could not prefer going to this program?

The reason why i liked the HKU-LBS tie up is that, even though other schools have an exchange program to LBS or other top schools, not everybody is guaranteed a place in his/her top choice of school for doing an exchange program. I knew someone studying in another asian school wanted to do an exchange program with LBS but was unable to do so due to the heavy competition for the limited number of opportunities!!! This is not the case with HKU.

So anyways thats why i wanted to know if there are any other concerns with the program.

Appreciate your input!!

Thanks

So anyways thats why i wanted to know if there are any other concerns with the program. Appreciate your input!! Thanks

togafoot · Answer

No Problem. But if going to LBS is a priority, then you should apply to LBS

. I would say the major disadvantage of HKU (and CUHK) is the class size 50 and 60 respectively. The reason why, is because when it comes to electives, there will be less choice because if you are interested in a course and no-one else is, the elective could easily be dropped, usually the electives are opened up to other Masters students so you find a mix of different types of students and other exchange-in MBA students, so there is some benefit in that. HKUST suffers from this a little too (90 in the class this year, 120 next year) but not to the same extent, however because there are many exchange school, we get lots of exchange students from everywhere (Last semester we had 29 students from 14 schools exchanging in from US, Europe and Asia) I don't have any exchange-in data for the CUHK or HKU so can't compare how this affects the class diversity.

bsd_lover · Answer

without an iota of bias, I couldn't agree more :twisted:

ghk · Answer

Thanks again for your responses. Ha ha yup if my top priority was LBS then i would have applied to LBS instead of wasting time on Asian schools. :lol:

But seriously my top priority is an Asian focused MBA. Everything else - i'd just count as incentives.. As i mentioned earlier HKUST would be my top choice school but want to keep my options open.. EDIT: I have some very bad news. I took the GMAT last friday and to my utter disappointment my scores dropped from 640(Q44 V34) to 620(Q44 V31)!!!

@Togafoot, Is 640 a good score to present my case or will my applications go to the 'bin' as soon as they see a 640??? Owing to the low scores I cannot be too picky now!!! I haven't rejected the idea of taking the GMAT one more time, but just in case is 640 presentable for schools like HKU, Tsinghua, CUHK etc??? What is your take on the chinese schools - Tsinghua, Gaunghau SEM, BiMBA? Just to help you with your advice here is something about me: 1. Masters degree in Electrical engineering from NJ. GPA - 3.66 2. Working with AT&T Research and Development Labs - Some really good work related stories and experiences. 3. Working as a UNO volunteer and currently involved with a NGO, in developing a research center in India and Uganda for developing an online education service system for the visually impaired. 4. Languages spoken - English and 4 regional indian languages. - Learning Mandarin and Korean (can casually meet and greet and manage Korean.)

togafoot · Answer

Tsinghua is the best of the ones you mentioned there, it's where a lot of the political capital of China is generated, and such, it can be a very useful networking school for China. 640 is presentable for most schools in Asia, (600+) is usually the filter point area, although this year, i suspect will be more competitive. GMAT is only one factor, and you can bring more to the table with your experiences. I would focus on answering why asia? and how you will contribute to the diversity of the class.

ghk · Answer

togafoot,

With your simple response you just boosted up my moral ten fold!! Yes, Why Asia is a question that I am eager to answer if it arises. Actually, my first filter factor even before deciding on schools was - I want to study in Asia!!

So let me work on my gmat now and thanks a lot for all of your responses. They were really very informative.

Thanks.

BuddaBelly · Answer

I just got dinged after my skype interview. booo

Can somebody help me - International MBA with specific goals

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